ALBERT R. MANN
LIERARY
AT
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
‘ornell University Library

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THE INFINITELY GREAT e

OR,

AND THE INFINITELY LITTLE

BY

F. A. POUCHET, M.D.,

CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE;
DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AT ROUEN;
PROFESSOR IN THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND THE

UPPER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE; &c.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH.

ILLUSTRATED BY 343 ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD
AND FOUR COLOURED PLATES.
FROM DRAWINGS BY A. FAGUET, MESNEL,
EMILE BAYARD, AND J. STEWART.

 
 
  

Diggeminamus:

~

2

  

NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER AND CO.
1870.
GLASGOW:
W. G. BLACKIE AND CO., PRINTERS,
VILLATIELD.
PREFACE.

 

My sole object in writing this work was to inspire
and extend to the utmost of my. power a taste for
natural science.

It is not a learned treatise, but a simple elemen-
tary study, conceived with the idea of inducing the
reader to seek in other works for more extensive
and more profound knowledge.

I should feel pleased were this study to be
looked upon as the peristyle of the temple in
which le hidden the mysterious splendours of
Nature, and if it were the means of inspiring
some with a desire to penetrate into the sanctuary
itself, and uplift the veil which conceals them.

By the title which I have adopted, my intention
was merely to indicate that I had gathered from
creation at large, often contrasting the smallest of
its productions with the mightiest.

I have gleaned everywhere, to show that Nature
vi PREFACE.

everywhere affords matter for interesting obser-
vations. The animal and the vegetable worlds,
the earth and the heavens, appear by turns upon
the scene.

Those who are interested by this compendious
series of sketches and of pictures, will find more
complete details in the lengthy notes placed at
the end of the volume.’ I know that it would
require the learning of a Humboldt and the pen
of a Michelet to execute in a perfect manner the
task I have essayed; but, nevertheless, I have
resolved to attempt it. I shall do my best to
attain success, and wish with all my heart that
others may do better.

Whoever aspires to the title of a philosopher
has, in the present day, a double mission to per-
form—to discover and to popularize; he should
labour on the one hand for the advancement, on
the other for the diffusion, of science. The zoolo-
gists and botanists who shed the greatest lustre
on our modern epoch, have shown, by the pub-
lication of their contributions on natural history,
that they appreciate this sacred mission. I have
here only imitated them in a somewhat more ex-
tended manner, and hope I shall be pardoned for
following such an example.

1Tn this translation, the notes referred to, so far as retained, are placed at

the bottom of the pages to which they belong.—Tr.
PREFACE. vil

It was in sight of the sea, on the magnificent
beach of Treport, that I wrote this book, as a
relaxation during a vacation; and notwithstanding
its elementary character, I thought it only right
to place my name on its title-page.

One of my learned colleagues at the Academy
of Sciences lately brought out a similar work,
but under a fictitious name. The next day every-
body knew who the author was. Besides, if a
work is not worthy of bearing the author's name,
it is not fit to see the light; and when an author
consents to publish, it is because he believes his
work to be useful, and therefore he ought not to
be afraid of placing his name upon it. Hence I
have done so.

Natural history is conveyed to the mind by a
succession of pictures, and I have therefore in
this work endeavoured to represent pictorially as
many objects as possible.

The Publisher, who has shrunk from no out-
lay, has for this purpose placed at my disposal
artists of the highest merit, in whose co-operation
I have been very fortunate. I have especially
to thank M. Faguet, assistant naturalist at the
Sorbonne, who, being at once an accomplished
botanist and an excellent draughtsman, has given
quite a special character to the drawings of the
Vili PREFACE.

plants; also M. Mesnel, who has drawn the zoolo-
gical illustrations with much taste; and _ lastly,
M. Emile Bayard, to whose pencil we owe some
charming landscapes.

F. A. POUCHET.

Museum or Natura History at Roven,

15th October, 1867.

NOTE BY THE PUBLISHERS.

In this translation the illustrative notes, which in the French
original are placed at the end of the book, have been transferred,
for the convenience of the reader, to the pages to which they refer.
A few of them, deemed of minor value to readers in this country,
have been omitted, and others, both useful and interesting, have
been added by the Translator. To insure greater precision, the
scientific names of animals and plants where wanting have been as

far as possible supplied.

Lonpon, October, 1869.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

BOOK I.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD,

Chap. I.
» If,
» III.
soe ALN
» Vz.
si tN Us
» WII.

Microscopic Animalcules,

The Antediluvian Infusoria, .

Fossil Meal and the Earth-eaters,

Cities built of Microscopic Shells, .

The Monad, ; d
Resurrections—The Bhenke aid ‘Palingenests, :
The Sponge and the Flint,

BOOK IL

THE ARCHITECTS OF THE SEA,

Chap. I.
i LI:
» III.
i Ls
INSECTS,
Chap. I.
yy LT.
3) ELE:
ee VE
a ONE
» VL
=. WALL,
» WII.
oj LOG
Sn Ce

The Coral and its Builders,
Island Builders, ‘
Stone Borers and Wood Boner,
Mountain Builders,

BOOK IIL

Marvels of Insect Organization,
Metamorphoses, :

The Intelligence of Frei,

Hunting Insects, : ‘
Slave-makers and Warlike Tribes, :
Architects and Devourers of Towns,
Gravediggers and Miners,
Upholsterers and Carpenters,
Cloth-cutters and Lead-eaters,
Hydraulic Engineers and Masons, .

Page

w

oP PW wD H
“J = OF GP RS Go Ge

99
137
150
168
176
185
192
197
207
211
x TABLE OF CONTENTS,

BOOK IV.

RAVAGERS OF FORESTS,

BOOK V.

PROTECTORS OF AGRICULTURE,

BOOK VI.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF Birps,

Chap. I. Giants and Pigmies, :
Il. The Instinct of Chemistry.
» III. Work and the Family,

5 1IV. Idlers and Assassins,

.. V. Architecture intended for Tnopnieut.
» WI. Naval Architecture,

» WII. Miners aud Masons,

» VIII. Weavers,

 

BOOK VII.

THE MIGRATIONS OF ANIMALS,

Chap. I. Migrations of Mammals,
» LL. Migrations of Birds, ; .
» ILI. Migrations of Reptiles and Pishew ona ers of Hinge
» IV. Migrations of Tusects,

THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM.

BOOK I.

THE ANATOMY or PLANTS,

Chap. I. The Root,
Il. The Stem,
» LIL The Leaf,
» LV. The Flower,

”

BOOK IL.
THE PuysioLoGy or PLANTS,

Chap. I. Absorption, :
» Il. The Circulation in Plante,
» IIL. The Respiration of Plants,
» IV. Transpiration in Plants,

Mountain Builders and Gleaners,

Page
216

ww
ee
7 Oo

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Or o>

x

C2 WO WO CO

ol
Ol

396

396
404
412
420
TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chap. V. Growth, .
» VI. The Secretions,
» WII, The Sleep of Plants, .
» VIII. Vegetable Sensibility,
» IX. The Movements of Plants,
5 ©. Physiology of Flowers, .
» XI. The Nuptials of Plants,

BOOK IIL

THE SEED AND GERMINATION, .

BOOK IV.
EXTREMES IN THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM,

Chap. I. The Lichen Rock and the Virgin Forest,
, IL. Giants of the Vegetable Kingdom,
» Ill. Vegetable Longevity,
» IV. Density of Plants,

BOOK V.

MIGRATIONS OF PLANTs,

GEOLOGY.

BOOK I.
FORMATION OF THE GLOBE, .

Chap. I. Appearance of Animals and Plants,
» LZ. Primary Epoch,
., III. Period of Transition,
IV. Secondary Epoch, :
V. Tertiary Epoch, . . .. 1...
VI. Quaternary or Post-tertiary Period,

”

”

BOOK ILI.

FOSSILS,

BOOK III.

THE MouNnTAINS—CATACLYSMS AND UPHEAVALS OF THE GLOBE,

BOOK IV.

VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES, .

Page
432
437
464
468
476
482
492

519

ao
bo

rs
fe

on
or
=

or
or
ee

617

648
xi TABLE OF CONTENTS.
BOOK V.

GLACIERS AND ETERNAL SNOWS, .

BOOK VI.

CAVERNS AND GROTTOES,

BOOK VII.

STEPPES AND DESERTS,

BOOK VIIL

THE AIR AND ITS CORPUSCULES,

THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE.

BOOK I.
THE STARS AND IMMENSITY,
Chap. I. The Stars,
» II. The Nebule,
BOOK IL

THE SoLar WORLD, .

Chap. I. The Sun,
» IL The Earth, .
» Ill. The Moon, .
» IV. Comets, .

POPULAR ERRORS.

MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS,

INDEX, .

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“St
List OF THE HN GRAVINGS,

COLOURED PLATES.

Humminc-Birps among Tropica FLowErs, — . s . (frontispiece )

METAMORPHOSES OF THE PEAcock ButTERFLY— Vanessa to,

OrRcHIDACEOUS FLOWERS,

Tue Great Water-Lity— Victoria regia, frequented by Humming-birds,

ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.

                       

No. of Fig.
1. Pan-Kou- Ché, the Creator.—From a Chinese painting,
2. Thor, the Creator of the Scandinavians, reconstructing the Glebe,
3. Tavestivaton of the Infinitely Little— Achromatic Microscope, .
4. Binocular Microscope, ‘
5. Various Infusoria, :
6. SnGueesly ® asin ms assumed ie ithe: eee
We Lieberkuhnia Wagenert, 3
8. Tntanira: found at the tunthom of the Sea, seen with the Niieroasge,
9. Medusa campanularia,
10. The Hydrostatic ce Se aetone muzonemda,
ll. The Miliary Noctiluca, highly magnified—Noctiluca miliaria,
12. The Red Trichodesmia (Tr ichodesmia rubra), .
13. Infusoria and Living Diatomacez from the Strata under Berlin,
14. Trichine gnawing a muscle, magnified,
15. Female Trichina depositing her young, magnified,
16. Infusoria in Tripoli, from Richmond, N. America, :
17. Skeletons of Silicious Infusoria, as seen under the Niteraseane, :
18. Microscopic view of Infusoria in Mountain-meal of Ebsdorf,
19. Magnified Miliola with its Capillary Appendages projected, . :
20. 1, Rock of the Arabian Chain formed by Agglomerated Nummulites
used for building the Pyramids of Egypt; 2, 3, Interior view of
Nummulites; 4, Nummulites of which the Sphinx is exclusively
composed (igbian Chain),
21. View of the Sphinx and the Great Pym of Egypt,
22. Gigantic Tridacna, used in the Moluccas as a Bathing-tub,
23. Fossil Ammonites,
24, Moustrous Polypus met may by the Alecion,

Page

137
500
519
xiv LIST QF THE ENGRAVINGS.

No. of Fig. Page
25. Monads,  . 46

26. Animals believ: re to ie capable of Branca —A, Tardienides B,

 

 

Rotifera; c, Anguillula, 49
27. Sponge—Spongia Cyma, 58
28. Neptune’s Cup—Raphidophora Pate at, 60
29. Sargassum or Swimming Fuens—Fucus bace Heri US, 63
30. Coral Caryophillia ramea, 66
31. Polypi of Coral, magnified; Ciliated Owile: Lary ay 67
32. Fishing for Coral in the Mediterranean, 69
33. Madrepore Island in the Archipelago of Baweloe: 77
34. Dactyloid Pholades in their Holes—Pholas ductylus, . 82
35. Stoue-eating Modiola—Modiola lithophaga, ‘ 83
36. Ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Serapis.—From a ‘aed ‘ 85
37. Teredo, and Fragment of Wood devoured by others, 87
38. Foraminifera, greatly enlarged, : 90
39. Chalk of Meudon, seen with thie Microscope, 2 91
40. Goliath of Drury—Goliathus giganteus (natural size), 94
41. MMormolyce phyllodes, : 5 s : : . ; 95
42. Membraceze, much magnified. ‘Little Devils” of Geoffroy, 96
43. Buprestis imperialis, 97
44. Cetonia Cervus, 97
45. Cetonia cerulea, . : ‘ ; : : : : : : = <O¢
46. Cetonta sanguinolenta, : 3 : : : : : x OF
47. Phalena hyemalis, male and conics : i ‘ : : ‘ 2 98
48. Phalena nuda, male and female, : : ; x 798
49. Stenopteryx of the Swallow—Stenopteryx Reundtin’, : : . 98
50. Melophagus of the Sheep—JMelophagus Ovis, —. ‘ 5 : . 98
51. Mosquito, highly magnified—Culer Simulium, . : 5 5 2 101,
52. Organs of the Mouth of Gnat, . : 101
53. Neur oes of Lower Senegal protecting themes es a Mosquitoes, 103
54. Tsetse Fly, natural size and magnified, ; : ‘ . 106
55. Proboscis of the Common Fly, seen through the Miteroseoy Ie % . 108
56. Pyralis of the Vine in its different stages—Pyralis stri¢ ae : . 110
57. Sphinx Galii plundering Flowers, : 112
58. Scales from the Wings of different ‘Baleentiea seen W with ae Mieré-

scope, é : : : ‘ : . i . 113
59. Scale from Wing a Buttery, seen with the Magnifying-glass, » 113
60. Muscular Apparatus of the Willow-caterpillar, . 5: j : . 115
G1. Mole Cricket, natural size—Gryllotalpa vulgaris, : : : MLL
62. Brush and Pincers of the Common Bee, . : : ‘ 3 ALZ
63. Bee seen fromm below with its Ventral Segments of W ax, . j 118
64. Hind Feet, used as Ciliary Oars, in the male and female Tycibeny,

and the Prehensile Foot of the male, : ‘ ; : : . 118
65. Claw of the Lion, : : : : ’ ‘ ei)
66. Spider’s Claw, seen with tive Me noseane: : ; ' A , LG)
67. Little Wiitrtede Gye tnus natator, . 121
68-70. Diversiform Antennz. Penuiaten thr bi eauissaules: Plaiprlonatue

denticornis. Lebioderus Goryi, ‘ : : : ; ; zy 122,
71. Head and Jaws of the Caterpillar, —. 4 : 2 : ; > (14
72. Common Ephemera—Lphemera communis, ; : , ; 126
73. Aérial Mouth or Stigma of the Common Fly, . : s : a 127
74. Larva of the Common Guat—Culer pipiens, ; . 128
75. Common Gnat (Culexr pipiens), and its Metamorphoses, sifpalted: . 129
LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

No. of Fig.

76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.

100.

101.
102.

103.
104,
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.

113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
120.
121.
122.

Glow worm, male and female—Lampyris noctiluca,

Great Wanenn: -fly—Fulgora lanternaria,

Beetle Cage or Lustre for Illumination,

Tucdinons Beetle of the Antilles later fecenitise

Negro Hut lighted up with Luninous Beetles,

Sireete emellar Staphylinus—Staphylinus Fen :

Life and Metamor phoses of the Dragon-fly—Libellula dejor essdl,

Sacred Dung-beetle of the Egy ptians—Ateuchus sucer, ;

The Three States of an Insect, as seen in the Great Cuprinainia
Larva or Caterpillar. 2 mph or Chrysalis. Perfect Insect or
Imago, : 3

Bomby arias minor, ‘

Larva and Nymph of the: Panorpis, niet enti med,

Earwig—Forficula auricularta. Adult, Nymph, one oo va,

Head and Proboscis of different Butterfiles,

Hooked Feet and Nail of the Willow- “eatery lic,

Great Tortoise-shell Butterfly— Vanessa polychloros, .

Caterpillar and Chrysalis of Great Tortoise-shell Butterfly,

Coleoptera of the family of Carabidze,

Pine Curculio, enlarged, ;

Nymph, Larva, and SBecteeh Tinect irene peneinauin,

Lily Crioceris and its Larva—Crioceris merdigera,

Calosoma (Calosoma inguisitor) pursuing a Bombardier Ceaous
crepitans), who is fighting in retreat,

Young of the Reduvius personatus,

Escargot, Garden-snail—Helix aspersa,

Caterpillar, Chrysalis, and Butterfly, male and Foradle: of he. Pink
Silkworm Moth—Bombyx dispar,

Caterpillar devoured by the Larvee of Tdhnennons wee Caterpillar wr
covered with their Cocoons,

Dung-beetles, or Sacred Scarabeei (A yatdone oa poe ines Balls,

Cartouches from the Temples of Phil, representing Sacred Scara-
beeus, Sacred Ibis, &c., ,

Cicindela campestris,

Carabus purpureus,

Chinese Cicindela, :

Adult Ant-lion—Ifyrmeleon formicarius,

Pit of the Ant-liou—Jfyr meleon Senter wus,

Bird-eating Spider (Mygale avicularia) killing a Py hienmaechied.

Chicken-spider (Aranea pullaria), the size of "lite,

Return of Auts after a Battle, magnified,

Ant about to milk Aphides, '

Warrior Termites (Termes bellicosus); Seldine Waku. Male, sand
Female swollen with Eggs,

Village of Warrior Termites,

Nest of the Tree Termite— Termes av ve unr,

The Burying-beetle—WMeecrophorus sepultor,

Burying-beetles interring a small Rat,

Mole-cricket— Gryllotalpa vulgaris, : é j j ‘

Garden-spider, male—Epeira diadema. 119. Female of the same,

Mason-spider—Mygale cementaria, and Interior of its Dwelling,

Goat-moth—Cossus ligniperda,

Larva of the Great Capricornis, .

 

Page
132
133
13

134
135
137
139
141

143
144
145
146
147
147
149
149

164
165

166
168
168
168
169
170
173
175
179
183

186
187
191
193
194
196
199
201
203

3)
xvi LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

No. of Pig.

123. Carpenter-bee and its Little Chambers, :

124. Soldier-crab (Pagurus Miles) in its usurped ‘Homicile,

125. Larvie of the Clothes-moth (Zinea surcitella), magnified,

126. Clothes-moth in its butterfly state, magnified,

127. Sheath Phryganea—Phryganea striata. Larva and Adult Insect,

128. Giant Sirex—Strexr giganteus, the Larva of which gnaws Lead,

129. Paper-making Wasps— Vespa nidulans,

130. Nests of the Paper-making Wasp,

131. Pine Bombyx or Phaleena—Phulena Bombe pint,

132. Monk Bombyx—Bombyx monacha, .

133. Pine-eating Phaleena—Phalena Bombs einen eats C,

134. The Bud- twister_—Tun tric Turionana. Caterpillar and Butterfly,
enlarged and of natural size,

135. Bostrichus typographus,

136. Bostrichus denticurvatus,

137. Nuptial Chamber of the Pine Hiy lesions;

138. Cone Pyralis—Tortrix Strobiliana. vee aed Butterfly, sitaeeed
and of natural size, . . ; j :

139. Common European Mole—Tulpa eur ane,

140-42. Flesh-eating Coleoptera of the family Cavabidee, Calosoma

143.
144.
145.
146.

sycophanta. Anthiu duodecimpunctata. Carabus grypheus,
Giant Scarites in its Lurking-place, . , :

Nest of the Common Magpie—Corvus pica,

The King Penguin— A ptenodytes patagonica, ‘

Nest of the Saw-beaked Humming-bird— Potuumihors a serrir datele:

146 @). Moa, or Gigantic Dinornis (D. giganteus) restored; and Apteryx

147.

148.
149.
150.
151

152.
153.

154.
155.
156.
157.
158.
159.
160.
161.
162.
163.
164.
165.
166.
167.
168.
169.
170.

(A. mnemtelll, ; é . : : . s

Comparative Dimensions af Birds? Bes 1, Of the Epiornis. 2, Of
the Ostrich. 3, Of the Hen. 4, Of the Humming-bird,

Nest of the Mango Humming-bird—Lampornis mango,

Eagle carrying off Marie Delex, in the Alps, in 1838,

Australian Landscape, with Nest of the Mound-building Memupodine.

Nest of the Tumulus-building Megapodius, vertical section,

Nest of the Tumulus- unildine Megapodius, seen from above:

Australian Talegalla (Talegalla Lathami) gathering Grass for its
Nest, :

Nest of the Long-t ailed Timiouse— Pap us cnet

Nest of the Penduline Titmouse—Parus pendulinus,

Nest of the Cape Titmouse—Parus capensis,

Nest of the Tailor Bird—Sylvia sutoria, : é :

Community of the African Social Grossbeaks—Lo.wta socia,

Nest of the Golden Oriole—Oriolus galbula,

Nest of the Common Wren—Troglodytes europeus,

Nest of the Barn-owl—Strix flammea,

Nest of the Goshawk—<Astur palumbarius,

Cuckoo killing Golden-crested Wrens, :

Nuptial Arbour of the Spotted Bower- Dinsmore weet

Nest of the Water-hen—Fulica chloropus,

Sea-hedgehogs or Urchins, .

Nest of the Reed Warbler— Motwcitia ar aon:

Floating Nests of the Little Grebe—Colymbus minor,

Nests of the Red Flamingo—Phenicopterus ruber,

Edible Nests of the Salangane—/Zirundo esculenta,

Page
206
208
209
209
210
211
BIS
215
217
221
224

bb bo bt
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NOON

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254
235
237
240
243
LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

No. of Fig.

171.
172.
173.
174.

175.
176.
177.
178.
179.

180.
181.
182.
183.
184.
185.
186.
187.
188.
189.
190.
191.
192.
193.
194.
195.

196.
197.
198.
199.
200.
201,
202.

203.
204.
205.

206.
207.
208.
209.
210.
211.
212.
213.
214,
215.
216.
217.
218.

Nests of the Party-coloured Wren—Regulus omnicolor,

Nest of the Redwing—-T'urdus iliacus,

Nest of the Oven-bird—Purnarius rufus, ; : : :

Nest of the Burrowing-owl (Strix cunicularia), and Section of its
Burrow,

Nest of the Fondia er, silent: :

Nest of the Black-headed Synalaxis—S) shits as mhiclacnonte,

Nest of the Baltimore Oriole—Oriolus Baltimore,

Nest of the Jupuba Cassicus—Cassicus hemorrhous,

Catching Wild Geese, from a painting in the Subterranean Meniples
of Beni-Hassan,

Egyptian carrying Geese to the Mar ket, :

March of the Processionary Bombyx—Bombyx Sea

Nycterus of Upper Egypt, .

Kangaroo, ‘ . ¥

Condor or Great Vulture é the Andes—T; raltuur gryphus, .

Crane’s Nest on an Egyptian Monument, . :

Nest of the Chimney Swallow—Hirundo rustica,

Yellow-footed Gulls—Larus fuscus,

Ariel Swallow (Wirundo Ariel), . :

Household of the Emerald Humming-bir a Oioroatitbon cals :

The Passenger Pigeon—Columba migratoria,

Family of Humming-birds—Typhena Duponti,

Stickleback in its Nest—Gasterosteus trachurus,

Migrating Locust—Gryllus migratorius,

Dried Locusts prepared for Market,

Common May-bug—HJ/elolontha Dilpord vs, Male, Female, Tanya, and
Nymph, é :

Corn Weevil— Calandr a granaria,

Water-reservoir of the Anabas,

Anabas or Climbing Perch—Perca gejicne

Bread-fruit Tree of Otaheite—Artocarpus incisa,

Cellular Tissue filled with Fecula, seen with the Mier cseope,

Fruit of the Bread-fruit Tree—Artocarpus ineisa,

Leaved Branches and Adventitious Roots on a half- burial Root
branch, :

Adventitious Roots ane a Thane ‘abansens eepeninent:

Spongiole of the Pontederia, : :

Section of the Trunk of a Cork- bee. Denes GE Suber ae Liber;
Concentric Zones and Medullary Layers,

Papyrus of the Egyptians—Cyperus Papyrus,

Palm—Horizontal Section of Stem,

Palm—Longitudinal Section of Stem,

Aérial or Pulmonary, and Aquatic or Branchial Tieiees

A River Reach filled with the Floating Leaves of the Victoria regia,

Petaloid Perianth of the White ee candidum,

Stamen of the Potato, 5 ‘

Four-celled Anther of the Persian Leuvel,

Stamen of the Amaryllis,

Pollen of Different Plants, seen with the Aitecoseane,

Pistil of the Poppy,

Pistil of the Madder Plant, : ‘ 3

Flowers protected by a Spathe. Florentine Iris,

 

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XViil LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

No. of Fig. Page
219. Spathe of a Palm-tree serving as a Bath for a Child, : A . 394
220. Mandragora with its Rootlets in Water, Living, : : : . 397

Mandragora with its Rootlets in Dry Sand, Dying, . . : . 398
222, Ice-plant—Mesembryanthemum erystallinum, .  - ; ; . 402
223. Absorption by the Leaves, . 2 . . . . . 403
224. Force of Vegetable Circulation and Absorptian, : . 406
225. Scene in North America—Collecting the Sap of the Sugar- ciples . 409
226. The Wine-tree or Wine-bearing Sago-palm—Sagus vinifera, . . 413
227. Respiration of Plants. Disengagement of Oxygen under Water, . 416
228. Discovery of the Transpiration of Plants, . . : : ‘ » 420
229. Transpiration in Plants, . ; : : . ; , 5; . 422
230. Transpiration in the Sunflower, . ‘ : : ; : : . 424
231. Edible Arum—Colocasia esculenta, . ‘ : F a : . 425
232. The Weeping-tree—Cesalpinia pluviosa, . ‘ ' ; : . 427
233, Pitcher-plant—Nepenthes distillatoria, : s ; : ‘ . 429
234, The Amphora Plant—sSarracenia purpurea, 2 : . ‘ . 430
235. Transpiration of Leaves, . : ; . 431
236. Stag’s-horn covered by the gr anne of Tayerd of Wood, : ; . 434
237. Gigantic Lycoperdon or Puff: ball; =. : : . : , . 486
238. The Tapioca Plant—Manthot utilissima,  . ; . 438
239. Manna-tree—Fracinus ornus, and Mauna-g: thanven in Sicily, ; . 442
240, Scene in the Andes. Wax- palma er ocxylon gnelicle, , : . 443
241. Combustion of the Vapours of Bastard Dittany,  . : ; . 447
242. The Gutta-percha Tree—Jsonandra gutta, : ; : : . 449
243. Thyrsus of Flowers of the Yellow Cinchona,  . : : : . 452
244, Cinnamon-tree—Laurus Cinnamomum, ‘ : 2 : 3 . 453
245. Nutmeg-tree—I/yristica moschata, . . : : s : . 454
246. Extracting Milk from the Cow-tree, . : ‘ ; ; : . 455
247. Pepper-plant—Piper nigrum, . : . : . 457
248. The Camphor-tree or Cicaphon: leave ous us C eee : . 459
249. Palmated Rhubarb—Lheum palmatum, . ; ; . 463
250. Sensitive Plant Asleep and Awake—Jimosa pedion, : ; . 467
251. The Mandrake—dtropa Mandragora, : ‘ ; ‘ ; . 470
252. The Oscillating Desmodia—Desmodia oscillans, . F é : . 478
253. Venus’ Flytrap—Dionea muscipula, . é . 479
254. The Poison-tree or Upas of Java, and Flower ot the Raflesia, : . 487
255. Influence of Insects upon the Fecundation of Flowers, = : . 499
256. Nuptials of the Spiral Vallisneria— Vallisneria spiralis, . 3 . 503
257. Nuptials of the Common Utricularia— Utriewlaria en tS os 504
258. Branch of the Utricularia laden with its Hydrostatic Vesicular Leaves, 505
259. Forest of Mangroves, . : F 3 : : : : . 611
260. Germination of an Arundo ees : . 513
261. Roots Lighted from below and divedtin g fbomeelres tox ar vs the Die he 514
262. Forest oe Palm-trees on the Banks of fie Nile, . 4 : : ; 521
263. Virgin Forest in the Equatorial Regions, . : ‘ fs a) 1826
264. Aeborestant Ferns from the Forests of New Tiesiand. : ; . 529
265, Chapel Oak in Normandy, . s . 531
266. The Great Chestnut-tree of Mount tna, called of a Hinds a Fismek 535
267. Gigantic Cedar of California— Wellingtonia gigantea, é ‘ . 539
268. The Lime-tree of the Battle of Morat, , : ‘ . : eho
269. Gigantic Baobab of the African Forests, . : : : ‘ . 547
270. Dragon’s -blood Tree of the Island of Tener iffe, . : . : . 550

271. Warty Nostoc—TZremella mesenterica, ; , : i ; . 552
LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

No. of Fig.

272, Mdible Air-borne Lichen—Lecanora esculenta,

273. First Granite Beds and First Upheavals, ;

274. Impression of a Gigantic Club-moss of the Coal Per. ind,

275. Imaginary View of a Forest of the Coal Period, ‘

276. Archegosaurus, the First Antediluvian Reptile—dr shepotaurine Dechand,

277, Imaginary View of a Landscape of the Secondary Epoch, with Ptero-
dactyls. Lias Period, ‘

278. Labyrinthodon Rastaneds j

279. Skeleton and Head of the Common Ichthyosaurus,

280. Merian’s Opossum—Didelphis dorsigera,

281. Fossil Shells of the Secondary Period, ;

282. Imaginary View of a Landscape of ihe Tertiary Period, sith gr otic
of Paleotheria and Anoplotheria,

283. Great Paleotherium—Paleotherium magnum,

284. Common Anoplotherium—Anoplotherium commune,

285. Fossil Shells of the Tertiary Epoch,

286. Fossil Libellula of the Secondary Epoch,

287. Impressions of Rain-drops and Animals’ ootsteps o on Aniediiuvan
Rocks,

288. View in the Freda The ‘oniticntlen: or Teens fivenet he
highest Mountain on the Globe,

289. Modern Upheaval—Jorullo in Mexico,

290. View in Tierra del Fuego. Conical Peaks of Acdentvalty Sait.

291. Cascade in the Gorges of Mount Taurus. Valley of Erosion,

292. Spectres of the Br woken 4 in the Harz,

293. A Hell Valley in the Mountains of Spain (cprareas,

293 (%s). Plateau of the Dance of Witches in the Harz,

294. Circus of Gavarnie in the Pyrenees, ‘ ‘

295. Goenong Api, Banda Islands, in the Moluccas, .

296. Summit and Crater of Orizaba, .

297. View of the Interior of the Crater of Popocatepet,

298. The Crater of Etna, ‘

299. Ruins at Torre del Greco, Bay of Maples;

300. Pimelodes of the Cyclops—Pimelodus ee

301. The Great Geyser, Iceland, : ‘

302. Entrance to Fingal’s Cave, Staffa,

303. Basaltic Cliffs and Giant’s Causeway, Staff,

304. A Bay in Spitzbergen, ; :

305. Mount Erebus, reat Renee

306. Glaciers in ne Bay of the Mugdaled, Spltehen gen,

307. A Chain of Icebergs in the Polar Regions

308. Young Esquimaux,

309. Kennely Channel, ;

310. Morton Planting the American Flag on the Shores af the ola Sea,

311. Proteus of the Subterranean Rivers sof Carniola,

312. Cyprinodons of the Mammoth Cave,

313. The Styx, a Subterranean River in the Mnmnnott Care

314. Dead Sea in the Mammoth Cave,

315. Travellers attacked by Vampires, :

316. The American Vampire— Vampirus spectrum,

317. The Desert—A Caravan Assailed by the Khamsin,

318. The Mirage in the Desert, . i.

319. Island of Phils, or the Sacred flan, 'N dh

Page
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581
583

587
589
591
594
595

597
600
601
603
619

627
630
631
635

39
643
643
646
649
651
653
656
657
660
664
665
665
669
671
673
677
680
681
683
686
688
689
692
699
700
703
706
709
xx

LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

No. of Fig.

320.

New Zealand Swift-moth (Hepialus virescens) and its Larva; the
latter with a Fungus (Cordiceps roberti’) growing on it and rooted
by it in the soil, :

Spontaneously forced tusevaueapie Giains, ack are ‘font in Fee.
mentations,

The great Reflecting Maleaeapé coastmetod by Teed Bone.

Spir al Nebula of the Constellation of the Greyhounds (Canes Vi patie,

The Dumb-bell Nebula, Constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula), .

The Crab Nebula, Constellation of the Bull ee)

Spots on the Sun, :

Comparative Dimensions of the Earth atl Maon,

Appearance of the Moon when Full,

Craters on the Moon’s Surface, at Seniec:

Part of the Moon’s Crescent during the First Quar tet,

Donati’s Comet ou 5th October, 1858,

Swarm of Shooting-stars at Sea,

The Aurora Borealis in the Arctic Seas,

Comet of 1528, ‘ :

Dragon of the Caverns of iets Pilatus; ;

Sea-serpent, ; :

Cetacean attacking a Ship, .

Marine Monster,

The Bird-tree,

The Tree pr oducing the Sea- ducks, :

Mandragora Roots Carved; used for Hnchantienl

Page
THE

ANIMAL KINGDOM.

 
“Savez-vous comment s’ouvre et grandit la semence,
Comment, herbe au printemps, elle est moisson l’été?
Comment au fond du nid de Vhirondelle agile
Linstinct s’épanouit en maternel amour,

Et comment, sous l’abri de la coque fragile,
Sanime un germe ailé qui doit éclore un jour?”
Friép. DescHamps.

Know ye how opens out the seed, and how the plant up-grows,

How, soft and green in sweet spring-tide, ’tis ripe ere summer’s close?
How, in the downy covert of the swift-winged swallow’s nest,
Instinct to mother-love expands in the gentle creature’s breast ;

And how, beneath the shelter of the fragile, ovate shell,

A wingéd germ takes life one day to quit its narrow cell?
BOOK I.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD.

OvuR imagination, says Bonnet, one of the most zealous
expounders of natural history, is equally confounded by
what is infinitely great or infinitely small.

In fact, the phenomena of creation astound us, whether
uplifting our look we scrutinize the mechanism of the
heavens, or cast our eyes upon the tiniest creatures of
this lower realm.

Immensity is everywhere. It stands revealed in the
azure dome of heaven, where glows a perfect dust of
stars, and in the living atom which hides from us the
marvels of its organization.

“Whoever,” says an illustrious orator, ‘ contemplates
this spectacle with the eye of imagination, feels the little-
ness of man compared to the greatness of the universe.”
But although it is true that in presence of the immensity
of space and the eternal duration of time, a feeling of
humility subjugates us; although each step that man
takes in his path, and every wrinkle that furrows his
brow, reveal his utter feebleness; yet his genius, that
divine emanation, supports him on his journey by showing
him both his power and his lofty origin.
4 THE UNIVERSE.

When, at the very outset of our studies, we cast a glance
upon creation, we are astonished at its vastness, and we
see that none of our fictions attains the sublimity of its
proportions.

 

 

 

 

1. Pan-Kou-Ché, the Creator.—From a painting in a Chinese manuscript.

For instance, the Chinese accounts of creation represent
the first organizer of chaos under the form of a feeble old
man, enervated and tottering, called Pan-Kou-Ché, sur-
rounded by confused masses of rock, and holding a chisel
in one hand and a hammer in the other. He toils pain-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 5

fully at his work, and, covered with perspiration, carves
out the crust of the globe, at the same time that he clears
a path through a wilderness of rocky masses.

One shudders at the relative feebleness of the workman
to the immensity of the task. Well nigh lost amidst
enormous masses of shattered stone, which surround him
on every side and encumber the picture, he is scarcely
seen—a real pigmy executing a herculean task.

On the other hand, the people of the North, looking
upon their land so often devastated by floods, thought
that some god in his anger had broken up the surface of
it, and gathered the debris into heaps. But to the children
of Scandinavia this deity was not a trembling used-up old
man; they required a divinity endowed with their own
savage energy. In their eyes it was the god of tempests;
the redoubtable and gigantic Thor, who, armed with a
blacksmith’s hammer, and suspended over the abyss,
with mighty blows broke up the crust of the earth, and
fashioned out the rocks and mountains with the splinters.
Here we see already an advance upon the feeble old
Pan-Kou-Ché; virility is substituted for the impotence
of old age. It is a reminiscence of the ancient epic
poesy. Thor shows like a revolted giant, raging and
shattering everything that falls within his reach.

To us, accustomed to bow before an all-powerful
Creator, such images appear very puerile. Instead of
these old men and giants laboriously occupied in ham-
mering out the globe, we only trace everywhere the in-
visible hand of God. In one place, with a delicacy which
passes all conception, it animates the insect with the
breath of life; in another, expanding itself to vast dimen-
sions, it reins the worlds scattered through space, con-
vulses or annihilates them. It is at such times that, in
6 THE UNIVERSE.

the midst of its throes, our globe cleaves its mountains
and opens up its abysses; and upon each of its gigantic
ruins, as upon each grain of sand, the philosopher finds

written a grand page of natural theology.

 

2. Thor, the Neptune and Creator of the Scandinavians, reconstructing the Globe.

In fact, every crumbling peak displays to our view the
remains of generations buried by the revolutions of the
globe. Their numbers, their size, their unknown forms
astonish us; but we cannot doubt, for these inanimate
remains, of which the earth has faithfully kept the im-
press, are so many medallions struck by the Creator and
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. i

spared by the hand of time, to reveal to us the world’s
eventful history.

If we review the living forces of our planet, we soon
perceive that their power is boundless. When they are
unleashed within its bowels, the whole face of the earth
is shaken. At one time they raise up the Alps and
Himalayas, their summits towering into the region of the
clouds. At another, almost cleaving the globe from pole
to pole, the Andes and America rise from the bosom of
the sea; then the startled waves, tumultuously pouring
over the ancient world, produce one of the more recent
catastrophes, the great deluge. Thus the supreme Power
decreed!

When, after having viewed the imposing phenomena
which are taking place on the surface of the earth, we
look down upon its tiniest inhabitants, we see revealed,
in unexpected magnificence, all the wisdom of Providence;
ere long the spectacle of immensity in what is infinitely
little, astonishes us no less than the immeasurable power
displayed in the grand scenes of creation. Animated
nature seems to imitate the ancient pantheism, which
distributed portions of the divinity to every molecule of
created matter; she equally reveals herself everywhere:
armed with the microscope the eye discovers her traces in
every interstice of matter.

Fontenelle was wont to censure the ancient verbose
scholasticism, which he rightly called the philosophy of
words. The learned secretary of the Academy wanted to
see the intellect occupied solely with facts—with the philo-
sophy of things. We are about to prove ourselves followers
of his precepts by restricting ourselves to the results of
observation.

Nothing gives a more brilliant idea of the universal
8 THE UNIVERSE.

diffusion of life throughout space, than the prodigious
number of organisms which we meet everywhere and in
all bodies. The demonstration of this fact is one of the
most recent and magnificent conquests achieved by science.

We owe it to the microscope, discovered about a cen-
tury and a half ago. This instrument at once displayed
to men objects so new, striking, and unexpected, that it
was everywhere admitted to have opened up a new world,
by conferring, as it were, upon us an additional sense
wherewith to investigate the invisible.

When we read the works of naturalists, and see them
penetrating so deeply into the most hidden secrets of the
anatomy and manners of beings, the mere existence of
which the eye could not lead us to suspect, we are apt to
ask if the pride of genius has not usurped the place due
to the simple realities of nature; and hence, for a long
time, the statements of microscopists were, by some ob-
structive minds, rated as fables. But when we see their
instruments, constructed with such great precision, we at
once conclude that, however marvellous their investigations
appear, still they did not deceive themselves.

The microscope was discovered in Holland about the
same time by two men of science, Leuwenhoeck and Hart-
zoeker, who keenly disputed about the priority of in-
vention. The former was, however, really the father of
microscopy ; the latter was essentially a natural philosopher.
The discussions between them were often bitter and un-
seemly. Leuwenhoeck lived isolated and solitary; he did
not want any person to penetrate into his secrets; his wife
and daughter were alone initiated into them, and his door
remained hermetically closed against his young and _tur-
bulent rival.

Stung by this affront, the latter revenged himself to the
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 9

utmost of his power, and assailed his antagonist sharply,
declaring that his discoveries, published for the most part
in a low and servile style, were absolutely chimerical.
Insult followed hostility, and at last Hartzoeker, resolved
to stick at no means and determined at all hazards to pry
into the labours of his rival, by the aid of the chief magis-
trate of Leyden, introduced himself under a feigned name
to Leuwenhoeck, in order to pirate his labours; but the
old microscopist, recognizing him, very speedily showed
him the door.

Leuwenhoeck’s work really outstrips his means of in-
vestigation; the acute observation of the philosopher tran-
scended the power of his instruments, and even now we
ask how he can have divined so much and so many things,
which they could not have revealed to him.

In fact, the illustrious Dutchman never possessed an
instrument to be compared in point of perfection to those
which we use now-a-days; he only employed simple lenses
which he made himself; it was with instruments like these
that he made his most important discoveries. Any one
can verify this assertion in the museum of the Royal Society
of London, to which on his death-bed he bequeathed those
magnifying glasses that had gained him so much glory.

Leuwenhoeck’s most powerful lenses did not magnify
more than sixty diameters, whereas we now possess
achromatic microscopes which magnify twelve to fifteen
hundred diameters.

It was recently stated in some of the scientific journals,
that two London opticians had succeeded in constructing
lenses of 7500 diameters, equal to an enlargement of the
surface of 56,000,000 times. It was added that, notwith-
standing such an extraordinary result, everything was seen

with great clearness.
2
10 THE UNIVERSE.

Even the measurement of the most minute microscopic
details has acquired a degree of precision surpassing every-
thing that could be imagined. There are glass micro-

   

      
 

ri i
‘inl Nh

  

3. Investigator of the infinitely littlk—Achromatic Microscope, by Thomas Ross, London.!

meters in which each millimetre? is divided into 500 parts,
or lines, of such tenuity, that the most practised eye
cannot make them out. This is effected by means of an
instrument of extreme delicacy, which only works in the
dead of night, when all things being wrapped in sleep,

T Scale one-fifth. It is called the Student’s Microscope, costs £10, and forms

an excellent basis to which additional powers and apparatus can be added.
2 Equal to 0°39371 inch.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 11

there is no agent to disturb it or impede the accuracy of
its tracings. For this purpose the workman himself does

 

4, Binocular Microscope, by Thomas Ross, London.?

1 By the binocular arrangement the objects are seen with a stereoscopic effect.
The above instrument is shown upon one-fourth scale, costs £30, and admits of

extra powers and apparatus being added to it.
12 THE UNIVERSE.

not enter his work-room; a mechanism, moved by clock-
work, at a suitable hour sets the machine in movement;
the invisible divisions of the glass-plate are engraved by
means of an excessively fine diamond spark, which is
found to be totally worn out when its work is accomplished.

But the means of investigation at the disposal of the
microscopist do not end here. In observations of extreme
delicacy micrometers are called into requisition which
are almost marvels, being constructed with an ingenious
mechanism capable of dividing a millimetre into 10,000
parts by moving spiders’ threads with the aid of a simple
screw. He also utilizes in a thousand ways both simple
and polarized light, as well as chemical re-agents; and as
these last, owing’to the vapours they disengage, injure
the glasses and make them dull, those who work with
the microscope, in order to avoid the inconvenience thus
occasioned, employ particular instruments, the lenses of
which are placed below the objects to be magnified.

After this demonstration of the resources at its com-
mand, will any one accuse micrography of giving rise to
those vain illusions with which those who do not enter
upon the investigation it requires with a proper degree
of patience, are pleased to reproach it? Perchance! for
this science has never ceased to recall the interminable
discussions which overhung its cradle. The dispute be-
tween Leuwenhoeck and Hartzoeker is not yet allayed.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 13

CHAPTER L
MICROSCOPIC ANIMALCULES.

The animalcules which compose the microscopic world
have for a long time been known by the name of
Infusoria, but the term ought to be abandoned, as many
of these creatures do not live in infusions, but, on the
contrary, inhabit the sea and fresh-water. It would
therefore be better to substitute the names Microzoa and
Protozoa;! the former meaning little animals, the latter
the obscure beginnings of animal organization.

For a long time the anatomy of these invisible beings
appeared a perfect mystery, and men despaired of ever
comprehending it. Baron Gleichen, having steeped
carmine in water containing some of these animalcules,
was quite astonished to see them fill themselves with
colouring matter. But this important fact passed un-
noticed. Buffon and Lamarck still continued to look
upon them as simple little masses of animated gelatine.

A French naturalist, Dujardin, reared up a complete
theory on these data. According to him the tissue of
the animalcule represents a sort of spongy woof, capable
of hollowing itself out into accidental cavities, which
admit food and expel it by means of an outlet which opens
for this purpose in the surface of the body. <A strange
hypothesis, according to which the microzoon hollows out

1 Names derived from the Greek words puixpdv ¢Gor, little animal, and rpérov

Gov, first animal.
14 THE UNIVERSE.

for itself stomachs in its own proper substance and of

its own free will!
The difficulty is to believe that such a theory held sway
in France long after the publication of Ehrenberg’s

magnificent work on the Jnfusoria, in which the learned

 

5. Various Infusoria.

Prussian naturalist demonstrated, for the first time, that
these creatures, notwithstanding their extreme minuteness,
possess in some cases a surprisingly complicated internal

organization.

 

6. Successive forms assumed by the Proteus.

Their form is, as a rule, fixed, and it is quite an excep-
tion that some of them change at will, and present to the
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 15

eyes of the astonished observers so many different aspects,
that at the expiration of five minutes they cannot be
recognized. At one moment they are globular or three-
cornered; an instant after they are seen taking on the
appearance of a star. Accordingly, these creatures, the
forms of which elude our grasp, have received the name
of Protei, from the enchanter of Virgil, who by his
wonderful metamorphoses was enabled to escape the
notice of every one.

Some animalcules of this class surround themselves
with improvised feet like living roots, the arrangement of

 

7. Wagener’s Lieberkuhnia—Lieberkuhnia Wageneri (Claparéde).

which they are seen varying in a thousand ways. Some-
times they lengthen them out preposterously, some-
16 THE UNIVERSE.

times they make them entirely disappear. They scatter
them, weld them together, or entwine them like the locks
of a Gorgon.

The microscopic world also has its extremes. ‘There
is as wide a distance between the bulk of its tiniest
representative, the crepuscular monad, and that of one of
its largest, the hooded Colpodos, as there is between a
beetle and an elephant.

Nothing is more marvellous than the organization of
these invisible beings, and if attentive observations had
not placed the facts beyond doubt, men might have been
tempted to think that the accounts given by naturalists
were pure fiction or else audacious falsehoods.

The profusion of vital apparatus in the Microzoa some-
times exceeds even to a great extent that which is seen in
large animals. There are some which possess fifteen to
twenty stomachs, or even more. In addition there is, in
some Infusoria, a curious mechanism appended to this
superabundance of organs—one of the stomachs being
furnished with teeth of extreme delicacy, which can be
seen through the transparent body moving and crushing
the food.

Notwithstanding the extreme minuteness of these crea-
tures, which have remained unknown through so many,
many ages, nature has expended the most watchful care
upon them. Some of them are sheltered beneath a
calcareous cuirass; and in many the protecting carapace
is indestructible, and of the nature of our gun-flint, being
formed of silex.

According to Ehrenberg some of the Infusoria have
even eyes, which at times present the appearance of
flaming red pupils. If we could suppose organs of such
tenuity possessing a field of vision large enough to allow
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 17

these animalcules to see us with the instruments which
we use to observe them, can we imagine what a terrific
impression we must make upon them, when they see
themselves in our hands ?

Lastly, some of these animalcules have, in the interior
of the body, large cavities which incessantly empty and
fill themselves with coloured fluid. These cavities repre-
sent the heart of large animals, and their fluid the blood;
and this circulating system is relatively so large that it
may be stated, without any exaggeration, that some
microscopic beings have hearts fifty times as large and as
strong in proportion, as that of the horse or ox.

If the wonderful organic perfection of those living cor-
puscles surpass all our preconceived ideas, their perpetual
activity affords ground for no less astonishment. The life
of all animals is made up of alternate action and repose, of
movement which wastes the forces, and sleep which repairs
them; but the Infusoria are strangers to anything of the
kind; their life is an emblem of incessant agitation.
Ehrenberg, who observed them at all hours of the night,
always found them in movement, and accordingly con-
cluded that they had neither rest nor sleep! Even the
plant, exhausted by its life, mounting unseen through its
tissues, sleeps at the close of day; the animalcule, not-
withstanding its prodigious activity, does not.

Struck with the fact, Owen thought that this extra-
ordinary activity might be due to the enormous develop-
ment of the digestive system in the Infusoria, seeing that
a man, a lion, or a tiger has only one stomach, an ox or a
camel four or five, whilst invisible Microzoa have some-
times a hundred!

In proportion as science has been perfected the horizon

of life has been enlarged, and a microscopic world, full
3
18 THE UNIVERSE.

of animated existence, has been revealed in every spot to
which investigation could reach. The polar ices, the ele-
vated regions of the atmosphere, and the gloomy depths
of ocean, are peopled with living organisms; and every-
where their prodigious concentration astonishes us as much
as the infinite variety of their forms.

 

8. Infusoria found at the bottom of the Sea, seen with the Microscope.

If the beautiful discoveries of Ehrenberg did not prove
the fact, who would believe that these tiny creatures,

whose minuteness evades the eye, possess more vital re-
sistance than the most vigorous animals? Where the
severity of the climate kills the most robust of the vege-
table world, where a few scattered animals pick up a pre-
carious existence, the delicate organism of the Microzoa

1 Our illustration represents a sample of the mud from the bottom of the Ant-

arctic Ocean, and what remarkable ornamental forms it contains. More espe-

cially the large round section, 12, which looks like a sun with its rays, and is
?

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 19

suffers no injury from the most terrible cold that we know
of. More than fifty species of animalcules with silicious
carapaces were discovered by Captain Sir James Ross on
the rounded masses of ice which float in the Polar Seas at
the seventy-eighth degree of south latitude. Some of
those which this navigator collected in the vicinity of
Victoria Land, in spite of distance and storms, arrived full
of vitality at Berlin.

In these desolate regions the depths of ocean offer to
the view even more life than its surface. In the Gulf of
Erebus, the plummet brought up, from a depth of more
than 500 yards, sixty-eight species of silicious Microzoa;
and they have been discovered at a depth of more than
12,000 feet, where they had to support the enormous pres-
sure of 375 atmospheres—a pressure capable of bursting
a cannon, but which the gelatinous body of a microscopic
infusorium resists in some marvellous way.

These living corpuscles, which multiply in the trans-
parent regions of the ocean, abound equally in the muddy
rivers of our waters and ponds, and without being aware
of it we daily gulp down myriads of them in the fluids we
named Gallionella sol. On either side of it may be noticed four smaller circular
sections, of various sizes and forms. Nos. 4 and 7 are two kinds of Coscinodiscus ;
5 is Discoplea Rotula; 19, Symbolophora Pentas. The funnel-shaped body, 17, lying
below the last-named, is RAizosolemia Calyptra; the round section under it, 3, is
another Coscinodiscus, and the lineal body to the right of both, Grammatophora
turgens. In the centre of the picture is a quadrangular body, Anaulus scalaris, 1 ;
the curiously formed dark body, 15, lying over it, is Hemiaulus antarcticus. The
body shaped somewhat like a lance-point, 18, which lies below it, is Rhizosolemia
ornithoglossa. However, the most ornamental of all is the large, scarcely half-
visible section, 6, which bears the deserved name of the “wheel,” *Discoplea Rota.
Below it, and shining through the oval section, 16, is Raphioleis fasciolata; while
upon it lies a peculiar body apparently formed of bubbles or blisters laid over
each other. This peculiar body does not belong to the group of the Diatomacee,
but to that of the Polythalamia, a division of the Foraminifera. Such heaps of

shells of Polythalamia are found almost everywhere at the bottom of the sea, or
in connection with coats of Diatomacese.—Tr.
20 THE UNIVERSE.

drink. If with the aid of the microscope we were to
scrutinize everything that a single drop of water contains,
there would be enough to frighten many people.

Every one who has sailed at night upon the sea, or passed
along its shore, is acquainted with the phenomenon of
phosphorescence, which for a long time puzzled the sagacity
of the learned. It was attributed to very different causes,
but is now known to depend upon the presence of a mul-

 

9. Medusa campanularia.

titude of animals. Sometimes, when of small extent, it is
caused by fish traversing the waves like a flaming arrow;
at other times it is owing to the presence of Meduse, the
brilliant disks of which are seen calm and motionless in
the depths of the waters; or to the Physsophora, dragging
behind them their trains all spangled with stars like that
of Berenice in the firmament. Certain molluscs too, though
enveloped in their shells, are nevertheless phosphorescent.
Pliny had previously remarked that the mouths of persons
who had e&ten Pholades were quite luminous.

This phenomenon, however, is most frequently seen in
places where the sea is in movement; every wave then rolls
with luminous foam against the prow of the ship, and the
billows gleam like the starry sky. These myriads of phos-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 21

phorescent particles, which make the sea sparkle, are only
Microzoa of extreme minuteness, but of which the bulk is
increased a hundred-fold by their splendour.

 

10. The Hydrostatic Physophora—Physophora muzonema,

The ocean produces these animalcules in almost every
part. Each bed of it, says Humboldt, is peopled with
them at depths which exceed the height of the greatest
22 THE UNIVERSE.

mountain chains, and under the influence of certain
meteorological changes we see them rise to the surface of
its watery sheet, where they form immense luminous fur-
rows in the wake of the ships.

The Miliary Noctiluca is one of those which play the
ereatest part in the phosphorescence of the ocean. Seen
with the aid of a powerful microscope, this minute animal-
cule looks like a tiny sphere of diaphanous jelly, bestrewn

 

11. The Miliary Noctiluca, highly magnified—WVoctiluca miliaria.

with luminous points, and carrying a thin filiform appendix,
which some naturalists look upon as a sucker.

Water presents another peculiarity equally curious, and
for a long time inexplicable. At times it takes on a blood-
red tint, which in every age has startled and alarmed the
vulgar.

From the remotest times men have sought for the cause
of this phenomenon, which wore the look of a prodigy, and
it was only explained on some strange hypothesis or other.
But since the discovery of the microscope it has been
thoroughly investigated, and it has been shown that the
redness of the water depends upon the presence of ex-
tremely small plants and animals, which, under the influence
of certain atmospheric conditions, multiply in such abund-
ance, that the mind only with difficulty realizes the mar-
vellous nature of their procreation.

A Belgian savant, M. Morren, after collecting together
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 23

nearly all that had been written on the subject of red water
from the days of Moses up to our own, gives a. list. of
twenty-two species of animals, and almost as many plants,
capable of communicating this blood colour.

When Ehrenberg planted his tent by the shore of the
Red Sea, he had the rare good fortune to behold this sea
tinged with the blood-red colour to which, from the re-
motest antiquity, it has owed its name. At this very time
its waves deposited on the shore a gelatinous matter of a

 

12. The Red Trichodesmia (Trichodesmia rubra) seen under the Microscope.

beautiful purple colour, which the great Prussian naturalist
recognized as being composed of only one microscopic alga,
the Red Trichodesmia, the sole cause of this celebrated
phenomenon.

Water is not the sole domain of microscopic animalcules.
They are met with in the earth, in masses the capacity of
which exceeds all powers of calculation. Certain species,
the extreme minuteness of which does not equal the 1500th
part of a millimetre,’ form in some damp places, living beds
beneath the soil which are often several yards in thickness.

In North America these animated strata are found as
much as twenty feet thick, and among the heaths of Lune-
burg there are some more than forty feet in thickness. The
city of Berlin is built upon one of these beds of animalcules,

1 About the forty-five thousandth part of an inch; the millimetre being 0°39371

inch.
24 THE UNIVERSE.

which is even more than three times the size of those men-
tioned. Everything here is prodigious. The microscopic
creatures of which we are speaking are so minute that
10,000 could be ranged on the length of an inch, and the

 

13. Infusoria and Living Diatomacez from the Strata under Berlin, as seen with the
Microscope.

weight of each is scarcely equal to the millionth part of a
milligramme (‘0154 grain), for it has been calculated that
it requires 1,111,500,000 to weigh a gramme.?

Such a soil is naturally wanting in stability. This was
shown in the capital of Prussia, where it became necessary,

1A cramme is equal to 15-4440 erains. These enormous masses of Infusoria
are accounted for, by supposing that they are reproduced with miraculous rapidity
by way of subdivision. One of these animalcules divides into two; each of these
quickly divides into two others; in this way four individuals are speedily formed,
then eight, then sixteen, &c. This phenomenon takes place with such incredible
rapidity, that, according to Ehrenberg, one of the proto-organisms spoken of above
can produce a million in twenty-four hours, and in four days about 140 billions;
that is to say, nearly two cubic feet of the ground on which part of Berlin stands.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 25

in constructing new buildings, to sink the foundations very
deep, the subsidence of sundry houses having demonstrated
the utility of the precaution.

A traveller exploring an elevated mountain is sometimes
struck by a singular phenomenon, viz. the red colour of
the snow. This fact, of which Aristotle, the prince of
naturalists, long ago took notice, is due to the presence of
microscopic organisms; and it is a remarkable circumstance
that the same creature, the Discercea nivalis, seems to pro-
duce it everywhere; on the icy summits of the Alps and on
the snows of the farthest Polar regions to which man has
penetrated, for red snow is met with even in these horrible
realms.

Pantheism supposed life to be disseminated through
all the interstices of matter. Our microscopic animalcules
recall this theory; abounding, as they do, even where we
might least expect to find them. Although our enlightened
age has destroyed the hypothesis of panspermism, which
impregnated every part of creation with germs of living
organisms, yet it must be admitted, that if these impal-
pable metaphysical germs be only a ridiculous fiction, there
are nevertheless Microzoa which flutter hither and thither
even on the bosom of the atmosphere, which appears to us
so transparent and pure.

The invisible population composed of aérial organisms
constitutes, according to Humboldt, quite a special fauna.
But irrespective of the meteoric Infusoria, the existence of
which, according to this illustrious philosopher, cannot be
doubted, the atmosphere carries an immense quantity of
ordinary animalcules, both alive and dead, which its cur-
rents take up and transport to all parts of the globe.
Sometimes they abound to such an extent in the air as to

intercept the light and suffocate travellers. ;
26 THE UNIVERSE.

Ehrenberg, on analyzing a shower of fine dust which, at
a distance of 380 miles from the coast of Africa, enveloped
vessels in a thick fog, found eighteen species of silica-plated
animalcules.

But microscopic life does not invade only air, earth, and
water. It is met with again full of power and vitality in
the interior of animals and plants. No organ, however
vigorous or deeply protected, can elude it. Not only do
animalcules pour into every cavity of the animal which is
in communication with the outer world, but they are met
with in parts closely sealed. The vascular tree which dis-
tributes the blood through every part of the body, though
hermetically closed on every side, nevertheless at times
contains Microzoa mixed with the blood globules, ap-
parently living quite at their ease in the midst of the
incessant whirl of the circulation. Supposing that this
traverses its circuit every day more than 2800 times, and
that on account of the capillary ramification and the de-
flecting of the vessels this circuit is only four or five metres
in length, even then the animalcules are borne on a current
which carries them daily three leagues—a fearful journey
for such frail organisms!

Man himself does not imagine that, despite his pride,
an invisible race incessantly devours, and sometimes finishes
by destroying him. Vibriones, real, imperceptible tiny
eels, are constantly discovered in his intestines. His mouth
is always inhabited by myriads of animalcules, the micro-
scopic sepulchre of which is represented by the tartar that
loosens our teeth; for, in many cases, it is only formed of
incrustations of their calcareous skeletons.

Intestinal worms, not larger than the head of a pin,
gathering in colonies in the head of the sheep, occasion
certain death. They are the cause of that complaint
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. D7

known in our country districts as staggers, or more gene-
rally as turn-sick, because when they are attacked by it
they turn round perpetually. Innumerable legions of

 

14. Trichine gnawing a muscle, magnified two hundred diameters.

another worm, even still smaller, invade all our fleshy
structures, and sometimes multiply in them to such an ex-
tent, that as many as twenty-five have been counted in
one of the muscles of the ear which does not exceed a
grain of millet in size.’

This worm, which has been a great deal spoken about
of late years, is the Trichina spiralis. The pig is its
favourite abode; but it is sometimes seen in man, especi-
ally in those cases where, as in Germany, ham and sau-
sages are eaten raw. Once introduced within the frame
by means of the food, the Trichine multiply in the in-

1T allude here to the Zrichina spiralis, a little microscopic worm, twisted
spirally, which has occasioned numerous fatal accidents in some parts of Germany.
Physiologists know that it is propagated by the use of the flesh of animals in-
fected by it. In certain countries, where they suspect it is introduced within the

system by the use of raw pork as food, the authorities have already begun to
interdict the use of the latter article. This is the case in some parts of Prussia.
28 THE UNIVERSE.

testines, and their little ones invade the muscles to such
an extent, that as many as six or eight have been dis-
covered in each segment seen in the field of the micro-

 

15. Female Trichina depositing her young, magnified six hundred diameters.—
From Dr. Pennetier.

scope. A frightful death is the result: we are devoured
still living by these imperceptible worms, and no human
power can arrest their work.

Thus the dominion of the Microzoa has no bounds, but
immensity itself.

CHAPTER ILI.
THE ANTEDILUVIAN INFUSORIA.

The prodigious abundance of the Infusoria during cer-
tain geological periods is one of the most extraordinary
facts that the study of nature offers. Although, accord-
ing to the computations of Ehrenberg, there are some-
times more than a million of these animals in a cubic
inch of chalk, yet they swarmed in such numbers, and
were so miraculously prolific, at the era of this formation,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. ‘ 29

that, in spite of their extreme minuteness, some stratified
rocks, entirely made up of their calcareous carapaces,
constitute at the present time mountains which take an
important place in the mineral crust of the globe.

Again, microscopists have recently made known a wholly
unexpected fact. They have shown that some silicious
rocks, known by the name of tripolis, and which to all
appearance were homogeneous, are almost exclusively
composed of the skeletons of several species of Infu-
soria belonging to the family of Bacillaria. These skele-
tons have so faithfully preserved the form of the animals
from which they were generated, that men have been
enabled to compare them with our living species, and
recognize that they had the closest analogy with these.

This remarkable discovery is due to Ehrenberg. He
communicated it to Al. Brongniart on the occasion of
a journey the latter made to Berlin. This unexpected
revelation so excited the illustrious mineralogist that he
wrote the following words to the Academy of Sciences :—
“T have seen all these marvels. I have compared them
with the beautiful drawings of living species made by M.
Ehrenberg, and I can no longer retain the slightest doubt.”

Thus it is demonstrated that rocks which belong to the
most ancient epochs of life on our globe, and which some-
times contain strata of vast magnitude, are only so many
eraveyards of the Infusoria. The mind grows bewildered
in trying to find out in what mysterious way so many
invisible animalcules were able to form such extraordinary
heaps of corpses.

The city of Richmond, in North America, is the centre
of one of these districts, where, according to the beautiful
saying of Shelley, every grain of dust was once endued
with life. The deposit of microscopic skeletons attains a
oO

30 THE UNIVERSE.

depth of several hundred yards. If as many human
mummies were laid one upon another they would form
a mountain the height of which would almost equal a
semi-diameter of the earth! (W. de Fonvielle).

LZ
al

EE IED
Z fils Tra
7a oT
RACINE

EEN DED «

SIM
We
Ig

23

ey//!

 

16. Infusoria in Tripoli, from Richmond, N. America, as seen with the Microscope.

It is very easy to verify these statements. The reader
has only to scrape with a knife the surface of a morsel
of one of these tripolis, to let the dust fall on a plate
of ‘glass, and to examine it with the microscope after
having mixed it with a little water. He will be aston-
ished to see only carapaces of animalcules.

The confirmation of what we have said is chiefly met
with in the tripoli of Bilin in Bohemia, and in those of
the Isle of France.

The learned Schleiden calculated that a cubic inch of
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 31

the former contains, in round numbers, forty-one millions
of animalcules, and as the schists of Bilin extend over a
surface of not less than eight to ten square leagues, and
are from two to fifteen feet thick, what an amount of
vital activity there must have been in this region to
produce such a mass of imperceptible skeletons!

Some tripolis of a red colour are employed in house-
painting; others serve for cleaning our plate, dish-covers,
&c. <A few years ago people little thought that the
rose-colour with which we decorate our dwellings was
due to the skeletons of invisible animalcules, and that it

 

17. Skeletons of Silicious Infusoria, seen under the Microscope.

was they which, from their silicious nature, enabled us
to give a beautiful polish to so many articles of copper.
It is with the osseous structures of myriads of animals
that we scour our cooking utensils!

Not only do the Infusoria enter into the composition
of the porous rocks, but we meet with them even in the
most compact that are known, such as the silex, which
forms our hardest pebbles and gun-flints. Mr. White,
in a memoir read before the Microscopical Society of
London, described twelve species in the flint of the chalk.

The miraculous abundance of this once living dust in
the ancient epochs of our globe is fully shown in the
sd) THE UNIVERSE.

colouring of certain rocks. According to Marcel de
Serre, rock-salt, which is sometimes tinged with red, only
owes its tint to the microscopic animals which lived in
the waters wherein it was formed. This savant also tells
us that cornelians owe their beautiful red colour to the
presence of Infusoria, a fact irrefragably proved by an
inspection of some of these stones, embedded in which the
skeletons of different animalcules can be discovered.

CHAPTER III.
FOSSIL MEAL AND THE EARTH-EATERS.

In several parts of the world the dearth of sources of
food compels men to nourish themselves with certain kinds
of earth which possess a true nutritive power.

Travellers are too unanimous on this point to allow of
our doubting it. The fact too was known at a far more
distant epoch than is generally supposed, for it is men-
tioned in the old and curious book of Naudé in the defence
of the great men accused of magic. It is there said that
certain earths of the Valley of Hebron are good to eat.

Towards the mouth of the Orinoco, the Ottomacs, at
certain seasons of the year, nourish themselves to a great
extent with a fat ferruginous clay, of which they consume
as much as a pound and a half a day. Spix and Martius
say that a similar custom is found on the banks of the
Amazon; and those learned travellers relate that the
natives there eat this earth even when there is no lack of
more substantial food. We know also that an edible clay
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 30

is sold in the markets of Bolivia; and lastly, Gliddon assures
us that there are a tolerably large number of earth-eating
tribes in North America, especially among the negroes
spread through the forests of Carolina and Florida.
Naturalists, struck with these accounts, were anxious
to make out the composition of these edible earths, and

 

18, Microscopic view of Infusoria in Mountain-meal of Ebsdorf.}

to their astonishment discovered that some of them were
nothing else than species of tripolis, or clays, containing
a considerable number of fresh-water Infusoria or micro-
scopic shells; so that we may assume that these alimentary

'In Europe the most celebrated deposits of mountain-meal are those of Lap-
land, of Degerné and Lollhagysyén in Sweden, of Ebsdorf in the Lunenburg
Heath, and of Santafiora in Tuscany. Smaller deposits are found in Greece,
Hungary, Bohemia, France, and elsewhere. I myself discovered one in 1846 at
Loulé in South Portugal. Many of these accumulations of mountain-meal are of
great importance to man, being mixed with common meal and Sea as food,
34 THE UNIVERSE.

rocks owe their properties to animal matter which they
have retained, and that it is this which furnishes man with
this truly antediluvian food, composed of the remains of
microscopic animals.

But the revolutions of the earth have not stopped here;
they have now and then produced a perfect fossil animal-
ized meal. There is nothing requisite but to make it into
bread. In fact, it is well known that, in times of dearth,
the Laplanders nourish themselves with a white mineral
dust, which they substitute for cereal products. Retzius,
who examined this meal, found that it is composed of
nineteen species of Infusoria, analogous to those which’
now live in the neighbourhood of Berlin; and the learned
professor has even shown that this skeleton dust, which
is spread equally through Finland and Sweden, owes its
nutritive qualities to a certain amount of animal substance
which chemical analysis detected after so many, many
ages !

Thus modern science throws her vivid light upon a
crowd of facts which till our day remained hidden in dark-
ness.
though the substance possesses no conceivable alimentary properties. In Europe
it is only the mountain-meal of Lapland and Sweden that is so used. Of the moun-
tain-meal of Lollhagysyén, for example, there are every year many hundred wag-
gon-loads consumed. Many of these deposits are especially interesting on this ac-
count, that their upper beds consist of diatoms that are still living. To this class
belongs the deposit not far from Ebsdorf in the Lunenburg Heath, which is about
30 feet in thickness, and, according to Ehrenberg, is composed of some thirty dif-
ferent species of diatoms. The prevailing species is, however, Synedra acuta,
whose hard coverings appear in the form of long ladder-like bodies. Next to it
the most conspicuous are Pinnularia inequalis (the crooked, ship-formed bodies,

marked with cross-lines), and Gallionella varians (the large round discs).—
Willkomm, Die Wunder des Mikroskops.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 35

CHAPTER IV.
CITIES BUILT OF MICROSCOPIC SHELLS.

When in following our studies progressively we pass
from organisms so small as absolutely to escape the eye,
to those the shell of which approaches a pin’s head in
size, we see that these latter have really influenced geo-
logical phenomena, which have something prodigious in
them.

This is the case with the Miliole, little shells which
owe their name to the fact that their size does not exceed
that of a grain of millet, and indeed is often less. They
were so numerous in the Parisian seas, that in settling
down they formed mountains, which are now quarried
to build our towns: the greatest part of the stone in
the houses of Paris is only composed of the carapaces
of molluscs, heaped up and closely cemented together;
so that one may say without hyperbole that our splendid
capital is built of microscopic shells.

An observation by M. Defrance will give an idea of
the minuteness of the Stone Miliola, the species which
principally constitutes the coarse limestone used in
building. He has computed that a box with a capacity
of a cubic line would contain as many as ninety-six!

What a mystery envelops the life of these fragile
shells, which, in spite of their insignificant size, have
played such a great part in the telluric phenomena of the
tertiary epoch! Nature here reveals her infinite power
36 THE UNIVERSE.

by regaining, through prodigious fecundity, what she loses
in bulk. Hence, as Lamarck has said, the vestiges of
some microscopic creatures have had more influence upon

 

19. Magnified Miliola with its Capillary Appendages projected.

the crust of the globe than those of elephants, rhinoceroses,
and whales, the size of which astonishes us.

We have seen certain invisible organisms or sundry
microscopic shells produce great stratified rocks. If we
now examine other molluscs of the same group, but some-
what more ample in size, the nummulites, we are still more
astonished at the vast phenomena to which they have
given rise. We see them produce lofty chains of moun-
tains.

The name of nummulites comes from their flattened
discoidal form, which resembles that of a piece of money
or nummulus. It is from this appearance that they have
acquired the name of numismatic stones, by which they
are commonly known. Many of these shells are very
small; others attain the size of a lentil, a seed which they
often resemble exactly.

These animals have accordingly played a great part at
different geological epochs. They are met with in prodi-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 3V

gious quantities in the secondary and tertiary beds, and
they abounded to such an extent in the seas which over-
flowed some of our continents, that their carapaces, by
mere aggregation, have formed imposing prominences.

 

20. 1, Rock of the Arabian Chain formed by Agglomerated Nummulites used for building
the Pyramids of Egypt; 2, 3, Interior View of Nummulites; 4, Nummulites of which the
Sphinx is exclusively composed (Lybian Chain).

Throughout a vast extent these really constitute the
Arabian chain which extends along the Nile; there they
are so numerous, and heaped up in such a manner, that
there is scarcely any matrix to bind them together. In
many regions of Upper Egypt which I have traversed, the
38 THE UNIVERSE.

soil of the desert only consists of a thick bed of nummulites,
in which the foot of the traveller and the camel slipped and
sank deep at every step.

Paris is, as we have said, built solely of shells; this is
also the case with the Sphinx and the celebrated Pyramids
of Egypt. The immense courses of the latter, neither the
transportation nor the raising of which to such a vast
height is explained by art, were brought from the Arabian
chain, and are composed solely of nummulites. Many of
these exactly resemble lentils in their form and size; this
coincidence has given rise to strange mistakes. Time,
gnawing the surface of these gigantic monuments, has
gathered enormous masses at their bases, where they im-
pede the footsteps of the traveller. In the time of Strabo
it was maintained that these were the remains of seeds
used as food by the ancient workmen, who had abandoned
them, and which had fossilized by the action of time. But
the Greek geographer refuted this vulgar tradition, and in
his description of Egypt he classes the nummulites among
the petrifactions, calling to mind that in his own country,
the Pontus, there were hills full of tuff stones similar to
lentils.

The stone of Laon, often employed in our buildings, is
equally composed of masses of nummulites.

We have said that extremes are met with everywhere;
we have already found them among the molluscs, creatures
disinherited, as it were, by creation. We have spoken of
microscopic shells; we proceed to speak of some colossal
ones.

One of these in particular has acquired a certain celebrity
on account of its size and the peculiar use to which it has
been put. It is the gigantic Tridacna, commonly known
as the “font,” because it is sometimes employed in our
“ydersoqoyd & Worg—"yddsq jo pruvasg PeOIt) aYY puv xurydy oy4 Jo Mata "1g

 
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 41

churches to contain the consecrated water. But those
which we see are far from giving us an idea of the animal.
The great Tridacnze, which are only detached from the rocks
by cutting their cable with an axe, sometimes weigh more
than five hundred pounds. In the archipelago of the
Molucea Islands these conchological giants are not rare.
The natives eat them like our oysters, to which they are

 

22. Gigantic Tridacna, used in the Moluccas as a Bathing-tub.

analogous, and the flesh of one is a sufficient meal for
twenty people. Their thick valves, which are sometimes
five feet long, serve as regular calcareous troughs for the
inhabitants, which nature offers them ready cut and _pol-
ished, and which, according to Péron, they often use for
feeding pigs and other animals. At other times they

convert them into baths for their children.
6
42 THE UNIVERSE.

Some antediluvian ammonites were of even more gigan-
tic proportions. Buffon speaks of one, the diameter of
which was equal to that of a carriage-wheel, and which
was used for a millstone.

Finally, if the abysses of the sea do not harbour the
monsters with which the imagination of some chroniclers
has peopled them, we certainly sometimes discover in the
ocean molluscs of prodigious dimensions, the fleshy mass
of which is not less than five to six metres! in length, with-
out reckoning the arms which crown the head. Such was

 

9

the polypus (Sepia) which the steamer A/ecton met lately

3. Fossil Ammonites.

(in 1861) between Madeira and the Canary Islands. Its
weight was estimated at more than 2000 kilogrammes,”
but they could not attack it vigorously enough to capture
it, as Captain Bouyer was afraid it might upset the boats,
by clasping them in its formidable limbs armed with
suckers. It was impossible to get it except by piecemeal.
This encounter, which strongly impressed the sailor, led
him to end his narrative with these words.

‘Now, that I have seen this strange animal with my
own eyes I can no longer refuse credence to the tales of navi-
gators. I suspect the sea has not yet told all it has to tell,
and holds in reserve some remnants of its perished races;
or that, in its ever-active crucible, it still elaborates un-
heard-of forms, with which it may appal the mariner, and
supply a theme for mysterious legends of the ocean.”

1 Sixteen to twenty feet. * 4414 Ibs, avoirdupois.
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THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 45

CHAPTER V.

THE MONAD.

What a mysterious abyss is expressed by this single
word monad! Like a sand in movement this impalpable
dust of animalcules, this first expression of creative power,
is only revealed to us by the microscope, and we still only
perceive it as a mass, for its individuality often escapes us.
The extreme minuteness of the monad seems to point it
out as an element of the most hidden phenomena of life.
How often have philosophers looked upon animal life of
the highest order as being merely the representative of an
agglomeration of monads!

In point of fact these Microzoa were looked upon by
Buffon and some other naturalists as organic molecules, the
agglomeration of which, presided over by fixed laws, con-
tributed to the formation of plants and animals. After the
time of the immortal overseer of the Jardin du Roi, Oken
upheld the same opinion, maintaining that large animals
were aggregates of monads; an idea which, as the reader
will perceive, seems to be only a repetition of the famous
hypothesis of atoms which we owe to Leucippus; which, after
having flourished in antiquity, is seen shedding its latest
gleams of light upon the writings of Kepler and Descartes.

The monads, true living atoms, are so extremely small,
that they can only be seen by the help of the greatest

1 The supporters of the famous atomic system, which played such a great part
in both ancient and modern philosophy, maintained that the ceaseless production
46 THE UNIVERSE.

magnifying power. They are met with in all kinds of
animal and vegetable steepings, and their number is often
so prodigious, that they all seem to touch each other in
the drop of liquid in which they move; it is astonishing to
see that they do not stifle one another. A single drop
sometimes contains more of them than there are inhabitants
on the globe.

 

25. Monads.

These animalcules are sometimes punctiform, and show
no internal organization; but in some of them Ehrenberg,
the true prince of microscopists, remarked that there are
multiple stomachs like little elongated sacks, opening into
a common mouth. In others a long movable filament is
seen.

We need not remark here that these animalcules, which
are complex creatures, have no connection with the imper-
ceptible monads that played so great a part in philosophy
from Epicurus down to Leibnitz, and which the latter, in
his AMonadology, defined as a simple substance which has
of planets and of all the living creatures on them was due to the fortuitous
concourse of atoms.

Leucippus, and even more, Epicurus, brought this system into vogue. Though

defended by Kepler, Descartes, and Gassendi, modern science has completely
overthrown it.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. A’

neither extent, figure, nor capability of being divided; re-
presenting only the atoms of nature or the elements of
things.

CHAPTER VI.
RESURRECTIONS—THE PHENIX AND PALINGENESIS.

Some learned men want to remain absolutely as men
were in the last century—they must have something mar-
vellous. They accept without hesitation the charming little
histories with which the rhetorical physiologists of that
day embellished their epistolary correspondence, in which
genius and hyperbole predominated by turns. Now that
the precision of our instruments has rendered our observa-
tions a hundred-fold more exact, these savants obstinately
persist in carrying us back to an epoch at which experi-
ment had barely escaped from its swaddling-clothes.

Some still believe, with Spallanzani and Fontana, that
mummies can he resuscitated—a monstrous scientific
heresy!

To others the legend of the phenix is still a reality: they
believe that certain Infusoria are incombustible.

The following experiment was one day made at Paris.
A zoologist placed on the bulb of a thermometer some
earth containing a certain number of little microscopic
animals called tardigrades, on account of the extreme
slowness and awkwardness of their gait. The instrument
was then thrust into a stove, and when the mercury rose
from 145° to 153° Centig. (or from 293° to 306° Fahr.), it
48 THE UNIVERSE.

was withdrawn. Afterwards, with the aid of suitable
precautions, they reanimated the animalcules which were
found on the bulb.

All present concluded from this experiment that the
tardigrades were almost incombustible, and that they
miraculously resisted a temperature of 145° and even 153°
Centig. (or 293° and 306° Fahr.)!

The miracle of these modern children of the furnace
has lessened in proportion as it has been more studied,
just as the stature of the Patagonians has diminished
since men have seen more of them.

The tardigrades had, it is true, been plunged into a
stove heated from 145° to 153° Centig. (or 293° to 306°
Fahr.) But if they issued from it alive it was because
their frames had never in reality been subjected to this
burning heat, which would have been enough to coagu-
late their fluids and dry up all the sources of life. The
thermometer, being extremely sensitive, quickly took on
the temperature of the medium into which it had been
plunged, but the earth which lay upon it, being a bad
conductor of heat, never reached this temperature by a
long way. This is the explanation of the pretended
prodigy.

It was only a deceptive appearance. We sometimes
see at our fairs fire-proof conjurors, but no person is in
error as to our power of resisting fire being limited.
Physiologists cite the statement of M. Berger, who saw
a man remain seven minutes in a stove heated to 109°

1 The experiments of which we are speaking here were made in 1841, in the
presence of Messrs. de Jussieu, Dumas, Milne-Edwards, and Quatrefages.

It has been clearly shown in the present day that they were entirely erroneous,
for the Biological Society, in their celebrated experiments, never saw a single
tardigrade resuscitated after being subjected to a temperature of only 100° Centig.
(212° Fahr.)
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 49

Centig. (228° Fahr.), that is to say, who supported a heat,
9° Centig. (16° Fahr.), higher than if he had been plunged
into a tub of boiling water. A young girl mentioned by
another savant resisted for ten minutes a heat of 112°
Réaumur. I witnessed a still more extraordinary fact.
During one of my visits to England, I saw a man walk
for several minutes in a long tunnel of fire, which looked
like the most formidable flaming furnace one can imagine.!

The case of the tardigrades was similar in the famous
experiment. Like the persons we have spoken of, if they

 

26. Animals believed to be capable of Resuscitation.—a Tardigrade; B Rotifera; c Anguillula.

issued living from their stove at 153° Centig. (806° Fahr.),
it was because its heat had never reached them, or it
would infallibly have burned them.

Garments skilfully prepared preserve the conjurors from
the fatal heat, to which they only expose themselves in
appearance; among the tardigrades the earth took the
place of the clothes. As the learned Ehrenberg said,
with great reason, sand and moss guarantee animalcules

1 The person mentioned above performed his experiments publicly at London,
in Cremorne Gardens. This veritable human phenix walked quietly through a

long tunnel of fire, arranged in the form of a cross, and having an opening at the

end of each of its arms. This tunnel, formed of a solid trellis work of iron,
7
50 THE UNIVERSE.

as completely against desiccation as a thick woollen
mantle protects the Arab from the burning heat of the sun.

This brief account will suffice to overthrow flatly the
incombustibility of the tardigrades; reason rejects, and
experiment condemns it.

But there is even a greater fondness for resurrections,
which are in fact still more marvellous.

This phenomenon, triply false, was the great attraction
of an entire generation; our fathers diverted themselves
with it, and learned men played on the credulity of their
pupils by means of it. Spallanzani and Bonnet refer to
it in their correspondence again and again: the former
even headed one of the chapters in his great work “Animals
which can be Killed and Resuscitated at Pleasure,” a title
which did not fail to attract his readers, and stimulate
their curiosity to the highest pitch.

Nevertheless, Spallanzani seems at times to have had
serious doubts on the subject of revivification, for in one
part of his writings he speaks of it as constituting the
most paradoxical truth that the history of the animal
kingdom offers us, and that we cannot manifest too much
dread of, or be too suspicious about, truths of this kind; a
very sensible remark.

This strange and thrilling question aroused men’s pas-
the roof of which rose a little above the head of the performer, was covered with
a heap of resinous wood. The human salamander began his promenade beneath
this at the time when the whole affair was a complete furnace, the flames of
which rose to a considerable height, and the heat of which compelled us to keep
at a considerable distance from it.

The garments of this incombustible being seemed to be of coarse cloth, and
at the time when he entered the furnace they showed a vermilion red. But
when he came out for the first time I was surprised to see that they had become
as white as snow. The head of the experimenter was protected by a thick
helmet furnished with glass eyes, and he seemed to carry in the folds of his

dress an apparatus for yielding fresh air, by means of which he breathed in the
midst of a combustion so intense, that one entirely lost sight of him.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 51

sions strongly, and we may safely say that for a whole
century it kept up a desperate war in the very heart of
the scientific world. Illustrious names figured in both
camps, and a full peace has not yet been signed.

At first there was a great rage in favour of the resur-
rectionists. The Abbé Spallanzani, who resolutely moved
in the van, braving the purgatory and thunders of the
Vatican, made numerous proselytes, and experimented
before any person. On the contrary Fontana, one of his
adherents, was more timid, and with great reason recoiled
before the consequences which must naturally follow
resurrection. He only experimented in darkness and
concealment, with some confidential friends who went to
Florence. “He dare not write upon the subject,” said
the intellectual Dupaty, “he fears being excommunicated.
All the power of the grand-duke could not save him.”

In fact, materialism rears its head behind these resur-
rections. Is not the restoration of life to a dead being,
by making it imbibe a little water, subordinating existence
to chemico-physical powers? Is it not the greatest height
of heresy that it would be possible to profess ?

The revolting paradox upheld by the physiologist of
Pavia did not allow his conscience to be quite at rest, and
he, a prey to doubt and remorse, seems as if he wanted to
justify himself. ‘An animal,” he says, and the illustrious
abbé never spoke with more reason, “which revives after
death, and revives as often as one will, is a phenomenon so
unheard of that it appears improbable and paradoxical; it
confuses all our ideas of animal life.”

Antique credulity was wiser than modern science.
Pliny said that the phenix only revived once; our modern
palingenesists maintain that they can renew the revival of
the Rotiferze as often as they like!
52 THE UNIVERSE.

Three animalcules have especially acquired celebrity
in the annals of the resurrectionists. These are first of
all the Rotiferze, after them the Tardigrades, and then the
Anguillulz of our roofs.

The first are really very curious microscopic animals.
They are recognized at the first glance by two structures
like disks, which they protrude in front of their bodies,
and the ciliated borders of which closely resemble little
toothed wheels in movement. From this they are com-
monly called wheel-bearers. They live in great numbers
in the mosses which fasten themselves to the old tiles on
our roofs. There their existence is subjected to a host
of changes. When it is damp and the soil is steeped with
water, rendered tepid by the warmth, the Rotiferee are active
and lively, running about everywhere to seek their food.
But when a powerful sun heats the roof and dries the
mosses, they remain shrivelled up so long as this state of
things lasts, contracting themselves like a ball, and remain in
this condition, perfectly inanimate, till the rain revives them.

This kind of life, by compelling the animals to rest for
a considerable while contracted and motionless, has in-
duced the belief that they die at such times. This im-
pression was strengthened by the fact, that so soon as
ever they are placed in a drop of water, they swell, recover
animation, and again take on an active existence. This
very simple fact the believers in palingenesis looked upon
as a resurrection. But this pretended revival is only the
same phenomenon as is exhibited by the snail, which, when
placed in a dry spot, buries itself in its shell till a little
moisture is imparted to it.

It has been maintained that the contracted rotifer is
absolutely dry, and consequently dead, but this is not the
case. When it is thoroughly dried it never recovers.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. D3

The prestige of these resurrections was doomed to
vanish in the laboratory of the museum of natural history
at Rouen. Many of my pupils joined with me in bringing
back science to rational views. Professor Pennetier, by
his memorable labours, proved that the Anguillule do not
revive. M. Tinel did the same with the tardigrades, and I
myself as far as regards the rotifers.!

However, although faith in palingenesis has faded be-
fore exact experiment, we must admit that the Roti-
feree possess an extraordinary, and almost prodigious, vital
power of resistance. In mould which has been kept two
or three years, they can be seen lengthening and recover-
ing animation when they are placed in contact with a few
drops of water.

Many other animals exhibit a vitality not less remark-
able than that of the Rotiferze. However, as they are too
large to impose upon us in this way, it is not averred that
they resuscitate, but that they can go several years without

1Dr. Pennetier, in a series of valuable observations, has proved the complete
absurdity of resurrections in general. In his special experiments upon the An-
guillule he noticed, that so far from supporting complete desiccation, they suc-
cumbed at a heat of 70° Centig. (158° Fahr.)—See “Mémoire sur les Rotiféres,”
Ami des Sciences, 1859. ‘Mémoires sur les Tardigrades,” Ami des Sciences, 1859.
“Mémoire sur la Revivification des Rotiféres,” Soc. de Biologie, 1859, “Mé-
moire sur les Anguillules des Toits,” Soc. de Biologie, 1859. “Recherches sur les
Anguillules,” Amz des Sctences, 1860. ‘De la Reviviscence et des Animaux dits
Ressuscitants,” Actes du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Rouen, 1862.

M. Tinel, professor of physiology at the Medical School of Rouen, disproved the
revival of the tardigrades by showing that these animals perish at a temperature
below 80° Centig. (177° Fahr.), and consequently long before they reached com-
plete desiccation. ‘“M¢ém. sur les Rotiféres et les Tardigrades,” Soc. de Biologie.
“ Recherches sur les Tardigrades,” Union Médica’e, 1859.

Lastly, we ourselves, in a long series of experiments, demonstrated that the re-
surrection of the rotifers does not take place at all, and that they are only resusci-
tated when they were not dead. Desiccation carried to 90° Centig. (194° Fahr.)
infallibly kills them.—“Nouvelles Expériences sur les Animaux Pseudo-ressusci-
tants,” Actes du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Rouen. Lettres dans le Progres,
1859, et ?Ami des Sciences, 1859-60. Comptes-rendus de 0 Acad. des Sciences, 1859.
54 THE UNIVERSE.

eating. Sundry molluscs of the snail tribe hold this post-
tion, owing to the facility with which they bury and shelter
themselves in their shells.

Pupe, left forgotten in a box, have remained there four
years, cleaving to the walls in all the immobility of death,
and have been released from their torpor and recalled to
life by giving them a little nourishment. But the resur-
rectionists take care not to give these facts, of which an
ample supply may be found in the works of naturalists, for
fear of compromising their system; a weakness we may
certainly reproach them with.

The tales about the resurrection of the Rotifere are of
the same cast. If they revive after a long starvation, it is
because they were no more dead than the molluscs in
question. Encased, like them, in their envelope, and per-

In consequence of our experiments, the Biological Society also undertook a
series in order to verify the exactness of our assertions. Every time they con-
ducted the experiments with the precision which we first introduced into science,
it was found that not one animalcule could be revived.

It is true that iz one experiment the members of this society succeeded in bring-
ing a few rotifers to life again, after having exposed them for several minutes to
a temperature of 100° Centig. (212° Fahr.), a temperature which had been re-
garded as sufficient to produce complete desiccation of these animalcules. But in
this solitary case they only attained this result by violating the rigorous mode of
experiment which I look upon as an indispensable element, for they caused a sud-
den rise in the thermometer of 40° Centig. (72° Fahr.) See the remarkable re-
port of M. Broca on this subject. Etudes sur les Animaus Ressuscitants, Paris, 1860.

The charge I make against the learned author of this report is that of not
having plainly said, as he ought to have done, that the tardigrades, which he never
saw resist a heat of 100° Centig. (212° Fahr.), and the Anguillule, which perish at
amuch lower temperature, ought to be struck out of the list of animals which can
be resuscitated.

The rotifers do not resist a temperature of 100° Centig. (212° Fahr.) any better
when the experiment is conducted in such a way that they are really subjected to
this heat.

The revival of the wheel-animalcule after complete desiccation was denied, if
not disproved, in England by Mr. Gosse and others, we believe before the experi-
ments of M. Pouchet were made, though it is admitted that these experiments
gave the death-blow to the fallacy — Al the Year Round, vol. ii. p. 387.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. DD

haps even more hermetically, their life in this contracted
state is only supported by their organs still retaining suffi-
cient fluid to prevent existence from being extinguished.
When they are really dry and dead, not even a semblance
of resurrection is possible. To resuscitate a mummy is a
threefold absurdity—physical, physiological, and meta-
physical.

Physical, because those who have seen a mummy could
never imagine that tissues so ruined by desiccation can
recover their appearance and properties under the influ-
ence of moisture.

Physiological, because organs so changed could not take
on their functions again.

And finally metaphysical, because if a small quantity of
water could restore to a mummy all the intangible springs
of life, it would be the coping-stone of the most incom-
prehensible materialism. The phenix only lives as a myth,
and the dead no longer issue from their tombs at the voice
of Elijah.

Very naturally those physiologists whom one has seen,
in imitation of Dujardin, liken microscopic animalcules to
morsels of living gelatine, hailed the doctrine of palin-
genesis.

But, on the other hand, those men who have made
themselves illustrious by their immortal labours with the
microscope, such as Ehrenberg and Diesing, reduced this
inconceivable hypothesis to nullity. The former, in a com-
munication to me, with one stroke of his pen characterized
the error of the philosophers whom we are opposing. ‘“ They
only resuscitate,” he said, “animals which are not dead.”

But although belief in revivification has vanished in the
presence of reason and experiment, it must be admitted
that there were a host of extraordinary circumstances,
56 THE UNIVERSE.

which were quite calculated to mislead men’s minds very
easily indeed.

It is true we are, in our day, obliged to erase the charm-
ing romance of palingenesis, with which our forefathers
amused themselves. Still we must say that, although the
Rotiferze cannot be resuscitated when they are once dead,
their tenacity of life is one of the most extraordinary phe-
nomena. Their resistance to cold is something marvellous,
and we don’t even know where it stops; the lowest temper-
ature that we can obtain in our laboratories does not seem
to have any effect upon them. I have seen these animals
defy a cold which would kill a man a hundred times over.
Rotiferz placed in an apparatus where the temperature was
40° below zero Centig. (—40° Fahr.) issued from it full of
vitality.

The natural history of the Rotiferze is a marvel from be-
ginning to end. I have sometimes removed them quickly
from the freezing apparatus and thrown them into a stove
heated to 80° Centig. (176° Fahr.) When they emerged
from this they were seen to recover their animation and
run about full of life. In this twofold test and formidable
transition from cold to heat, these Microzoa passed rapidly
through a change of 120° Centig. (216° Fahr.) without
being in the least inconvenienced by it.

An ox could not bear with impunity what imper-
ceptible animalcules endure.!

1M. Broca remarks as follows on one of my experiments on this extraordinary
vital tenacity :—“ Of all the tests to which these revivable animals have been sub-
jected, the above is certainly the most astounding. Before this beautiful experi-
ment was performed by M. Pouchet, we had only a very indistinct idea as to the
power of resistance possessed by the tardigrades and rotifers, and it is almost in-
credible that, when so suddenly heated, in an instantaneous rise, indeed, of almost
100° Centig. (180° Fahr.), the sudden dilatation of the tissues did not produce rup-

ture of them. But we cannot resist the evidence, and we are bound to say that
M. Pouchet has discovered one of the most extraordinary properties of the rotifers
Oe
s“I

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

CHAPTER VIL
THE SPONGE AND THE FLINT.

These two names seem to form an antithesis, but not
so absolutely in natural history as might be supposed, for
sometimes one of these bodies is derived from the other.
But what connection can there be between our soft and
flexible sponges and the hard flint from which the steel
draws sparks? Let us see.

From Aristotle down to our days men have never known
to what kingdom the sponges should be relegated. <At
the present time some naturalists consider them as vege-
tables; others, on the contrary, rank them among the ani-
mals. There is even a third opinion, which views them as
belonging to both kingdoms at the same time.

Every sponge is composed of a mass, to all appearance
gelatinous, supported by an inextricable network of horny
filaments, or more rarely by a calcareous or silicious
framework.

Sponges are the lowest stage of animal life, lower even
than the monad. It is true they present very distinct
forms to our view, but nothing in them displays the indi-
viduality of their architects. They are all confounded
together in one glairy mass, the undulations of which are

/
and tardigrades.”—Broca, Ltudes sur les Animaux Ressuscttants. Paris, 1860, p.
59. Since that date I have succeeded in suddenly raising the temperature of the

pseudo-resuscitating animalcules 120° Centig. (216° Fahr.)
8
d8 THE UNIVERSE.

almost insensible; while the monad is clearly defined and
endowed with an active locomotion.

The vitality of the sponges is indeed of so doubtful a
kind, that they have only been classed in the animal king-
dom in consequence of deductions drawn from rational
indications. Of organs there is no trace.

   
     

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/
le

27. Sponge—Spongia Cyma.

Sponges are the most truly manifold in form of any
animals; they are met with of all shapes, all sizes, and all
colours.

Some branch out like trees; many resemble a funnel or
a trumpet; others are divided into lobes like great fingers;
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 59

for instance, the Neptune’s Glove; and there are some which
are known by the name of sea-mugfs and sea-tapers, on
account of their form.

A closely-allied variety produces regular sponge monu-
ments, which grow from one to two metres high (three feet
three inches to six feet and a half) on the submarine rocks.
They have a narrow stalk, which at a certain height expands
considerably, and gives the structure the look of a cup,
symmetrically hollowed out and exactly like an immense
drinking goblet. To such a colossal vase the imagination
of the sailor could only give one name, that of the re-
doubtable god of the sea; this living vase is the Cup of
Neptune!

I never see one of these gigantic sponges without hum-
bling myself before the wisdom of Providence. This truly
monumental work is erected solely by myriads of Polypi,
fragile animals shrunk within their holes, and only half
issuing in order to plunge their imperceptible arms into
the waves. And who directs and guides the invisible hands
of these Polypi, separated from one another, and often a
metre (a yard) apart, so as to give their works such harmo-
nious symmetry? Who, when the narrow stalk is finished,
tells its population that from henceforth they must widen
it? Who tells them when the time is come for hollowing
the vase, and when it is the season for thinning its edges
and adorning the exterior with elegant ribs? And lastly,
what supreme inspiration teaches a multitude of workmen,
so scattered and all caged in their little cells, that they
must mould the cup in all its artistic proportions!

I can understand the bee building her cell; I can un-
derstand her foresight, and how a work can be arranged
where all the workmen can see, communicate with, and
comprehend each other; but I admit that all seems to me
60 THE UNIVERSE.

incomprehensible in the architectural work of Neptune's
Cup. My mind is overwhelmed and confounded. This
magnificent construction is the noblest challenge one can

 

 

28. Neptune's Cup—Raphidophora Patera.

offer the school of materialism. Do the physico-chemical
sciences explain how these animals communicate with
each other so as to finish their common habitation, for it
is absolutely necessary that all should be governed by one
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 61

dominant idea? Certainly not. There is nothing but utter
feebleness in these presumptuous theories, the audacity of
which now-a-days alone makes them successful.

We have placed the flint and sponge together, one of
the hardest of our stones with one of the softest of animals,
because the one seems in some cases to be only a transfor-
mation of the other.

Certain sponges, in lieu of having a soft and horny
framework, are only composed of little hollows or fibres of
flint, and accordingly, so far from showing the flexibility of
those we ordinarily use, they are excessively fragile, and
the least pressure breaks them like glass.

When this peculiarity is taken into account, the proxi-
mity of the sponge to the flint appears less extraordinary,
for the detritus of the zoophyte was adequate to produce
the other by its condensation. Indeed, some geologists
think that the flints of the chalk proceeded, if not entirely,
at least in great part from the sponges and Infusoria which
inhabited the cretaceous seas. The flints of some coun-
tries even contain the debris of sponses they are also found
in the jaspers and agates.'

Thus a connection is established between one of the
most fragile organisms in creation, and one of the hardest
rocks—the sponge and the flint.

1 It is to Mr. Bowerbank that we are indebted for having shown that the flints
of different localities contain the remains of sponges. He also demonstrated that
the moss-agates of Germany and Sicily owe the peculiarity from which they are
named to the presence of sponges.— Trans. Geol. Soe. v. 4.

Lyell, speaking of flint, says, “As to that found in the tripoli and flint of the
chalk, it may be looked upon as proceeding, in great part at least, if not entirely,

from the decomposition of the Infusoria, sponges, and divers other bodies.”—
Nouveaus Elements de Géologie. Paris, 1837, p. 99.
BOOK Il.

THE ARCHITECTS OF THE SEA.

When ancient philosophy maintained, with Thales, that
everything had issued from the sea, it was quite right.

The sea possesses a fecundity which the earth in no
way approaches. So magnificent is it, that as Christopher
Columbus said, ‘the tongue and the hand do not suffice
to describe it.” Life shows itself everywhere; animates
its darkest abysses, and displays itself in profusion on
its surface. As we have seen, we find its fragile repre-
sentatives at a depth of 12,000 feet. Others love to be
only in the midst of the waves, as, for imstance, the
swimming fucus, which is seen forming immense meadows
that stop the ships.

The largest of these fucus banks is found in the path
of mariners sailing from Europe to America, between the
Azores, the Canary, and Cape Verd Islands. Mention
is already made of it in the Phoenician traditions, where
they speak of a herbose or gelatinous sea, situated beyond
the Pillars of Hercules. Aristotle says that the boldest
mariners of antiquity, startled at its appearance, durst
not cross its boundary.

This immense plain of Algz, which seems to bind the
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 63

waves, well-nigh hindered the discovery of America. The
progress of the vessels of Columbus being seriously im-
peded at this spot, the crews alarmed, and dreading

       

 
 

as

8

29. Sargassum or Swimming Fucus—Fucus bacciferus.

that they would never be able to extricate themselves,
mutinied, imperiously demanding to return to their
country.

There is one very remarkable phenomenon connected
with this bank of floating sea-weed, which is, perhaps,
five or six times as large as France, and that is its con-
stant stay in one given spot during so many centuries, in
64 THE UNIVERSE.

spite of the perpetual agitation of the waves, and the
great movements of the mass of the ocean.*

CHAPTER IL.
THE CORAL AND ITS BUILDERS.

Coral, celebrated as far back as in the songs of Orpheus,
and considered as one of the most precious productions of
the sea, has beheld ages roll away without diminishing its
reputation. The Gauls and Indians decorated their swords
and armour with it; now-a-days it is only employed in
female ornaments. In one country the daughters of Nubia
load their ebony shoulders with long necklaces of coral,
the clear red gleam of which, in another land, brings out
in full relief the satiny white necks of the beautiful Cir-
cassians. x

But it has required twenty centuries of incessant grop-
ing in the dark to unveil the mysterious nature of this
coral.

1“Tf” says Maury, “we throw into a vessel filled with water pieces of cork,
grains of corn, or any other floating bodies, and communicate a rotatory move-
ment to the water, all these light bodies will collect towards the centre, because
the water is less agitated there than elsewhere. It is the same thing with respect
to the Atlantic Ocean, only that it is a vessel of larger dimensions. Its waters
are set in movement partly by the colossal Gulf Stream which extends from Western
India to the confines of the Icy Sea of the north, partly by the equatorial current
which traverses the Atlantic Ocean from America to Africa. The central point
of rest is just about where we find the bank of Algz we have been speaking
of. It will thus be understood that these do not necessarily grow where they

are found; it is indeed much more probable that they are driven from the storm-
beaten shores towards the calm centre of the Atlantic basin.”
THE. ANIMAL KINGDOM. 65

It is a branched polypus-trunk, of a beautiful red colour,
which is as hard as the most compact rocks, and, like them,
capable of taking a fine polish. When it is withdrawn from
the sea, of which it only inhabits the great depths, it is,
owing to the arrangement of its branches, precisely like a
bush in miniature, and a section of its stem presents con-
centric layers analogous to those of certain trees. Its
branches are covered with a soft rose-coloured bark, and
display here and there small holes, in each of which resides
one of their builders. These are so many Polypi, which,
when they expand, wear all the appearance of pretty little
flowers of a beautiful white colour, with eight divisions
spread out like rays, and the borders of which are orna-
mented with a fringe of cilie.

It was this deceitful appearance which made naturalists
waver so about the nature of coral.

Its extreme hardness, and the beautiful polish it takes,
led some observers to look upon it as a simple mineral.

But the idea which seemed to predominate over all
others was that of coral being only a submarine shrub.
This was the opinion of Pliny and Dioscorides; and these
two great scholars, seeing it was so hard and compact,
added that the shrub only made its appearance in this
indurated form, because it became suddenly petrified
when brought into contact with the air, as it issued from
the waves.

The sagacious traveller Tournefort gained in respect
to this subject no knowledge from his wanderings in the
East, the native land of this celebrated polypidom. He
also took it to be a plant, and even had it engraved under
this heading in one of the plates of his magnificent work.
It is there placed in the twenty-second class of the vege-

table kingdom, in the section which he entitles “of the
9
66 THE UNIVERSE,

marine or fluriatile plants, the flowers and fruits of which
are generally unknown.”

For a moment, but alas only for a moment, the opinion
of the French botanist seemed to be confirmed by the
most strict observation. In the eighteenth century Count
Marsigli announced to the scientific world that he had

 

30. Coral—Caryophillia ramea,

discovered the flowers of the coral, and that consequently
its vegetable nature could no longer be called in question.
By placing branches of this polypoid in sea-water, imme-
diately after they had been fished up, the Italian naturalist
saw the kind of buds which cover their surface, open like
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 67

so many eight-petaled flowers, formed of elegant white
and starred corollz, outlined upon the reddish bark of the
stems. Marsigli doubted no longer; these were the flowers
of the paradoxical shrub; he had solved the problem left
unsettled by Tournefort. In his joy, when announcing his
discovery to the assembled Academy of Sciences, to whom
he had forwarded his specimens, he wrote to the president,
“T send you some branches of coral covered with white

 

31. A, Polypi of Coral, magnified; B, Ciliated Ovule; co, Larva.

flowers. This discovery has made me pass for almost a
sorcerer in the country; no person, not even the fishermen,
having seen anything similar.”

The illustrious and learned assembly was convinced,
but its convictions and the repose of Marsigli were only
to be of brief duration. Not long after men thought they
had really grasped the truth, Peyssonnel, a French phy-
sician, who in 1725 happened to travel along the coast of
Barbary, having been present at the coral-fishing, and
having instituted some lengthy investigations on the sub-
ject, discovered that the pretended flowers of the coral
68 THE UNIVERSE.

were only so many little animals or Polypi, analogous to
those of the madrepores; and which, like them, were really
the builders of the false stony shrub.

Convinced of the exactness of his observations, Peysson-
nel in his turn disclosed them to the Academy of Sciences,
but the Academy, still fascinated by the coral flowers
which the Italian count had sent, gave no heed to the
discoveries of the French physician, and showed this in
the most delicate manner.

Réaumur, having been commissioned by this learned
body to report upon the discovery, thought he ought not,
out af compassion, as he said, to name the author; and
when he acknowledged the receipt of his memoir, wrote
to him ina tone of pity and irony. But the position as-
sumed by the sedate and conscientious Barnard de Jussieu
was even more unpardonable. He addressed a letter to
Peyssonnel, without any silly raillery it is true, which was
indeed totally foreign to his character, but quite as dis-
couraging as that of the entomologist. De Jussieu was,
however, the more culpable of the two, for the most super-
ficial examination of the pretended coral flowers would
have shown him his mistake. All the fundamental parts
of the floral apparatus were wanting, but it appears the
botanist did not give himself the trouble to look at it.

The affair made a great stir, and it became necessary,
nolens volens, to unravel it. As soon as it was cleared up,
men perceived that it was the simple country physician
who had been right and the Academy that had been wrong.
The coral flowers turned out to be only Polypi, and the
stony shrub a madrepore, sculptured and fashioned by
tiny marine animals.

Such is the truth so far as regards the nature of coral.
Let us revert to the second error which tarnishes its history.
 

32. Fishing for Coral in the Mediterranean,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 71

It was difficult then to understand how so hard a body
was still merely vegetable tissue. The fishermen, follow-
ing the ancient tradition, explained the matter perfectly
and all the world gave credence to what they said. They
maintained that this marine shrub, so long as it is under
water, is not harder than analogous terrestrial plants, but
that it hardens suddenly when brought in contact with the
air. This strange opinion was deeply rooted among the
common people, and ranked among the best established
facts.

However, M. Nicolai, inspector of fisheries, wished to
verify the whole affair.

He made one of his coral-fishers dive and see what was
really the consistence of the polypoid; the man brought
back word that the coral was as hard in the sea as in the
air. But such is the empire of prejudice, that M. Nicolai
only half-believed his servant, and finally decided to dive
also and satisfy himself as to the facts. He did so, and
found out that the polypoid is really just as hard in the
midst of the waves.

Thus have men for two thousand years oscillated in
this hopeless way, before determining the true nature of
coral.

All this time was requisite to prove that it is only a
simple marine polypoid, and that in the gulfs of the sea
which it inhabits, and from whence the fishermen tear it
with their nets, it is as hard as when it is fashioned into
those bracelets and rich necklaces, the vermilion of which
forms such a charming contrast with the white skins of our
most attractive women.’

1 The natural history of coral has been completed quite recently by M. Lacaze-
Duthiers. This zoologist observed that the individuals scattered over the
branches of the polypoid imitate in their sexual disposition an arrangement seen
2 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER II.

ISLAND. BUILDERS.

Without our suspecting it, myriads of animals, more
numerous than the cloud of stars in the Milky Way, work
silently in the depths of the sea, and accomplish works the
bulk of which astounds us. Their erections, to which
sailors commonly give the name of coral banks, are some-
times raised with surprising rapidity, making some parts
of the ocean unnavigable, which vessels had previously
gone through under full sail.

These submarine banks are only calcareous polypoids,
constructed by fragile animals not at all unlike very little
flowers, and which inhabit the innumerable little holes
wherewith the surface is spangled. But these obscure
artisans, as modest as they are laborious, frequently con-
ceal themselves from the eye; to see them we must have
recourse to the magnifying-glass.

in certain plants. Some are only males; others carry only female organs;
lastly there are some which bear both sexes at the same time and are hermaphro-
dite. The eggs of the coral are spherical and of a milk white, and very soon
after they have issued from the body of the mother move about actively and
seek out a favourable site to plant themselves upon.

Coral-fishing yields an ample return when properly carried on, coral being always
much sought after for the toilet, and commanding a high price. From official
returns it appears that on the coasts of Bona and La Calle only, 35,800 kilo-
grammes! of the precious polypoid were fished up in the year 1853, which, sold at
the rate of 60 francs the kilogramme, would yield 2,148,000 francs, or about
£85,920.

1 Amounting on a rough calculation to about 78,760 lbs., the kilogramme being computed
at 2 1b, 3 oz, 5. dr. avoirdupois.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 73

It is principally in the South Sea and the Red Sea that
the polypoids abound. At the approaches to the Maldive
Islands they form extraordinary masses, of not less extent
than the Alps according to the accounts of travellers.

After having described the methods by which the
Polypi raise their dangerous reefs so fatal to mariners,
Owen thus sums up as to the immensity of their labours.
“The prodigious surface over which the combined and
ceaseless toil of these little architects extends, ought to
be taken into consideration in order to understand the
important part they play in nature. They have built a
barrier of reefs 400 miles long round New Caledonia, and

5 2
another which extends along the north-east coast of
Australia 1000 miles in length. This represents,” adds
the illustrious zoologist, ““a mass in comparison with which
the walls of Babylon and the Pyramids of Egypt are
child’s toys. And these edifices of the Polypi have been
reared in the midst of the ocean waves, and in defiance of
tempests which so rapidly annihilate the strongest works
constructed by man.”?

Notwithstanding their extreme minuteness, the Polypi
have nevertheless, by their calcareous buildings, reacted
powerfully on the crust of the terrestrial globe. They
have modified it in two ways, by raising the bed of the

1 Messrs. Quoy, Gaymard, and Ehrenberg, however, without denying that
these Polypi have executed immense works in the sea, still think that their per-
formances have been much exaggerated. A modern observer fixes the growth of
the madrepore reefs at not more than a millimetre and a half, or about the twen-
tieth of an inch, yearly. M. Ehrenberg, who shares this opinion, thinks that the
masses of madrepore seen in the Red Sea were very likely contemporary with
the Pharaohs.

This illustrious observer maintains that it is not probable that harbours are
so rapidly obstructed by these living reefs as has been stated. He calls atten-
tion to the fact that the harbour of Tor, known to have been constructed about
1300 years ago, has not been in any way blocked up by the polypoids which

abound in the vicinity. i
74 THE UNIVERSE.

sea, and by forming large calcareous mountains with their
debris; in fact, when we examine the layers of which
these are composed, we perceive that they are formed
entirely of polypoids and bivalves which swarmed in the
ancient oceans of the globe.

Ground to dust by the furious waves, these creatures
have only here and there left a few traces to attest their
presence, and serve as a light to the modern investigators
of science.

Such is the opinion of Lyell and most modern geo-
logists. In support of this view it has been observed that
certain lagoons are filled with a calcareous mud, evidently
due to the detritus of polypoids, and that, so soon as this
is dried, it exactly resembles the chalk of our ancient
mountains.

To the action of the waves, the chief agent in trans-
forming polypoids and bivalves into calcareous strata, there
is joined another, much less energetic it is true, but
extremely curious. An observing man of genius, Mr.
Darwin, relates that all round the madrepore islands the
transparency of the water allows one to see shoals of fish,
principally of the genus Sparus, which feed on the tips
of the branched polypoids, exactly as flocks of sheep
brouse on the pasturage of our meadows. In order to
nourish themselves with the workman, they devour along
with him certain parts of his edifice; and as these are
absolutely indigestible, the result is, according to the
English savant, that a part of the chalky substance which
encumbers the bottom of the sea in the vicinity of the
madrepore reefs, comes from the defecations. When the
Spari are dissected, their alimentary canal is seen filled
with pure chalk.

The madrepore islands generally lie on an upheaval of
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 75

the bed of the sea. Volcanic action begins the work, and
the Polypi finish it; they bring the construction up to the
level of the waves. These islands always display a pecu-
liar configuration; they are nearly all circular, and there
is a crater-like depression in the middle. This peculiarity
seems to be owing to the fact, that the little workmen
can support their vital energies better where the water,
being agitated brings them a more ample supply of nour-
ishment. The animals in the centre, placed under different
conditions, wasted and languishing, can only raise their
living rampart more slowly.

In the Pacific Ocean, where a tolerably large number of
those islands are seen, the polypidoms reach the level of
the low tides, and after that the great surges raise the
middle part, by casting back upon it incessantly the frag-
ments which they tear away from the circumference.
When in the lapse of years the island rises above water,
the detritus of marine plants raises it still more, and the
virgin soil is speedily fecundated by seeds which the winds,
birds, and currents carry thither. Soon after man comes
to crown the handiwork of nature by raising dwellings on
the ruins of those of myriads of unseen beings. Then a
king arrives, who sits proudly upon his throne, amidst this
mass of skeletons of Polypi abandoned by the sea.

Two of the most celebrated travellers of our epoch,
Forster and Péron, think that these madrepore reefs and
islands are formed with extraordinary rapidity, and that a
few years suffice to materially change the depths of the
sea,and strew with dangerous rocks and impassable barriers
tracts of the ocean in which, but a little while previously,
navigators sailed in safety. These new lands sometimes
spring up with such celerity as to baftle all nautical science.
One of the straits in the approaches to Australia, which a
76 THE UNIVERSE.

few years ago only possessed twenty-six madrepore islands,
at present displays a hundred and fifty.

Geologists themselves have dwelt upon the power of
these builders of worlds, as our illustrious Michelet calls
them, which recast and changed the surface of the globe
at certain antediluvian periods. At that time they swarmed
in the immense seas which rolled their tumultuous waves
over almost all the lands now covered by our fields and
peaceful abodes. Some countries in Europe display remark-
ably large banks; ancient Germany and its sombre forests
rest on a vast cemetery of corals and madrepores.

If the Polypi, being such extremely little things as they
are, astonish us by the mighty fortresses with which they
fetter the ocean, we must admit that they are equally
worthy of our admiration when we look upon the task
intrusted to them in the midst of their watery solitudes.
Their nourishment only consists of the imperceptible debris
of animals scattered on every side in the waves, and hence,
as Buckland says, they have an important mission to fulfil
in the harmony of nature. It is to them that she has
confided the office of cleansing the waters of the sea, and
purging them of all those very slight impurities which
escape the voracious fish. Here, then, we find another
reason for humbling ourselves before the wisdom of Pro-
vidence !

Ellis, when he completed his history of the Polypi, over-
whelmed with astonishment at all the magnificence which
had been unrolled before his eyes during his long and in-
cessant labours, laid down his pen, and humbling himself
profoundly, addressed a hymn to the glory of Him who
created so many marvels.!

1 After having sacrificed many long years to the very difticult study of the
Polypi, Ellis, when laying down his pen, could not refrain, as we have said,
2
S

eS
_
sc
=

a
4

33. Madrepore

 
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 79

In the countries where they abound, those mischievous
living reef-builders, as some slight compensation, render
certain services toman. The encrusting polypidoms some-
times form thick and very compact layers, which are made
use of as building stone. Forskal, who explored the shores
of the Red Sea, says that the inhabitants of Suez and
Djeddah carry off masses of madrepore as much as twenty-
five feet long, and that they build all their houses with
them. My learned friend, P. E. Botta, told me that in
certain villages in the Sandwich Islands the dwellings are
built solely of such materials.

Thus man constructs his abodes with the handiwork of
these petty architects, the Polypi.

Each species has its own separate mission and form.
Near our reef-builders live other polypidoms, which, instead
of encrusting the rocks, display themselves on their surface
like a vegetable forest, the petrified branches of which
brave the fury of the billows. Some have so exactly the
same physiognomy as our plants, that the old botanists
without hesitation classed them among the productions of
their domain. Others spread out in vast cup-shaped
forms, one rising above the other; as may be seen in the
‘Car of Neptune,” the ruler of the seas.
from addressing a hymn to the Creator of so many marvels. ‘In the researches
to which I devoted myself,” says the English naturalist, “scenes altogether new
were unrolled before my eyes, arousing in me a feeling of admiration and aston-
ishment at the diversity and extent of life scattered through the universe. If
then such sentiments were excited in me by the facts which I have related, and
by these marvels of animated nature where its existence was not even suspected,
then without doubt minds more learned, and endowed with a greater power of
penetration, will find, at some future day, new facts to be recognized, and new
proofs to be revealed, if that were necessary, of one unique will, one omnipotence,

which created, and which now preserves the ‘great whole’ in all its beauty and

perfection.”
80 THE UNIVERSE

CHAPTER IIL
STONE-BORERS AND WOOD-BORERS.

We have just seen how invisible architects make the
depths of ocean bristle with forests of coral or layers of
madrepore; we have now to busy ourselves about workmen
of another class: the true miners, who build nothing, but
instead hollow out for themselves vaults in the submerged
rocks. Their ceaseless, and as yet inexplicable, toil assails
and pierces deeply into the most compact stones. We are
astonished, in splitting marble, to find living shells in the
midst of blocks which the chisel of the sculptor only
cuts with difficulty.

The most renowned of the stone-borers we are acquainted
with, the Pholades, ordinarily scoop out their abodes in
the calcareous rocks of our shores. They are thin, white
shells, their valves being elegantly ornamented with pro-
jecting lamelle or symmetrically arranged points. Their
two ends are opened wide. From one issue the respir-
atory and nutritive tubes, which lengthen themselves out
from the bottom of the cavity inhabited by the mollusc, in
order to pump up the sea-water with its myriads of ani-
malcules. From the other, still more open, proceeds the
foot, a thick, powerful, living sole, intended beyond doubt
to play a great part in the life of the solitary animal.

There are pholas-hunters just as there are prawn-fishers.
The former can be distinguished with singular facility at a
very great distance, owing to the brilliant whiteness of their
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. Sl

clothes. This is not due to their being really of this colour,
but to a cement formed by the splashes from the rocks,
which cover the bodies of this peculiar class of men, and
which issue as they cleave the rocks with powerful blows
of the pickaxe, in order to find in their depths the molluscs,
which they sell to the fishermen.

When, after overcoming the obstacles presented by a
rocky and slippery ground, we reach the neighbourhood
of the laborious workman, and, having induced him to
pause from his work in order that one may keep clear of
the ample circle of splashes radiating from his hatchet, we
examine the pholads lying here and there among the broken
stones, we return quite convinced that there exist shell-
fish which gnaw stone—a fact which many people doubted
not long ago. But another problem remains to be solved,
and that is to know how these animals execute a task
which seems so much beyond their powers.

Some naturalists have fancied that the Pholades are
only a kind of living files, mechanically boring their habi-
tations by rasping the rock with the aid of the sharp points
on their shells. But this opinion is quite untenable, for
before they could pierce the hard stone these delicate pro-
Jections themselves would be completely worn away.

Other naturalists think these molluscs make use of
some chemical process, and hollow out their abodes by
distilling an acid which acts upon the stone. This theory
is not more admissible than the other, for it is certain
that, the calcareous outer skeleton of the animal being of
a composition analogous to that of the rock, it would itself
be the first victim of the corroding agent, and would be
dissolved long before the hole was formed.'

1 The opinion that the erosion of rocks is effected by the friction of the shell

within it cannot be sustained; not only because the finest points would be worn
u
82 THE UNIVERSE.

It is, however, clear that among the Pholades living in
the calcareous rocks of our shores, the strongly made foot
undertakes the task in question. By its ceaseless move-
ments this fleshy sole, little by little, wears away the rock

 

34 Dactyloid Pholades in their Holes—Pholas dactylus.

which the water has softened. In fact, the rock, which
is so hard in its dry state, is on the contrary very soft

away, but because we see certain stone-eating molluscs preserve their epiderinis
in the midst of the coral rocks and chalk into which they penetrate. As to the
pholads of our shores, I have proved the fact by demonstrating that all the in-
terior of the hole, on a level with the shell, is covered with a layer of mud, which
would prevent the action of its spines upon the projecting points of the stone.

Tt was M. Fleuriau de Bellevue who thought that the pholads make their way
into stone by means of an acid, and as he had noticed that these molluscs are
luminous in the dark, he drew the inference that the fluid produced by them was
probably phosphorous acid. This opinion is inadmissible, and the phenomenon
mentioned by the able observer in question is beyond all doubt only due to the
luminous Miecrozoa so abundant in the sca, and which produce its phosphor-

escence.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 83

when the sea-water has saturated it, and rubbing it with
the finger for a few minutes is enough to indent it deeply.
But though the problem may be considered solved so
far as regards the Lithophagi, that is to say, the eaters of
stone which live in the soft limestone, there seem to be
some doubts as to those found in our most compact mar-
bles, for it is evident that the movement of the foot would
not suffice to pierce so unyielding a body. .
One of these marble-cutters has acquired a great celeb-
rity in the annals of geology, from its having attacked the
temple of Jupiter Serapis, situated on the border of the
Mediterranean, and almost on a level with its waves.

 

35. Stone-eating Modiola, or Modiota lithophaga, Lam., which has gnawed the
Pillars of the Temple of Jupiter.—From nature.

It is a Modiolus which has cut numerous excavations
in the beautiful columns of this sanctuary, and has even
gnawed them in an unsightly manner for the space of a
metre (three feet three inches) at a height of six to seven
feet above the fore-court. Philosophers suppose that at
some epoch, of which history makes no mention, this cele-
brated temple had sunk in the sea, owing to one of those
movements in the soil so common in volcanic countries,
that it was then invaded by. the stone-eating molluscs,
and that afterwards, being raised by a contrary movement
like a scene on the stage, the monument, rising like magic
from the bosom of the waves, reappeared in the air, dis-
playing to our astonished eyes the destruction effected by
84 THE UNIVERSE.

the animals which had gnawed it during its stay below the
waters.

But the labour of the mollusc, and the double move-
ment of the famous temple, will perhaps long remain en-
veloped in mystery, albeit Schleiden relates, that an old
monk from a convent in the neighbourhood stated, that in
his youth he had gathered grapes near the monument, in
a spot where now the boats of the fishermen are rocked
on the waves."

The sea owns yet other workmen, but they dread the
hard stone and only attack wood. As to them, all the
world knows them and sees their doings. They are the
sea-worms, only too zealous at their work, which make
such deadly havoc with our dikes and ships.

These enemies of our naval works are the Teredoes
(Teredo navalis), vermiform molluscs which live constantly
in the interior of wood submerged in the waves, and are
perpetually gnawing it, and hollowing out numerous tor-
tuous galleries. We know exactly what their tools are,
being nothing more than the cutting edge of the little shell
which is projected in front of the long and soft body of the
animal.

TSome geologists, unable to believe that this famous temple had been thus
sunk in the sea and had afterwards risen again from the waves, have supposed
that it was only a monument sacred to Jupiter Serapis, and that it served asa
reservoir in which molluscs, being considered sacred, were reared.

It is difficult to admit this opinion; animals so humble could not really be the
object of any worship.

I have twice visited this celebrated temple, and the more I have examined it
the more difficult has the problem appeared to solve. Three of its gnawed
columns of beautiful cepola marble are still standing, the others are levelled
with the ground; but the base is so perfectly horizontal that it is hard to under-
stand how it can have been engulfed and magically raised up again, while still
preserving its level, and without the whole of the columns being overturned.
On the other hand, it seems as if it could scarcely have served for a marine fish
pond, or a sacred bath, as I at first thought.
 

36. Ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Serapis.—From a photograph.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 87

The ravages of the Teredo are terrible. In a short
space of time they reduce the strongest beams to a state
of fragile sponge. In 1731 these molluscs well nigh occa-
sioned the submersion of Holland, having devoured the

   

‘
A

37. Teredo, and Fragment of Wood devoured by others.
greatest part of the Zealand dikes. They are a complete
pest, which we cannot check when we like.

These animals incessantly assail the framework of our
strongest ships, and by perforating it in all parts place
them in danger and threaten them with instant shipwreck.
It is solely to preserve vessels from these terrible wood-
devourers that all those going on long voyages are copper-
bottomed.

These then are the fragile molluscs which ravage our
naval structures; later on we shall speak of the insects
which pitilessly consume our dwellings.
88 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER IV.
MOUNTAIN BUILDERS.

Torn from the depths of the crust of the earth, and
forcibly upheaved above the clouds by a formidable power,
the lofty asperities of the globe, such as the Alps and the
Cordilleras, astonish us by their mass and their elevation.
But there are others which, though less gigantic, have
quite as marvellous an origin, although of a different kind;
these are the mountains of shells.

The exuberance of life in the ancient oceans surpassed
everything that we can imagine; our modern seas give us
no idea of it. The molluscs lived at that time in such
serried and compact masses, that their remains have pro-
duced by their accumulation deep strata and lofty emi-
nences.

The phenomena which prevailed when these were gene-
rated exhibit a threefold modification.

Sometimes seas, the calm of which rivalled their fecun-
dity, slowly raised their beds from the cemeteries of their
innumerable inhabitants. The shells, quietly deposited
there one upon another, show no trace of erosion. After
so many thousands of years we find them still ornamented
with their finest projections, with their imperceptible
strie. What do I say? There are some which still reflect
the colours that decorated them in the first days of crea-
tion, long before the work was finished!

In other places, swarming in the midst of a boundless
ocean tumultuously agitated, the shells, ground by its
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 89

furious waves, and precipitated in the form of impalpable
dust, also formed mountains.!

However extraordinary such an origin may seem, we
yet cannot doubt it; in fact, in certain localities we pass
by insensible transitions from rocks wholly composed of
entire shells heaped up, to strata in which they are more
or less finely ground down.

Other calcareous prominences have a still more extra-
ordinary origin, being formed solely of microscopic beings,
the extreme minuteness of which has miraculously braved
the destructive action of time. I am not speaking here
of one of those ingenious theories which science loved so
of old to appropriate. The microscope proves, with a
precision that cannot be contested, the truth of what we
advance. Ehrenberg has even given excellent figures of
all these marvels in his Geological Micrography?

Thus, then, when we speak metaphorically of the bones
of our globe, so long as the name is applied to the moun-
tains of coarse limestone, we are right. If it cannot be
looked at as the skeleton of our sphere, it can at least as
that of innumerable myriads which formerly peopled it.

The geological chalk formations, which here and there
rise in long chains of mountains, are due to similar agelo-
merations of animalcules with calcareous carapaces, and in
spite of the size of their layers, are nevertheless composed
entirely of the debris of microscopic Foraminifera. It is
they that encircle England with the immense rampart

1 To these crushed shells, which compose the principal part of the grains of
calcareous strata, are joined also, as Lyell points out, the shattered remains of 1
vast number of polypidoms.—Lyell’s Geol. p. 33.

“There can be no doubt on this point. In his Geological Micrography,
Ebrenberg has given plates representing numerous fossils from the chalk.
They are so crowded together that they touch each other. Sir Ch. Lyell
also, in his Geology, observes that certain calcareous strata are composed of
small fragments of shells and coral (p. 33).

12
90 THE UNIVERSE.

of beautiful white to which it owes its ancient name of
Albion. In Russia, near the Volga, in the north of
France, in Denmark, Sweden, Greece, Sicily, Africa, and
Arabia, many chalk hills have a similar origin.

The imagination is scared at the computation of the
power of organic life which produced such masses by

 

38. Foraminifera, greatly enlarged.t

1. Gaudryina pupoides. 6, Adelosina striata.

2. Dentalina multicostata, 7. Bulimina variabilis.
3. Marginulina gradata. 8. Cristelaria rotulata.
4. Textularia pygmea. 9. Rosalina clementiana.
5. Frondicularia radiata. 10. Orbulina universalis.

the simple agglomeration of creatures almost invisible.
In fact, their minuteness is such that Schleiden maintains
that a single visiting card, when it is covered with a white
layer of chalk, represents a zoological cabinet containing
nearly 100,000 shells of animals.

1 The sand of every sea-shore is so full of Foraminifera that it may be said

to be one-half composed of them. In a single ounce of sea-sand from the
Antilles, 4,000,000 individuals may be counted.— Chenu.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 91

In a hill in the environs of Dover, after long prelimi-
nary workings, a mine, containing 185 quintals' of powder
was sprung in the year 1843. When it was ignited
by means of the electric battery, it tore up, almost
without any noise, the sides of an imposing mass of chalk,
the debris of which, computed at 20,000,000 quintals, was
precipitated into the sea, spreading itself in a layer twenty
feet thick over an extent of fifteen acres.

Against what were these formidable engines of war
employed? Against what was this gigantic effort of the

 

39. Chalk of Meudon, seen with the Microscope.

human mind projected? Simply the piled-up skeletons
of little animalcules which the finger would crush by
thousands !

The shells of the microscopic molluscs which compose
mountains are only formed of carbonate of lime, and are

1 The guintal is equal to about 110 Ibs. English, the Zcvre usuelle, 100 of which
form the quintal, being equal to a half kilogramme, or 1 Ib. 1 oz. 13 dr. avoird.
92 THE UNIVERSE.

so extremely small that it has been calculated it would re-
quire about 10,000,000 to make a pound of chalk, and that
there are more than 150,000,000 in a cubic metre (cube
of 39°37100 inches). Favoured by their inconceivable
fecundity, these animalcules filled up the cretaceous seas,
and by accumulating in layers at their bottoms their
skeletons have formed the capacious chalk strata of which,
at the present time, some mountains are composed. Some-
times they are solely constituted of little shells still entire,
as is seen in the rocks of Sicily and the chalk of Meudon,
when submitted to the microscope. Sometimes the weight
of the new superimposed layers has reduced those at the
base to a fine powder, and then we find only a soft thin
clay.

To sum up then:

The layers of our calcareous mountains may be of three
kinds: One composed of entire shells piled up; the second
are formed of shells crushed fine; and, finally, there are
some the bulk of which is only made up of microscopic
shells.

The formation of the first surprises, that of the latter
confounds, us.
BOOK ILI.

INSECTS.

To a marvellous delicacy of organization these animals join
a still more marvellous intelligence. The perfection of their
tools would lead us to suppose them capable of executing
works of boundless variety; it is these that Rennie has
designated as the architecture of imsects. In fact, these
minute creatures often rear constructions of an elegance
and size which we should be far from expecting from them.
These, too, are so varied that Réaumur, and after him the
English philosopher just mentioned, grouped the workmen
in castes. Indeed, among insects, there are evidently
architects, masons, upholsterers, paper-makers, joiners,
pasteboard-makers, and hydraulic-engineers. Others dis-
like work, and are veritable pirates, always engaged in war
and pillage.

We find also in this class extremes of size and strength.
One gigantic beetle, such as for instance the Goliath, may
exceed the size of some of the straight-beaked humming-
birds, which he would pitilessly strangle in his claws if he
caught them in his path; while another insect may be so
small, so calculated to escape notice, that we only discover
it by the aid of the magnifying-glass.
94 THE UNIVERSE.

The insect class displays in every part a harmonious
organization, which at the first glance distinguishes it from

 

40. Goliath of Drury—Goliathus giganteus (natural size).

all others. Nevertheless, it is perhaps the section of the
animal kingdom in which we observe the greatest diversity
of form; some insects indeed display at times such ano-
malies that we can only make them out by their funda-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 95

mental characteristics. There are even frequently extreme
differences between the male and the female.

Some insects possess such an abnormal exterior that
they exactly resemble leaves of trees, having the same
venation and colouring; when they are at rest we might

 

41, The Mormolyce phyllodes.

take them for leaves, and even the greedy bird is deceived
by them. This is the case with some Mormolyce. In them
it is the wings that are transformed into green membranes,
which give the animal the appearance of an animated leaf.

Some insects again are remarkable from the strangeness
of their aspect, especially for instance the Membracee, the
corslets of which are studded with points, plates, or most
fantastic knobs, which transform them into so many mon-
strosities. On looking at some of them one might take
them for an insect masquerade, a veritable sport of nature,
96 THE UNIVERSE.

a lusus nature. So much was the old entomologist Geof-
froy struck with their singular form, that he gave them the
name of Uittle devils. One cannot really conceive what
purpose so many fantastic appendages, so embarrassing to
their figure and movements, can serve among these fragile
tribes, for they are all of the smallest dimensions!

 

42. 1-6, Membracez, much magnified. ‘‘ Little Devils” of Geoffroy.

If anything in insects surpass the diversity of forms, it
is the prodigious variety of colouring. Their mantles gleam
with the richest hues in nature. Their sheen can only be
compared to that of jewels and metals. The purest gold
and silver, the sapphire and the emerald, gleam on their
wings and corsages; their tints mingle and encounter, or
imperceptibly shade into each other.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 97

Some groups are remarkable for the richness of their
garments, as for instance the Buprestide, which owe their
French surname of “Richards” (millionaires) to their met-
allic lustre; such are also the Curculiones, which gleam
like precious stones, and which, like the preceding, are
used instead of them in India and China, where they are
made into trinkets for women, pins, and ear-drops.

Among the brilliant genera we find also the Cetoniz,

 

45, Cetonia cerulea. 46. Cetonia sanguinolenta.

of which the elytra are often variegated with the most
beautiful tints and tufted; and lastly the Carabi and the
Calosome, all glittering with gold.

As the great Linneus said, Nature takes no leaps
(Natura non facit saltum), and among insects she proceeds,
as elsewhere, by insensible transitions.

We are accustomed to recognize a butterfly only by its
18
98 THE UNIVERSE.

ample wings, nevertheless naturalists have discovered many
species of this order which are wingless. But although
we see some individuals of this group deprived of these

 

48. Phalena nuda, male and female.

organs, others exhibit the vestiges of them to show the
gradation.

Thus, for instance, though the female of the Phalena
nuda is entirely deprived of wings, we find by the side of
it the Phalena hyematis, the female of which possesses
rudimentary ones, thus forming a transition to the other

  

49, Stenopteryx of the Swallow—Stenopteryx 50, Melophagus of the Sheep—AJfelo-
Hirundinis. phagus Ovis.
species of an order, the members of which have four very
large wings.
In the same manner when the order of flies or Diptera
THE. ANIMAL KINGDOM. 99

becomes degraded, in order to pass into the species de-
prived of wings, it undergoes the same modifications.

Certain flies which never fly and remain all their lives
adherent to the feathers of the swallow, have nevertheless
vestiges of wings, but quite unsuited to flight; whilst others,
finally, still more degraded, have none at all, and pass their
lives clinging to the wool of the sheep.

CHAPTER IL
MARVELS OF INSECT ORGANIZATION.

The torch of anatomy has shed a flood of light upon the
organization of the inferior animals, and the microscope,
by allowing us to pry into the most inaccessible nooks of
it, has unfolded before our eyes a horizon as vast as it was
unexpected. But it must be admitted, that if the investi-
gation of infinitely small beings has acquired such an
advanced degree of certainty, it owes it to men who have
often devoted all their lives to the object.

An advocate of Maéstricht, Lyonet, passed nearly all
his life in studying a caterpillar which gnaws the wood of
the willow, and produced on this insect only one of the
most splendid monuments of human patience.

Goedart, a Dutch painter, spent twenty of his best years
in watching the metamorphoses of insects—a most interest-
ing spectacle for him who looks at it with the eye of reli-
gion. Hence, in the midst of our most brilliant parties
(into which affliction will yet make its way despite both
100 THE UNIVERSE.

pomp and gold), he felt tempted to exclaim, ‘Ah! let me
rather see a butterfly born. In his puniest creatures God
reveals his power and majesty; you, in your splendid fetes,
often display only your weakness and misery!”

Anatomically and physiologically speaking, the human
mechanism is very rude and coarse, compared to the ex-
quisite delicacy revealed in the organism of certain animals.
But in us the intellect, the real sceptre of the universe,
predominates over the apparent imperfection of matter.
Through it man alone approaches those chosen creatures
who shine near the throne of the Eternal, and form a bond
of union between heaven and earth; if in his structure he
belong to our sphere, he seems already to elevate himself
towards the supreme Essence by the splendour of his
genius.

A grand and philosophic truth, which a glance at the
organization of insects will instantly demonstrate.

In her slightest sketches nature knows how to unite
power to an exquisite fineness of mechanism; the first
glance at insects proves this, and thus so soon as their in-
teresting history is displayed before us, we feel no longer
tempted to treat them with the disdain that poets have
shown. <A simple butterfly, a single fly humbles the pride
of man, and despite of him levels his forests, devours his
crops, and reduces him to despair. An insect of this kind,
unknown to him who apostrophizes it with contempt,
petrifies the countryman with terror, while its sting is death
to him!

Simple little two-winged flies, gnats, and mosquitoes,
the puny look of which would never lead one to dread
ageression from such a quarter, are nevertheless enemies
of the most inconvenient kind to our species. In some
countries, where they swarm by myriads on all sides, man
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 101

is subjected to their empire, and only avoids their attacks
by adapting his abode and manner of living to the emer-

 

51. Mosquito highly magnified—Culex! (Linn.); Stmulium (Humboldt).

gency. At the time when the mosquitoes are most
prevalent in Senegal, the negroes, notwithstanding the

1 There are many species of gnats, distinguished by the generic name Culex,
but all having a similar conformation and similar habits. The species found in
foreign countries are generally known as mosquitoes; but mosquitoes and gnats
are the same thing.

The weapon with which the gnat makes its attack is a long and slender pro-
boscis, which projects from the mouth like a very fine bristle, appearing to the
naked eye quite simple. Under the magnifying power of the microscope, how-

  

MW fy edfy
t

52. Organs of the Mouth of Gnat.

ever, it is seen to be a flexible sheath (7) inclosing six distinct pieces, two of
which are cutting blades or lancets (g), two notched like a saw with reverted
teeth (f),a tubular canal (e), and the central one an excessively acute point,
which is also tubular (d@). When the attack is made, the gnat brings the tip of
102 THE UNIVERSE.

constraint of such a kind of life, remain constantly envel-
oped in the midst of thick smoke. For this purpose they
set up regular roosts formed of branches, and suspended
above masses of wood which burn perpetually beneath
them. Squatted on these they receive their friends during
the day, and at night, heated from below and smoked on
all sides, they stretch themselves on them in order to
sleep."

Some savage races only free themselves from the on-
slaughts of this accursed brood by smearing their bodies
with a filthy covering of grease; and it is to protect him-
self against them that the miserable Laplander condemns
himself to be smoked all day long in his dark hut. The
companions of the astronomer Maupertuis were so tor-
mented by the stings of the mosquitoes during their travels

the organ within its sheath to press upon the skin, into which it presently enters,
the sheath remaining without and bending into an angle as the lancets descend.
When the weapon has penetrated to its base—a distance of one-sixth of an inch
or more—the lancets move laterally, and thus cut the flesh on either side, pro-
moting the flow of blood from the superficial vessels; at the same moment a
highly irritative fluid is poured into the wound, which has the effect of diluting
the blood, and thus of rendering it more capable of flowing up the slender central
tube into the throat of the insect. It then sucks, if undisturbed, till its stomach
is fifled to repletion, leaving a painful tumour accompanied with an intolerable
itching. It is the female gnat alone which is noxious; the male, whose prohoscis
is feathered, has no power of sucking blood.—G@osse,

1A well-known German traveller, F. Jager, in his Sketches of Travels in
Singapore, Malacca, Java (Berlin, 1866), describes the power of the Pyrethrum
roseum (one of the Feverfews) as a specific against all noxious insects, including
the troublesome mosquitoes and those which attack collections. He says:—“A
tincture prepared by macerating one part of the P. rosewm in four parts of dilute
alcohol, and when diluted with ten times its bulk of water, applied to any part
of the body, gives perfect security against all vermin. I often passed the night
in my boat on the ili-repnted rivers of Siam without any other cover, even
without the netting, and experienced not the slightest inconvenience. The
‘buzzing,’ at other times so great a disturber of sleep, becomes a harmless tune,
and, in the feeling of security, a real cradle song. In the chase, moistening the
beard and hands protects the hunter against flies for at least twelve hours, even
in spite of the largely increased respiration due to the climate. Especially inter-
 

53. Negroes of Lower Senegal protecting themselves against Mosquitoes.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 105

in Lapland, that to free themselves from them they had
recourse to the extreme measure of covering their faces
with tar. Does the reader believe that these people
treated insects with the same disdain as the poets, who
did not in any way understand them ?}

A simple fly in Africa does still more: it disputes the
land with us foot by foot; there is a struggle between
man and it as to which shall have possession. Where it
lives it prevents him from carrying on agriculture, and
limits his explorations; he can only become master of
the soil when he has exterminated it. This fly, generally
called tsetse by the natives, is shaped like our common
species, and seems to all appearance equally inoffensive,
but its mouth secretes a venom the activity of which by
far surpasses that of the most redoubtable serpents. It

esting is its action on that plague of all tropical countries—the countless ants.
Before the windows and surrounding the whole house where I lived at Albay, on
Luzon, was fastened a board six inches in width, on which long caravans of ants
were constantly moving in all directions, making it appear an almost uniformly
black surface. A track of the powder several inches in width, strewed across
the board, or some tincture sprinkled over it, proved an insurmountable barrier
to these processions, The first who halted before it were pushed on by the
crowds behind them; but, immediately on passing over, showed symptoms of
narcosis, and died in a minute or two, and within a short time the rest left the
house altogether.”

1 Dr. Clarke, travelling in the Crimea, tells us that the bodies of himself and
his companions, in spite of gloves, clothes, and handkerchiefs, were rendered one
entire wound, and the consequent irritation and swelling excited a considerable
degree of fever. Ina most sultry night, when not a breath of air was stirring,
exhausted by fatigue, pain, and heat, he sought shelter in his carriage; and
though almost suffocated, could not venture to open a window for fear of the
mosquitoes. Swarms nevertheless found their way into his hiding-place; and in
spite of the handkerchiefs with which he had bound up his head, filled his
mouth, nostrils, and ears. In the midst of his torment he succeeded in lighting
a lamp, which was extinguished in a moment by such a prodigious number of
these insects, that their carcases actually filled the glass chimney, and formed a
large conical heap over the burner. The noise they make in flying cannot be
conceived by persons who have only heard gnats in England. It is to all that

hear it a most fearful sound.—Dr. Clarke’s Travels, i. 388.
14
106 THE UNIVERSE.

only requires a few of its stings to overwhelm the strong-
est ox; and yet if we attempted to ascertain the weight
of its deadly agent by means of the most delicate balance,
it is so small that we should perhaps find the calculation
impossible.

It is an inexplicable anomaly that this fly, which inevi-
tably kills certain animals, does not injure others. It
selects all its victims from our cattle; the goat and the
ass alone defy its sting. Nor do its attacks produce any

 

54. The Tsetse Fly, natural size and magnified,

effect upon man and wild animals. But what is still more
singular, this dipterous insect kills the adult animal, but
sucks the blood of its offspring without doing any mischief.
The tsetse quickly poisons cattle, but produces no effect
upon the calf. Livingstone says that during his wander-
ings his children were frequently stung by it, without ever
suffering in the least degree; in fact, they paid no atten-
tion to it; whilst the deadly fly killed forty-three oxen
in spite of the strictest watch.

The tsetse infests both banks of the Zambesi, and moves
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 107

only to a short distance from them; it entraps its victims
as they make the passage, and darts upon them with the
speed of an arrow. Dr. Livingstone says that at the time
he travelled in this region, these flies sometimes buzzed
round his head and those of his fellow-travellers as thick
as a swarm of bees. They were often stung all over, as
were also their asses, but without either themselves or
their beasts of burden experiencing any troublesome re-
sult. The sting of this blood-sucker being fatal to our
domestic animals, the ox, horse, sheep, and dog, in the
countries it devastates, the goat and ass make up the sum
total of agricultural cattle.

The victims know their executioner; and when the
hum of one of these flies rings in the ears of the cattle
they fly, struck with fright, in every direction.

Such guests as these not only paralyze agriculture, but
place a limit to the explorations of man. Deprived of
his beasts of burden and his food, he cannot traverse the
domain of the redoubtable fly; and if by chance he can
brave the danger, it is only by taking advantage of the
time of its repose. Whenever one is obliged to send
flocks of sheep or herds of cattle across countries infested
by the tsetse, the natives choose cold moonlight nights,
knowing that at such times the insect, sleepy and stupi-
fied, will not sting the cattle.

The domestic fly, inoffensive in our dwellings, torments
without ceasing those who travel in hot countries. There
it is dreaded more than the hyena and jackal, and we
can only guard against it by having a crowd of slaves
about us. In some of the villages of Upper Egypt I
have sometimes seen in their mothers’ arms, children at
the breast, whose faces were invaded by such compact
legions of flies that they looked like crawling black
108 THE UNIVERSE.

masks.1. All were hard at work with their probosces, the
delicate anatomy of which surpasses everything one can

imagine.

 

55. Proboscis of the Common Fly, seen through the Microscope.

With us it is quite an exceptional occurrence for the
domestic insect to attack man. Nevertheless, the meat-

TT am not speaking at all hyperbolically here. The children I mention had their
faces literally covered with a layer of flies, which only allowed their eyes to be seen.
Some years ago one of our great surgeons, Jules Cloquet, published the history
of a drunken man who, having fallen asleep in the open air near Paris, was
carried to one of the hospitals in that city with legions of biow-flies developed in
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 109

fly sometimes mistakes persons sunk in the degrading
sleep of drunkenness for dead bodies. When they awake
the active offspring of their assailant is already gnawing
their palpitating flesh, and making its way under the skin
of their cheeks and skull: a horrible invasion, which is
certain to end fatally.

But it is especially in our forests and fields that the
track of insects leaves such lamentable marks. Their
legions descend in frightful numbers on certain plants and
trees. According to Ratzeburg the pine-tree alone serves
as a refuge for more than 400 species, the greatest part of
which are hurtful to it; and Charles Miiller tells us that
the oak extends its hospitality to upwards of 200 animals
which are united to it by their parasitic existence.

Certain velvet-winged Phalenz, notwithstanding that
their nocturnal flight seems so harmless, in a short space
of time devastate the most magnificent forests of Conifer,
and open out extensive clearings in their sombre shades
more quickly than the axe of the woodman.

In some regions of Europe a little yellow fly streaked

his nose and ears, from whence they had hollowed out paths between the skull
and the hairy scalp. The irritation and suppuration which they set up speedily
occasioned the death of this person. A case of death from this cause is also men-
tioned by Kirby and Spence. It occurred at Asbornby, Lincolnshire.

At other times insects invade old sores, as was known in days of antiquity.
A cameo of beautiful workmanship and large size, found in Thrace, and repro-
duced by Choiseul, represents Philoctetes, wounded in the leg, the injured part
having been skilfully dressed, occupying himself with driving off, by means of a
pigeon’s wing, the flies which hover about his wound.—Choiseul, Voyage en Greéce,

In saying that an insect often causes the death of a man, we have only stated
asad truth. The sucking Diptera, such as the gad-fly, the fly, and gnat, after
sating themselves with the fluids of a corpse in a state of putrefaction, attack
man, introducing the germs of death by means of their lips tainted with pesti-
lential humours, The sting of these insects frequently produces gangrenous
affections, and especially malignant pustule, under which the patients succumb.
Several cases have been seen in the London hospitals of serious disease from irri-
tation set up by the Musca carnaria.—See Dict. des Sciences Méd. t. xlvi. p. 258.
110 THE UNIVERSE.

with black, the Chlorops lineata, alarms the farmer by
attacking the grain crops. Linnzeus says that in Sweden
this fly, unassisted, destroys more than the fifth part of
the barley crops, equivalent at least to 100,000 tons. In

 

 

56. The Pyralis of the Vine in its different Stages—Pyralis strigulalis.

central France this insect sometimes devours half the ears
of corn in our fields.

Another, the olive-tree Dacus, is the cause of our losing
every year 3,000,000 olives. Finally, a butterfly, the
Pyralis, carries despair into the wine countries, which have
now for a long time vainly implored the aid of science.

When trees attacked by dense swarms of insects do not
sink under their fangs, they escape with singular deformities.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 111

The sting of an extremely small insect, the woolly aphis
(Aphis lanigera), which, when on the branches, would
elude the eye were it not enveloped in a tuft of white
wool, covers our apple-trees with numerous excrescences,
and these often end by killing it.

The wounds inflicted by insects also give rise to those
tufts of deformed, closely-set branches, which appear on
the trunks of the pime-trees, and to which the German
foresters give the name of witches’ brooms; strange-looking
bunches, which the superstitious wood-cutters of the Hartz
fear to touch lest they should be struck by a thunderbolt,
for they believe these growths attract the lightning.
They therefore call them also thunder-bushes.'

In the domain of the infinitely little the physiological
phenomena astonish us no less than the extreme slightness
of the motive organs! A single comparison will demon-
strate this.

When we communicate an elevating movement to our
arms, and suddenly bring them back to the body, a second
of time will scarcely suffice for the act; but, according to
the experiments of Herschel, some insects vibrate their
wings several hundred times in this short period!

1The Chlorops lineata, a fly the name of which indicates its yellow colours
barred with black, makes such havoc in the wheat fields, that those who have
followed up its history maintain that it would soon annihilate this cereal alto-
gether if its increase in numbers were not checked by different causes. Another
insect undertakes this task, and carries it out to a considerable extent; this is
Alysia Oliviert, which perforates the eggs of the Chlorops with its ovipositor, in
order to secure a shelter for its own offspring.

In the magnificent plates of Ratzeburg’s work on the insects of the forest,
may be seen a representation of a forest quite deformed by the attacks of the
pine-twister.—Hylophthires et leurs Ennemis. Leipzig, 1842.

Schacht, who has described the witch-brooms at full length, seems to attribute
them to the stings of insects, which determine an exuberant flow of vital powers
to the part where they have been inflicted. He says that these brooms, when
they are covered with leaves, look, if seen at a distance, like « great mistletoe.
—Schacht, Les Arbres. Bruxelles, 1862, p. 140.
112 THE UNIVERSE.

M. Cagniard-Latour affirms that a gnat vibrates its
wings 500 times in a second.

Mr. Nicholson goes still further; he asserts that the
vibrations of the wing of the common fly are as many as 600
in a second, since it passes through space at the rate of
six feet in this time. But this observer adds, that for rapid
flight we must multiply this number by six, which means

 

57. Sphinx Galii plundering Flowers.

that in a second, or the time we require to execute a single
movement of one of our members, the fly with its wing
can perform 3600. The mind is stupified at such calcu-
lations, and yet they are of unimpeachable accuracy!
After this we are no longer astonished at the activity
shown by some butterflies, such as the sphinx, when they
rifle the flowers of our gardens. They flit from one to the
other with the speed of an arrow, and, like the straight-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 113

beaked humming-bird, they hang motionless before the
corolla, plunging their long tongues to the bottom in order
to sip the nectar, whilst their wings are agitated by move-
ments which the eye cannot follow!

The delicacy of these aérial oars is not less remarkable
than their movements.

However gently we take hold of the wing of a butterfly,
our fingers never leave it without having some particles
adhering, which seem only a fine dust, the source of the

 

59. 5. Scale from Wing of Butterfly, seen with the Magnifying-glass.

magnificent colouring of the insect. But when this dust
is submitted to microscopic examination, the observer is
surprised to see that each of these grains represents a
little flattened plate, lengthened out and of a fine compli-
cated structure, which reflects the most magical colours.
One of its extremities is generally toothed more or less
deeply, whilst the other displays only a little pedicle by
which each imperceptible scale is attached to the trans-
parent membrane of the wing.

If a portion of this be now examined by the aid of a
low magnifying power, it will be seen that all the scales

15
114 THE UNIVERSE.

are arranged with admirable symmetry, one above the other
like the tiles on a roof, and as they are of uniform shape
and often of very varied colours, the surface of the wing
closely resembles a mosaic of marvellous fineness, not like
that of our artists, but like the result of divine art.

Our varied movements are executed by the aid of vol-
uminous fleshy muscles attached to the skeleton. In re-
spect to these the insect possesses both a numerical and
a dynamical superiority over the human race. Anatomists
calculate that there are only 370 of these muscles in man,
whilst the patient Lyonet discovered more than 4000 in
a single caterpillar.

Insects equally surpass us in respect to strength. <A
man of average physical powers can only move with diffi-
culty a weight of forty-four pounds, placed horizontally.

1 Lamartine has described, in exquisite verses, the ephemeral existence of the
butterfly, and of the marvellous dust which colours its wings :—

“Naitre avec le printemps, mourir avec les roses,
Sur Daile du zéphir nager dans un ciel pur,
Balancé sur le sein des fleurs 4 peine écloses,
S’enivrer de parfums, de lumicre et d’azur,
Secouant, jeune encor, la poudre de ses ailes,
Senvoler comme un soufile, aux votites éternelles,
Voila du papillon Je destin enchanté:

Tl ressemble au désir qui jamais ne se pose,
Et, sans se satisfaire, efteurant toute chose,
Retourne enfin au ciel chercher la volupté.”

Born with the spring and dying with the rose,

To swim on zephyr’s wing amid the pure ether,

To hover o’er the bosom of scarce-opened flowers,
To drink deep of perfume, of light, and of azure;
While still young to shake the dust from its wings,
And fly like a breath to the eternal skies.

Such is the enchanted life of the butterfly;

It is like that desire which never rests,

And which, still unsatisfied, tastes of everything,
And then returns to heaven to seek for delights.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 115

As he himself weighs from 150 to 200 pounds, he only
moves in so doing a mass the weight of which does not
equal a third of that of his body. If we subject a
mole-cricket to the same test, the results are quite extra-
ordinary. This creature, which only weighs four grammes

 

60. Muscular Apparatus of the Willow-caterpillar.—From Lyonet. Goat-moth—Cossus
ligniperda.

(sixty-one grains and three-quarters!), can with its two
large hands move a weight of a kilogramme and a half?

1See note, p. 24. *See note, p. 72.
116 THE UNIVERSE.

which means that it displays a strength 375 times exceed-
ing its own weight!

Notwithstanding their minuteness and the delicacy of
their anatomy, other insects also exhibit a comparative

 

61, Mole-cricket, natural size—G@ryllotalpa vulgaris.

strength which astonishes us. Although it is almost
puerile to speak of the flea, still we may take it for an
instance, as it is unfortunately known everywhere. M. de
Fonvielle, in his interesting work on the Javisible World,
maintains that it can raise itself from the ground to a
height equal to two hundred times its stature. At this
rate, he says, a man would only make a joke of jumping
over the towers of Notre-Dame and the heights of Mont-
martre; and a prison would be an impossibility unless
the walls were built more than a quarter of a mile in
height.

If we can scarcely believe in the prodigious movements
of the wing, and its mosaic of jewelry, the feet, though
less agile and less adorned, are yet equally worthy of our
attention. Those of the working bee are perfect master-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 117

pieces; they exhibit at one and the same time a basket, a
brush, and a pair of pincers. One of the articles indeed
is a brush of extreme fineness, the hairs of which, arranged
in symmetrical rows, are only to be seen with the micro-
scope; with this brush, of fairy delicacy, the bee contin-
ually brushes her velvet robe to remove the pollen dust
with which it becomes loaded whilst she is rifling the
flowers and sucking up the nectar. Another article, which
is hollowed like a spoon, receives all the gleanings which
the insect carries to the hive: it is a pannier for pro-
visions. Finally, by opening them one upon another,
by means of a hinge, those two pieces become a pair of
pincers, which render important service in the construc-
tion of the combs, and it is with them that the bee lays

 

62. Brush and Pincers of the Common Bee.

hold of the semicircles of wax below its abdomen, and
carries them to its mouth.

In some aquatic insects each foot is transformed into a
delicate oar, as is seen in the Dytiscus, in which it is flat-
tened out and bordered with ciliz, so that a larger surface
may strike the water. Others, like the flies, have at the
extremities of their members a kind of small notched
lamelle, which allow them to adhere to glass and the most
polished bodies.

How rugged and coarse the works of man appear by
the side of those of nature! Compare the instruments
which the insect uses for its work with those which we
118 THE UNIVERSE.

employ. Behold its saws, its rakes, its brushes, its chisels;
compare them with ours, and you will at once admit that

 

63. Bee seen from below with its Ventral Segments of Wax.

all you know how to fabricate is only very inferior to what
it possesses. The scalpel of the anatomist seems to have
an edge of delicate workmanship; its polish attracts

 

64. Hind Feet, used as Ciliary Oars, in the male and female Dytiscus, and the
Prehensile Foot of the male.

us; examine it with the microscope, and you are surprised
to see it transformed into a coarse saw-blade. It is the
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 119

same with the point of a needle, it becomes an imperfect
awl. Scrutinize the scythes, the darts, or the rakes of an

 

65. Claw of the Lion.

insect, and everything there reveals the power of the Archi-
tect of so many marvels. The claw of the lion is immensely
less complicated than that of the spider!

 

66. Spider’s Claw, seen with the Microscope.

In the creatures which we are now studying the tactile
faculty acquires a marvellous development; it supplies the
want of a language; the ants talk to each other by.touch.
One could not believe this if a careful observer had not
demonstrated it, and yet the fact is so certain that any one
can at any time verify it. When two of these intelligent
insects meet in their career, we see that they touch each
other differently with their antenne, and that after doing
this they seem to form some fresh resolution, in conse-
120 THE UNIVERSE.

quence of this tactile communication, which Huber calls
antennal language.

The following experiment, undertaken by this philo-
sopher, gives incontestable evidence in favour of the fact.
Having thrown a colony of ants into a closed and darkened
chamber, he remarked that at first they all scattered in
disorder; but he soon noticed that if an individual in the
course of his peregrinations discovered an outlet, he re-
turned to the midst of the others; of these he touched a
certain number, and after this mimic communication the
whole population assembled in regular lines, which marched
out under the impulse of one common thought—that of
liberty regained.

In all the large animals there are but two eyes; in this
respect the smallest insect is infinitely better provided than
they are. The ant, the visual apparatus of which is one
of the least perfect, possesses fifty. The common fly has
8000, and in certain butterflies as many as 25,000 have
been counted. Each of these organs, too, presents, in
microscopic proportions, the greatest part of the structures
which enter into the composition of the globe of our eye.
Closely packed together, these eyes make up for their
immobility by their bulk, and this is so great that in some
flies it almost covers the head, and even constitutes a
fourth part of the weight of the body.

This powerful optic apparatus exhibits some curious
modifications which reveal the habits of insects.

Those which seek their prey by night have their eyes
more deeply set, in order better to absorb the least Iumin-
ous rays. In the flesh-eating insects they are larger. In
some aquatic species the head is furnished with several
pairs, some directed upwards, others downward, in such a
way, that while swimming on the surface of the water the
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 121

animal can see at the same time the fish which menaces it
from the depths, and the bird which is about to swoop
down upon it. From the former it escapes by flight, and
from the latter by diving."

The insect is endowed with an exquisite fineness of
smell. The slightest odour is perceived by it at very great
distances. In the perfumed air exhaling from the thou-

 

67. Little Whirlwig—Gyrinus natator.

sand plants of a meadow or garden, it distinguishes the one
it loves and settles upon jt, to dismember it or deposit its
offspring upon. it.

The flesh-eating insect discerns at the greatest distance
the smell of an animal on which it feeds. If a morsel of
meat be totally covered with a black bell-glass, its exhala-
tions quickly attract the flies to a spot where previously
there was not one to be seen.

The winged animal never makes a mistake; or if, under
very unusual circumstances, it should happen to do so, it
would be because there was a perfect identity between the
odorous emanations. For instance, the putrid exhalations
from the flowers of the Stapelia and Arum attract some
insects just as putrid meat would; and these, deceived by

1 We speak here of the little whirlwigs, elegant aquatic Coleoptera, extremely
brilliant, which sparkle like diamonds when the sun lights upon them on the sur-
face of the water, where they pirouette constantly with surprising velocity: hence
the name whirlwigs. These insects have four groups of eyes in their heads. Of
these two are placed below, and give them notice of what is going on in the depths

of the water; the two others are turned towards the sky.
16
122 THE UNIVERSE.

a false appearance, deposit upon the plant their offspring,
which must infallibly die of hunger.

But where does a sense so delicate reside? Analogy
made De Blainville think it ought to be placed in the an-
tenn, little mobile horns set on the front of the head, where
they present the greatest diversity of form, sometimes
lengthened lke articulated threads, some lamellated, or
bulged out in the form of clubs or bladders. Indeed, the
antennz, like the nostrils of animals, receive the first pair
of nerves which issue from the brain. Some experiments
conducted by Duges tend to show that they really re-
present the organ of smell. After cutting them in some
butterflies and flies, this physiologist observed that they
could no longer roam in search of their food and the female
insect.

But the extreme acuteness of smell manifested by some
insects is only obtained by means of organs of marvellous

ice,

       

    

Diversiform Antenne.—68. Pentaplatarthrus paussoides. 69. Platyrhopalus.
denticornis. 70. Lebioderus Goryi.

delicacy, and so complicated as to surpass at times all our
preconceived ideas. Man and the larger animals have
never more than two olfactory cavities; in fishes these are
reduced to a pair of little sacks scarcely to be seen. In
the may-bug odours are perceived by means of microscopic
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 123

pouches, but instead of being limited to two, these pouches
are many thousands in number. Here the infinitely little
surpasses the infinitely great; the insect outstrips the
elephant.

There must necessarily be organs of hearing in insects,
because they are attracted together by certain sounds, and
even possess a very varied set of instruments wherewith
to produce them. But we do not yet know where their
auditory apparatus is.

One very extraordinary fact is, that these animals only
seem to hear sounds which are serviceable to them, whilst
others, whatever be their intensity, do not affect them in
any way. The queen-bee, by means of a scarcely per-
ceptible hum, sets all her people in movement, and com-
pels an army of combatants to follow her; but if, on the
contrary, fire-arms be discharged quite close to a colony
of Hymenoptera, not one of them stirs; it seems as if the
sound was not noticed by them.

The horse has only one stomach, the insect has often
three; in the former it only occupies a somewhat limited
portion of the body, in the other it sometimes entirely
invades it—the animal resembles a walking digestive sack.
The ravenous activity of many Orthoptera is even aided
by great teeth, placed in the interior of the stomach, which
act like a second mouth, and complete the crushing of any-
thing that has escaped the action of the jaws.

1 Latreille seems to think that the auditory organ of insects may be seated at
the base of the antennze, because, in certain Orthoptera, there are at this spot
traces of the membranes of the tympanum, as is observed in some crustaceans.

In order to omit none of the recent conquests of science, it behoves us also to
mention that Cuvier and Duméril place the seat of smell at the orifice of a kind
of small openings, like button-holes, called stigmata, by which the air enters the
trachea. And, in fact, there is here a manifest analogy with the position of the

nose, which, in the large anjmals, is placed at the entrance to the respiratory
apparatus.
124 THE UNIVERSE.

In certain caterpillars the digestive power is so great
that they swallow every day three or four times their own
weight of food. If the elephant and rhinoceros were to
feed on this seale, and were as numerous as the others,
they would only require a very short time to devour all
the vegetation on the globe.

The first period of an insect’s life is devoted to develop-
ment, to nutrition, and frequently it is only during this

 

71, Head and Jaws of the Caterpillar.—From Lyonet, ‘“‘Anatomical Treatise on the
Willow-eating Caterpillar.”

time that it cats in the gluttonous manner we have just
spoken of. When it has reached adult age it seems to
have no other object in its existence than reproduction;
sometimes even the alimentary canal is obliterated, and
the animal takes no nourishment. The caterpillar, with
its destructive jaws, the perdition of our harvests, is trans-
formed into a butterfly, the harmless proboscis of which
only imbibes the nectar of flowers.’ In its last stage the

1 See a more special reference to this form of metamorphosis at page 146.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 125

Ephemeron only lives on love; its digestive apparatus is
quite annihilated.

Some Hemiptera are, however, all through life extremely
abstinent, and only feed on the juices of plants. They do
not suck them, although generally said to do so; their
organization does not allow of such a thing. Not having
any apparatus for forming a vacuum and drawing up
fluids, they draw them off by means of the mouth, which
for this purpose is transformed into the most delicate
little suction-pump that can be imagined. The lower lip
represents a tube terminated in a point, on the upper part
of which extends a gutter. In this four delicate bristles
move like pistons, and in the course of their action to and
fro attract the liquids of plants and animals so soon as
ever the insect has pierced the envelope with the point of
its beak. Thus when the hateful gnat settles on our skin
and gorges itself with our blood, it does not suck the fluid,
it pumps it up with pistons of exquisite delicacy.

Our heart, the structure of which is so admired and so
admirable, is nevertheless only a very coarse forcing-pump
compared with that of an insect. All the apparatus of
the central organ of circulation is limited to two large
openings, each furnished with two valves or valvlets, in-
tended to prevent the reflux of the blood; but if, by the
aid of the solar microscope, we project all the transparent
body of an Ephemera upon a huge screen, one is aston-
ished at the magnificent spectacle offered by the movement
of the blood. The heart is represented by a long vessel
which occupies all the back of the animal, and into which
the circulating fluid precipitates itself by eight or ten lateral
openings, like small streams converging towards a more
impetuous current. As many valves rise and fall, to allow
entrance to the fluid and hinder its return. In the in-
126 THE UNIVERSE

terior of this lengthened heart larger valvules, to the
number of six or eight, are folded back against the wall
to let the blood pass forward, and re-open directly after-
wards, during each contraction, in order to prevent its
flowing backwards. Vessels arranged in loops are distri-
buted to all the members.

The course of the blood in the colossal insect seen upon
the screen resembles so many little streams bearing
globules more or less heaped up; this is proved by the
strictest evidence, and yet who would believe that Cuvier
and his school would never credit this phenomenon? In-
stead of looking, which was so easy, they preferred to

 

72. Common Ephemera—Z. communis.

deny the circulation in the insect, and to regard its won-
derful heart as a simple secreting vessel shaken by con-
tractile shocks. It is thus that physiological science ad-
vances; a hundred battles are requisite to make men
admit the most easily verified truth.

With us, as with all the large animals, the air rushes
into the respiratory apparatus, without the least check,
by a simple and most ample opening; all the impurities in
the air may be swallowed, to the defilement of our lungs.

Insects, on the contrary, inspire the atmospheric air
through several orifices, and this is well purified before
it is introduced into the organism. For this purpose all
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 127

their aérial mouths are in some lined with a membrane,
which is pierced like a sieve, fitted to arrest the smallest
particles of air and act like a veritable sifter. In others
each respiratory opening is obstructed by hairs, which

 

73. Aérial Mouth or Stigma of the Common Fly, seen with the Microscope.

form a kind of tree-like net, intended for the same purpose.
Without these providential precautions the aérial tubes
of these animals, often as fine as hairs, would be obstructed
every instant by the dust in the midst of which they live.

In the case of insects inhabiting the water, other pre-
cautions, not less admirable, prevent the fluid from forcing
its way into the air-passages. Sometimes at the en-
trance of the respiratory organ there is a door, with five or
six leaves of the most ingenious mechanism, which the
animal opens or shuts at will. It only opens them when
it comes to the surface of a pool to breathe; when it plunges
into the depths the leaves of this little air-door are closely
shut, and the pneumatic channels are efficaciously defended
against the invasion of the liquid, which would disturb the
organization. This is seen in the larva of the common gnat,
which swarms in our stagnant waters.

In the larger animals the respiratory function is per-
formed by the aid of a distinct, restricted apparatus, con-
128 THE UNIVERSE.

fined to one region of the body. In the insects it has a
much larger field of action. The air diffuses itself every-
where, and after having overflowed the internal organs by
means of particular vessels, the trachew, which are easily
distinguished by their pearly tint, it reaches the extreme
terminations of the feet and the antenne. For this pur-

 

74. Larva of the Common Gnat—Culex pipiens (Linnzus), seen with the Microscope.

pose these are provided with a most remarkable structure.
They are composed of a fine cartilaginous lamina, rolled in
like the metallic thread in an elastic brace. This arrange-
ment serves to keep their walls constantly separated, and
to facilitate the free circulation of air through their im-
perceptible canals.

Every person has seen, and with some disgust too, a
white larva with a long tail, which lives in the filthy stag-
nant waters of our courts and roads, and which is vulgarly
called the rat-tailed maggot. When I was young this crea-
ture inspired me with the same repugnance as other people;
but since I have examined it by the aid of a lens, and
studied its habits, repugnance has given way to admiration.
The extraordinary tail to which the animal owes its name
is an organ of respiration. It contains two vessels which
disseminate the air through all the body of this fly-larva,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 129

for such it is. These two aérial canals are enveloped by
tubes of a different calibre, which fit one into another and
move exactly like the tubes of a telescope.

 

75. Common Gnat, Culex pipiens, and its Metamorphoses, magnified. Larve opening their
Respiratory Doors on the surface of the water. Nymphs and Perfect Insects.

This worm, not having any swimming organ, possesses in
this ingenious arrangement a means of constantly opening
the orifice of its respiratory apparatus at the surface of

the water, whatever may be its level. If the liquid sink
17
130 THE UNIVERSE.

in the puddle which it inhabits, all the tubes enter one
another like those of a telescope and the aérial tubes wind
inside them. If, on the contrary, a violent shower should
make the water rise above its bounds, they are all pro-
jected outwards, being drawn out as far as possible so that
their orifices still reach the surface.

The final intention of nature is so manifest in this cir-
cumstance, that if we, in imitation of Réaumur, plunge
one of these larvee into a glass containing only a little water,
and the quantity of this be gradually augmented, the in-
sect’s tail lengthens in proportion and even acquires an
extraordinary size, in order, without quitting the spot, to
serve the wants of respiration and open out on the surface
of the fluid.

The ravages of insects, which sometimes occasion such
serious panics, are explained by their enormous fecundity.
This is sometimes so prodigious that some persons ima-
gine it results from a sudden creation ex masse. On this
subject Leuwenhoeck calculated that a single domestic fly
can produce 746,496 young in three months; and Linnzeus,
basing his computations on the voracity of this famished
offspring, stated that three flies destroy the dead body of
a horse as quickly as a lion.

The Termites display a still more extraordinary fecund-
ity; and, according to Prof. Owen, a single Aphis in the
tenth generation has produced 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
young.

The eggs of insects, of which our eye only perceives the
figure, appear like so many master-pieces of art when the
magnifying glass reveals their delicate chisellings and me-
chanism. They generally approach the form of a sphere or
anovoid. Some butterflies lay cylindrical eges, and those
of the gnat look like charming microscopical amphore.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 131

There are some, the extremity of which is surmounted by
a crown of points; others exactly represent a delicate
miniature saucepan, the young inhabitant of which, in
order to be born, has only to lift up the lid.

The egg of the louse, which disgusts us so much, pre-
sents this curious structure, but in addition its opening is
embellished by a little projecting rim, and a groove into
which the edge of the cover enters in such a manner as to
close it hermetically. A still more ingenious mechanism
is seen in some of the wood-bugs. The young insect does
not even require to lift the lid; there is within a regular
spring on which this office devolves; at the moment of
birth he has only to emerge, and one may say with justice
of him, that he does not even take the trouble to be born.

The surface of these eggs is often remarkable on account
of the exquisite fineness of its entwined ornamenting.
Some are covered with large ribs which extend from one
end to the other; others display only fine lines artisti-
cally engraved; others again have the surface covered
with a mesh of lace. For them nature has exhausted the
riches of her palette; they are dyed with the sweetest or
the most glittering tints of blue, green, and red; some
absolutely resemble mother-of-pearl, and there are some
that one might take for so many charming little iridescent
pearls.

The sexuality itself of insects offers some curious parti-
culars. There are not only males and females among them,
but some of their republics have, in addition, individuals
absolutely deprived of sex; these are the neuters, which
alone work and constitute the element of their prosperity
and power. Some are true workmen, others valiant sol-
diers. But these individuals, which we recognize by their
form or their particular weapons, are in truth only aborted
132 - THE UNIVERSE.

females; the bees themselves know this perfectly, as we
shall see.

To all these marvels of insect life we must yet add the
inexplicable phenomenon of the dazzling light which they
project into the midst of darkness, and which sometimes
in their flight furrows the air with long streams of fire,
sometimes peacefully illuminates the foliage on which
they repose.

Every person knows the Lampyris, a glowworm which

  

76. Glowworm male and female—Lampyris noctiluca.

in the autumn gives our green turf the appearance of a
starry heaven. But in tropical America there are phos-
phorescent insects of far superior splendour. The great
lantern-fly can supply the place of a lamp with the bright
light with which its monstrous head gleams. Sybille de
Meérian relates that at Surinam she sometimes read the
newspapers by the aid of a single one of these Hemiptera.’

In the Antilles the phosphorescence of these insects is
even made daily use of; they employ there a luminous

1 As is the case with so many vital phenomena, the phosphorescence of insects
is still far from being explained. Sir Humphrey Davy and Treviranus attributed
it to a substance containing phosphorus, which is secreted from the fluids of the
animal, and beams like this substance by means of the oxygen of the air. This
would be a true combustion. The presence of phosphoric acid in the atmosphere
seems to give a certain amount of authority to this hypothesis. A German
anatomist, the celebrated Carus, discovered that the eggs of these animals are
themselves luminous—a very curious fact, and of a nature to throw some light
upon the question.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 133

beetle the corslet of which becomes dazzling in the gloom.
In Cuba the women often inclose several of these Coleop-
tera in little cages of glass or wood, which they hang up
in their rooms, and this living lustre throws out sufficient

77. The Great Lantern-Aly—Fulgora lanternaria.

 

light to serve to work by. Travellers there also, in a difti-
cult road, light their path in the middle of the night by
attaching one of these beetles to each of their feet. The
creoles sometimes set them in the curls of their hair, where,
134 THE UNIVERSE.

like resplendent jewels, they give a most fairy-like aspect
to their heads. The negresses at their nocturnal dances

 

 

78. Beetle Cage or Lustre for Illumination.

scatter these brilliant insects over the robes of lace which
nature provides for them, all woven from the bark of the

 

79. The Luminous Beetle of the Antilles—EZlater noctilucus.

Lagetto. In their rapid and lascivious movements they
seem enveloped in a robe of fire. It is the conflagration
of Dejanira without the horror.!

1 Though sometimes called the Great Lantern Firefly, it is quite distinct
from the Firefly (Alater noctilucus), which belongs to the click-beetles, and is
also said to be used by the Indians to work or travel by. As recently, however,
as 1858 Dr. J. A. Smith exhibited a specimen of the Fulgora to the Royal
Physical Society of Edinburgh, and stated that it was still an undecided question
among naturalists whether these flies are really luminous; and in the Zoologist
for 1863, Mr. R. Jeffry of New Grenada says that it gives no light, and that he
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 135

Science has not satisfactorily explained the colouring
and secretions found in certain insects, and has only been
moderately successful in the search, in the outer world,

I

i

 

80. Negro Hut lighted up with Luminous Beetles,

after all the elements of the mysterious phenomena of the
organism, which will possibly, for a long time, conceal from
us the secrets of its composition.

How does the cochineal of Nopal find in the green juices
of the cactus which nourishes it, the magnificent red
colour, the carmine, which inflates its whole body?

imagines the use of the diaphanous projection on its head, from which it takes
its name, is to prevent the insect from knocking against hard substances in the
night. The same discrepancy of opinion has been observed with respect to the
Chinese candle-beetle (Hotinus candelurius), which is said to emit at intervals a
brilliant greenish light, and even to have been captured by Count d’Enzenberg
in this state; whereas Sir John Bowring, who made such a splendid collection
of beetles during his many years’ residence in China, never saw any luminosity
about it. The reader will find these beetles beautifully represented in a coloured
engraving in the first volume of Nature and Art.—Tr.
136 THE UNIVERSE,

The musk Cerambyx exhales the most grateful odour
of roses; all round about the willow which it inhabits the
air is perfumed with the scent, and these emanations
betray the insect with fatal certainty to the collectors in
pursuit of it. But the leafage of this tree nourishes also
stinking bugs. Is it that from the same aliment the one
can draw the most marvellous essences, and the other
only repulsively foetid fluids ?

The bee exudes the softening wax from one region of
its body, and burning caustic from another; can the nectar
of flowers furnish the perfumed honey and the most acrid
venom ?

The Cantharis and the Meloé transmute the harmless
juices of our ash-trees and the grass of our meadows into
dangerous poisons, and how many persons have fallen
victims to these poisonous insects in our country!’ Yet it
is the same grass which loads with fat the flesh of our cattle.

' The Cantharis officinalis, so much employed at present for making blisters,
is one of the most deadly poisons in the world. It produces death when given
ina very small dose, and even the external use of it is not free from danger.
The works of writers of every epoch contain lamentable accounts of poison-
ing produced by this formidable Coleopteron. Pliny relates that Cossinus
a Roman knight, and a favourite of Nero, died after having taken a drink
prepared with Cantharides by one of the Egyptian physicians, who were at that
time very much sought after in Rome. The writings of Galen and Dioscorides
contain similar tales. Among modern authors Orfila and H. Cloquet also quote
a number of those cases of poisoning, which are common enough.—Orfila, Traité
des Poisons. Paris, 1818, t. i. p. 565. H. Cloquet, Maune des Médicins. Paris,
1823, t. ui. p. 241.

Other Coleoptera contain poisons which are no less active than those of the
blistering fly, as for instance the Meloés, heavy insects of a deep blue colour,
having only rudimentary elytra, and which are found in the grass at the spring
of the year. Latreille thinks that it was these that the ancients called Buprestides,
and accused of being fatal to oxen when they swallowed them along with the
grass of the meadows. According to the same learned author, the criminal use of
these insects was so common at that time, that the legislators were obliged to
try and check it by proclaiming the Lex Cornelia, which condemned to death any
man who poisoned his fellow-man with Meloés.—Latreille, Cours d Entomologie.
Paris, 1831, p. 56.
 

 

 

 

Dravm by Ja® Stewart Engraved. by Tho" Brown

METAMORPHOSIS OF THE PEACOCK BUTTERFLY.
Vanessa Lo.

Page 137

BLACKIP & SON, LONDON, GLASGOW & EDINBURGH

+

 
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 137

And, lastly, how does the scented Staphylinus extract

 

81. The Sweet-smelling Staphylinus—Staphylinus olens.

the grateful perfume which exhales from its rings, and
covers the fingers of those who touch it ?

CHAPTER II.
METAMORPHOSES.

Born in one shape the insect dies in another, and the
metamorphoses which it undergoes are the most impor-
tant act of its life, and the most extraordinary phenomenon
in physiology. Organism, functions, all things change:

the ugly caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly gleam-
18
138 THE UNIVERSE.

ing with azure and gold, and if this butterfly were re-
stricted to the fresh leaves of which it devoured such
quantities in its youth, it would die of inanition; it re-
quires a more delicate nourishment now that it has become
adorned with its brilliant wings, and only lives on the
nectar of flowers.

The Libellula, or dragon-fly, when it appears in its last
dress, assumes different habits. It has passed all its life
beneath the water in the condition of an ignoble larva, soiled
with mud and filth; but now that the time has come, it
aspires to soar into the air. Having mounted on some plant
or other, it attaches its aquatic garment to it, and equips
itself with brilliant iridescent wings of gauze which bear
it away. The metamorphosis is so radical, and its new
wants so imperious, that if we attempt to retain the insect
a single minute longer in its ancient element it will perish
on the spot. It has lived till now in shade and tainted
water; henceforth it can only breathe the pure air and
in a glowing light.?

The grown insect differs so widely from the young, that
one cannot in the least recognize the one in the other.
The Scarabeeus, or sacred beetle, with its emerald elytra,
which was worshipped in ancient Egypt, does not in the
least resemble the hideous subterranean worm which pro-
duces it; a singular metamorphosis, in which, according
to M. Goury, the nations on the banks of the Nile only
beheld the symbol of the transmigration of souls.

1 This insect is so little like itself at different stages that any one who did
not know its metamorphoses would look upon it as an animal belonging to
totally different genera. The nymph of the dragon-fly has been taken by
Rondelet for the aquatic Cygala; by Mouffet for the water-flea or grasshopper;
and by Redi for the aquatic scorpion. The three different states of certain
Acridia have also been described as three different insects.—Lesser, Théologie
des Insectes. Trad. de Lyonet. Paris, 1745, p. 169,
 

 

82. Life and Metamorphoses of the Dragon-fly, Libellula depressa. A, The Perfect Insect.
B, The Insect casting off its worn-out Nymph’s Skin. c D, Larve and Nymphs.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 141

Aristotle, whose genius has thrown such a brilliant light
upon the history of animals, had only suspected their meta-
morphoses. We must come to the period of the Renais-
sance, and see Redi begin to trace their history with a

 

83. Sacred Dung-beetle of the Egyptians—Ateuchus sacer (Latreille).

steady hand. To the illustrious physician of Florence suc-
ceeded Malpighi, the great anatomist, and Goédart, a
simple and excellent observer, who, in a book as rare as it
is curious, brought under notice each caterpillar and its
butterfly.

At birth the insect is always wingless. The apparatus
for flying is only developed at the last stage of its existence
—that which is consecrated solely to reproduction. The
young creature generally presents itself under the form of
a worm, to which Linneeus gave the name of larva or mask,
142 THE UNIVERSE.

—an ingenious reminder that this worm is only a kind of
preliminary disguise beneath which it hides its brilliant
livery.

This first period of life is given up entirely to develop-
ment; the larva does nothing but eat and grow. But at a
given time its activity ceases, it shrivels up, casts off its
skin, takes on a new form, and becomes motionless. It is
then that the name of nymph is given to it. It is a true
transitory state, and in this kind of temporary sepulchre
the unfinished existence of the caterpillar is annihilated,
and that of the perfect insect begins.

The transfiguration is as complete at the base as at the
surface. At a certain time the whole organism seems re-
solved into a homogeneous paste, from which springs the
new living being. Generally the nymph is only covered
with a brown winding-sheet of the most modest kind, it
looks like an immovable mummy enveloped in bandages,
but sometimes, in imitation of monarchs, it carves out for
itself a sarcophagus enriched with gold, and from this is
derived the name of chrysalis which is given to it.

At the decisive, final moment, the dawn of a new life,
the mummy swathed like Diana of Ephesus, awakes from
its torpor, becomes full of life, rends its lowly covering,
and appears under the form of an insect all glittering with
emeralds and sapphires. It is in this last epoch of or-
ganization that it is called the perfect insect, the imago,
as Linneus named it in his figurative language.

The birth of the young creature is truly marvellous, for
in spite of the unheard-of efforts demanded by the act, it
issues from its swaddling-clothes in a state of inconceivable
freshness.

The slightest graze rubs off the scales of the butterfly,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 143

and yet not one of them is lost when it escapes through
the narrow opening of its prison. The Pavonia, with its
great Argus-eyes upon its robes, emerges from its horny

 

84, The Three States of an Insect, as seen in the Great Capricornis. The Larva or

Caterpillar. The Nymph or Chrysalis. The Perfect Insect or Imago.

sarcophagus without catching a hair of its velvet wings
against it!

Many insects do even more to protect their metamor-
phosis; they envelop themselves in a mantle of silk which
preserves them from the assaults of the rain and cold. In
certain butterflies it is evident that this covering is so
arranged as to fulfil this double task; a dense external tegu-
ment, similar to the straw thatch of our houses in the
country, allows the storm to pass over without penetrating;
another, internal and softer, defies the cold of winter.
Buried at autumn tide in this double shelter, the butter-
144 THE UNIVERSE.

fly securely awaits the coming of spring to be born
again.!

The magic of these metamorphoses surpasses everything
one could expect; they are so many dramatic scenes, in
the last of which arises a creature quite unexpected in
appearance.

The butterfly, which at different stages of existence so
little resembles its former self, seems to be born and die
three times; but it is only a question of simple develop-
ment, accomplished in the midst of an apparent torpor

 

85. Bombyx-—Pavonia minor.

during which life only preserves its hidden springs. The
caterpillar already contains all the rudiments of the forms

1Tt is the cocoon spun by the bombyx of the mulberry tree that furnishes our
silk, so much studied by the scientific, and such a well-known source of our indus-
trial wealth. Boyle the chemist relates that a lady, having taken the trouble
to unravel a cocoon of silk very carefully, and to measure the thread, found
that it was more than 300 English leagues in length.—Boyle, Subtilty of Efluvia.
Lyonet with much reason thinks there must be some mistake here. He found
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 145

which it is to take on in succession. The genius of the
anatomist discovers in it three creatures, one encased with-
in the other, the last of which, enveloped in a double
winding-sheet, finally throws it off to appear in all its
beauty.

Some insects, however, show neither the immobility nor
the complete transformation we have been speaking of.
The passage from one life to another takes place by means

 

86. Larva and Nymph of the Panorpis, much enlarged, showing in this Fly the passage
from one state to another.

of a successive development. Some even maintain a con-
stantly active existence in every stage. We only recog-

this thread to be only from 700 to 900 feet long. This naturalist adds, that if we
suppose, as some savants have done, that the thread of a cocoon is 390 feet long,
and weighs 2 grains and a half, we shall find that to make up a pound of silk will
require a thread 3,428,352 feet long, which, supposing these to be feet of the old
measure (pied de roi= 12'7893 inches English), would make more than 228 leagues
per hour, computing each league at 15,000 feet, or 3000 geometrical paces.— Lesser,

Théologie des Insectes, p. 164.
i9
146 THE UNIVERSE.

nize the larva by the absence of its wings, and the nymph
by its having merely rudimentary ones; this is the case
with the wood-bugs and the Forficule or earwigs. But

 

87. Earwig—Forficula auricularia. Adult, Nymph, and Larva,

generally the perfect imsect only reaches the term of life
after having undergone a total metamorphosis. Its last
form is only a brilliant wedding garment, and it almost
always expires as soon as ever the torches of Hymen are
extinguished. Many an insect, the Ephemera for example,
passes several years in its development beneath the
mud and water, an unknown and imperfect larva; then it
acquires wings and only exists an hour with all the pre-
rogatives of life!

In species which display radical metamorphoses, the
two modes of existence having no relation, the organism
naturally undergoes an absolute transformation.

The butterfly, which is henceforth to nourish itself with
nectar, throws off its voracious caterpillar’s head and
powerful mandibles, now become useless; an extended
proboscis to suck the juice of flowers replaces them.
The vigorous feet of the larva—the hooks of which cling
so strongly to the leaves—would injure the flowers which
the butterfly is henceforth to haunt; he releases himself
from them, and exchanges them for long and delicate
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 147

members which scarcely rest upon the velvet of their
petals.

 

88. Head and Proboscis of different Butterflies.

Up to a certain point the genius of the anatomist pene-
trates the intentions of nature; guided by analogy he sees
in the unformed caterpillar the lineaments of the butterfly.
Malpighi, who has left us such noble works on the silk-

 

89. Hooked Feet and Nail of the Willow-caterpillar.—From Lyonet.

worm, with his lynx-eye saw in the nymph the organs of
maternity. Ramdohr and Carus penetrated still further,
and succeeded in discovering in the caterpillar the first
rudiments of the ovary, that real producer of the eggs. But
what unperceived, unexplained marvels still remain! The
imago is carefully protected by a series of coverings, of
which it successively denudes itself. Then, as befits the
148 THE UNIVERSE.

last scene of life save one, that which the chrysalis now
takes on is thicker, stronger, darker, and less ornamented
than all the others, and nevertheless it is beneath this that
a divine alchemy scatters its dust of gold and silver upon
the elytra of the insect, or enamels them with sapphire
and ruby.

In fact when the new creature, bursting its sepulchral
laboratory, expands itself in the light, its dazzling robe
reflects the brightest sheen of metal or the glitter of jew-
elry. No animal, no plant, displays such riches; our most
beautiful ornaments cannot compete with them. Hence
Lesser was so overcome by admiration as to exclaim in
his Theology of Insects, “Never was Solomon on his shining
throne so magnificently appareled as one of these fragile
creatures !”

In the old chronicles we often read of drops of blood
scattered here and there being regarded as a sinister omen,
or even of regular showers of blood which carried terror
into the minds of our superstitious ancestors. Now-a-days
philosophers can clearly explain this phenomenon, which
is connected with the metamorphosis of insects.

Gregory of Tours speaks of a shower of blood which
fell in the reign of Childebert and spread alarm among the
Franks. But the most celebrated is that which took place
at Aix during the summer of 1608. It struck the inhabi-
tants of all the country with terror. The walls of the
churchyard and those of the houses of the citizens and
peasants for half a league round were all spotted with
ereat drops of blood.

An attentive examination of them convinced a savant
of that day, M. de Peirese, that all that was told about
the subject was only a fable. He could not at first explain
this extraordinary phenomenon, but chance revealed the
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 149

cause clearly. Having inclosed in a box the chrysalis of
one of the butterflies which were then showing themselves

 

90. Great Tortoise-shell Butterfly— Vanessa polychloros.

in great numbers, he was perfectly astonished to see a
stain of scarlet-red at the spot where the metamorphosis
had taken place!

The philosopher had really discovered here the cause

      
 

LAA iy
Uh Co

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Ie

con,

   

   
  

ar
iH

91. Caterpillar and Chrysalis of Great Tortoise-shell Butterfly.

of the wondrous rains which had struck so many people
with stupor. Many butterflies indeed, a few moments
after they issue from their chrysalis swathing-clothes,
expel a thick coloured fluid which has accumulated in
150 THE UNIVERSE.

the intestine during their seclusion. It is of a bright red
in certain diurnal Lepidoptera, in particular the Vanesse,
and especially among them the great tortoise-shell, to which
Réaumur principally ascribes the occurrence.

M. de Peirese, in fact, made out that the shower of blood
at Aix had been accompanied by a prodigious swarm of
butterflies, and in the Encyclopedia it is said that his con-
jectures were confirmed, by their not finding any spots on
the roofs, but only on the lower stories of the houses, the
places which the butterflies choose for their metamor-
phoses.!

CHAPTER III.
THE INTELLIGENCE OF INSECTS.

Descartes, who paid little attention to insects, only saw
in them ingenious machines, living automatons, wound up
once only to put their wheels and springs in movement;
all that is so marvellous in their existence escaped this
brilliant genius. But when Cartesianism had had its day,
a few timid philosophers consented to recognize some
obscure traces of instinct in these animals.

In proportion, however, as they studied these miniature
specimens of creation, men discovered certain elevated
faculties and perfect senses, to which succeed comparison
and judgment. We even see them accomplish acts the

1 The Cyclopedia of Diderot contains a very good article on these showers of
blood.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 151

aim of which puzzles us. They act, foreseeing a future
the existence of which no really existing picture could have
revealed to them.

Everything in the life of the insect astonishes us, not
only the prodigious extent and finish of its work, but also
the fact of its being impelled to a task the necessity for
which cannot have been taught it by tradition.

This butterfly which escapes at spring from its mummy
coffin never yet held intercourse with its kin; how can it
in autumn display so much provident care for an offspring
which it will never see? This delicate care, this deep fore-
sight, cannot even be a reflection of its first impressions !
The traces of them were effaced during the metamorphoses
which shook it to the very base.

Who revealed to this dragon-fly (Libellula), born
beneath the water, living in shadow and sunk in the mud,
that its last country is the briliant sky? And when,
hurried away by a supreme instinct, it prepares to throw
off the ignoble garment of the larva, to drink in the air
and light, who points out to it the precise moment at
which it ought to tear itself away from the depths of the
marsh, adorn itself with its brilliant holiday robe, and
launch itself like a bird into the atmosphere #

Gall and Camper, who computed the intelligence of
mammals according to the proportion of the brain or the
facial angle, would have found something also to observe
in insects. It has been remarked, indeed, that the most
intelligent among them possess a more centralized nervous
system than the others, and a proportionally larger head.

This observation has been made by celebrated physio-
logists in respect to bees and spiders, which assuredly
possess more elevated faculties than any other animals of
their tribe. Ratzeburg, indeed, in the magnificent plates
152 THE UNIVERSE.

of his work, represents the brain of the bee in order to
give an idea of its bulk.

It is known that Camper considered that the greater
the facial angle in animals, the lower their intelligence.
Mr. White, an English savant, has made this clearly
perceptible by representing the heads of a large series of
vertebrata from man to the crane, the extreme lengthening
of the face of which corresponds to its intellectual infer-
iority. An analogous work might perhaps be executed in
respect to insects. At the beginning of the picture would

 

92. Coleoptera of the family of Carahide.

be found the tiger-beetle and the Carabide, daring flesh-
eating insects of ferocious habits, and with strongly marked
heads; at the other end of the scale we should find the long-
beaked Curculio, which, from the extreme prolongation of
its facial angle and its limited capacity, would correspond
perfectly with the crane.

The intelligence of insects rises under certain circum-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 153

stances to the most finished subtlety. Of this there are
abundant instances. A carnivorous animal famishing for
living prey, but disgusted with dead bodies, is on the point
of seizing in the water the large shelly larva of a Dytiscus.
All at once the latter perceives his enemy, and as soon as
it is touched by him, from being turgid and vigorous,
immediately becomes soft and repulsively flaccid. The

 

93. The Pine Cureulio, enlarged.

ageressor, thinking he has only a dead animal in his mouth,
drops his prey.

This coleopter having become horny with adult age, can-
not collapse, and it therefore employs another stratagem.
So soon as we take a Dytiscus from one of our marshes,
it is scarcely laid hold of before we see a white, milky,
repulsively stinking fluid issue from all the pores of its
skin, which the most hungry animal could not endure.

As children, we have all been struck with the sight of
Coleoptera, which, so soon as we touch them with our
fingers, feign death by becoming absolutely motionless,
and which, when they are left to themselves, relax their
limbs, and very soon scamper off at full speed. Some of

them remain so absolutely motionless, that nothing can
20
154 THE UNIVERSE.

withdraw them from their determined dissimulation. The
borer or death-watch (Anobiwm) will allow itself to be

 

04, Nymph, Larva, and Perfect Insect—Dytiscus marginatus.

singed or drowned rather than fly when once fear has made
it shrink. What I state has been confirmed by experiment.
De Geer and Duméril relate, that having thoroughly fright-
ened several Coleoptera of this species, they allowed them-
selves to be burned without attempting to escape.

Others, in order to evade their enemies, carry deception
still further. When young and feeble, they hide behind a
delusive mask, that of a repulsive and ragged or foul-
smelling covering of spider threads or excrement, and at
a later period die clad in a mantle of purple and gold.

Such is the Lily Crioceris. Its mean-looking, soft,

 

95. Lily Crioceris and its Larva—Crioceris merdigera (Leach).

timorous larva covers its back with its fetid dejections, in
order to disgust the insectivorous birds. Subsequently,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 155

freed from its filthy garment, it promenades upon the royal
plant in a magnificent carapace of vermilion. !

The bombardiers are even more ingenious; they alarm
their enemies by means of real artillery. These Coleoptera,
when threatened, suddenly expel from their intestines a
whitish acid vapour, the explosion of which as it issues
produces a certain sound, a slight detonation, which carries
disorder among the aggressors. This explosion may even
be repeated a certain number of times. Hence, when one
of these insects is pursued by an enemy, it fires off its artil-

 

96. Calosoma (Calosoma inquisitor) pursuing a Bombardier (Brachinus crepitans), who is

fighting in retreat.

lery anew. The instinct of defence is so inherent in the
tribe of bombardiers, that at the sound of a cannon-shot

1The excrements piled upon the back of the Lily Crioceris form an enormous
and heavy mass compared with the volume of the larva, which they entirely con-
ceal from view. We only see a species of little packages of moist defecations, which
seem to walk upon the leaves of the plant. The worm exposes them on its back
as fast as they are produced, and this is done by means of a special organ. The
anal orifice, instead of being quite at the end of the body, is placed above in such
a manner that each globule of excrement is disposed in its proper place, thus
contributing to the increase of the mass in proportion as the animal grows older.
156 THE UNIVERSE.

from one of them, all the others fire at the same time;
there is arunning fire along the whole linet The sound
produced by these Coleoptera is intense enough to startle
those who do not know the ruse. We often see young
people who have seized one, let it escape suddenly from
their fingers, astonished by this singular attack.*

The mechanical nature of insects has only been main-
tained by those who have never observed them; on the
contrary, those naturalists who are acquainted with them
assign to them decidedly high faculties.

A Hemipteron, the tricks of which have rendered it
celebrated enough, the Medurius personatus, conceals
itself under a disguise quite as insidious as that of the
Crioceris, but which has the advantage of being infinitely
less disgusting. It covers itself with a rag of spider
threads and dust, in order to be less distinguishable from
the latter, in the midst of which it hides itself to watch for
the passing prey.

Baron Geer, the Réaumur of Sweden, has described the
wiles of this insect in a very picturesque manner. ‘This
bug,” he says, “in the state of a nymph, or before its wings
are developed, possesses a hideous and revolting exterior.
At the first look one might take it for one of the ugliest of
spiders. What makes it so disagreeable to the sight is its
being entirely covered and enveloped in a grayish matter,

1 It is, according to Rolander, furnished with an apparatus which enables
it to discharge twenty shots in succession. Another less-known species, the
small green beetle, Anchomenus prasinus, also fires off repeated discharges. It is
found near London.—Tr.

*The bombardier, called also the Gunner Scarabeus (Brachinus crepitans)
belongs to the genus Brachinus. It is a little Coleopteron which lives beneath
stones. The gaseous fluid which produces the detonation has a pungent odour,
is acid, and reddens tincture of litmus. Some entomologists have considered
it as analogous to nitric acid, and add that when brought into contact with
the skin it produces a yellow stain.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 157

which is nothing but the dust one sees in the nooks of an
ill-swept room, and which is generally mixed with sand
and portions of wool or silk, making the feet of the insect
coarse and misshapen, and giving the whole body a very
singular look.”

The Reduvius, nevertheless, is of a very slender form;
but to appreciate this one must give it a brush. In its

 

97. Young of the Reduvius personatus; the one covered with its tatters of dust and spider-
threads, the other freed from these by brushing.

disguise it moves very slowly as if overloaded by the
weight of its accoutrements, in order to take its prey by
surprise. But when it has thrown off its garment and
acquired its wings, it becomes active, and, as M. Figuier
happily says in his excellent work on insects, “We then
see it gaining its livelihood in open view.”

When an enemy little to be dreaded sneaks into a
hive of bees, the first sentinels that see it pierce it with
their stings, and in the twinkling of an eye eject the corpse
from the common dwelling. The work is not interrupted
by such an event. But if the aggressor be a strong and
heavy slug, matters go differently. A general agitation
seizes the workers, each one gets ready his weapon,
whirls round the invader, and pierces it with its dart.
Assailed with fury, wounded on all sides, and poisoned
158 THE UNIVERSE.

by the venom, the creeping animal dies in violent con-
tortions. But what is to be done with such a weighty
foe? The little feet of all the tribe would not suffice to
stir the corpse, and the narrow door of the hive would
not allow it to pass. Its putrid exhalations would,
however, soon infect the colony, and develop the germ
of some malady. How are they to escape from this
dilemma ?

The republic take counsel, and come suddenly to just
such a resolution as they would have done if they had
thoroughly known one of the arts of ancient Egypt.
As under the Pharaohs men embalmed the corpses of
animals, either with a religious view or to preserve them-
selves from their pestilential emanations, so all the bees
now set to work to embalm the dead animal, the presence
of which is a menace to them. For this purpose the
workers scatter themselves over the country in order to
eather the resinous matter (propolis) which clings to the
buds, for this is what replaces the essences and aloes used
by the undertakers of the Thebaid. The bees closely en-
velop the dead body with this in the form of little fillets,
and deposit all round it a thick solid layer which pre-
serves it from putrefaction.

After seeing so many ingenious combinations, who would
be tempted, with Malebranche and the uphoiders of the
scholastic philosophy, to look upon the insect as an auto-
maton, necessarily destined to accomplish only a series of
acts adapted to its mechanism? We are here far beyond
the flute-player of Vaucanson and his famous mechanical
duck, which ate and digested its food in presence of the
spectators.

But the same bees display under different circumstances,
if not as much art at least as much finesse. If instead of
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 159

a soft slug, vulnerable on all sides, a cuirassed shell-snail
violate the asylum of the republic, a totally different result
ensues. As soon as the swarm begin to attack it, the
molluse intrenches itself within its shell, fixes it to the
ground, and is then proof against all aggression. Never-

 

 

 

 

98. Escargot, Garden-snail—Helix aspersa (Mull.)

theless, as the presence of an enemy so well fenced in gives
them some uneasiness, and as they cannot slay it, they
fasten it to the spot. The workers deposit all round its
shell a solid frame of resinous matter (propolis) which
glues it firmly to the hive. The enemy must then neces-
sarily die in his lair, for all movement, all escape, is hence-
forth impossible.

Réaumur discovered a snail cemented in this way to one
of his experimental hives, into which it had imprudently
penetrated; and I myself have seen another such prisoner
in the same condition.

Do not such facts prove a certain foresight? Could
blind instinct bring them about, and who could venture to
refer them to mere mechanical action ?

Some insects have an idea of order and strategy. When
they go to the chase or to battle, as we shall see in another
chapter, their army advances with a care and prudence
160 THE UNIVERSE.

we should be far from expecting in such little animals;
there are leaders, videttes, and reconnoitrers.

But no act of intelligence in insects is equal to that by
which the bees create themselves a queen when their own
is lost to them. By a singular anomaly in insects it is the
females which, though more delicate, take charge of the
work; the males do absolutely nothing. But these females
have none of the attributes of their sex; they are genuine
neuters, in which the nurses have contrived scientifically
to make every principle of fecundity abort. These work-
women, when young, have their bee-bread doled out to
them with a very sparing hand; in vain do they cry and
strugele at the bottom of their cells; the mother-in-law
remains inflexible, and when the nurse thinks the proper
moment has arrived, she inexorably incloses the larva, say-
ing, “Thou shalt go no further.” And thus the organic
development is paralyzed.

But if any accident carry off the queen from a republic
of bees, they miraculously know enough of the springs of
life to create themselves another. The nurses are aware
that the abortion of their fellow-beings is due to their sel-
fishness, and they now make prodigious efforts to procure
themselves a new sovereign. At the edge of one of the
combs we see them accumulate ample materials, and con-
struct a vast royal cell forty or fifty times as large and
weighty as the others. After that they bear away a simple
workwoman from her narrow cell, and place her in this
palace. So soon as ever she is installed in her sumptuous
abode, the nurses, now full of tenderness, load her with
more agreeable and sweeter scented bee-bread, and under
the influence of this ambrosia the larva, which was only
called to the most humble condition, sees its organs of
fecundation appear; henceforth she is a queen!
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 161

Is it possible to carry further the intimate knowledge
of one’s being and the divine art of modifying the nature
of it ? .

Maternal instinct also enables the insect to accomplish
works which I was about to call herculean; but I must go
further and call them more than herculean. In these it
develops a prodigious perseverance and an incomprehen-
sible power.

Linneeus saw one of the flies which attack large cattle,
an Céstrus, follow a reindeer a whole day, though drag-
ging its sledge at a gallop over the snow. The ominous
fly flew almost continually by its side, watching for the
moment when it might introduce one of its eggs beneath
the skin!

These creatures, so contemptible as to their size, astonish
us by their ingenious tenderness: their maternal foresight
is unbounded. Some of them imitate the rabbit, which
denudes all its belly to form a soft pillow for its nest of
young. They go even further than the mammal; it only
deprives itself of a part of its wool, whilst some butterflies,
to protect their offspring, tear all the hair off their bodies,
and expire so soon as this act of devotion is accomplished.
One of the pests of our fir forests, the Bombyx dispar, acts
in this way. Its nest is composed of a double shelter—
a fine down on which the eggs lie, and which covers them
closely, and of an external layer formed of dense hairs laid
on like the slates of a roof, and forming an impermeable
cloth. Thus the young brood are doubly protected: against
the severity of winter’s cold, and against its destructive
rains,

Some kinds of gall-insects, still more devoted to their off-
spring, immolate themselves in order to protect them. As
the enormously distended insect gradually expels its eggs,
162 THE UNIVERSE.

it heaps them up ina little pile, and when its body is quite
cleared out, and only resembles a hollow bladder, the female

 

99. Caterpillar, Chrysalis, and Butterfly, male and female, of the Pine Silk-worm Moth—
Bombyx dispar.

straightway covers its progeny with it, attaches the edges
round them, and dies directly after; thus forming for
them a convex, solid roof, the impermeability of which
protects its eggs against the injurious agency of the air and
storms. The mother has paid for her childbirth with her
life, and her young are born under the shelter of her
mummified corpse.

Some insects are guided in another way by maternal
instinct. Instead of sacrificing themselves, they kill other
animals in order to minister to the wants of their hungry
offspring. As each species requires a peculiar food, it is
only by the aid of various processes that the parents suc-
ceed in procuring it for them.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 163

Live prey is imperatively necessary for some larve;
they require it so soon as they are born, and as the mother
cannot fetter it to their cradle, she poisons it. But more
ingenious than Locusta, she only administers as much
poison as is necessary to stupify or paralyze it, so that the
young insect, when it issues from the egg, finds near it the
dying insect, which it ends by devouring. This is the case
with many of the Sphex species. The fly places one of its
eges at the bottom of a little hole which it makes in the
ground; it then goes out to hunt till it discovers a spider or
a caterpillar; and so soon as it finds one, it stings it scien-
tifically, and bears it quite paralyzed to its nest.

Finally, having placed its victim close to its egg, the
Sphex closes the opening of the subterranean hollow with
a little stone, and takes wing, giving it no further heed.
Nothing more remains for maternal tenderness to do.

Some ichneumons, or vibrating flies, are much more
rapacious and bold. There are some the larvee of which,
though extremely small, nevertheless attack large cater-
pillars, invade their bodies, and gnaw away till death en-
sues. The mother, by the aid of her auger, pierces the
other’s skin in order to insert her eggs beneath it. She
lays a pretty large number there, and when the young are
hatched, protected by the skin, they begin to eat the
fat, and it is only towards the close of their existence that
they make a breach in the vital organs, for, in order to
have always plenty of live flesh to devour, these hungry
anatomists take good care not to dissect them at first.
Then the caterpillar dies, and the larvee of the ichneumon
issue by numerous openings and spin silky cocoons on
the surface of the corpse. These nymphs, swathed in their
white winding-sheets of silk, are sometimes so numerous
and close together that they entirely conceal their victim.
164 THE UNIVERSE.

This extraordinary peculiarity remained for a long time
unknown, even to the most celebrated entomologists;
they thought at first that these little cocoons which en-
velop the caterpillar were only the offspring carefully
preserved from cold by maternal foresight. It was re-

 

100. Caterpillar devoured by the Larvee of Ichneumons, and Caterpillar covered with their
Cocoons,

served for the father of microscopy and for one of the
most celebrated observers of Italy, Leuwenhoeck and
Vallisneri, to shed a flood of light upon this curious fact
and establish the truth.

The sacred dung-beetle, which played so important a
part in the theogony of the banks of the Nile, also executes
most arduous tasks in order to protect its offspring. This
coleopter only bestows its care upon one egg at a time,
but this care is incessant. So soon as it has laid it, the
Scarabeeus makes its way to the dung of some herbivorous
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 165

mammal and bears off a small mass, in the centre of
which this egg is carefully placed. Afterwards it forms

i

 
  

101. Dung-beetles, or Sacred Scarabeei (Ateuchus sacer), making their Balls.

a regular spherical ball with it, the bulk of which exceeds
that of its own body. When it is finished the insect takes
166 THE UNIVERSE.

it with its two hind-feet, which are long, crooked, and
suited to this work, and rolls it about in every direction,
pushing it backwards. By dint of being worked along the
sand and fine earth, this ball of excrement, soft enough
at first, becomes more and more hard and smooth on the
surface. The dung-beetle pursues its work with an un-
heard of perseverance; nothing stops it, nothing turns it
back: it is a blind instinct that guides it. If the place it
is traversing be a hillock or a sloping ascent, it pushes its
ball with all its strength. But very often it tumbles, when
the ball escapes from its legs and rolls away. The insect
then seeks it anxiously, and if some neighbour, without
anything to do, has taken possession of it, or if it be lost
in the high grass so that it cannot be found again, it forms
a new one and lays another egg.

When the ball is quite finished, well rounded, large, and
hardened, the Scarabeeus, which has dug a hole for this
purpose, pushes the ball into it and leaves it to its fate.
And thus the arduous work is finished. _

It was these remarkable labours which drew the atten-

     
 

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CD

   

1 0

102. Cartouches from the Temples of Philc, representing Sacred Scarabzeus, Sacred Ibis, Ke.

tion of the ancients to the insect. In old Egypt, where
men marvelled at this prodigious care, the sacred Scara-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 167

beeus became the symbol of fecundity, and sculpture mul-
tiplied to infinity its image on all the monuments of the
Pharaohs, from the mouth of the king of rivers to the
heart of Nubia. On the other hand, the perseverance
with which the dung-beetle rolls up its ball again, like
Sisyphus in the fable, seemed to some to offer a reminis-
cence of the labours of Isis and Osiris. Hence we see it
represented everywhere on the pediments of their temples,
having its ball, an emblem of the globe, placed between
its legs.!

1 This at least is the opinion avowed by M. Latreille in his d/émozre sur les
Insectes Sacrés. Nothing is more common than sculptures and paintings repre-
senting the Scarabeus or sacred dung-beetle of the Egyptians, and even some
real ones have been discovered in the sarcophagi of their mummies. Some of
the artificial Ateuchi (Scarabeei) met with among the monuments on the borders
of the Nile, were pierced so as to form necklaces for women; others were used
as seals, as is shown by the inscriptions beneath them.

Plutarch distinctly says that the military caste in Egypt made use of the
figure of a Scarabeeus for a seal, and Horapollon explains this by asserting
that this insect peculiarly represents man, since there are no females of its
species. Plutarch’s opivion has also been adopted by MM. Jomard and Cham-
pollion, and the latter says that nothing is more common than carved Scarabei,
mounted in rings or not, on which we can discern different weapons and even
armed men.—Horapollon, Horapollinis Niloi Hieroglyphica. Amsterdam, 1835,

Among the people of Egypt the effigy of the sacred Scarabzeus has been
repeated in a thousand different ways, as though it were a kind of tutelary god.
It is seen everywhere carved on their monuments, temples, tombs, and obelisks ;
there are even some represented on most bas-reliefs, and they are found at the
present day sculptured of all dimensions, and in every possible material, from
the commonest stones to the most precious metals. I saw some of colossal size
in the British Museum; they were of granite, and three to four feet long. But
for common use they were made of very small dimensions and in prodigious
quantities; they are found of marble, porphyry, agate, lapis lazuli, garnet, and
gold.

In my narrative I have conformed to the opinions of French zoologists, but
it is probable that when the history of the dung-beetle has been thoroughly
studied, we shall not hear that it is in spring, but in autumn or the beginning of
winter, that they form their balls. Indeed, it was in October that I saw, for
the first time, the Atewchus sacer (dung-beetle), in the environs of Rome, occupied
on the little hills of Tivoli in rolling their balls, and in Upper Egypt I found
them at the same task in November. Perhaps also on the borders of the Nile
168 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER IV.
HUNTING INSECTS.

Many insects only live by hunting, and the measures
they resort to in this pursuit would justify a division into
distinct classes.

Some pursue their prey over hills and thickets, and
attack it with the courage of a lion. The Carabi, their
robes gleaming with gold and blue, and the active tiger-

 

103, Cicindela campestris. 104. Carabus purpureus. 105. Chinese Cicindela.

beetles, are of this class. And yet neither their beauty nor
their unappreciated services find favour with man; instead

they do not all make use of dung, as in Europe. In the part where I saw them
busy forming their balls, the river was bordered by a wide desert, so that it
was difficult to see where they could have found dung. Their balls seemed
made entirely of Nile mud.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 169

of protecting these useful auxiliaries of agriculture, which
every day annihilate so many of the destructive species, he
destroys them without pity.

Others, not less ardent in the pursuit of prey, but much
more ingenious, stretch out nets or construct insidious
snares, into which their victims inevitably plunge.

The life of insects presents some anomalies which are
not seen in other animals: totally different habits being

 

106. The Adult Ant-lion—Jf. yrmeleon formicarius.

met with in species almost physically identical. Thus we
have seen that the nymph of our magnificent dragon-fly
(Libellula) lives in the mud of the marshes; on the other
hand the larva of another kind, which resembles it in
every respect, the famous Neuropteron, the ant-lion, so
called on account of the frightful carnage it makes among
the ants, delights only in the sand and the burning rays of
the sun.

This insidious larva, the most ingenious perhaps that is
known, constructs its snare in the driest and finest sand
that it can find. It consists of a perfectly regular funnel,
hollowed out beneath the level of the soil. The insect
only employs its head to clear out the space. Placing

itself in the centre of its work, it loads its head with par-
22
170 THE UNIVERSE.

ticles of sand, which it afterwards expels by a brisk upward
movement, and this movement is repeated with such fre-
quency that the particles form an almost continuous jet.
When the sides of the funnel are so regular and sloping
that they cannot be climbed, the larva buries itself in such
a way at the bottom, that we see only the threatening
mandibles, which stand open, waiting for an opportunity
of being exercised.

So soon as ever an ant stumbles over the edge of the
pit-fall it is inevitably borne down by the inclined plane
of the infernal tunnel. In vain does it try to rise again;
the sand yields beneath its feet and it rolls with fatal cer-
tainty to the bottom, where the terrible jaws of the ant-
lion at once seize and despatch it.

Sometimes a larger insect falls into the deadly ambus-
cade. It resists and tries vigorously to scale the slope
again. In the meantime the treacherous ant-lion remains

 

107. Pit of the Ant-lion—Myrmeleon formicarius.

at its post, but dreading (from the bulk of the debris which
rolls upon its head) the size of the animal which has thus
lost its way, it now takes a direct part in its destruction,
and in order to impede its attempts,-launches in swift suc-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 171

cession masses of sand upon its victim, which accelerate
its fall to the bottom of the gulf. Once there it is infallibly
lost; the Neuropteron, thirsting for blood, shows no mercy.!

But if the ant-lion were to keep the remains of its food
near it the snare would soon be converted into an unin-
habitable charnel-house; it must therefore get rid of them
at any sacrifice. For this purpose, whenever the larva has
sucked an insect, it places the corpse upon its head, and
then, by a vast effort, launches it into the air, and some-
times a long way from the borders of its hole, in order to
obviate the suspicion which the corpses of its victims might
suggest to the imprudent travellers towards the fatal re-
fuge. In some observations which I made on the ant-lions,
I saw them in this way launch flies and large ants three
inches from their dwellings.

Other hunters, less ingenious but more brave, proceed
like regular birds of prey. They are the Raptores of the
insect world, which in their agile and powerful flight swoop
down like the falcon and seize it in mid-air. To these be-
long the beautiful insects with transparent iridescent wings
which fly near our pools, and which are commonly known
as dragon-flies.

Although Minerva, in her jealousy, broke the loom of .
Arachne, even though transformed into a spider, the ob-
scure rival of the goddess nevertheless executes wonder-
ful tasks. Some spiders are remarkable for the perfection
of their weaving; in others the arrangement reveals the

1The larva of a fly (Rhagio vermileo), not unlike the common flesh-maggot,
constructs a funnel-shaped opening like that of the ant-lion. At the bottom of
this it lies waiting for grubs which fall into the trap, and on which it feeds.
Should they attempt to escape it hurls jets of sand-earth at them, and not
unfrequently brings them down again. The ant-lion, though not uncommon in
France and Switzerland, has not, I believe, of late years at least, been seen in
Britain.—Tr.
172 THE UNIVERSE.

most astute intelligence. In the former category may be
placed the regularly circular nets which the spiders of our
gardens stretch from branch to branch; in the other the
webs of the species which invade our dwellings.

These latter, usually built in the corners of the walls,
exhibit a horizontal net soiled with dust, which is in a
sense only the basement floor of the carnivorous insect’s
structure, for it is in the threads irregularly crossed above
this that the prey gets entangled and lost. But the most
ingenious part of this destructive engine is the lair in which
the hunter lies ensconced. It is a veritable circular tunnel,
with a double outlet and serving a double purpose: one
outlet is horizontal and opens upon the web; the other is
vertical and gives passage below. It is from the former
that the spider launches itself upon its prey; the other fills
the office of a trap-door.

The spider takes the greatest care never to leave on its
web the carcasses from which it has sucked the blood; such
a charnel-house would alarm its living prey. So soon as
ever a fly has been immolated, the insect seizes it, drags
it to its tunnel, and ejects it by the lower opening. Thus
when we look at the part of the floor below, we are aston-
ished at the numbers that have fallen victims to the san-
cuinary spider. Sometimes also this hidden exit serves
for it to escape by when menaced by some serious danger.
But this is a very rare case; its special use, its exclusive
purpose, is to receive the debris of the spider’s repasts; a
fact, I believe, not noticed by any observer.

The disgust inspired by the spider is not well founded.
No insect possesses more intelligence or a more wonderful
structure; the ugliness of the ingenious Arachnis is for-
gotten so soon as we look at it without prejudice. The
fear with which it petrifies some persons is in itself
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 173

exaggerated. It is true there are spiders the bite of which
is as formidable as that of our vipers, but they only in-

 

108. The Bird-eating Spider (Mygale avicularia) killing a Humming-bird.—From
Sybille de Mérian,

habit tropical countries. The species found in France and
England are almost harmless. The spider found in cellars
is the only one the bite of which can be considered as
174 THE UNIVERSE.

attended with danger, and the results of its bite, although
some cases are related in which it has been fatal, are
limited to a sharp pain and some swelling and inflamma-
tion.

The notorious Tarantula itself, when more closely studied,
loses its strange prestige; its bite has ceased to produce
the furious dancing mania so much spoken about, even in
medical works.!

The poison apparatus of spiders is precisely analogous to
that of serpents, only that it is of microscopic size. It
possesses mobile teeth, hollow fangs which distil the poison
into the wound, and this is secreted by a peculiar gland, |
situated in the interior of the palpi attached to the under-
jaws which effect the bite.

In the large tropical species this lethal fluid is so active
that it kills in an instant animals of a far superior bulk,
and is often employed against the birds which they seize

1 The Tarantula is a large hunting spider, which inhabits a hole it scoops out
of the earth, from whence it throws itself upon its prey. It is met with all
through Italy, but especially in the neighbourhood of Tarentum, from whence
its name comes. It is found along the coasts of the Mediterranean, in Sicily,
Barbary, and Provence.

This Arachnis was formerly much dreaded, and the symptoms produced by
its bite were compared to those of hydrophobia, which procured for it the name of
the “mad spider.”

Old authors maintained that those who were bitten by it fell into a profound
stupor or were seized with convulsions, for which music was a sovereign remedy,
by inducing them to dance, which they did till they were exhausted and fell
down senseless.

Baglivi, though a learned physician, was yet deceived as to the Tarantula

disorder, about which he wrote a special treatise, in which we find set down the
Baglivi, Dissert. de Anat. Morsu et Affectibus

 

airs most suited to effect a cure.
Tarentule, 1745.

Since the days of Abbé Nollet in Italy men have ceased to believe in this
pretended malady. This learned observer says that it was only vagabonds
and charlatans who said they had been bitten by the Tarantula, in order to
have a pretext for dancing and soliciting alms. The learned Duméril also
assures us that the disorder is a fable-—Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelies,
t. ii, p. 327,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 175

on the trees. In one of her magnificent plates Sibylle de
Mérian, so celebrated for her knowledge and her beautiful
paintings from natural history, represents a touching scene;

109. Chicken-spider (Aranea pullaria), the size of life.

 

that of a spider, the Mygale avicularia, which is gorging
a humming-bird near its nest.?

Some well-known spiders, which are almost as large as
the fist, sometimes fasten on chickens and pigeons, seiz-

1 This animal (the Aranea avicularia, Linn.) known in South America as the
Abamdin, or Great Spider, measures an inch across the thorax, and spius a
176 THE UNIVERSE.

ing them by the throat and killing them instantaneously,
drinking their blood at the same time. Hence in Columbia,
where these disagreeable guests are common enough, they
are called chicken-spiders.'

CHAPTER V.
SLAVE-MAKERS AND WARLIKE TRIBES.

When we search into the history of insects we are sur-
prised at finding such ardent passions in such fragile
creatures: hatred animates them; thirst for booty directs
them. To gratify these evil propensities, they fight bloody
battles and become transformed into land pirates.

Man leads to the battle-field a ponderous troop of ele-
phants; insects go single-handed. The 6000 elephants
which Porus opposed to the triumphal march of Alexander,
only went forth to fight when guided by experienced hands;
whilst ants, left to their own resources, fight great battles,
and, incredible as it may seem, display a great deal of
strategy.
cocoon three inches long and one broad. It is not certain whether it belongs to
the hunting or the working spiders. Madame de Mérian’s statement, that it
attacks the humming-bird, though at one time boldly denied, has been confirmed
in Bates’ Naturalist on the Amazon, and in the paper from which this note is
taken.—Termeyer, Proc. Essex Institute, VU. S—Tr.

1 Though there is no specimen of this species in the British Museum, there is,
in the case containing specimens of the J/ygale or Aranea avicularia, one the
body of which measures fully 34 inches long, broad and strongly made. It isa

most formidable-looking creature, and in point of bulk approaches the figure of
the chicken-spider, No. 109.—Tr.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 177

The slave-making instinct is strongly developed in this
group. A series of zealous servants is indispensable to
their existence, and in order to procure them they act like
impudent pirates.

Observers had for a long time remarked that certain
ants carry others in their mouths during their peregrina-
tions, but they could not make out for what purpose. It
was Huber who discovered the mystery. These are so
many veritable raids, which the insects carry out in the
interests of their republic—slave-razzias executed by main
force. These microscopic filibusters do not go into the
markets to sell their captives by auction, but like effeminate
sybarites keep them in order to impose all the household
work upon them.

At the head of these daring slave-makers we must put
the red ant, or Amazon, the military expeditions of which
have been most carefully observed by the naturalists of our
epoch. They are so frequent that one may enjoy the
sight of them any fine day during the summer season.
Huber says that the excursions of these warrior tribes
have only one object, that of carrying off the ants, so to
speak, in their swaddling-clothes, from the midst of a
laborious people, and converting them into helots who
will work for them.

When the Amazon ant takes the field in order to cap-
ture slaves, and especially the miner-ants, of which it
generally makes use, it goes about its work in a very
orderly way. The excursion always begins when night is
drawing on. When they have issued from their abode,
the Amazons array themselves in serried columns, and
their army takes its way to the ants’ nest which they are
about to spoliate. In vain do the warriors seek to bar the

entrance; in spite of all such efforts the others penetrate
23
178 THE UNIVERSE.

into the very heart of the place, and pry into all the com-
partments in order to choose their victims, the larvee and
nymphs. The workmen which oppose those raids are
simply thrown down; they are not made prisoners, because
they would only adapt themselves with difficulty to the
yoke; the assailants want only young individuals which
they can mould to their will When the place is com-
pletely sacked, each conqueror takes a nymph or larva
delicately between its teeth and prepares to return. Those
who cannot find nymphs or larve carry off the mutilated
dead bodies of their enemies in order to feed on them.
Then the whole army, laden with booty, and sometimes
stretching out in a line of forty metres in length (130 feet)
triumphantly regains its city in the same order as at its
departure.

So soon as the young ants, torn from their homes, reach
the abode of their spoilers, the slaves already there lavish
the most attentive care upon them; they give them food,
cleanse them, and warm their chilled bodies.

In the slave-making republics conquerors and slaves
finish by changing places. Not retaining any part of the
old feudal system, the armour of which pressed without
ceasing upon the serfs, the former only display courage at
the moment of conquest. As soon as ever they have
stowed away their booty in the nest, the Amazons refresh
themselves after battle by the pleasures of laziness; but
being soon enervated thereby, the spoilers pass under the
yoke of those they conquered. Their dependence is so
complete, that if, after this, one were to carry off their
slaves, privations and inaction would soon destroy the tribe.

These spoilers, so ardent in the chase, revolt against all
domestic work; they only understand fighting. Incapable
of constructing their abodes or nourishing their young,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 179

they leave both these duties to their slaves. Should the
tribe be forced to abandon a nest which is too old, or
become too small, the slaves decide upon the question, and

 

 

 

110. Return of Ants after a Battle, magnified.

carry the emigration into effect. The Amazons seem at
this time to be struck with scandalous weakness. Each
slave takes in its mandibles one of its degenerate masters,
and bears it to the new dwelling, just as a cat carries in its
mouth the kitten taken from its cradle.

The ingenious Huber wanted to see how far the de-
180 THE UNIVERSE.

pendence of the two social classes went, and soon per-
ceived that the chiefs, left to themselves, were absolutely
unable to provide for their wants even in the midst of
abundance. This naturalist having inclosed thirty Ama-
zons with a plentiful provision of food, but without any
slaves, saw that they fell into a state of profound apathy,
although he placed the larvee and nymphs alongside of
them in order to stimulate them to work. All occupation
ceased immediately, and the recluses would every one have
died of hunger rather than eat alone. Many had already
succumbed, when it entered the head of the Genevese
savant to furnish them with a slave. She was scarcely in-
troduced among the dead and dying when she was at work,
giving food to the survivors, lavishing her care upon the
young larve, and constructing shelter for them. She
saved the colony.!

Nothing can be more incredible than those facts, and
yet they have been verified with the most scrupulous care,
both by the great historian of ants, and more recently in
England by Messrs. F. Smith and Darwin.

But the extraordinary customs of these ants differ some-
what according to the localities which they inhabit, and

1 Tt does not seem that any person has verified many of M. Huber’s observa-
tions, and it would be well if an able and conscientious observer like M. Pouchet
could be induced to undertake the task. Mr. Holt (Science Gossip, July, 1868)
says the ants (probably Formica fuliginosa) observed by him seemed to have but
very little idea of locality, and that, in their eagerness to obtain water, they fell
into a tank in such numbers as to threaten the extinction of the population,
which can scarcely be considered an instance of sagacity. Mr. Frederick Ward,
too (Science Gossip, Aug. 1868), says that, though he had often come across ants
in the fields, and longed to be a witness of their remarkable doings, he had met
with such bad success in this respect that he renounced all faith inthem. Having
closely observed some in a glass formicary, he found less order and method in
their operations than he expected. They seemed to work night and day: he
sometimes turned on the gas suddenly at 2 a.m., and found them as busy as ever;

still they did not seem to get on in a workmanlike manner. He frequently
noticed an ant come out with a piece of dirt in its forceps, and run about
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 181

the number of helots which the nest contains. In Switzer-
land Huber observed that the slaves generally work at the
construction of the dwelling inhabited by the tribe, and
that, like vigilant gatekeepers, they open the outlets at
daybreak, and carefully close them when evening or a
storm of rain comes on.

In England, according to Darwin, the life of the slaves
is much more sedentary than elsewhere. This observer
has never seen them issue from the nest, where they occupy
themselves merely with domestic work. But, as he says,
this is perhaps owing to the greater number of servants
seen among the Swiss species, which allows of part of
the work outside being confided to them.

All kinds of ants do not so easily adapt themselves to
slavery. There are some very small ones, such as the
yellow ant, which set the Amazons at defiance, and
although much weaker, frighten them by their mien:
courage supplies the want of strength. Hence the blood-
red ant, which is one of the most thorough-going slave-
makers we are acquainted with, never attempts to plunder
the dwelling of the yellow ant, which fights with fury to

apparently in a state of distraction, as if it did not know what to do with it. Two
ants were often seen tugging at the same piece for a long while, which was cer-
tainly a waste of time; and a piece of stone was often dragged backward and
forward by two ants in their galleries, from a mere spirit of opposition it would
seem. Again, an ant might be seen to come out of a gallery with something in
its mouth, run about with it and put it down, having apparently lost itself; a
proceeding which it terminated by disappearing down another hole. Sometimes,
too, they would go on excavating without removing the rubbish till they were
nearly or quite blocked in, or till there was only room for one to pass. He admits,
however, their sagacity in ejecting the dead bodies of their comrades, and throw-
ing them into a tank; their wonderful industry, and their courage. The species
observed by Mr. Ward also seems to have been the Formica fuliginosa. The
fact that ants work all through the night, and indeed seem never to sleep, was
noticed more than a hundred and fifty years ago in a paper assigned to
Addison, but really translated by De La Roche from the Mercurie Galant,
—Guardian, vol. ii. No, 156.—Tr.
182 THE UNIVERSE.

defend its home, its family, and its liberty. This is so con-
stantly the case, that Mr. Smith, to his great surprise, found
a little tribe of this valiant species under a stone close to a
nest of slave-makers. They knew how to make themselves
respected there, and even frightened the others by their
warlike attitude.

The slave-making tribes are not occupied solely with
the capture of helots; they frequently spread out over
plants in order to carry off the Aphides. These are their
cattle, their milch-cows, their goats; people would never
have thought that ants were a pastoral race. They are
extremely fond of a sweet liquor which distils from two
little teats which the Aphis carries at the extremity of its
back. We often find them scattered over the surface of
vegetables sucking this fluid from individuals by turns as
they encounter them. At other times, accompanied by their
slaves, they carry off the Hemiptera, and imprison them
in their dwelling, in order to milk them at leisure, and
there they are nourished exactly like stalled animals.

Huber discovered that the ants are so greedy after this
sweet liquor, that to procure it more conveniently they
make covered ways which lead from their nests to the
plants inhabited by these miniature cows. Sometimes they
carry their foresight even to a more incredible extent. In
order to reap a richer harvest from the Aphides, they leave
them on the plants which they habitually feed upon, and
with finely-tempered earth build there species of little
stables in which they imprison them. The naturalist we
have just quoted discovered several of these surprising
constructions; the fact is therefore beyond doubt.

Under certain circumstances the ants fight battles
which seem to have no other ground than antipathy be-
tween species or tribes.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 183

Ant-battles have had their historian, we might almost
say their bard, for the younger Huber has described them

    
  
  
  

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with as true poetry as we find in the tales of Homer or
the strophes of the Thebiid.

We can see this in the description of one of these battles
taken verbatim from the Genevese savant. It took place
between two ant-colonies situated a hundred paces from
184 THE UNIVERSE.

each other. “I shall not say,” exclaims Huber, “what
lighted up discord between these two republics, the one as
populous as the other; two empires do not possess a greater
number of combatants. The two armies met midway be-
tween their respective residences. Their serried columns
reached from the field of battle to the nest, and were two
feet in width. An immense reserve thus supported the
fighting body, where thousands of ants, mounted on the
smallest eminences, fought two and two, attacking each
other by means of their jaws. Others carried off prisoners,
but not without rough struggles, for they knew the cruel
fate that awaited them so soon as ever they reached the
hostile nest.

“The field of battle, which extended over a space of
from two to three square feet, was strewed with dead
bodies and wounded; it was also covered with venom and
exhaled a penetrating odour. Here and there single com-
bats were still maintained. The struggle began between
two ants which locked themselves together with their
mandibles, while they raised themselves upon their legs.
They quickly grasped each other so tightly that they rolled
one over the other in the dust. Generally the two athletes
were succoured, and chains were seen of six or eight ants,
locked one with another, and dragging the two adversaries
in different directions until either one let go, or was carried
off by superior strength.”

At the approach of night the two armies effected a
retreat and re-entered their dwellings. But the next day
the carnage began again with still greater fury, and Huber
saw the melée extend over a depth of six feet and two feet
of frontage. The exasperation of the combatants was so
ereat that not one of them noticed the observer, or dreamed
of attacking him.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 185

CHAPTER VI.
ARCHITECTS AND DEVOURERS OF TOWNS.

If we transport ourselves to tropical regions, where
nature, more vigorous, multiplies on every side the sources
of life, we see insects disputing with man for every foot of
possession. They make a regular war of it, invading his
plantations or his dwelling—a savage pitiless war—which
must at times be decided by the cannon.

This is the case with the warrior-ant in the neighbour-
hood of the Cape of Good Hope, which has attracted the
attention of every traveller by its extraordinary buildings,
and the havoc it makes.

These Termites (Termites bellicost), or white ants, as
they are frequently though wrongly called," live in republics
composed of different sorts of individuals: the males,
which have wings; and the workmen, soldiers, and queens,
which have none.

The workmen are only occupied in constructing build-
ings.

The mission of the soldiers is to defend the colony and
maintain order.

Lastly come the females, true queens, worshipped by the
whole population which look to them for the continuance
of their race. They are only monstrous ege-sacks; regular

1 They do not belong to the same order of insects as our ants; which are

Hymenoptera, while the Termites are Neuroptera.—Tr.
24
186 THE UNIVERSE.

egg-laying machines of the most astonishing fecundity.
When their abdomen is swelled to its utmost extent, it is
not less than 2000 times its previous size; they can no longer
drag it about with them, and henceforth remain chained
to one spot. The laying is so rapid, that it looks like a
fountain spouting eggs. This receptacle of offspring projects
them at the rate of sixty a minute, or 80,000 per diem.
The dimensions and solidity of the nests of the warrior
Termes, compared to the weakness of the insect, have

 

112. Warrior Termites (Termes bellicosus, Smeath.; Termes fatalis, Linn.) Soldier, Workman,
Male, and Female swollen with Eggs,

always excited the astonishment of travellers. They are
sometimes twenty feet in height. Their pyramidal form
gives them the look of a colossal sugar-loaf enlarged at
the base, the flanks of which are roughened by little
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113. Village of Warrior Termites.—From the Memoir of Smeathman,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 189

accessory hillocks. When one traverses a part where the
colonies of Termites abound, one might take them at a
distance for an Indian village. The walls of these dwellings
are so solid, that the wild cattle climb upon them without
crushing them when they place themselves there as
sentinels; and the interior contains chambers so large,
that a dozen men can find shelter in some of them; the
hunters place themselves in them to lie in wait for wild
animals.

Besides these extraordinary chambers, we find also in
this kind of social-republic city long galleries, of the calibre
of our large cannon, and which extend as much as three
or four feet into the ground.

The monuments of which we are proud are trifling
matters compared to those built by these fragile insects.
The nests of the Termites are often 500 times as long as
their bodies, and it has therefore been calculated, that if
we gave our houses a proportional height, they would be
four or five times as high as the pyramids of Egypt.

Other Termites, instead of constructing these astonish-
ing abodes, occupy themselves mischievously in attacking
ours, and invade them sometimes from the roof to the
foundation; everything then goes to ruin, house and furni-
ture alike. These insidious depredators make their way
silently underground, and tunnel long galleries, by means
of which they all at once invade our dwellings. Then they
penetrate into all the timber-work, and totally destroy the
interior of it, only leaving a surface as thin as a wafer.
Nothing reveals their hidden havoc to the eye; we see our
house, we believe in its real existence, while we possess
only a phantom of it—a house of cards, which falls at the
first shake. Smeathman, who has left us such an inter-
esting history of these Neuroptera, relates that they some-
190 THE UNIVERSE.

times destroy large towns, which have been deserted by
their inhabitants.

Mrs. Lee told me that in the districts of Africa where
she lived, the Termites only take a very short time to devour
an entire dwelling. A staircase of very fair size is eaten
in a fortnight; tables, arm-chairs, and chairs in much less.
This celebrated traveller assured me that often at Sierra
Leone, on returning to one’s house after a short absence,
only the ghost of the furniture isto be found. The exterior
still possesses all its freshness, but the substance is gone,
and every piece that is hollowed out falls to powder beneath
the hand of any one who touches it, or under the weight
of any one who sits down upon it.

Instead of the conical domes ornamented with little
bell-towers, grouped together in villages in the middle of the
plains, some species of this group, such as the tree-termite,
prefer to suspend their nests amid the large branches of
the strongest trees. These aérial masses, mingling with
the foliage of the trees, are very striking, for some of them
are larger than our hogsheads. The nests, which are
extremely porous, present inside an inextricable labyrinth
of tortuous canals; they are formed of a matrix or compact
paste composed of fine particles of wood, gum, and juices
of plants.

For some years past two species of this kind have been
established in France, and have caused very serious havoc
in some of our southern departments; they are the Termes
lucifugus and the heath-termite. Their introduction does
not seem to date further back than 1780.

The devouring cohorts of the light-shunning termite have
invaded Rochefort, La Rochelle, and Aix, where their fangs
have completely undermined a number of houses which
have fallen in. At one time these hateful depredators set
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 191

to work to gnaw the prefecture of La Rochelle and the
archives, without any person suspecting it; wainscotting,
pasteboard, papers, were all annihilated without any ex-
ternal sign of this havoc appearing. At present the

 

114. Nest of the Tree Termite—TZermes arborum.—From the Museum of Rouen.

papers of the bureaux are only preserved by keeping them
in zinc boxes.

At Tonnay-Charente the Termites, having gnawed away
the props of a dining-room without its being perceived, the
flooring collapsed during a party, and the entertaimer and
his guests sank through.

In tropical regions certain ants are not less to be
192 THE UNIVERSE.

dreaded than the devouring Termites. They do not anni-
hilate our houses, but they invade the fields and build there
enormous nests which look like so many little mountains
fifteen to twenty feet high. They multiply to such an ex-
tent in certain plantations, that the colonist is obliged to
abandon them. Sometimes, however, he resists the in-
vaders, declares a war of extermination against them, and
fires their dwellings by the aid of certain combustible
materials. Sometimes artillery charged with grape-shot is
employed to overthrow the lofty ramparts of these ants,
and scatter both the ruins and the architects.

Thus is man obliged to attack an insect with the cannon.

Sometimes he resorts to the mine, a step he is compelled
to take against certain winged ants in the tropical coun-
tries, which sink their nests as much as twenty-five feet in
the ground, and these are so compact that they can only
be torn up by the aid of powder, and by overturning all
the earth round about them. Ch. Miiller relates that in
Brazil, entire provinces on the banks of the Parana have
been in this way transformed almost into deserts.

CHAPTER VII.
GRAVE-DIGGERS AND MINERS.

Despite that supremacy over all creation which the pride
of man attributes to himself, a fragile insect often surpasses
him in energy, and in certain cases in intelligence. Leave
one of our race to the resources of only his own organs,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 193

and bid him bury an elephant or rhinoceros; he would
spend the best part of his life in trying. His nails would
be worn out before the pit for the colossus was finished,
and all his strength would be exhausted to no purpose in
order to place it there and cover it with earth.

Among the Coleoptera there is one which undertakes
to execute an equally herculean task in a few hours.

When a dead mole is abandoned in a field we immedi-
ately notice the arrival of a little insect speckled with black

 

115. The Burying-beetle—Wecrophorus sepultor, Necrophorus Vespitlo.

and orange, which in three or four hours effectually inters
the mammal. And yet its size compared to that of the
latter is not greater than that of man in proportion to the
elephant. .

Go a step further, give one of our species pickaxes
and wheelbarrows to break up and carry off the soil, and
he will take more weeks to accomplish his task than the
burying-beetle, for such is the name of the insect, requires
hours.

Tt is a maternal instinct that guides and animates the
burier. A dead mole or some other mammal is necessary,
in order that it may intrust its offspring to such a shelter,
and it only inters the corpse in order to keep it fresh
up to the moment when its devouring larva will issue from
the egg.

The insect requires for them a food they will like. If
25
194 THE UNIVERSE.

we throw a frog or a bird upon the ground, it will not bury
either of them; but throw out a dead mole in a garden
where these burying-beetles are never seen, and one of
these Coleoptera, which has scented it afar off, will imme-
diately arrive and inter it.

For this purpose the Necrophorus does not excavate a
hole, as one might think; it always remains unseen, hidden
beneath the corpse which it is burying. The work goes on
without being noticed, and consists in throwing up on the
sides of the mole the soil which was below it; this manceuvre
being continued at the same time beneath all parts of the
dead body, it disappears, sinking little by little. And
when it has at last arrived below the level of the soil, the

 

116. Burying-beetles interring a small Rat.

sexton has only, in order to hide it from view and finish
its work, to throw a few portions of the upturned earth
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 195

upon the little animal, which is as completely entombed as
if it had been placed in a liquid paste.!

Thus ends the task which I have several times seen
executed with my own eyes, and which some persons have
called in question on account of its being so extra-
ordinary.

Other insects only hollow out the ground in order to
find their food there, and construct a lodging for their
offspring. These are true miners in the strict sense of
the word.

Many belong to this category, but there are scarcely
any the work of which is so dreaded by the farmer as
that of the mole-cricket. In some parts of Germany the
alarm which this insect inspires is such, that a popular
saying warns the driver of any vehicle to kill without pity
all those he finds, should he even have to check his team
on the slope of a mountain or the edge of a precipice:

This orthopter, the name of which recalls at the same
time its subterranean habits and its family, often causes
disastrous havoc in our gardens by hollowing out its
galleries, and cutting through the roots of plants which
cross its path.”

Nature has for this purpose endowed it with formidable
weapons. These are its fore-paws, the outspread end of
which has the greatest analogy, both as to the form and
the way in which the insect uses it, to the large hands

1The English burying-beetle (Mecrophorus Vespillo), almost, if not quite,
identical with that of France, certainly inters birds. Rennie found four hard
at work on Putney Heath, burying a dead crow; and M. Gleditsch says that in
fifty days four beetles interred four frogs, three small birds, two fishes, one
mole, and two grasshoppers; besides the entrails of a fish, and two morsels of
the lungs of an ox.—Act. Acad. Berolin. 1752.—Tr.

* Possibly in pursuit of worms and ants, on which it feeds. It eats on an

average about three worms a day, sucking out the flesh and leaving the skin entire.
—Sevence Gossip, 1867, p. 232. Mr. Gould fed one for several months on ants.—Tr..
196 THE UNIVERSE.

of the mole; they act like powerful cutting picks, by
means of which the animal cleaves the ground and scatters
its particles.

Other animals of the same class carve out their galleries
ina picked soil; it is in the midst of the tissue of plants
that they hollow out their tortuous windings. For this
purpose they attack indiscriminately leaves, fruit, and
wood; nothing resists their teeth, for it is these that do
the work.

Rtéaumur has even classed separately the caterpillars
which bore galleries between the two layers of the leaves,

 

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117. Mole-cricket —Graullotalpa vulgaris.

and very rightly calls them miners. We can any day sce
their doings on the leaves of our trees, where they carve
out winding paths which are recognized by a white track,
caused by the insect having eaten all the green substance
and only left the epidermis of the organ.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 197

CHAPTER VIIL

UPHOLSTERERS AND CARPENTERS.

How often, despite our proud pretensions, is our indus-
trial work coarse compared to that of the lowest creatures!
Can the thread spun by man be compared to that of the
spider? Nevertheless the work of the insect exhibits a
complication we should be far from expecting; for fine as
it is, it results from the union of many distinct threads.
It is produced by four or six teats situated at the extremity
of the abdomen, and the silky matter itself issues by a
sieve; each sieve contains, according to Bonnet, more than
a thousand holes. In proportion as the filaments are
projected outwards, they agglutinate together in such a
manner that each thread is composed of at least 4000,
and sometimes of 6000 fibres, and yet Leuwenhoeck
affirms that it is so slender as to require 4,000,000 to make
up a silk thread as thick as one of the hairs of one’s beard."

The threads of some exotic species possess a much
ereater power of resistance than we observe in ours.
Travellers relate that in equatorial countries spider-webs
are seen strong enough to arrest humming-birds as a net
would, and it has even been said that a man only breaks
them with difficulty.

1 Kirby and Spence say that the holes of the threads are so fine and so crowded

together, that there are 1000 of them in the space covered by the point of a
needle.
198 THE UNIVERSE.

The silk of our spiders is always of a dirty gray, but
in tropical regions the colour varies to a certain extent.
Some of these insects produce different coloured threads,
which they interlace with admirable skill. ‘Some are red,
others yellow, others again black, and with all these they
form a three-coloured fabric.

Industrial art has vainly attempted to utilize the silk of
the spider. With us its little power of resistance has never
allowed us to use it to any profit. Entomologists, how-
ever, relate that Louis XIV. had a dress made of it for
himself, but the want of strength in this newly invented
cloth soon disgusted him with his phantasy. But it ap-
pears that the webs of some American species possess a
sufficient power of resistance to admit of being employed
for this purpose. Al. d@Orbigny had a pair of trousers
made of spider-webs, which lasted a very long time.

Some years ago, on a magnificent autumn morning, I
was walking in the vast meadows which border the Seine;
the sky was azure, and the sun was shining splendidly.
What was my astonishment at seeing that the entire
surface of the freshly mown grass was covered with a net-
work of fabulous delicacy!

The rays of light, gleaming obliquely upon this immense
white veil, made the whole surface of it iridescent, and
the harmonious regularity of this sheet of silk, which ex-
tended further than the eye could see, was only inter-
rupted by the rents made by the grazing cattle, the limbs
of which, covered with silky flakes, bore witness to their
theft. Finally, here and there some of these white fila-
ments, borne by the breeze over the surface of the
meadows, floated in the atmosphere and fell upon our
dresses.

IT had come by accident upon a phenomenon in all its
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 199

phases, the mystery of which our savants have long been
unable to penetrate. This silky tissue, spread over all
the herbage, was only the work of myriads of little spiders,
assisted by the beauty of the heavens. And these flakes
wandering in the air only represented the debris of it,
being nothing more than the mysterious filaments called
by the vulgar threads of the Virgin.

In fact the flakes seen falling from the air in fine
autumn days, after having been looked upon as a simple
atmospheric product, condensed by some special agent,

  

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118. Garden-spider, male—Epeira diadema. 119. Female of the same.

have been made out by Latreille to be only the handi-
work of different kinds of spiders, and particularly of the
garden-spiders, transported to a distance by the agitation
of the winds.!

Other spiders, instead of displaying their productions
in the form of cloud-like carpets overspreading the verdure
of our fields, construct compact and solid hangings, with
which they line the insides of their dwellings. The mason
erab-spider (Mygale cementaria, Latreille), very correctly

1 According to Latreille, these “threads of the Virgin” are principally pro-
duced by young spiders belonging to the genera Epeira and Thomisus. Some

chemists thought with M. Raspail that they were only aérial albumen precipi-
tated to the earth in the form of flakes.
200 THE UNIVERSE.

thus named, occupies itself in this way. It is a true
sybarite, which incloses itself in its abode, and there
reposes upon soft yielding drapery.

Its habitation consists of a hole several inches deep and
perfectly cylindrical. The workwoman tapestries all the
interior. For this purpose she imitates the decorator who
places only a coarse material next the wall, and afterwards
covers it with his rich hangings. The spider also makes
use of a double layer; the one, which it fixes upon the
rough earthen wall of its subterranean hole, is thick and
negligently wrought; the other, which is placed over this,
is, on the contrary, woven with her finest silk and skilfully
hung.

The entrance to the habitation is closed as hermetically
as it can possibly be by a little door or lid, the lower side
of which is slightly convex and furnished with a cushion of
silk, whilst the upper part is made of the same materials
as the soil, in such a manner that when the insect is in-
closed within its abode, nothing without reveals its ex-
istence. This door itself is a little master-piece of finish
and patience. The Mygale possesses the intelligence of
the miner, but in no degree that of the jomer or potter;
hence it learns from its own resources to barricade its
refuge. The solid lid which serves it for this purpose is
composed of layers of silk, between each of which is found
a layer of earth. When the task is completed, forty alter-
nate layers of silk and earth can be counted, and it is with
the first, which extend from the soil to the door, that the
little elastic hinge is formed.

When the spider wants to issue forth, it lifts this kind
of mobile cover, and when it re-enters its underground
abode, it shuts up its threshold close and sleeps in security.
But should any noise, any shaking, intimate that an at-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 201

tempt is being made to violate the sanctity of its dwelling,
its vigilance is awakened in an instant. With one bound

 

120. The Mason Spider—Mygale ceementaria (Latreille), and Interior of its Dwelling.

it darts to the gate, to which it hooks itself by one half of
its claws, while with the other it clings to the tapestry of
its hole. If we now, for curiosity’s sake, gently raise the
door, a slight resistance is felt, and when it is half open
we see the last struggles of the Arachnis and its threaten-
ing head; it defends its hearth to the last extremity.’

1 Several species of mason-spiders form nests of this kind. Among these are
the Mygale nidulans of Walckenaer, and the Mygale cratiens, or clay-kneader, of

Latreille. A nest supposed to belong to this insect was opened and shut several

hundreds of times in presence of different persons without in the least destroying
26
202 THE UNIVERSE.

The name of joiners is given to those legions of insects
which, with their powerful mandibles, cut and divide wood,
either to nourish themselves with, or to construct little
rooms furnished with partitions, and destined to receive
their offspring.

’ In the first category is found the larva of the goat-moth,
a night-moth which sometimes reaches a length of four or
five inches, and is thicker than the finger. It gnaws the
inside of great trees, and scoops out in their trunks large
and long tortuous galleries, which sometimes suffice to kill
them. Wesee that it works all the more zealously because
its labour is to satisfy a want: it lives on wood.

When several of these powerful caterpillars attack an
elm at the same time it sinks very rapidly. This insect
has sometimes been seen to utterly destroy large avenues
of lofty trees: hence the name of Cossus ligniperda (Wood-
destroying Cossus) has been given to it.

This Cossus is unfortunately common enough in France.
Frequently while walking in a plantation of elms we can
see on the surface of some of these trees holes from which
issues saw-dust of moist wood. These are the entrances
to the concealed tunnels gnawed by the larva of the
dreaded moth.

The larva of the great Capricornis (Cerambyx heros),
which mines the interior of ancient oaks, and often injures
the most beautiful pieces of carpenter’s work, has its back
cuirassed with solid wrinkled plates, which serve in it
the place which the knee-pads occupy in the case of the

the hinge. Another is the dfygale cementaria (Latreille), found in the south of
France. An allied species, the Mygale sauwvagesti, is found in Corsica. One of
the most extraordinary spiders is that found by the Rev. Revett Shepherd in the
fen ditches of Norfolk, which forms a raft of weeds about three inches in diameter,
probably held together by silken cords, on which it floats about for the purpose
of seizing drowning insects.—Airby and Spence, Introd. i. 425.—Tr.
 

121. Goat-moth—Cossus ligniperda. 1, 2, Imago or perfect insect. 3, Pupa. 4, Larva.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 205

chimney-sweep, and protect its skin when it climbs its
wooden chimneys.

RY:
= SN
BER SIN

    

     

122. Larva of the Great Capricornis.

But we find artisans endowed with a very different kind
of ingenuity, in a certain tribe of bees called carpenter-
bees, on account of their great skill in working wood.
They live principally in tropical countries. One kind,
however, inhabits our latitudes; it has the look of a creat
humble-bee of the most beautiful blue colour, and is
known by the name of the carpenter-bee, Megachile siculu.
Impelled merely by maternal instinct, its work, which
consists of as many little chambers as it lays eggs, is a
masterpiece of skill and foresight. It is generally beams
that this bee attacks. It cuts in them, lengthwise, canals
which are as much as a dozen inches deep and more than
a third of an inch wide.

When one of these great excavations has attained its
entire length, the artisan occupies itself in sheltering its
offspring in it. For this purpose it divides the groove
into as many little chambers as it is about to deposit eggs.
Each of these chambers receives one egg only, and before
closing it hermetically the bee stores up a mass of honey
and pollen which will suffice for all the wants of the larva
that is to be born there. After this the skilful carpen-
ter, by means of finely-rasped wood agglutinated with its
saliva, constructs a slender partition which separates each
206 THE UNIVERSE.

one from that next to it. In the long excavation which
it has hollowed out the insect thus forms a dozen little
cellules, which are stuffed with alimentary pap.

When the little creature is born, it finds itself suffi-
ciently restricted as to space, but in proportion as its food
diminishes, its movements become more free. The aliment
has been wisely proportioned to its wants; the life of the
larva terminates at the moment when famine is about to

 

123. Carpenter-bee and its Little Chambers.

setin. The chrysalis rests imprisoned in its little chamber,
but when the fly has thrown off its coverings, air and light
are absolutely requisite for it. It then gnaws the parti-
tions which intercept its way, and launches itself into the
atmosphere, soon in its turn to commence labours similar
to those its mother executed. Such is its destiny.!

1 The English carpenter-bee is far inferior in skill to this insect, the beautiful
violet Xylocopa (ylocopa violacea of Euglish naturalists), which bores a tunnel
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 207

CHAPTER IX.
CLOTH-CUTTERS AND LEAD-EATERS.

Seamen are great admirers of certain crustaceans pos-
sessed of singular habits; these are monopolizers of a strange
class, which eat sundry proprietors in order to make them-
selves masters of their domiciles. After having devoured
the mollusc which resides in a particular kind of shell,
they convert it into an abode, which they drag about every-
where with them, and beneath the roof of which they
shelter themselves from their enemies by burying them-
selves like a soldier in his sentry-box, or a frightened monk
in his cell. Hence the names of soldier and Bernard the

twelve times the length of her body without leaving any chips, and fixes her
shelves so finely that a number of fragments are as solid as one piece.

It can, however, scarcely be said that any of these insects excel the poppy-
bee and the rose-leaf cutter either in skill or taste.

The poppy-bee (Osmia papaveris, Latreille) excavates a hole three inches deep
in the ground, which it smooths, polishes, and then hangs with the flower leaves
of the scarlet poppy, laid down with such skill that they are as smooth as glass,
although when we cut them with scissors, and take the greatest care with them,
it is almost impossible to keep them from wrinkling. The rose-leaf cutter
(Megachile centuncularis, Latreille) requires circular pieces of rose-leaf to line her
nest, so she cuts out the portion she wants as quickly as we could do with scissors
and much more neatly. Not to impede her progress she keeps the cut portion
between her legs, using her body as a trammel. When she has nearly com-
pleted this part of her task, she poises herself on her wings lest the weight of
her body should tear off the piece prematurely. Then taking the piece to the cell,
she fixes it to the inside, solely by calculating upon the natural spring of the leaf,
and so adapts the pieces that the middle of one always overlies a join in the others.
Finally, having stored the cell with pollen and honey, she deposits an egg and
covers the opening with three pieces of rose-leaf, so exactly circular that they
could not be more accurately drawn with compasses.—Tr.
208 THE UNIVERSE

Hermit (soldier-crab and hermit-crab) which are given to
these curious brigands of our shores.

Certain insects are less ferocious and much more in-
telligent in their manners. Too weak to bear the injurious
action of the air, their larva knows how to cut out for itself
asuit of clothes. The cloth of these, felted with great care,
enlarges in proportion to the growth of the larva, which

 

124, The Soldier-crab (Pagurus Miles) in its usurped Domicile.

makes continual additions to it. Should the reader amuse
himself with despoiling the worm of its covering it imme-
diately fabricates another. And as its toil is incessant, if
we place it upon cloths of different colours, it forms for
itself a perfect harlequin’s dress made of party-coloured
morsels and patches. This insect is the clothes-moth,
Tinea sarcitella (Fabricius), unfortunately too common in
our wardrobes, and which, after undergoing its metamor-
phosis, displays to us a little butterfly of surprising beauty.

Certain aquatic larvee, not finding the fine cloth dress
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 209

of the clothes-moth, a sufficient protection against fish and
frogs, require a stouter envelope, and choose the most varied

nf
cs i Le ch

a
ill

lt i
va
i

 

125. Larvee of the Clothes-moth, Tinea sarcitella (Fabricius), magnified.

materials to make it of. They often form an extremely
solid sheath by glueing and adapting together little stones.

Sometimes also the Phryganez, for so these prudent
workmen are named, construct their sentry-boxes of fresh-
water shells; finally, at other times they cut up for this
purpose slender herbs, and cover their whole body with
them in such a manner, that at the bottom of a pool they
look like tiny bottles of hay walking about of themselves,
for we do not perceive the timid inhabitants.

 

126. Clothes-moth in its butterfly state, magnified.

However, the common Phryganea (Phryganea communis)
seems to give little heed to the nature of the materials it

employs, and willingly makes use of all it finds at hand.
27
210 THE UNIVERSE.

Having carefully extracted several of its larvee from their
shelly sheaths, and afterwards placed them in vessels of
water, the bottom of which was covered only with little
pearls of various colours, I saw them immediately set to
work to make a new residence, choosing here and there
pearls of the most different hues, im such a way that when
the construction was finished, each Phryganea’s dress re-
sembled a little case in mosaic, promenading on the walls
of my crystal vase.

Other insects, instead of these portable abodes, labori-
ously hollow out for themselves a refuge in the hardest
bodies, even metals. The most extraordinary animal of

 

127. Sheath Phryganea—Phryganca striata (Linneus), Larva and Adult Insect.

this kind that is known is a powerful hymenopter, the
Giant Sirex, the larva of which, during our expedition to
the Crimea, gnawed the balls in the soldiers’ cartridges
and bored deep holes in them in which it might find a secure
shelter. Marshall Vaillant presented to the Academy of
Sciences several balls which had been pierced through in
this way by the unknown plumber.

Several of these metal-eaters are known; men were pre-
viously aware that the larve of one Cetonia sometimes
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 211

pierce the lead coverings of our roofs; and a piece of the
gutter of a church, which presented numerous perforations

 

128. Giant Sirex—Sirex giganteus, the Larva of which gnaws Lead.

produced by a Callidia, was recently brought to me at the
museum at Rouen.

CHAPTER. X.
HYDRAULIC ENGINEERS AND MASONS.

The diving-bell was invented by a little spider; we had
nothing to do but imitate it; the copyist has, however, not
equalled the inventor. In fact, the insect builds below
water, beginning and finishing its task there, and it is only
when its work is completed that it fills the structure with
vital air.

It is a charming little house of silk, which suffices for
212 THE UNIVERSE.

all the wants of the Arachnis. Here it passes the winter
and rears its young; and when it is pressed by hunger, the
bell serves as a lair from which the bloodthirsty little
creature watches for its prey in order to throw itself
upon it as it passes. This miniature bell adheres to the
adjoining grass by a considerable number of threads; just
as a balloon is held back by numerous cords till the
moment arrives which allows it to soar into the clouds,
so do these threads prevent the accumulated air from
carrying off the abode.

These little spiders swim easily, and it is to their ab-
solutely aquatic life that they owe their name of naiads
(Naiadew), given them by Walckenaer, their clever his-
torian. <A layer of air, fixed by the hair of their bodies,
and which gives them under water the lustre of a living
pearl, materially assists their power of swimming by lighten-
ing them. It is by means of this that they succeed in fill-
ing their little bell with respirable gas so soon as it is built.
For this purpose the spider comes to the surface of the
stream, takes a bubble of air under its abdomen, and
carries it to its submerged refuge; and it repeats these
voyages till the bell is completely filled with air.

Entomologists are acquainted with other hydraulic
engineers also, but none of them equal in intelligence the
naiads, of which we have just been speaking.

One of our great French Coleoptera, the water-beetle
(Hydrophilus piceus), whose name is suggestive of its aquatic
habits, also builds an impermeable silken retreat under the
water, but does not inhabit it, and restricts itself to intrust-
ing its progeny to it. It is sumply a shell for its eggs.

In other cases insects build with more solid materials.
They employ mortar and paste, and are masons, in the
true sense of the term; but, instead of working in our fens,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 213

set about their task in the open air, on our elevated monu-
ments, or near the tops of trees.

The Wall Megachile (Xylocopa, Fabricius), commonly
called the mason-bee, has acquired great celebrity from its
nests built of small stones or of mortar which it attaches to
houses. They represent ovoid cells, each capable of con-
taining a hazel-nut. These are so many lodgings to which
this fly intrusts its progeny. When after long toil the
miniature monument is finished, the mother places one of
its eggs inside it, and then retreats by the opening left
patent on the upper part, which it walls up hermetically
before taking wing.

The progeny of the bee thus finds itself inclosed alive
ina tomb, but maternal tenderness here displays all the
resources of the greatest foresight. Before leaving, the
Megachile lines the walls with a fine hanging of silk.
Thus the larva is sheltered from the night cold, and has
not to dread contact with the rough walls of its little
chamber. By dint of laborious journeys the mother has
contrived to amass in the cradle a sufficient quantity of
food for its little one. And when it incloses it in its cell
by means of a partition of masonry, it knows that it is pro-
vided with sufficient air and nourishment to support it,
and that when the moment comes for it to take flight,
it will, like its mother, be in possession of working
implements to break down the wall within which it is
imprisoned. !

In those countries where the mason-bees are very rare,
their nests are isolated, or there are only a few alongside

1A species seen in England (Osmia bicornis) selects as the material for its nest
banks of brown clay, which it moistens with saliva, and moulds into pellets
as large as peas. It is supposed that a bee will prepare as many as 140 to

180 of these pellets in a day. The Megachile sicula is not met with in this
country.—Tr.
214 THE UNIVERSE.

of each other. They are often met with in the hollows
of stones or the flutings of columns. I found some solitary
on different monuments in Italy; they were adherent to
pillars, and constructed of little stones agglutinated to-
gether by a very fine mortar. They were extremely solid.

In Egypt, where the mason-bees are very common, we
fnd in many monuments numerous agglomerations of
their nests. The roofs of some of those ancient subter-
ranean temples, called Spéos, are sometimes entirely
blocked up by them. They are so heaped and piled up
one upon another, that they hang from the ceilings like
the stalactites of our caverns. But these nests are not
built with little stones; in imitation of the fellahs of Upper
Egypt, the mason-bee constructs its abode with the mud
of the Nile.

The ceiling of an apartment in a temple at the island of
Philce, in which I bivouacked for some days, was com-
pletely hidden from view by these nests! While I was
lying down, I saw those lizards which attach themselves so
adroitly to the slightest asperities on the walls, running
about in the midst of them with surprising activity.
These were geckoes, which threw themselves upon the
young bees as they issued from their abodes, or gulped
down the young larvee, the nests of which presented any
breach.

But if any insect merit the palm of architecture, it
must certainly be awarded to the paper-making wasp
(Vespa nidulans, Fabricius). It builds abodes much more
ingenious than our domestic bee. If the wax-cakes of the

1] have here expressly mentioned the extreme agility of the geckoes, because
it is generally said that they only move very slowly. Those which I saw in
Egypt hooked themselves so strongly and easily to the walls by means of the fine

folds of their fingers, or their hooked nails, that they ran upon the walls and
ceilings with such agility that it was difficult to seize them.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 215

latter exhibit cavities of marvellous regularity, the wasp of
which we speak shines in the general arrangement of her

 

129, Paper-making Wasps—-Vespa nidulans (Fabricius).

building. It is composed of regular stages placed one
above another in a species of circular tower. Some of
these houses possess as many as fifteen to twenty stages,
which all communicate with each other by means of a hole

 

130, Nests of the Paper-making Wasp.

placed in the centre of each. The cavities which shelter
the architects are placed on the ceiling of each compart-
ment. The entire building of this fly, which ordinarily
hangs to a tree, is composed of a kind of brown paste
exactly like cardboard, and from this comes the name by
which it is known. But we are totally ignorant of the
source from which the insect, an inhabitant of Cayenne,
draws its materials.
BOOK LV.

RAVAGERS OF FORESTS.

Under this title the reader naturally expects to see
animals on the stage, the bulk of which must be in pro-
portion to their formidable powers of destruction. But it
is quite the contrary. It is not the auroch with its shagey
mane, nor the powerful stag, nor the wild boar that ravages
or destroys our forests, but tiny insects which slaughter
its aged denizens.

If, when the warm breath of spring drives away the
rigour of winter and renews life in the fields, we enter
one of the great coniferous woods of Germany, we are
astonished at the tumult and activity which prevail in lieu
of the silence we went there to seek. Everything is in
movement.

Groups of woodmen, foresters, and overseers move
about by hundreds, and stretch away like columns of skir-
mishers; it is a complete army in the field, which opens
out wherever there is a large space, and of which the
wings are sometimes lost in the windings of the roads, or
hidden by the projection of some hillock. This mass
of men always moves in order, distributed in troops com-
manded by experienced leaders. They are all provided
 

 

 

131. Pine Bombyx or Phalena—Phalena Bombyx pint (Linneus). Larva, Cocoons, and

Butterfly.—From Ratzeburg.
28
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 219

with long weapons, which at a distance might be taken for
lances.

Elsewhere, again, we find a lengthy train of pioneers
regularly posted, and vanishing in the distance, all ani-
mated with feverish activity, are hollowing out the soil,
and making, for many leagues, long trenches of circumval-
lation, which follow the roads and serve to isolate the
different districts of the forest from one another.

Or if the excursion be made by night, another spectacle
awaits us. The whole forest seems on fire. In every part
are burning great trees, erect and isolated, like huge
threatening torches, the flame of which rises to the clouds
and casts a baleful glare on all around. A few foresters,
standing in silence, contemplate the progress of the con-
flagration, and watch its ravages. Lastly, at other times,
as a final resource, the entire forest is given up a prey to
the flames, and whirlwinds of fire, menacing and dreadful,
spread on every side; a woody region, formerly so fertile,
is entirely devoured by fire and only an immense moun-
tain of charcoal remains of all this mass of wealth.

We ask against what formidable enemy such an army
of men has been launched! Who are they going to attack
with their rods which they brandish on all sides? What
redoubtable aggressors are the others attempting to stay
the march of, with the long trenches they are scooping out?
Why these frightful fires in the middle of the night?
Why this general conflagration ¢

This formidable enemy is at times only a single insect,
but it menaces everything with its destructive tooth, and
men prefer decimating the forest to losing it entirely.

One is really stupified at seeing so many and such
energetic efforts directed solely against the progeny of a
simple butterfly, but its caterpillars sometimes multiply
220 THE UNIVERSE.

to such an extent that it is necessary to exterminate them
utterly in order to preserve the forest from ruin. In one
part the woodmen and their families, who are called out
en mnasse, are only occupied in crushing this deadly race
upon the trees. In another the others are cutting off the
infected districts by ditches, in order to check the inva-
sion of the caterpillars, which, when they have devoured
everything in one place, proceed in immense bands to
invade the healthy localities.

But in spite of so much labour, man is sometimes
vanquished by the imsect, and there only remains one
extreme resource—that of setting fire to the forest and
burning the invaders.

All this war of extinction, of which we have just given
a succinct account, is only directed against a small number
of our enemies, as for the most part they are able to evade
the empire of the agriculturist, and their formidable army
defies our weakness.

These great works are particularly undertaken against
certain night-moths, for they are simple Phalenz, which
are to be classed among the most destructive ravagers of
the forests. They are attacked in their three different
phases; their caterpillars are crushed as they climb the trees.

When after devouring a complete section of the wood,
they pour forth in serried columns to attack a sound part,
they fall into trenches hollowed out by the pioneers, and
when they fill these, they are stifled in a heap by covering
them over with earth. The great fires lighted at night are
directed against nocturnal Phalznz. The glare attracts
them, and they are soon scorched by the flame in conse-
quence of going too near it.

The Pine Bombyx enjoys the sad prerogative of being
placed in the front rank of the enemies of our forests. It
Caterpillars at two periods of life, Chrysalis, and Butterfly.

yx monacha (Fabricius),

  

 

Hii |

ill

il AA i Palit
HVA | |
WH |

132. The Monk Bombyx— Bom

ae i cy.

ct

 
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 223

is the most hurtful insect to the tree of which it bears the
name. It especially attacks wood of from sixty to eighty
years old, and many examples are known of forests at this
age being totally destroyed by these caterpillars, which the
German wood-growers call pine spinners, on account of
the numerous cocoons with which they cover the leaves of
this tree.

The foresters equally dread another Phaleena, commonly
called the monk or nun, on account of its robe being laced
with black and white like that of certain devotees. It is
all the more fatal because its caterpillar attacks not only
the coniferous forests, but in addition all forest trees, such
as the birch, oak, beech, &c. Its butterflies are met with
in autumn, and sometimes in such abundance that at a
distance one might take them for snow-flakes drifting
about. The regular exterminations of which we have
previously spoken, are also directed against this Monk
Bombyx.

Among the butterflies, the progeny of which devastates
our woods, it is necessary to mention also the Pine-eating
Phalena. Its caterpillars, which sometimes multiply in
an extraordinary way, make great havoc in the pine forests.
They are particularly to be dreaded, because they show
themselves very early, and devour the young shoots. They
are met with the same means as the others; their invasion
is checked by trenches, and in some places by herds of
pigs which eat them in heaps. For this purpose the pigs
are led to the forests towards the month of August, a time
at which they seize the caterpillars as they descend from
the trees in order to hybernate under the moss or earth.

Other insects, in lieu of attacking stems or leaves, attach
themselves to the buds. One of them produces great
havoc by gnawing those of the pine. Its caterpillar, which
224 THE UNIVERSE.

is very small, being introduced beneath the scales of the
bud, gnaws a part of it in such a way that the stalk, warped
at the very core, loses its straightness, twists, and becomes

 

133. Pine-eating Phalena—Phalena Bombyx pinivora.—Ratzebwe.

deformed. We can see from a distance when these arti-
sans have assailed a part of a wood, by the strange aspect
which the tops of the trees present. All the terminal buds
are more or less gibbous and contorted, instead of possess-
ing their normal direction. It is to this result that the
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 225

species owes its name of pine-twister, by which the for-
esters generally designate it.

Some destroyers, instead of this openly declared war,
operate silently and in the shade; these are concealed
enemies, which nothing can track, and we do not suspect
their presence till they have slain their victim. Some

 

134. The Bud-twister—Tortrix Turionana (Ratzeburg).
Caterpillar and Butterfly, enlarged and of nat. size.

live on wood and hollow out ample tortuous galleries in
it, which very speedily modify the organism of the tree so
profoundly, that the strongest succumb to it. Others work
between the bark and the sap-wood, using up materials
that offer less resistance to their teeth.

In the former category must be placed the Cossi, en-
thusiastic carpenters of which we have already made
mention. Another, again, is the Oak Bombyx, the cater-

pillar of which is accustomed to follow a straightforward
29
226 THE UNIVERSE.

track in the centre of the young boughs in our forest
trees.

In the second category may be ranked the numerous
legion of typographers, calcographers, and stenographers,
so called from the character of the chisellings with which
they so deplorably ornament the surface of wood. Each
species invariably draws the same design, so that we can
always discover the workman by his work without seeing
what enemy we have to deal with.

  

135. Bostrichus tupographus. 136. Bostrichus denticurvatus.

Almost all these labourers are Coleoptera of very small
size, belonging to the genera Bostrichus and Hylesinus.
Their teeth, with deadly quickness, cut numerous galleries
between the wood and the bark, invading both parts at
the same time. These tiny ravagers are often not more
than about the sixth of an inch long, and hence, as their
bodies are slender in proportion, they only require a very
narrow trench to promenade in at their ease. Neverthe-
less, as each insect procreates to a great extent, the num-
ber of galleries hollowed out by a single family sometimes
covers a large part of the surface of a tree, and if the
species multiplies round about it, the result of its work is
to detach the entire bark, which falls to dust.

The attentive observations of foresters have shown that
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 227

nearly always a pair of typographers enter the tree together
by perforating the bark, and this first task accomplished,
they hollow out at this spot a central gallery, which is

 

137. Nuptial Chamber of the Pine Hylesinus, of natural size, and the Insect enlarged.

nothing more or less than a nuptial chamber for the two
spouses. Here, resolved to make their lives as agreeable
as possible, they pierce for this purpose two to four holes in
the bark, which are simply ventilators, intended to air the
little chamber, and possibly also to light the windings. The
female lays her eggs all along the chamber; she brings forth
from fifty to a hundred, and it is after having left this that
228 THE UNIVERSE.

the young larvee, in order to nourish themselves, scoop out
all the little galleries which branch out from the whole
length of the parent nook. It is towards the extremity of
these that they undergo their metamorphosis, and when
their arrival at the state of the perfect insect takes place,
and the desire to breathe the pure air comes upon them,
these insects bore through the bark, and scatter them-

selves abroad.

 

138. Cone Pyralis—Tortrix Strobiliana. Caterpillar and Butterfly, enlarged and
of natural size.

Section of Fir Cone, made to display the work of the Caterpillar.

Of all these wood-cutters, the Typographer Bostrichus
is regarded by M. Ratzeburg as the most dangerous. He
says that it ravages the forests of fir-trees in such a
manner, that often not a single tree escapes its attacks.
Tt is doubtless in order to give an idea of the extent of its
depredations, that this naturalist has bestowed on such a
little insect the alarming name of the “great pine-gnawer.”
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 229

Next to it must also be placed the Curved-tooth Bostri-
chus, and the Pine Hylesinus, which are almost identical
with it in their habits.

Each organ has its enemy. Supposing our apples and
plums are gnawed and injured by worms, still their soft
tissue quite admits of such mischief being done; but fruits
so hard and well protected as those of the Coniferee seem
as if they ought to be safe from such attacks, though this
is certainly not the case.

The progeny of certain very small butterflies, that of
the Cone Pyralis, delight in gnawing and destroying the
strong scales of these cones. They hollow out galleries
in their axes, and from thence spread out between the
scales.
BOOK V.

PROTECTORS OF AGRICULTURE.

Along with these innumerable legions of enemies, the
devouring fangs of which, perpetually active, decimate or
even ruin agriculture, there has been created a valiant
army which is alone capable of checking their ravages.
But too often man, unthinkingly or through ignorance,
destroys these auxiliaries sent by Providence, and too
often he only seeks to recall them when he has exter-
minated them. To-day he sets a price upon their heads;
to-morrow he would buy them back at their weight in
gold.

All the pleasant guests of our groves have been alter-
nately thus treated. The titmouse, the black-cap, the night-
ingale, the blackbird, and many others, destroy swarms of
all these caterpillars that ruin us, and they are more skilful
than we are in discovering their hidden retreats. Among
our auxiliaries it would be necessary to name nearly all
the small birds in our woods. And yet how often has
the weapon of the sportsman destroyed these charming
and active workers! It is only quite lately that we have
checked his ravages and protected their broods.

If some destructive insects eat our crops, their natural
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 231

exterminators again are. found among the carnivorous
mammals and birds.

At the head of these protectors of agriculture must be
placed, at the present day, the mole, the habits of which
have been for a long time misunderstood.

Far from being hurtful to the products of the earth,
it is one of their most effective guardians; occupied from
morn to night in devouring all the enemies of their roots,
it never attacks a root itself.

The food of the mole is composed of cockchafer grubs,

 

139. Common European Mole—TZalpa europeea (Linnzus).

of mole-crickets, and insects of all kinds. A naturalist
has calculated that a mole devours annually 20,000 grubs.
But the animal on which it declares war most savagely of
all is the earth-worm. It is so voracious that it must eat
every six hours. No animal is so favoured in its carnivo-
rous instincts as the mole; forty-four teeth studded with
points never cease working from morning to night. It»
requires nourishment to such an extent, that if deprived
232 THE UNIVERSE.

of food for a day it dies of inanition. It is a complete
eating machine, gulping down every day a proportionately
enormous quantity of food, so that M. de la Blancheére
was right in saying, that “if we could magnify the mole
to the size of the elephant, we should be face to face with
the most terrific brute the world ever brought forth.”?

Had the fact not been attested by a savant like E.
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, no one would believe that the
mole, an underground animal par excellence, though
buried beneath the soil, nevertheless catches birds in
order to devour them. The crafty mammal executes this
kind of fowling by moving its muzzle slightly on the sur-
face of its mole-hill. The bird thinks it is a little worm
stirring, and swoops down to seize it, but finds only the
hungry gullet of the earth-digger which engulfs it in an
instant.

The structure of the workman is wonderfully adapted
to its kind of life; its fore-limbs present two broad cutting
shovels, moved by a muscular apparatus so powerful that
it alone weighs almost as much as the rest of the body.
Its muzzle, a movable snout, first pierces the soil, and
its paws clear this away in proportion as it is loosened.
Aided by such organs the mole cuts out its underground
tunnels with prodigious velocity; it is a living auger, a
complete instrument for excavating the earth.

This animal devours its prey with such gluttony, that
when this is of some size, as in the case of a rat or bird
for instance, it penetrates in a certain sense into the
bowels of it, the head and fore-feet being so thrust in that

1In Switzerland M. Weber experimented upon two moles. Such was their
voracity that in nine days they had eaten 341 white-worms, 193 earth-worms,
25 caterpillars, and a mouse, both the bones and skin of which they swallowed.
When he restricted them to a vegetable diet they died of hunger. Messrs. Dugés
and Flourens have proved that they perish if kept for a day without food.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 233

one cannot see them. The carnivorous animal bores its
victim as if it were boring the earth.

The mole never gnaws roots; I have opened hundreds
without finding one in their stomachs, which, on the con-
trary, were always gorged with grubs of the may-bug and
earth-worms. This insect-eater is therefore one of our best
friends; this is well known where agriculture is intrusted
to experienced hands. In such places, and in some vine-
yards devastated by these grubs, men buy moles in order
to consign to them the destruction of these redoubtable
enemies.!

Another beneficent mammal, respecting which men have
been as much deceived as about the other, is the hedgehog.

The hedgehog, represented everywhere as a pilferer of
our orchards, carrying off apples and pears on its spines
to eat them in its retreat, on the contrary never touches
any fruit. It is an active flesh-eater, which only feeds on

1 All those authors who have recently written upon agriculture, or have
interested themselves about the mole, such as Ratzeburg, Joigneaux, and De
la Blanchére, consider this animal as of great service to farm husbandry.
Ratzeburg, Hylophthires; Joigneaux, Le Livre de la Ferme, 1866; De la Blanchére,
Les Trois Réegnes dela Nature, 1866; ‘La Taupe,” p. 134. Many more errors than
we have mentioned have been circulated about the mole. Aristotle and all
those who copied from him, not being able to perceive its eyes, believed that it
cannot see. Its eyes, deeply hidden by hairs, are, it is true, unsuited for good
vision, but it is evident that the mole can see with them. Le Court, the chief
of the mole-catchers in France, even says that he has seen it swim across rivers
guided only by its sight.

The existence of the mole is a series of paradoxes. The cleanliness of its
fur, for instance, is really marvellous; though it is always buried in the earth
or the mud which invades its subterranean dwelling, yet, when we withdraw it,
its coat is beautifully fresh, unsoiled with spot or dust. This silky robe has
often tempted those in search of new frivolities. Some ladies of the court of
Louis XV., having a fancy to match it with the patches, rouge, and paint, with
which they covered their faces, conceived the whimsey of having eyebrows of it;
whilst the courtiers of this prince collected masses of moleskin to have their
dresses made of them. But all they got was dress of a costly kind and of a very

disagreeable smell, so that the fashion soon died out.
30
234 THE UNIVERSE.

worms, snails, and rodent animals injurious to our dwell-
ings. Far from devastating our gardens, it protects them.
This is well known in some countries—Astrachan, for
instance, where it is substituted for the cat in the town-

houses.
To these notoriously active auxiliaries must be added

 

Flesh-eating Coleoptera of the family Carabide.

140. Calosoma sycophanta. 141, Anthia duodecimpunctata. 142, Carabus grypheus.

an ample host of smaller ones; the work of which, how-
ever, when multiplied, amounts to a large figure. They are
found as a providential compensation in that class of
insects which causes us such damage. These benefactors—
lost, unrecognized in the midst of the enemy—belong
principally to the ravenous-jawed Carabidee family ;? they

1 Thousands of insects called Carabide, varying greatly in size, from half a
line to an inch in length, may be found under stones and clods in fields, meadows,
and gardens, where they secrete themselves by day, and sally forth at night to
feed upon other insects, worms, larvee, &c., which come to the surface at that
period, either to feed or to migrate ; they are consequently eminently serviceable
in reducing the ranks of noxious animals. During a drought they retire into
cracks in the earth and to the most humid spots, and evidently enjoy the re-
freshing rains which succeed. I have seen the large Carabus glabratus in moun-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 235

are in especial the Calosome, the Cicindele, and the
Carabi, all gleaming with purple and gold, which, full of
valour, courageously throw themselves upon all insects
that pass within reach. In another place we find the
insidious Scarites concealed in their underground dwell-
ings, and entrapping their prey as it passes.

Instead of pitilessly destroying these beneficent Coleop-
tera, as is generally done when we see them in our gardens

 

143, Giant Scarites in its Lurking-place.

and fields, one ought to protect them; for they devour en
masse the caterpillars which ruin them.

tainous districts running about immediately after a thunderstorm, each having
a tolerably large earth-worm in its mouth; others, as the splendid Calosoma syco-
phanta, live entirely upon caterpillars in trees; and there is one which well de-
serves notice from its feeding upon the wire-worms. It is called Steropus madidus,
from its inhabiting wet and damp localities. It is a very active insect; it prowls
about at night, and is admirably adapted to its predacious mode of life.— Farm
Insects, by John Curtis. F.L.S.
BOOK VI.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF BIRDS.

The extreme diversity in the works constructed by birds
has excited the admiration of every one. These animals
vary to infinity the forms, style, and materials which they
employ. It is therefore possible to divide them into as
many categories as there are kinds of work. Some are
carpenters, others weave; some build; and we find among
them terrace-builders, masons, and miners; blacksmiths
alone are wanting.

Alongside of our gigantic monuments, such as St.
Peter’s at Rome and the pyramids of the Pharaohs, the
nest of the bird is only a point in space; but the work
expands before our eyes when we compare the weakness
of the workman with the magnitude of his task; for some
of our aérial architects, in order to build their dwellings,
amass more earth in proportion in one season than a man
would heap up in his whole life.

Their nests lend animation to every part of the world.
Some, like the eagle and vulture, only build them on the
shattered mountain-tops, on the naked and arid rocks;
others, more delicate, such as some of the humming-birds,
let them wave at the will of the zephyr, and content them-
 

144. Nest of the Common Magpie—Corvus pica (Liunus).—From the Rouen Museum.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 239

selves with suspending them at the end of a palm-tree leaf
which is just touched by a sheet of water. Some birds
only build in the depth of caverns, or in the midst of ruins
never trodden by the foot of man; to escape all notice is
with them an imperious necessity. On the contrary, there
are some which like to be near us. Quite assured of the
affection we feel for them, and full of confidence, they
enter our dwellings as if they belonged to the household,
and in spite of the noise and uproar about them, sleep
peacefully in the cradle they have hung there.

The swallows seem to know instinctively that no person
would dare to do them harm. Almost all the other species
flee us; they alone install themselves securely near us:
they are our guests.

The chimney-swallow, the nest of which is represented
further on, built its nest in the centre of a foundry
belonging to an esteemed friend of mine, in the vault of a
forge in full work, without being alarmed either at the
fierceness of the fire, the torrents of smoke, or the con-
tinual clang of the hammers.

In the bird maternal love becomes ingenious in the
highest degree. Although the quail and the partridge,
like too confident mothers, deposit their young uncovered
on the ground, and expose them to the rapacity of every
carnivorous animal that passes, other species take infinite
precautions to defend them. The king-fisher hollows out
a deep and winding underground passage to shelter its
young. The magpie, to protect its little ones, constructs
a regular casemated citadel, into which it enters, and from
which it issues merely by a narrow passage. Only that
in lieu of wood-work and earth, the nest is covered with
closely interlaced branches, which also defend it against
the eagles and falcons, the brigands of the air.
240 THE UNIVERSE.

Among the different tribes of the air, only one species,
a singular one in all respects, as much fish as bird, evades
the general law, and does not commit its offspring to any
kind of nest: it is the Patagonian penguin, which only
lives amid ice, rocks, and waves, and of which the wings

 

145. The King Penguin—Aptenodytes patagonica (Gmelin).

are quite unfitted for flying. But we must admit that the
love displayed by the parents for their brood makes one at
once forgive their idleness and stupidity.

Like the kangaroos, those mammals of Australia which
conceal their little ones in a ventral sack, the female pen-
cuin constantly carries her solitary ege in a pouch formed
by a fold of the skin of the abdomen, and it is held so fast
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 244

in this, that she leaps or sometimes rolls from rock to rock
without letting it fall. It is well for her she does so, for
should such a mishap befall her, the male bird chastises
her without pity. This egg is even concealed with so
much care by the mother, that to get possession of it, it is
necessary to engage in a regular battle with her. The
male also mixes himself up in the affair; at his mate’s call
of anger he rushes to the spot, and throws himself upon
the ravisher with a fury which only ceases when he sinks
under his assailant’s club.

CHAPTER I.
GIANTS AND’ PIGMIES.

Nature presents everywhere the most opposite extremes.
Birds have also their pigmies and their giants, their idlers
and indefatigable workers. Their habits display, side by
side, imbecility and intelligence, solitude and family life.

Often in the tropical regions, where the sun darts his
fiercest rays, we may see flitting over the flowers brilliant
birds, which sweep rapidly past like a spark of topaz or
ruby; these are the humming-birds, living diamonds,
slighter than some insects, and which often become the
prey of huge spiders.

The giant of this group scarcely attains the bigness of a
sparrow, and the smallest does not surpass in size the tip
of a fair lady’s finger. Hence, to the humming-birds,

as they are commonly called, each speck of creation is a
31
249 THE UNIVERSE.

world. A simple leaf suffices for the gambols of a whole
family; a flower is the perfumed throne on which the nup-
tials are accomplished, and the petals of its corolla spread
out to form a velvet dais which hides their chaste loves.

Were we to compare the size of different birds, we
should arrive at wonderful results. Lacépede, who doubt-
less could not boast of being as exact as Archimedes, cal-
culated that it would require a thousand millions of shrew-
mice to equal a whale in weight. If that were true, we
should also have to pile up some millions of humming-
birds to weigh against the heavy ostrich.

We have just spoken of the ostrich, but it again is only
a puny animal compared with two ornithological marvels,
the recent discovery of which we owe to the illustrious
zoologists Prof. Owen and Isidore Geoffroy Saint- Hilaire.

One of them, the gigantic Dinornis of New Zealand, a
part of the skeleton of which is in the museum of the
London College of Surgeons, was eighteen feet high. The
bone of a man’s leg is only a slender spindle compared to
that of this colossal bird.

The disappearance of this monstrous animal dates from
no very distant epoch, and everything attests that the first
inhabitants of New Zealand were perfectly acquainted
with it. The ancient legends of the island tell us that at
the time of its discovery it was full of birds of appalling
size. There are also ancient poems there in which the
father teaches his son how to hunt the Moa, the name
belonging of old to this species; in these are described the
ceremonies which took place when one had been killed.
They feasted on the flesh and eggs, while the feathers
served to adorn the arms of the vanquishers. Some
hills are yet strewed with the bones of the Dinornis, the
remains of these great feasts of the hunters.
 

 

146. Nest of the Saw-beaked Humming-bird—Petasophora serrirostris.—From Gould.
i
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bis) G D D. giganteus) restored; an P’ A (4. ).
: (
1ga, C ornis a d dA teryx A. mantelli
( g é ) »
' gi nt: in
146078), Moa, or iG
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 245

Another colossal bird, the Epiornis, which formerly
lived in Madagascar, must have been of even greater size.
One of its eggs, which is now in the museum at Paris, is
six times as large as that of the ostrich, and it has been

calculated that to fill the cavity would require 12,000

 

147. Comparative Dimensions of Birds’ Eggs. 1, That of the Epiornis. 2, Of the Ostrich.
3, Of the Hen. 4, Of the Humming-bird.

humming-birds’ eggs. Its shell, two millimetres (0:78742
inch) thick, could only be broken by a blow with a hammer.
What strength then must the beak of the young bird have
possessed to be able to make a hole in it!

What differences also in strength are found in birds!

When fleeing before the hunter, whose Arab steed presses
it closer and closer, the alarmed and furious ostrich tears
the soil of the desert, clinging to it, and leaving deep marks
beneath each footstep, while it launches afar a cloud of
sand and pebbles. When, on the contrary, a flock of
humming-birds, attracted by the expanded and floating
flowers of the Royal Victoria, play and gleam round them
like a casket of topazes and rubies struck by the rays of
the sun, neither the smooth surface of the lake nor the
beautiful flowers are in the least degree disturbed. And
246 THE UNIVERSE.

when one of these winged diamonds perches itself upon
a petal of their virgin corolla, it does not even stir it.
Again, when the fragile bird takes flight, its tiny claw has

 

148. Nest of the Mango Humming-bird—Lampornis mango (Gould).

not injured the velvet softness of the flower. It might
have lighted upon one of the twigs of the modest sensitive
plant without this taking any alarm.

The secretary-bird, on the contrary, possessed of vast
 

 

149. Eagle carrying off Marie Delex, in the Alps, in 1838.

82
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 249

strength, incessantly occupied in combating reptiles, with
one blow of its wing stuns a tortoise or a threatening
serpent. The swan can break a man’s leg. The bearded
vulture, some zoologists tell us, sometimes attacks the
hunters in the dangerous passes of the Alps. And the
eagle in its bold flight carries children through the fields
of air, and crushes them in the mountain precipices.!

If we examine the form which our winged architects
give to their nuptial couches, or the materials of which
they build them, we see that they vary infinitely. Some
birds, like the eagles and goshawks, which build their

1 Although in our days the carrying off of Ganymede is not re-enacted, yet the
inhabitants of mountainous countries have some ground for accusing the eagles
of bearing off their children. The last known fact of this kind took place in the
Valais in 1838, A little girl, five years old, called Marie Delex, was playing with
one of her companions on a mossy slope of the mountain, when all at once an
eagle swooped down upon her and carried her away in spite of the cries and pre-
sence of her young friend. Some peasants, hearing the screams, hastened to the
spot, but sought in vain for the child, for they found nothing but one of her
shoes on the edge of a precipice. The child, however, was not carried to the
eagle’s nest, where only two eaglets were seen, surrounded by heaps of goat and
sheep bones. It was not till two months after this that a shepherd discovered
the corpse of Marie Delex, frightfully mutilated, and lying upon a rock half a
league from where she had been borne off.

[An instance of this kind, which occurred in the autumn of 1868, is thus narrated
by a teacher in county Tippah, Missouri, United States of North America:—
“A sad casualty occurred at my school a few days ago. The eagles have been
very troublesome in the neighbourhood for some time past, carrying off pigs,
lambs, &c. No one thought that they would attempt to prey upon children ;
but on Thursday, at recess, the little boys were out some distance from the
house, playing marbles, when their sport was interrupted by a large eagle sweep-
ing down and picking up little Jemmie Kenney, a boy of eight years, and flying
away with him. The children cried out, and when I got out of the house, the
eagle was so high that I could just hear the child screaming. The alarm was
given, and from screaming and shouting in the air, &c., the eagle was induced to
drop his victim; but his talons had been buried in him so deeply, and the fall
was so great, that he was killed—or either would have been fatal.”—Tr. ]

The Gypeetus, the boldest of the vultures, and of such immensely strong flight,
is said to assail men who are asleep. One of our zoologists, too, M. Hollard,
states that this daring bird is not afraid to attack hunters in the dangerous passes
of the Alps.—Hollard, Zoologie, Paris, 1838, p. 432.
250 THE UNIVERSE.

eyries in the midst of solitude and rocks, only employ in
their construction rough fragments of stick heaped up in
(disorder; others make use of leaves and moss, which they
arrange with skill. But such materials are still too, coarse
for the delicate bodies of the humming-birds, which pour
along in swarms. They, as for example the Serrirostris,
often construct for themselves a downy charming little cup
of cotton, wherein to shelter their jewelry of rubies and
topazes without sullying the lustre of them. Two other
species of the same group, which also make use of soft
pillows, garnish the outside of their nests with fragments
of lichens, doubtless to hide it better from carnivorous
animals. This is the case with the black-plastron or mango

humming-bird of Buffon.

CHAPTER II.

THE INSTINCT OF CHEMISTRY.—MOUNTAIN BUILDERS AND
GLEANERS.

Some birds attract attention by the size of their con-
structions, and by the innate notions which they seem to
have of certain chemical phenomena which we see them
make exactly the right use of.

A little hill in an English garden astonishes us by its
dimensions, and the labour which it demands. Many
hands and much time have been occupied with it, and yet
if we compare the work with the means of him who
orders it to be formed, this mass of earth seems but a little
aA

sl
MII

ulus (Gould).

 

150. Australian Landscape, with Nest of the Mound-building Megapodius—JZ, tr

 
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 253

matter. A bird, the Mound-building Megapodius, accom-
plishes by itself a task a thousand times greater.

It has the carriage and size of a partridge, and its
modest brown robe recalls the sombre colours of almost all
the birds of its country, Australia, that land of zoological
marvels, but its labours and its intelligence soon make us
forget the mournful aspect of the workman.

The nidification of this species is a truly herculean
work, and one would not credit it were it not attested by
the most authentic evidence.

The immense structure built by the Megapodius rests
on the ground. It begins by getting together a thick bed
of leaves, branches, and plants: then it heaps up earth and
stones, and strews them round about in such a way as to
form an enormous crater-like tumulus, concave in the
middle; the place where alone the materials first collected
remain uncovered. One of these nests, the dimensions of
which are given by the illustrious ornithologist Gould,
“was 14 feet high, and presented a circumference of 150
feet. Compared to the size of the bird, the dimensions of
such a mountain are almost prodigious, and we ask how,
with its beak and claws only for pickaxe and entire means

ff

151. Nest of the Tumulus-building Megapodius, vertical section.—From Gould.

 
    

   
  

 

ll

cot

    

of transport, it contrives to get together such a mass of
materials! The celebrated tumulus of Achilles, and that
of Patroclus, assuredly demanded less labour at the hands
of man.

Were we to try to establish a comparison between the
254 THE UNIVERSE.

work of the Megapodius and that which a man could
execute, we should really be astonished at the results.
The comparative size of the animal being very difficult to
arrive at on account of the variety of its attitudes, if then

 

152. Nest of the Tumulus-building Megapodius, seen from xbove.—From Gould.

we take the weight as a standard, we find that a Mega-
podius weighing rather above 2 Ibs. sometimes raises its
tumulus more than 10 feet in height;’ now, as a man
weighs on an average about 180 lbs., he must, in order to
build a structure corresponding to the nest of the bird,
accumulate a mountain of earth which would be almost
double the height and bulk of the great pyramid of Egypt!

The mighty task completed, the workman confides its
eges to it. The female usually lays eight, which she dis-
poses in a circle in the centre of the nest among the herbs

1 One measured by Mr. Jukes was 150 feet in circumference, the slope of the

sides 18 to 24 feet, and the perpendicular height 10 or 12 feet. The eggs are as
large as those of a swan, and are considered a great delicacy.
 

153. Australian Talegalla (Talegalla Lathami) gathering Grass for its Nest.— From Gould.

33
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 257

and leaves which lie heaped up at this spot. They are
placed at exactly equal distances from each other, and in
a vertical position. When the laying is completed, the
Megapodius abandons its master-piece and its offspring,
Providence having revealed to it that henceforth it is no
longer useful to them.

Endowed with a marvellous chemical instinct, this bird
only collects such a mass of vegetable matter, that it may
commit the hatching of its eggs to the fermentation they
produce. It is in fact on the heat so engendered that the
bird relies for supplying her place; the mother thus sub-
stituting a chemical process for her own cares.

Réaumur proposed to leave the incubation of our hens’
egos to the heat of dung, but they were poisoned by its
mephitic vapours. The Megapodius, more judicious than
the celebrated academician, employs the fermentation of
erass and leaves, which is not attended by the same
inconvenience.

Everything in the history of this animal is extraordi-
nary. Instead of being born naked, or covered with down,
and of issuing from the egg incapable of procuring its
subsistence, the young Megapodius, when it breaks its
shell, is already provided with feathers fitted for flight.
It is scarcely free ere it aspires to seek the light and air,
throws off the leaves which surround and stifle it, mounts
on the crest of its tumulus, dries its yet moist wings in
the sun, and tests them by a few flaps. Lastly, quickly
becoming confident in its strength and fortune, and having
cast a disturbed and inquisitive look upon the surrounding
country, the feeble bird takes its flight into the atmosphere
and quits its cradle for ever; it knows how to nourish itself
so soon as it is born!

Another Australian bird possesses the same instinctive
258 THE UNIVERSE.

foresight as that of which we have been speaking ; but,
instead of building mounds, it is a sturdy gleaner. The
Talegalla Lathami, for so it is called, is of the size and
has the look of a fowl, and builds its nest with grass which
it gleans in the fields, and of which it gathers an enormous
heap, comparable, indeed, to the cocks which our hay-
makers form in the meadows. But it is not with its beak,
it is with its claws that it works. By means of one of
them it collects a little bottle of hay, which it grasps in its
toes; this it carries to its nest, hopping along upon the
other foot. When, as a result of innumerable journeys,
the heap has grown large enough, the female lays its eggs
in it. Knowing as well as we do that hay heats by dry-
ing, it relies upon the warmth for the incubation of its
brood, which it abandons immediately after laying. The
young Talegallz are also born as completely feathered as
the others, and just as able to shift for themselves when
they issue from the egg. Hence, a few minutes after
having scattered about the quilting which surrounds them,
they take flight.

A little rodent of the Siberian Alps, the Lagomys, the
size of which does not equal that of a rabbit, accumulates
similar heaps of hay as much as five feet high and eight
feet in diameter. The Tartars frequently appropriate the
fruits of its labour in order to feed their horses. Some
day perhaps man will in the same way make use of
the nests of the Talegallee, which are even more laborious
gleaners.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, 259

CHAPTER III

WORK AND THE FAMILY.

The whole tribe of wrens and titmice make us forget
their tiny size in the skilful finish of their work, and the
delightful love which reigns in every family; it is some-
times a perfect marvel to witness.

Among these charming guests of our thickets can be
distinguished the common wren, which builds a nest similar
to a little underground house. Then comes the long-tailed
titmouse, the globular abode of which does not exceed the
size of the fist, and which is made of moss and lichen.
The mother only enters by an excessively narrow opening,
and often nourishes ten or twelve little ones. It is quite
inexplicable how so numerous a family can be crowded
into such a narrow little chamber. One would think they
must be stifled; but the young birds, heaped one upon
another, are only so much more thoroughly warmed, and
the whole brood live happy and gay in their tiny little
bed.

In respect to the elegance of its construction the pen-
duline titmouse astonishes the observer still more. Its
nest, suspended to the branch of a tree, has exactly the
shape of a chemist’s retort, only that instead of being
manufactured of such hard material, nothing enters into
the composition of it but fine moss and down. The open-
ing is carefully woven, not one vegetable fibre protrudes
beyond the other!
260 THE UNIVERSE.

Who can describe in what a marvellous manner the
bird, while still on the wing, approaches its nest, enters

 

154. Nest of the Long-tailed Titmouse—Parus caudatus (Linneus).—From the Rouen
Museum.
and issues by an opening which seems to have scarcely
the diameter of its body, and without ever deranging a
fibre?
The huts of some savages remain constantly open; their
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 261

limited capacity has not yet taught them to invent the pro-
tecting door. Spiders are more ingenious. There are

 

155. Nest of the Penduline Anat Ean (Latham).—From the Rouen
some which, as we have seen, understand how to secure
themselves in their subterranean abodes by a skilfully con-
structed door. Some birds take analogous precautions.

In his work on the Birds of India, M. Jerdon details
262 THE UNIVERSE.

the curious domestic arrangements of some species of the
genus Homrain of French naturalists, the males of which,
at the time of laying, imprison the female in her nest.
They close the entrance to it by means of a thick wall of
mud, leaving only a small hole by which the hen breathes
and protrudes her beak to receive her food. To this, in-
deed, her too stern spouse brings every moment some
morsel for her to peck at, for to his praise be it said, that
though he is barbarous enough to immure her, he feeds
her with the most tender solicitude. This enforced retire-
ment only ceases with the termination of the hatching, when
the pair break the prison-door.

In his voyage to India Sonnerat speaks of a Cape tit-
mouse, the nest of which, shaped like a bottle and made of
cotton, merits notice. Whilst the female is hatching in-
side, the male, a most watchful sentinel, remains outside,
resting in a pouch made for the purpose, fixed to one side
of the neck of the nest. But when his mate moves off and
he wishes to follow her, he beats the opening of the nest
violently with his wing, and succeeds in closing it, in order
to protect his young from enemies.

In respect to ingenuity of construction developed by
the love of family and work, there is nothing that can be
compared to the doings of the sociable grossbeak. This
little Cape bird, of the size and appearance of our spar-
rows, lives in numerous societies, all the members of
which unite to form an immense city, having the appear-
ance of a circular timber-work, embracing the trunk of
some great tree. There are sometimes more than 300 little
cells, which means that it is inhabited by more than 600
birds. This nest is so heavy, that Levaillant, who brought
one away during his travels in Africa, was obliged to em-
ploy a waggon and several men to remove it. When they
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 263

are seen at a distance in the landscape, we might think we
were looking at huge roofs suspended to the trunks or

 

156. Nest of the Cape Titmouse (Parus capensis).—From Sonnerat.

branches of the trees scattered about, and round which a
multitude of birds are playing.

We have said that amongst the winged tribe specimens
of all industrial arts are found. One would scarcely ex-
pect to find regular seamstresses among them, for the beak
264 THE UNIVERSE.

of the bird seems ill adapted enough for needle-work, and
yet some of these animals produce work exactly analogous.

I do not here in any way allude to the weaver-birds,
the nests of which, made of fine grass and known to all
the world, represent an inextricable net-work; but to the
tailor-bird, a charming exotic species, which takes two

 

157. Nest of the Tailor-bird—Sylvia sutoria (Latham).—From the British Museum.

very long lanceolated leaves and sews the edges of them,
neatly whipped, by means of flexible grass in the form of
thread. After this the female fills the little sack which
they form with cotton, and deposits her pretty young ones
upon this downy bed, which is gently rocked by the least
breath of wind.

This nest, which is extremely rare, but of which I saw
some specimens in the British Museum, is a real master-
piece of ingenuity.

The oriole of our climate executes an analogous task.
 

 
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 267

Its nest resembles a circular concave cup, and is formed
of a mesh of leaves finely interlaced. The bird always

 

159. Nest of the Golden Oriole—Oriolus galbula (Linnzeus).—From the Rouen Museum.

suspends it from the bifurcation of two branches of a tree.
For this purpose it chooses those which lie horizontally,
and always stitches its airy abode by means of a round
268 THE UNIVERSE.

stitch, done not with grass, but with a piece of string or a
thread-end, which it has stolen from some neighbouring
manufactory or dwelling, so that one sometimes feels in-
clined to ask what it did before pack-thread and spinning
were invented.

CHAPTER IV.
IDLERS AND ASSASSINS.

It would seem that in the bird activity and intelligence
are in inverse proportion to size. The idlers and free-
booters of the air generally belong to the most robust
tribes.

The wren lovingly hatches its charming little family
beneath a dome of moss and down, constructed with deli-
cacy and ingenuity, and usually sheltered beneath eaves
of our roofs; a perfect mattressed sphere, which the mother
scarcely dares to quit, so much does she love her brood.

The ostrich, a living emblem of force united to in-
dolence, does not give itself the trouble to construct a
nest. After having simply scattered the sand by means
of its feet, it deposits its eggs upon the place, and commits
their incubation to the burning sun of the desert. It only
sits upon them in cold and damp nights; and, as even if
this maternal effort were too great a strain upon her ten-
derness, several mothers are seen dividing among them
the cares of a doubtful parentage, for it seems certain that
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 269

several ostriches lay their eggs together in the same ex-
cavation in the sand. Levaillant watched a whole night

:

 

160. Nest of the Common Wren—Troglodytes ewropeus (Cuvier).—From the Rouen
Museum.

in a thicket in order to observe the manceuvres of these
birds, and saw four females betake themselves to the same
heap of eggs; “they relieved each other in succession,”
270 THE UNIVERSE.

says this traveller.1 The male is equally called upon to
make up for the indolence of his mate; he broods also: a
nurse of the opposite sex.

The long-eared owls (Strix bubo, Linnzeus), and the great
owls (Strix otus, Linnzus), are scarcely more interested in
their nidification. Almost all these nocturnal idlers simply
deposit their eggs upon the dust which time has accumu-
lated in the nooks of rocks or caverns; others install them-
selves in ruined chateaux or churches; some content them-
selves with the holes afforded by the decaying trunks of
aged trees. The barn-owl (Strix flammea, Linneeus), a
little less careless, before laying, covers with a thin mat-
tress of moss the bare stone of the obscure underground
retreat in the depths of which she rears a brood so afraid
of the light.

The birds of the tribe of our quails, partridges, and hens
are all very clumsy workmen, contenting themselves with
exposing their broods on miserable litter, or on the arid
soil itself. The beautiful doves themselves scarcely take
more care of their progeny. Their nests, negligently placed
on the boughs, are only formed of a thin sheet of loosely
laid twigs, a complete hurdle in disorder, without any moss
or down, in which the egg, exposed to the air on all sides,
seems menaced every instant with the danger of falling.
It is the handiwork of a thoughtless beauty, whose couch
seems as if it would be more likely to freeze than warm
her young family.

1 The traveller Levaillant counted as many as thirty-eight eggs in an ostrich’s
nest, which leads to the inference that several females were concerned in laying
them. His observations and those of Sparmann prove that the males take upon
themselves the duty of incubation. Both these travellers surprised males on the

nests; and the latter of the two saw as many traces of the one sex as of the other
at these places, showing that they are equally frequented by males and females.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 271

We find more extent but not more intelligence in the
buildings executed by the great carnivorous birds, such as
the eagles, goshawks, and falcons—the lords of the air.

 

161. Nest of the Barn-owl—Strix flammea (Linneus).—From the Rouen Museum.

Fierce and solitary, the former suspend their nests in the
midst of the most horrible precipices, without dreading
either the roar of the cataract or the crash of the aval-

anche. The bulk of the work and the mass of the mate-
35
2712, THE UNIVERSE.

rials employed are in proportion to the strength of the
architect. The eyry of the eagle is only a heap of great
branches of trees, an entangled faggot, forming a thick
rude mattress, twelve to fifteen feet in circumference. This
nest serves the couple which build it for their whole lives,
but its size Increases with years, because the bones of all
the animals brought thither by the parents and devoured
by the hungry family, are heaped up round it in such a
manner, that at a certain lapse of time the eyry of one of
these robbers becomes a pestilential charnel-house.

The nests built by the goshawk display even less skill:
it employs only little faggots, and yet its nest is four feet
in circumference.

Some of our idlers, resolved to do no work at all, be-
come nothing more or less than thieves; others, more
courageous, are regular brigands. The latter attack face
to face the enemy they want to devour; the others throw
their victim from the window in order to take possession
of its domicile.

To this legion belong the voracious butcher-birds of our
woods, which slaughter so many little birds and spit their
bodies on the thorns of our thickets.

In the ranks of the most obstinate thieves we must
place our sparrows. Linneus and Gmelin relate as an
established fact, that before the return of the swallows, a
sparrow will sometimes take possession of the dwelling
deserted by the travellers. Here it installs itself, and
when the legitimate proprietors return, threatens to cut
them open with its powerful bill. The plundered swallows
call their companions in the vicinity to their help. Then
begins the siege of the place; some retain the enemy a
prisoner, whilst others occupy themselves in walling up
the doorway with quantities of pellets of earth, and in a
 

 

 

162. Nest of the Goshawk—Astur palumbarius (Bonaparte).—From the Rouen
Museum.
-_

7d

lo

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

very short time the usurper, closely imprisoned in the nest
he has invaded, dies of asphyxia.!

But of all these winged spoilers the most cruel is the
cuckoo. The mode in which it proceeds is as follows :—

This idle and savage inhabitant of our woods does not
care either to build a nest, to hatch its eggs, or to feed its
young. By means of trickery it hands over this fatal task
to other birds, and it is always upon species of the small-
est size that it imposes the charge from which it frees
itself.

The most illustrious naturalists, both of antiquity and
modern times, had already remarked that the cuckoo
makes itself master of a strange nest, the legitimate pro-
prietors of which are sacrificed for the benefit of the in-
vader’s progeny. But it is only recently that these odious
wiles have been clearly unveiled.

Nature, niggardly with regard to the cuckoo, has only
allotted it two eggs. Here, however, a wise foresight may
be recognized, for in order to rear its two little ones, a good
number of others are barbarously sacrificed.

It is the nest of the golden-crested or common wren
that this bird selects for the accomplishment of its designs,
and it only deposits one egg in it.

Here a curious problem presents itself. The nests of
these charming visitors of our groves are too narrow to ad-
mit of a bird so large as the cuckoo either entering one, or
resting upon it in order to lay; how then did it manage to

1 Although this story has been accepted as authentic by Gmelin, the laborious
commentator on Linnzeus, as well as by several French savants, Spallanzani, in
his Mémoires sur les Hirondelles, regards it as doubtful. “It is true,” he says,
“that sparrows not unfrequently take possession of the nests before the arrival
of the swallows. But the legitimate masters at once make a stir, going to and
fro about the sparrows, picking quarrels with them, and ending by making them

give up possession.”—Spallanzani, Voyages dans les Deux Siciles. Paris, an
vill. t. 6, p. 22.
276 THE UNIVERSE.

introduce its progeny? Levaillant quite despaired of being
able to penetrate this mystery, when chance furnished him
with an opportunity of doing so. The celebrated traveller,
having killed a female golden cuckoo in Africa, found in
its gullet an unbroken ege which he recognized as that of
the bird itself, and his negro assured him that frequently,
when killing these cuckoos on the wing, he had seen the
eggs fall from their mouths.

A modest savant, M. Florent Prevost, to whom we owe
such extensive and interesting observations, has discovered
that the same thing takes place with respect to our com-
mon cuckoo. He has noticed that the female lays her
egg on the ground, and then takes it in her beak, places it
in her gullet, and deposits it in the nest of the insectivor-
ous species of which she makes choice.

Pliny relates at length, that when the young cuckoo is
in the midst of the little family of the titmouse, the latter
seeing it so strong and handsome, sacrifices, from a senti-
ment of maternal vanity, all her other little ones to it, and
allows it to devour them before her eyes, falling herself a
prey to it in the end.

Such is the fiction. Let us abandon it for the reality,
which is no less extraordinary, and which was revealed to
us by a man of deathless fame—Jenner, the discoverer of
vaccination.

It is not the mother but the young cuckoo that under-
takes the assassination. The great physician describes the
process in the Philosophical Transactions as follows:—‘The
young cuckoo, a few hours after its birth, tries by the aid
of its ramp and wings to glide beneath the little bird whose
cradle it shares, and to get the latter upon its back, where
it keeps it by raising its wings. It then works itself back-
ward to the edge of the nest, raises itself up for an instant,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 277

then making an effort, expels its load from the nest. After
this feat it rests for a few moments, as if to assure itself of

the success of its attempt.”

 

163. Cuckoo killing Golden-crested Wrens.

The spoiler displays frightful perseverance in accom-
plishing its work of destruction, it toils at it incessantly
and ejects everything from its cradle. Colonel Montague
278 THE UNIVERSE.

saw a young cuckoo, with indefatigable perseverance, for
four whole days continue to expel a newly hatched swal-
low, which he took care to replace each time beside it.

Now as the brood of each wren contains ten eggs, it
results that, to rear its progeny, the cuckoo sacrifices every
year a score of birds. This is the reason why it has drawn
down upon itself general animadversion, and has, in Ger-
many, with good ground, become the symbol of ingrati-
tude.

According to the authors of the General Dictionary of
the Sciences, the female cuckoo also takes upon herself
the task of massacring the little ones which are already
hatched at the time when she deposits her eggs in the

nests.

CHAPTER V.
ARCHITECTURE INTENDED FOR ENJOYMENT.

Maternal love, as we have seen, works prodigies, and
neglects nothing requisite for the welfare and protection
of the family. But we come now to birds which sacrifice
merely to luxury and pleasure, and which, instead of in-
geniously contrived nests, build elegant groves intended
only for enjoyment-—for promenades, tender pastimes,
and love-meetings.

The most skilful of these builders of bowers, of these
ornithological Le Nostres, is the Spotted Chlamydera, or
bower-bird, which is very like our partridge. It may,
36

Y

ae
ml

: i i

 

164. Nuptial Arbour of the Spotted Bower-birds—Chlumydera maculata.—From Gould.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 281

however, be distinguished at the first view by its deep-
coloured plumage, set off by clear spots and a pretty rose-
tinted collar.

The couple proceed in an orderly way to build their
arbour. They usually set it up in an exposed place, to
enjoy the sun and heat better. Their first care is to make
a pavement of rounded shells of tolerably equal size; when
the surface and thickness of this are sufficiently forward,
they begin planting a little avenue of branches. For this
purpose they are seen bringing in from the fields fine
shoots of trees about the same size, the thick ends of
which they thrust firmly in between the interstices of the
pebbles. The birds arrange these branches in two parallel
rows, making them all bend one towards another, so as
to resemble a miniature avenue. This improvised planta-
tion is almost a metre (about three feet three inches)
long, and of such breadth that the two lovers can amuse
themselves, or promenade side by side beneath the shelter
of its shade.

So soon as ever the arbour is finished, the amorous
couple think about embellishing it. For this purpose they
wander through the country in every direction, and ap-
propriate every brilliant object they meet with in order to
decorate the entrance. Gleaming mother-of-pearl shells
are special objects of predilection; hence the outlets of the
bower are provided with a thick shining covering of them.

If these novel decorators find any beautiful birds’ fea-
thers in the fields, they collect and hang them up like
flowers to the dry twig-ends of their abodes. One thing
is quite certain; every brightly coloured or shining object
on which the sun has accidentally cast its rays, is imme-
diately carried off. Mr. Gould even told me that, in, the
districts where these birds build, if a traveller chance to
282 THE UNIVERSE.

lose his watch, his knife, or seal, it is useless to look in the
place where they have been dropped: they have been carried
off by the bower-birds of the district, and are always to
be found in the nearest of their walks.

The discovery of this arbour of love being a quite un-
expected fact in ornithology, Mr. Gould was afraid that
his narrative might be received in Europe with suspicion ;
he was accordingly anxious to bring a specimen as a proof.
For this purpose, having carried away one of these pro-
menades, or “runs,” he contrived, by dint of infinite care, to
transport it to the British Museum, where it can now be
admired.

So soon as men became acquainted with the work it-
self they wanted to make trial of the workmen. One of
these rustic architects was brought alive to the Zoological
Gardens at London. It was placed in a large room sur-
rounded by all the materials necessary for its edifice, but
the poor bird made a very sorry affair of it; the air and sun
of its country were wanting, its courage was enervated. It
was as much as it could do to plant a few branches irregu-
larly ina heap of stones and earth which it had collected.

CHAPTER VI.
NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.

Many very inexact statements have been made about
the naval buildings of certain birds. Fiction has de-
throned truth, and yet the latter is infinitely more interest-
ing than the tales which have been substituted for it.
 

 

165. Nest of the Water-hen—Fulica chloropus (Linneus).—From the Rouen Museum.
THE -ANIMAL KINGDOM. 285

L

One of the most hardy inhabitants of our fens, the
water-hen (Fulica chloropus), awakens surprise by the form
and elegance of the nest which she plants near their edge.
These nests are so many little altars raised above the
ground, and crowned by an arbour of reeds, the bent
leaves of which form an elegant little vault of verdure
above the brood.

It has often been repeated in old works on natural his-
tory, that the reed warbler (A/otacilla arundinacea) fixes
its nest, made of interlaced grass, to the weeds, and that
the elegant cradle, filled with the young, floats on the sur-
face of the river, rising and falling with the length of its
aquatic support, following the movements of the water,
and always swimming on the surface to preserve the young
from shipwreck.

The nest of the warbler displays an ingenious struc-
ture, and that is all. It is formed of tangled grass, and is
always fixed near the top of three stems of the common
reed. It is in this that the pretty little female hatches her
eggs in security. But its nest neither rises nor falls upon
the tripod of plants which it binds closely, and if it did it
would not float, and the water would drown the brood.
So that here is an error to be set right.

All authors of antiquity relate the charming fable of
the floating-nest of the Halcyon. It was towards the
setting of the Pleiades, according to their account, that
the bird of the storm built it. Then the murmur of the
waves ceased, and the winds grew silent, in order that the
work of God might be accomplished on a tranquil sea.
These were the beautiful days so rare at the winter solstice
which the pilots called ‘the days of the Halcyon.”

“These nests,” says Pliny, “are worthy of admiration;
they have the shape of a ball, and resemble a large sponge.
286 THE UNIVERSE.

They cannot be cut with iron, but a violent shock shivers
them.” Plutarch believed that they were composed only

 

166. Sea-hedgehogs or Urchins.1. 1, Zehinus Delalandi. 2, Echinus perforans.

of fish-bones interlaced. But it appears that the philo-

1 The sea-urchin lives a solitary and almost sedentary life, hid in the sand or
among the sea-weeds, or stuck on to some rock. Some authors allege that by aid
of its prickles it hollows out for itself a hole in the rock. The real fact is, that
these animals are often found lodged in cavities so regular and so well propor-
tioned to their shape as to give rise to the supposition that if they have not
entirely formed the hollows, they have at least enlarged and rounded them. In
this there is nothing improbable when the stone is of a soft and argillaceous
nature; but frequently these urchins are found lodged in granite, and it is diffi-
cult to comprehend how the animal could hollow out so hard a material.—Mangin,
Les Mystéres de (Océan.
 

167. Nest of the Reed Warbler—Motacilla arundinacea (Gmelin).—From the Rouen
Museum.

37
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 289

sopher mistook the carapaces of the Echinus brought ashore
by the waves for the nests of the Halcyon.

Though it is well known now that the Halcyon of anti-
quity, which is nothing more than our kingfisher, does not
commit a floating-nest to the calm of the sea, the ardent
ornithologists who study the habits of the inhabitants of
our fens have discovered some species, the marvellous
nidification of which outstrips even the celebrated myth.

This is the case with the nest of the little grebe. This
palmipede hatches its young upon a regular raft. It isa
mass of strong stems of aquatic plants closely united to-
gether, and as these contain a considerable amount of air
in their ample and numerous cells, and as, in addition, they
set free gases during the. process of rotting, these aériform
fluids, imprisoned by the plants, make the nest lighter than
water. It is found floating in lonely spots where the tall
rushes and great reeds grow. There, in her improvised
craft, the female, upborne on her watery bed, tranquilly
broods on her offspring. But if any meddler happen to
discover her, if anything threaten her safety, the wild bird
plunges one of her feet into the water, and makes use of it
as a paddle with which she transports her dwelling to a
distance. The little boatman guides its frail skiff whither
it likes, sometimes dragging along a perfect sheet of water-
plants, looking like a little floating island carried away by
the labour of the diver which moves in the centre of a
mass of verdure.

Thus the truth is more extraordinary than fiction.

1 All the details related here as to the little grebe (Colymbus minor) were given
me by M. Nourry, director of the museum of natural history at Elbeuf. The
sketch representing the nests of this bird was also executed by this distinguished

ornithologist, who often lived in the midst of the forests in order to study the
manners of birds unobserved.
290 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER VII.
MINERS AND MASONS.

Every traveller who approaches the shores of the
southern seas is struck by the sight of the innumerable
flocks of penguins which swarm upon them.

Birds in their radical organization, they are quite fish
in their habits. Their wings, transformed into fins, render
them unfit for flight, and their feet are only suited for
swimming. Hence, not being able to rise in the air or
escape by running, they stumble and fall to the ground at
every step they take when they are trying to escape from
some aggressor. The sailors calculate upon their falling,
in order to kill them, and often make a complete massacre
of them. But the scene changes so soon as ever the
penguins gain the water, their favourite element. They
precipitate themselves into it from the tops of rocks ten to
fifteen feet above the waves, and having reached the sea,
dive and swim with a swiftness which mocks that of the
largest fish, and utterly confounds the smaller ones—their
habitual prey.

Seated on their tails, and always in an upright position
on the shore, these birds, scattered about in innumerable
bands, with their white bellies and their black cowls and
cloaks, recall the costume of certain religious corpora-
tions; a fact which has made all the sailors compare them
to a procession of penitents.
 

—From an original

Gmelin).

(

168. Floating Nests of the Little Grebe—Colymbus minor

sketch by M. Nourry of Elbceuf.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 293

Famous swimmers, but bad walkers, penguins, not being
able to build either in trees or on the sea, have been obliged
to content themselves with the shore. Of too limited a
capacity to weave a nest, they are satisfied, being simply
miners, with scooping out a hole in the ground.

It is generally on desert islands covered with grass that
these animals establish their subterranean abodes. They
hollow these out by means of their beak and feet just be-
neath the ground, and make them sometimes as much as
three feet deep. The interior by its form gives one the
idea of an oven, and the narrow and depressed entrance
represents the door. From every cavern proceeds a regu-
lar concealed road, carried through the grass and covered
by the tops of it. It is by these tortuous and shady paths
that the birds pass from their nests to the shore.

These subterranean works have multiplied to such an
extent in some localities, that it often happens that the
sailors sink in when walking. The penguin, disturbed by
this unexpected invasion, throws itself upon the imprudent
mortal who has broken into its abode, and frequently the
visitor cannot withdraw his leg till he has received some
smart wounds from the sharp blows of its beak. More
than one mariner has left a portion of his trousers behind
him.

The tribe of masons is very numerous, and these winged
architects employ very various materials in their edifices.
Many, like the ancient Germans, construct their buildings
only with earth or clay. Others make use of plants after
having worked them into a pulp like mortar or mastic.

The most powerful, but at the same time the clumsiest,
of all our race of masons is the flamingo, the rude construc-
tions of which we pardon for the sake of its splendid plum-
age, tinted with rose colour and brilliant red. This great
294 THE UNIVERSE.

wader, gorgeous troops of which enjoy themselves on the
shores of hot countries, usually builds its nest not far from
the sea, and arranges it in a very peculiar way, as its
monstrously long legs would not adapt themselves to the
ordinary style of nest-building.

Flamingoes place their nests upon the ground, and build
them solely of coarsely tempered mud. These nests are
very curiously shaped, being like a narrow, lengthened
cone, and are about 20 inches in height; their truncated
summit presents a concavity, at the bottom of which the
female deposits two or three white eggs. In order to hatch
them she places her abdomen over them, and allows her
legs to hang down on both sides of the raised cone which
forms her edifice.

Our visitants the swallows are more skilful builders than
the flamingoes. The little nuptial chambers which they
construct beneath the cornices of our windows, or in the
pointed arches of our churches, are only made of pure
earth, which they pick out bit by bit on the bank of the
river. Who knows in the course of how many journeys?

The Salangane or esculent swallows, which inhabit China
and the neighbouring islands, build nests which resemble
so many little bowls, which they affix by thousands to
inaccessible rocks, or in sombre caverns, as if to hide their
chaste loves from every intrusive gaze.

These nests are formed of a dirty white substance,
exactly analogous to isinglass; a singular appearance, which
has made people ascribe them to the most diverse sources.
They seemed so odd to Kempfer that he would not be-
lieve in them; the celebrated explorer of Japan insisted that
they were made entirely from the flesh of various Polypi.

M. Poivre, who, to the title of governor of the Isle of
France, united another which conferred far higher renown
 

169. Nests of the Red Flamingo—Phenicopterus ruber (Cuvier).

38
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 297

upon him—that of a distinguished philosopher, was the
first who cleared up the history of the Salanganes, and
gathered some of their nests with his own hands; but he
was mistaken in supposing that these swallows built them
of fish-spawn, an opinion which long prevailed.

 

170. Edible Nests of the Salangane —AHirundo esculenta (Latham).

It was M. Lamouroux who, first of all, in 1821 gave us
an exact account of the composition of these extraordinary
nests. He found out that the birds build them of various
marine plants which they gather in the waves, belonging
chiefly to the genera Gelidium and Spherococcus. These
the swallows bear away from the surface, while skimming
over the billows, gulp down, and afterwards disgorge, mixed
with their digestive fluids, which render them glutinous and
facilitate the building of the maternal homes.
298 THE UNIVERSE.

The gathering of these nests is dangerous, because the
swallows place them in the depths of inaccessible caverns,
into which it is necessary to slide by a rope, or descend
by means of long bamboo-ladders. The Chinese, who
make a business of collecting them, only begin after they
have secured the protection of the gods by certain preli-
minary sacrifices, and perfumed the entrance to the pre-
cipices with benzoin or other odoriferous substances.

The nests of these swallows have acquired great cele-
brity on account of the use to which they are put in China
for food. There they are an indispensable ornament of
every grand repast. Broken up into little morsels, they
take the place of rice or tapioca in the soup.’

But the most charming of our aérial masons is assu-
redly the party-coloured wren, crowned with its brilliant
crest of gold. Its nests resemble so many reversed extin-
guishers, glued by one side to the stems of reeds. These

1 These birds are found in great abundance in all parts of the Eastern
Archipelago, and also on the continent of India; the nests are collected in large
quantities, and constitute an important article of commerce with China. Almost
all our knowledge of the mode in which the harvest of nests is managed is de-
rived from the island of Java, which produces about 256 ewts. annually. The
nests are collected in Java at three different periods, namely, in March, September,
and December. The interval of six months from March to September gives
the birds time to rear two broods, and the quantity of nests is consequently
greater than at the other two periods of collecting, but the produce is generally
of inferior quality; the lesser intervals between the collection in September
and that in December, and again between the latter and that in March, scarcely
allow the birds to get their progeny out of the nests, and many young ones are
accordingly destroyed at these periods, but the nests are of superior quality and
very white. The prices paid for these nests in the Canton market vary greatly
according to the quality: those of the best and purest sort fetch the enormous
price of 3500 Spanish dollars (=4s. 6d. each) per pecul, or about 25 dollars per
pound; the second quality brings 2800 Spanish dollars per pecul, and the third
not more than 1600 dollars. In some parts of China, however, as much as 40
dollars has been paid for a catty of birds’ nests, or rather more than one pound
and a quarter. These expensive articles are principally employed in making
soup, but they are also made use of in various ways, and are regarded as a great
delicacy by the Chinese epicures.—Goodrich.
 

‘A
|

 

171. Nests of the Party-coloured Wren—Regulus omnicolor (Vieillot).—From the Rouen

Museum,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. ol

little breeding-cups are only composed of bits of grass
pasted together with mud and saliva, forming a thin wall

 

172. Nest of the Redwing—Turdus tliacus (Linnzus).—From the Rouen Museum.

almost as hard as cardboard—a transition step to the
nests of the esculent swallow.

There are also workers which employ mixed materials,
and which we do not know how to classify. Among these
is the mavis, or common thrush. Externally its beautiful
nest is formed entirely of tufts of moss luxuriously scat-
302 THE UNIVERSE.

tered about; internally it is lined with a compact coating
of earth, on which the brood lie naked, as if the parents

 

173. Nest of the Oven-bird—Furnartus rufus (Vieillot).—From the Rouen Museum.

dreaded the effect which the heat of down would have

upon them. This bird is therefore only half a mason.
We have, at the beginning of this chapter, seen that

there is a palmipede which hollows out an oven. An
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 303

American sparrow is still more ingenious; it builds one.
It is a regular mason, and hence the name of oven-builder
has naturally been given to it. It is a more robust
workman than the swallow. It is astonishing what a
number of journeys it must make, to carry to the tops of
the trees the tempered, almost pure, earth of which its
family-dwelling is composed. The oven-bird is the size
of a quail. Its hemispherical nests, placed in the bifur-
cation of large branches of trees, are more than eight
inches in diameter, and weigh from three to four pounds.
Even if such a building cannot be compared in point of
labour to that of the Megapodius, it is nevertheless re-
markable for its compact masonry and for its opening being
exactly similar to the mouth of a baker’s oven.

Prince Charles Bonaparte has made us acquainted with
a charming and curious little owl, which ought also to be
placed in the category we are speaking of. It is a revolted
child which disdains all the traditions of its family, and
which, in spite of an owl’s nocturnal livery, deserts the
ancient ruin and the obscurity of the cave, to hunt in
full day and by a bright light which would blind its
comrades.

This species abounds in the territory of the Missis-
sippi, where it shelters itself in subterranean abodes several
yards in depth, the entrance to which is crowned by a
mound of earth. It is called the burrowing-ow] (Strix cuii-
cularia); nevertheless it does not strictly merit the appel-
lation, for it is often simply a spoiler, installing itself in
the villages of the marmots, which it probably drives
away. What is certain is, that according to this illystri-
ous ornithologist, the two animals do not live together, but

that when menaced by a common danger the marmot and
39
304 THE UNIVERSE.

owl squat at the bottom of the same hiding hole, where
they are sometimes found surrounded by the most unex-

 

174. Nest of the Burrowing-owl (Strix cunicularia, Ch. Bonaparte), and Section of its Burrow.

pected guests: in the midst of a company of toads, rattle-
snakes, and lizards!
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 305

CHAPTER VIIL

WEAVERS.

Many birds construct for their nests a kind of canvas,
composed of grasses twisted together in a very compact

 

175. Nest of the Fondia erythrops (Bonaparte).—From the Rouen Museum.

manner, resembling a coarse cloth woven upon the loom
of some primitive tribe. These are in truth weavers who
work up vegetable fibre like wool or cotton, possessing
306 THE UNIVERSE.

only their beaks for looms, which they use with great ac-
tivity in order to interlace the fine stems of the grasses,
and form a sort of membrane difficult to tear. These
winged workers construct different kinds of dwellings.
Some consist of a sort of purse, having in the interior
several little panniers affixed to its sides, in which the
female places her brood. In this case the entrance is fre-
quently situated at the lower part, which represents a kind
of gaping funnel: this is the fashion adopted by some
Troopials. Others are simply long and large sacks with
one or more openings, which the aérial artisans suspend to
the branches of trees.

On this account the name of weavers has been given
to a tribe of sparrows remarkable for the perfection of
their work, but other birds imitate their industry although
they belong to different families.

Some weavers, less skilful, content themselves with
twisting grass rudely together, and forming a little cup
of it, in which the female lies deeply ensconced. It is in
this that she carefully hatches her eggs, watching all about
her. The Fondia erythrops builds one of these nests of
imperfect tissue.

The Black-headed Synalaxis is a much better artisan,
being a first-class weaver, if not in respect to the finish
of her work, at least in respect to its solidity. She builds
her nest with grass, entwining it in a compact and inextri-
cable manner. This nest is of a globular form, and only
displays a little entrance on one of its sides, through
which the bird is able to pass with difficulty.

The orioles and the Baltimore-birds deserve to be men-
tioned in the first rank among another kind of workmen,
on account of the large bag-shaped nests which they hang
to the trees, and in which they rear their young.
 

176. Nest of the Black-headed Synalaxis—Synalaxis melanops—(Bonaparte).
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 309

The nests of the Cussieus jupuba are built of dry grass,
and resemble very long sacks spread out at the base,

 

17. Nest of the Baltimore Oriole-—Oriolus Baltimore (Gmelin).—From the Rouen
Museum.

having an entrance in the form of a long narrow slit,
situated above and placed laterally in such a manner that
the rain cannot penetrate. These nests are sometimes
more than two yards long. Thus when the birds are
310 THE UNIVERSE.

numerous in a district, and they build a great number
of nests, these, hanging from the boughs, impart to the
intertropical landscape a very peculiar aspect.

The nests of the Baltimore oriole are shorter and formed
of delicately twisted down; here we have an artisan that
works more elegantly than the other, and requires a
warmer and more luxurious bed. Its buildings have the
look of little sacks of wool coarsely knitted.
 

178. Nest of the Jupuba Cassicus— Cassicus heemorrhous.—(Cuvier).

40
BOOK VII.

THE MIGRATIONS OF ANIMALS.

Many animals, carried away by imperious demands, or
by an instinctive irresistible force, quit their habitual resid-
ence at a given moment, and direct their way to distant
regions. Such migrations, the object of which eludes our
observation, are noticed in nearly all classes of the animal
kingdom. Usually they are seen to take place periodically,
but at other times they only occur, asit were, accidentally,
and all at once astonish the inhabitants of the countries
which are the theatre of them, and into which the unex-
pected invaders carry sometimes devastation, famine, and
death.

At other times it is violence that compels legions of
animals to quit the place where they had established them-
selves. In the countries where man does not decimate
them, they swarm in such abundance, and are so crowded
together, that one can scarcely understand how they exist;
their numbers are alarming. The pictures that Livingstone
has drawn of the exuberance of game in wild districts of
Central Africa, and in particular on the banks of the
Zambesi, suffice to give us an idea of the fecundity of
314 THE UNIVERSE.

nature. But this very fecundity is fatal to the weak tribes,
the stronger ones, getting the upper hand, drive them away
or annihilate them. They have no choice left and thus
forced migrations arise.

Civilization proceeds in the same manner. Animals
disappear as it advances. It drives them back, or utterly
destroys them. Many large species which found shelter
in the former forests of Gaul, the aurochs and others, have
vanished frém our land. We only find now the crumbling
bones of these wild mammals which our sturdy forefathers
hunted.

When animals perform their journeys annually we ob-
serve an amount of order and foresight which are not
seen In erratic migrations. During these latter the whole
colony sometimes expires overcome by the elements or
hunger; not a single individual ever sees again the country
which the tribe quitted im innumerable columns. In the
former, on the contrary, instructed by an experience from
which all profit, the journey is performed with a degree of
order that fills us with astonishment.

The arrangement observed by wild geese in traversing
the air, when they are making their way to a distant coun-
try, shows that they possess a certain power of mental
combination. They are placed one behind the other in
two long oblique lines, which form an acute angle in front,
the most suitable form for cleaving the air. And as the
individual placed at the head of the phalanx exerts him-
self more than the others to open the path, he is observed,
so soon as he finds himself fatigued, to drop behind and
take the last place, while another succeeds to his.

I thought there was perhaps more poetry than truth in
what the old naturalists have related on this head, but
having, on the banks of the Nile, frequently seen flocks of
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 315

birds traverse the air on their route to Nubia, I was en-
abled to verify the accuracy of their narrations.

I have also observed, that when these travellers, worn
out with fatigue, rested at different places on the banks of
the river, there were placed all around the dense crowd of
sleeping birds motionless sentinels, which, with watchful ear
and keen look-out, carefully scanned the environs, and gave
the alarm to the whole camp so soon as an enemy ap-
proached. Our hunters tried to surprise them, but always
in vain. Long before they were within gun-shot, these
vigilant sentries were seen to raise their necks, watch
those approaching, hesitate a few moments, beating their
wings, and then with a low cry take wing, when all the
troop of emigrants followed.

 

     

    
     

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179, Catching Wild Geese, from a painting in the Subterranean Temples of Bevi-Hassan,—
Lepsius, “Monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia.”

Nevertheless, it is probable that the ancient Egyptians,
more skilful than we are, succeeded in capturing these
travelling bands. In fact, among the paintings or hiero-

glyphs on the monuments of the Pharaohs, we frequently
316 THE UNIVERSE.

find represented wild-goose fowling with the net, and people
carrying these birds in panniers. Lepsius, in his beautiful
work on Egypt, has reproduced some of these fowling

 

 

 

180. Egyptian carrying Geese to the Market.—From Lepsius, taken from the Pyramids.

scenes from the paintings and bass-reliefs of Beni-Hassan
and the ereat pyramids of Gizeh.

Some insects, when they remove from their dwellings,
observe a degree of order which is no less remarkable.
One species of Lepidoptera has become celebrated on ac-
count of the law which its larve constantly follow during
their peregrinations. When the troop issues from the lair
or sack in which the whole family have been sheltered in
a mass, one caterpillar marches at the head; then come
two; after that three; next four abreast, the squadrons
always augmenting and marching regularly one after the
other. Their files, which sometimes stretch out for a length
of thirty to forty feet, in this way make numerous windings
over the downs and roads, imitating the order of a proces-
sion in movement. This has procured for the butterfly
which gives birth to this dangerous cohort the name of
“Aptoyqug pue
‘wooo0n ‘sttesayy 4san ‘pore ayy uo saepIdtaqug *(sutoraqug) vauorssad0ud wiquog—xkqwog Lmwuotssao00LgZ ap} Jo TIL "TST

ty

I i
j i

 
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 319

Processionary Bombyx. When they are encountered, it is
necessary to let them alone, for neither man nor animal can
disturb their march, or even approach them without being
severely punished for it. The hairs which cover these
caterpillars become detached during their evolutions, and
float all about the army; it is extremely dangerous to
inhale them, for so soon as ever any enter the lungs, an
obstinate and distressing cough ensues, which goes to the
verge of suffocation.

An imperious irresistible desire to change their locality
or country is usually seen only in animals in the full flush
of strength. Nevertheless, it is also observed in certain
young creatures just hatched. This takes place in spring
among the eels. The progeny of this fish, the mysterious
origin of which is not yet unravelled, pass up our rivers at
this time in such compact swarms that all the travellers
seem to touch each other; anything like numbering them
would be impossible.

Near the steep banks of the Seine these young eels form
a band quite a yard wide which sometimes takes more than
a week to pass the neighbourhood of Rouen, and after that
time these millions of animals suddenly disappear without
leaving any trace. Whence does this animated milky way
reach us, and what becomes of this diaphanous and scarcely
developed brood? It is as yet an impenetrable secret."

Our commercial relations with distant countries also
favour the migrations of certain animals, but still not to

1 According to M. Coste a single pound of the fry contains about 1800 little
eels. This progeny, looking like thread-wornis, inspires some persons with dis-
gust. In some countries they are fished for by torch-light and used for food.
In Caen, where this takes place, the fry is sold in the markets and streets in large
buckets. Its price varies according to the yield of the fishery ; generally it is
sold at about a franc a quart. It is eaten in different ways, prepared with white

sauce, fried, and even made into patés.
41
320 THE UNIVERSE.

such an extent as one might be tempted to think. Trans-
ported to a strange climate, they mostly die; the cold
freezes some, the heat suffocates others. It is not un-
common to see in European ports some serpent or spider
from tropical countries, which our ships have disembarked
along with their cargoes of dyewoods. But stupified by
the want of sunshine these exiles soon die, regretting their
happier country.

CHAPTER L
MIGRATIONS OF MAMMALS.

Generally speaking, heavy and bulky mammals are not
prone to quit their haunts; travelling is a difficulty to them,
and being sufficiently powerful not to fear any enemy, they
rest peacefully quartered in spots where suitable food is
found. This is the case with the great aquatic herbivorous
animals, which require two essential conditions in one and
the same place—food and water. Where these exist they
found a colony. ’

Such are the Hippopotami which are found living in
numerous and peaceful families in the rivers of Central
Africa. There, giving themselves up to all the happiness
of a tranquil life, some bathe or play amid the tall herb-
age; whilst the mothers tenderly carry their little ones
on their backs at the surface of the water.

The numerous tribe of kangaroos are equally attached
to their native soil. Their disproportionately long hind-
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 321

legs, it is true, enable them to leap with great agility, but
their fore-feet are too small to allow of long journeys. And
besides this, the virgin soil of Australia always provides
them with abundant nourishment in the midst of its lofty
herbage.

The most remarkable thing is that those mammals which
seem endowed with the greatest facilities for moving from
place to place, are precisely those which lead the most

 

182. Nycterus of Upper Egypt.

restricted life in this respect. We mean the bats, which,
although they possess wings large enough, are never known
to quit the site they have chosen. Thus the Nycterus of
Upper Egypt, which can make itself so light by filling with
air certain pouches under its skin, scarcely quits the
sombre windings of the pyramids and temples of ancient
Egypt, where it sometimes swarms in such numbers as to
322 THE UNIVERSE.

extinguish, when flitting about, the torches carried by the
travellers.

But some mammals, though placed in circumstances
much less favourable than other animals, nevertheless effect
migrations, the magnitude of which, and the intelligence
they display, awaken astonishment and admiration.

Nothing presents a more imposing spectacle than the
immense troops of bisons which traverse the savannahs
of Louisiana. When the time appointed by the decree of
Providence arrives, one of these savage mammals constitutes
himself chief of the emigrating troop. His roars resound
through the vales of the Meschacebé, and he soon gathers
round him a formidable troop, ready to follow him across
the desert. ‘When the moment arrives,” says Chateau-
briand, “the leader, shaking his mane, which hangs from
every part over his eyes and curving horns, salutes the
setting sun by lowering his head and lifting up his back
like a mountain; at the same time a dull sound, the signal
of departure, issues from his deep chest, and then all at
once he plunges into the foaming waves, followed by the
multitude of heifers and bulls which roar lovingly after
him.”

The migrations of the squirrels which fill with life the
forests of old Scandinavia, if less noisy, are marked by
more ingenuity.

Whilst the formidable bisons overturn everything that
lies in their way, colonies of squirrels, timid and silent,
encounter a thousand chances in order to establish them-
selves far from their natal soil. Travellers assure us that,
in America and Lapland, when a river checks their pas-
sage, each member of the wandering family transforms
some fragment of wood or bark into a raft, displays its
large tail to the wind, and the little living flotilla, carried
i
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| | :

 

183. Kangaroo.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 325

by the breath of the zephyr, thus reaches the opposite
bank.?

The pretty mammals of Lapland, the lemmings, which
are not much larger than mice, accomplish still more
extraordinary and daring migrations. At a certain period
of the year these adventurers, urged by a mysterious
instinct, descend from the mountains in troops so numer-
ous that over considerable spaces of country the face of
the land is absolutely covered by the compact moving
army. Always advancing without halt or pause, no ob-
stacle checks them; neither rivers, lakes, nor arms of the
sea: a hundred enemies decimate them, a hundred dangers
threaten them, but nothing stays their course; the long
living lines formed by their troops advance just the same
towards the spot they fatally wish to reach.

Astonished at the sudden irruption of these innumer-
able legions of rodents which devastate everything in their
path, the rude inhabitants of the North believe that this
plague falls from heaven. It is particularly when a pre-
mature winter produces a dearth in the high-lying districts
that the lemmings reach the lower lands.

These emigrants are all animated with an amount of

1 Linnzeus himself seems to believe in this remarkable migration of squirrels.
Regnard observed the fact during his travels in Lapland. ‘When it is necessary,”
he says, ‘‘to pass some lake or river, as happens at every step in Lapland, these
little animals take the bark of a pine or birch tree, which they drag to the brink
of the water, they then set themselves upon it and abandon themselves to the
mercy of the wind, erecting their tails like sails, until the wind, becoming stronger,
overturns both the ship and the pilot. This shipwreck, which very often over-
whelms 3000 or 4000 vessels, generally brings an extraordinary influx of wealth
to those Laplanders who find the remains on the shore, and who, if the little
animals have not been too long on the sand, make use of them for food, Xe.
Many of these animals make a successful voyage and arrive safe in harbour,
provided the wind be favourable and not strong enough to raise any waves, which
need not be violent in order to engulf these little craft. This singular perform-
ance might be considered as a fable if I had not witnessed it myself.”—Regnard,
Voyage en Lapponie. Paris, 1820, p. 202.
326 THE UNIVERSE.

courage one would not expect to find in such puny crea-
tures. They advance in a straight line, climb rocks, pass
rivers by swimming, and defend themselves against every
one who attacks them. Even man himself, when he bars
their way, does not alarm them, and they will bite his
stick with their feeble teeth.

When the departure coincides with the birth of the
young, maternal love effects prodigies; each mother takes
one little one in her mouth and carries another on her
back.

But so much courage, energy, and perseverance gene-
rally end only in disasters. The emigrants leave behind
them a long line of corpses; very few ever see their moun-
tains again. Many become the prey of foxes, fish, and
carnivorous birds; others perish in the midst of the waves,
or are decimated by hunger and fatigue; sometimes even
death mows them down in such prodigious numbers that
the very air is infected with them.

CHAPTER II.
MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS.

No animal displays so much power and instinct in its
distant excursions as the bird; they have really something
prodigious in them. It is only by the aid of accurate
instruments and knotty calculations that the sailor trusts
himself upon the sea, whereas our winged travellers,
without guide or compass, transport themselves from
 

 

Linneus).

(

Vultur gryphus

184, The Condor or Great Vulture of the Andes—

42
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 329

the polar circle to the tropical regions; the cranes pass
the summer on the stormy strands of Scandinavia and
the winter amid the ruins of the palaces of the Pharaohs.

 

[a AP on ntgn Wr rn '

185. Crane’s Nest on an Egyptian Monument.

The mechanism of birds is admirably suited to aid their
rapid flight. Their aérial oars, moved by muscles of extra-
ordinary power, easily adapt themselves to all the hazards

of their peregrinations through the elevated regions of air.
330 THE UNIVERSE.

There are animals, as the swallow, for instance, to which
flight is so easy that they seem to make a sport of it. A
passive force further assists their suspension in the plains
of the atmosphere; air, rarefied by the warmth of the body,
penetrates into all its cavities and even to the interior of
the bones. Rendered thus specifically lighter, like Mont-
golfier balloons filled with warm gas, they float without
effort amid the clouds. Such is the daring flight of those
condors which launched themselves from the frozen sum-
mits of the Andes towards the sky, and soon disappeared
from the sight of M. @Orbigny, without one’s being able
to explain how they could breathe so rarefied an atmos-
phere.

The bird, though endowed with such a slight frame,
nevertheless surpasses in strength the ponderous engines
which glide along our railroads. Its vessels and fibres,
notwithstanding their wonderful delicacy, work and resist
more energetically than our heavy wheel-work and cast-
iron tubes; in the one is seen the finger of God, in the
other only the genius of man! Launched like an arrow
into space, the bird, playing the while, silently clears
twenty leagues an hour. A locomotive going at high
pressure, enveloped in fire and smoke, attains the same
speed only by consuming heaps of coke and water amid
the infernal uproar of its wheels and pistons.

According to Sir Hans Sloane, the sea-mews which
nestle on the rocks of Barbadoes take every day a journey
over the sea of 130 leagues, to amuse themselves and seek
for food on a distant island. The industry of the animal
thus excelling that of man.

On their adventurous excursions birds follow their
track unerringly, guided by sensations of an unknown
nature and of extreme delicacy, among which sight and
 

186. Nest of the Chimney Swallow—Hirundo rustica (Linnzus).
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 333

smell play a great part. All historians relate that after
the battle of Pharsalia, the putrid emanations from the
dead heaped upon the ground attracted the vultures from
Asia and Africa, which came thither to make their repast.
It is certain, according to Humboldt, that if a horse or

 

187. Yellow-footed Gulls—Larus fuscus.

cow be killed in the most solitary passes of the Cordil-
leras where one might think not even condors could exist,
several of these sordid carnivorous birds, attracted by the
stench, are soon seen arriving in order to gorge themselves
with the putrefied flesh.

The migrations of certain birds are understood; we
know from whence they start, where they halt, and where
they end their journey. Thus, for instance, in autumn,
bands of quails which are emigrating, constantly arrive
exhausted at the island of Malta, where they meet with
fatal hospitality. They are taken in swarms in the streets
of the town and on the roads, and as the inhabitants
cannot consume the whole of this living harvest, it is sent
334 THE UNIVERSE.

to distant markets. The deck of the ship in which I left
the harbour was laden with them.

The mysterious emigration of the swallows has particu-
larly occupied the attention of observers. Men could not
make out what became of these charming visitors when
they suddenly disappeared, and not long ago the strangest
suppositions were indulged in on this head.

As these birds in autumn seek their prey in the fens,
and seem to plunge into them, it was for a long time be-
lieved that they buried themselves in the mud, only to
issue again with the return of the spring warmth, which
re-animated them after a six months’ asphyxia. Olaus
Maenus, a northern naturalist, more erudite than observing,
was the first who propagated this fable, going so far as to
maintain that the Norwegian fishermen often take in their
nets a great number of swallows along with the fish. It
was even asserted that if the poor birds, all soiled with
mud, soaked with water, and stupified with cold, were
exposed to the heat of a stove, they were seen to become
speedily dry and return to life.

Linneus, Buffon, and even Cuvier believed such stories!
Ought we to consider this as a reproach on their parts,
when we see that some physiologists of our own time ob-
stinately maintain that certain animals can be reanimated ?!

As the swallows have for a long time concealed their
winter residence, it became the subject of all sorts of

1 The idea that swallows winter in the mud of our marshes was so popular,
that a German academy thought it advisable to examine whether there was any
foundation for the opinion or not. This learned body accordingly proposed to
give their weight in silver for all the swallows brought out of the water, but the
prize was never claimed. The most astonishing part of the matter is to find
Cuvier believing in such a fable. In his Régne Animal he says, “It appears
certain that swallows become torpid during winter, and even that th ey pass this

season at the bottom of the water in the marshes.”—Cuvier, Régne Animal.
Paris, 1829, t. i. p. 396.
 

188. The Ariel Swallow (Hirundo Ariel).—From Gould.

43
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 33

conjectures. Some naturalists maintained that, instead
of emigrating to distant regions, they hid themselves and
became torpid in the depths of some cave, just as the bats
do. One of the most reliable of these men, Larrey the
surgeon, mentions having discovered in the neighbourhood
of Maurienne a grotto, the roof of which was lined with
a mass of swallows which kept themselves attached to it
like a swarm of bees.

But the experiments of Spallanzani have destroyed all
these false creeds. The learned abbé found that the
swallows which he wanted to throw into a state of
hybernation in an ice-house, did not become torpid, but
died.

Adanson has taught us that the swallows betake them-
selves to the Senegal during the cold season. Those which
are scattered through our lands unite together at autumn
on the shores of the Mediterranean, and when an irre-
sistible desire impels them to depart, cross this sea in
numerous troops. Thus then in summer the swallow
builds its nest under the sumptuous cornices of our
palaces, and in winter inhabits the huts of Senegambia.'

All do not attain the goal of their pilgrimage. The
waves engulf those who have reckoned too much upon
their strength, unless some propitious rock or ship happen

1Mr. Charles Buxton, who has paid great attention to the acclimatization of
birds, and who appears to have succeeded wonderfully with his experiments at
Northrepps Hall, in the woods round which live, winter and summer, African
parrots, Bengal parroquets, and Philippine Island lorries, &c., lately read a paper
on this subject at a meeting of the British Association, in which he stated his
reasons for believing that the migration of birds “depends altogether on food,
and not the fear of cold. Even the delicate little long-tailed titmouse, and still
more delicate little golden-crested wren, remain with us the whole winter without
appearing to suffer.”

[This power of resisting cold Mr. Buxton attributes to the impermeable cover-

ing of down below the feathers of birds, and possibly to their having a greater
supply of caloric than other animals.—Tr. ]
338 THE UNIVERSE.

to be at hand to lend them refuge. During one of
my wanderings across the Mediterranean, some strayed
swallows happened, when we were mid-way between the
two coasts, to fall totally exhausted on the deck of the
frigate which was carrying me towards Africa. Every-
one on board, soldiers and sailors, overwhelmed them with
attentions, which they received without exhibiting signs of
fear. When they had at last recovered from their fatigues,
they recommenced their journey towards the high regions
of Senegal, and perchance rested beneath the cabins of
savages long ere we had greeted the ports of Algeria.

But after long and perilous journeys these charming
visitors of our dwellings return each year with touching
fidelity to find their old domicile again. If the rains and '
winds have injured it, the architects quickly repair it before
making it witness of their loves. Spallanzani has even no-
ticed that the feathered couples become strongly attached
to their particular nests. Having fixed party-coloured
ribbons to the feet of some of them, he recognized them
the year after, when they came to take possession again.
He saw them return thus for eighteen successive summers.
How many among us never enjoy such a long tenancy!

Another species of the same group, the ariel swallow,
fondly returns to its republic, formed of agglomerated nests,
and more ingeniously constructed than those of our swal-
lows. These nests resemble so many wide-necked bottles
hung by the bottom in inaccessible places.

Less remarkable for the instinct which guides them than
for the innumerable multitude of their army, the passenger
pigeons (Columba migratoria) traverse the forests of Ame-
rica in such compact masses that they absolutely intercept
the rays of the sun, and cast a long track of shadows on
the ground. Their compact columns extend over such a
NW
\

 

189. Household of the Emerald Humming-hird—Chlorostilbon prasinus (Gould).
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 341

space that the eye cannot take in the full extent of it. It
has been calculated that it is often sixty leagues in length.
The passing of these columns sometimes lasts three hours,
and as these birds travel at the rate of nearly twenty
leagues an hour, their army must necessarily extend over
fifty to sixty leagues of sky.

This immense host never travels by night ; so soon as
ever darkness overtakes them, they precipitate themselves
breathless and exhausted upon the nearest forest, there to
rest from their fatigues. Their legions accumulate in such

 

190. The Passenger Pigeon --Columba migratoria,

numbers upon the trees that the great branches yield be-
neath their weight, and all the invaders are soon composed
to sleep.

But scarcely are the pigeons installed there than all the
able-bodied people in the country hasten to the spot, and
342 THE UNIVERSE.

make a complete carnage of them. The well-sustained
noise and firing do not in the least interrupt the sleep of
these harassed travellers. The victims fall; the women
and children pick them up, or even kill with sticks those
pigeons which have perched within their reach. The yield
is so abundant, that, not being able to consume in the
locality all the birds which are killed, they are often
obliged to salt and pack them in barrels, so that they may
be sent to a distance.

The cold of winter drives most animals from the Polar
regions and compels them to make their way to countries
more favoured by the sun. The penguins of the Cape
alone seem to evade this universal law. These thorough
bird-fish, being intrepid swimmers, are most at home in
the midst of the roaring waves. They only haunt the
shores of Africa in order to scoop out their nests, hatch
their eggs, and rear their young. Then, so soon as the
young family has become sufficiently robust to support the
fatigues of the journey, all these palmipedes, mysteriously
obeying an instinct of which the Creator alone knows the
aim, suddenly disappear from the African shores, and seek
during six months of winter the frightful regions of the
south pole, condemned to incessant struggles amid tem-
pests and ice. But at the return of spring the penguins
reappear in numerous troops, and encumber anew the
banks now smiling with verdure, grouping themselves in
long processions, seemingly occupied only in revelling in
light and love.

In contrast to these pictures of the wandering life of
certain birds, may be placed those in which, notwithstand-
ing the strength of their wings, these tenants of the air
live almost entirely at home, only flitting round the envi-
rons of the site which nourishes them. Whilst in their
 

191, Family of Humming-birds—Typhena Duponti (Gould).

44
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 345

daring flight some of the wading birds cleave their way
through the clouds and sweep a whole hemisphere, a little
family of humming-birds have only a rose-bush for their
universe. Like an elegant vase ornamented with lichens,
the Colibri’s downy nest of cotton is balanced on the ex-
tremity of the most slender branches of the plant, whilst
these aérial diamonds make prey of the insects which the
flowers attract, or drink the pearls of dew which their
petals distil. This is, for instance, the life of the Typhena
Duponti.

In the same manner the humming-birds robed in
changing green, the “emeralds of Brazil” (Chlorostilbon
prasinus), as they are commonly called, set up their family
nests upon the creepers, from the vicinity of which they
scarcely move.

CHAPTER IIL
MIGRATIONS OF REPTILES AND FISHES.—SHOWERS OF FROGS.

Reptiles scarcely ever carry out migrations on such a
scale as to astonish one, either by the number of travellers
or by the space over which they extend, but there is one
fact in their history which has given rise to long debates,
and that is the showers of toads and frogs, which in reality
mean compulsory migrations.

Mention is made of these in very remote times, but it
was generally believed that the assertions of the authors
who related them were inventions. Modern observations
have at last demonstrated the actual existence of this
346 THE UNIVERSE.

phenomenon, which is explained now-a-days in a very
rational manner.

These showers of frogs must have been common enough
in ancient Greece, seeing that Aristotle gives them a par-
ticular name. Alluding to the prevailing idea of his time,
which supposed them to come from heaven, he called them

' messengers of Jupiter.

Two carefully observed instances in modern times have
especially wrought conviction among the learned.

The first was attested by a whole company of our
soldiers, who, during the revolution, were on a march
towards the north of France. In the open country they
were assailed by a shower of little toads which were
dashed in their faces, falling with torrents of water. <As-
tonished at such an unwonted attack, and desirous of
satisfying themselves as to whether this living shower
came from above, the soldiers spread out their handker-
chiefs on a level with their heads, and found they were
covered directly. After the storm, the astonishment was
general when the soldiers saw this ‘unexpected brood
leaping about in the folds of their cocked hats.

The second well-attested shower of toads fell in 1834,
in the town of Ham, when the streets, roofs, and gutters
were immediately filled with a great quantity of these
young animals.

As far back as the epoch of the Renaissance, a cele-
brated physician, Cardan, who brought out so many strange
hypotheses, nevertheless hit upon the truth in respect to
this phenomenon. He supposed that the showers of frogs
were to be attributed to water-spouts which carried these
animals off from the mountains, and let them fall at some
distance, when they burst. Recently, when this pheno-
menon gave rise to such great discussion in the Academy
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 347

of Sciences, the wise and learned Duméril leaned to this
opinion. He supposed that the water-spouts, passing over
the fens, pumped up the water as well as all it contained,
and carried it off to be deposited at a distance.

In support of this very rational hypothesis, Arago men-
tioned that whirlwinds often bear away from the sea
masses of water, which they let fall in the form of rain six
or seven leagues from the shore. Hailstones, much larger
than little toads, are completely suspended for a certain
time in the clouds.

It is, however, maintained, that if this opinion were
correct, showers of fish ought also to fall. In reply to this
objection several instances of such a fact were cited.
Authors mention showers of sticklebacks, certainly among
the smallest of their kind, which live in the pools and
streams of our country districts. These fish, pumped up
along with the water of some fen by the suction of a water-
spout, have been seen to fall in heaps at great distances
from the place whence they were lifted.

Thus modern science has established the reality of a
phenomenon advanced by antiquity, and the strangeness
of which made men for a long time to doubt it.1

Among the fish there are some the migrations of which
have acquired great celebrity, especially those of the
herring. It is thought that the northern seas ought to

' Among the writers of antiquity who mention showers of frogs, we may men-
tion Aélian, on whose back one fell as he was travelling from Naples to Puzzuoli.

The showers of fish which have been the subject of discussion were made up
of very small species, which, like frogs, sometimes swarm to an extraordinary
extent in the fens, so much so that cart-loads of them are taken away to manure
the ground and feed the cattle with. Those naturalists who, like Messrs. De-
france and H. Cloquet, maintained that showers of toads ought to be ranked
among popular errors, thought that these batrachians, which sometimes appear
. in such multitudes after a heavy shower that it is impossible to set one’s foot
down without crushing some of them, were made up of the young which had laid
hidden in the clefts of the dry ground, and had been driven out by the rain,
348 THE UNIVERSE.

be considered as the favourite residence of their innumer-
able cohorts, and that it is from thence that the long bands
start which annually bear to Europe so much food, and
give such an impulse to maritime commerce. Their ex-
treme fecundity alone explains how these fish subsist in
spite of the enormous consumption of them during so many

 

192. Stickleback in its Nest—Gasterosteus trachurus.

ages. When their wandering masses issue from the Polar
seas, they are said to divide into two columns. One of
these advances towards Iceland, and skirts the shore of
America; the other takes an opposite direction along the
broken shores of Norway, and furnishes a branch to the
Baltic, whilst the mass spreads out on the coasts of France
and Great Britain. The route is so regular that some
authors have ventured to trace it out on the geographical
charts which accompany their works.

The fishermen recognize the presence of the shoals of
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 349

herrings at a distance during the daytime by the clouds of
birds of prey which accompany them, devouring all those
which approach the surface of the waves, and at night by
the long luminous track which stretches over the surface
of the sea as far as the migration extends."

The tunny and mackerel also perform similar voyages.

1 We do not wish to make an attack here upon an opinion which is widely
spread among fishermen, but we must say that the fact itself is very doubtful.
Two of the most celebrated ichthyologists of our epoch, Bloch and Noél, deny
these extraordinary migrations of the herring. It is supposed, perhaps on better
grounds, that this fish always haunts the places where it is seen only at a certain
period of the year, but that it lives at the deepest parts of the sea, and only comes
to the surface at the period of reproduction, and for a short time.

Fishing in these shoals of herring began at a very remote period. In the
chronicles of the monastery of Evesham, which date from the beginning of the
eighth century, we find them already mentioned. Different documents show that
in the eleventh century men pursued this calling in France. At one time the
principal source of the wealth and maritime power of Holland lay in the herring
fishery. This nation was so sensible of the fact, that a statue was reared to
Buckalz, who taught the art of salting this fish, and whose memory was honoured
by a visit which Charles V. paid to his tomb. At the time when this fishery was
most flourishing, the Batavian republic sent yearly 2000 ships to it, and em-
ployed more than 400,000 souls in equipping the fleet and in the fish-trade. The
Dutch estimated the advantages it brought them so highly, that they expressed
their feelings in a popular proverb; Amsterdam, they used to say, ts built upon
herring-heads. A prodigious quantity of these fish is taken every year for the
use of Europe alone. To the north of Bergen from 500,000 to 600,000 barrels
are caught yearly, equivalent to more than 300 million fish. In 1862, 659,000
tons of herrings were caught off Norway in a single season, the export of which
brought to the country ten millions of francs.

[In the same year (1862) there were caught off the coast of Scotland and cured
830,904 barrels of herrings; and as each barrel contains 700 fish, the number of
herrings taken and cured would amount to above 570 millious.—TR.]
350 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER IV.
MIGRATIONS OF INSECTS.

The greatest depredators on our globe are not the im-
posing bisons, the roar of which shakes the desert, nor the
winged invaders which devastate our forests; they are the
infinitely little insects which the wrath of Jehovah disperses
over the earth to make manifest his power.

Such is the wandering locust (Gryllus migratorius), one
of the most terrible scourges of agriculture. In Africa
and Asia its innumerable cohorts appear in such masses,
that when they are seen advancing at a distance, they
resemble immense black clouds which intercept the solar
rays and plunge the country in the most profound dark-
ness. A formidable sound, which Forskal compares to
that of a cataract, announces the arrival of these redoubt-
able Orthoptera. When they alight upon the ground they
form a living sheet more than a foot thick, and when, worn
out by fatigue, they pile themselves upon the trees, the
branches bend and break under their weight. The entire
track of these devouring insects seems to have been wasted
by a fire; not a trace of verdure is seen on it.

Human skill is inadequate to exorcise this pest. In
vain do armies and peoples rise en masse to arrest these
terrible devastators. They fail. And if death overtake
these famished guests, their corpses, heaped up on the soil,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 351

exhale pestilential vapours; mortality succeeds to ruin, and
men perish by thousands.

These frightful emigrations have been observed in all
epochs of history. Moses teaches us that at the voice of
the Eternal, locusts covered all the land of Egypt, devoured
the crops, and even invaded the palaces of the Pharaohs.

 

193, Migrating Locust—Gryllus migratorius.

Pliny says that in Africa some countries have even been
depopulated by their ravages. The alarm they occasion
drew from St. Jerome these words, “What is there stronger
and more terrible than locusts? All human industry can-
not withstand them. God alone regulates their march.”
Modern history has had only too often to register these
disastrous visitations. One of them, which obscured the

sun like a hurrtcane, checked the passage of Charles XIT.’s
45
352 THE UNIVERSE.

army when he was crossing Bessarabia, and compelled him
to arrest his march.'

In every age man has attempted to repel these formid-
able invasions. In ancient times severe laws ordained
the massacre of the wandering insects. In the island of
Lemnos, each private person was compelled to bring to
the magistrate a certain number of measures of locusts as
annual tribute. Pliny relates that in Cyrenaica the law
even compelled the people to make an exterminating war
upon them three days per year. Any citizen who refused
was punished as a deserter.

The old naturalist maintains, that in Syria the Roman
legions were sometimes employed for this purpose. A
similar course has been adopted on various occasions in
modern times.

M. Virey says that a few years ago in Transylvania
recourse was had to soldiers for the same purpose. Entire
regiments collected locusts, and 1500 men were occupied

1 The historian of Charles XIT. speaks in the following terms of the invasion
of locusts which arrested the march of this monarch’s army.—“A horrible swarm
of locusts arose generally each day before noon on the side towards the sea; first
in little waves, and then in clouds which darkened the air and made it so sombre
and thick, that all over this vast plain the sun appeared entirely eclipsed. These
insects did not fly near the ground, but kept at about the same height as we see
the swallows, till they saw a field upon which they could alight. We often met
them on the way, when they rose up with a sound like that of a tempest. Sub-
sequently they fell upon, us like a storm, threw themselves upon the very plain
where we were, and without any apparent dread of being crushed by the hoofs
of the horses, they rose from the ground and so covered our bodies and faces
that we could not see before us till we had passed the place where they were.
Wherever these locusts rested they made frightful havoc, devouring every green
thing to the very roots, so that, instead of the beautiful verdure with which the
country was formerly covered, only a dry and sandy land could be seen. No
one would have believed that so small an animal could cross the sea, if experience
had not so often convinced those poor people of the fact; yet, after having passed
a small arm of the Euxine Sea, these insects traverse great provinces, where they
destroy everything they meet with, and even gnaw the doors of the houses,”—
Histoire Militaire de Charles XII, t. iv. p. 160. ,
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 353

solely in crushing, burning, and burying the living harvest.
This happened in 1780, but the year following the pest
reappeared, and its ravages assumed such proportions, that
in order to combat it, they were obliged to call out the
entire population. Notwithstanding this, a large number
of districts were utterly ruined.

Ibrahim Pacha recently employed his whole army in
crushing one of their cohorts and destroying the pestilential
remains. The great captain braved the hottest sun while
stimulating the zeal of his soldiers by his presence.’

Other insects are less remarkable for their number than
for the order which regulates their migrations; they act
as prudently as an army in the field. An intelligent
leader seems to direct all their movements, as may be seen
in the excursions of the travelling termite. When a legion

1 But although the migrating locust must be considered one of the greatest
scourges to agriculture, it still renders certain services to man. From the re-
motest antiquity he has used it for food, and this practice is kept up in many
parts of Asia and Africa, where quantities are consumed. In the
Bible days the Jews doubtless ate it extensively, seeing that x
Moses mentions four species, the use of which was permitted \s

    

 

by law. \5

[Among the ancient Assyrians the locust was also an article —
of food. On the sculptures from Kouyunjik now in the British x i
Museum, men are represented bearing dried locusts fastened on }
sticks. The annexed engraving shows the hands of one of them
with the sticks of locusts. ]

There are countries where enormous quantities of locusts are
still eaten. In the markets of Bagdad they compete with meat.
In Arabia they are dried, ground, and substituted for flour in
the preparation of bread. In 1693, Germany being desolated by
an invasion of these insects, some of the inhabitants ate them,
and were unanimous in the opinion that their flesh is analogous
to that of crayfish, and of a very agreeable flavour.

At the present time the Bushmen, one of the most degraded

 

of the human races, living in a country which is utterly naked, :
the greatest part of them never having seen a tree, people who 194.
have neither huts nor dress, subsist almost entirely on locusts.

These insects, which Livingstone even considers as a benefit conferred by Provi-
dence, and the exquisite taste of which he praises, are their favourite food.
54 THE UNIVERSE.

eo

of these Neuroptera undertake a distant journey, they
advance in a straight line, and all the workers march in
columns of ten to fifteen individuals, as compactly as a
flock of sheep. During this time the termites that are
armed with strong mandibles, and play the part of sol-
diers, spread themselves out like reconnoitrers on each
side of the phalanx, in order to guard it against every
attack. Should a plant more elevated than the others lie
in the way of the emigrants, the soldiers may be seen
climbing to the highest leaves, and resting suspended there
like so many sentries charged with the office of watching
the route. Should any danger arise, these soldiers, by
striking the leaves with their feet, produce a clicking
noise; a signal that agitates the entire army, which replies
by hissing, and immediately after redoubles its pace with
fresh ardour.

In juxtaposition with these emigrating insects, we ought
to mention those which, without executing adventurous
journeys, suddenly appear in compact masses and become
for a time the scourge of our fields.

One of these voracious depredators is the may-bug, so
common in France. In his magnificent work on the ene-
mies of woodland culture, M. Ratzebure does not hesitate
to represent it as the most terrible destroyer of our planta-
tions. The annals of agriculture abound with afflicting
details of the ravages caused by this insect. It is some-
times seen to devour in a very short time all the foliage
of a vast extent of forest. JI was enabled to observe one
of these devastations in a wood in the department of the
Seine-Inférieure. All the trees had been utterly despoiled
of their verdure; not a leaf, strictly speaking, hung on one
of them; and in this forest, which we traversed in the
middle of summer, we might have thought ourselves in
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 355

mid-winter, had not the burning sun, striking through the
bare branches, scorched us with his rays.

The may-bugs often quit the forests in order to attack
the fields. In 1574 they swarmed so on the coasts of

ae CN
a hak

ca
a

 

195. Common May-bug—WMelolontha vulgaris, Male, Female, Larva, and Nymph.

England, that when they fell into the Severn they clogged
the wheels of the mills. In a chronicle of 1688 we read
that these inseets multiplied so fearfully that year in
Treland, that in the county of Galway the air was ob-
scured, and they swarmed so in the fields that it was
difficult to make a path athwart them.

But its larve, which the French peasants call mans,
cause far more destruction among the forests and crops.
They live beneath the surface of the soil where it is diffi-
cult to track them, and gnaw the roots of the plants, so
that they sometimes totally devastate rich fields. In those
356 THE UNIVERSE.

seasons which favour their multiplication they become a
fearful pest to the agriculturist. Normandy, which is often
ravaged by their devouring legions, has at: different times
begged of the government to take some measures that
would arrest this invasion. In 1866 these larve were so
abundant in several cantons in the department of Seine-
Inférieure that they absolutely annihilated whole fields of
beet-root and colza. In one canton alone there was col-
lected in a fortnight enough of these worms to fill com-
pletely a railway-train of thirty-two carriages.

Some insects, even those of the smallest size, devastate
and devour our crops of all kinds; wherever they appear,
no human power can stay their ravages. According to
M. Guérin-Meéneville, they annually consume a large por-
tion of the harvests of France, sometimes as much as a
fourth, which means that they cause destruction to the
value of 500 millions of francs (£20,000,000).

Owing to the frightful rapidity with which some insects
multiply, the enormous consumption which they occasion,
notwithstanding their minute size, demonstrates the un-
fortunate exactness of these figures. An experimenter,
having inclosed a dozen male and a dozen female weevils
in a box of wheat, found that these Coleoptera, which are
scarcely three millimetres long (about the tenth of an inch),
had at the close of six months brought forth an innumer-
able progeny, and had with their assistance eaten fifteen
kilogrammes (thirty-three pounds avoirdupois) of the grain
in which they were inclosed. It has accordingly been
calculated that this little weevil,! single-handed, devours

1 The one most injurious to the farmer is the Calandra granaria, or “corn-
weevil,” which lives in stored grain, whether it be wheat, barley, oats, maize, or
rice. Early in the spring, as soon as the weather is warm enough—for being

natives of southern regions they do not like cold—the beetles pair, and as soon
as the female is impregnated she buries herself in the heap of corn, makes a
; ‘
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 357

more than 300,000 bushels of wheat in the granaries of

Europe.
In respect to their migrations the crustaceans have been

little studied; we only know that some animals of this

 

196. CorN-WEEVIL. 1, Grain of wheat, showing the punctured hole; and 5, the exit of
the perfect Weevil. 2, Pupa (natural size); 3, magnified. 4, Grain of Indian Corn, with
Weevil inside. 6 and 7, Corn-weevil (Calandra granaria), natural size and magnified.
8 and 9, Rice-weevil (C. oryzc), natural size and magnified,

class, of strange habits, perform some very singular jour-
neys; these are the large crabs called land-crabs. Formed
like their congeners to respire water by means of branchice
or gills, they yet live on land, and are met with in compact

puncture through the skin of one of the grains, and there deposits her eggs, one
only in each grain. The hole is not perpendicular to the surface, but runs
obliquely, or even parallel to it, and the small aperture is closed by her excre-
ment. The eggs, then, are safe even if the grain be moved about. The maggots
soon hatch aud feed upon the contents of the grain, until the husk alone is left,
which lasts them until they have arrived at maturity and changed to pups. In
about six to eight weeks from the time of impregnation the perfect weevil is
produced, which eats its way through the husk, and is then ready to propagate
its species. In five months a pair of weevils have been known to produce 6045
individuals, each of which required for its cradle a grain of the farmer’s crop.
Owing to the workmanlike manner in which the female deposits her eggs, it is
very difficult to detect their presence in the grain, which is generally not dis-
covered until the perfect animals are seen walking over the heap, when the
empty husks are readily picked out. Their specific gravity beiug much lighter
than sound grains, they may always be discovered if placed in a basin of water—
the sound grains sinking, and these floating on the surface——Our Farm Crops,
by John Wilson, F.R.S.E.
308 THE UNIVERSE.

bands on the mountains and in the forests of Brazil, where
they dwell in holes. But each year these animals make a
pilgrimage to the sea in order to deposit their young there,
and this act performed they return to their favourite haunts.

As it is necessary during this long and double journey
to breathe either water or at least moist air, nature has
provided for every emergency. The tourlourous, for these
crabs are popularly known by that name, possess for this
purpose, above the branchie, a kind of sacks which are just
reservoirs of liquid. When one of these crustaceans wants
to travel, its first step is to take ina stock of water by
completely fillimg these sacks. During its march the
liquid falls drop by drop upon the respiratory organs, and
moistens the vessels. The branchize heing thus constantly
wetted, the aquatic animal can live in air and move about,
in spite of the dryness and heat. Like a locomotive in
action, it carries with it its supply of water, and has only
to feed itself.

A singular fish, the anabas (Perca scandens), displays
an organization exactly analogous to that of the crab we

 

197. Water-reservoir of the Anabas,

have just spoken of It fills with water a labyrinthiform
cavity which is also situated above its branchia. Then,
after having taken this precaution, the prudent fish boldly
THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 359

issues from the waves and leads the life of an inhabitant
of air. It climbs the banks and rocks by means of its
spiny fins, taking care, during its vagabond course, to

 

198, The Anabas —Perca scandens.

moisten its respiratory apparatus little by little with the
liquid wherewith it filled the cells in its head. It has even
been said that the anabas has been seen climbing a tree,
making use of the cracks in the trunk, and drawings have

often been made representing this circumstance.
46
THE

VEGETABLE KINGDOM.

 
Ruhige Pflanzenwelt, in deiner kunstreichen Stille vernehme ich das Wandeln
der Gottheit; deine verdienstlose Trefilichkeit trigt meinen forschenden Geist
hinauf zu dem héchsten Verstande ; aus deinem ruhigen Spiegel strahlt mir sein
géttliches Bild.—-Schiller, Der Menschenfeind, Scene vii.

Peaceful plant-world, in thy well-ordered stillness I perceive the hand of the
Deity; thy un-earned excellence bears my inquiring spirit up to the highest
Intelligence ; from thy placid mirror His divine form beams upon me.—Schiller,
The Misanthrope, scene vil.
THE

VEGETABLE KINGDOM.

In the harmony of the spheres everything is in a state
of mobile and perpetual transmutation. The heavens are
tenanted with new nebule, and old stars disappear in the
abyss of immensity. On the earth new generations of
animals and plants arise, while the scythe of time mows
down those which but lately flourished there. On the one
hand, the mass of animated matter visibly reveals its vital-
ity; whilst, on the other side, its occult forces hide them-
selves and only act in the most hidden folds of the organism.
But all is carried away by the supreme power of life—that
inexplicable and unfathomable mystery!

We behold animals which at a certain season, and at
given moment, display themselves in irresistible power,
or disappear, guided through Providence by an unknown
force. Sometimes it seems as if a ray of light attracted
them whilst darkness drives them away; at other times it
is the reverse.

When night begins to spread its sombre shades over
the earth, legions of twilight-loving moths flit heavily near
their haunts, whilst the bat, issuing from its ruins, shakes
its membranous wings and launches itself in pursuit of
364 THE UNIVERSE.

them. Some delicate molluscs rise towards dawn to the
surface of the sea, and sink beneath its waves so soon as
ever the sun gilds its undulating ripples.

Again we behold plants or their corollas displaying
themselves and opening according to the seasons and
hours of the day. These are so exact that a sagacious
observer, attentively following up these phenomena, soon
sees that by means of them he can arrange calendars and
clocks, all the divisions of which the charming goddess of
flowers indicates accurately with her finger.

It is known that Pliny, having noted with care the times
at which plants flower, conceived the idea that we might
make use of them to mark the different seasons of the
year. Cuvier even asserts that the Roman naturalist pro-
posed to arrange a complete floral calendar; but the project
was first thoroughly carried out by Linneus, and it is one
of the most elegant conceptions of his genius.

This floral calendar is accurate enough, and we can see
that each month of the year is exactly indicated by the
blooming of certain flowers. The first month, despite its
snow and ice, sees the black hellebore flower. During the
second the alder shakes its catkins and the mezereon seems
to smile on the spring, scattering its flowerets over its
boughs. In March the wall-flower decorates the old walls
with its golden corollas, and in our gardens the crown-
imperial opens its treacherous bells. The following month
the periwinkle expands its leafy net-work in the shadow
of our forests. In May, flowers abound; the iris, the
lily of the valley and the lilac perfume the air on every
side. During the months of June and July Flora parades
all the pomp of her empire; the foxglove, the sage, the
wild poppy, the mint and the pink bloom in our fields
and woods. In August, the asters, dahlias and helianthus
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 365

seem to brave the heat of the sun. Finally, in September,
the colchicum scatters its purplish flowers all over our
meadows, and announces the return of winter. It is the
plant which, according to Linneus, gives the signal of
repose to the botanist.

The hour at which each flower opens is itself so uni-
form, that by watching them, floral clocks of sufficient
accuracy can be arranged.

Father Kircher had dreamed of it, but vaguely and
without pointing out anything; it is to Linneus that we
must ascribe the ingenious idea of indicating all the hours
by the time at which plants open or shut their corollas.
The Swedish botanist had created a flower-clock for the
climate which he inhabited, but as, in our latitudes, a
more brilliant and radiant dawn makes the flowers earlier,
Lamarck was obliged to construct for France another clock,
which is a little in advance of that at Upsala.t

1FLOWER-CLOCK.

Hours at which the Flowers open. Plants on which the Observations were made.

Morning.

3 to 5 o'clock, Tragopogon pratense (yellow goatsbeard or salsify).
4to5 ,, Cichorium intybus (chicory).

5 . Sonchus oleraceus (sow-thistle).

5to6 ,, Leontodon Taraxacum (dandelion).

6 35 Hieracium umbellatum (umbellate hawkweed),
CtO7 4; Hieracium murorum (wall hawkweed).

7 3 Lactuca sativa (lettuce).

7 35 Nympheea alba (white water-lily).

7to8 ,, Mesembryanthemum barbatum.

8 5 Anagallis arvensis (field pimpernel or poor man’s

weather-glass).

9 5 Calendula arvensis (field marigold).

9to 10 ,, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum.
10 toll ,, Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum.

Evening.

5 o’clock, Nyctago hortensis.

6 4; Geranium triste.

6.45 Silene noctiflora,

9 to 10 o’clock, Cactus grandiflorus.
366 THE UNIVERSE.

This regularity in the opening of flowers strikes every
person; some savage races make use of it to divide their
days and their toils. These begin at the hour when the
marigold opens, and the Natchez, Chateaubriand says,
make their love appointments for the time when the last
rays of day are about to close the flowers of the Hibiscus."

Other flowers, less regular in their habits, only open
under the influence of certain atmospheric conditions, from
which they have acquired the surname of meteoric. Some
of them have gained considerable celebrity. Among these
is the rain-marigold, which, so soon as the dark clouds
begin to gather, closes its corolla with the greatest care,
to preserve it from the storm. The Siberian sow-thistle,
of totally different habits, accustomed to hoar-frost, seems
to dread our sun; it only expands when the sky is cloudy,
and closes its flowerets tightly up so soon as the atmosphere
gets warm.

The connection between man and the vegetable kmgdom
is not limited to these curious investigations; plants, living
emblems of the rapid passage of hours and time itself,
eternal lessons of wisdom, are associated with all our
wants, our pleasures, and our pains.”

1 There is something very inexplicable in these facts. The Sidas of India
expand their flowers in the morning only, while the Abutilons, which scarcely
differ from them in any point of structure, only unfold their blossoms in the
evening.—Tr.

2 “There can be no doubt that in all ages, and under all the varied conditions
of his existence upon the earth, man has been dependent, more or less directly,
for his support upon the plants growing upon its surface. In the fertile plains
of the tropics he is almost as exclusively frugivorous as those monkeys from
whom he now and then endeavours to trace his origin as a species, drawing his
food and materials for the little clothing and shelter he there requires solely
from the plants that spring up in wild profusion around him. Even in the more
sterile regions of the North, where he is denied a purely vegetable existence, he is
still prone to eke out his subsistence or vary his repast by recourse to the herbs
of the field: the fish-eating Kamtchadale seasons his meal with the stewed bulbs
of the scarlet lily; the hunter of the Barren Grounds, when the carriboo and
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 367

The hardiest trees serve to build our dwellings with;
other plants form our most natural food.

Sometimes the existence of certain tribes depends on a
single vegetable species. A palm which grows in the forests
at the mouth of the Orinoco, suffices for all the wants of
some savage races, who, in company with the monkeys, live
almost constantly perched as it were to the midst of its
foliage. It yields them food, wine, and even cordage to

swing the hammocks on, in which they suspend themselves
during the inundations.!

In all ages men have sought for the beauty and perfume
of flowers, and they have become an indispensable orna-
ment of even the least important festival. The ancients

2

had their “coronary plants;” these were consecrated to

Venus and at feasts each guest wore a chaplet. But we
must also do them the justice to remark, that they em-
ployed an ample series of ‘“‘funereal plants” for the mourn-

musk-ox are not at hand, gladly eats the black tripe de roche, scraped with weary
labour from the stone it incrusts and resembles; and even the Esquimaux, in-
habiting a yet more inhospitable country, devours with greedy relish the half-
digested moss he finds in the stomach of the reindeer. Wherever man has pene-
trated, from the tropic swamp to the borders of the arctic snow, he has met with
plants capable of yielding him sustenance or ministering to his wants.’—Johnson
and Sowerby, The Useful Plants of Great Britain. —Tr.

1 The palm spoken of here belongs to the genus Mauritia. It grows by the
banks of the Orinoco, along almost the whole course of its stream, and forms
remarkable forests near its mouths. “At the time of the inundations,” says
Humboldt, “the tufts of the fan-leaved murichi (M/auritia flexuosa) present the
appearance of a forest issuing from the bosom of the waters. The navigator,
traversing at night the branches of the Orinoco delta, sees with surprise the
crowns of these palms lighted up by large fires. These are the habitations of
the Guaranis suspended from the trunks of the trees, These people stretch
mats in the air, fill them with earth, and on this bed of wet clay light what fires
they require for household purposes, For ages they have owed their liberty and
political independence to the treacherous and miry nature of their soil, which
they traverse in seasons of drought, and over which they alone know how
to pass in safety; to their isolation in the delta of the Orinoco, and to their
living in the trees.—Von Humboldt, Voyage aur Régions Equinowiales, t. viii.

p. 363,
47
368 THE UNIVERSE.

ful ceremonies of death; each one had its mission or special
signification.+

1 The rose, the myrtle, and the mint, equally dear to Venus, were the princi-
pal coronary plants of the ancients. In their loose orgies the young Greeks often
adorned themselves with crowns made of the last-named flower, in consequence
of which the mints were commonly known under the name of Corona Veneris.
The history of the funereal plants of the ancients has been worked out in a very
interesting way by G. A. Langguth. He follows up the employment of them
from the commencement of the malady to the close of the funeral ceremonies.
The author presents us with a true and interesting picture of Greek and Roman
manners—Antiguitates Plantarum Feralium apud Grecos et Romanos, Lipsice,
1738. When the malady began to alarm a family seriously, they suspended at the
patient’s door boughs of the favourite tree of Apollo, the inventor of medicine,
in order to secure a favourable turn to the complaint. To the branches of laurel
were added tufts of the Rhamunus, consecrated to Janus, and which was supposed
to preserve the dwelling from all harm. But if, despite this invocation for aid,
death overtook the sick person, they substituted for these plants black boughs of
cypress, the emblem of Pluto and Proserpine; or branches of larch, the funeral
tree, as Pliny calls it. Ata later period, when the body of the defunct had been
washed, it was anointed with perfumes—myrrh, frankincense, canella and car-
damom. It was then deposited in a coflin of cypress wood, which the Athenians,
as Thucydides tells us, considered to be incorruptible, and on the head was
placed a wreath, the composition of which was emblematic of the condition of
the deceased. It was formed of olive, laurel, white poplar, of lilies or smallage.
Burning branches of pine and stems of papyrus lighted the procession, which
advanced to the sound of funereal flutes, in the construction of which only box-
wood and lotus were employed. They always made use of a pyre of resinous
wood to consume the dead body. Its action was more rapid and its odorous
emanations absorbed the smell of the burned flesh. The relatives piously collected
the ashes and placed them in urns, mixed with perfumes of myrtle and rose,
frankincense and violet. After this they were deposited in the tomb.
BOOK IL.

THEH ANATOMY OF PLANTS.

Three men of genius, Grew, Malpighi, and Leuwenhoeck,
founded vegetable anatomy almost at the same time in
England, Italy, and Holland. Antiquity knew nothing
about it, for as it has only been with the aid of that grand
revealer, the microscope, that men have been able to
penetrate its hidden secrets, the discovery of this instru-
ment necessarily preceded that of the structure of plants.

The microscope very soon taught us that the whole
vegetable edifice is built up from the cell, and that this is
only the creative element of the different organs of the
plant, notwithstanding their diversity.

The cells represent little microscopic vesicles, at first
globular, but which by increase and mutual compression
become many-sided. And these elements, which conceal
themselves from our eyes, animated by an inconceivable
plastic force, and multiplying at a prodigious rate, cause
new worlds to arise. “Give me a lever and a fulcrum,” said
Archimedes, “and I will lift the globe.” M. Raspail, almost
paraphrasing the geometer of Syracuse, was able to say,
“Give me a living cellule and I will reproduce all creation.”

And indeed it is these cells, these living atoms, scarcely
370 ' THE UNIVERSE.

the hundredth of a millimetre (about one three-thousandth
of an inch) in diameter, but endowed with a mysterious
and disproportionate power of production, which each
spring cover our soil with verdure, and call to life the
awe-inspiring savannah or immense virgin forest.

These creative vesicles, by lengthening, become fibres
or vessels, and these anatomical elements, when grouped
together, form roots, twigs, leaves, and flowers. Their
multiplication takes place with such prodigious rapidity,
that a body of them not a hundredth part of the size of a
pin’s head sometimes produces in a single night a plant
which reaches the size of a great gourd! This is what
takes place in some Fungi.

In spite of the extreme minuteness of the interior of
the cells, they still contain bodies of very various kinds,
and which we are sometimes quite surprised to find there.

In the leaves they are all filled with little green granules,
which give to vegetation the colour it displays everywhere.
Sometimes fine crystals are observed in them. Vaucher
and Morren have even found animalcules quite alive upon
certain aquatic plants. Lastly, M. Trécul has recently
demonstrated at the Academy of Sciences, that the cellular
tissue of the Caladium is sometimes invaded by numerous
rudimentary plants, the appearance of which, according to
this savant, in the midst of this tissue so deep and so her-
metically sealed, cannot possibly be explained except by
spontaneous generation.!

But the substance most frequently met with in the
interior of the cellular tissue is our alimentary fecula.
Each of its microscopic utricles is sometimes entirely

* Dr. Charles Musset, who has acquired a certain amount of celebrity in the
great discussions on spontaneous generation, has had an opportunity of verifying
the exactness of the facts put forward by M. Trécul.
*(snezuury) DSIIUY sndinI0.l fy —O4ztoyryo, Jo 901Z, PNAF-pralg “GGT

LEZAZT EAS

 
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 373

crammed with it. We observe it in all the organs—root,
stem, and flower.

Weare astonished when sailors tell us that the islanders
of Otaheite actually prepare bread, by simply placing upon
a gridiron slices of a large fruit which grows in their island,
and that these, when they are taken from the gridiron,
have precisely the taste of the bread made by our bakers.
This is easily explained. The fruit of the bread-fruit tree,
for it is so called, which reaches an enormous size, gener-
ally weighing more than a kilogramme (about two pounds
three ounces avoirdupois), and sometimes four or five, is
crammed with fecula, and owing to this only requires to
be sliced and exposed to heat in order to be transformed
into genuine warm bread.

Strabo relates, that when the army of Alexander was
traversing Gedrosia, the men, being utterly without food,
supported themselves for some time on the pith of a certain

 

200. Cellular Tissue filled with Fecula, seen with the Microscope.

species of palm. The same thing happened, according
to the account given by Xenophon, during the famous re-
treat of the ten thousand Greeks. All this is also naturally
374 THE UNIVERSE.

explained by the abundance of alimentary fecula con-
tained in the trunks of certain palms. A similar fact is

   
  

Wea
\ i

aa
‘

          

et

i ate
! mae you
v mH .

201. Fruit of the Bread-fruit Tree—Artocarpus incisa. Very much reduced in size.

now repeated every day of our lives, for the sago, so fre-
quently used at our tables, is drawn from the central and
medullary part of the stem.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM.

co
NJ
Or

CHAPTER I.
THE ROOT.

Notwithstanding the unseemly look of its tortuous rami-
fications, and the disorder of its absorbing fibres, the root
of our trees is none the less organically identical with their
regular boughs and symmetrical divisions. Anatomy and
experience prove this.

We sometimes see in forests large branches creeping
along the surface of the earth, their lower half buried,

 

202. Leaved Branches and Adventitious Roots on a half-buried Root-branch.

while the other is bathed in air. The former sends out

rootlets which sink into the ground, and the other leaves
48
376 THE UNIVERSE,

which expand to the bosom of the atmosphere. The same
organ therefore is at once trunk and root.

Experiment proves this fact still better. Duhamel in-
verted willows, placing their roots in the open air and
their boughs in the earth. So identical are these organs,
that in a short time the roots were covered with leaves,
and the stems, transformed into an underground structure,
had put out spongioles. This curious experiment suc-
ceeded equally well on a large scale. M. de Raguse, in
his memoirs, mentions having seen on the property of a
Russian gentleman, an avenue of limes which he had ina
whim transplanted upside down. The metamorphosis was
complete ; all the inverted trees bloomed splendidly, and
the roots were completely changed into vigorous leafy
branches."

The identity between the organs is so complete that the
physiologist can even transform the middle part of the stem
into aroot, whilst above and below this it puts out branches
covered with leaves, in such a manner that the tree thus
represents two trees placed one above the other. Duhamel
proved this by a curious experiment. He surrounded the
stem of a willow with a cask filled with earth, which was
raised from the ground to a higher level than the first
branches of the tree. Adventitious roots soon shot out on
this part of the trunk, while above and below it was laden
with boughs covered with verdure.

Anatomy assigns generally three functions to the
roots: they fix the tree, feed it, and at the same time fill
the office of excreting organs.

1 In the birch-wood of Culloden there is a larch-fir which was blown down
in a storm, and fell across a gully. The branches took root on the other
side, and from the parent stem, thus fed, shot up perpendicularly fifteen trees

all in a row, and which still flourish in all their splendour.—Seience Gossip, 1865.
—Tr.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. are

In most of the Fuci the root merely represents a sort
of cramping-iron, serving just to anchor the plants at the
bottom of the sea, without drawing the least particle of
nourishment from the rock which it grasps. The myriads
of little claws by which the ivy attaches itself to the

 

203. Adventitious Roots upon a Trunk. Duhamel’s experiment.

rugged stone of tombs and walls seem also designed solely
to fix it to its favourite site.

On the contrary, the water-lentil, which spreads its
carpet of verdure on the surface of our pools, possesses
nothing but spongioles. The Pontederia, which floats on
the rivers of India, is only furnished with fine rootlets
scattered in their waves.

But these are rare exceptions. Buried in the earth,
the root there performs its three functions in obscurity.

For this purpose each of its capillary filaments is ter-
2

378 THE UNIVERSE.

©

minated by a little swelling or spongiole, to which the
function of absorbing is specially intrusted, and which,

 

204. Spongiole of the Pontederia.

like an invisible sponge, absorbs the nutrient juices of the
soil which surrounds it.

CHAPTER Ll,
THE STEM.

Although the diversified forms of stems do not allow
us to classify them strictly, we can at least see that they
often present themselves under three strictly defined as-
pects, the types of which are found in our trees, in the
palms, and in the grasses.

The stem of our trees—called the trunk, consists of a
greatly elongated cone, which becomes very much smaller
as it gains in height. In a section of it we distinguish
three parts clearly defined—the bark, the wood, and the
pith.

The bark, which is the outermost, is formed of toler-
ably numerous layers. The parts most deserving of re-
mark in it are the epidermis, a fine transparent membrane,
which generally allows us to see the tissue over which
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 379

it lies. The suberous layer, generally unseen on account
of its thinness, but which attains to a thickness of several
centimetres (a centimetre is 39,371 of an inch) in some trees,
particularly in the cork-tree. This layer constitutes the
cork of which we make such great use for our domestic
wants. In the south of Europe and in Africa it is taken
from the trees, and as this tissue grows after being re-
moved, a new crop can be gathered every seven or eight
years. The cork then is not the bark, but merely its
superficial layer, for when we strip a trunk of its cortical

 

205. Section of the Trunk of a Cork-tree. Zones of Suber and Liber; Concentric Zones and
Medullary Layers.

envelope completely it dies; we could not effect several suc-
cessive removals of it; the trees would be killed if we did.

Beneath the suberous layer is seen the inner bark, char-
acterized at the first glance by its little cells filled with
granules, usually green, the colouring of which is seen
through the epidermis.

The layers of the liber are found still deeper. They
form thin membranes composed of elongated fibres, and
often of a beautiful white. These layers are superimposed
like the leaves of a book, and can sometimes be separated
with facility, whence they have acquired the name of liber,
80 THE UNIVERSE.

eo

and also that of dibretto, by which they were formerly
designated.

The long tenacious fibres of the liber sometimes simply
lie side by side, and thus yield valuable textile fabrics.
At other times, being closely interwoven, they are worked
up by the savages into various objects. By distending the
bark of a little switch, the size of a quill, they make a
nightcap, or a whip possessing all the flexibility of those
we construct with the finest cord.

The liber of some plants is exactly like our stuffs; vest-
ments which nature offers us ready made. The inhabi-
tants of New Zealand convert the liber of some of their
trees into strong drapery, and having covered it with im-
pressed patterns, they put it to different purposes, either
to ornament their dwellings or to make their dresses of.
In Havannah the negresses make their dresses of a softer
and finer kind. On the Lagetto, which is celebrated on
this account, layers are found, the intertwined fibres of
which are as fine as our muslin, and even take its place in
the toilet of the ladies, so that the name of lace-wood has
been given to the tree which produces them.

The inner layers of the bark are sometimes formed of
leaves sufficiently close and compact to constitute a kind of
paper. It was from these that the ancient Egyptians made
their celebrated papyrus, on which they wrote, and which,
spared by the hand of time, reveals to our astonished gaze
works which go back to the days of the Pharaohs. The
paper-cypress (Cyperus Papyrus), which has such a strange
look, and which grows on the banks of the Nile, has long
been understood to furnish this precious object.

1 The employment of the papyrus for writing upon seems to have preceded
historic times. Pliny relates that the Roman consul Mucius saw in a temple of

Lycia a letter by Sarpedon written on this paper, and dated from Troy. The
existence of the sacred writings, the works of Hesiod and Homer, and the dis-
hs
MS

 

 

206. Papyrus of the Egyptians—Cyperus Papyrus (Linneus).
PY P
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 383

The wood is composed of concentric zones lying one
within the other, and formed of vessels and fibres.

In the centre of the stem is found the pith, composed
almost exclusively of cellular tissue. It is with very thin
sheets of this structure, cut by means of a sharp knife,
that the Chinese make the beautiful paper on which they
paint, and which is incorrectly called rice-paper.'

The second type of stem belongs to the palms. This
stem, which bears the name of stipes, is usually cylindrical,
and is without branches or bark.”

covery of the books of Numa which were found in the tomb of this legislator,
are so much evidence in favour of this view. An indication of the great antiquity
of the use of papyrus is also found in Herodotus, who asserts that be saw drawn
up on this substance a catalogue of 330 kings who had preceded Sesostris.

Papyrus was employed even in Gaul up to the commencement of the seventh
century, and in order to preserve the manuscripts in books, after every four, five,
or six leaves of paper, two leaves of vellum were intercalated, on which the text
was continued. In the end the papyrus was replaced by cotton-paper, charta
bombycina, also called charta damascena. The invention of paper made from
rags, which M. Goury ascribes to about the twelfth century, probably caused the
disuse of cotton-paper.

* Rice-paper is nothing else than fine layers, cut with great skill, of the pith
of the Hschynomene paludosa, a plant of the family of the Leguminose.

* This sort of stem has no distinct concentric layers or medullary rays. The

 

207. Palm —Horizontal Section of Stem. 208. Palm—Longitudinal Section of Stem.

youngest formation takes place towards the centre instead of at the circumference,

as In exogens; and the pith p (fig. 207) does not occupy the centre, but is inter-
49
384 THE UNIVERSE.

Lastly comes the sta/k, composed of a stem bulging
at successive points; it is peculiar to the family of
grasses.

CHAPTER III.

THE LEAF,

To the tunic of leaves by which plants are covered is
due all the magnificence of creation. The flowers, indeed,
form a charming ornament which attracts and seduces
the eye, but they remain unnoticed in the grand scenes
of Nature, when she unrolls before us her most splendid
landscapes, her sombre forests, or her immense extended
plains of verdure.

To the leaf is confided one of the most important
functions of vegetable life—respiration. Leaves then are
only the lungs of plants. It is seldom that they are un-
provided with them, yet such is the case with some
Euphorbie, the stem of which, inordinately swollen, en-
tirely replaces them, and only bears very insignificant
rudiments of such structures.

The leaf is composed of two parts: the petiole or support,
and the blade, which is spread out in the form of a mem-
posed between bundles of woody and vascular tissue f, these descend from the
leaves, and curving inwards, pass down near the middle of the stem for some
distance, as shown in fig. 208, and then taking an outward course terminate at
the circumference. The older formations, being thus continually pressed out-
wards, become harder and more compact than those in the interior. The stems

of palms have no true bark, but are covered with a cortical integument similar
to that of exogens.—Thompson’s Gardener’s Assistant.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 385

brane. It is only exceptionally that this is perforated so
as to look like an elegant net-work, as in the //ydrogeton
Jenestratum, the name of which comes from this singular
peculiarity; it is also seen in the submerged leaves of some
aquatic plants, which in such an arrangement seem to re-
mind us of the branchiz, the respiratory organs of fish.
In some plants they are transformed into long capillary
filaments, which are seen gently undulating in the current

 

209, Aérial or Pulmonary, and Aquatic or Branchial Leaves—Ranuwnculus aquatilis
(Linnzeus).

of our rivers, like the tresses of a Naiad swept away be-
neath the limpid water. It is thus that the leaves of some
aquatic ranunculuses are seen forming movable green
carpets in the depths of our streams.

If we transport ourselves to the agitated waves of the
Amazon, we find there leaves which display themselves on
the surface like immense plains of verdure; these are the
growth of the Victoria regia. These leaves, almost cir-
386 THE UNIVERSE.

cular, are from six to eight feet in diameter. They spring
from a petiole which, issuing from the depths of the river,
projects from its stem some twenty feet distance, and ends
beneath the blade, forming by its ramifications a solid frame-
work, strengthened by very projecting partitions such as
no other plant possesses. The upper surface of the leaves
of the Victoria is, on the contrary, very uniform and of a

 

210, A River Reach filled with the Floating Leaves of the Victoria regia.

beautiful green; thus seen at a distance they look like so
many floating tables covered with velvet. Owing to their
framework of nerves, these swimming leaves can support
a great weight without sinking. The aquatic birds rest
upon them, or pass the night on these natural rafts. The
daughter of one of the most illustrious botanists in Eng-
land told me, that when a child, her father had set her
upon one of those gigantic leaves, and that she had walked
upon it without it sinking.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 387

Indian mythology is therefore not so irrational when
it relates, that the god Vishnu, armed with a trident,
crossed the abyss of eternal waters on a leaf of the Nym-
pheea, and that one of these served as a floating sea-shell
for the graceful goddess Lakshmi.

There are some other leaves which, though they certainly
do not spread out in elegant sheets of verdure like those
of the Victoria, nevertheless in unfolding extend their nu-
merous divisions in a much more extraordinary manner.
This is seen in the taliput palm (Corypha umbraculifera),
a great palm which grows in India, and the specific name
of which denotes the broad shadow which its crown of
verdure projects upon the ground. Its leaves are sup-
ported by a long powerful petiole as high as a man, and
under their vast cover forty persons can shelter themselves.
We sometimes see leaves of this tree fixed to the ceiling
of a collection of natural history, one of them covering it
completely.

CHAPTER IV.
THE FLOWER.

When we brush a flower with our fingers, when its
colour attracts our attention and its perfume intoxicates
us, it seems as if we knew all about it. But this is a mis-
take. Nothing is more difficult than to conceive an exact
idea of what a flower is. Famous botanists like Haller
and Adanson have given it up; others have said nothing
of value on this head.
388 THE UNIVERSE.

“When I am not asked what time is I know it very
well: I do not know it when I am asked.” These words
of St. Augustin, which J. J. Rousseau repeats, are per-
fectly applicable to the flower, the essence of which every
one thinks he knows, and which nevertheless no one ever
previously succeeded in describing well. This honour was
reserved for the philosopher of Geneva, who admits hay-
ing found so much happiness in the study of botany.’

Difficult as it may be to define the flower with preci-
sion, it is not less so to unravel its mysterious genealogy.

While prying deeply into its primordial essence, Goethe,
triply illustrious as a naturalist, poet, and philosopher,
arrived at a discovery which was quite unexpected. He
has scientifically proved, that however sumptuous the
beauty of a flower may be, each part of it is nevertheless
only aresult of the metamorphosis of a humble leaf. We
are therefore right in saying that we are stripping the
roses of their leaves when tearing off their coloured lobes,
for each of these is in fact only a transformed leaf.

When the floral apparatus is complete it is formed
of four rosettes, or verticilli, of depressed concentrated
leaves.

These leaves are transformed into two kinds of organs.
Some become the perianth, the most brilliant part of the
flower, a true organ of protection, forming soft swathes
for the delicate apparatus which it incloses, and, like a
glowing mirror, reflecting heat and light upon them. The
others, still further changed, are raised to the dignity of a
reproductive apparatus.

1 The only author who has described a flower well is Rousseau, who at one
period of his life occupied himself with botany, and even wrote several volumes
on this science. “It is,” he says, ‘‘a local and fleeting part in which, or by which,

the fecundation of the plant is effected.”—J. J. Rousseau, Dictionnaire de Botan-
aque, art. “Fleur.”
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 389

Most frequently the perianth is double. Its external
envelope, or calyx, is formed by the first whorl of meta-
morphosed leaves, and as the transformation of these is
much less radical than in the other parts, the different
parts of this organ, or the sepals, in many cases remind
us of the leaves by their structure and colouring. The
internal envelope, or corolla, although more brilliant than
the other, is nevertheless also formed by a whorl of leaves

 

211. Petaloid Perianth of the White Lily—Lilium candidum (Linnzus).

—the second. Each of these leaves is called a petal. The
stamens, which represent the male apparatus of plants,
result from the metamorphosis of the third whorl of
leaves; these depart so far from their normal type that
analogy alone shows what their fundamental structure
really is. Finally, the pistils, real organs of maternity, are
derived from the fourth, or most internal foliaceous ring.
Simple analogy made the naturalists of antiquity sup-
390 THE UNIVERSE.

pose that plants, like animals, present two sexes, but they
had only very confused ideas about them.

It was only in the seventeenth century that Camerarius,
a physician of Tiibingen, hit upon the real truth, which he
expounded in a letter that has become very celebrated.

This writing lighted up the flames of discord in the
camp of the botanists; some warmly espoused the dis-
covery, others combated it to the very utmost. The dis-
pute became violent; the schools took part in it; men
quarrelled about it on every side; the pupils on their
benches and the professors.in their chairs. In the Jardin
du Roi, Tournefort and Le Vaillant had a deadly dispute on
the subject. Pontedera, a cross-grained obstinate savant,
imagining that ascribing sexes to the flowers sullied their
virgin purity, treated all those botanists who accepted
the new heresy as devoid of decency. And yet there was
nothing in it that could alarm even the modesty of a rose.

But notwithstanding the denials of Tournefort, and the
invectives of the old professor of Padua, it became neces-
sary to admit the truth of the discovery, for experiment
proved every step in it.

Every person has seen the delicate filaments which rise
up in the white flower of the lily. These are the repro-
ductive organs. Six of them, the beautiful yellow dust
of which stains the fingers of those who touch it, are the
stamens. This dust, which is usually elaborated in two
little sacks called anthers, is known as pollen; the
German botanists give the anthers the more picturesque
name of pollen-ateliers. They are in fact marvellous
laboratories, in which the intangible agents of vegetable
life are imperceptibly distilled. If they are severed the
plant dies without posterity.

Most usually anthers throw off their products by split-
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 391

ting up from end to end. Sometimes they become pierced
with holes at the top, and the pollen issues forth lke

 

212. Stamen of the 213. Four-celled Anther of the 214. Stamen of the
Potato. Persian Laurel. Amaryllis.

a cloud of smoke. Lastly, in some flowers each sack
presents one or two little doors in miniature, opening on
microscopic hinges, the gaping mouth of which vomits
forth the animated dust.

In the pollen the exquisite delicacy of its organization
corresponds to the importance of the task confided to it.
Before the invention of the microscope men were far from
thinking how curious it is. It was considered to be only
a formless dust; the valuable instrument has revealed
the fact, that, on the contrary, it possesses a distinctly
defined configuration, which varies very much both with
regard to its general form and the ornamentation of its
surface. This diversity is even great enough to allow
botanists to make it the basis of their classification of
plants."

1 Although they possessed very imperfect means of observation, our prede-
cessors were nevertheless struck by the variety of the pollinic grains. Adanson,
who pushed his mania for classifications so far as to produce sixty-five, and who
based them on the first things which struck him, even the smell and taste of
plants, did not omit to form a classification based on the configuration of the

pollen.—Adanson, Mamilles des Plantes. Paris, 1763. Preface, p. 286.
50
392 THE UNIVERSE.

It is generally the globular form that predominates,
but there are also grains which are ovoid; some triangular

 

215. Pollen of Different Plants, seen with the Microscope. 1, Hellebore; 2, Sea Lavender ;
3, Wild Oleander; 4, Convolvulus; 5, Scolymus; 6, Lily; 7, Gourd; 8, Hibiscus; 9, Cobzea;
10, Pine-tree; 11, Passiflora; 12, Animalcules of the Pollen of Ferns; 13, Animalcules of
the Chara.

ones are known, and others resemble gourds or pyramids.
Their surface is sometimes smooth, sometimes roughened

  

216, Pistil of the Poppy. 217. Pistil of the Madder-plant.

with papille, or defended by an armature of spines. But

microscopy is not limited to this; it shows us that each
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 393

of these pollen grains is really a species of utricle with a
double envelope, inclosing a fluid in which sometimes
swim myriads of animalcules.'

 

218. Flowers protected by a Spathe. Florentine Iris—Jris florentina (Linnzus).

‘The microscope was very little used by the botanists of last century, and
we must come to our own age before we find the pollen perfectly described.
Guillemin attentively studied the infinite variety of its forms and surface. The
fluid contained in each little pollen-vesicle was particularly studied by Messrs.
Mirbel, Brongniart, and Seringe, who all consider the numerous corpuscles
which move about in the midst of it as so many microscopic animalcules, The
German botanists, such as Schacht and others, designate them under the name
of antherozoa, in order to leave no doubt on the subject.
394 THE UNIVERSE.

In the lily, which we have chosen as an instance, the
pistil is represented by a little column situated in the
centre of the flower. We find in it three parts: the
ovary, which forms the swollen base and which is only
the fruit in miniature; the style, which surmounts it; and

ie Np

aM UAE

 

219. Spathe of a Palm-tree serving as a Bath for a Child.

lastly the stigma, which expands into a trilobed swelling
at its extremity.

Such are the elements of the flower, and these by their
close union or their monstrous anomalies produce the
infinite variety of forms which we admire throughout
the vegetable kingdom.

A ceaseless source of fecundity, this flower, the pro-
ductions of which are destined to cover all the globe with
verdure, is the object of the most delicate protecting care.

When yet scarcely outlined, downy scales lend warmth
to it, and form a soft pillow for its first lineaments, and
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 395

the exterior of the bud is sheathed with thin dry scales,
covered with resin to protect the organ against moisture.

As an extreme precaution some flowers are covered
with an envelope, or spathe, which only falls at the time
of opening. In small-sized monocotyledons, such as the
iris and garlic, this envelope is very thin, membranous,
and transparent: whilst in some great species like the
palms, this supplementary cradle of the young flowers
acquires colossal proportions; it is thick, woody, and re-
sembles a large cup one to two metres (yards) long, and
this allows the negresses sometimes to make use of it as a
bath for their children.
BOOK Il.

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF PLANTS.

CHAPTER IL.
ABSORPTION.

It is to the root and leaf that nature has intrusted the
great source of nourishment—absorption.

The leaves imbibe moisture by the whole of their sur-
face, by every pore, whilst it is only by their fine hair-like
fibres that roots take up water from the soil. And still
further, in the root absorption is absolutely restricted as
to extent; it does not take place through the whole of
the capillary filaments, but only by the microscopic
spongiole which terminates each of them, and acts the
part of a sucker. Hence Linneeus compared the roots to
the chyliferous vessels of animals.

The great roots of vegetables, to which the vulgar
naturally attribute the principal function of life, have
really nothing to do with it. A very simple experiment
proves this. If we place the body of the root of a plant
in dry sand, whilst the fine ends of the roots are in suitable
soil or in water, it continues to grow, displaying the
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 397

freshest foliage. But if, on the contrary, the main mass
of the root be encircled with suitable soil, whilst the fine

 

220. Mandragora with its Rootlets in Water, Living—Atropa Mandragora.

extremities are scattered in the dry sand, the subject of
the experiment fades, languishes, and dies.

An instinctive irresistible power guides the root to its
goal. Nothing checks it; to attain this it cleaves the rock,
traverses the water, and hangs and twists in a thousand ways.

A New England Acacia, which had become weakly and
languishing after having exhausted the sterile soil in which
it was planted, at last driven to quench its thirst, threw
out one of its roots across a hollow of sixty-six feet, in
order to plunge it into a neighbouring well, and spread
out its fibres in the midst of the water. From this time,
according to Malherbe, to whom we owe the history, the
tree reared its sinking boughs and blighted leafage, after
which it grew with marvellous rapidity.’

1 Dr. Davy brought forward a case in which a horse-chestuut grew on a flat

stone, the roots passing for 7 feet up a wall, then turning over the top of the
wall, and down again for 7 feet to the earth.—Tr.
398 THE UNIVERSE.

The banyan-tree, celebrated in India on account of the
veneration with which it is regarded, and of its strange
aspect, is still more remarkable. From its powerful hori-
zontal boughs fall here and there fine aérial roots like
simple filaments. These appendages sink slowly to the
eround, as if attracted thereby, and do not enlarge till
they have sunk into it. But everything changes so soon
as they touch the soil. These slender shoots then acquire
a considerable increase in size, forming all round the
mother trunk a splendid vegetable colonnade, the mani-
fold pillars of which uphold an imposing vault of verdure.
The Brahmin sometimes places his idols beneath this rustic
and mysterious temple, where the Indian bows his fore-

 

221. Mandragora with its Rootlets in Dry Sand, Dying.

head towards the sacred Ganges. It is to this custom
that the tree owes its common name of the pagoda. fig-
tree.

The number of aérial roots on this fig-tree is sometimes
considerable, and the mother tree produces all round it
an impenetrable colonnade, composed of supports of all
sizes. There are some on which as many as 350 of these
great roots can be counted, to which from 2000 to 3006
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 399

little ones are joined; it seems a forest in the midst of a
forest. An Indian tradition tells that Alexander passed
near one of these gigantic trees which still exists by the
Nerbuddah.

The aérial roots of the Clusia rosea produce different
results. The plant lets them drop from the top of the
palm-tree. At first, fragile and harmless, they twine
themselves innocently round the stems, but very shortly
they become welded together, and finding in the soil a
superabundance of vital matter, these roots form a thick
woody mantle, and their tortuous arms, compressing their
protector more and more, finish by fixing it in the middle
of an unyielding sheath so as to choke it. Hence the ac-
cursed fig-tree, for this is the common name of the para-
site, is the living symbol of ingratitude.

De Candolle admits, without any circumlocution, that
absorption is an essentially vital phenomenon, and we
share in the most unqualified manner the opinion of the
greatest botanist of modern times, which was also that
of Sennebier, Saussure, and Desfontaines.

To the suction of the spongiole, which ceases so soon
as life is extinguished, are accessorily joined some purely
physical forces, such as endosmosis, capillary attraction,
and hygroscopic action, which some naturalists have
erroneously looked upon as the special agents of it.

The radicles seem to select instinctively from the
soil the food of the plant, which is scattered through it,
just as out of the midst of the nourishment which fills the
intestine in animals, the chyliferous vessels pump up only
the fluid which is to regenerate the organism. Like the
latter, the spongioles of plants are sometimes deceived, and
introduce along with the sap some poison which kills them.

But absorption is so little left to the chemico-physical
51
400 THE UNIVERSE.

powers, that certain plants vegetate in soil stuffed with
deadly substances without suffering in the least from it.
In the countries where arsenic abounds there are some
which brave its action. Hence, when everything else is
dying round them, certain leguminous plants cover with
verdure the rocky soil of Cornwall, which contains fifty per
cent. of arsenical sulphuret, and the rest of which is only
composed of silica and sulphuret of iron.*

By means of very simple experiments it can be demon-
strated that absorption by the roots is a vital act. If, on
the one hand, a root be plunged uninjured into a saline
solution, and on the other a similar plant be immersed,
after having its members cut short off, it will be seen at
the end of a certain time that the uninjured plant has not
absorbed the salt in the same proportion as it is found in
the solution, whereas that which has had its roots divided
has been abandoned to the dominion of physico-chemical
causes, and has pumped up the liquid without making
any selection.”

Water is the principal food of the plant, but the radi-
cles also take up other substances from the earth. They

1Tt is true that the experiments of Messrs. Saussure, De Candolle, and Macaire
have shown that certain salts of copper, mercury, and iron, which kill plants,
are yet absorbed by them. But this takes place equally in animals, and in no
way disproves the vital nature of the absorption by the roots. On the other
hand, again, it has been observed that certain plants do not absorb these salts
at all. If we plunge the Chara vulgaris and the Stratiotes aloides into salts of
copper, we do not perceive that their roots absorb a particle of them. According
to Dr. Daubeny, professor at Oxford, the sulphuret of arsenic contained in small
quantities in the soil produces no injurious effect upon mustard, beans, and
barley. He concludes that, to a certain extent, plants possess the power of select-
ing from the constituents of the soil in which they live.—Daubeny, British Asso-
ciation.

? The sea, which contains thirty times as much sodium as potassium, furnishes
to some of the Algs, drawing all their mineral matter from it, equal quantities of

these two metals, and to many others half as much potassium as sodium.—
Popular Science Review, vol. vii. p. 67.—Tr.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 401

require carbon and nitrogen. The grasses demand a cer-
tain quantity of silica. The stalk of the wheat-plant con-
tains a pretty large amount, but this substance strengthens
the powerful stem of the bamboo in a much more decided
manner. According to Davy, the latter contains as much
as seventy-one parts of silica in a hundred, and like our
flints strikes fire with the steel. According to De Candolle,
analysis demonstrates that other vegetables absorb iron,
and even gold. Copper has also been found in coffee and
wheat, and a chemist has computed that in France 3650
kilogrammes (8055 lbs. avoirdupois, omitting grains) of
this metal yearly enter into our food through the medium
of this cereal.’

Seeing the quantity of water that plants absorb every
day, Boyle concluded that this fluid was alone used for
their nutrition. The opinion of the celebrated English
philosopher was adopted by Van Helmont, and he thought
he had proved it to demonstration when he saw a willow
continue to flourish which he only watered with rain-water,
at that time considered to be wonderfully pure.

Science has overthrown these views by proving that dis-
tilled water is in no way sufficient to support life in the
plant.

The aérial organs of vegetable life also play a great part

1 It is now considered that the inorganic ingredients in plants are as absolutely
necessary to their existence as carbon and oxygen. In addition to such well-
known elements of tissue as silicon, chlorine, potassium, &c., modern research has
shown the presence of zinc, fluorine, cesium, rubidium, and manganese. The
ash of silk contains manganese derived from the mulberry-tree or other plant on
which the silk-worm has fed. Aluminium has been found in certain species of
Lycopodium and Selaginella, and zinc in the violet. Cesium and rubidium have
been detected in tobacco and beet-root. Carbon sometimes exists to such an
extent that it constitutes half the weight of the dried plant. All food, however,
presented to the plant must be oxidized, or the plant cannot take it up. It is even

probable that all ammonia becomes oxidized before assimilation by the plant.—
Popular Science Review, vol. vii. p. 56.—Tr.
402 THE UNIVERSE.

in absorption; watering the leaves of certain plants makes
them grow with as much rapidity as if their roots were
moistened. Some spongy plants, gorged with aqueous
fluid, seem to draw their nourishment exclusively from

 

 

 

292. Ice-plant—Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (Linnzeus).

the atmosphere. It is thus that in the burning days of
summer JI have found carpets of ice-plants on the most
arid rocks in Greece. Although it had not rained for a
month, these plants displayed a remarkable freshness, and
their leafage was none the less covered with a coating of
icicles !1

The absorption effected by the leaves was known to the

1The glacial Mesembryanthemum crystallinum is a small herbaceous plant well
known in science on account of its strange appearance. It has literally the look
of a plant covered with drops of frozen water. This appearance is due to exces-

sive development of all the superficial cells of the plant, which are like so many
small bags filled with limpid water.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 403

ancients. Theophrastus makes mention of it, but we must
come to the epoch of Mariotte to reach the demonstration
of this phenomenon which the Greek botanist had only
pointed out. The French philosopher attained this re-
sult by means of a very simple experiment. He took a
bifurcated branch, and placed one part of it in a vessel
filled with water, while the other remained exposed to
the air. The water absorbed by the former sufficed to
keep the latter green and fresh fora long time. Therefore
the one absorbed for the other.

We must not omit stating that there are even certain

 

223. Absorption by the Leaves. Mariotte’s experiment.

plants in which this function is entirely displaced; the
task is confided to the stem only. This is the case with
the cactuses—strange existences—which consist solely of a
monstrously swollen stem covered with spines. Growing
only among rocks and sands parched by the sun, where all
other plants around them wither into dust, these corpulent
plants exhibit a freshness which is inexplicable. By some
secret unknown to the myriads of different kinds the
desiccated corpses of which surround them, they contrive
to imbibe from the atmosphere the abundance of water

vi
404 THE UNIVERSE.

which swells out their tissues. Among these “heralds of
ruined soils,” as Ch. Miiller calls them, the roots, repre-
sented only by a few dried fibres, draw absolutely nothing
from the calcined rock which supports them. It is there-
fore the stem which nourishes itself; the leaves are so
rudimentary, so little apparent, that it may be looked upon
as entirely deprived of them.

In our hot-houses the same thing may be seen every
day. Cactuses, which are never watered, thrive there
splendidly by means of the moist and warm atmosphere
with which they are surrounded.

CHAPTER II.
THE CIRCULATION IN PLANTS.

The more we study nature the grander does she appear.
Science, by penetrating her secrets, often shows us that
hidden and imposing forces exist where we only see inertia.
The obscure vitality of plants, brought to light by the
genius of naturalists, sometimes manifests itself to our eyes
in unexpected power.

Plants, like animals, have a circulation. It is to that
universal genius Claude Perrault, at one and the same
time physician, architect, and naturalist, that we owe the
discovery of this phenomenon. The sap, which is in fact
the blood of the plant, circulates through its vessels by
means of a power possibly greatly exceeding that which
drives the blood through the arteries of an elephant. The
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 405

celebrated Hales made a very curious experiment on this
subject. Having fitted a long tube to the stem of a young
vine which he had severed, he saw this fluid rise forty-four
feet high. These results appearing very extraordinary to
the French physiologists, they soon repeated the experi-
ments of the foreign philosopher, but they were greatly
astonished to see that they were within the mark. In fact,
De Candolle, who was one of the last to move in the matter,
noticed that the force with which the sap rises in the
vessels of the plant is equal to the pressure of two atmos-
pheres and a half-—a force which enormously exceeds, and
indeed almost doubles, the results obtained by the Canon
of Windsor, since it is equal to the weight of a column
of water eighty feet in height.

Thus in an occult function, which is performed so mys-
teriously in the vegetable kingdom, experiment reveals a
powerful energy—an energy which surpasses the visible
and tumultuous circulation in the largest animals. Many
authorities have stated, not without some foundation, that
the sap rises in the vessels of the vine with at least five
times as much force as the blood circulates in the crural
artery of the horse—the most important blood-vessel of the
thigh—and with seven times as much force as in the same
vessel in the dog.

It is certain that the blood which the heart projects so
violently into the vessels of large animals is not driven
with so much power as impels the sap in its ascending
movement. Indeed, experiments made on the ox and
horse have shown that the impulse given to the arterial
blood would only raise a column of blood about two
metres (6 feet 6? inches); the advantage is therefore not
at all on the side where it was supposed to be, since,
according to what has been already stated, the vegetable
406 THE UNIVERSE.

circulation raises a weight fourteen times greater than
does that of the largest mammals.’

 

224, Force of Vegetable Circulation and Absorption. Tales’ experiment, modified, as
shown at the Amphitheatre of Rouen.

1 The experiments as to the force with which the blood is driven in the large
arterial vessels of animals were principally made by Hales, Sauvages, Magendie,
and Messrs. Poiseuille and Valentin. They were made on oxen, horses, sheep,
cats, and dogs. In all these animals the blood on an average raised a column of
mercury 15 centimetres (about 5 inches 9 lines), equivalent to lifting a column
of water about 2 metres (6 feet 62 inches), There is no reason to doubt that the
force is equal in man.—Béclard, Physiologie Humaine. Paris, 1866, p. 236.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 407

Thus there are vessels of plants, which though not so
thick as a hair, are yet more powerful than those of
animals that are thicker than the finger.

After having made his experiments on the force of
ascent in the sap, Hales attempted to ascertain the
rapidity with which it moved. In order to arrive at this
point, he hollowed out a deep hole in the soil, laid bare a
small root of a tree, introduced it into a tube filled with
water, and plunged the tube into mercury. To his great
astonishment he very soon perceived that the metal rose
in the tube half an inch per minute.

When we repeat this experiment in our amphitheatre,
as we do every year simply with a branch of a tree, we
often see the whole tube filled in half an hour with a
coloured liquid which had been placed in the lower vessel.

The sap is formed and moves with such force in certain
plants, that it is not uncommon to be able to extract a
large quantity of it in a short space of time. The sugar-
maple (Acer saccharinum), scattered over the mountains
of Canada, produces a bucketful in a day. It is from this
tree that they get the greatest part of the sugar consumed
in the country where it grows. !

For this purpose it is only necessary to pierce the tree
with a wimble; the sap runs from it, and after being col-
lected is evaporated at the fire. The brown sugar con-
denses at the bottom of the evaporating pans.

In the tropical countries a tree yields a product not less
precious to man—a wine ready made. This is nothing else

1 The sap of the sugar-maple begins to rise in the month of February. In
order to extract it they simply bore a hole in its trunk a few inches deep, and
into this insert a tube which allows the fluid to drop into a pail. When
fermented, it furnishes a light and agreeable wine, and when evaporated by a
gentle heat, it yields a brown, viscid syrup, as sweet as treacle, which is converted

into little sugar-loaves. Each tree produces yearly two to four pounds.
52
408 THE UNIVERSE.

than the sap of a species of palm—the wine-bearing sago-
palm (Sagus vinifera), which grows in Western Africa, and
the name of which characteristically indicates the benefits
it yields. This vinous sap is mild and sweet when first
drawn, but a few hours afterwards it ferments, and then
becomes a most intoxicating drink. It is very widely
used, and the tree yields it in profusion. The negroes
quickly fill their calabashes with it by hanging them to
the petioles of the leaves, which for this purpose are cut
off soon after their birth.

The vegetable circulation has such energy, and the
liquid which it bears away is reproduced at such a rate,
that Scott assures us that out of certain birch-trees there
flows, in spring, a quantity of fluid equal to their weight.

Looking at results so totally unexpected, we ask what
association of mysterious forces produces such phenomena.
If the ancients sometimes went astray in exaggerating
the faculties of the plant, our epoch has often fallen into
the opposite extreme.

Many modern naturalists, retrograding towards the
Cartesian philosophy, explain the vital actions of the plant
only by the intervention of purely physical or chemical forces.
According to some, their circulation is merely a matter
of capillary attraction, or endosmosis; according to others,
it is a simple fermentation, or a series of electric shocks.

But one solitary objection, one alone, immediately levels
with the dust all these hypotheses which the materialist
so zealously takes up. These physico-chemical phenomena
are so little the initiatory cause of the circulation, that they
have never yet proved adequate to reanimate life in a plant
which has been killed without changing the tissues; and
if the causes of life were absolutely under the empire of
material forces, the supporters of these strange opinions
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225, Scene in North America—Oollecting the Sap of the Sugar-maple—.4 cer
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 411

which are so much in vogue ought to be able to resuscitate
dead organisms.

But we are happy to say that the leading minds in physi-
ology have not fallen into the errors we have touched upon.

Our immortal anatomist Bichat did not hesitate in the
least on this point; he set an example to all by attributing
the circulation in the plant to the same cause which makes
the blood move in the capillary vessels of animals.

The greatest botanists of our time follow the author
of General Anatomy. De Candolle thinks that the ascent
of the sap must be ascribed to the vital contraction of the
tissues; its cause he considers is allied to life. Achille
Richard, after a general view of the whole power of
vegetable circulation, compares it to that of insects.’

On the other hand, Schultz of Berlin, who has so deeply
studied this function, considers it as essentially due to the
vital action of the vessels. By means of the microscope
we can, according to him, see these contract in order to
propel the fluid which they contain. The learned Prussian
even perceives, in reference to this phenomenon, a great
analogy between plants and certain inferior animals of the
class of worms.

After such authorities it is impossible to hesitate any
longer, and it must be admitted that the circulation in
plants is essentially due to a vital cause. Then follow, as
accessory powers, the various actions of heat, capillary
attraction, endosmosis, and electricity.

1 Achille Richard, so illustrious as a savant, and of so worthy and noble a
character, often reverts in his work to the vital power in plants. On this subject
he expresses himself, when speaking of the circulation in plants, in the following
authoritative manner :—“ Here, as in most other functions of animals and plants,
we must admit an unknown, powerful, active force, the result of organization
and life, which is their immediate, indispensable agent, and which is designated

vital force.”—Richard, Botanique et Physiologie Végétale. Paris, 1846, p. 238.
412 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER IIL
THE RESPIRATION OF PLANTS.

The largest animals—the whale, the rhinoceros, the
ostrich, and also man—only respire air by one channel,
and it is in a certain degree in one retort, the lung, that
all the chemical reactions of their respiration are effected.
In this respect plants are better provided for than is gen-
erally supposed. Instead of one sole apparatus, the mi-
croscopic laboratories in which their pneumatic combina-
tions are mysteriously carried out, may be counted by
thousands of millions; a single leaf sometimes presents
more than a million in its interstices.

Leaves are in fact only the lungs of plants. The mi-
croscope discovers on their surface a crowd of elongated
openings, with swollen edges and not unlike the button-
holes of our dress. These are the stomates, or open
orifices by which the air enters the respiratory chambers.
Of extremely restricted size, owing to their being in the
thickness of the leaf, these invisible little chambers are
hollowed out in the cellular tissue, and their roofs are
supported by fine colonnades of cells placed end to end,
the marvellous labyrinth of which is traversed by the air.

Some aquatic plants, which live in the depths of the
rivers, do not present this organization. Having no con-
nection with the atmosphere, these aérial cavities would
be of no service; hence they display quite a peculiar arrange-
 

226. The Wine-tree or Wine-bearing Sago-palm—Sagus vinifera.— From Martius.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 415

ment, approaching more that exhibited by fish, which have
a special respiratory apparatus, the branchi, so disposed
as to take up imperceptible portions of air contained in
the water in large enough quantity to suffice for their re-
spiration. An analogous disposition is seen in certain
plants of the family of the naiads, Naiadez,' which live in
our pools and ditches. Their leaves are unprovided with
epidermis, and represent a kind of branchiz, constructed
to act upon the airy particles contained in the medium in
which they live. Of this class are the potamogetons
or pond-weeds, which, in respect to their respiration, con-
sidered in an isolated point of view, are in reality fish-plants.

The respiration of animals is injurious to the composi-
tion of the atmospheric air; they vitiate it incessantly,
either by absorbing the vital principle oxygen, or by dif-
fusing in it a deadly poison—carbonic acid.

It has been calculated that the human species alone con-
sumes annually 160,000 millions of cubic metres (or yards)
of oxygen, and that animals quadruple this amount.

On the other hand, every man exhales daily 250
grammes (8 0z. 1 dwt. 1 gr. troy) of carbonic acid gas,
which gives about 75 grammes (2 oz. 4 dwt. 622 gr. troy)
of combustible carbon. Hence, without reckoning the
amount produced by animals, the quantity of carbon
poured into the atmosphere by the population of France
alone has been computed at 2,500,000 tons French
(2,454,546 tons avoirdupois).

This alarming alteration in our atmosphere is enough
to startle one; it seems as if it must bring on an entire
destruction of animal life. But by the side of the disturb-
ing element Providence has placed the means of repara-
tion; the mantle of verdure on the globe remedies all the

1 Also called Fluviales, a small natural order of endogens.—Tr.
53
416 THE UNIVERSE.

disorders called forth by the animal kingdom; each plant
represents a regular machine for purifying the ar.

 

227. Respiration of Plants. Disengagement of Oxygen under Water.

Plants require a large quantity of carbon for their
nourishment and the formation of their solid framework.
For this purpose they absorb all the carbonic acid they
can find in the air, and then fix its carbon in their tissues
by exhaling the oxygen; a twofold action, in the course
of which they render the air wholesome, and regenerate
it by restoring the vital gas which animals absorb, and re-
moving the poison which they continually diffuse.

This harmonious contrast will strike every one, and we
see that it is destined to counteract the incessant changes
which the animal kingdom introduces into the atmosphere,
and to protect it from all serious perturbation. According
>

THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 417

to M. Brongniart, the law of equilibrium is such at this
moment, that plants seem to pour into the atmosphere
as much oxygen as animals consume.

Nothing is easier than to estimate the quantity of
oxygen which plants distil at every pore into the atmos-
phere. For this it is only necessary to put one under a
bell-glass filled with water; as soon as it is exposed to the
light, all its foliage becomes covered with bubbles of gas
which are disengaged from it, and rise without ceasing
to the top of the vase. If we now analyze the product
collected there, we find, from the brilliancy it gives to
bodies in a state of ignition, that it is oxygen and in pos-
session of all its attributes.

But it is a remarkable fact that this salutary interven-
tion of plants is only manifested under the influence of
light. Were the star from which light emanates to be
extinguished, it would cease in a moment, and the globe,
plunged in obscurity, would soon be deprived of its green
tunic. Lavoisier was therefore right when he said :—

“Organization, feeling, spontaneous movement and
life only exist on the surface of the earth, or in parts
exposed to light. One might say that the fable of the
torch of Prometheus expressed a philosophic truth which
had not escaped the ancients. Without light nature
would be without life; she would be dead and inani-
mate; a beneficent God, by imparting light, has shed
over the surface of the earth organization, sensation and
thought.”

But during the night the respiratory phenomena of
plants take the very opposite direction; then they act like
animals. They absorb the vital part of the air and exude
carbonic acid by all their pores, to such an extent that
if we sleep in a close chamber in which shrubs have been
418 THE UNIVERSE.

imprudently left, the air is as much vitiated by them as
if it had contained an equal number of men.

But this nocturnal respiration is far from neutralizing
the benefit effected by the diurnal exhalation. Plants
under the influence of light pour into the atmosphere
much more oxygen than they absorb by night, and they
withdraw from it greatly more carbonic acid every day
than they produce during darkness.

It is to the plant, therefore, that the task of maintain-
ing the harmonious composition of the air is intrusted.
It is evident that were the important function confided to
plants to be suddenly annihilated, all the animal kingdom
would within a given time succumb in its turn. However,
according to the calculations of M. Dumas, the atmos-
phere is so rich in oxygen that this event would not occur
till after a long series of ages. The learned chemist main-
tains that it would require at least 800,000 years for all
the animals on the globe to absorb the sum total of this
gas, and that 10,000 years would roll away without its
diminution being made sensible by our most perfect phy-
sical instruments.’

By means of ingenious investigations Professor Liebig
has even proved that the chemical nature of the atmos-
phere has not varied sensibly for upwards of 2000 years.
He took one of the little glass vases in which the Roman
ladies collected their tears, and which, after being partly

1 The weight of the air which encircles us is equal to 581,000 cubes of
copper, a kilometre (1093 yards) on every side. The oxygen in it weighs
as much as 134,000 of these cubes. Supposing the earth to be peopled by
1,000,000,000 souls, and taking the animals on it as equivalent to 3,000,000,000
men, we should find that these together would, in a century, only consume a
weight of oxygen equal to 15 or 16 cubic kilometres of copper, whilst the air
contains 134,000.

It would require 10,000 years for all the people on earth to produce an effect
on the air appreciable by Volta’s eudiometer (an instrument for measuring the
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 419

filled, were hermetically sealed by fusion and deposited in
the sarcophagus with the dead. The lachrymal vase
having been broken and its contents analyzed, the great
chemist found that the air was of exactly the same com-
position as the fluid which we respire now-a-days.

M. Lacréze-Fossat was enabled, by means of delicate
experiments, to determine the proportion of respirable
gas discharged into the atmosphere by certain plants.
This observer noticed that in twelve hours the under
surface of the large floating leaves which the yellow
water-lily (Vymphea lutea) spreads out on our rivers, pro-
duced 17 centilitres (10°37476 cubic inches) of oxygen.
And, according to him, a single specimen of this plant,
composed of fifteen leaves, in five months exhaled into the
atmosphere 535 litres of this gas (117°7 gallons).’

How much then must be produced in a single season
by a large tree, the respiratory surface of which is of such
a size compared to that of the aquatic plant.’

purity of the air), even supposing that vegetable life remained annihilated during
all that time. Thus the proportion of oxygen the air contains is guaranteed
for many ages, even entirely excluding the action of plants. Nevertheless these
incessantly return to it as much oxygen as it loses, and perhaps more, for plants
also exist as much at the expense of the carbonic acid furnished by volcanoes
as at that of the acid expired by animals——Dumas, Essai de Statique Chimique
des tres Organisés. Paris, 1842, p. 18.

*M. Lechartier has communicated some facts of interest with regard to the
absorption of air by water-plants. The gas contained in the stem of the water-
lily is richer in carbonic acid than the gas contained in the petiole. The general
conclusion would seen: to be that the gases are absorbed by the deeper parts and
exhaled by the more superficial tissues.— Comptes Rendus, t. xv. No. 26.—Tr.

* In the number of the remarkable phenomena of vegetation we may mention
the property possessed by some plants, and especially the Chara (Chara fragilis),
of decomposing the sulphates found in the water and transforming the sulphur
into sulphuretted hydrogen, thus giving origin to the so-called sulphureous
mineral waters. It was from not having known this fact, that those who
unseasonably removed the putrid bydro-sulphuretted mud from particular
marshes, dried up the mineral springs which were a source of wealth to certain
bathing establishments.
420 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER IV.
TRANSPIRATION IN PLANTS.

Vegetable physiology approaches very nearly that of
animals. Like them plants exhale moisture abundantly
by their whole surface. It is this which, condensed
upon the leaves by the cold of night, forms on them
limpid little drops of water, which the vulgar incorrectly
ascribe to a deposit of atmospheric moisture.

The idea that plants transpire like animals is due to
Muschenbroeck, one of the professors who have contri-

 

228, Discovery of the Transpiration of Plants.—Muschenbroeck’s experiment.

buted most to rendering the university of Leyden illustri-
ous. For this purpose he covered with a plate of lead the
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 421

whole circumference of the root of a white poppy, so as
to prevent the vapour of the earth from interfering with
his experiment. The plant was then covered with a bell-
.glass cemented to the lead. After that each morning
when the naturalist came to visit the imprisoned plant he
observed, that even during the driest nights its leaves
were covered with an innumerable quantity of those
drops of water to which the name of dew is given, and
that the sides of the glass themselves were quite ob-
scured with it. It is not then from the air that the dew
of the meadow and the leaf comes, but, as the Dutch
naturalist learned, from the transpiration of the plant;
dew is only their perspiration condensed.

This fact being thoroughly established, it only remained
to decide the amount which vegetable transpiration pro-
duces. Mariotte tried a very elementary experiment on
this head. Having cut off a branch and covered the sec-
tion with impermeable cement, he observed that the leaves,
while withering, had lost two tea-spoonfuls of water in two
hours, at a time when the air was tolerably warm. The
naturalist therefore conclued that in twelve hours the
branch would lose a dozen tea-spoonfuls.

But such an estimate was far from being exact.
Guettard managed better; he conceived the idea of not
separating the branch from the plant, but of inclosing it
in a globe of glass, terminating outwardly in a neck which
was inserted into a flask. When all was hermetically
sealed, the moisture transpired, condensing itself little by
little on the sides of the globe, fell drop by drop into the
bottle situated beneath it, and could be collected without
the slightest loss, so that nature was left to herself.

Inclosed in this apparatus, a branch of a cornel-tree
weighing only five drachms and a half distilled each day
422 THE UNIVERSE.

an ounce and three drachms of water; that is to say, it
transpired double its weight in twenty-four hours—results
which were far from being expected.

When ona burning summer day, exhausted and stream-
ing with perspiration, we see in the by-nook of a parterre

 

229, Transpiration in Plants. Guettard’s experiment.

the garden sun-flower, we admire its heavy floral crown
turned towards the luminary which it ceaselessly accom-
panies in its course, and its ample and motionless leaves;
but this apparent calm vails a most unexpected vital energy.

Who indeed would think that the perspiration exhaled
by the leaves of the plant is more copious than that which
moistens our foreheads? Yet science has proved this;
after demonstrating the existence of vegetable transpira-
tion, it has dared to estimate comparatively the product
of it. ,

An old physician of Padua, Sanctorius, whose origin-
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 423

ality has become celebrated, had the patience to pass a
great part of his life in a pair of scales, weighing and re-
weighing himself every minute in the day, in order to
ascertain how much loss his body underwent by trans-
piration.?

Hales, without having the same perseverance, attempted
to ascertain what weight of water a sun-flower lost daily
by its leaves. For this purpose he put one of these plants
into a pot, the upper surface of which, hermetically closed
with a plate of lead, only presented one small neck through
which it could be watered. By weighing this sun-flower
daily his scales showed him that it lost, by the transpira-
tion of its leaves only, twenty ounces of water in the
twenty-four hours.

The experimenter having subsequently calculated the
difference in extent between the skin of a man and the
leaves of a sun-flower, found that the former is to the
latter as 26 to 10, and that consequently, with equal sur-
faces, the insensible transpiration of the sun-flower is
seventeen times as great as our own.

In some plants the phenomenon does not take place so
mysteriously; their leaves transpire with surprising abund-
ance; water streams from all their pores.

Ruysch states that an Arum, which he kept in a green-
house in the botanical garden at Amsterdam, distilled
water drop by drop from the extremities of its leaves in
proportion, so to speak, as it was watered.

One might think there was some hyperbole in this, but
recent and curious observations, which we owe to an ex-
perimenter of Toulouse, have proved the thorough exact-
ness of the fact put forward by the great Dutch anatomist.

Experiments show that on an average a man loses a kilogramme (2 Ibs. 3 oz.

45 drs. avoirdupois) of watery vapour by means of his skin in twenty-four hours.
54
4924 THE UNIVERSE.

-_

M. Ch. Musset has discovered that a plant of the same
family as has been mentioned, the Edible Arum, launches

 

230. Transpiration in the Sun-flower. Hales’ experiment.

little drops of water in the form of a jet into the air, and
that these exhale from the pores which we see on the tips
of its magnificent arrow-headed leaves, undulated like the
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 425

waves of the sea. The ingenious and learned observer of
this extraordinary phenomenon noticed, that from each of

 

231. Edible Arum—-Colocasia esculenta (Schott).

these orifices from ten to a hundred drops of water were
thrown every minute to some centimetres! distance.

But the vegetable marvel in respect to transpiration is
the weeping-tree, which was seen some years ago in one of

1 A centimetre is equal to ‘39371 of an inch.
426 THE UNIVERSE.

the Canary Islands. The water fell like copious rain from
its tufted foliage—a fact which botanists sought to ex-
press by calling it Cwsalpinia pluviosa. Collected at the
foot of the tree, it formed a kind of pond, from which the
inhabitants of the vicinity furnished themselves with water."

At first I suspected some exaggeration in the accounts
given by travellers as to the transpiration of this tree, but
after seeing an arborescent Fuchsia in one of the green-
houses of the botanical garden of Rouen rain down so
much water upon the plants round about it that it was
necessary to remove them, I have believed the statements.

The insensible transpiration is demonstrated by the
most simple experiment. It is only necessary to place a
plant under a dry bell-glass, the base of which is plunged
in mercury. In a few seconds all the inner surface of the
glass is covered with tiny drops of water, which become
condensed and run downwards.

The leaves of other plants, more tenacious of the per-
spiration they distil, collect it in little cups, which are
found at their ends, sometimes constantly open, sometimes
closing and opening by means of a movable lid.

In the first rank we ought to place the famous Ne-
penthes distillatoria. Its leaves display a strong mid-rib,
which extends beyond the blade and ends in an elegant
cylindrical cup, provided with a hinged lid, which spon-
taneously opens and closes according to the state of the

lIn the Mistorta de la Conquista de las Islas Canarias, by Juan de Abreu
Galindo, it is stated that there was at Hierro (Ferro) a laurel-tree which, accord-
ing to M. Roulin, was perhaps only the Zaurus fetens, which furnished the
natives of the island with drinking water. This fluid distilled drop by drop from
the foliage, and was preserved in cisterns. This marvellous vegetable fountain
was, during part of the day, enveloped in a cloud, from the. bosom of which it
drew its supply of water. But the tradition of the tree quoted by the old his-
torian of the seventeenth century is no longer found among the conquerors of the
island.
 
 
 
  
 
    
   
   

 

 

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232, The Weeping-tree—Cwsalpinia pluviosa (
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 429

atmosphere. During the night this lid sinks down and
hermetically closes the little vase, which then fills with
limpid water exhaled by its walls. During the day the

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233. Pitcher-plant—Nepenthes distillatoria (Linneus).

lid is raised and the fluid evaporates more or less completely.
The beneficent nepenthe has often quenched the thirst of
the Indian lost in his burning deserts.

In the marshy forests of Southern America Providence
430 THE UNIVERSE.

has intrusted this task to another distilling plant, the
Purple Sarracenia, the structure of which is no less eccen-
tric. Its leaves, uniting at their edges, are transformed
into elegant amphore, the narrow opening of which is sur-
mounted by an ample green auricle decorated with scarlet
red veins, to which the species owes its name. These cups,
presents from the empire of Flora and which rise from

 

234. The Amphora-plant— Sarracenia purpurea (Linnzus).

spot to spot at the feet of the traveller, are filled with
pure and delicious water, for the benefit of which he is all
the more grateful that he is encircled by nothing but
marshes, the water of which is lukewarm and nauseous.
Generally, transpiration from the leaves only takes place
by their under surface. Knight demonstrated this by a
very simple experiment. He inclosed a vine leaf between
two plates of glass, and observed that only the plate in
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. A431

contact with this side was covered with the secretion. I
succeeded still better, and make the experiment more
scientific by using a leaf of the Indian chestnut attached
to its branch, and sucking up the water into a vase at
hand in proportion as it transpires. All the under surface
of the leaf is speedily covered with little drops of water

 
     

    
  

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eed: oe A

 

 

235. Transpiration of Leaves. Knight’s experiment as modified in the Amphitheatre of
Rouen.

visible to the eye, and which obscure the elass it is im
contact with, whilst that to which the other surface is

applied barely shows traces of vapour.
55
432 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER V.
GROWTH.

The growth of our trees was for long an impenetrable
mystery.

Duhamel maintained that it was the bark which pro-
duced the wood, and for more than a century this was
believed on the faith of the celebrated academician who
had made so many experiments on the subject. It did
not occur to any one to ask him from whence the bark
came.

After many discussions it has at last been shown that
the woody structure and its envelope grow at their junc-
tion, each in its own way: the bark growing towards the
interior, the wood outwards by concentric layers which
are piled up one above the other. One is produced each
year, so that by counting the circular zones at the base of
a trunk, their number gives the exact age of a tree.

Long before this fact had been taught as a dogma by
botanists, it was known to the vulgar. Mention is made
of it in Michel Montaigne’s Voyage en Italie, a singular
production, wherein, instead of Italy, we find only a list
and the effects of different remedies which the illustrious
Mayor of Bordeaux employed in every town he passed
through. A journeyman turner showed him that he could
compute the age of trees very well from sections of them.
“He taught me,” he says, ‘‘that all trees bear as many
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 433

circles as they have endured years, and pointed it out to
me in all those he had in his shop. And that part which
looks towards the north is narrower and its rings are more
close and dense than the other. Hence he boasts that
he can tell from any piece of wood that may be brought
to him, how many years old the tree was, and in what
situation it had grown.”!

At a later date Adanson the botanist was enabled, by
means of observation, to prove how exact were the state-
ments of our celebrated writer. An avenue of trees in
the Champs-Elysées, planted 200 years previously, being
cut down in his time, the same number of woody zones
was found in a transverse section of the trunks of each
one. This section therefore showed their age.

These views about growth explain certain phenomena
which have often been considered miraculous.

When, as an imperishable testimony to their constancy,
two lovers carve their entwined initials upon the bark,
the chisellings on the tree, alas! do not endure longer
than their vows. The incessant separation which the parts
of this envelope undergo, owing to annual growth, first
distorts and then totally effaces the letters.

But if the engraving penetrate deeper, if the tool pass
through the layers of the bark and reach the wood, all
goes differently; the workman has carved upon solid
matter. As years only cause the deposit of new woody
layers upon the surface of the work, this is preserved in-
tact. And when after a long lapse of time the trunk is
cleft, the chisellings are revealed to our astonished eyes,
in marvellous preservation and in the depths of its layers.

1M. Ch. Musset states that the trunks of trees are always flattened in a
northerly and southerly direction, and expand in an east and west plane: a fact
which he considers quite in accordance with astronomical laws.
434 THE UNIVERSE.

Solid bodies introduced into the woody layers are
speedily covered by and soon disappear beneath them.
Professor Desfontaines used to show us regularly at his
lectures the horn of a stag which had become almost en-
tirely enveloped by the trunk of a tree, into which the
animal had, no doubt, thrust the horn some little way in

getting rid of it.

 

236. Stag’s-horn covered by the growth of Layers of Wood.—Paris Museum.

Some few years ago, when a large tree in the environs
of Orleans was cleft, a cavity quite closed up was found
towards its centre, containing a death’s-head and cross-
bones. The astonishment of the public was extreme,
and the prodigy was talked about everywhere. But really
the whole turned upon a vital phenomenon of which
physiology gives a complete explanation. At a distant
epoch some anchorite of the forest, having probably
hollowed the tree, prostrated himself and prayed before
these human relics, which he placed in the excavation.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 435

Then the recluse having disappeared in the course of years,
nature took up the work again, and ingeniously preserved
the oratory by covering it with thick woody layers.

During the siege of Toulon a ball from the English
fleet entered deep into the stem of a pine standing near
the town. The wound is now invisible. Should this tradi-
tion be lost, how astonished would any one be, on cutting
down the tree, to find this enormous mass of iron!

Generally the denser plants are the slower is their
growth; on the contrary, the softer their tissues the more
rapidly are they developed.

Certain plants astonish us in this respect, and there
are even some, the vital energy of which is so active,
that we can in some measure pry into the secrets of their
evolution ; accordingly Cavanilles conceived the idea of
seeing the plant grow. For this purpose he directed
strong glasses, furnished with a horizontal micrometric
thread, upon the end of the stem of certain plants, just
as astronomers do when they place the cross-thread of the
telescope athwart a star of which they want to ascertain
the movement. The Spanish botanist made his observa-
tions principally on agaves and bamboos. With the latter
the experiments might yield very clear results, as they
grow with such rapidity that we sometimes see them attain
the height of a three-storied house in a month.

A bamboo, which grew a few years ago in one of the
ereenhouses of the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, lengthened
out its stem at the rate of fifteen centimetres (about five
inches and four-fifths) daily, so that it could easily have
been seen growing, as its upward movement was as quick
as that of the large hand of a timepiece.

But a still more extraordinary fact is noticed with re-
spect to certain Fungi, and it may be said of them, without
436 THE UNIVERSE.

hyperbole, that they grow visibly. This is the case with
the gigantic Lycoperdon (Lycoperdon giganteum), which,
springing from a seed so small that it absolutely escapes
our sight, reaches the size of a gourd in one night, so
that it may be said without any exaggeration, that this
plant, of a most degraded order, acquires a bulk which our
children require ten years to attain. This fungus being
only composed of microscopic cells, an immense number
are required to make it up, and besides, they must grow
with prodigious rapidity. Mr. Lindley calculates that a

 

237. Gigantic Lycoperdon or Puff-hall—Lyeoperdon giganteum (Batsch), of one night’s
growth.—From nature.

Lycoperdon like this contains more than 47,000,000,000
cells, and that, taking the time of its evolution at twelve
hours, it produces about 4,000,000,000 cells every hour,
and 96,000,000 every minute.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 437

But what a much more feverish activity must reign in
the vital laboratory of those monstrous lycoperdons, nine
feet in circumference, of which Bulliard speaks in his
History of Fungi!

CHAPTER VI.
THE SECRETIONS.

In every part of the vegetable kingdom the most extra-
ordinary contrasts are seen. We find them as well in the
details as in the organism viewed as a whole; in the
aspect of a plant as in the obscure functions of the cell.
The same pores exude at one time a beneficent nourish-
ment, at another a treacherous poison; demulcent juices
or corrosive liquids. The same fruit, or the same root,
nourishes or instantly kills us.

The tapioca on which the American savage feeds, and
which is so often employed at our tables, abounds in the
midst of a poison as deadly as the philtres of Locusta.
The edible portion is taken out for the purposes of com-
merce; but the negroes, when they want to commit
suicide, eat the root whole. The effect is almost as rapid
as that of prussic acid.?

1 Two products which are extensively used as food for man, cassava and
tapioca, are elaborated in the midst of the most deadly juices. They are both
furnished by the root of the Manthot utilissima (the Janipha Manihot), found
extensively in Africa and the West Indies. The negroes are well acquainted
with the redoubtable energy of this poison; but as it is very volatile and easily
decomposed, being considered analogous to prussic acid, it is easily destroyed and
rendered powerless by fermentation, so that the rude tribes of America manage
438 THE UNIVERSE.

On one spot bloom friendly flowers, the folds of which
only distil a perfumed nectar that the bee transforms into

 

238. The Tapioca Plant—JLanihot utilissima (Pohl).

to extract from the starchy root of the manioce the nourishing food so often
served up at our tables under the name of tapioca.

It is composed of tolerably pure fecula, which is collected with care, but the
farina of manioc, on which so many of the American races feed, is coarser. All
they do in order to extract it is to press the roots of the plant; the result of
which is a mixture of starch, vegetable fibre, and extractive matter. It is after-
wards dried in chimneys, and when desiccation is sufficiently advanced, it is
powdered and bread is made of the flour it yields.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 439

honey; elsewhere, sombre corollas like those of the crown-
imperial, and some azaleas, exude only venomous juices.
Woe to the insect that feeds thereon, for they yield only
deadly products. Our readers will recollect the accident
which overtook the army of Xenophon near Trebizond, in
the famous retreat of the ten thousand Greeks. His
soldiers having seized eagerly upon some honey which
they found near the sea, all fell to the ground a few
moments afterwards, dangerously poisoned. Tournefort
rightly ascribes this accident to the bees of the country
having imbibed the juices contained in the calices of the
Azalea pontica, which he observed to be poisonous.

The hand of Providence draws freely from the vege-
table kingdom to satisfy our pleasures and our wants.

The petals of the rose, the jasmine, and the tuberose
are steeped in precious essences which perfume the air all
round them, and of which art bereaves them in large
quantities for the refinements of luxury. !

Other plants of more modest appearance, such as mint,
rosemary, balm, and lavender, are better provided in this
respect, for their odoriferous oils exhale from all their
tissues, and they pour them forth even more freely than
the others. The species which contain them sometimes
betray themselves by perfuming the air to a great dis-

1 The tissues of the plants of India, Mexico, and Peru are impregnated with
precious aroniatics, but it is from the south of Europe that commerce draws the
principal part of the perfumes which we enjoy. The mild temperature of
Provence is wonderfully suited to the culture of the sweet-smelling plants of all
countries, and hence this province is familiarly styled the garden of Europe.

This kind of cultivation is carried on chiefly in the environs of Grasse, Nice,
and Cannes.

The consumption of flowers in the establishment of M. Hermann alone, one
of the principal perfumers of Cannes, will give an idea of the importance of this
branch of commerce. He uses yearly 70,000 kilogrammes (above 153,000 Ibs.

avoirdupois) of orange flowers; 6000 kilogrammes (13,242 lbs. avoirdupois) of
black-currant flowers; 70,000 kilogrammes (more than 153,000 ee Ree)
440 THE UNIVERSE.

tance. Bartholin tells us that the odour of the rosemary
indicates the coast of Spain more than ten leagues out at
sea, and the old historian Diodorus Siculus relates some-
thing analogous with respect to Arabia.

The sugar-cane (Saccharum oficinarum), originally from
India and Arabia Felix, fills its pith with the alimentary sub-
stance which has been for so many ages extracted from it.

Strabo, in his Geography, speaking of the productions
of these two countries, and Dioscorides also, in his great
repertory of medical lore, evidently make mention of this
grass. The former says it is a reed which yields honey.
Dioscorides is still more explicit. According to him the
reeds of India and Arabia yield a congealed thick honey
as hard as salt, which crumbles between the teeth, and
which is called sugar. According to the learned, the
Chinese have understood the culture of the sugar-cane
and the art of extracting its produce from the remotest
antiquity.

Bélon even says that this plant is mentioned in a host
of Indian and Arabic works; and Humboldt seems to con-
firm all this by attesting that it is found drawn upon the
oldest China porcelain.

Thus, then, there can be no doubt that the sugar-cane
is indigenous in the Old World, and that its culture goes
back to a very remote period.

of rose flowers; 16,000 kilogrammes (35,312 lbs. avoirdupois) of jasmine flowers;
10,000 kilogrammes (22,070 lbs. avoirdupois) of violets ; 4000 kilogrammes
(8828 lbs. avoirdupois) of tuberoses, without counting the mint and rosemary
which are so common all through Provence.— Trois Régnes, p. 88. [I am informed
by Messrs. Low that great quantities of the flowers grown in the south of France
are used by the London perfumers, and that the flower season is watched as
anxiously there as the grain harvest in other districts. The scent is extracted
there by means of fatty matters, and again from these in London by alcohol.
The only blossom for which this climate is better suited than any other, and
which is used to any extent by perfumers, is that of lavender, the French being
of very inferior quality.—Tr.]
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 441

But it was towards the thirteenth century that the mer-
chants who imitated Marco Polo, by bringing the products
of India overland to Europe, introduced the plant into
Nubia and Egypt, from whence, in the fourteenth century,
it was carried to Sicily, Syria, and Madeira. From thence
it was finally transported to America soon after its dis-
covery.

Another grass, maize (Zea Mays), also contains sugar in
its stem, but it was not so much on account of this, as for
the sake of its beauty and its use as an article of food,
that it became almost sacred among the ancient races in
America. The Peruvian virgins themselves, devoted to
the worship of the sun, made bread from it which the
Incas offered as a sacrifice. And when the sacred plant
failed in their gardens, they substituted gold and silver
imitations. '

Manna, also valuable in many respects, is the ready-
prepared sugar furnished by a tree. It runs and hardens
on the trunk and branches of the flowering-ash, which is

1 Maize evidently comes originally from America, though it is erroneously
called Turkish and Indian wheat, under the supposition that it is indigenous to
these countries. If this beautiful gramineous plant had belonged to the old
continent, the ancient naturalists and authorities on farming would not have
failed to mention it, and yet it is not spoken of in the writings of Theophrastus,
Pliny, Columella, and Dioscorides. And while no author names it before the
discovery of Columbus, we see, on the contrary, the first describers of America
constantly speaking of it.

Joseph d’Acosta affirms that maize was one of the principal articles of food
among the savages of the new continent long before it was conquered. At the
time when Cortez reached Mexico this grass was sacred, being regarded as holy
food. Montezuma sent loaves of it, steeped in human blood, to the celebrated
conqueror. At certain public ceremonies the Mexicans made images of their
gods in maize paste, and after carrying them through the streets, divided them
among the people, so that every one might have a share in the sanctitied food.
When Pizarro made himself master of Peru similar practices still existed. The
Incas offered as a sacrifice loaves made from this cereal, which the virgins conse-
crated to the worship of the sun, hardened with the blood of young infants,
whose faces they lacerated in order to prepare this food.
449 THE UNIVERSE.

cultivated in Sicily, and from which the white and sugary
stalactites are collected by means of a wooden knife.!

 

239. Manna-tree—Fraxinus ornus (Linneus), and Manna-gathering in Sicily.—From Houel.

On the other hand, the trunks and fruits of some curious
trees are quite covered with a thick coat of wax, exactly
similar to that of the bee, and which is used instead of it

1The origin of the different species of manna or sugary exudations which
cover trees has at all times been a subject of astonishment among the vulgar, and
 

240. Scene in the Andes, Wax-palm—Ceroxylon andicola (Bonpland).
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 445

for giving light and other purposes. Among these is the
wax-palm (Cerorylon andicola) found in the Andes, the
stipe of which is incrusted with this substance, which the
savages remove by rubbing it off as they climb the tree.
The candleberry-myrtle (Myrica cerifera) is another, but in
it the precious substance exudes from the fruit, and is ex-
tracted by simply boiling it, the wax quickly rising to the top.

Again, some vegetable secretions, formed in obscurity,
deep in the stems of certain trees, and gathered by the
intelligent hand of man, add to the wealth of nations.
Thus the French pine spreads its treasures over the once
sterile heaths of Bordeaux. From incisions made in it
flows a turpentine which the resin-gatherers, active as
monkeys, collect in numberless cups suspended to the
trunks of the trees.’

of strange hypotheses among the learned. For a long time it was thought that
these stalactites or tears of sugar, which appear so quickly, were only a deposit
from the atmosphere, and this error, so difficult to eradicate, was shared by all
antiquity.

The manna used in medicine is principally procured from the flowering-ash
(Fraxinus ornus), which is cultivated for this purpose in Sicily and Calabria.
Other trees produce sugary substances quite analogous to this. The larch-tree
(Lariz europea, Linn.) furnishes the manna of Briangon. In some countries
even herbs are covered with an abundant sugary exudation. Bruce observed
this in Abyssinia; and Mathiola relates that in some parts of Italy the manna
glues the grass of the meadows together in such a manner as to impede the
mowers at their work.

1 The resin is extracted when the maritime pine has reached the age of twenty
to thirty years. In order to obtain it, workmen, called resin-gatherers, remove
with an axe the coarse bark from the lower part of the trunk, over a surface
about a foot wide and a foot and a half deep. On this surface they afterwards
excavate with a small hatchet, the head of which is shaped like a gouge, a still
deeper cutting, which lays bare the most superficial of the woody zones, for it is
between these and the bark that the resin flows; this last incision is about six
inches high and four wide. After this operation the workmen scoop out a little
pit in the body of the tree in order to receive the resin as it flows. Each week
the resin-gatherer renews the surface by paring off above a thin slip, so small
that the excavation in the course of a single season does not extend beyond
eighteen inches in length. These cuttings are prolonged through a series of
years till they reach a height of twelve or fourteen feet, when the workmen
446 THE UNIVERSE.

It is this secretion that gives to the coniferous woods
such power of endurance; the more it abounds in their
resinous ducts, the greater lapse of ages can they endure.
The wood of the Canary Islands pine (Pinus canariensis)
is quite impregnated with it, and is therefore almost im-
perishable. The ancient dwellings in Teneriffe, which
were entirely built of this wood more than four centuries
and a half ago, when the island was conquered, are quite
as fresh as when they were built. The resin still exudes
from all their beams during the heat of summer.

Some plants, instead of distilling their resinous pro-
ducts drop by drop, form a gaseous vapour, and this clings
so close around the plant, that if, during the twilight of
a still, burning hot summer day, we approach it with a
lighted candle, the vapour takes fire, and produces a bright
light which envelops all the foliage, sparkling like the
lycopodium burned in the theatres on the torches of the
Furies. This can be seen in the Fraxinella cultivated in
our gardens. Should the atmosphere be less tranquil,
the experiment is easily made by surrounding the plant
with a glass case, as is seen in our engraving. So soon
as an ignited body is plunged into it, a general combustion
ensues.

Other plants, during darkness, project inexplicable
gleams of light. This extraordinary phenomenon, which
is attributed to electricity, was first pointed out by

recommence at the foot of the tree, and cut others alongside of and parallel to
them.

In the Coniferee which exude turpentine this substance is contained in
vertical or horizontal lacuns, which are called resin-ducts. Their wood is more
enduring in proportion as it contains more resin. The Canary pine (Pinus can-
arvensis) is remarkable in this respect. It contains a great number of these
ducts, which, according to Schacht, are sometimes 3; of a millimetre in diameter
(a millimetre is rather less than the twenty-fifth or ‘039371 of an inch), hence
this wood is almost incorruptible—Schacht, Les Arbres. Bruxelles, 1862, p. 225.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 447

Mademoiselle Linneus, and afterwards recognized by some
naturalists.

 

agi file

241, Combustion of the Vapours of Bastard Dittany—Dictamnus Fraxinella (Persoon).

1 The discovery of this extraordinary phenomenon is due to Mademoiselle
Linneus. She remarked that during twilight, or towards the beginning of dawn,
the flowers of the monkshood produced passing gleams from moment to moment.
She communicated these observations to her father, and to several authorities on
physics. These species of lightnings were generally attributed to a disengage-
ment of electricity, and this was the opinion of M. Vileke in particular.—J/é-
moitres dela Société de Suede, 1762. Pulteney, Coup d’wil sur la Vie et les Ouvrages
de Linnée.

M. Haggren has made similar observations on different flowers. In order to

5
448 THE UNIVERSE.

When speaking of vegetable secretions, we cannot, in
the present day, omit a beautiful tree of the family of
Sapotacez, formerly considered useless, but which fur-
nishes us with one of the most precious substances—
gutta-percha. Spread over the coasts of Sumatra and
Java, its produce has only been advantageously worked
during the last twenty years. Like the gold of California,
this tree has caused great social changes in the countries
where it grows.

In Caracas, in South America, grows the cow-tree,
which, when its trunk is wounded, furnishes an abundant
supply of milk, of which the traveller can confidently drink
freely, for it unites all the qualities of the milk of our
domestic animal, which it entirely replaces in some coun-
tries of America.

One of the trees which yield our internal economy ser-
vices as important as the preceding is the butter-tree. It
furnishes the negroes of the Niger with a secretion which
they substitute for the ingredient used in our kitchens, and
with which they prepare all their food. It is sold abun-
dantly in their markets, where it is known as shea-butter.’

be certain that this phenomenon was not due to any aberration of vision, he as-
sociated to himself another observer, who was to indicate by a signal the moment at
which he perceived the luminous sparks. The learned Swede became convinced that
there could be no illusion, for his companion saw the lights at precisely the same
instant that he did—Hageren, Mémoire sur les Fleurs qui donnent des Eelairs.
Traduit du Suédois dans le Journal de Physique, t. xxxiii. p. 111. These passing
gleams are sometimes seen in quick succession, but they often only appear at
intervals of several minutes. They are best seen on flowers of an orange yellow ;
the pale varieties of the same species do not produce them. They may be ob-
served in the marigold, the monkshood, the tagetes (Tugetes erecta, Linn.), and
the heliotrope.

1 The shea butter-tree (Pentadesma butyracea), which thrives vigorously by the
banks of the Niger and in all the central and western zone of Africa, seems des-
tined some day to effect a great social revolution in the districts where it grows.
Karl Miiller says that the slave merchants consider it far more formidable than
the blockade kept up by the English. As the natives collect more butter than
 

 

 

 

242, The Gutta-percha Tree—Jsonandra gutta (Hooker).
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 451

Nature offers us in profusion the greatest contrasts.
On one side, with generous and beneficent hand she lavishes
food and salutary remedies; on the other, she only distils
poisons, as though in the laboratory of Medea.

Here we see opium perspiring like a milky dew from
the heads of our poppies, and becoming so indispensable
to the art of medicine, that Sydenham, the Hippocrates of
modern times, said he would renounce his profession were
he deprived of this powerful anodyne. There we behold
the poisons of belladonna, datura, and henbane, by turns
useful and deadly.

But no tree prepares in its invisible laboratories such
precious crystals as the cinchona; nature offers us no
other medicine which is so potent. The cinchona alone
arrests the ravages of deadly fevers in their fatal progress ;
without it many countries would be uninhabitable, many
journeys impossible. Hence, in their enthusiasm about its
marvellous power, many physicians, in imitation of Torti,
have given it the name of “herculean remedy.”!

they require, the factors on the coast begin to be uneasy as to what will happen
should this butter become an article of commerce; and in order that nothing
may divert the inhabitants from slave-hunting, they have induced the King of
Dahomey to order the destruction of all the butter-trees in his kingdom. War
is really declared against the tree; it is burned so soon as ever it springs up again,
and yet it re-appears each year, as if constantly and energetically remonstrating
with man for deliberately destroying a gift of nature-—Karl Miiller, Merveilles
du Monde Végétal. Paris, t. ii. p.196.

As respects the milk or cow tree, paolo de vaca, as it is called in the country,
M. Boussingault, who at Humboldt’s request analyzed its products, states that
its physical properties are exactly similar to those of cow’s milk, except that it
is a little more viscous. It is remarkable for containing an enormous quantity
of wax. This substance constitutes the half of its weight, and hence the learned
chemist proposed to cultivate the tree in order to extract the wax.—Huwboldt,
Voyage aux Régions Kquinociales du Nouveau Continent. Paris, 1814, t. 1.

1 The following passages will show how M. Georges Pouchet, following the
account of La Condamine, inserted in the I/émoires de Académie des Sciences,
has traced the history of the discovery of the most powerful medicine we possess: —

“Tn 1638, Count Chinchon being vice-regent of Peru for the crown of Spain,
452 THE UNIVERSE.

In many trees, instead of the bark being saturated with
medicinal juices, it secretes aromatics which are highly

 

243. Thyrsus of Flowers of the Yellow Cinchona—Cinchona cordifolia (Mutis)

his august sponse was attacked with a severe fever. The corregidor of Loxa,
filled with gallantry for the wife of his immediate superior, sent him word that
the Indians of the neighbourhood knew of a bark which cured their fevers, and
might possibly have the same effect upon a person of so exalted a condition, and
begged of him, should his resources fail, at all events to try this medicine of the
savages. The vice-queen getting worse and worse, the corregidor was called to
Lima in order himself to regulate the dose and mode of preparation of his medi-
cine. But it may be easily imagined that no one was imprudent enough to
administer so extraordinary a powder to the noble patient without some precau-
~

THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 453

prized. This is the case with the cinnamon-trees, which
are an element of prosperity for places where, like Cey-
lon, they are cultivated to a certain extent.

 

244, Cinnamon-tree—Laurus cinnamomum (Linneus).

tions ; they therefore decided to try it on some of the common people in anima
vil’, and it was only after they had cured with the corregidor’s bark some poor
Spanish beggars, shattered with fever, that the vice-queen took it and was cured.

“The inhabitants of the town of Lima, being astonished at this, sent a deputa-
tion to the convalescent, begging her to send to Loxa for a stock of the bark, a
request which was complied with. The countess herself distributed the remedy
to all who required it, and from this time it began to be known by the name of
the countess’s powder. Some months afterwards she gave up the task, handing
over what remained to the Jesuit fathers, who, to their praise be it said, continued
to give it gratuitously, and hence it acquired the name of Jesuits’ powder, which
it long bore both in America and Europe.”

We may add here that Humboldt and Fée have shaken the confidence felt in
454 ; THE UNIVERSE.

Along with these we must not omit to name a tree
which selects the fruit instead of the bark as a store-house

 

245, Nutmeg-tree—Iyristica moschata (Lamarck).

for its aroma: it is the nutmeg-tree. It grows beneath
the sun of India, and its nuts, an important article of
commerce, are frequently used in the preparation of our
food.

the account by La Condamine. In fact, the illustrious Prussian naturalist, who
had traversed the regions where these celebrated trees grow, maintains that their
virtues are absolutely unknown to the savages there, who are frequently assailed
by obstinate fevers; and Fée even says, that they believe the bark of cinchona
to be a poison capable of producing gangrene, and which was only carried away
from their country to be used for dyeing. The trees which produce quinine
were long unknown, and we owe our first notions about them to La Conda--
mine.
 

246. Extracting Milk from the C

ow-tree—Culactodendron utile (Kunth).

58
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 457

Pepper, made known to us by a daring innovator of the
name of Le Poivre, governor of the Isle of France, previ-
ously spoken of, also has its aroma contained in its fruit.

Whilst the cinchonas and the cinnamon conceal their
active juices in the thickness of the bark, other trees,

 

247, Pepper-plant—Piper nigrum.

such as the camphor laurel, spread them through all their
organs—stems, roots, and leaves. These trees, covered
with brilliant glazed leaves of bright green, ornament the
regions of India and Java. The camphor which they fur-
nish is extracted in the easiest manner: all the natives
have to do is to break up the tree into small pieces, and
458 THE UNIVERSE.

heat these in water, when the precious essence condenses
on the lid of the retort.

In other parts we find, instead of these stimulating
aromatics, beautiful mimosas, from the fissures in whose
bark flow emollient gums, and mallows swollen with de-
mulcent juices which medicine calls to its aid.*

Beneath the burning sun of India, where the naja dis-
tils its dreadful venom, the nettles secrete a mortal poison.
This analogy to the reptile is doubly exact, so that we
are not at all astonished to see a German botanist call the
Urtice “the serpents of the vegetable kingdom.” It is in
fact by the same kind of organ that the plants introduce
the venom into a wound; and if we look at the minute
quantity with which one of their hairs inoculates us, not
perhaps the hundred and fifty thousandth part of a grain!
—at the rapidity and intensity of the symptoms—it is clear
that the poison of the nettle is the deadliest known.

Our indigenous species only produce a burning sensa-
tion, which is soon dissipated, but those of tropical coun-
tries give rise to very serious results. Leschenault says
that he has seen the sting of the indented nettle (Urtica
crenulata, Linn.) bring on the most horrible suffering for a
whole week. Another species, which grows at Timor,
and which the natives call the Devil’s Leaf (Utica uren-
tisstma), produces such serious wounds, that, according to
Schleiden, amputation is the sole means of saving life.

1 The seeds of some Leguminosee are used by the Chinese as soap. They are of
two species. In the first and best known, belonging to the genus Dyallum, we
tind a substance analogous to saponine. Sowerby has suggested that the leaves
of the soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) might be used for the purpose, as they
undoubtedly were in by-gone times, especially it is said by the mendicant friars.
The lather formed by boiling or bruising the seeds in water has all the effect of
soap, and readily removes grease, so that we here find nature spontaneously

developing a great manufacturing product, which under man’s hands has taken
two thousand years to bring to its present perfection.—Tr.
 

248, The Camphor-tree, or Camphor-laurel—Laurus Camphora (Linneus).
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 461

In the midst of this fearful cohort of deadly plants, the
upas-tree of Java stands prominently out as one of those
which distil the most terrible juices. Its action is such
that a weapon dipped in it at once kills any animal it strikes.
Travellers relate having seen several women guilty of
adultery die in six minutes after bemg pricked below the
bosom with a lancet dipped in the juice of this tree.

No tree has been the subject of so many ridiculous
fables as the upas, and till quite lately they were popu-
larly believed. On the faith of a Dutch surgeon named
Foersche, it was related that the upas flowed from a
unique and singular tree, which vegetated in the midst of
a frightful solitude in Java, “the valley of death.” Ac-
cording to this traveller, no living creature could resist the
poisonous vapours which it exhaled, and for three or four
leagues around only dead bodies and skeletons of men
and animals were to be met with. The birds themselves
which ventured into the surrounding air fell to the ground
as if struck by lightning. Criminals condemned to capital
punishment alone essayed the task of wresting its infernal
produce from the tree. Many tried the perilous journey,
but very few returned from it.

It is disgraceful to be obliged to admit, that we owe
the refutation of this fabulous narrative to so recent a
writer as Leschenault. This traveller noticed, that the
famous poison is furnished by two species of trees which
grow amid the forests of Java. So far from exercising a
deleterious influence upon all that surrounds them, they
are encompassed by a luxurious vegetation, while birds,
lizards, and insects lend animation to their boughs and
foliage. The learned Frenchman, while examining one of
these trees which he had had cut down, had his face and
hands covered with exudation flowing from the broken
462 THE UNIVERSE.

branches, yet he experienced no bad effects from this cir-
cumstance.

But it is very different when the juice of the upas is
introduced into the organism by means of the smallest
puncture. A wound of this kind destroys a dog in five
or six minutes, as Magendie noticed in his experiments.
Eight drops of the juice injected into the veins of a horse
jill it directly.

Other plants, more happily gifted, instead of these
deadly poisons, elaborate at the same time medicinal
agents and nutritive matters. One of these products fur-
nishes a remedy in sickness, another increases the luxury
of our tables. This is the case with the rhubarbs. Their
large roots are quite full of purgative and strengthening
principles, whilst their leaves, saturated with acidulous
juice, display strong stalks which serve for food. In Eng-
land an enormous quantity is consumed in the spring for
pastry and side-dishes, and at this time of the year trains
of vehicles heavily laden with, rhubarb leaves are seen
arriving at the London markets.

For long a kind of sympathy between certain plants
has been observed to exist, as if one loved to be under the
shade of the other. Thus on the banks of our rivulets tlre
amaranth-coloured! flowers of the purple loosestrife (Lyth-
rum Salicaria, Linn.) constantly adorn the vicinity of the
willow. Other plants, on the contrary, seem to expe-
rience an aversion one for the other, and if man incon-
siderately compels them to approach each other, they
languish or die. The flax plant, for instance, seems to
have a manifest antipathy for the scabious (Scabiosa
arvensis, Linn.)

At the present time these peculiarities are explained

1 A colour inclining to purple.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 463

by assuming that the roots emit products favourable to
certain species and hurtful to others; products which
Plenck, with all the coarseness of one of Moliére’s doctors,
called the “excrement of plants.”

Duhamel, when having some elms cut down, had

 

249. Palmated Rhubarb—Rheum palmatum (Linnzus).

already noticed that the soil in which they had stood had
undergone a certain alteration, having become unctuous.
A Genevese observer, M. Macaire, went even further.
He observed that when roots of chicory or Euphorbia
were placed in water, they exuded into it a coloured

extractive matter, which could only be an excretion.
59
464 THE UNIVERSE.

Lastly, Brugmans, professor at the university of Leyden,
pushed the matter still further. Having collected this
substance from the roots of violets which he had placed
in pure fine sand, he found that it acted like poison upon
other plants.

Thus the cause of those curious instinctive mutual
advances, already perceived by Mathiolus, who called
them the friendships of plants, is demonstrated. Indeed
the old botanist, in his work, says that there is so much
affection between the reed and the asparagus, that if we
plant them together both will prosper marvellously.

In Germany agriculture, guided by science, has learned
to profit from these mutual affections, and Schwerz, in
his learned works, points out how cereals should be allied
in order to augment the produce of our fields.

CHAPTER VIL.
THE SLEEP OF PLANTS.

The deeper we search into the mysteries of vegetable
life the closer relation do we find with animal existence.
Exhausted by the functional labour of the day, many
plants, when the evening arrives, assume a particular atti-
tude, which they preserve through the night; this is their
sleep.

This curious phenomenon, which a fortunate accident
revealed to Linneeus, was carried by him to demonstra-
tion. He first observed it in a Bird’s-foot Lotus growing in
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 465

one of the green-houses of the garden at Upsala. Having
noticed it flowering in the morning, what was his astonish-
ment, as he passed by the plant in the middle of the night,
to find that he could not see its flowers! At first the
botanist thought that some unprincipled amateur had
robbed him of them; but on looking more attentively at
the plant, he found that it was against itself the charge of
larceny would have to be preferred. In fact, the naturalist
observed that each evening the leaves of this Lotus assumed
a particular position, which hid the corollas:' it was their
way of sleeping.

Thinking that such a phenomenon would not be an isol-
ated one, Linnzeus after this passed the nights in wander-
ing about in his garden, with a torch in his hand, to verify
the results. In this way he noticed that a great number
of plants assume a particular attitude when they give
themselves up to sleep: this is due to their need of repose,
which, as in most animals, coincides with the want of light.

In certain families of the vegetable kingdom the plants
are even so transformed during their sleep that they are
not recognizable. The aspect of a forest or a savannah
is sometimes absolutely changed by it. Many bring their
boughs nearer to the stem, and apply their leaves one to
the other, so as to be a mutual protection against the
cold. Whoever has seen a sensitive plant during the night,
with its boughs drooping, and, as it were, overpowered
by fatigue, with its leaflets folded together like eyelids
which close, will admit that at such times it rests and
sleeps.

The phenomenon we are speaking of is seen in a much

1 The sleep of plants was first observed in India, on the tamarind tree, by

Garcias de Horto in 1567; after this in 1581 by Val Cordus on the liquorice ;
but it was Linnzus who first really demonstrated the nature of it.
466 THE UNIVERSE.

more striking form in hotter countries. Humboldt, while
traversing the banks of the Magdalena, observed that
there plants awake much later than in less torrid countries,
as if vegetation in these climates shared in the indolence
which is observable in all the peoples scattered beneath the
equator.

Many flowers close every evening in order to give them-
selves up peacefully to repose. There are some, such as
certain bind-weeds, which are very lazy, falling asleep long
before sunset, and only rousing up very late each morning,
when the sun darts his rays upon them.

In the evening if we view a meadow in which these
impressible flowers abound, its mournful aspect renders it
unrecognizable. In full mid-day, when it is enamelled
with all these open corollas, it seems a mass of verdure
filled with great yellow and blue eyes which gaze at us.
But when twilight arrives all these seem to have closed
their eyelids in order to slumber: the living aspect of the
meadow has vanished; all appears inanimate—its flowers
are sleeping.

Men have sought to attribute the phenomenon we are
speaking of to the difference between the temperature
of the day and the temperature of the night; but when it
was seen to take place in green-houses, where the heat was
equal night and day, they were obliged to seek for some
other cause.

De Candolle showed by some interesting experiments
that within the empire of Flora sleep is to be attributed to
the absence of light. By throwing a very bright light
upon sensitive plants during the night, and conversely, by
placing them in profound darkness during the day, the
learned botanist succeeded in completely changing their
habits. These plants closed up their leaflets and slept the
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 467

whole day, deceived by the artificial gloom, and they
remained awake the whole night when six lamps projected

 

250. Sensitive Plant Asleep and Awake—Mimosa pudica (Linneus).

upon them a brilliance equal to five-sixths of that of day-
hight.

It is principally among plants which inhabit intertropical
countries that the phenomenon in question is seen. It is
particularly noticeable in the family of the Leguminose,
468 THE UNIVERSE.

and most of all in the sensitive plants. Many of those in
our fields show it plainly.

If at the close of summer we examine a clover field
about six o’clock in the evening, we are struck with the
aspect which all the plants present at this moment, the first
of their sleep. The two side leaflets of each leaf are laid
close against one another, and the middle one covers them
like a protecting roof: the whole aspect of the crop has
changed.

CHAPTER VIII.
VEGETABLE SENSIBILITY.

What mysterious forces preside over the life of plants?
These structures so graceful and imposing, adorned with
dazzling colours, perfuming the air with the sweetest
odours, have they been deprived of all the faculties
accorded to the most ignoble animals?

There are two schools which have on this subject
equally exaggerated their claims: the one has found plea-
sure in over-estimating the vital essence of plants, the
other in degrading it.

The ancients clearly erred on the side of the first of
these two excesses. Empedocles did not hesitate to
accord choice faculties to plants, and some of the followers
of the philosopher of Agrigentum have surpassed him in
this respect.

The marvellous mandrake was considered by them to
be endowed with the most exquisite sensibility. The
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 469

ancients related that at the slightest wound this plant,
with human form, gave vent to mournful groans; and
those who were daring enough to gather it were obliged to
employ certain precautions in order that they might not
be alarmed at these sounds, and might defy its evil
influence.

The most illustrious botanist of ancient Greece, Theo-
phrastus, goes so far as to describe the ceremonies which
were imperiously demanded for the conquest of the gloomy
Solanea. He says that in order to tear it out it was neces-
sary to trace three magic circles round it with the point
of a sword, looking all the time towards the east, whilst
one of the assistants danced round about, uttering obscene
words."

The theories of credulous antiquity have been repro-
duced, and even exceeded, in our own day. Adanson, a
daring spirit, if ever there was one, was not satisfied, like the
Sicilian sophist, with endowing plants with a mere sensi-
tive soul; he contended that each one must have several.”

Hedwig a profound botanist, Bonnet more an orator

1The Mandragora, which was one of the most celebrated plants of antiquity
and the middle ages, was supposed to grow under gibbets, where it was manured
with the remains of those put to death. It was said that it could not be torn
out without danger. The credulous supporters of the cabala, in order to avoid
all accidents, taught their adepts to extract it from the ground by means of a
dog tied to the plant, and which, as the plant exerted all its malevolence over it,
was thus devoted to a certain death.

The charlatans of our superstitious ages gave the Mandragora a human form
before employing it in their sorceries. The idea that this plant naturally ap-
pears under this form had procured for it the name of anthropomorphos among
the ancients; and it was so entirely considered as such by our superstitious ancestors,
that in certain botanical works of the period of the Renaissance, and particularly
in the Grand Herbier en Francais, we find sketches of the Mandragora plauts,
faithful enough as regards the foliage and aspect, while their embellished roots pre-
sent a human figure, some representing a man, and others a woman,

* The following curious passage on this subject is found in Adanson’s work:

“Every plant, although without sensation, being animated, possesses a soul,
470 THE UNIVERSE

than a really learned man, and most of all Edward Smith,
allotted to plants exquisite sensibility, and even sensations
of pretty high character.

These views have in our day been ardently upheld

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251. The Mandrake—A tropa Mandragora (Linneus).

by two of the most celebrated savants of studious Ger-
many—Von Martius and Théodore Fechner—who consider
a plant a sentient being endowed with an individual soul,
the latter having carried his temerity so far as to found a
sort of vegetable psychology.

Camille Debans, in his charming little work, makes
which is not sole nor fixed in any part, but equally spread through all, and di-
visible, since every one of its integrant parts which participate in a common life
possesses in itself an isolated vitality, and because, when separated and detached

from them, it grows and fructifies, finally enjoying all the properties and faculties
which it possessed before its separation.”
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 471

an allusion to the system of these two botanists which is
full of poetry and freshness. He draws the picture of a
rose so weakened and languishing that the least breath
of air, as light as the sigh of a virgin, tears away the
suffering and faded petals. And when the murderous
breath has at last slain the flower formerly so sweet and
perfumed, the gnomes, with tears, bear away its soul to
paradise on their diaphanous wings.

On the other hand, as the genius of Descartes was
powerful enough to make the bulk of men believe that
animals were only simple automatons, set going in order
to accomplish a certain number of acts, so many naturalists,
on still more plausible grounds, and in particular Hales,
whose beautiful experiments laid the foundation of vege-
table physiology, leaned strongly to the view of consider-
ing plants as so many structures absolutely under the
empire of material forces.

But neither the daring of the Cartesians nor the hypo-
theses of- the Animists find an asylum at the present
day in the severe domain of science. We cannot liken
the phenomena of vegetable life either to simple physico-
chemical action, or to a supreme intellectual directing
power. It is evident that they are governed by a vital
force which binds all the springs of existence; when that
disappears, nothing preserves the plant from destruction.

All naturalists who have treated the question seriously
as physiologists, maintain that plants enjoy quite as active
a life as many animals, and that they possess traces of
sensibility and contractility. Bichat, the most illustrious
of modern anatomists, in his magnificent Mecherches sur la
Vie et la Mort, admits this without hesitation.

Numerous experiments prove clearly that there are in

plants traces of sensibility analogous to animal sensibility.
: 60
472 THE UNIVERSE.

Electricity will kill them; narcotics paralyze or destroy
them. By sprinkling opium over certain species they
have been thrown into a profound sleep. Messrs. Goeppert
and Macaire, in their interesting investigations, have
observed that prussic acid poisons plants with as much
rapidity as it does animals.

Does not the sensitive plant contract visibly when we
irritate it?) Do we not know that vegetable tissues shrivel
of their own accord so soon as we bring them in contact
with any stimulant? Carradori noticed that exciting the
tips of the leaves of a lettuce was sufficient to make it
eject little drops of its own juice.

If we divorce ourselves from all our ala ideas of vege-
table life, and simply observe its phenomena, we shall
arrive at conclusions which will astonish us. We shall
be surprised to find that the energy displayed in the
biological actions of plants often surpasses everything seen
in the animal kingdom; a fact which has only remained
unnoticed, because we have wrongly looked upon the
turbulent manifestations of animal life as the highest ex-
pression of this power.

If towards the close of a burning summer day we enter
a greenhouse where the long fluted stems of the Cactus
grandiflora twine in a spiny and tangled network, we per-
ceive here and there on them lanceolated pointed knobs
of moderate size. There is nothing which would lead us
to think what a spectacle is about to open to our sight.

But towards half-past eight ‘o’clock, the time when
obscurity overspreads the earth, all at once every flower
of the Cactus displays its innumerable long yellow and
white petals, and its corona of five hundred stamens waves
and trembles round the pistil; then its vast calyx exhales
an odour of vanilla which perfumes the whole greenhouse.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 473

But such an exuberance of life is only very ephemeral.
A button two inches round is transformed into a flower
a foot in circumference. A few minutes have sufficed to
unfold one of the marvels of Flora’s empire; a few minutes
will equally suffice to destroy it. Towards midnight every
part of this nuptial couch, so brilliant and perfumed, fades
and totally decays.

What animal displays an organic force at the same
time so active and so fleeting? Not one, and yet we
have never bestowed a thought on it. This splendid
flower lives more in a few hours than does a mollusc in a
whole year.

Among divers plants endowed with sensibility, there is
not one which vibrates and moves with such animation
as the queen of the mimosas, the Mimosa pudica. Should
the slightest touch stir only one of its leaflets, the whole
of them shut up; then in a few seconds the branches
droop successively towards the earth, and the plant dis-
plays signs of the most profound disturbance, appearing
as if struck by lightning.

In vain have certain botanists tried to explain this
extraordinary phenomenon through the intervention of
chemico-physical forces; it is evident that we have only
to deal here with a vital manifestation.

If we preserve a sensitive plant from being shaken, and
place upon one of its leaves a drop of acid, the contact
of the irritant suffices to make the whole plant shrink up;
and if we merely heat one of its little leaflets by placing
it in the focus of a burning-glass, the injury seems to be
felt through every part of the fragile Mimosa; its boughs
and leafage sink down as though it were struck by stupor.

This charming leguminous plant, the subject of so many
ingenious comparisons, possesses a delicacy of sensation
474 THE UNIVERSE.

which we should never think of meeting with in the
vegetable kingdom. When Von Martius was traversing
the savannahs of tropical America, where it abounds, he
observed that the sound of his horse’s hoofs at a distance
made all the sensitive plants contract as if they had been
frightened. A ray of sunlight, or the shadow of a cloud
even, is enough to produce a manifest change in the midst
of them.

Such very singular phenomena ought to suffice to make
us suppose that the vegetable fibre conceals in its hidden
folds some traces of the structure which everywhere pre-
sides over animal life. Dutrochet even thought he had
found in it the regulator of so many mysterious actions
—a nervous system. According to him this structure
is represented by the granulations interposed between
the cells. But with the most powerful microscope the
eye cannot perceive anything that can be identified with
the nerves of animals.

Although the existence of nerves in plants may still
be matter of doubt, it is none the less certain that the
irritability shown by the sensitive plant seems to be abso-
lutely under the empire of organs analogous to nerves,
as it is influenced by the same agents and in the same
manner as animals. Narcotics weaken its sensibility as
they weaken ours. If opium be sprinkled upon the plant
it ceases to feel irritants, and no longer contracts; it is
paralyzed. And, as we have said, an electric shock kills it.

But a still more extraordinary phenomenon is, that
this plant knows, like ourselves, how to accommodate
itself to circumstances. Desfontaines, having placed
one in his carriage on a journey, saw it contract all its
leaves so soon as ever it felt the shaking of the wheels.
Then, strange to say, while the journey was still continued,
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 475

the Mimosa, having recovered from its fright, opened all
its leaves little by little, and kept them expanded so long
as the movement lasted. It had accustomed itself to
the motion. But as soon as the vehicle stopped, the same
peculiarity was repeated, and on starting the plant con-
tracted afresh, only to open again when farther off. !

Many plants perform instinctively almost incredible
actions in seeking for the necessaries of their existence.
M. Grimard in his charming work on botany, written
with remarkable independence of thought, quotes the his-
tory of a Scaly Lathreea (Lathrea squamaria, Linn.),
which, having germinated at the bottom of a mine, raised
itself to the prodigious height of 120 feet in order to reach
the light, although it ordinarily attains a length of only
five or six inches.

1In the Proceedings of the Botanical Congress, at London, in 1866, there is
an exhaustive paper by Professor Caspary, on movements induced in different
trees by cold. It seems to be made out that the seat of such movements is the
protoplasm, not the outer cell-wall. The contractile power of the protoplasm is
strongly marked in the Selaginella mutabilis, which, when exposed to a bright
light, becomes of a pale whitish milky colour, but resumes its green tint when
the intensity of the light is diminished. The rhythmical tremors observed by
M. Lecoq in the leaves of Colocasia esculenta are so violent, that on one
occasion the pot in which the plant was growing was so shaken that it could
with difficulty be steadied. The Oxalis sensitiva, probably in its own country
the most sensitive of plants, is in this country (England) nearly or quite
destitute of such a power. One of the most extraordinary of these plants
is the Desmodivm gyrans, or telegraph plant, possibly the same plant de-
scribed by M. Pouchet as D. oscillans, a native of India. The leaves consist
of two small lateral leaflets and a terminal one. The latter works up and
down according to the intensity of the light, while the side leaflets work
day and night like the old semaphore signals. Dr. Masters confirms the state-
ment of Desfontaines as to the effect of travelling on the Mimosa, having noticed
it while conveying a specimen by railway. When the ether spray is directed
with some force upon the leaves of the Mimosa pudica they close up, but if the
spray be so directed that it only touches the leaves very gently, they seem para-
lyzed. Analogous facts are constantly seen in disease. M. Blondeau says that
when a direct current from a galvanic battery is passed through the plant it is
not affected, but if an indirect current from a small Ruhmkorff coil be substi-
tuted, the leaflets roll up immediately.— Popular Science Review, vol. vii. p. 22.—TR.
476 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER IX.
THE MOVEMENTS OF PLANTS.

Like animals, plants are endowed with the power of
movement. The slightest observation shows this, as it
does their sensibility; but some of our savants refuse to
believe it as obstinately as men opposed the first de-
monstrations of the rotation of the earth. In vain is it
shown that plants move just like the seconds-hand of a
watch, that they constantly change their position in order
to sleep or protect themselves from injury. Forasmuch
as the old doctrine taught that they are insensible and
deprived of movement, some timid minds do not wish to
emancipate themselves from it.

Yet the movements of plants are susceptible of positive
proof, only we cannot discover the agents. But do we
know more about them in the most degraded of the animal
kingdom? Certainly not.

De Candolle and Tiedemann, trampling under foot
purely theoretical views, rightly admitted the mobility of
plants. The latter physiologist justly observes that it is
not necessary for the performance of this act that they
should possess fibres analogous to our muscles, and that
the Meduse and Infusoria move perfectly well without
our being able to discern anything of the kind in them.

The movements of plants are spontaneous or accidental.
In the one case we see them operate by the instinctive im-
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 477

pulse of vegetable life, in the other the plant only with-
draws itself from injury when it is irritated.

Under the influence of light and temperature plants
take on various movements. So great is the action of
these upon the organism that it is entirely changed. This
is what we see happen in their sleep, which, as we have
seen, prevents certain species from being recognized, and
totally changes the look of a meadow or forest.

It is particularly in the leaves that we meet this re-
markable phenomenon, which approximates plants so
much to animal life.

In this respect the Oscillating Desmodia (Desmodia
oscillans) ought to occupy the first place; the mobility
observed in it surpasses enormously that of many inferior
animals. It is an Indian plant of the family of Legu-
minosee, each leaf of which is composed of a great ter-
minal leaflet and two smaller ones which approximate
at its base. When the sun falls upon the Desmodia these
two leaflets go through a very remarkable series of con-
tinuous oscillations. They advance and retire successively
one from the other with a trembling jerking movement,
which exactly resembles that of the seconds-hand of a watch.
There is such a similarity between these movements and
those of animals that they cease under the influence of
the same agents. If a plant be sprinkled with opium it
falls into a state of narcotism, and its oscillations are
utterly stopped.

The activity of the Desmodia is so energetic that it is
not arrested in boughs which have been cut from the
parent plant. Broussonnet saw the leaflets of a branch
which he had plunged into water move for three days
after.

In the leaves of the Nepenthes the phenomenon is not
478 THE UNIVERSE.

less apparent. Every night, as we have said, the lids of
their pitchers close while the water is distilled inside, and
in the morning the vase opens spontaneously as if to offer
itself to the traveller.

In a host of flowers the stamens and pistils at the time
of fecundation are visibly agitated, bending one towards
the other in order to accomplish their task. In some,
such as the Cacti and the imperial fritillary (Fritillaria
imperialis, Linn.), it is the stamens that are affected with
this unwonted mobility; in others, which is the rarer case,
the pistils lean towards the other sex, as is noticed in the
flowers of the Nigelle and the Passiflore.

There are certain Nymphee which during the day

 

252. The Oscillating Desmodia —Desmodia oscillans,

expand their flowers on the tranquil surface of some river,
and at night sleep in its depths.

To these spontaneous acts must be added accidental
irritations, from the action of which the organs strive so
energetically to escape. We have seen with what extra-
ordinary rapidity the sensitive plant shrinks from the
least injury. The shock is so great that the whole plant
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 479

seems to sink to the earth; the boughs and the leaves
fall as if struck by lightning.

The disturbance caused by an insect is enough to
agitate the leaves of other plants. This is seen in several
little species which have become celebrated on account of
their extreme irritability. The most remarkable of these
is the Venus’ flytrap (Dionwa imuscipula), the leaves of

 

 

 

which are so many insidious snares for insects, living traps
in fact. Their expanded end presents two little palettes,
armed with teeth along their edges and united by a
longitudinal hinge. Each of these palettes is furnished

with three pointed spines, placed towards the middle of
61
480 THE UNIVERSE.

it and surrounded by glands which distil a sugary fluid.
When some imprudent insect, attracted by the honied
juice, lights upon the leaf, this, irritated by the contact,
suddenly brings its lobes together, just as we close a book,
and pierces it with its darts, compressing it more closely
in proportion as it struggles harder. The palettes only
open when the animal, quite exhausted, ceases to move,
but it is then frequently too late; the insect is dead.
The leaflets contract with such force, that when they are
closed they tear sooner than open.!

One of our marsh plants, the sun-dew, or Round-leaved
Drosera (Drosera rotundifolia, Linn.), is equally treacher-
ous with respect to little winged insects, but after another
method, which we might almost call physico-vital. All the
upper surface of its leaves is covered with long slender
filaments, each bearing at its end a little drop of glutinous
fluid, and every imprudent fly that comes among them for
the purposes of plunder finds there a certain death. Its
wings and feet being glued with the secretion, all escape
is rendered impossible. Whenever ona botanical excursion
we find this plant towards the mouth of the Seine, we
always observe that its leaves are plentifully garnished
with the dead bodies of its victims.”

' According to an English savant, the Flytrap Dionzea (Dionwa muscipula)
does not close the panels of its trap merely to punish the insect which irritates
it, but to suck ont and feed on its juices, so that it would be a carnivorous plant.
This observer maintains that such food is so indispensable to the plant, that it
fades when deprived of it by inclosing it in a framework of wire or perforated
zine; although if from time to time a few morsels of meat be placed upon its leaves,
the Dionzea remains healthy even when here.

? The dog’s-bane (Apoeynum androsemifolium), a native originally of North
America, destroys flies by catching them by the extremity of the proboscis. So
soon as the fly, attracted by the honey on the expanded blossom, protrudes its
proboseis in order to regale itself, the filaments close and seize it by the ex-
tremity of the organ with a grasp which is never relaxed till the luckless insect is
quiet in thearms of death—a death apparently occasioned by exhaustion alone.—Tr.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 481

On the other hand, the botanist can succeed in demon-
strating vegetable irritability by experiment. For this pur-
pose it suffices to excite certain organs with the point of
a needle or a fine scalpel. So soon as we touch the stamens
of the barberry, the nettle, or the cactus, we see them
shrink quickly from the instrument. In the same way
the pistils of the Mimulus bring their blades together when
the least prick is made.

Lastly, this mobility is again seen manifesting itself
spontaneously with extraordinary intensity in the pollinic
animalcules of certain plants, which are furnished for this
purpose with special organs or ciliz, by means of which
they swim in every direction in the fluid which contains
them! (See fig. 215.)

Some true animalcule-plants are formed like eels, and
move by the aid of two long filaments which they carry
on their heads. This is seen in the common Chara. Others
which flit about in the cells of mosses, are exactly like the
tadpoles of frogs.

And yet these creatures, the locomotive organs of which
we can see so plainly, and which the microscopist beholds
capering as nimbly as our mountebanks in their dangerous
leaps, are obstinately considered by certain botanists, for
the sake of mere theory, as being insensible and incapable
of moving. Do some learned men only possess eyes in
order not to see with them?
482 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER X.
PHYSIOLOGY OF FLOWERS.

In the flower, this glorious and supreme effort of
vegetable life, the poetic imagination of Linnzeus beheld
only the picture of a chaste marriage. The calyx, which
erasps it in its rustic arms, was to him only the maidenly
couch, of which the delicate and undulating veils which
hang within formed the mysterious curtains. Lastly, in
the centre sat the modest spouses, intoxicating themselves
with love, enveloped in a cloud of perfume, and their feet
bathed in nectar.

But all plants do not display to us in this way the calm
magnificence of their nuptials. The deep secrets of these
are absolutely hidden with respect to many of them, which
the greatest and most ingenious of botanists named for
this reason Cryptogamia, signifying clandestine marriage.

Among plants which are ornamented with visible
flowers, these exhibit an endless variety of size, form,
colouring, and perfume.

While some, such as the valerians, bear such tiny
corollas that we can scarcely make them out, the lilies and
irises exhibit grand and sumptuous structures of this class,
which rivet every person’s attention; and yet some exotic
plants leave them far behind in this respect.

The flower of one Aristolochia, which grows on the
banks of the Magdalena, presents the appearance of a
casque with great edges. The opening of it is so large
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 483

that it will admit the head of aman; and Humboldt relates
that, when travelling along by this river, he sometimes
encountered savages wearing this flower on their heads
like a hat.

But it is on the surface of rivers that the pomp of vege-
tation is displayed. Nature nowhere shows another
flower which for size, united to colouring, can be com-
pared to those of the Nymphez and the Nelumbia. By
gentle gradations they pass from the purest white to the
most velvety red or the most delicate blue! In every age
these magnificent plants have attracted man’s attention,
and been the object of his admiration. Art has made a
splendid use of them, and to them the ancient myths owe
some of their most delicate and beautiful conceptions.

They play a great part in mythology and on Egyptian
monuments. The colonnades of Thebes and Philc, which
seem to defy the hand of time, are crowned with capitals
representing flowers of the Nymphea in full bloom, with
which the sculptors of the Pharaohs have sometimes inter-
mingled bunches of dates.

There is no Egyptian monument on which Isis is not
represented surrounded by the lotus, or holding bouquets
of it in her hands. This flower was the indispensable
ornament of the immortal goddess. In the Hindoo
temples it also serves as a seat for Bramah, who is repre-
sented sitting and holding in his hands the sacred Vedas.

Yet the brilliant rose and white flower of the Victoria
regia, which ornaments the waves of the Amazon, attains
still more remarkable proportions than the foregoing, being
sometimes a yard in circumference.

But the flower of the Ruflesia Arnoldi, a perfect
monster of vegetation, leaves all these far behind! It is
found in the forests of Java and Sumatra. Its outlines
484 THE UNIVERSE.

and gigantic proportions separate it so widely from every-
thing known, that in spite of the assertions of travellers,
botanists refused to believe, and persisted in looking
upon the repulsive colossus as a Fungus. The discussion
did not cease till one of these flowers was sent to London,
and examined by R. Brown, who dissipated all doubts.
Each flower was found to be composed of a fleshy mass
weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds. Its border, the
circuit of which was not less than ten feet, showed five
lobes, forming a gaping excavation capable of holding a
dozen pints of fluid.

This strange and eccentric flower, which botanists still
regard as one of the marvels of the vegetable world, looks
at first sight like one of the huge Fungi commonly called
puff-balls, and it is only when it has displayed its thick and
flesh-coloured petals that its true nature is revealed. It
exhales a repulsive carrion-like smell.

The naturalist stands stupified at such an exuberant
production, but the Javanese prostrates himself before it;
he almost makes a divinity of it, and clothes it with super-
natural power. Yet its bulk, weight, and fetor will ever
prevent us from making use of it for our wants and enjoy-
ments.!

Poetry has exhausted all its resources in telling of the
perfume and colour of flowers. Nature has surpassed art,
and the pencil of Apelles and Rubens could not reproduce

1 Here and there, in desolate spots in South-west Africa, grows one of the
most extraordinary plants in the world, the MWelwitschta mirabilis. It looks
perhaps almost as much like an immense red and green Polypus as anything. It
has two leaves, nine or ten feet long, and of a pale green colour. Under the in-
fluence of heat and drought these split up into ribbons. In the centre is a woody
mass, with a rough bark or cork-like surface, rising a foot or so above the ground,
and bearing round its edges, just within the insertion of the leaves, an assemblage
of small stems about six inches long, dividing into smaller branches, each of
which bears from three to five cones, three inches in length and three quarters
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 485

them in all their magnificence. And yet one colour,
black, is wanting amid this multitude of varied tints.
Some corollas, such as those of certain Scabiose, are, it is
true, of a sombre purple, but a perfect black is never seen
in this organ.

One phenomenon occurs in respect to the colouring
of flowers which has been a good deal talked about; it is
the mutability of it. Pallas, when exploring the banks of
the Volga, remarked with astonishment that a species
of anemone, the Anemone patens, sometimes bore white
flowers, sometimes yellow, and sometimes red flowers.
This phenomenon, still unexplained, appeared so abnormal
that it was mentioned everywhere. It is, however, com-
mon enough; and we may observe it any time in France
without encountering such a long journey.

The field-pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis), so common in
our country districts, frequently displays this change.
Usually its flower is of a vermilion red, but it is also
sometimes of a magnificent sky blue, which made some
botanists think they were two different species.

A pretty little plant of the genus Myosotis, which is
met with in our arid grounds, varies still more singularly
in its colour, for on the same stalk we find at the same
time red, yellow, and blue flowers—a peculiarity to which
this species owes the name of A/yosotis diversicolor which
has been given to it.
of an inch thick, of an elongated oval form and crimson colour, tinted with green
in the less developed specimens, and marked with scales like those of a fir-cone.
The leaves are so straight-grained that they can be torn from top to bottom
without deviating a single line from a straight course. Rain rarely or never falls
where this plant exists. The plant seems sometimes to attain a much greater
size than mentioned above, the leaves being two and even three fathoms long,
and the apex of the trunk, or rather, from the confused account given of it, the

flower itself, being six feet wide, and opening like two immense clam-shells, some
eighteen inches across.—Science and Art, vol, iT rR.
486 THE UNIVERSE.

Other plants display a still more remarkable pheno-
menon, for in them the same flower changes its colour at
different hours of the day. This happens with the Hibiscus
mutabilis, the corollas of which are white in the morning,
become rose-coloured towards the middle of the day, and
in the evening take on a beautiful red tint.

The successive change in the tints of the corolla is easily
conceived; it may depend on vital action or on chemical
reactions effected by time; but what is much more difficult
to explain is, that flowers having displayed a certain cate-
gory of changes during the day, go through the same
round of variation the day following. ‘This is observed in
the variously coloured corn-flag (Gladiolus versicolor,
Linn.), the corolla of which, brown in the morning, becomes
blue in the evening, and on the day following takes on
again exactly the same succession of tints as it showed the
day before.

What a variety of perfumes the flower possesses! And
yet notwithstanding their thousand and one shades of dif-
ference, those whose sense of smell is sharpened by prac-
tice can distinguish that of each species.

It is even stated in some works that a young American,
who had become absolutely blind, botanized, guided by
the smell only, in the midst of prairies enamelled with
luxuriant vegetation, and never committed any mistake in
his gleanings.

The odours which exhale from plants are almost always
delightful; it is only rarely that they are repulsive.

1 It is now, too, a well-established fact that in many plants certain members
occasionally change their colours for a season or two. The number of such
varieties is greater than was supposed ; thus, for instance, one contributor alone
to Sevence Gossip records white-flowered varieties of four different wayside plants
which had come under his own observation ina short time: Geranium robertianum
and G. molle, Lamium purpureum,and Spergula marina.—NScience Gossip, 1865.—Tr.
DA)

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254, The Poison-tree or Upas of Java (Antiaris toxicaria, Leschenault), with Flower of the
Rafflesia (Rafilesia Arnoldi, Brown) in the fore-ground.

62
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 489

The poisonous vapours which envelop the poppy and
nenuphar reveal their narcotic properties. Infectious
exhalations, precisely like those from putrefied meat, escape
from the flowers of the Stapelia and Arum, and thus the
insect, deceived by them, deposits on their calyces a car-
nivorous progeny which must infallibly perish. Some
plants emit odours exactly like those produced by certain
animals: an orchis of our forests (Satyrium hyrcinum,
Linn.) repels us by its goat-like stench; other plants
attract us by their sweetness; thus the musk-mallow
(Malva moschata, Linn.) distils the same perfume as the
musk animal (Moschus moschiferus, Linn.)

The perfume of flowers seems to depend upon the
volatilization of an essential oil which they secrete in their
most hidden recesses. In some plants this is palpably the
fact. When the atmosphere is very still, the odorous
vapours collect round them, and can be fired by means of
an ignited substance.

By employing very varied methods, the successors of the
crafty perfumers whom Mary of Medici brought to France
from Italy, collect the odoriferous essences exhaled from
the flowers, and which also saturate many other organs.
The otto of roses, one of the treasures of the East, is only
this oil in a concrete state." Camphor offers us another
under the form of crystals.

1 From what Homer says, it seems that at the time of the siege of Troy, men
already knew how to prepare a kind of oil of roses by infusing these flowers in
an oily liquid, and it is certain that in antiquity they were cultivated in order
to extract a perfume from them. The Island of Rhodes even owed its name of
Island of Roses to the fame of its cultivation of rose-trees, but probably the use
of this perfume was discontinued, for rose-water is not mentioned by authors,
and it is spoken of for the first time in the works of Avicenna. The Orien-
tals, in the times which preceded ours, employed it with extraordinary pro-
fusion. Some historians assert that when Saladin took Jerusalem in 1188, he
caused the interior of Omar’s mosque to be washed with rose-water, and for this
490 THE UNIVERSE.

_ The secretion of the perfume is usually continuous, be-
ginning at the time the flower opens and ceasing when it
fades. Even when the corolla, being altogether ephemeral,
only lives for a few minutes, it is still observed to perfume
the air during these brief moments. This is seen in the
magnificent Cactus grandiflora. Quite inodorous a few
instants before it blows, it discharges a scented cloud
when, towards twilight, its calyx opens; but the enchant-
ment vanishes before midnight, with the death and decom-
position of the flower.

Some flowers of nocturnal habits, which do not disdain
to lend life to the night, shed their perfumes only during
the darkness; these are the bats of the vegetable kingdom.
Their sombre mournful hue has often led botanists to saddle
them with unpleasing names: ¢ristis or nocturnus are their
designations for nearly all the plants which present this
singularity, as for instance the Pelargonium triste, the
Gladiolus tristis, and the Cestrum nocturnum.

The emanations from plants produce upon us physio-
logical effects which are well worth studying. If too con-
centrated they may give rise to serious symptoms, to con-
vulsions and spasms, or they may even induce death.

purpose it was employed in such quantities that Father Sanut relates that 500
camels were employed to bring it from Damascus. Mahomet ITI. also, after the
taking of Constantinople, ordered St. Sophia to be washed in the same way.
According to Father Catrou’s account, the Princess Nourmahal surpassed both,
for she collected sufficient rose-water to fill a canal, on which was launched a bark
which bore her, accompanied by the Great Mogul. Indeed it was during this re-
markable trip that the essence of rose was discovered, having formed at the sur-
face of the artificial lake owing to evaporation caused by the sun.

The essential oil of roses is one of the most exquisite and dearest perfumes, and
justly bears the title of attar or sweetest of fragrances. About 100 lbs. of flowers
are requisite to obtain nine to twelve drachms (avoirdupois) of this oil, which
comes to us from the East and India, and which is often called butter of roses.
Hippocrates and Galen were acquainted with this product, and often employed
it in medicine; now-a-days it is only employed to perfume linen and rooms.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 491

These different phenomena have been particularly ob-
served in persons keeping nosegays near them during the
night. The flowers exhale, as we know, carbonic acid:
but in the cases we speak of the accidents ought not to
be ascribed to lethal vapours, but to the odorous exhala-
tions from the flowers, which operate, as Orfila says, like
certain poisons, for they act fatally upon some individuals
and do not affect others in the least.

In 1779 a woman died in London during the night from
having kept a large bouquet of irises in her room.  Triller
saw a young girl perish in the same way from the effects
of a bouquet of violets; and it has been stated that work-
men, who have imprudently fallen asleep upon bales of
saffron, have died in consequence.

The scent of roses, so much sought for everywhere,
causes repugnance in some persons and inconveniences
others. Catherine of Medici could not endure it, and her
aversion to these flowers was so great that it was enough
for her to see the painting of one to be seized with some
degree of nausea. The Chevalier de Guise was still more
easily affected, for he fainted at the sight of a bunch of
roses.

Some cases are even told in which the smell of these
flowers sufficed to produce instant death, but they are
perhaps apocryphal.’

1The death of one of the daughters of Nicholas I., Count of Salins (in the
department of Jura), and that of a Bishop of Poland, are attributed to the emana-
tions from roses. But these facts, related by the historian Cromer, ave probably

inexact.
492 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER XI.
THE NUPTIALS OF PLANTS.

Darwin wrote a delightful poem entitled the Loves of
the Plants, which is in the hands of every lady in Great
Britain. The chaste pen of the English naturalist has
there sketched, in the most attractive manner, the mys-
terious history of the fecundation of plants. All is hidden
behind a most graceful veil, and there is nothing to alarm
the strictest propriety.

As we have seen, the flower is difficult to describe.
Linneus, by the medium of one of the most ingenious
metaphors, gives a charming idea of it. It is, he says, the
nuptial couch in which the wedding of the plants is cele-
brated. This yields a delightful perfume of poesy, but so
soon as we aspire to more exactitude the difficulty begins.

What is popularly called the flower is only the use-
less and sumptuous ornament of it; the most essential
parts lie unperceived. In the eyes of the botanist the true
floral apparatus consists only of the little filaments placed
near the centre. These are the spouses: the pistils or
brides, and the stamens or bridegrooms.

It is for them that nature displays her most sumptuous
adornments. The velvety curtains of their virgin couch,
woven by the hands of fairies, steep them in light and fire
amidst their folds of purple and emerald. In one part
faithless husbands profusely scatter life and fecundity on
everything around them; in another chaste households
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 493

live retired, and jealous brides conceal their lovers
beneath domes of azure and gold.

The delicate envelopes which attract our regards repre-
sent only the ephemeral and perfumed palace in which
the mysteries of Hymen are about to be accomplished.
But so soon as the golden dust of the stamens is spread
upon the altar, the odorous sources dry up, the veils of
the temple fade and wither, and the marvellous edifice
soon lies scattered on the ground, whilst the now fruitful
mother nourishes her precious offspring.

All flowers do not exhibit such luxury in these organs.
Generally they possess two protecting envelopes, and con-
tain at the same time ardent husbands and tender wives.
More rarely they present only one sex. In this case the
one class, without ornament and without perfume, only
contains a few cenobites; whilst others display all the splen-
dour of a harem, the perfumed canopies of which only veil
a bevy of sultanas.

Nature’s aim is always clearly defined, and she has pro-
fuse resources for attaining it. A few grains of pollen,
almost invisible, are enough to impregnate a flower, and
she pours it out open-handed; ninety-nine hundreths of it
may be lost. A single spouse—and this is the case with
certain of the Cacti—is sometimes surrounded with five
hundred husbands!?

It is even observed that nature multiplies her resources

1 When a grain of pollen has fallen upon the stigma, and is retained by the
hairs projecting from the surface, a pollen tube is emitted, apparently owing to
endosmotic action between the fluid exudation from the stigma and the contents
of the pollen cell, which latter bursts and sets free the inner lining of the cell
in the form of a cylindrical tube. This tube passes down between the cells of
the style, lengthening out till it at last reaches the ovules in the cavity of the
ovary. This lengthening was at one time thought to be merely extension, but is

now supposed to be due to actual interstitial growth. Having arrived here, the
pollen tube enters the foramen at the top of the ovule left by the imperfect clos-
494 THE UNIVERSE.

further in order to insure the reproduction of plants when
the sexes reside each in a separate flower, and sometimes
on plants separated by a great distance. The corollas
with stamens produce an enormous quantity of pollen
dust, which makes up for the difficulty of communication.
This strikes every observer who is in the neighbourhood
of a pine-forest. The pollen is often borne away from the
trees in such abundance that it covers all the surrounding
country with its yellow dust. This is the phenomenon
known by the name of “sulphur-rain.” And indeed,
owing to its yellow colour and the way in which it burns
with a bright flame, pollen has been thought akin to sulphur
by some inexperienced observers. Sometimes, when it
falls upon the roofs of the neighbouring towns, it tints
them all over with a pale yellow.!

At the moment when the curtains of the nuptial couch
are opened the plants appear to suffer a febrile excitement.
Unwonted movements are observed in their floral organs,
and the temperature is sometimes raised in a very remark-
able manner. It seems, as the physiologist Burdach says,
that at such moments the plant issues from its humble
ing of its investments, and thus comes in contact with the nucleus and embryo-
sac. In this sac there are at the top some minute vesicles called the germinal
vesicles, one or sometimes two of which, under contact, lengthen out into a
slender cellular thread, and at one end of this thread is the embryo-plant.—The
Life of a Seed, by Maxwell T. Masters, M.D.—Tr.

1This phenomenon has been occasionally observed in the towns near the
landes of Bordeaux. The pollen of the pine-trees, borne by the wind, sometimes
stains all the roofs of a yellow colour. Pollen showers are not rare. The
learned are acquainted with a great number of them. A very remarkable one
fell at Picton in the United States in 1841. When Mr. J. W. Bailey submitted
its fine microscopic dust to the microscope, it was found to be entirely composed
of pine pollen. Another, which covered Troy and its environs, was discovered to
owe its origin to the same tree. The flames which issue at our theatres from the
torches of fairies or at conflagrations are due to the combustion of the inflammable

pollen of a little plant analogous to mosses, the Lycopodium clavatum, which is

collected by means of bags.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 495

sphere and shows us traces of animal life. The stamens
are agitated, and quit their places, bending towards the
stigmata. More rarely, as if modesty were inherent in the
delicacy of flowers, the pistils advance towards their
spouses.

By means of thermo-electric needles it has been proved
that the elevation of temperature in the flower is a wide-
spread phenomenon. In some plants this heat is so great
that an instrument of accuracy is not requisite to show it;
the simplest thermometer suffices. It is only necessary to
touch even the flower in certain arums to observe that it
is of a burning heat, and we are astonished that it can
support such a temperature without being consumed. De
Candolle observed that a thermometer plunged into the
spathe of an Italian arum rose to 62° (143° 36’ Fahr.)!

From the remotest antiquity men seem to have under-
stood the mysterious loves of plants. The question was
practically solved, for Herodotus tells us that the Baby-
lonians knew how to distinguish male from, female date-
trees, and that in his day, in the environs of their immense
city, they occupied themselves with the artificial fecunda-
tion of the latter.

The first travellers who, in imitation of Prosper Alpinus,
taught us true notions as to the manners of the Orientals,
state that they were so well acquainted with the fertilizing
power of the stamens, that they were accustomed, from
the most distant times, to place their female date-trees to

1Tt was Lamarck who discovered that the flower of the arum gives out con-
siderable heat at the time of fecundation. De Candolle verified this fact at Mont-
pellier. It isa very remarkable phenomenon. I observed that at a given moment
the flowers of certain Colocasize grew so warm, that their heat was felt by the
fingers of those who touched them, In other flowers the phenomenon is less
evident, still itis general. Brongniart, Dutrochet, Biot, and Schultze have recog-

nized it by means of thermo-electric needles,
63
496 THE UNIVERSE.

the leeward of the males, in order that they might more
effectually receive the prolific dust.

At the present day the negroes know perfectly that the
loss of the male stems completely checks the production
of the fruit. Hence when, in time of wars, they wish to
starve their enemies out, they content themselves with
destroying the stamen-bearing palms, which are much the
less numerous.

In Egypt the harvest of dates has for ages been assured
by mounting the palms and shaking the male panicles upon
the female flowers. At the time of the French invasiou
the Arabs were not in a position to take this precaution,
being more occupied with war than with agricultural
labours; and consequently in this year, according to the
statement of the botanist Delille, who was a member of
the expedition, the date-trees were barren.

Nevertheless, it must be admitted that if the ancients
observed the sexual nature of plants, they often deceived
themselves on the subject. Pliny alone, in his thirteenth
book, describes the fecundation of the palm-tree with a per-
fection which it is almost impossible to surpass.

But we must turn to Linnzeus in order to see this fact
demonstrated experimentally for the first time.

In a charming production entitled the Marriage of
Plants (Sponsalia Plantarum) the great botanist initiates
us into many marvels. In it he relates that having
taken two specimens of the annual mercury (ercurialis
annua, Linn.), the one male and the other female, growing
in separate pots, the fecundity of the latter was more
marked in proportion as her spouse was nearer. Even at
a considerable distance impregnation still took place; the
air becoming the mysterious medium of communication
between the plants. But when the stalk charged with
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 497

stamens, with which the experiment was made, was
removed from the green-house, the abandoned wife re-
mained quite sterile.!

A few years subsequently to the time of this learned
botanist, Gleditsch likewise proved the fecundation of
plants by a transcendent demonstration. He had in his
garden at Berlin a female palm-tree, the verdant crown of
which yearly overshadowed numerous flowers, and each
year these were infallibly stricken with sterility. But
having learned that there was a male plant of the same
species flourishing at Dresden, he conceived the idea of
sending for some of the pollen in order to artificially im-
pregnate the one in his possession. The pollen dust was
immediately sent to him by the post, and a short time after
he had sprinkled it upon the stigmas of his palm-tree, he
beheld all the flowers fecundated by the contact produce
a corresponding number of fruits.”

Insects play a great part m vegetable life; some botanists
even consider them as the principal agents in fecundity.
While working their way among the stamens and pistils
they bear off the fertilizing dust from the former and trans-
port it to the others. The farmers on the banks of the
Rhine have even remarked, that the orchards in which
bees are reared, are more productive than those in which
there are none.

In the Levant insects are thought to have a certain

1Jt isin his memoir on the Marriage of Plants that Linnzeus wrote, on the
two Mercuriales experimented upon, the phrase which has become so celebrated:
“Love inflames plants,” amor urit plantas.

2 On one of my visits to Strasburgh, Professor Fée showed me a female palm-
tree on which he had repeated Gleditsch’s experiment with equal success. It was
a dwarf-palm tree, Chunwerops humilis, the flowers of which were fecundated with
pollen sent from a distance to the illustrious botanist. He simply sprinkled it

upon them. All the fruit was developing perfectly upon this palm-tree when I
saw it in the month of August, 1855.
498 THE UNIVERSE.

amount of influence on the products of the fig-tree. Where
cultivation is carried on upon a large scale, they take
boughs from the wild species, with numbers of the gall-
insects on them which frequent those trees, and lay them
upon the cultivated trees. These insects, penetrating into
the obscure receptacles of their cloistered flowers, spread
upon them the germs of generation. This is the operation
that is called “caprification.”?

Thus a single fly which lives upon the fig-tree providen-
tially secures subsistence and commercial wealth to the
greatest cities of the East.

A tiny Coleopteron, by means of its dainty taste, im-
parts a similar benefit to Greenland, by aiding in the re-
production of the Kamtchatka lily, the bulbs of which, m
the rigorous winters of these polar regions, alone preserve
all the population from famine.

Willdenow, by means of an interesting experiment,
showed plainly what a part insects play in respect to fruc-
tification. He took an Aristolochia Clematis and placed it
under a cage covered with gauze. As this prevented the
animals from reaching and penetrating within the flowers,
the plant produced no fruit. On the other hand, another
Aristolochia of the same species, which stood by the side
of it in the open air, so that the insects could visit it as
they liked, had all its flowers fecundated.

The idea of the intervention exercised by insects is so

1 Caprification was considered essential for the fructification of the fig-
tree. Aristotle, Theophrastes, and Pliny speak of it. Their accounts appeared
fabulous, but Tournefort demonstrated their correctness, having had an oppor-
tunity of satisfying himself during his travels that this practice still existed in
the Levant. Linnzeus only saw in caprification a step by which insects transport
pollinic dust from the male flowers of the wild fig-tree to the female flowers of
the cultivated species, in order to produce fecundation.

But the part played by the insects is restricted to puncturing the receptacle,
a process which stimulates the ripening of the figs, as it does that of our garden
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 499

predominant with Burdach, that he goes the length of sup-
posing that each nourishes its particular insect, the mis-
sion of which is to preside over the mysteries of its espousal.
According to the German physiologist, flowers only pre-

 

 

255. Influence of Insects upon the Fecundation of Flowers.— Willdenow’s Experiment.

flowers, and enables us to obtain a much larger yield of fruit. However, the figs
thus punctured are much less finely flavoured than those which ripen spontan-
eously, but it is asserted that the trees thus operated on bear ten times as many
figs as when it is not practised. Tournefort says that a caprified fig-tree yields as
much as 280 Ibs. of fruit, whilst only 25 Ibs. can be got from it when it is not arti-
ficially fructified. Ollivier, who also saw this operation practised during his travels
in the Levant, and Bosc the writer on husbandry, look upon it as useless. I quite
share their opinions; my travels in the East have enabled me to satisfy myself,
that in many countries where they do not practise this operation the figs are no
less fine and abundant.—Pouchet, Botanique Appliquée, t. ii. p. 22.
500 THE UNIVERSE.

serve their virgin purity because their faithful visitors
consecrate the whole course of their ephemeral existence
to them, and never wander to another species. The noc-
turnal plants are also haunted by useful parasites, which
only awake to animation during the darkness."
_ Conrad Sprengel even thinks that if so many flowers
are stricken with sterility in our hot-houses, even when
parading a superfluity of means for becoming mothers, it
is because their indispensable insect has not been allowed
to bear them company. This is the case with the Vanilla.
Since it blossoms in our country, it might fructify if kept
duly supplied with heat by means of a hot-air apparatus,
and yet it remains quite barren. The same thing happens
with the orange-coloured corollas of the Royal Strelitzia.”
It is especially in the two great families, the Asclepi-
adacee and Orchidaceze, the strange flowers of which remind
one of the forms and brilliant colouring of insects, that
nature seems to call the latter to her aid. In these the
anthers, which are like little glutinous clubs, attach them-
selves to the flies when these come to drink the nectar,
and are by them transported from one flower to another
and deposited upon the stigmata. But for such visitors
these plants would die out without progeny.?

1 Dr. Hildebrand of Bonn concludes, from several interesting experiments on the
fertilization of Corydalis cava, that when the flowers of the plant are protected
from insect influence and acted on only by their own pollen they produce no capsules.

2The Rev. Conrad Sprengel, who assigned such a marvellous part in the
fecundation of plants to insects, in the excess of his enthusiasm called them
Nature’s gardeners. The proof that the sterility of the Aromatic Vanilla (Vanilla
aromatica, Linn.) in our greenhouses is owing to the imperfect nature of the
fecundation, has been given by the experiments of M. Morren, who showed that by
placing the pollen itself upon the stigmata of the flowers fecundation was artificially
produced, and that plants were thus soon obtained which for beauty and aroma
might rival those produced by America. On the other hand, M. Brongniart arti-
ficially fecundated the Strelitzia regina, which, left to itself, is with us unproductive.

3 Sometimes bees, when rifling the flowers of the Asclepiadacez or Orchises,
 

 

 

 

 

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THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 501

With respect to other plants, nature has intrusted the
cares of their conjugal union to the wings of the wind.
This is the case with the dicecious plants, the sexes in
which are separate and dwell on distinct plants, which are
often separated a long way from each other. In whirling
about the waves of air uplift the pollen, carry it into the
clouds, and let it fall upon the flowers like a fertilizing dew.

Science religiously preserves the history of two palm-
trees which were born in Italy and displayed a most
striking instance of what we have been stating. One of
them grew in the vicinity of Otranto; it was a female
tree, and annually covered with luxuriant flowers, yet it
remained constantly sterile. Every season had for a long
time brought forth the same hopes of fertility, to be fol-
lowed by the same blight. It may be imagined then how
general the astonishment was when the palm-tree of
Otranto was at last, after so many delusive promises, seen
laden with fruit! It was then found that another palm-
tree of the same species, but a male, had for the first time
blossomed at Brindisi. There could be no doubt about the
matter; the wind, carrying away the pollen from the latter,
had besprinkled the other with it, and thus the breeze had
borne the life-giving dust a distance of fifteen leagues. From
this time the palm-tree of Otranto bore a harvest each year.

Flowers only celebrate their chaste union in broad day-
light. They require for it waves of air and light, and in
order to plunge into these, we frequently see them per-
form the most unexpected feats.

Aquatic plants are principally remarkable in this
come out with their heads and feet covered with the anthers of these flowers like
small clubs. In some cases so much adheres that they cannot fly. This is the
affection which amateurs call the “club disorder.” Ch. Robin, in the beautiful

plates of his work on vegetable parasites, gives figures of different insects strug-
gling with this inconvenient burden.
502 THE UNIVERSE.

respect. The task itself seems to be chiefly intrusted to
the peduncle. In some plants growing in the depths of
our marshes this support lengthens out, even to an immense
extent if necessary, so as to raise the flower above the
surface of the water. This is frequently seen in the
magnificent water-lilies (Vympheea alba, Linn.) which orna-
ment our ponds so splendidly with their virgin corollas.
When the plant grows at the edge and is quite dry, its
peduncles are only an inch or two long; whilst, when it is
planted in deep water, these organs stretch out three or
four feet, in order that the flowers may expand upon the
surface of the wave.

When incapable of executing such manceuvres, these
plants make use of some equivalent proceeding instead.
This was observed by Ramond in a Water Ranunculus
(water crow-foot, or Ranunculus aquatilis, Linn.) which
he met with in the Pyrenees. Placed in deep water,
and not being able to bring its flowers into contact with
the atmosphere, the want of this was supplied by an in-
genious means. Each corolla had secreted a large bubble
of air, which entirely enveloped it in such a manner that,
though beneath the water, fecundation was accomplished
just as if the floral apparatus had not been submerged
at all.

But of all plants the fecundation of the Vallisneria
spiralis has acquired the most celebrity. This dicecious
plant lives in the rivers of the south of France. Its
female flowers, attached to peduncles twisted spirally,
expand upon the surface of the water, all the move-
ments of which they follow. Like a spring, their spiral
lengthens when the water rises, and shortens when it
falls. The male flowers, not being provided with this
elastic apparatus, find themselves chained to the foot of
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 503

the plant at the bottom of the water. How are the
wedded pair to become united? Nature has foreseen all.

 

 

 

 

256. Nuptials of the Spiral Vallisneria—Vallisneria spiralis (Linnzus).

When the moment has arrived the peduncles of the male

flowers break, these mount to the surface of the water,
64
504 THE UNIVERSE.

spread out and form a numerous cortége, floating around
the females. Thus is the wedding of the Vallisneria ac-
complished, and the intent of this curious scene is so
clearly marked out, that so soon as the act is over, the
fecundated flowers shorten their spirals and sink beneath
the water to ripen their fruit.

Our marshes nourish a still more curious plant, the

 

257. Nuptials of the Common Utricularia—Utricularia vulgaris (Linneus).

Utricularia, doubly remarkable for its singular look and
for its mode of ascent. Yet its fecundation is far from
having acquired the celebrity of that of the Vallisneria,
poetry not having appropriated it as it has done with the
other. This plant at the bottom of the water looks like a
confused mass of fibres. When we withdraw it and in-
spect it, we observe that its capillary ramifications present
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 505

here and there little vesicular leaves, representing so many
utricles in miniature, the gaping mouths of which seem to
be guarded by two prominent filaments. So long as ever
the Utricularia is only occupied in providing for its own
subsistence, these vesicles remain filled with a mucous
fluid, the weight of which overloads them, and the plant,
borne down in this way, rests supported on the bot-
tom of the pond, to which, however, it in no way
adheres.

But later on, when the period of flowering arrives, the
vesicles absorb the mucus which filled them, and replace

 

258. Branch of the Utricularia laden with its Hydrostatic Vesicular Leaves.

it with an aériform fluid. Then the plant, having become
‘ lighter than the water, escapes from the bottom and rises
to the surface, where it floats and where its pretty golden
yellow flowers are expanded and fecundated.

After this, by an unexpected reflex action, and when
the torches of Hymen are scarcely extinguished, the vesi-
cles expel the gas which they contain and fill anew with
weighty mucus. At this last moment the Utricularia
falls again to the depths of the marsh, where the spouses
expire in the act of ripening their fruits.

A more robust plant, the Aldrovanda, which grows in
506 THE UNIVERSE.

the lakes of Italy, attains the same end, but by a method
less ingenious, and marked, so to speak, by a certain degree
of coarseness. It lives at the bottom of the water, but
when the hour of fecundation has struck, its large stem
breaks short off close to the root, and all at once it rises to
float on the surface of the waves.

Thus by different ways does nature arrive at her
ends,
BOOK ITl.

THE SHED AND GERMINATION.

The seed is really only a vegetable egg, and Linneus,
when he gave it this name in his botanical philosophy,
already perceived all the analogies between the two.

When these analogies are compared we see that the
advantage is on the side of the plant, and that its egg is
elevated to a higher state of organic development than
that of the bird. In the latter it is with difficulty that we
perceive the germ of the new being that is to issue from
it, whilst when we separate the coverings and membranes
of the seed of the plant, we see the embryo already formed.
We distinguish in it, even with the naked eye, the little
root, the stem, and the delicate leaves; everything is there:
it is nothing but a young plant slumbering in its cradle.
In many seeds we can even discern the cords by which the
little one clings to the mammee which are to nourish it.

The young stalk of the wheat exists already in the grain
which we eat; the little palm-tree, as stiff as the vertical
stem which it is about to produce, is also scen in the
cocoa-nut; while the embryo of the bean, bent upon itself,
reveals the tendency which its stem has to curl itself round
everything that finds itself in its way.
508 THE UNIVERSE,

The seed, essentially a rudimentary organ like the egg
of the animal, shows itself almost constantly in an element-
ary form: it is generally globular, ovoid, or kidney-shaped;
rarely angular.

Some seeds are so small that they are absolutely invis-
ible without the aid of the microscope, as for instance those
of the Fungi; whilst others, like the Cocos (Cocos nucifera,
Linn.) of the Maldive Islands, reach the size of a man’s
body.

Some only preserve their germinative faculty for a few
hours; if they are not sown at the moment when the plant
offers them at maturity, as it were, they constantly abort.
Others, on the contrary, preserve their latent life through
many ages; sheltered in our monuments or buried in an
unpropitious soil. After such a long sleep, perchance of
many thousands of years, if they are placed in a favourable
spot, they germinate, to our great astonishment.

Two parts are to be distinguished in the seed: the in-
tegument and the kernel.

The integument or envelope generally presents a cori-
aceous substance; sometimes, however, as in the case of
the pomegranate, it is only formed by a watery layer. Its
surface, usually smooth, 1s sometimes wrinkled, hairy, or
finely honey-combed.

Tn one region of it we see the trace of the spot where
the cord adhered which attached the grain to the mother
plant, and transmitted its nutritive juices to it. This im-
print bears the name of umbilicus.

The kernel is formed of the embryo, a true plant in
miniature, surrounded by parts which are to aid in its
evolution.

Among these the cotyledons occupy the first place.
They are usually fleshy, sometimes foliaceous, organs which
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 509

prepare for the little plant, issuing from the egg, nourish-
ment appropriate to its delicacy till it can itself take up
its food from the soil. There are usually only one or two.

When the cotyledons are little developed their alimen-
tary function is intrusted to another organ, the perisperm.
This, which Gertner compared very rightly to the albumen
of the egg, varies a good deal as to its volume and consist-
ence. In the cocoa-palm it is in part milky. Our bread
is made from the farinaceous perisperm of the wheat; our
coffee is only the same part from the horny seed of the
coffee-tree of Arabia.

Plants are known, the perisperm of which is of a firm-
ness much surpassing that of the coffee-tree. Such is the
case with the seeds of the Corozo, in which this structure
is as white and hard as ivory; owing to this fact different
objects are made from it in trade which are put forward
as being fabricated from this substance. This peculiarity
has procured for the Corozo palm the name of the elephant-
plant (Phytelephas), and for its fruit, cargoes of which are
brought to France, that of vegetable ivory.

It was Leuwenhoeck who first of all noticed that the
seed contains the young plant in miniature, traced out in
the midst of its envelopes, and only waiting for favouring
circumstances to expand its leaves and flowers. Thus,
looking philosophically at the subject, we may say that
certain plants are viviparous. There are even some in
which the impatience of the embryo is so great, that in
order to reach the air and light more quickly, it precipi-
tately escapes from its egg while this still adheres to the
mother.

This peculiarity is seen in the mangroves (/th2zophora
gymnorrhiza, Linn.), strange plants, half-tree, half-tish, living
half-plunged in the sea or the lagoons of tropical America
510 THE UNIVERSE.

and India. Suspended above the water by their bent
branches, often quite covered with oysters, these trees let
drop through their foliage long roots of embryos which
have germinated in the fruit. These, perfectly adapted to
the work they have before them, are like little pointed clubs,
and have attained a length of from three to four decimetres
(ten to fourteen inches) at the time when they are to fall
into the water; so that they sink deep into the mud which
encircles the mother plant and form a family group around
her.

Germination, which is really vegetable suckling, is only
the development of the embryo up to the fall of the coty-
ledons.

This act is almost always accomplished in the ground;
it is only aquatic plants which effect it under water. Some
parasites, however, germinate on the plants or animals
on the surface of which we find them. This occurs in the
microscopic Fungi which attack our hair and beard, and
bring on most harassing diseases, tetters, tines, &c., as the
labours of the microscopists of our day have placed be-
yond a doubt. Similar to these are certain parasitic plants,
which are never found except upon certain insects.

At other times germination takes place under very
strange conditions. Vandermonde saw children in whose
noses peas had germinated from having been imprudently
introduced. Another physician, Bréra, mentions having
opened the body of a soldier whose stomach was filled
with barley which was developing itself there.

There are two classes of actions to be considered in
germination: physiological phenomena, and chemical phe-
nomena.

Let us first of all examine the former, we can discuss
the others farther on. So soon as ever the seed is con-
 

 

 

 

259. Forest of Mangroves.

65
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 513

fided to the earth it imbibes water and swells. Soon after-
wards the integument tears irregularly and the young
plant appears outside. Sometimes, however, this act is
effected symmetrically. The seed presents a kind of lid
or little door, which the young plant opens by pushing it
so as to direct itself towards the soil, as we see in the
Indian reeds. After that the root sinks downwards and
the stem shoots up towards the light.

This double phenomenon has occupied physiologists a
ereat deal. At first the direction of the roots was attri-
buted to the humidity of the ground or to its chemical
composition. But Duhamel having noticed that young

 

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260. Germination of an Arundo indica.

roots did not sink into wet sponges between which seeds
had been made to germinate, and Dutrochet having re-
marked that seeds suspended in boxes filled with earth left
them in order to penetrate more deeply, it became neces-
sary to renounce these two hypotheses.

Knight and Dutrochet, seeing that when seeds are made
to grow in the buckets of a wheel set in motion by mechan-
ism, the rootlets always tend outwards and the stems in-
wards, concluded that the divergence of these organs was
owing to the influence of terrestrial gravitation.
514 THE UNIVERSE.

It was also thought that the direction of the roots was
due to their trying to escape the light, but by means
of experiments in which suspended plants were lighted
from below, it was ascertained that these organs directed
themselves towards the light. Hence this hypothesis really

 

261. Roots Lighted from below and directing themselves towards the Light.

explains the cause of the direction which plants take no
better than the others.!

In proportion as the embryo is developed, the coty-
ledons, as Malpighi remarked, become filled with vessels,
the office of which is to secrete the first nutritive fluids of

1M. Blondeau, in a memoir read before the French Academy, stated that
exposure of some seeds to an induced electric current has the effect of making the
stem and leaves grow down into the earth, while the roots come up and take their
place.—Tr.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 515

the young plant, for this could only find in the ground
food too active or too coarse for its yet undeveloped
tissues. Then when these vegetable mamme, as Bonnet
called them, have accomplished their function, and when
the roots are vigorous enough to nourish themselves, the
part of these organs being played out, they fade and fall.

Such is the last phase in the evolution of, the young
plant.

At the same time that these different vital actions are
carried on, the germination is the theatre of important
chemical phenomena. For its accomplishment it imperi-
ously demands a certain amount of warmth, water, and
air. If one of these factors be wanting, this first manifes-
tation of life becomes an impossibility. At the tempera-
ture of zero all vegetation ceases.

When cold fastens upon seeds it preserves them for an
indefinite period of time, just as it preserved the compan-
ions of Bilbao, the discoverer of the South Sea, whose
corpses were recently found in the snows of the Cordilleras;
and as it preserved the remains of the antediluvian elephants
and rhinoceroses, the skeletons of which, still enveloped in
their flesh, were discovered in the ices of Siberia.

The course taken by the water, which is to soak into
the grain and prepare the way for its evolution, is not
always the same.

In seeds which have a coriaceous husk, not easily per-
meable by moisture, the liquid enters by the umbilicus.
Poncelet and De Candolle proved that all the outer surface
of these seeds might be covered with wax, and yet that
would not prevent them from germinating if the precau-
tion were taken of not covering the umbilical cicatrix.

In seeds the skin of which is soft and easily imbibes
water, such as those of the haricot bean for instance, it is
516 THE UNIVERSE.

this structure that principally gives access to the water
which is so indispensably necessary to primordial life.

The air also plays a great part in the chemical pheno-
mena of germination. The learned Homberg denied the
importance of it, because he saw seeds develop in the
receiver of his pneumatic machine. But Boyle, Muschen-
broeck, and Boerhaave demonstrated that this agent is
absolutely necessary to vegetable evolution, and that if the
great chemist stated the contrary, it could only be attri-
buted to the defective construction of his instruments which
enabled him to obtain but a very imperfect vacuum.

All the air, however, is not employed in the first phase
of vegetable life; of its two principal elements the oxygen
is here alone of service. It is to the chemist Scheele that
the glory of this great discovery is due.

Some seeds only absorb a small quantity of it; one or
two thousandths of their weight is enough; this is the case
with wheat. Others, such as the haricot bean, consume,
according to Saussure and Woodhouse, as much as a
hundredth part.

At the time when seeds germinate they exhale carbonic
acid and water, and set free a noticeable amount of
heat.

Divers causes accessorily hasten the evolution of the
plant.

Electricity is one of these. It was the Abbé Nollet who
discovered its action. More recently Sir Humphrey Davy
and A. Becquerel observed that it is only negative elec-
tricity that gives energy to this phenomenon; whilst positive
electricity, on the contrary, retards it.

Indeed, if we pass an electric current beneath a sown
surface, the seeds develop much more quickly than in a
part which has not been submitted to electricity.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 517

The difference is well marked when we experiment with
seeds which germinate very quickly. One patch will be
covered with close green vegetation, while on the other
not a single plant has yet issued from the ground.

Following Ingenhouz and Sennebier, men have long
taught that light was opposed to germination. This is an
error, as Saussure noticed. Nevertheless all the coloured
rays of light are not favourable to it; the chemical and the
calorific rays have each an opposite action upon this phe-
nomenon. The former, which are the blue and the violet
rays, clearly increase its activity; the latter, the red and
yellow rays, are hurtful to it.

A knowledge of the fundamental conditions demanded
by vegetation explains certain phenomena which have
occasionally astonished the vulgar. When these conditions
are wanting, seeds are often preserved torpid for a long
time in the place which incloses them, and then when they
find themselves under the influence of favourable circum-
stances, they cover a site with a form of vegetation un-
known there within the memory of man.

Thus, according to the account of Ray, after the great
fire of London, the hedge-mustard (Stsymbrium Lrio) all at
once grew thickly on the ruins of this city where previously
it was unknown. When certain forests are burned we see
plants spring from their soil which were never previously
known there. Analogous facts have been noticed after old
marshes have been dried up. Their beds laid bare are
sometimes covered with an entirely new form of vegetation,

quite unknown in the country, and arising doubtless from

1 With regard to the action of light, the balance of evidence seems to be in
favour of the opinion expressed by Mr. Hunt, which is very much to the same
effect, viz. that the blue rays promote germination, while the yellow light-giving
rays impede it.—Popular Science Review.—Tr.
518 THE UNIVERSE.

seeds having been buried under the water and preserved
there till, having been exposed to the air, all the conditions
necessary to germination, which were previously wanting,
were now brought to bear upon them."

1 Thompson's weed (Lepidium Draba),a plant which gives much annoyauce to
agriculturists, appears to have been introduced in the straw of the beds brought
back from the disastrous expedition to Walcheren. The troops being disem-
barked at Ramsgate, the beds were ripped up and the straw thrown into an old
chalkpit belonging to a Mr. Thompson. It was subsequently used as manure,
and wherever this manure was laid down a plentiful crop of the new weed was
the result. This weed has now spread over a great part of Kent.—Popular

Scrence Review, vol. v. p. 492.—Tr.
 

 

Engraved by-R. An

THE GREAT WATER- LILY VICTORIA REGIA.

FREOL TED BY TUMMING- BIRDS (44

   

vstilbon Lorimant &Trochiiies amehystina

 
BOOK IV.

EXTREMES IN THE VEGETABLE
KINGDOM.

CHAPTER LI.

THE LICHEN ROCK AND THE VIRGIN FOREST.

The vegetable kingdom is the emblem of diversity in
harmony. While its extreme limits offer the most mani-
fest contrasts, everything still is chained and bound together
by imperceptible links, and bears evidence of the divine
wisdom which presided over its distribution. In certain
families force and majesty predominate; others attract
attention by the delicacy of their forms or the charm of
their beauty. On one side are seen robust forms sculptured
by the hand of giants, on the other delicate outlines traced
by the fingers of fairies.

What an astonishing contrast between this palm-tree,
the crown of which daringly rends the clouds as it waves
above the tropical forest, and this gray lichen, a thin layer
of coloured matter staining our statues and walls! What
infinite variety, what a series of gradations, from the splen-
did flower of the Victoria regia to the imperceptible corolla
of the nettle; from those indestructible plants which grew
520 THE UNIVERSE.

on the warm mud of our new-born globe to the ephemeral
organisms which die as they issue from the earth; from the
wood which is substituted for iron to the gelatinous plant
which the slightest touch crushes! And yet in the midst
of this inextricable chaos, science reveals to us order and
eternal wisdom.

The sceptre of vegetation belongs to the oak. When
in the depth of night we wander amid the sombre and
stately precincts of Mount Etna, the imposing majesty of
these denizens, centuries old, and the huge shadows of their
agitated and groaning summits, fill us with awe and terror,
and announce that we are in the presence of the king of
our forests. One dreads to hear the plaintive groans
which froze Dante with terror as they issued from the
black boughs of the Wood of Suicides.

“To sentia gia d’ogni parte trar guai,

E non vedéa persona che’l facesse :
Perch’ io tutto smarrito m’arrestai.”

I heard from every part sounds of woe issuing,
Nor yet could see a being to utter them:
Whilst all astounded I stayed wy steps.

The palms, decorated with their waving crowns, are,
in the eyes of all, the emblem of tropical vegetation.
Poets have often sung of their magnificence; and Linnzeus,
impressed by their brilliant appearance, decorated them
with the name of “princes of the vegetable kingdom.”

But those who travel in the East, which the great Swed-
ish botanist never did, find that masses of palms are far
from having the grand and imposing look of our European
forests. They form only a vista of naked and monotonous
columns, the leafy dome of which allows the rays of the
sun to pass through; hence a popular saying of the ancients
tells us that ‘‘no person can travel with impunity beneath
 

e.

e Nil

eeg on the Banks of th

tr

Forest of Palm

262.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 523

the palm-trees.” Explorers of the valley of the Nile who
were really in earnest about their work, have justly
observed that the poets would not have written their
idylls on these trees if they had found themselves beneath
the date-palms of Egypt in the hottest hours of the day.

There is one solitary exception, the doum-palm of the
Thebais (Cuci/era thebaica, Martius). Its wide-spread
branches, terminated by numerous tufts of large leaves, to
which hang monstrous bunches of fruit, give to its forests
a diversity, a picturesqueness, which its congeners do not
partake of.

The palm-tree really displays all its splendour and its
strength only when it shows itself in little groups, boldly
planted in the midst of rocks, the crowns of which, waving
in the tempest, seem only to bend in order to defy the
fury of the waves breaking tumultuously at their feet.

The beauty of the Liliacee, the great flowers of which
are enamelled with the brightest colours, also charmed
Linneus. He looked upon them as “the nobles of Flora’s
empire,” spreading forth their blazonry on the segments
of their resplendent corollas.

Lastly, according to the legislator of botany, among the
numerous families of plants which enliven the globe, the
ereat but humble family of Graminacee represents the
people. ‘They are,” he said, “the plebeians, the poor, the
peasants of the vegetable kingdom. They form the simplest,
the most numerous, and the most sprightly part of it;
hence it is in them that power and force reside, and the
more we trample upon and maltreat them, the more do
they multiply.”

Fleshy plants give the strangest of aspects to equatorial
landscapes, as for instance in Mexico, the privileged land
of the cactuses. It is there that we find growing in almost
524 THE UNIVERSE.

a miraculous manner the gigantic torch-cactus (Cereus
giganteus, Engelm). One is quite astonished at finding
it upon the most sterile rocks, where the eye with difficulty
detects a few particles of earth. How can a plant so
bulky, fleshy, and watery, grow without taking up any-
thing from the soil, and draw the elements of nutrition
from the burning air around it? When this cactus is fully
developed, it presents the appearance of an immense
chandelier, attaining a height of as much as sixty feet,
and it is surprising to see that the tempest spares it.

When we pass from animals to the vegetable kingdom,
we find, that notwithstanding the calm and silence which
here preside over all the acts of life, there is yet an energy,
a tenacity, which one would never have suspected. To
the extremes of size are opposed incalculable differences
in duration. No animal grows with the prodigious ra-
pidity which we see in certain plants, nor does any attain
the fabulous longevity which is the attribute of many trees.

One plant passes away like an ephemeron: a ray of
sunlight sees its birth and fall. Another defies the power
of ages: the offspring of creation, it seems as if it ought
only to sink with the wreck of the globe.

Some of our more common moulds pass in one day
through all the phases of life: this lapse of time is sufficient
for them to appear in, fructify, and die. But by a singular
contradiction, some plants of the same class only grow
with inexplicable slowness. One of those lichens which
show lke plates of golden yellow on the roofs of our
houses, was watched for forty years by Vaucher, without his
seeing that it increased to a perceptible extent. Accord-
ingly De Candolle said that the lichens which cover our
rocks possibly go back to the times of the cataclysms
which laid them bare!
 

 

253. Virgin Forest in the Equatorial Regions.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 527

But it is particularly in the dicotyledonous plants that
longevity is so extraordinary. There are some which
grow so slowly that ages seem scarcely to alter their
dimensions.

Now if we look at vegetable life scattering its great
families here and there upon the globe, we find the same
contrasts—misery by the side of grandeur. The bare rock
which extends its shattered masses upon the mountain
slope is only coloured with a crust of lichens and mosses,
which dot its surface like so many pencil marks.
Below these regions, where the severity of the air destroys
everything, we find the pine and the oak twisted and
dwarfed, while lower down rise magnificent and sombre
forests of Coniferee encircling the mountains with their
girdle of black.

The palms compose numerous groups in all the equa-
torial regions. But vegetable life reveals itself peculiarly
with all its variety and splendour in the immense virgin
forests of the tropics, where the axe has never yet shorn
it of its exuberance. Some present such a profusion of
aged trees entwined with ferns and creepers, that they
are absolutely impenetrable, unless some stream of water
happen in its winding course to furnish the daring traveller
with a natural path.

The special character of the vegetation in some of these
forests gives them quite a characteristic aspect. When
the parasitic orchises predominate, they form on every side
elegant chandeliers, as it were, of verdure and flowers; or
they hang here and there in long slender pendants, looking
like so many gigantic spiders displaying their mighty
claws and balancing themselves now and then at the end
of their threads.

Again, as in New Zealand, arborescent ferns, with the
67
528 THE UNIVERSE.

look of palms, give these distant landscapes an appearance
which is seen in no other part.

The impenetrable virgin forest alarms us by its sombre
and terrible aspect. On one side vigorous parasites assail
the aged trees, forming with them an inextricable network
which the axe can scarcely cleave, whilst all progress
through it is impeded by bushes and tall herbs, where
so many redoubtable enemies lie concealed. During the
day all is silent: the frightful heat paralyzes the tenants
of this realm of vegetation, and sleep reigns everywhere.
But when night arrives all becomes full of life; birds,
mammals, and reptiles declare war on one another, and
every part rings with groans and hoarse cries of pain and
death.

CHAPTER II.
GIANTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM.

Like animals, plants may be infinitely little or infinitely
huge; the latter astonish us by their colossal proportions,
while the former escape our ken and are only revealed by
the microscope.

The study of the development of plants in respect to
their mere size presents us with some curious contrasts.

Some rudimentary plants, such as the Ascophori, Mould
Fungi which so frequently invade our bread, and the
Aspergilli which we often see forming in the fluids we
drink glairy repulsive-looking films, only possess an
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 529

almost invisible stalk. Woody plants, on the contrary,
often astonish us by the enormous dimensions of this part.
The old authors who deseribe Germany tell us that

 

 

264, Arborescent Ferns from the Forests of New Zealand.

there were trees there, from the trunk of one of which boats
were made which carried as many as thirty men.

From the times of antiquity the luxuriant growth of
the plane-trees on the banks of the Bosphorus and the
530 THE UNIVERSE.

Black Sea has been the subject of remark, and the botanists
of our day have proved that what our forefathers said
Was In no way exaggerated.

Men were almost inclined to disbelieve the account of
Pliny, who states that in his time there was in Lycia a
stout thriving plane-tree in the trunk of which was seen a
vast grotto eighty-one feet in circumference, the whole
extent of which had been tapestried by nature with a green
and velvety hanging of moss. Licinius Mutianus, governor
of the province, charmed with the delicious coolness of
this rural hall, gave a supper in it to eighteen guests
from his suite. After the orgy they transformed the scene
of their festivity into a dormitory, and comfortably passed
the night there.

This fact has been fully confirmed by modern travellers.
De Candolle relates that according to one of them, there
still exists in the neighbourhood of Constantinople an
enormous lime-tree, the trunk of which is quite as ample
as that of which we have been speaking. It is 150 feet
in circumference, and also presents a cavity 80 feet in
circuit.

The Rev. J. Ray, an English clergyman who wrote a
valuable work on botany, speaks of an oak existing in his
time in Germany which was of such dimensions that it
had been transformed into a citadel. To confine ourselves
more strictly to the truth, let us just say that its interior
served as a guard-house. We may here mention another
tree of the same kind, still growing in Normandy, and
which, in contrast to the other, has been consecrated to
piety. This is the chapel oak of Allouville, in which there
is an altar dedicated to the Virgin, where on certain days
mass is said. The ample hollow of this tree not only
furnishes an oratory, but above this a sleeping-room has
‘FEST WE stubavyy Aq Yozays & WoIg— ‘Apurusoyy ut xro podeyy ‘egg

 

Ih
ih

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THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 533

been scooped out; there is a bed in this room to which
access is gained by steps outside: it is the abode of an
anchorite. This tree, which perhaps sheltered in its
shade the companions of the Seigneur de Bethencourt
when on their way to embark for the conquest of the
Canaries, is held in great veneration in the country.

One of our most illustrious and philosophic botanists,
Marquis, renowned alike for his eminent position and
knowledge, measured the trunk of this tree, and found
that it was thirty feet in circumference near the ground.

I have also seen on the banks of the Bosphorus plane-
trees the trunks of which were pierced with enormous
cavities. In the neighbourhood of Smyrna there is one
of these trees celebrated for its size and antiquity. The
stem, which is hollowed right through, is spread widely
out at the base, and represents three columns, which con-
verge towards each other, forming a sort of porch beneath
which a man on horseback can pass easily.!

Yet the baobab on the banks of the Niger, in its splen-
did luxuriance of growth, surpasses even all the giants
of the Bosphorus. It is especially remarkable for its
thickness, contrasted with its want of height. It is a colos-
sus of ungraceful look. Almost always without leaves,
bearing them only in the rainy season, its whitish conical
trunk, scarcely fifteen to twenty feet in height, is more
than a hundred feet in circumference at the level of the
ground. This short and robust support is necessary to
sustain its incredibly large dome of leaves, the bulk of
which is sometimes so great that, seen from a distance,
the baobab looks rather like a small forest than a single

1 Tn their learned works on forests, Evelyn and Loudon have represented
several other trees, which, like the Platanus of Smyrna, present openings through
which a knight completely equipped could pass freely.—Evelyn, Sylva, 1664.
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. London, 1838.
534 THE UNIVERSE.

tree. Its large branches are fifty to sixty feet long. When
time has hollowed out the stem of one of these noble trees,
the negroes make use of the cavity. Sometimes they turn
it into a place of amusement, a rustic retreat where they
can smoke their chibouques and take refreshment; at other
times they convert it into a prison. One of these is known
of which the Senegambians have converted the interior
into a council-hall; the entrance is covered with sculp-
tures which point out the high destination reserved for it.

But the marvel of the vegetable kingdom in respect
to its colossal dimensions, is assuredly the famous chestnut-
tree growing on the lower slopes of Etna. Count Borch,
who measured the trunk very exactly, accords it a cir-
cumference of 190 feet. A house which shelters a shepherd
and his flock has been built in the immense hollow of
its trunk. During the winter the wood of the tree serves
the inhabitant of this solitary retreat for fuel, and its
abundance of fruit supplies him with food during the
summer.

This colossus of our forests, which is called the “Chestnut
of a Hundred Horses,” owes its name to the vast extent
of its foliage. The inhabitants of the country told the
painter J. Houel ‘that Jeanne of Aragon, when travelling
from Spain to Naples, stopped at Sicily, and, accompanied
by all the nobility of Catania, paid a visit to Mount Etna.
She was on horseback, as were also her suite, and a
storm having come on, she took shelter under this tree,
the vast foliage of which sufficed to protect the queen
and all her cavaliers from the rain. It is from this mem-
orable adventure, they add, that the old tree took the name
of Chestnut-tree of the Hundred Horses.”!

'The celebrated journey of Jeanne of Aragon to the Custugno di Cento Cavalli,
as the chestnut-tree of Etna is called in Sicily, is only a fable. Count Boreh main-
re

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68
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 537

Yet whatever astonishment we may feel at the extra-
ordinary dimensions attained by the trunks of certain
trees, the height to which others reach strikes us still
more than their growth in diameter. The king of our
forests, the oak, which poetic fiction looks upon as the
emblem of passive force, rears its crown of leaves one
hundred feet above the soil.

In the East the imposing remains of the ancient forest
employed in building the temple of Jerusalem, the cedars
of Lebanon, the object of so much veneration, and which
the pilgrim only approaches with the sounds of a hymn
on his lips, spread forth their dark sheets of verdure at
a height of 150 feet above the mountain.

Supported only by its flexible column, which yields and
bends beneath the force of the tempest, the wax-palm
on the Andes balances its waving crown in the bosom of
the clouds 200 feet above the heights whereon it grows.

But no tree rears its head towards the sky so boldly
as the gigantic cedar of California, the Wellingtonia gigan-
tea. One colossus of this species, now hurled down and
stretched upon the rock, presented when it stood erect and
threatening a height of more than 150 metres (above 490
feet), that is to say,about eight times the elevation of a house
of five stories. It was above 130 feet in circumference.

tains that it owes its name merely to the fact that fifty horses could be placed
within its trunk, and fifty round about it. Some botanists, however, think that
this colossal tree is only a fusion of several individuals of the same species. But
this is scarcely probable; the vicinity presents several specimens which are
almost as vast, and which, for that reason, are known by distinct names in the
country. Count Borch, who has carefully examined the Hundred-horse Chestnut,
says that at the first look one might think it arose from the junction of several
trunks; but that when it is attentively studied, we find that it is only one tree.
This fact has been placed beyond doubt by the Canon Recupero, who had it dug
round, and saw that the five trunks end in one single colossal root.—Borch,
Lettres sur la Sictle. Turin, 1782, t. i. p. 121.
538 THE UNIVERSE.

The bark of the trunk of one of these giants of the
American forests was transported in part to the Crystal
Palace at Sydenham, where it formed one of the most
splendid curiosities, until accidentally destroyed by fire in
1866. It was a monstrous column, above 130 feet in height,
and which at the level of the ground had a diameter of
nearly thirty-four feet. I stood inside this tree along with
fifteen people. At San Francisco a piano was placed and
a ball given to more than twenty persons on the stump of
a Wellingtonia which had been brought thither. The age
of this colossus corresponds to its dimensions. By count-
ing the number of annual rings in a transverse section, it
was ascertained that these monstrous trees must be 3000
or 4000 years old, so that they seem to have been con-
temporary with the biblical creation, and have stood erect
and unshaken amidst all the commotions of the globe.

Alongside of these giants stretched prostrate on the
ground, man only looks like a pigmy and feels his little-
ness. He calls them the mammoths of the forest, to show
that, like those frightful animals which surpassed all others
in their size, they tower above all the vegetable kingdom.
One of these cedars, hollowed out into a deep cavern,
owes its name of “the Riding School” to the fact, that a
man on horseback can penetrate sixty-five feet into the
dark excavation.

When from these noble trees, proudly cleaving the
clouds with their tops, we pass to those whose humble
stem creeps upon the ground, we find that even the lat-
ter at times acquire a length which has something of the
prodigious in it.

Struck with the aspect of the vines in Italy, the mani-
fold garlands of which entwine from branch to branch
and disappear amid the foliage of the trees without our
 

267. Gigantic Cedar of California— Wellingtonia gigantea,
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 541

being able to see either the beginning or the end, Pliny
maintained that they grow for ever: Vites sine fine crescunt,
said the Roman naturalist.

But we have more precise data as to the size of
sundry other plants. Thus in the virgin forests of India,
the Calamus Rotang, which climbs upon the trunks of
aged trees, and stretches from one to another, sinking to
the ground to rise again, attains, according to the trav-
eller Loureiro, a length of 400 or 500 feet.

The Gigantic Fucus (Fucus giganteus, Linn.) reaches
much more extraordinary proportions; the waves of the
ocean, according to Humboldt, yield strips which are
sometimes 1500 to 1600 feet long.

In an interesting article in the Revue Germanique,
M. A. Boscowitz says, that in the botanical garden of
Caracas there was a Convolvulus which in six months
attained the incredible length of 6000 feet.

It must therefore have grown at the rate of more than
a foot per hour, and its growth must have been visible to
the naked eye!

CHAPTER III.
VEGETABLE LONGEVITY.

But if anything ought to astonish us in the life of trees
it is their longevity; we might even go farther, and speak
of the principle of eternity which is clearly latent in some
species, the death of which seems rather to depend upon
fortuitous circumstances than on the fact of age.
542 THE UNIVERSE.

The life of animals is quite ephemeral compared to
that of our trees. Minute investigations have thrown
considerable light upon the chronology of many of them.
Some of them live commonly 200 or 300 years.

The pine and great chestnut can assuredly extend
their existence to a term of 400 or 500 years. In the
island of Teneriffe are found many venerable pines and
enormous chestnut-trees, which in all probability were
planted there by the Conquistadores at the commencement
of the fifteenth century, the epoch of the invasion of this
island. The former, the Pinus canaricnsis, are distin-
guishable from the others, owing to the conquerors having
in their piety decorated them nearly all with little ma-
donnas, which are still seen suspended to their boughs.

The lime-tree of Morat, planted at Fribourg on the
day of the celebrated battle, is one of the oldest trees in
Europe. This glorious event in the history of Switzerland,
having occurred in the year 1476, the venerated tree,
which is encircled by a colonnade, and of which the aged
branches are upheld by a framework of wood, must be
now nearly 400 years old.

The fir attains a still greater age. In some of the most
ancient forests of Germany, situated on the summit of the
Wurzelberg in Thuringia, as many as 700 annual layers
have been counted on some of the trees cut down there.

The olive-tree, so revered in ancient Greece, and which
inspired such beautiful verses in the tragedy of dipus
by Sophocles, reached a much greater age, according to
the ancient myth. Pliny even asserts that in his time
the celebrated olive-tree which Minerva caused to spring
from the ground at the epoch of the foundation of the
city of Cecrops was still to be seen in the citadel of
Athens.
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69
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 545

The ancient races, struck with the noble aspect of our
oaks, have in all ages enveloped them in the clouds of
their legends, and carried them back to the remotest an-
tiquity. Of this class was the mighty holm-oak, which
in the days of Pliny still existed near Rome, on the trunk
of which there was an Etruscan inscription in letters of
brass, stating that before the existence of the Eternal City
it was already the object of popular veneration. The
Roman naturalist also asserts that in the environs of
Heraclea, in the kingdom of Pontus, there was a tradition
that two oaks which overshadowed the altar of Jupiter
Stragius had been planted by Hercules.'

The origin of certain trees is lost in even more remote
antiquity.

The imposing terror of the Hercynian forest has deeply
impressed all those who have described Germany, and
Pliny and Tacitus especially. The aged oaks of its sombre
vales, where wandered the elk and the aurochs, especially
aroused the admiration of the Roman historian; he can-
not refrain from speaking of them in the most lofty terms:
“The majestic grandeur of the oak in this forest,” he
says, ‘surpasses all imaginable belief: this tree has never
been touched with the axe; it is contemporary with the
creation of the world, and appears to be the symbol of
immortality!”

Pliny does not restrict himself to this splendid image;
he adds further details: “I wish,” he says, “to preserve

1In the Crimea some trees are met with which possess a certain amount of
celebrity. The chief one is a nut-tree in a plain near Balaklava, at the spot
where stood the temple of Iphigenia in Tauris. It is considered to have been
in existence at the time when the Greek colonies exported their nuts to Rome,
and that its age dates back several thousand years. At present its fertility is
so great that it bears every year as many as 100,000 nuts, which are shared with-
out any jarring among five Tartar families, to whom it belongs.
546 THE UNIVERSE.

silence as to things so extraordinary as to be considered
fabulous; but one thing is certain, viz. that where the roots
are found they raise the earth into little hillocks, and if
the soil will not yield, the roots press against each other
and form lofty mounds which rise to the branches: they
interlace with each other so as to form complete arcades,
below which whole squadrons can ride on horseback.”

This idea of immortality in trees is often met with in
the works of the ancients. The historian Josephus, in
his Jewish War, relates that in his day there was near the
city of Ebron a turpentine-tree which was as old as the
days of Adam (book v. chap. xxxi.)

It was reserved for modern naturalists to show that
these assertions, however extraordinary they may appear,
are still rigorously correct, and that many of our trees, in
some sort indestructible, may have witnessed the final
scenes of creation, and after braving the action of so many
ages, are still upright and living to this day.

It is now a hundred years since Adanson, by ingenious
calculations, showed the learned that such ideas, though
extraordinary, are yet facts of the most scrupulous exacti-
tude. This naturalist, by a happy chance, found in the
interior of the trunk of a baobab in one of the Cape Verd
Islands an inscription which had been traced on it by
the English 300 years previously. Starting from this
point and comparing the diameters of the stems of many
of these bulky trees, the French savant succeeded in
proving that the most vigorous ‘of these primitive in-
habitants of the African forests might be at least 5000
years old.

A bareheaded cypress, a venerable patriarch of the vege-
table kingdom, has possibly traversed a still longer vista
of ages! It is seen at the present day on the road from
 

269. Gigantic Baobab of the Virgin Forests of Africa—Adansonia digitata (Linneus).
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 549

Vera Cruz to Mexico, and is celebrated for having sheltered
the whole army of Fernando Cortez beneath its mighty
shade. Its birth, according to some botanists, seems to
date from an epoch so remote as to be almost beyond
our ken. As its trunk, which is 117 feet in circumference,
surpasses that of the baobabs, and as its growth is slower
than theirs, De Candolle supposes this tree may be not
less than 6000 years old, which carries back its origin to
the times anterior to the Mosaic creation."

Meanwhile we ought not to be astonished at seeing
some botanists look upon trees as so many beings, the
life of which is unlimited, and many of which, born amid
the debris of former cataclysms, still vegetate full of sap
and vigour.

De Candolle, who puts forward this opinion, admitting
the hypothesis of Gaudichaud, considers the giants of our
forests as so many aggregates of individuals, or buds, an-
nually succeeding on the stem, which thus represents a
living soil. This stem grows on century after century, and
only succumbs by accident, as when struck by lightning,
or when its suckers cannot find nutritive juices.

Thus then, we repeat, actual science demonstrates what
antiquity had only dimly seen.

To us a tree is no longer a simple individual; it is an
agglomeration, a republic of isolated beings which fashion
its branches, as the polype of the coral constructs its boughs;
in fact it is a vegetable polypidom.

The slow development of the trunks of certain trees

The army of Cortez was composed of six hundred Spanish foot-soldiers,
forty horsemen, and nine small pieces of artillery. —//ist. Gen. des Voy. t. xii.
p. 389. According to M. Schacht, the calculations of Adanson are liable to the
charge of inexactness on account of the rapidity with which this tree grows. In
forty years a baobab at Santa Cruz gained a circumference of about ten feet

four inches.
550 THE UNIVERSE.

at once calls up images of immobility and eternity. The
dragon’s-blood tree of the Canaries awakens such thoughts.

Thrice famous for its strange look, its vast size, and its
antiquity, this dragon’s-blood tree (Dracena Draco) is
equally so for the stationary condition of its growth. Inthe

 

270. Dragon’s-blood Tree of the Island of Teneriife.

legends of Teneriffe we are told that this singular tree was
worshipped by the Guanches, its original inhabitants; and it
is related that in the fifteenth century mass was celebrated
in the interior of its trunk, a fact even lately attested by
the vestiges which were seen of a little altar. This tree
grows so slowly that after a tolerably long interval of
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 551

time it was not possible to verify any change in its cir-
cumference. It was accurately measured in 1402 by the
companions of Bethencourt at the time when they dis-
covered the island, that is to say, more than 460 years
ago, and since then it has in no way increased in diameter.
Time has passed over without touching it. Humboldt,
when he ascended the peak of Teneriffe in 1799, measured
this tree a little above the level of the ground, and found
it forty-five feet in circumference.

CHAPTER IV.
DENSITY OF PLANTS.

As the duration of life in trees presents such vastly
opposite limits, we expect to meet equally enormous
differences in their density; and this is the case.

Those singular plants the Tremelle, which after a wet
night, or even merely a storm, suddenly bestrew the earth
in the shape of so many tremulous masses of jelly, covering
the ground where a few hours before there was not a
vestige, and which, on account of the unexpected manner
in which they appear, were looked upon by the alchemists
as a supernatural production, an emanation from the
stars, are so soft that the least pressure crushes and
reduces them to water.!

1 The supposed supernatural origin of the tremella nostoc (Vostoc commune)
led the alchemists to employ it in their search after the philosopher’s stone.
The peasants also referred its origin to the stars. But less nice in their language
than the adepts in the great work, they merely called this singular fungus moon-

spittle.
70
52 THE UNIVERSE.

In the same class to which these gelatinous plants
belong, we find others of a surprising degree of firmness.
This is the case with certain Algw scattered over the

 

271. The Warty Nostoc—Tremella mesenterica.

shores of Asia, and in particular with the Fucus tendo,
the toughness of which has been compared to that of
the tendons which convey movement to the limbs of
animals. In appearance this marine plant is exactly like
a cord, and as it possesses the strength of cordage, the
Chinese, who are so ingenious in everything, make use of
it in order to tie up bales of goods. In Japan this fucus
serves for making fishermen’s nets.

In some trees of considerable size, the trunk is scarcely
harder than in these plants: for instance, that of the Bombax
Ceiba, or cheese-plant, is as soft as the article of food after
which it is named.

On the contrary, iron-wood, which can be polished like
metal, is so dense that savages often employ it to make
their war-clubs and other formidable weapons of.

The finger-nail will pierce the fleshy stalk of some eu-
phorbias and cause abundance of milky juice to flow.
But, on the other hand, the stalks of some bamboos in
India almost turn the file, and, as we have said, are so in-
durated with silica, that sparks can be drawn with the steel
from them.
BOOK V.

MIGRATIONS OF PLANTS.

Nothing reveals to us the resources of nature in a more
imposing way than the facility with which she covers all
the surface of the globe with vegetation and life. At
times she seems to trust solely to the immense fecundity
allotted to the species; at others she employs the most
ingenious and varied proceedings in order to transport
her fruits and seeds from one pole to another.

The considerable number of seeds which certain plants
produce insures their incessant reproduction, and in this
respect calculation often gives very unexpected results.
Ray counted 32,000 grains on one poppy stalk, and
Linneus says that a single stem of tobacco sometimes
yields 40,000. Dodard carries these figures still higher
in respect to the number of fruits that can be collected
from an elm. According to him, this tree annually pro-
duces more than 529,000.

It is clear that if all the seeds grew up, only a few
generations would pass away ere these forms of vegetable
life covered the entire surface of the globe. But a host
of causes arrest this menacing invasion. Animals, the
rigour of some climates, and man, whose civilization
554 THE UNIVERSE.

encroaches upon nattre, place a barrier to it. The first
invaders of a virgin soil are pitilessly stifled by those
which follow them; the prairie gives way to a thicket, and
soon after this dies beneath the shady vaults of a vigorous
forest.

The fecundity of some fungi is quite extraordinary.
Fries counted more than 10,000,000 reproductive bodies
in one individual of the /eticularia maxima. Other plants
of the same family rear a still larger progeny, the abund-
ance of which is prodigious, and which indeed cannot be
numbered by all the resources of the human intellect.

The immeasurable fecundity of the gigantic Lycoperdon
is such that its microscopic grains must be counted by
thousands of millions. Now although they are invisible to
the eye; each of these may yet give birth to a voluminous
fungus which often in one night acquires the size of a
gourd. And it may be said, without hyperbole, that if
the little seeds of this plant were miraculously dispersed
over the whole globe, and were to be simultaneously
developed, the earth would be absolutely paved with
them the next day.

The air certainly plays the most important part in the
dissemination of vegetable life. A host of light seeds
seem to have been decorated with little plumes and mem-
branous wings only in order to be borne away by the
whirlwinds.

For this purpose the seeds of many Syngenesiz are
surmounted by plumes of outspread fibrillae, forming com-
plete parachutes which the slightest breath of the zephyr
bears away. Torn from the mother plant, the seed, by
means of its aérial skiff, accomplishes the longest jour-
neys. The slightest breeze carries it up from the depth
of the valley to the mountain peaks. If the tempest
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 555

rise, the little parachute, borne away on the powerful
wind, mingles with the stormy clouds, traverses oceans,
and then effects a descent upon some distant shore. We
are told that after certain hurricanes it is not unusual to
see the soil of Spain covered with different aérial seeds
brought from America. Itis to the action of the winds that
Linnzeus ascribes the importation into Europe of the Conyza
coerulea of Canada, which now infests the north of France.

The air does still more; in its whirlwinds it carries away
entire plants and bears them to a long distance, to let
them fall there like an abundant living shower.

Certain lichens from the mountains of Asia, travelling
thus amid the clouds, suck up watery vapours from them

 

272. Edible Air-borne Lichen—Lecanora esculenta.

and grow during their accidental peregrination. Torn
away from the soil when they are scarcely so large as the
head of a pin, they have reached the size of a small nut
by the time when, their aérial journey over, they fall far
from their native rocks upon the ground below them.
This happens with many edible species, which after a
storm are seen scattered over the sand of the deserts.

These plants, which seem thus to fall from the sky,
sometimes form thick layers on the soil and yield the
exhausted traveller an agreeable food. The providential
manna, on which the Hebrews fed while wandering in the
desert, doubtless arose from showers of edible lichens, for
it is these plants which seem always to produce them.
556 THE UNIVERSE.

Some years ago, Thénard, the chemist, presented to the
Academy of Sciences one of these wandering plants,
which had been carried away from the summit of Mount
Ararat, and been borne by the wind to a great distance
from the celebrated mountain. In the countries where it
had been strewed upon the soil, people maintained that
it had come from heaven. This rain of plants sometimes
forms in those places a layer five or six inches thick.
Men feed upon it, and what they cannot consume is given
to the cattle.

Some seeds, too weighty to be carried by the winds,
accomplish long voyages by sea, and, borne by the cur-
rents and waves, traverse oceans. The cocoa-nuts of the
Seychelles, protected by their woody coverings, are carried
away by regular currents, and arrive at the coast of Mala-
bar, after performing a journey of more than 400 leagues
by water. The Hindoos, astonished at this unexpected
fecundity, which is renewed every year, can only explain
it by supposing that the depths of ocean nourish the trees
which produce those enormous fruits.

The hard fruit of the cocoa-palm, the immense husks
of the climbing Mimosa, which are often more than a
metre (three feet three inches in round numbers) in length,
and many other fruits from Equatorial America, torn
away by the waves and cradled by the storms, are fre-
quently stranded on the shores of Scandinavia, where
the want of heat and light is the sole obstacle to their
development.

The regular currents of the sea also bear to a distance
certain cosmopolitan plants, for the most part the offspring
of seeds, the impermeable envelope of which for a long
time resists the action of water. Thus the great current
which springs from the eastern coast of South America,
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 557

has been known to bear a flotilla of thirteen species of
plants from Brazil and Guiana to the shores of Congo in
Africa. Another grand oceanic current, traversing an im-
mense space of the torrid zone, constantly transports fruits
from the shores of India, which its waves tumultuously
scatter on the rocks of Brazil.

The most important migrations in the vegetable kingdom
are due to the movements of fresh waters, rivers, and
streams. Pascal says that rivers are moving roads,
but the plants seem to have found this out before he did.
Carried away by the fugitive waves, seeds sometimes
travel great distances to seek a new country. It is thus
that the rivers which spring from the glaciers of the
Upper Alps deposit in the plains of Munich some of the
species which grow on their lofty peaks; others descend
from the spurs of the Andes, to seek a humble shelter in
the isles by the mouth of the Orinoco. Plants are known
which fall from the lofty heights of the Himalayas and pass
safely through the turmoil of their foaming cascades, to
expand their corollas on the enchanting borders of the delta
of the Ganges.!

Dreading the agitation of torrents, some nautical fruits
trust to tranquil waters only; thus upon the waves of the
Nile sail peacefully the floating cradles of the plant dear
to Isis. For this purpose its fruits form little circular
boats, the interior of which contains the precious progeny.
At maturity the waves carry off these reproductive germs
en masse and transport them to a distance. Then when
the rude shocks of the voyage have finally torn the little

1 An alpine moss (Bryum alpinum), certainly torn away in the Thuringian
forest, is borne by the water to the porphyry rocks near Halle. Darwin thinks
that the forests of peach and orange trees which cover the mouth of the Parana
owe their origin merely to seeds carried by the river.
558 THE UNIVERSE.

skiff, the seeds of the sacred N elumbium, which have
remained intact amid the waifs and strays, sink into the
mud and water, and thus fertilize the burning banks of
the king of rivers.

Even masses of ice, especially at some pre-historic
epochs of the globe, have played a certain part in the
dispersion of plants. Dr. Karl Miiller thinks that the
wandering blocks, which the glaciers drive before them
in their efforts, carry certain seeds from place to place.
This grand phenomenon, which poured immense seas of
ice over countries where now a mild temperature reigns,
might certainly have precipitated some plants from the
mountain tops into the depths of the valleys.

Thus at the present day we see growing in the north
of Germany lichens, mosses, and some woody plants, in
particular the Swedish cornel-tree, which have evidently
descended from the mountains of Scandinavia, and have
been borne away by the icebergs which, along with them,
transported to the plains of ancient Germany the granite
boulders with which they are strewn.

At other times the aid of another process is requisite
to enable icebergs to transport plants from one hemisphere
to another. Their floating islands becoming detached
from the shore, carry away with them fragments of rock
still covered with animals and plants. After having been
long worn by the waves and currents, these islands at last
light upon some propitious shore, and, sinking there,
deposit their living population. Thus along with the polar
bears which so frequently travel on the ice-blocks, some
seeds torn from the boreal regions often reach happier
climates.

Animals also contribute freely to the dissemination of
vegetable products. Marmots, dormice, hamsters, heap
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 559

up fruits in their underground abodes. Frequently a
part of the booty accumulated by their active foresight
is left forgotten in the ground, germinates there, and de-
velops with the return of spring. At other times the
weapon of the sportsman slaughters the owner of the store,
and his hoard turns to the profit of vegetation. Squirrels
break down the cones of the pine in order to devour the
seeds, of which they are very fond. But during this occu-
pation some of the seeds escape them, fall, and take root
in the ground.

Some mammals assist the process of dissemination by
a still more simple means: the seeds cling to their wool
and are transported hither and thither by them during
their peregrinations. The seeds of the burdock, which
end in a hook, are very well adapted for this purpose.
Those of the goose-grass (Galium aparine), roughened
with fine points like so many fish-hooks, cling to the skin
of any animal or the dress of any man who may happen
to pass near them, a peculiarity which acquired for
this plant the surname of philanthropos among the witty
Greeks.

Although animals consume a large quantity of seeds
for their food, nature by a happy compensation finds in
this consumption an inexhaustible source of regeneration.

In this way great troops of reindeer which are scattered
over the plains of Siberia, emigrating in masses on all
sides, sow, as they pass along, a host of plants, the seeds
of which, swallowed with their food, have resisted their
cligestive powers.

It is to the thrushes, which eat with avidity the fruit of
the mistletoe, that we owe the propagation of this sacred
plant, so celebrated in ancient Gaul, and which the Druids

only gathered with a golden sickle.
7
560 THE UNIVERSE.

As Theophrastus remarked, these birds swallow the
berries of the mistletoe. But as the pulp alone is absorbed,
and as the seeds defy their digestive powers, these like the
worm of Hamlet, which only effects its migration by trav-
ersing the body of a beggar, fall with the excrement upon
the branches, and there take root. Here the mistletoe soon
forms those parasitical tufts which invade the crowns of
the giants of our forests; beautiful globular tufts, decorated
with perpetual verdure when winter has already stripped
of leaves their powerful supporter.

Other birds also propagate a great number of plants by
similar means. ‘Travellers relate that the Dutch having
destroyed the nutmeg-trees in several of the Indian islands,
in order to confine the cultivation of these trees to Ceylon,
the nutmeg-eating pigeons, which are very fond of this
fruit, sowed the tree afresh in almost every spot where
Dutch vandalism had extirpated it.

The part played by birds in the general harmony of the
globe does not end here. According to some botanists it
is the birds that carry off the coral-red service-berries,
and thus plant the tree on the crumbling porticoes of our
castles and our old ruined churches. The grape of Amer-
ica (Phytolacca decandra), recently introduced near Bor-
deaux, has been disseminated by the winged songsters of
our forests all through southern France, and even as far
as the desert gorges of the Pyrénées. It is to the mag-
pie of Ceylon that the propagation of the cinnamon-trees
in that island is often intrusted, and this fact is so generally
known that the inhabitants afford it ample protection.

1 Once adherent to the branch, the seed of the mistletoe germinates there,
plunges its root into the bark, and lives at the expense of the tree. The stalks
of this plant possess the peculiarity of extending with equal facility in every
direction. The fruit is white and of the size of a currant.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 561

Certain islands, which everything proves were formed
after the great continents near them, owe the principal
elements of their colonization solely to birds. This is par-
ticularly the case with Iceland, which has been observed
to be furnished with plants brought to it from Greenland
and Northern Europe, carried thither by the innumerable
birds which annually migrate in these latitudes.

It is also to birds that the varied flora seen in the in-
terior of the Coliseum at Rome is owing. In fact the
entire vegetation which covers these celebrated ruins, from
the fig-trees, the powerful roots of which cleave its arches,
to the humble grass that blooms upon its fallen stones,
has only been introduced into the vast structure by means
of animals.!

In like manner some mammals even of the most car-
nivorous kind eat sundry fruits of which their digestive
organs, though possessed of great energy, only attack the
pulp, and as they wander about they deposit the seeds
intact along with their excrements. In this way a species
of civet in Java and Manilla takes an active part in dis-
seminating the coffee-tree. It greedily eats the fruit, and
the pulp being like that of the cherry is easily acted upon
by the intestines, which afterwards expel the seeds still
in a fit state for germination.”

Man himself ought to be considered as one of the most
active agents in the dissemination of plants. His vessels
and caravans, traversing the ocean and the desert, trans-

1 According to Sebastiani, an Italian author, the number of species of plants
growing in the Coliseum of Rome which have been transported thither by the
birds is not less than 261.

2In Java it is the civet called Viverra Musanga which effects the dissemina-
tion of the coffee, by scattering it here and there with its excrement. Karl
Miiller, following the authority of Junghuhn, relates that this coffee which has
passed through the digestive organs of this mammal is even considered by the
Javanese as of superior quality, and that they do not disdain to collect it for
562 THE UNIVERSE.

port unknown to him seeds and plants which invade new
countries.

In this way, through the importation of American
sheep into France, certain seeds attached to them have
become localized in France. -In one locality in the neigh-
bourhood of Montpellier, where a large quantity of wool
is received from Buenos-Ayres and Mexico, several species
of plants, derived from the flora of these two countries,
are now seen growing on every side. The botanists of
the celebrated school of Montpellier—the Decandolles,
the Delilles, and the Dunalds—were perfectly aware of
the fact, and from time to time made their way to this
spot in order to botanize amid the products of the tropics
without fatigue and without peril.

At other times, in order to satisfy the requirements
of commerce or his own pleasure, man extirpates certain
species from their native country in order to enrich distant
lands with them. In short, it is sometimes to the armies
of conquerors that we owe certain exotic plants.

Yet there are countries which are sometimes invaded
by a vegetation neither the arrival nor the vigour of which
can be explained. It grows in its new country with such
energy, that it stifles everything that previously grew in
the spots where it fixes itself. Thus a large everlasting,
the Helichrysum fetidum, transplanted from America to
France, has become a despotic ruler in many of the
southern shores of that country.

In opposition to this, the common artichoke has exiled
itself from France in order to establish itself victoriously
their use from the excrement of the animal. The American grape (Phytolacca
decandra, L.) was introduced into the neighbourhood of Bordeaux in order that
it might be used for colouring wine, and it is from thence the birds have spread

it so widely. The so-called sparrow which in Ceylon sows the camelias in every
direction is the Turdus zetlanicusx—K. Miiller, b. i. s. 91, 92.
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 563

in certain districts of Patagonia, and dispossess the right-
ful owners. In bringing our most useful cereal from
Asia we have brought with it the cockle, the wild poppy,
and the corn-flower, which enamel our harvests with such
lively colours.

Our wants have caused us to import the greatest part
of our alimentary plants from Asia. Wheat evidently
comes from Persia; Michaux and Olivier observed it there
in the wild state. The vine, the olive, and the walnut-tree
were brought to us from the mountains of Asia. The
citron-tree comes originally from Media, and the orange-
tree from China.!

It is owing to this variety in the means of transport
that vegetation has established itself with such great
rapidity on all parts of the globe which have been laid

1The wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrwm, Linn.), often called the white
charlock or twisted charlock, which is originally from Asia, was clandestinely intro-
duced into our fields when the cereals were brought hither. [Among the strangest
varieties in valuable plants of this kind, and which, if the theory of their origin
be correct, show perhaps most of all what changes difference of soil and climate
effects, might very well be ranged the Tarragona cauliflower, a garden variety
of the Brassica oleracea, and the Jersey or cow cabbage, much grown in the
Channel Islands and La Vendée, which sends up a tall stem sometimes twelve
feet in height.—Tr.] Spinach comes from Media. The lentil (Zrvwm Zens, Linn.)
and the common haricot (Phaseolus vulgaris) are probably derived from Arabia ;
melons and cucumbers from the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris; the lilac
(Syringa vulgaris) first came from Asia to Vienna, and then spread through
Europe. The lily (Lilium candidum) is from the mountains of Syria. The
weeping willow (Salix babylonica, Linn.) was transplanted from the plains of
Babylon, and spread through Europe by means of the poet Pope, who received a
specimen from Smyrna. Tradition relates that the father of all our orange-trees in
Europe is still to be seen in the convent of St. Sabina, on the Aventine Hill in
Rome, and it is maintained that it was planted by St. Dominic, a.p. 1200. The
Hortensia, dedicated by Comerson to Hortensia Lepaute, who distinguished herself
in astronomy, comes originally from Japan, whence it only arrived in 1788. It
is from this island also that the camelia comes, having been brought from thence
by R. P. Caméli. Mexico also furnishes an abundance of cacti. The dahlia was
imported from Mexico, and thus named in honour of a Swedish botanist,
Andrew Dahl.
564 THE UNIVERSE.

bare. Its most elementary representative forms first ap-
pear on the naked rock; the air seems almost to suffice
for their nourishment: these are the lichens and the micro-
scopic fungi. Then appear mosses, which, leaving mould
behind them as they decompose, form for the future a soil
thick enough to nourish the grasses. Lastly come shrubs
and bushes, and then a verdant forest is soon seen rising
in a district formerly stricken with sterility.'

The vital resistance of seeds, which varies between the
widest extremes, comes also to the aid of dissemination.
In fact, while there are some grains the organic develop-
ment of which seems as if it could not be checked, and
which are so impelled towards life that they germinate
even on the plant which produces them, as we have seen
is the case with the Rhizophore; there are others which
on the contrary yield embryos in the bosom of which life
may slumber through a succession of ages.

The seed of the coffee-tree, notwithstanding the thick
coriaceous covering of its embryo, in a very short time
loses the power of germinating. Should the planter defer
sowing only for a few days, the seed will be incapable of
reproduction.

But on the other hand some seeds, apparently less

1Tn my youth I travelled through the celebrated valley of Goldau in Switzer-
land, where, twenty years previously, a whole mountain had given way in the
most frightful manner, crushing several villages, and covering an immense space
with fragments of broken rocks. All these rocks, lately quite bare, were already
covered with a luxuriant vegetation, and the tortuous and uneven road which
had been cleared through this vast sheet of ruin, was everywhere smiling and
fresh, and covered with pines and shrubs of the most charming aspect. M.
Boussingault mentions a similar instance which he observed in America. In ten
years a mass of porphyry rocks, which had fallen down, was covered with massive
acacias.—Boussingault, Zeonomie Rurale. [Lees, on weighing together and sepa-
rately a tuft of Brywm capillare and the soil attached to it, found that it had
collected and retained on the tiled roof where it grew five times its own weight
of hunus,—Tr. ]
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 565

hardy, preserve their germinating power for a long time.
Haricot beans have been obtained from seeds taken out
of the herbarium of Tournefort, which could not have been
less than one hundred years old.

More delicate seeds resist destructive causes even
much longer than this. A few years ago a successful
attempt was made to grow seeds from the heliotrope,
lucerne, and clover, which had been found in a Gallo-
Roman tomb more than fifteen hundred years old.

An analogous fact, which it seems impossible to doubt
on account of the high reputation of the botanist who
relates it, is that which is mentioned by Lindley. This
savant assures us that seeds of the raspberry, which had
been taken from a Celtic burying-ground dating about
seventeen hundred years back, having been sown in the
garden of the Horticultural Society of London, produced
bushes of their species which are still to be seen.

But life seems to make a still longer stay in the embyro
of some other plants. Many learned men maintain that
grains of wheat of such antiquity as to go back to the
epoch of the Pharaohs, have germinated and yielded a
harvest after having been intrusted to the earth! They
had been found in Egyptian burying-places by the side of
mummies, and thus in all probability had been reaped on
the borders of the Nile three or four thousand years ago."

According to some English botanists the bulb of the
maritime squill presents a longevity not less extraordinary.

1 This assertion is based on the experiments of Sternberg, who says he saw
grains of wheat obtained from Egyptian tombs give birth to new wheat. Schacht,
professor at the university of Bonn, seems to admit this fact as proven. It is,
however, necessary to state that Messrs. Vilmorin and Payen think this asser-
tion doubtful. The celebrated chemist even maintains that the germinative
faculty of wheat does not last more than sixty years.

An English experimentalist sent me, twenty years ago, stalks of wheat which
566 THE UNIVERSE.

Being the object of a special worship in ancient Egypt,
where temples were even reared to it, this sacred plant
was sometimes swathed in small bandages and solemnly
deposited in the sarcophagus. The daring genius of
naturalists sought to pry into these vegetable mummies,
in order to see if they did not yet retain some spark of
life after so many ages of sleep. And we are told that
these corpses of roots, withdrawn from their double prison
and placed ina favouring soil, quickly vegetated again,
becoming decked with flowers and fruits.

he assured me had grown from grains collected in an Egyptian sarcophagus.
These blades were twice as high as those of our cereal, and the ears were of a
peculiar character. But as M. Louis Figuier judiciously observes in his work on
botany, we ought to be on our guard about such prodigies; the malignity of the
vulgar has in such matters only too often deceived the good faith of some
observers.—istoire des Plantes. Paris, 1865, p. 198.
GHOLOGY.

72
“While Czesar’s chambers and the Augustan halls

Grovel on earth in indistinct decay.”
Manfred, act iii.

Nous retrouvons encore des vestiges des fleurs antédiluviennes qui animérent
les premiers gazons du globe!

We still find vestiges of the antediluvian flowers which gave life to the first
meadows on earth.
BOOK I.

FORMATION OF THE GLOBE.

CHAPTER IL

APPEARANCE OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS.

When learned men began to occupy themselves with the
theory of the earth, they became divided into two very
clearly defined opposite parties:

The Plutonists, who attributed the formation of the
crust of the globe exclusively to fire; and

The Neptunists, who, on the contrary, derived every-
thing from the action of water.

The truth is that fire and water have had their share by
turns. One part of the terrestrial crust is the result of
ignition, the other that of the deposit from water.

It is evident that the globe was originally a purely
incandescent mass. Descartes had divined this great fact,
and had stated that the earth was only a sun crusted over
and partially extinguished, the chilled skin of which hid
the central furnace from view.

Leibnitz developed this hypothesis in his Protogwa. It
was afterwards successively confirmed, partly by the ob-
570 THE UNIVERSE.

servations of Buffon and Cuvier, partly the calculations of
Cordier, La Place, and Fourier.

The globe on fire, and launched into space, necessarily
obeyed the laws of the radiation of heat, and when after
a long succession of ages it had sufficiently cooled down
its surface became solidified, and constituted the primitive
crust.

When this cooling down had made sufficient progress,
the vapours from the earth, an immense atmosphere of
which enveloped the globe, became condensed and poured
over the surface in torrents of rain. Gleams of lightning
and incessant peals of thunder accompanied these impos-
ing scenes of the birth of our globe, of which our imagina-
tion will never yield us more than an imperfect image.
Such was the origin of the first seas.

At the same time that in the course of ages the crust
of the earth augmented in thickness, the cooling down,
by contracting the globe, forced its envelope to yield and
break. These efforts produced the mountains which now
roughen its surface.!

Whilst the crust of the earth was yet thin, a slight
effort of the central heat sufficed to rupture it, but this
only produced insignificant elevations. When this crust
had acquired sufficient firmness and thickness, its rupture,
inasmuch as it demanded much greater force, was only
effected by means of the most violent plutonic movements;
it was then that the Cordilleras rose into the clouds.

The upheaval of each mountain chain was necessarily
accompanied by enormous perturbations in the level of

1 Some of these upheavals only date from a recent period; some are even
contemporaneous with the existence of man. Such for instance is, according to
M. Beudant, the upheaval which gave rise to Etna, Vesuvius, and Stromboli;
and those which formed Monte-Nuovo, and Jorullo, the great volcano of Mexico,
doubtless beloug to the same class.—Tr.
GEOLOGY. 571

the sea; from thence came these grand scenes of deluges
mentioned in the cosmogonies of all nations. These
upliftings, of which at least fifteen or sixteen have been
made out, terminated by the rising of the chain of the
Andes, the result of an immense rent extending almost
from one pole to the other. This, by lifting up the two
Americas above the ocean, raised the prodigious mass of
water which submerged the ancient continent, and pro-
duced the Mosaic deluge. Thus fire and water successively
remodelled the surface of the globe.

It is to be remarked that the crust of the earth in break-
ing follows a fixed determinate direction. Von Buch,
Humboldt, and M. Elie de Beaumont have, in speaking of
this subject, called our attention to the fact, that all the
great mountain chains have been developed from the north
to the south as the Andes and Ural, or from west to east
as in the Atlas chain.

It is evident that each telluric phase had its peculiar
organic forms, and that the species of animals of one
geological epoch neither lived before nor after this epoch.
Humboldt himself, the most illustrious philosopher of
modern times, embraces this opinion without any qualifi-
cation. ‘‘Each upheaval,” he says, “of these mountain
chains of which we can determine the relative antiquity,
has been signalized by the POSH NCHOW of ancient species
and the appearance of new organisms.’

It is impossible to be more explicit. The Rev. Dr.
Buckland professes the same opinion, and says that numer-
ous groups of animals and plants have already had their
beginning and their end, and that creative intervention
must have manifested itself at the appearance of each of
them.

Telluric phenomena have not been abandoned to the
572 THE UNIVERSE.

fluctuations of chance. Governed by harmonious laws,
each of them links itself with the past and loses itself in the
future. And thus every generation that appears is only the
corollary of that which is expiring, and the prelude of that
which is about to spring into life. The stages of creation,
except some rare oscillations, follow arising scale. Nature
seems to proceed by a succession of essays before fashion-
ing her more splendid chefs-d’euvre; sundry minute crus-
taceans, a few molluscs precede the reptiles, and these
prelude the creation of birds and mammals!

The earth is only an immense cemetery where each
generation acquires life at the expense of the debris of that
which has just expired; the particles of our corpses form
new materials for the beings which will follow us. But we
have now reached an epoch of transition; the exhausted
creative powers are experiencing almost a period of arrest;
they are waiting till new telluric perturbations awaken
them from their torpor!

The first compact crust which enveloped the globe was
only formed by the cooling down and solidification of its
superficial, once incandescent, layers. Hence the beds
which compose it are called primitive or plutonic, in order
to indicate their antiquity or igneous origin.

The strata which overlie the primitive rocks owe, on
the contrary, their formation to deposit from the waters;
and for this reason are called alluvial or neptunian strata.
These are divided into four leading groups: the transition
rocks, secondary rocks, tertiary rocks, and diluvium.
GEOLOGY. 573

CHAPTER IL.

PRIMARY EPOCH.

When the globe had sufficiently cooled down, the fright-
ful ocean of fire which enveloped its entire surface stilled
its burning waves, leaving to float hither and thither a few
black and smoking islets—the first traces of the terrestrial
crust. These soon increased in thickness, and at last
invaded all the space that had formerly been in combus-
tion. Thus were formed the primary rocks; they are all
of igneous origin, and all bear marks of fire.

These first steps towards the solidification of the globe
produced the granites, which seem to be only the result of
the incandescent mass on the surface of the globe being
chilled; hence these rocks are found everywhere. They
form the skeleton, the supporting arch, so to speak, of the
other layers which in the lapse of ages have accumulated
upon them.

But in the beginning these chilled waves only produced
thin beds, which were often broken up again by the fiery
ocean below; in consequence of this the granites exhibit
great differences, indeed, as M. Elie de Beaumont happily
remarks, ‘‘Perhaps not a single page of these first archives
of our globe remains intact.” The gneiss, for instance,
seems to be only granite which has been fused again in
the central fire.

The rocks of the primary epoch being all the product of
a mass in a State of ignition, it is needless to say that we
574 THE UNIVERSE.

do not find among them any trace of organized beings, but
by way of compensation they contain the principal riches
which Nature elaborates in the splendid laboratories of
her alchemy.

Metalliferous layers often lie in veins, huge cracks
in the globe filled with divers materials. Philosophers
guided only by the power of intuition—Descartes and

 

273. First Granite Beds and First Upheavals.

Leibnitz—had taken up perfectly correct ideas as to the
theory of their formation. They considered that the ores
and other substances met with in the rocks had filled up >
the clefts by solidifying there, having escaped in a state
of vapour from the burning beds below. Werner demon-
strated this in a very plausible way, and modern geologists
have accepted his views, at the same time modifying them
a little.

In his beautiful work Za Vie Souterraine, M. Simonin
maintains that these metallic emanations may reach the
fissures in two ways. ‘They are deposited in the fissures
which constitute the veins either in the state of vapour by
GEOLOGY. 575

a dry method, as in the craters of volcanoes or the chim-
neys of smelting furnaces; or in a state of chemical precipi-
tation by a wet method, as in the solutions of our labora-
tories.”

This hypothesis, as the author tells us, meets all objec-
tions, explaining at the same time the deposit and the
formation of the matrix which envelops it.

Granite and porphyry must be classed among the
richest metalliferous rocks, but beds of ore are also met
with in the old transition rocks. It is in these that gold
and silver are found.’ The p/acers of California are often
formed merely by the detritus of granite rocks and schists,
filled with particles of gold, deposited on the beds of
ancient rivers which had borne them away.

The rich family of precious stones, the diamond, ruby,
sapphire, and emerald, seem to owe their formation to the
same cause as the masses of metal. Volatilized in clefts of
the igneous rocks, these stones there turned into brilliant
crystallizations—tears of nature, as M. Simonin calls them.

CHAPTER IIL

PERIOD OF TRANSITION.

It was at the period of transition that the dawn of life
began to show itself. No animal could have lived upon

1 Mr. David Forbes divides the gold epochs into two: the older or granite out-
burst, which occurred between the silurian and carboniferous periods; and the
younger or diorite outburst, which passed through fossils of the post-oolitic forms,

and was possibly as late as the early chalk.—Tr. ‘
73
576 THE UNIVERSE.

the burning surface of the globe during the plutonic period.
But so soon as it was sufficiently cooled down to admit
of living creatures appearing on it, we see them at once
enter upon the scene. This is characteristic of this epoch.

The earth, imperfectly cooled down, still maintained a
very high temperature, and this temperature was the same
from one pole to another; the sun only brought with it
useless supplementary heat. There were neither seasons
nor climates; the torrid zone and the polar regions were
peopled with the same plants and animals; their fossilized
remains are identical whether found beneath the ice of
Spitzbergen or in the rocks of burning tropical countries.

Siturran Periop.—This name is derived from that of a
part of England inhabited by the ancient S7/ures, and is
given to the strata of this epoch because they have been
chiefly studied there.

The globe at that time supported nothing but a very
small number of sea-animals, belonging to classes of the
lowest order of organization, as if nature, still feeble and
undecided, were in their production making the first trial
of her strength.

The seas, still warm, occupied at this time nearly all
the surface of the globe, and only very small portions of
land had emerged from the waters—islets lost in the midst
of a boundless ocean. Crustaceans, a few scattered mol-
luses, polypoids, and a small number of fish, were the sole
tenants of the deep. :

But among the silurian animals, those which especially
predominated were the trilobites, the name of which is
derived from the arrangement of their articulated bodies,
formed to a certain extent by three long lobes ranged side
by side to each other. No living representative of these
crustaceans, which were the most ancient inhabitants of
GEOLOGY. 577

the globe, is now found in our seas; they are absolutely
struck out of the catalogue of created beings.

CARBONIFEROUS PERiop.—Later on, the first layers that
cooled down became covered with a luxuriant vegetation,
the fossilized remains of which now constitute our coal-
beds—antediluvian forests, which the genius of man
extracts from the depths of the earth, to serve the wants
of industry and his own dwellings.”

1 The trilobites, marine crustaceans—so called on account of their bodies
being composed of three lobes

 

were, with the exception of a very few shell-fish,
the only beings which peopled the seas of the Silurian epoch. At the present
time we do not find any crustaceans analogous to these extinct species.

Although thousands, perhaps millions, of years separate us from the period at
which the trilobites existed, yet, by a fortunate accident, geologists have sometimes
met with specimens so perfect that the delicate structure of the eyes could be
made out in them; and it has been shown that these organs were constructed
upon exactly the same plan as those of the crustaceans which now inhabit our seas.

These revelations suffice to establish a parallel between the extreme points of
creation; and hence Buckland, after an examination of this apparatus, daringly
painted the condition of the globe at the tine when these strange crustaceans lent
life to it. ‘The results,” he says, “arising from these facts are not confined to
animal physiology; they give information also regarding the condition of the
ancient sea and ancient atmosphere, and the relations of both these media to
light, at that remote period when the earliest marine animals were furnished with
instruments of vision, in which the minute optical adaptations were the same
that impart the perception of light to crustaceans now living at the bottom of
the sea.

“With respect to the waters wherein the trilobites maintained their existence
throughout the entire period of the transition formation, we conclude that they
could not have been that imaginary turbid and compound chaotic fluid from the
precipitate of which some geologists have supposed the materials of the surface
of the earth to be derived; because the structure of the eyes of these animals is
such, that any kind of fluid in which they could have been efficient at the bottom
must have been pure and transparent enough to allow the passage of light to
organs of vision, the nature of which is so fully disclosed by the state of perfection
in which they are preserved.

“ Regarding light itself also, we learn from the resemblance of these most
ancient organizations to existing eyes, that the mutual relations of light to the
eye, and of the eye to light, were the same at the time when crustaceans endowed
with the faculty of vision were first placed at the bottom of the primeval seas, as
at the present moment.”

2 After a careful examination of the ancient forests from which our coal-
578 THE UNIVERSE.

During this period the whole surface of the globe was
covered with strange and dense forests, where proudly
reigned a host of plants, the representatives of which at
the present day play but a very humble part. Here were
palms and bamboos, there gigantic Lycopodia, which, now
humble creeping herbaceous plants, at that time bore
straight stems towering to a height of eighty to a hundred
feet. Then came the Lepidodendra, the stem of which
reminds one of a reptile’s scaly cuirass. Lastly came trees

mines take their origin, an attempt has been made to estimate their duration and
antiquity. M. Chevandier, computing the product of two plantations of beeches
for a given period of years, found that the carbon of our contemporary forests
would in a hundred years only form on a hectare (or, in round numbers, two
acres one rood) a layer of coal seven lines in thickness, This calculation sufficed,
in the eyes of some statisticians rather ingenious than rigorously scientific in
their statements, to fix the duration of the forests, the deposits from which now
form our coal. They have come to the conclusion that these coal-beds represent
the coucentrated products of a vegetation which lasted 672,788 years. Bischoff
devoted himself to other calculations: the learned German physiologist wanted
to ascertain how many years separate us from the carboniferous period. Accord-
ing to him we must date it back 9,000,000 years from our era. But it is evident
that these calculations, like the preceding ones, are only hazardous investigations
without the least scientific exactitude.

[As regards the great question of exhaustion of coal, M. Leonard Lemoran has
pointed out that, so far from our being able to calculate with any certainty at
what period the coal-fields of England will be exhausted, we are not yet in pos-
session of the first elements of such a problem; that the area occupied by coal
within the carboniferous deposits hasnever yet been determined with accuracy; but
he coneludes, that at the present rate of consumption, the coal in the South Wales
basin will last for 2000 years, and that probably we shall not materially exceed
our present rate of consumption, as the increase of price which is going on will be
a natural check upon it; that our coal-seams extend under the Permian and New
Red Sandstone rocks ; that coal-seams exist at much greater depths than any now
worked, and that they may very possibly be worked at a greater depth than was
supposed (4000 feet). This is a more encouraging view than that taken by Sir
William Armstrong, who limits our supply to 212 years; or that of Mr. Edward
Hull, of the Geological Survey, who extends the limit to a little upwards of 300
years.—Populur Science Review, vol. v. p. 290.

Enormous masses have recently been discovered in Russia. One coal-bed, in
the district of which Moscow is the centre, covers an area of 120,000 square
miles! and is therefore alinost as large as the entire bituminous coal area of the
United States.—Tr. ]
GEOLOGY. 579

of the family of our Coniferz, their boughs laden with
fruit.

These vast primeval forests, which the course of ages
was to annihilate, sprang up on a heated and marshy soil,
which surrounded the lofty trees with thick compact masses
of herbaceous aquatic plants, intended to play a great
part in the formation of coal.

The luxuriant vegetation of the coal period was cer-
tainly favoured by the enormous heat which the scarcely-
chilled terrestrial crust still preserved, as also by the
dampness of the atmosphere, and very probably by the
great abundance of carbonic acid which it then contained.!

Although a thick and magnificent mantle of. foliage
covered the globe, everything wore a strange, gloomy aspect.
Everywhere rose gigantic Equiseta and ferns, drawing up
an exuberance of life from the fertile and virgin soil. The
latter in their aspect resembled palms, and at the least
breath of wind waved their crowns of finely-cut leaves like
flexible plumes of feathers. A sky, ever sombre and veiled,
oppressed with heavy clouds the domes of these forests:
a wan and dubious light scarcely made visible the dark
and naked trunks, shedding on all sides a shadowy and
indescribable hue of horror. This rich covering of vege-
tation, which extended from pole to pole, was sad and
utterly silent, as well as strangely monotonous. Not a

1 At the present time the atmosphere only contains a thousandth part of car-
bonic acid, whereas, according to Mons. A. Brongniart, there were at the car-
boniferous period seven to eight parts in a hundred. This acid being an indis-
pensable part of the food of plants, to which it gives up all its carbon, its
presence easily explains the great development of the antediluvian forests of this
period, and as such a quantity of acid in the air would clearly have been fatal to
animals of a higher degree of development, such as mammals and birds, so none
are met with at that time. Reptiles and mammals only appeared when the
plants and trees, by their absorption of the carbonic acid as food, had necessarily
purified the atmosphere sufficiently to allow of animal life going on freely.
580 THE UNIVERSE.

single flower enlivened the foliage, not one edible fruit
loaded its branches. The echoes remained absolutely

 

Aa
27

274, Impression of a Gigantic Club-moss of the Coal Period—Lepidodendron gracile.

mute, and the branches without a sign of life, for no air-
breathing animal had as yet appeared amid these savage
scenes of the ancient world!

One might say, in fact, that there was then no animai
tata
in

Ba
1 Ny :

yy
i

A
=

 

275. Imaginary View of a Forest of the Coal Period.
GEOLOGY. 583

life to be seen, for amid so many remains of the coal flora,
which geologists have so admirably reconstructed, they

 

276. Archegosaurus, the first Antediluvian Reptile—Archegosaurus Decheni.

have only met with a few rare vestiges of one small reptile,
the Archegosaurus. This great contrast between the
richness of the vegetable and penury of the animal king-

dom is explained by the great quantity of carbonic acid
74
584 THE UNIVERSE.

at that time mixed with the atmosphere, which, though
particularly favourable to the life of plants, must have
been fatal to all animals endowed with active respiration.
But though the atmosphere was poisonous, the seas, on
the contrary, uniting together all conditions most favour-
ble to life, were peopled with shelled molluscs and fish.

After having lent life to the primitive ages of the globe,
these strange forests completely disappeared in the lapse
of ages, and they have now become almost impossible to
recognize, owing to the transformations they have under-
gone in nature’s immense subterranean store-houses.

There can, however, be no doubt about the matter.
It is clearly the debris of these antique forests of our
gradually cooled-down planet that constitutes the coal of
the present time. Science, carrying its torch even into
the dark regions from whence this debris proceeded, has
discovered all its constituent parts. Amid the black and
cleaming masses of the coal strata abundant impressions
have been found of the plants which produced the antedi-
luvian combustible, and from these primitive medals of
creation we have seen science weave the history of the
dawn of terrestrial vegetation.

But by what mysterious phenomena was this extra-
ordinary transformation effected? At first it was thought
that the forests of the coal era had been overthrown or
borne away by the violence of currents, and that their
trunks, locked together, after having floated about like
immense rafts, had collected in creeks, and there become
changed into layers of coal.

But this theory, though seductive from its simplicity, is
inadmissible, because the trunks, in spite of their bulk,
would yield only a very thin layer of coal. M. Elie de
Beaumont, on the other hand, thinks that it was the com-
GEOLOGY. 585

pact, herbaceous vegetation enveloping the great plants of
the coal-forests which played the principal part in the
production of coal, and that by its ceaseless renewal and
change the coal was produced by a transformation analo-
gous to that which our aquatic plants undergo when trans-
formed into turf. This theory offers a better explanation of
the abundance and thickness of the coal-seams. We do not
exactly make out the nature of the chemical phenomena
which must have taken place during such a fundamental
metamorphosis; but what is clear is, that this was princi-
pally effected under the influence of the immense pressure
and great heat which the plants experienced during the
time they were submerged under water, owing to the sub-
sidence of the soil on which they had lived and died.

CHAPTER IV.
SECONDARY EPOCH.

In this epoch everything strongly contrasted with that
which preceded it. In the latter the vegetable kingdom
predominated during its whole course to an extraordinary
extent; in this the animal kingdom seems to have absorbed
all the vital forces of the globe.

The secondary strata were peopled by a fauna altogether
new, and more and more exuberant. The reptiles astonish
us by their number, their gigantic size, and their unwonted
forms; antique and incomprehensible inhabitants of the
globe, reproduced in all their parts to our wondering eyes
by the genius of a Cuvier and an Owen! It is to this
586 THE UNIVERSE.

epoch that the name of the Reptilian Age may be most
appropriately given, so completely did these creatures
then predominate on the globe; it was the age of the Icthy-
osauri, the Plesiosauri, and the Mosasauri—a throng of
frightful lizards, compared to which our own are mere pig-
mies, and which spread terror through the antediluvian seas.

At this period we see innumerable molluscs, the shells
of which have been carefully preserved by the rocks.
Some belong to genera which are no longer met with in
our present seas; all to species which are absolutely
unknown at the present day.

Already at the time we speak of, the previous extreme
heat of the earth had declined. The sky had grown
clearer and the atmosphere become less heavy; still there
was a decidedly high temperature, which, combined with
great humidity, favoured the luxuriant vegetation which
developed itself vigorously under the influence of the
luminous brightness of the sun.

The more ancient of the secondary rocks have interested
geologists on account of the innumerable remains of shells
which they contain, and owing to which they have been
named conchylian.!?

At the time when these strata were being deposited
lived one of the most extraordinary reptiles that we know
of. It was a kind of monster toad, so enormous as to
equal an ox in size, and the teeth of which, resembling
the windings of a maze, have procured it the name of
Labyrinthodon. The strata of this ancient epoch have con-
tributed to teach us some even of the anatomical details
of this animal, having preserved the impressions of its

1 This era most probably means here the coarse, shelly limestone of the forest
marble, and the great oolite ; possibly also including the muschelkalk of German
geologists. —Tr.
Imaginary View of a Landscape of the Secondary Epoch, with Pterodactyls. Lias Period.

277

|.

 
GEOLOGY. 589

footsteps. On the same beds have been observed the
prints of three-toed feet, considered by some geologists as
traces of the first birds on our globe.

To this period belong the Jurassic strata, which play so

 

278. Labyrinthodon restored.

important a part in the formation of the Jura Mountains,
from whence they derive their name. This formation is
rich in animal fossils, which give it quite a special cha-
racter. It may be divided into two sections—the Lias
and the Oolite.

The liassic seas fed numbers of animals, and their
deposits are distinctly characterized by the gryphieas,
ammonites, belemnites, plagiostomata, and encrinites,
which are peculiar to it. But what impresses a special
stamp upon it is the presence of strange marine reptiles,
the remains of which are found in it remarkably well

preserved.
ry

590 THE UNIVERSE.

At this time lived the Ichthyosauri, veritable fish-
lizards, as is indicated by their name. These reptiles,
which must have spread terror through the ancient seas,
attained a length of about thirty-three feet. Their whole
organization is a series of paradoxes. With the vertebree
of the fish they have the fins of a dolphin; and while
armed with the teeth of a crocodile they display an optic
globe which is without any parallel. This eye, the bulk
of which was sometimes as large as a man’s head, was
protected in front by a framework of bony plates, and
was beyond all doubt the most powerful and perfect visual
apparatus ever seen in creation. Hence Buckland main-
tains that the Ichthyosauri could discover their prey at
the greatest as well as the shortest distances; in the pro-
found darkness of night, and in the depths of the ocean;
the delicate structure of the organ of vision being protected
from the pressure of the water and the shock of the waves
by the osseous buckler which surrounds the transparent
cornea.

Naturalists have investigated the remains of these
animals with such skill, that in spite of the destruction of
the softer organs thousands of years ago, they have been
enabled to make out the structure of the intestinal tube!
It has been shown that this was formed exactly like an
Archimedian screw, and was strictly analogous to that of
our sharks and rays. At the same time the nature of the
food of these voracious reptiles has been discovered.
These two facts were revealed by an examination of the
feeces or coprolites of Ichthyosauri, which are found in
large quantities in some localities. Their form, moulded
on that of the intestine, showed the structure quite clearly,
while the petrified remains of food which were discovered
proved that these animals devoured an enormous quantity
GEOLOGY. 591

of fish, and even occasionally their own species, for small
Ichthyosauri have been met with in the bellies of the large
ones.

 

279, Skeleton of the Common Ichthyosaurus —Ichthyosaurus communis. Head of
Ichthyosaurus.
With these terrible dominators of the Jurassic seas lived

the Plesiosauri, reptiles equally strange, and which Cuvier
75
592 THE UNIVERSE.

considered as the most abnormal races of the ancient
world. They were remarkable for their turtle-like fins,
and especially for the thinness and extreme length of their
serpent-like necks. The arrangement of the skeleton in
the Plesiosaurus led Mr. Conybeare to think that it swam
ordinarily on the surface of the waves, curving back its
long flexible neck like a swan, and darting forward with
it from time to time in order to seize the fish which ap-
proached it. Their paws, analogous to those of the sea-
turtles, induced this learned Englishman to think also that
the Plesiosauri, like these reptiles, sometimes issued from
the sea and sought refuge amid the plants, in order to
evade their dangerous enemies, which were beyond all
doubt the Ichthyosauri.

If any of the animals which the remote periods of the
globe present to our notice are to be looked upon as
monsters, we submit that in this respect the first place is
due to the Pterodactyli, which remind one of the ancient
dragons of legendary tradition. Their structure is so
paradoxical that one does not really know where to place
them; they were alternately looked upon as birds, mam-
mals, and reptiles. De Blainville, embarrassed, as indeed
all the learned world were, formed a separate class for
them in the animal kingdom.!

The aspect of the pterodactyl was necessarily very
strange. When naturalists tried to restore their frames,
the figures they produced were more like the offspring of
some diseased imagination than realities. They were
really reptiles furnished with large wings, and resembled
enormous bats, having a very pointed head supported on

1 There were air-cavities in the bones of the pterodactyls, and the coracoid
process, the scapula, and the broad sternum with its median crest, allied them in
anatomical points to birds.—Popular Science Review, vol. vii. p. 242.—Tr.
GEOLOGY. 593

a slender neck. The smaller species certainly lived on
insects, for the remains of these have been found among
fossilized skeletons.*

Certain naturalists, among them Bory de Saint-Vincent,
have been almost inclined to think that these fantastic ani-
mals may have suggested the first idea of those images of
dragons so frequently represented on the monuments pro-
duced in the infancy of art, or whose existence is affirmed
by inspired writers. This savant supposes that some
pterodactyls, having survived the era of general extinc-
tion, may have been contemporary with the first men;
that these, struck with their strange appearance, possibly
preserved a few likenesses of them among their imperfect
hieroglyphic designs, and that mythological tradition after-
wards more or less distorted the type.

The second section of the Jurassic period often displays
in its strata small yellowish sub-globular concretions, re-
sembling in their appearance fish-eggs, which has procured
for it the name of Oolite.

The great feature of this period is the first appearance
of mammals. The only vestiges found of them are two
little jaws, belonging to species very like the opossum,
so well known from the habit of the female of carrying her
young family in an abdominal sack, or bearing them on
her back.’

1To these amphibious reptiles must now be added several others. Three new
genera have been recently discovered in the Castlecomar coal-measures in Kilkenny.
Remains of another new genus, the Pliosaurus, presented to the British Museum,
show that the skull of this creature was nearly five feet long.—Tr.

? The oolite which produced the famous lithographic slate of Solenhofen,
yielded the first bird, the skeleton of which has been so far preserved that its
nature could be clearly decided upon. This is the Archzopteryx, now in the
British Museum. It exhibits a closer approximation to reptilian structure than
any modern bird. The tail is very long, and in this respect more like that of a
reptile than that of a bird. Two digits of the manus have curved claws, much
stronger than those of any existing bird.— Pop. Science Review, vol. vii. p. 241.—Tr.
594 THE UNIVERSE.

The oolite abounds in molluscs, polypoids, and fossil
plants. Insects and crustaceans are also found in it.

The last group of the secondary strata, the cretaceous
or chalk formation, plays an important part in geology,
partly owing to its depth, partly to the great extent over

 

280. Merian’s Opossum —Didelphis dorsigera (Linnzus).

which it is found. It is scarcely necessary to say that it
owes its name to the chalk (carbonate of lime), of which
it almost entirely consists. The cretaceous strata form
many of our mountain chains.

During this period both land and sea appear to have
been still under the domination of reptiles of colossal size.
The Mosasaurus, long called the “great Maestricht animal,”
an immense marine lizard, attained a length of twenty
metres (more than sixty-five feet), whilst contemporary
GEOLOGY. 595

species are not more tnana yard long. It must have spread
terror on all sides.
With the cretaceous seas were extinguished all those

 

281. Fossil Shells of the Secondary Period,

1, Turrilites catenata, Protogea. 2, Oyster—Ostreea columba (Lamarck). 3, Terebratula.
4, Mammillary Ammonite. 5, Striated Nautilus—Nautilus striatus.
6, Curved Gryphea— Gryphea incurva.

races of strange reptiles, to whose voracity the exuberant
brood of ocean fell an easy prey. But at the same time
their mission was now intrusted to voracious sharks of
enormous size, which for the first time appeared in the
waters of the globe.
596 THE UNIVERSE.

In the same seas those families of microscopic Fora-
minifera, the débris of which, as we have seen, constitute
large mountains, swarmed alongside of the gigantic Nautili
and Ammonites.

To use the happy expression of M. L. Figuier, “the
state of the vegetation in the cretaceous period might be
looked upon as the vestibule of the vegetation of our
days.” The dicotyledons augment in number, whilst the
ferns and inferior plants lose their supremacy little by
little, and are replaced by trees analogous to those that
now afford us their shade.

But if the forests of this epoch already approached ours
in the character of their vegetation, they differed very
widely as to the nature of their inhabitants. Where now
we only meet inoffensive lizards a few inches long playing
on the sward, there were then creatures of this class which
dragged through these solitudes their vast frames fifteen
to sixteen metres (forty-eight to fifty-two feet English)
in length. Such were the Megalosauri and the Iguano-

dons.!

CHAPTER V.
TERTIARY EPOCH.

We have just seen unrolled before our eyes a phase of
creation in which all animal life was under the dominion

1 Neither the Iguanodon nor the Megalosaurus has as yet been found in
England of such proportions as these. Owen computed the length of the
Tguanodon at thirty-five feet, but a thigh-bone was found just west of Sandown
Fort which clearly belonged to a larger animal, one possibly forty-five feet in
length.—Tr.
 

282. Imaginary View of a Landscape of the Tertiary Period, with groups of Palotheria and Auoplotheria.
GEOLOGY. 599

of a legion of frightful reptiles: in the tertiary epoch these
had disappeared into the abysses of the globe, and peace-
ful and luxuriant nature was animated for the first time
with varied races of inoffensive mammals, which spread
over the whole earth from pole to pole. Among the
remains of these animals, dug out of the soil and recon-
structed by the skill of the anatomist, some astonish us
by their singular forms, others by their colossal size. The
creation of the present time seems to have quite degen-
erated when compared to these giants of the animal king-
dom! Hence, looking at its predominant feature, this
epoch might be called the epoch of the mammals. They
predominate throughout.

In the course of ages the crust of the earth, augment-
ing in thickness as it steadily cooled down, had become
compact enough to intercept the central heat, and hence
the solar influence, making itself more and more felt, now
began to mark out the separate climates.

The tertiary fauna displayed extreme richness, and
among the animals it offers in profusion, the list of those
belonging to contemporary genera is visibly increased.
We find monkeys, bats, genets, marmots; and now for the
first time cetaceans appeared in the seas.

But the most remarkable of all the animals of that day
were the Paleeotheria and Anoplotheria, curious pachy-
derms which belong solely to this epoch and vanish utterly
with it.

The Paleotheria, with their heavy forms and small
trunk, resembled our tapirs. According to Cuvier, they
lived like them on the banks of rivers and lakes, as is
shown by the remains of lacustrine and fiuviatile animals
scattered amid their calcareous winding-sheets. These

mammals, remarkable for having three toes on each foot,
76
600 THE UNIVERSE.

were sometimes as big as a horse, as was the case with
the great Paleeotherium; others scarcely reached that of a
hare.

The Anoplotheria were of more slender make, and had
long powerful tails. According to Cuvier, the Anoplothe-
rium commune had some analogy with the otter, but was
of larger size. This naturalist thought that it dived with
ease, in order to seek for the roots and succulent stems
which composed its food.

The remains of the Paleotheria and Anoplotheria

 

283. The Great Palzotherium—Palcotherium magnum (Cuvier).

abound in the gypsum of the quarries near Paris, and
there are some in which they lie so thick that every blow
of the pickaxe exhumes some of their remains from these
antediluvian charnel-houses. This fact evidently proves
that these mammals lived in dense herds near the banks
of the ancient fresh waters of the Paris basin.
GEOLOGY. 601

It is in this tertiary epoch that we also discover the
bulkiest terrestrial mammals, the Dinotheria, in shape
analogous to the elephant, but much larger.

An animal which has been an object of interest to
every one, the great Mastodon, belongs to the same
period. It was at first called the elephant of Ohio, on
account of its shape and the place where it was dis-
covered; but afterwards, as its teeth were found to be
provided with strong projecting elevations, a separate
genus was formed for it.

Although of such vast size the remains of this species
are extremely common in Canada and Louisiana. Along
the river of the Great Osages are found skeletons almost

 

284. The Common Anoplotherium—A noplotherium commune.

complete. Sometimes mastodons have been exhumed en-
tire and standing upright, in places where they seem to
have been caught alive; some appear to have been so
suddenly overtaken by the alluvial floods that we still find
in their stomachs the food which they had just swallowed.
The nature of this food has been made out: it consisted
of herbs and small branches of trees; and thus science
602 THE UNIVERSE.

has again shown on what one of the most ancient crea-
tures of the globe used to feed!

Towards the same time we find the Glyptodons, huge
armadilloes which were more than double the size of those
living in our days; and then the Megatheria, a kind of
monstrous sloths which were as large as elephants, while
those of our epoch are scarcely the size of a dog.

Lastly came the frightful Sivatherium, found in India,
and to which this name, derived from that of the goddess
Siva worshipped there, has been given in consequence.
This animal, as Owen tells us, is certainly one of the
most gigantic and extraordinary of the extinct races
known to us. It was a stag as large as an elephant, its
head being surmounted with four horns.

In the tertiary epoch we meet with few reptiles, but
one of them enjoys a great celebrity. It was a gigantic
salamander, which the dictum of a theological naturalist
caused to be long considered as an incontestable relic from
the hecatomb of the biblical deluge.

During this phase of creation of which we have sketched
the history, new races of molluscs arose on all sides, while
the ancient ones perished to return no more. The am-
monites, formerly so numerous, disappeared altogether,
whilst tiny nummulites, the size of lentils, were forming
imposing chains of mountains in different parts of the
globe. The miliolites, infinitely smaller, multiplied at
such a prodigious rate that they deposited vast strata,
which, as we have seen, are now-a-days quarried to build
our dwellings with. It was also during this period of
organic evolution that the seas of the Paris basin abounded
in such rich conchylic deposits, in those places where the
great city was one day to parade its splendour. It is

1 See page 35.
GEOLOGY. 603

amongst these that we discover the gigantic Cerithium
(Cerithium gigantewm, Lam.), which attains a length
of fifty centimetres (nearly twenty inches), and a host

 

285. Fossil Shells of the Tertiary Epoch.

1, Gigantic Cerithium. 2. Bichambered Helix. 3, Turritel/a imbricata (Lam.)
4, Rostellaria macroptera (Lam.) 5, Rostellaria columbata (Lam.)
6, Cancellaria cancellata (Boun.) 7, Cerithium thiara (Lam.)

of other shells, in the most marvellous state of preserva-
tion, some of which are represented in the above en-
graving.

The vegetation of the tertiary epoch is remarkable for
604 THE UNIVERSE.

the approach it makes towards ours. M. A. Brongniart
expresses himself as follows: “Looked at as seen in
Europe,” says this learned botanist, ‘‘this vegetation dis-
plays, in particular, a great analogy with the present flora
of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.”

We are in fact astonished to find in the ancient strata
of this epoch unimpeachable remains of our present flora.
Nymphee allowed their beautiful flowers to float on the
surface of the tranquil waters of the new world, whilst
the Potamogetons or pondweeds displayed their leaves in
the depths. Lastly, we find here also Coniferz, oaks, elms,
and other different contemporary genera.

CHAPTER VI.
QUATERNARY OR POST-TERTIARY PERIOD.

The first phases of this epoch are connected with the
tertiary period, and it is during one of those which follow
that we finally see man appear—man whose supreme essence
shows like a grand crowning of the work of creation.

The post-tertiary is then the epoch to which we belong,
and nearly all the creatures which serve to enliven it are
those we see at present contributing their share to beautify
animated nature. But this period, which perhaps contains
many myriads of years, was far from being so tranquil as
many geologists would have it. Though we no longer see
the immense seas which rolled their untamed waves from
pole to pole, we find great deluges, the upheaval of moun-
GEOLOGY, 605

tain chains, and horrible invasions of ice, which waste or
engulf everything living.

This last epoch abounds less in new animal forms than
those which preceded it; but the creatures which were
brought forth at this time are often remarkable for their
vast size, their number, and the extent to which they were
disseminated. In every part of the globe their vestiges,
disinterred by patience and learning, prove the truth of
these assertions.

We have seen invisible antediluvian Infusoria, heaped
up into mountains by the waters of the globe, exist
through a cycle of ages, and present themselves to our
astonished gaze with all the details of their organization.
In the diluvium, on the contrary, we find a population of
colossi belonging to the ancient world. Elephants, masto-
dons, rhinoceroses, and hippopotami are spread over regions
far from where they now live. France itself supported
numerous cohorts of them, and they existed in the midst
of the ices of Siberia.

In antediluvian times this latter country was even
peopled with such herds of elephants and rhinoceroses,
that travellers say the soil of some islands in the Icy Sea
is at present literally stuffed with their bones.

Art, which from the remotest epoch has employed so
much ivory for ornament and statuary, finds without
any search a rich mine of this precious substance in the
teeth of the fossil elephants which abound in these ancient
charnel-houses. At present the north of Asia furnishes an
enormous quantity for commercial purposes. The ivory
mines of New Siberia and of the island of Lachoo are so
rich in these débris that their soil is absolutely a mass
of sand, ice, and elephant tusks. Every time there is a
storm the waves throw up a great number of these, some
606 THE UNIVERSE.

of which weigh as much as 100 kilogrammes (233 Ibs,
avoirdupois).

The richness of these cemeteries in the arctic regions,
and the colossal size of the remains which they inclose, sur-
pass everything that can be imagined. The Siberians
and Tartars are themselves struck with them. One of
their myths assigns them to subterranean animals which
abhorred the light. In relation to this subject it is curious
to observe, that in several very ancient Chinese books men-
tion is also made of these fossil elephants, for it must be
these animals that are referred to. In the Ly-A7, a treatise
on ceremony written 500 years before the Christian era, it
is said that there exists an animal called Tin-Schu, or the
mouse, which hides itself, which lives in obscure caves,
and is of the size of a buffalo; the least ray of sun or
moon light kills it instantly.

Klaproth relates that a similar fable is met with in
Mantchoo manuscripts. It is said there that this colossal
mouse attains the size of an elephant!

Amongst the most remarkable discoveries of recent
times must be ranked that of one of these elephants of the
extreme north, which was found by some fishermen in the
ice near the mouth of the Lenain 1799. Its flesh, enveloped
in a block of ice, had been preserved through many thou-
sands and perhaps millions of years! The bears and dogs
flocked thither to make an antediluvian repast off it.
Almost the whole skeleton of this animal was saved, and
it may now be seen in the museum of St. Petersburg.

The human mind, face to face with all these gigantic
races, engulfed by the latest telluric convulsions, turns
back to search amid their remains, striving to penetrate
into the cause of these grand disasters.

At one of the epochs nearest to us, when the whole
GEOLOGY. 607

surface of the soil which we inhabit, lighted by a radi-
ant sun, was covered only with splendid forests and mag-
nificent prairies, in the midst of which wandered troops of
elephants, mastodons and rhinoceroses, all at once the whole
of this exuberance of life disappeared in one common ship-
wreck. A horrible mantle of snow and ice covered all
northern Europe, and extended its folds even to the plains
of Germany. Overpowered by the cold, all those great
racessuccumbedand were buried beneath this grim winding-
sheet; a luminary dim and pale alone lighted up these life-
less solitudes, and the silence of death reigned everywhere.

What was the first cause of these unexpected phenomena
of this period, justly called the glacial, which swept over
the globe formerly so heated? It will perhaps long remain
unknown, but its ravages have left everywhere indelible
traces. The waves of this immense sea of ice, rolling down
the mountains, tore off the projecting portions, bore them
away in their movement, and scattered them everywhere on
their passage. In this way numerous fragments from the
loftiest peaks of Scandinavia were transported to the
plains of Germany and Novogorod; others, violently torn
away from the summits of the Alps, were strewed over the
slopes of Jura.

Up to the present time geologists had supposed that
these fragments of rocks, these erratic blocks, as they are
called, which are met with far from the mountains of which,
as their structure shows, they once formed part, were trans-
ported by the violent action of the waters, and that they
had been carried away by the waves of deluges. Agassiz,
in his work on Glaciers, has shown that this hypothesis is
inadmissible, and that to the great movements of the seas
of ice must be attributed the transport of rocks which we

often find far from the spot where they were formed.
77
608 THE UNIVERSE.

It is'to this severe cold which raged over a large part
of Europe that we must refer the great hecatomb of those
myriads of elephants, mastodons, and rhinoceroses, which
formerly lent life to every part of France, Germany, and
Italy, and of which their soil displays such numerous
vestiges on every side.

The cause was clearly sudden, for if all these animals
had not been frozen as soon as they were killed, different
agents would have dispersed their remains, whilst on the
contrary we often find entire skeletons on the spot where
they had expired. As we have just said, elephants have
even been discovered contained in the ice and still covered
with skin and the long and extraordinary hair of which
they possessed a thick covering!

In the post-tertiary epoch other events again greatly
disturbed the globe; these were the mighty deluges which
poured in tumultuous torrents over its surface, and de-
posited abundance of débris on it. Hence these strata
are known by the name of diluvium.

But although an attentive study of the earth points out
to us with great accuracy the succession of its epochs, all
the power of modern science is inadequate to say what
space of time these great phases endured; and how many
years back we must place all these deluges, these cata-
clysms, and lastly the creation of man.

Notwithstanding the apparent youth of the new conti-
nent, some geologists assign a very remote period to the
great shock which gave it birth by rending the globe
almost from pole to pole. One of the most learned men
whom England loves to honour, Sir Charles Lyell, resting
his arguments upon authorities of great weight, maintains
that the Mississippi has run in its present bed more than
100,000 years; and Dr. B. Dowler, who shares this view,
GEOLOGY. 609

asserts, from observations on vegetable physiology and the
examination of some pottery and certain Indian burying-
places, that the delta of this great river has been inhabited
by man for more than 50,000 years!

On the other hand, G. Cuvier makes creation much more
recent, and does not date the appearance of man further
back than tradition. According to this illustrious zoologist,
the history of the human race attests that man has not
ruled over the surface of the globe for more than a very
limited number of years.

The Hebrew nation is the only one which possesses
annals written before the reign of Cyrus. Homer, the
first of poets, and Hesiod his contemporary, lived about
2800 years ago. Herodotus, who was the first profane
historian, wrote about 2300 years before our time.

From national pride the Indians and Egyptians boasted
that their origin was lost in the darkness of ages; and in
order to gain credit for their recitals, they often interwove
fables invented by the Magi or Brahmins, whom many
reasons led to falsify history!

Among the Indians, the Vedas, or sacred books, which
they assert were revealed by Brahma in the very beginning
of the world, scarcely go back farther than 3200 years.
The works on astronomy of this nation, and the tables
of the state of the heavens which were thought to be of
such vast antiquity, have on the contrary been shown to
be quite modern. It has been discovered that they were
antedated. The Brahmins boldly announced that the most
ancient of these astronomical tables had been compiled
more than 20,000,000 years ago. For a brief space of
time men were deceived by their assurance and the author-
ity of Bailly. But Laplace proved that their calculations
had been made after the events, and, moreover, that they
610 THE UNIVERSE.

were false. Bentley even asserted that they were com-
posed only 700 years ago.

The Egyptians, though less pretentious, nevertheless
carried back the origin of their nation to a period much
more remote than is consistent with fact. When Herod-
otus visited their country, the priests told him that they
possessed a history which dated back 11,340 years; and
in order to give a semblance of veracity to their recitals,
they added that during this space of time the sun had
twice risen near the horizon where it sets.

The cyclopean monuments, the vastness of which aston-
ishes us, seem to be the result of labours which belong to
the infancy of society. The almost shapeless stones of
which they are composed, and the enormous proportions
of their architecture, which in no way approaches that of
the Greeks, have led authors to ascribe the execution of
these monuments to the first men who inhabited the earth,
and some of the learned, exaggerating their antiquity,
have regarded them as anterior to the deluge. But these
vast constructions, more extraordinary for their mass than
for the taste displayed in their construction, seem to have
been reared by a seafaring people to resist the encroach-
ments of the sea. Although there is some difference of
opinion among the learned as to the epoch to which they
belong, everything seems to prove that they were erected
by the Pheenicians.

Astronomical monuments support the antiquity of the
human race still less. The famous zodiac of Dendérah, to
which Dupuis accords an antiquity of 15,000 years, is con-
sidered by the astronomer Delambre as later than the epoch
of Alexander, and, according to Biot, represents a state
of the heavens which appeared 700 years before Christ.
Besides, the Egyptian temple in which this singular
GEOLOGY. 611

zodiac was discovered was built during the Roman rule,
as is proved by an inspection of the hieroglyphics, and
even by an inscription consecrating this sanctuary to the
welfare of the emperor Tiberius.

Notwithstanding all these reasons, which are only
applicable to a civilized state, the opinion of G. Cuvier
has been assailed by the recent conquests of science.

In past times some theological naturalists used every
effort to find some vestiges of fossil men contempo-
raries of the deluge. One of them thought he had suc-
ceeded, and gave the pompous name of homo diluvii testis
to the fragments of a skeleton discovered in Switzerland
by Scheuchzer in the quarries of CEningen. But Cuvier
scattered all this to the winds by showing that this precious

2

“man, a witness of the deluge,” valued at its weight in
gold, and venerated as a holy relic, was nothing more
than the skeleton of a gigantic salamander. Doubt
was no longer possible. The head of the reptile had been
taken for the hip-bone; the teeth could be seen, and the
French naturalist had only to scrape the stone a little in
order to lay bare the claws.!

At present this biblical ardour seems replaced by quite
an opposite tendency of argument. Scientific facts, the

value of which cannot be contested, clearly establish the

1 Scheuchzer, a naturalist and theologist, described his fossil man in his Physica
Sacra. He there represents it as one of the rarest relics of the accursed race
swallowed up by the deluge, and in his religious enthusiasm exclaims on looking
at it:—

D’un vieux damné déplorable charpente,
Qu’d ton aspect le pécheur se repente.

In this fragment of a skeleton the learned Swiss thought he had found vestiges
of the frontal bone, remains of the skull, and a tolerably large fragment of the
maxillary bone and root of the nose. The authority of Cuvier and Camper
totally overturned this structure.-—Cuvier, Ossements Fossiles.
612 THE UNIVERSE.

antiquity of the human race, notwithstanding which, for
some inexplicable reason, certain geologists make every
effort to nullify this great discovery.

From time to time vestiges of our species had been
found among the débris of animals which had become
extinct in the latest revolutions of our globe.

On the other hand, a learned archeologist, M. Boucher
de Perthes, supported by the most laudable perseverance,
succeeded in collecting a tolerably large number of flint
instruments, which had clearly belonged to pre-historic.
races of men destroyed in the great diluvian catastrophe.

There was no longer any doubt in the mind of the illus-
trious Lyell. These implements shaped out of flint—axes,
arrow-heads, and knives—which are found in the drift, were
the work of a race which preceded ours—a race which
was contemporary with the cave bears and hyenas, and
even with the rhinoceroses and elephants, which formerly
inhabited our soil, and of which we find only the fossilized
remains.!

The discoveries, then, of geologists and archeologists

UM. Boucher de Perthes has just made a discovery as fortunate as it was un-
expected, which confirms his former views. He has at last found in the drift
gravel, in the neighbourhood of Abbeville, human remains mixed with flint imple-
ments. These precious remains consisted of a human tooth and jaw, and were
found at a depth of 4 metres 52 centimetres (nearly 15 feet). The concurrence
of opinion among the English and French naturalists who examined these
relics leaves no room for doubt: they belong to a race of men anterior to the
deluge.

In a note read lately before the Academy of Sciences, M. de Vibraye states
that he considers himself in a position to affirm, that up to the lower drift man
lived in association with the Ursus speleus, Hyena spelea, Cervus megaceros,
Rhinoceros tichorhinus, and Elephas primigenius.—De Vibraye, Flint Findings
in the Drift. Compt. Rend., p. 577.

One of our most distinguished archeologists, M. J. M. Thaurin, has, in con-
cert with my son, Georges Pouchet, discovered some elephant bones and the tusk
of one of these animals in the diluvium near Rouen. But they did not succeed in
finding any traces of the work of man.—See J. M. Thaurin, Pétrifications Anté-
GEOLOGY. 613

reveal to us that vestiges of antediluvian races exist in the
ground. Lyell, Lartet, and M. Boucher de Perthes are
unanimous on this point.

Is it not then strange to hear, that at the very time
when modern science was making every effort to deny
that man and the great races of mammals were contempo-
rary, the affirmative was in some measure already inter-
woven in the rhapsodical traditions of the North American
savages. Jefferson says the Virginians are convinced that
the mastodons, the bones of which are so often found in
their country, lived there at the same time as their fore-
fathers, but that as they (the mastodons) destroyed all the
animals which were useful to men, the Great Spirit de-
stroyed them all with his thunderbolts, except the strongest
of their males, the mail-clad brow of which shook off the
bolts as they struck him.

The lake dwellings, of which so many remains have
been recently discovered in the lakes of Switzerland, Scot-
land, and Denmark, also attest the antiquity of man on
the globe. It is no longer possible now-a-days to deny
that these singular constructions, raised on piles, served
in pre-historic times to shelter the first human races. We
can no longer doubt respecting this point, now that among

diluviennes et Fossiles Diluviens des Carriéres de Quatremares, de Sotteville et de
Saint-Etienne. Rouen, 1861.

[It seems difficult to understand how any unprejudiced person who has
really examined the evidence can refuse to believe that man lived on this globe
many thousands of years before history began. It is as certain as anything can
be that flint implements wrought by human hands have been found not in one
or two, but in many places, especially undisturbed caves, beneath or embedded
in stalagmite containing remains of the great cave-bear, the cave-hyena, the
mammoth, cave-lion, and rhinoceros, and that man’s era certainly goes back
to at any rate the decline of the great glacial period, even if he did not exist
before it. They have been met with also in river-drifts interbedded with the
bones of the mammoth and rhinoceros, and in fresh-water formations, together
with the bones of the elephant.—The Stream of Life on our Globe, chap. iiiTr.]
614 THE UNIVERSE.

these primitive vestiges of art have been found different
implements which their inhabitants made use of—umill-
stones, stone knives and weapons, besides collars and
bracelets in bronze or Baltic amber, and even human
skeletons."

Such are the grand scenes of the temporary creations
which successively lent life to the earth, and during each
of which the sublime essence of life seems to be constantly
progressing over matter till it reaches our species, the
genius of which appears the highest reflection of the
divinity.

But it is in this intellectual supremacy that man inevi-
tably finds the source of the doubts which overwhelm him.
His life is exhausted in vainly attempting to efface the past
and fathom the future. His thoughts, uncertain and in-

1Our learned naturalist Victor Meunier, in the‘remarkable work which he
has just published, gives the following curious details about the lacustrine dwell-
ings :—

“In New Guinea the Papuans also build on piles, but these are sunk in
the sea at a certain distance from the shore, and parallel with it. They support,
at a height of eight or ten feet above the water, a flooring formed of round pieces
of wood, which in its turn supports circular or square cabins, formed of stakes
placed near each other, and of interlaced rushes, and covered by conical or two-
fronted roofs. One or two narrow bridges lead to the shore.

“Except in the difference between a lacustrine and maritime site, the habita-
tions of these Pceonians on Lake Prasias whom Megabyzus could not subdue
were exactly similar.—Herodotus, book v. cap. 16.

“The settlements of those Africans whose aquatic city, built in a creek of the
river Tsadda, caused so much astonishment some ten years ago to Dr. Baikie, the
English naturalist, then a member of the expedition in the Pleiud on the Niger,
' are also constructed quite on the same plan.

“On the approach of strangers the inhabitants issued from their abodes, the
water being up to their knees. One child was up to the waist. ‘We saw some of
these huts,’ says the doctor, ‘which the inhabitants, if they be inhabited, could
only enter or leave by diving like beavers. We could not have imagined,’ he
adds, ‘reasonable creatures forming, as it were from taste, a colony of beavers,
having the manners of the hippopotami and crocodiles which infest the neigh-
bouring marshes.’”—Victor Meunier, Za Science et les Savants en 1864. Paris,
1865, p. 86.
GEOLOGY. 615

quisitive, sweep him along like an impetuous river which
loses itself in a boundless ocean: like the favourite heroes
of Goethe and Byron, all his efforts are directed towards
unravelling the impenetrable shadows of his destiny.
Hence philosophers and learned men of the highest class,
looking at the incessant change in created beings, have
asked themselves the question whether the human species
was really the master-piece and the last effort of creative
power, or whether it will in its turn disappear in some new
shipwreck, to be succeeded by creatures of still purer
essence.

Looking at the progress which each creation shows,
some of the German savants admit, with Bremser, the
latter hypothesis, and among them are some daring enough
to attempt to prove the point by figures.?

In his remarkable work on geology, M. Louis Figuier
has written on this subject a beautiful passage, which we
are happy to lay before the reader. “It is not impossible,”
he says, “that man may be a step in the ascending and
progressive scale of animated beings. The divine power
which strewed on earth life, sensation, and thought; which

1Bremser thus explains himself in reference to this subject :—

“It may still be presumed, supposing there should be a new radical change,
that beings more perfect than those which resulted from preceding ones will be
created. In man mind bears the same proportion to matter as 50 to 50, with
slight differences more or less, for sometimes mind and sometimes matter pre-
dominates. In a subsequent creation, supposing that in which man was formed
not to be the last, there would probably be organizations in which the mind
would act more freely, and where it would be in the proportion of 75 to 25. It
results from these considerations, that man was formed at the most passive epoch
of existence on our earth. Man isasad middle state between the animal and the
angel; he aspires to elevated knowledge and cannot reach it, albeit our modern
philosophers fancy such is not the case. Man wishes to fathom the first cause
of all that exists, and cannot attain to it; with fewer intellectual faculties
he would not have the presumption to want to know these causes, which on the
other hand would be quite clear to him if he were endowed with a more extended

mind.”
78
616 THE UNIVERSE.

gave to the plant organization; to the animal movement,
sensation, and intelligence; to man, besides these manifold
gifts, the faculty of reason, doubled by the power of aim-
ing at the ideal, perhaps proposes to itself to create one
day, along with man or after him, a still superior being.
This new creature, which modern religion and poetry appear
to have foreseen in the ethereal and radiant type of the
Christian angel, would be provided with moral faculties, the
nature and essence of which elude our understanding.

“We ought to satisfy ourselves with laying down this
redoubtable problem without attempting to resolve it.
This great mystery, to use the beautiful expression of Pliny,
is concealed in the majesty of nature, latet in majestate
nature, or better, in the thoughts and omnipotence of the
Creator of worlds.”
BOOK II.

FOSSILS.

If, in ending this sketch of geology, we now inquire
from what sources the learned have been able to decipher
the dark phases through which earth has passed, we see
that they have managed to extract most valuable data
from the numerous vestiges of creatures which successively
peopled it, and which are found scattered on its surface or
in its deep layers.

In fact, the fossiliferous rocks only represent the cata-
combs of the former creations, miraculously preserved
through ages, and the ineffaceable impressions which they
have left in every terrestrial stratum seem like so many
medals destined to mark the various revolutions of the
globe.

The different layers of our sphere have faithfully be-
queathed to us vestiges of all that once animated their sur-
face; nothing has been lost in this great medal-cabinet of
nature. The Libellula, with its wings of gauze, is quite as
well preserved as the ponderous skeleton of the mastodon.
The carapace of a microscopic infusorium lies by the side
of the bony case of a gigantic tortoise. Some of the
flowers which perfumed the first meadows on the globe
618 THE UNIVERSE.

have been found, if not in all their freshness, at least re-
taining all the delicacy of their forms. Certain vegetable
secretions themselves have escaped the ravages of cata-
clysms. Thus we discover the resin of some antediluvian
Coniferze, and in the midst of its transparent lumps lie yet
the winged insects which it imprisoned as it flowed; this
is the source of our yellow amber.!

For those who know how to fathom the most mysterious
revelations of nature she unvails other and quite unex-
pected facts; traces of certain acts or certain phenomena
which have lasted only an instant!

The antiquary no longer finds on the sand any trace

1The history of yellow amber has been unfolded by M. Goppert, who has
remarked that this precious substance, the origin of which was so long a mystery,
is only the resin produced by a species of antediluvian Conifer, the Pinites suc-
cinifer. This amber-tree, which seems decidedly analogous to our red fir (Abies
rubra, Mich.), distilled its resin more abundantly than the trees of the same
family do in our forests now. Hence, as it flowed in large quantities over the
surface of the bark, its voluminous concretions imprisoned insects and flowers,
which its transparence allows us to see.

According to K. Miiller, we sometimes find in the midst of morsels of amber
little fir-cones and remains of woody tissue, which may be recognized as having
proceeded from the trunk of some species closely resembling the red-pine. In
antediluvian times the succiniferous pines formed, beyond doubt, dense forests on
the borders of the Baltic, and the amber buried beneath its waves is now ejected
from its ancient tombs by violent tempests. It is found mingled with floating
wood and marine plants, which are withdrawn from the waves by means of nets.
When the mass is rescued from the sea, the women and children seek for the
precious substance. In the interior of Europe the amber is dug out like fossil
products. Beds of it are found in Switzerland, in Poland, and in Italy. It is
also met with in Greenland.

This valuable material flowed so abundantly from the pine-trees that it often
accumulated on the ground in masses of considerable size. Here the resin, com-
bining with the oxygen of the air, became transformed into succinic acid. The
largest piece of amber known is in the Museum of Natural History at Berlin;
it weighs more than thirteen pounds. Its value is estimated at 10,000 thalers
(about £1500), although only the tenth part of this price was paid for it, for, like
diamonds in Brazil, amber is considered in Prussia the property of the crown.
The shores of the Baltic, which produce the most amber, yield annually about
150 tons.—Cosmos, b. i. s. 329. K. Miiller, Jerveilles du Monde Végétal, t. i.
p. 168,
GEOLOGY. 619

left by the bloody feet of those proud conquerors who
marched their savage hordes from one end of the earth

 

286. Fossil Libellula of the Secondary Epoch,

to the other, whilst humble tortoises, or a few isolated
lizards, separated from us by twenty cataclysms, still
display to the astonished naturalist the passing impress
of their steps, upon a soil scarcely consolidated in the
most ancient times of our globe. And, moreover, who
would think we should even find indications of the storms
of the primitive epochs of the earth? Rain-drops, falling
upon the sand, formed impressions upon it which it has
preserved by becoming transformed into a solid free-
stone!!

Yet in spite of this marvellous preservation of ancient

1 These impressions of rain-drops have been photographed by J. Deane from
rocks in Connecticut. They are evidently due to showers falling on sand still
moist and soft, which later on became dry, and was transformed into freestone.
In other rocks of America, figures of which can be seen in Buckland’s work,
we find the marks of tortoises’ feet and of the footsteps of lizards.—Buckland,
Geology and Mineralogy in their Relations to Natural Theology.
620 THE UNIVERSE.

beings, men long persisted in regarding fossils as only
freaks of nature, /usus nature, as they were called.

In vain did the earth yield up its most delicate skele-
tons with all their fine, thin bones; in vain did it present
shells with their most charming tracery, sometimes even
with their ancient colouring; in vain did we find in the
midst of rocks birds yet enveloped in their feathers, and
insects with their transparent wings; up to the sixteenth
century all these things only passed for accidental pro-
ducts begotten by chance, and merely possessing the decep-
tive appearance of beings which life had animated.

No slight trouble had to be taken in order to hammer
the truth into the refractory brains of some savants.
The first who had the courage to do this was a potter,

 

Ma

287. Impressions of Rain-drops and Animal’s Footsteps on Antediluvian Rocks.

poor in fortune but great in genius. It was Bernard
Palissy who in his lowly state taught a lesson to the
doctors of Paris, and showed them that the shells which
GEOLOGY. 621

are found in the soil were carried thither by the sea,
which of old occupied the place where we find them.
It was this humble and fervent man who thus became the
founder of positive geology.

But whilst the different fossiliferous rocks were being
deposited, whilst the earth was renewing its living races,
plutonic forces, in ceaseless agitation, from time to time
shook the crust of the globe, or fractured it in various places.
Its fragments formed our mountains, and these, issuing
from the depths of the seas, bore aloft to the regions of
the clouds the charnel-houses of the animals which had
formerly peopled their abysses.

When Buffon in his turn came to the support of the
view that the shells scattered over the summits of the
Alps and Apennines only proved that the globe had under-
gone convulsions, he found himself contradicted where no
person could have expected it. This was by Voltaire,
who in his Physique attacked with biting sarcasm those
who adopted this opinion. He maintained that all the
shells found on our mountains had been scattered there by
pilgrims on their return from Rome. Only a few words
were needed to have silenced the immortal writer, but these
few words Buffon never uttered. He could have told him
that we find these fossil vestiges everywhere, even in the
two Americas, whither certainly these pious travellers
never carried them; whilst, on the other hand, there are
even imposing chains of mountains which are absolutely
formed of shells.?

Notwithstanding the perfect preservation of many fos-

1The idea of ascribing to the pilgrims from Rome the fossil shells found in
the mountains was not long upheld by the philosopher of Ferney. He shrank
from the idea of seriously embroiling himself with the illustrious overseer of the
Jardin des Plantes. “I do not,” he said, ‘wish to quarrel with M. Butfon about
shells.” —Voltaire, Physique, chap. xv., “Des Singularités de la Nature.”
622 THE UNIVERSE.

sils, the love of the marvellous which predominated
over our ancestors, made them misunderstand nature,
and these relics were almost constantly assigned to some
extraordinary creature or other. The bones of bears,
which were obtained from the caves of Franconia, passed in
Germany for a sovereign antidote, and were sold in all the
apothecaries’ shops as the remains of the fabulous unicorn.

For the elephants and mastodons there was generally
another story. As many of the bones of these animals
present in their forms striking resemblances to those of
man, at an epoch when the imagination of our forefathers,
roused to enthusiasm by the legends of olden times, elevated
the stature of heroes to the height of their heroic poems,
the bones of the great mammals found in the earth were
constantly referred to some celebrated personage.

Thus, according to the statement of Pausanias, the
knee-cap of an elephant, as large as a circus discus, found
near Salamis, was considered as having belonged to
Ajax. The Spartans prostrated themselves before the
skeleton of one of these animals, in which they thought
they recognized the skeleton of Orestes. Some remains
of a mammoth found in Sicily were considered as having
belonged to Polyphemus!

The learned were not more exempt than the vulgar from
these kinds of errors. Father Kircher, in his remarkable
work on the subterranean world (Mundus Subterraneus),
gives figures of these giants alongside of men of ordinary
size.

The skeleton of an elephant discovered in Switzerland,
at the foot of a tree torn up by the wind, was considered
by F. Plater, the anatomist, as the skeleton of a giant
nineteen feet high. He even restored it by means of a
sketch which became celebrated, and which was to be seen
GEOLOGY. 623

some time ago at Lucerne in an ancient college of the
Jesuits.

In the reign of Louis XIII. there was found on the
banks of the Rhone a skeleton which attained great
celebrity. It was shown as that of Teutobocchus, defeated
by Marius in a most sanguinary struggle. It was said to
have been exhumed from a tomb bearing this inscription,
“'Teutobocchus rex:” in which were also found some medals
with the same title. But despite all this evidence, the
remains of this too famous king of the Cimbri, which gave
rise to so many bitter disputes among the faculty and phy-
sicians of Paris, were recognized by De Blainville as being
nothing more than those of a narrow-toothed mastodon!
(MZ. angustidens).

The name of the Field of Giants is even often given to
places in which the bones of elephants and mastodons
abound.”

1Gigantology is almost a special science. We possess remarkable works
treating of this subject; for much has been written about giants buried in the
bosom of the earth, or inclosed in tombs, and these have given rise to sharp dis-
cussions. The titles of some of these works will suffice to give an idea of them.
De gigantibus eorumque reliquiis, atque iis, que ante annos aliquot nostra
ztate in Gallia repertee sunt, par J. Cassanione, Basiles, 1580.—Gigantostéologie
ou Discours des Os de Géants, par N. Habicot, Paris, 1613.—Antigigantologie ou
Contre-discours de la Grandeur des Géants, par N. Habicot, 1618.—Histoire vérit-
able du Géant Theutobochus, roy des Theutons, Cimbres, et Ambrosins, deffait
par Marius, cent cing ans avant la ventie de notre Sauveur, par J. Tissot.—Giganto-
logie. Histoire de la grandeur des géants, par Riolan, Paris, 1618.—Gigantomachie
pour répondre a la Gigantostéologie, par Riolan, 1613.

2 Near Bogota, at a height of 2660 metres (about 8750 feet), there is a field
filled with bones of mastodons, called there the Campo de Gigantes (field of the
giants), in which Humboldt had some excavations made with great care— Cosmos,

b. i. p. 321.
79
BOOK..ILT.

THE MOUNTAINS—CATACLYSMS AND
UPHEAVALS OF THE GLOBE.

It is in the midst of lofty mountains that Nature de-
velops her most magnificent scenes. Their winding-sheets
of eternal snow, their diadems of ice, and their burning
volcanoes, by turns strike and astonish the traveller. “It
seems,” says Rousseau, “as if, when we rise above the
dwellings of men, we left behind all low and earth-born
sentiments, and that in proportion as we approached the
ethereal regions, the soul contracted something of their
unchangeable purity!”

Here we are penetrated by a sense of the divine majesty
and human weakness. Before their colossal masses, their
frightful and sombre clefts, we can say with the old Ger-
man miner, “Man is only an atom on the mountain, though
he is a giant in the mine.”

The aspect of the sea is monotonous compared to that
of the frowning crests of the globe; if it have its gales and
tempests, they have their hurricanes and avalanches.
Mountains are also of importance in the harmony of the
globe. These grand chains, the summits of which pierce
the lofty regions of the atmosphere, seem, says De Saussure,
GEOLOGY. 625

to be the laboratory of nature, and the reservoir from
whence she draws all the blessings and ills which she pours
upon earth; the rivers which water and the torrents which
ravage it, the rains which fertilize and the storms which
desolate it.

The mountains are only the result of upheavals of the
crust of the earth caused by throes of the incandescent
mass which it envelops. The globe, in cooling, is neces-
sarily forced to contract. When the elasticity of the crust
has reached its farthest limits, it splits, and its fragments
produce eminences, the elevation of which is in direct pro-
portion to the thickness of the covering and the intensity
of the volcanic effort.

In the earliest times the surface of the earth presented
no mountains, and those which first appeared were very
low in height. The solidified crust being then very thin
required but little effort to raise it. But in proportion as
it became thicker the mountains acquired a proportionate
elevation, and in order to cleave it an effort of the most
prodigious kind was necessary.

The great shocks, as we have already said, have at times
rent the globe almost from one pole to the other. Asa
particular instance we may mention the upheaval which
formed the New World, during which the Cordilleras ap-
peared, stretching away from the Icy Sea to Tierra del
Fuego, producing the great wall which traverses the two
Americas.

When we think of the ravages which are occasioned in
our own time by simple earthquakes, we at once conclude
that these cataclysms must have been accompanied by an
uproar and an amount of confusion, of which our minds
could never form but a very imperfect image.

The birth of lofty chains of mountains has occasioned
626 THE UNIVERSE.

great disturbances among the ancient oceans. Some, as
we have seen, gave rise to those disastrous inundations
mentioned in the cosmogony of every race possessed of
written annals. According to Messrs. d’Omalius d’Halloy,
Beudant, and Elie de Beaumont, the most imposing catas-
trophe of historic times, our Mosaic deluge, was probably
only the effect of the mightiest upheaval of the globe, that
of the Andes; and the uplifting of America above the ocean,
which was the result of this, gave rise to the immeasurable
flood which broke tumultuously against the old continent.

In his work on cataclysms M. Frederick Klee has laid
down some very remarkable views on this subject. <Ac-
cording to him the axis of the globe has suffered displace-
ments, and it was the last of these that occasioned that
terrible event the deluge.

Nothing checks M. Klee in his daring conceptions. He
even thinks that some of the contemporaries of this great
telluric revolution may have passed safely through it, and
that to those who thus survived we owe the legends which
erudition has discovered in some ancient writings. <Ac-
cording to this geologist, it is to the witnesses of this
irresistible convulsion that we must ascribe the mythical
traditions, in which it is said that during the catastrophe
of the deluge the sun, moon, and stars changed their places
in the heavens.

If, indeed, the axis of the globe had been displaced, man,
regarding the earth then as being immovable and in the
centre of the universe, would naturally think it was the
stars which had deviated from their path across the celes-
tial fields.?

1 Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, long before M. Klee, had enunciated a system
exactly corresponding to that of this geologist. He believed that it was the suc-
cessive increase in the tropical vegetation and of the polar ices that made the globe
move alternately one way and another. According to our celebrated writer this
“aqoTS AYA TO UTLZUNOUL ysoYSTY OT} “Ysoroag qunoP_ ao “AeyUrs~Mvy oy, “sv<epeurzy ay UL MITA “99g

 
GEOLOGY. 629

In the Scandinavian mythology we discover some
pictures of the great events which then took place in the
earth and in the heavens. The Edda paints the ravages of
the volcanic eruptions and of the waves of a wild and
untamed ocean. This collection even contains some rhap-
sodical descriptions of our cataclysms. This is the char-
acter of the prophecies of the Va/a, where it borrows its
principal images from the sombre catastrophe of the deluge.
The inspired sybil relates that at this time the sun rose in
the south, and that the east was invaded by polar ices.
M. Klee considers that these assertions support the theory
of a change in the axis of the globe."

Naturalists are almost agreed as to the cause of the
great deluge; but their opinions vary greatly as to the
epoch to which we should refer the appearance of America
and the antiquity of the human species. Here modern
science relapses into speculation.

As our cataclysms indicate the different stages of a
ceaseless force, it is evident that others still menace us.
Everything indeed seems to foretell that ages to come will
see other plutonic phenomena display themselves, and new
systems of mountains arise. Hence as the upheavals follow

system also explained the ancient traditions of the Egyptian priests, in which it
is said that formerly the sun rose where now it sets.—Harmonies de la Nature,
Paris, 1806, t. 11. p. 96.

} The following are fragments of the prophecies of the Vala drawn from the
Scandinavian dda, in which allusion is made to the convulsions of the globe:-—

“T remember,” says the sybil, “nine worlds and nine heavens. Before the sons
of Bor (the gods) raised the globes, they who created the gleaming Midgaard, the
sun shone in the south. In the east was seated the old woman in the forest of iron
(the polar ices). The sun is covered with clouds, the earth sinks in the sea, the
shining stars disappear from the heavens, clouds of smoke envelop the all-nourish-
ing tree, lofty flames mount even to heaven; the sea rears itself violently towards
the skies and passes over the lands. Neither earth nor sun exist any longer, the
air is overcome by glittering streams. . . . she (the sybil) for the second time sees
the earth, covered with verdure, rise from the sea.”—Fr. Klee. Le Déluge, p. 223.
630 THE UNIVERSE.

a progressively ascending scale, we are quite led to expect
new outbursts and more terrible convulsions.

Man has been enabled to verify these assertions, and
himself to behold mountains issue from the bosom of the
earth. In 1538 one formed in the environs of Naples. In
1759, at two or three days’ journey from Mexico, Jorullo,
since so celebrated, reared its volcanic plateau. Above a

 

289, Modern Upheaval—Jorullo in Mexico.

plain formerly dedicated to agriculture, a surface of ten
square leagues was raised into the air and transformed into
numerous and ever-active craters.

This may be a fitting place to say, that many contem-
porary geologists maintain that these telluric changes were
not the effect of sudden transition, but of slow insensible
progress. To the school of Cuvier, which proclaimed the
infallibility of this great man, has succeeded another, more
sceptical, which maintains that, instead of violent cataclysms
returning at successive periods to convulse the globe, it
 

290. View in Ti
in Tierra del Fuego. Conical Peaks of Admiralty Strait.

80
GEOLOGY. 633

has only been governed by harmonious laws, which, with-
out shocks, without violence, transformed its surface and
perfected there slowly and progressively the work of crea-
tion. This daring school, which has seated itself upon the
wreck of that of the celebrated naturalist, demands that the
name of cataclysm should be struck out of science. At
its head stand Messrs. Lyell, Lartet, and Darwin.

Modern geologists refer, in support of this new theory,
to certain regions of the globe which in our days are inces-
santly rising. The ancient Saugus tell us that many parts of
the beach of the Baltic, formerly almost on a level with
this sea, and upon which ample troops of seals climbed
to play and bask in the sun, were the scenes of great
hunts by the Finns, who slew them with their arrows.
Now Von Buch and Lyell have shown that these very
places are at the present time raised to a great height
above the waves, and are quite inaccessible to these ani-
mals. ‘In 800 years,” says Humboldt, “the eastern
shore of the Scandinavian peninsula has risen perhaps
more than 100 metres (about 328 feet), and if this move-
ment continue at a uniform rate, in 1200 years parts of
the bottom of the sea now covered with fifty fathoms of
water, will begin to emerge and become dry land.”

Darwin and many other authors have affirmed that some
very extensive regions of South America were formerly the
theatre of slow and progressive upheavals, which gave
birth to the plains of Patagonia, all over which are scattered
recent marine shells, bearing eloquent testimony to the
youth of these realms.

It is to the ancient continent that the loftiest eminences
of the globe belong. It was thought that Chimborazo
in America rose above every other, but since a more accu-
rate study has been made of the Himalaya range, which
634 THE UNIVERSE.

lords it over the chain of Thibet and towers to a height of
above 29,000 feet,! men have been forced to greet it as the
king of the mountain chains.

Yet notwithstanding its positive height, this imposing
mass forms a scarcely perceptible elevation on the surface
of the globe. An attempt has been made in works on
geology to give an idea of this fact by repeating, that the
loftiest mountains on the earth produce on it asperities
comparable to those of an orange. But the comparison is
far too forced, for the highest mountain chains on the globe
only form on its surface projections equal to those of a
grain of sand, or a demi-millimetre (about ~, or ‘019685
inch), on a sphere six feet in diameter.

When we revert to the vast commotions which took
place at the upheaval of mountains, and to their geological
constitution, we feel at once that their lofty summits must
present very varied aspects. This is the case. Some
mountain chains, like those of Calabria, have crests toothed
like saws; others resemble pointed crystals, as is seen in
Savoy, where on this account they are called qaiguilles.
Often the tops are rounded and form a succession of
paps; finally at other times, as for instance is seen in the
peaks of Tierra del Fuego, these asperities of the globe are
perfectly conical, slender and pointed, exactly like gigan-
tic sugar-loaves.

The exploration of lofty mountains is not always free
from danger. But the deplorable accidents of which they
become the theatre, are often due to the imprudence of
travellers who attend little to the advice of their guides.
A good guide holds in his hands the lives of those who
accompany him; it is therefore necessary to make a careful
choice and to treat him kindly. I have always done so,

1 The Kaurisaukar, or Mount Everest, is 29,002 feet high.
 

291. Cascade in the Gorges of Mount Taurus. Valley of Erosion.
GEOLOGY. 637

and have met with devoted men, who years after have
preserved the memory of my ascents.

When we have arrived at a moderate height, the ascent
of any mountain becomes a heavy toil. Movement and
respiration become extremely difficult in proportion as we
rise. There even comes a time when, as De Saussure re-
marks, one is obliged to stop every fifty yards overwhelmed
by an inexplicable fatigue. Then the rarefaction of the
air renders the oppression greater and greater, and the
heart beats as if it would burst from the chest, and the
traveller feels every instant as if he would faint. Twice,
Baron Miiller, abandoned by his guides and companions,
fainted quite away on the borders of the crater of Orizaba,
whilst torrents of blood gushed from his chest.

After long journeys in the snow the traveller, subdued
by cold and lassitude, experiences an insurmountable de-
sire to sleep, and yet dare not, for all the world contains,
yield himself up to it, for this sleep conducts him to in-
evitable death—a fact known to all travellers.

On the frozen shores of Tierra del Fuego, Solander, lost
in the mountains, said imperiously to his companions in
misfortune, “ Whoever sits down will sleep, and he who
sleeps will never wake again.” Yet so overpowering, so
unconquerable is this tendency to sleep, that several of the
men yielded to it, and Solander himself, a few moments
afterwards, sank down upon the snow, where his friend,
the illustrious Sir Joseph Banks, had all the difficulty in
the world to arouse him.

But when we have arrived at the summit of a mountain,
the splendour of the sight makes one quite forget the
fatigue of the ascent. This I experienced lately when I
had reached the borders of Etna’s crater.

There upon this throne, round which the lightning plays,
638 THE UNIVERSE.

we overlook heaven and ocean. Behind us the growlings
of the thunder reverberate at the bottom of the immense
gulf, according to ancient theogony the entrance to the
empire of Pluto, but which the rustic mountaineer only
knows as the Devil’s House (Casa di Diavolo). Standing on
cinders which burned my feet, and the sulphureous vapours
of which almost suffocated me, the most splendid spectacle
in creation expanded itself before my eyes. The dawn
began to appear, and its pale light gradually extinguished
the wavering glimmer of the stars. Then soon after, the
sun appearing in all the pomp of the east, issued from his
opal bed, his forehead bound with purple and gold."

From this prodigious elevation the eye embraces all the
circumference of Trinacria, stretching like a warm and
luminous cincture along the blue waves which bathe its
shores, its advanced promontories reminding one of the
three legs which symbolized Sicily on ancient medals. In
the distance the waves of the Ionian Sea blend with the
azure of heaven; and on the other hand the mountains of
Calabria, with their jagged outlines, bound the pan-
orama with inexpressible magnificence; while Malta ap-
pears like a dim point upon the confines of a horizon
300 leagues In circumference.

Near Sicily rise from the middle of the sea the Cyclo-
pean Rocks, like so many black projections contrasting with
the brilliant shore. Vestiges of the most terrible commotion
of the elements, their basaltic masses, produced amid the

1 [In addition to this the colouring of the crater itself is in most of these views
a magnificent sight. The hues include every variety of yellow, passing into the
purest white on one side, and deep orange or brown on the other. Occasionally
we find vermilion and other reds. “The brilliancy of these colours,” says Pro-
fessor Ansted, ‘is such that no pencil could imitate it, and the appearance can
only be compared to the hues of the clouds during an autumn sunset in a warm
climate. These bright tints are almost entirely due to deliquescent salts of am-
monia, soda, and irou.—Tr. ]
 

292. Spectres of the Brocken in the Harz.

81
GEOLOGY. 641

convulsions of the volcano, go back beyond historic
epochs.

It was on the loftiest of these rocks that the frightful
Polyphemus, having combed himself with a rake, delighted
to play upon the flute in order to charm Galatea, the fairest
of the Nereids. It was with the highest rock that the
furious Cyclops crushed <Acis, his favoured rival. The
others he launched at the vessels of the companions of
Ulysses when they escaped him. Farther on we see the
little port where Homer makes the fleet of the King of
Ithaca touch. All here is imprinted with poesy.

When we look down on the flanks of the giant we behold
his frightful progeny, a perfect pleiades of thirty-five to
forty little voleanoes. From this point their craters show
like so many circular lips, broad and depressed or pointed
and projecting, and crowning sugar-loaf cones. Seen
thus in a bird’s-eye view, all these volcanoes exactly re-
semble those of the moon, and it seems as if we had before
our eyes a magnified section of our satellite. I don’t
know whether this comparison has ever been made; it is,
however, strictly correct. The ascent of Etna might be
useful in this respect to many astronomers.

To this splendid picture of vales and mountains un-
rolling themselves before the eye, and melting away in
the mists of the horizon, are sometimes joined remarkable
phenomena. There are some elevated peaks where, if a
person places himself on a projecting eminence at sunrise,
his outline is traced on the distant clouds in singular and
gigantic proportions. This can often be seen on the sum-
mit of the Brocken, one of the loftiest mountains of the
Harz, and it is this curious phenomenon that is known by
the name of the Spectres of the Brocken.

But during journeys among mountains, the enchanting
642 THE UNIVERSE.

prospects from their summits are not the only ones that
excite moving impressions, and the vales which show in
the distance like insignificant irregular lines, if they do not
present such vast horizons, display at any rate unexpected
and marvellous appearances. Here and there we find
profound and narrow gorges, immense abysses, the sombre
hollows of which the eye cannot fathom, and in the depths
of which often rolls a furious torrent, its thunders multi-
pled a hundred-fold by the echoes. Everything threatens
the daring traveller who ventures to plunge into their
abysses. On one hand the avalanche hangs suspended over
his head, and on the other every now and then fragments
of rock fall down and threaten to crush him.

Almost all these imposing gorges are the effect of
convulsions of the globe, and the first glance shows that
they have resulted from a violent fracture of the moun-
tains and separation of the fragments. We can identify
these great fissures by the similarity which their walls
present in respect to the layers of which they are formed,
and by the irregularity of their chasms, in the depths of
which reign shade and terror. Our superstitious ances-
tors, overcome by the awe which these darksome clefts
inspired, often gave them names expressive of the dread

gave rise to, as for instance calling them hell valleys,

they
hell holes, or devil’s gorges.

In all high mountains, such as the Alps and Pyrenees,
we see some which are thus designated. But certainly
one of the most remarkable of these gorges is the Hell
Valley in the Black Forest. I passed through it during a
severe winter, and nothing could equal the dark horror it
inspired. Masses of snow hung suspended on its buttresses,
and their whiteness contrasted strongly with the gloomy

mouth of the infernal abyss. This portico to the
\
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Vj

" Up

HT = ny
Si eZ
i= AN gee EE
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293. A Hell Valley in the Mountains of Spain (Alpujarras).
 

M 4
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293i. Plateau of the Dance of Witches in the Harz.
GEOLOGY. 645

domains of Pluto, though ample of entrance, was yet
shrouded in impenetrable darkness towards the bottom.
The ancient Hercynian Forest, which we had just traversed,
was buried under half a yard of rime; the cold was 25°
below freezing-point (Fahr.); and our vehicle, in spite of
the skids, which made large showers of ice fly on all sides,
dragged us with frightful rapidity towards the precipice.
It was altogether superb, and vividly recalled the icy
forests of the north.

Sometimes, on the contrary, the mountain tops in splin-
tering off have left upright here and there long narrow
segments of rock, which, seen from afar in the dim mists of
night, seem like so many fantastic shades hovering in the
clouds. These are the witch-dances of the superstitious
inhabitants of the Harz forests.

When the rending asunder of mountains takes place on
a grand scale, and their flanks are deeply cut into, advan-
tage is taken of the natural openings thus formed in order
to trace out roads or passes, distinguished by the name of
gates, because they offer easy means of communication
between nations. The Iron Gates of Algeria have acquired
a certain degree of celebrity.

It should also be remarked, that certain gorges are due
to the erosion of the waters alone, which, rolling over their
walls, incessantly wear them away, and in time form large
valleys. These gorges of erosion are less rugged than those
caused by rents; the waters, by the friction of the frag-
ments carried down by them and by their own movement,
having smoothed their sides. Often also rivers roar at the
bottom of these ravines, leaping over the pebbles, or preci-
pitating themselves from fall to fall amid the rocks.

Many of the cascades which we meet with among moun-

tains issue from gorges of erosion. There are some which,
82
646 THE UNIVERSE.

like the cascade of Taurus, spread out in large sheets at
the place where they fall; others precipitate themselves in
the form of simple runlets of water from lofty heights, and
fall in vast basins at their foot, as in the Circus of Gavar-
nie; some spread themselves like a net-work of streams on

 

294, Circus of Gavarnie in the Pyrenees.

a gentle slope, and resemble a skein of white silk, whose
silvery gleams undulate softly on the verdure of the hillocks.
Seen from a distance one might say it was a tress of hair
agitated by a gentle wind; these are what the mountain-
eers in their picturesque language call the ‘“ Locks of the
Magdalen.”

Instead of these mountain cascades, the variety of which
pleases the eye, and the distant murmur of which charms
the ear, when great streams meet with obstructions in their
way, cataracts and falls are formed of the most formidable
aspect. In some cases large sheets of water, as at Niagara,
GEOLOGY. 647

precipitate themselves to the bottom of an immense gulf
with a roar which seems to shake the surrounding rocks;
in other cases, as in the falls of the Zambesi, the river
divides into several bodies and forms a series of whirlwinds
of vapour, which, like waving columns, rise towards the
clouds and fall in fine rain.
POO IV.

VOLCANOES AND HARTHQUAKHS.

After the mantle of snow which overspreads the moun-
tains, that which strikes us most is their volcanoes. Seen
from afar they only give a very imperfect idea of what they
are. To appreciate their phenomena and their ravages,
our eyes must survey their depths. All is then changed,
and the grandeur of the spectacle strikes the imagination,
eraving terrible images on it. We are astonished at the
immensity of their fire-spouting mouths, and at the vast-
ness of the lava streams which flow from them at certain
times.!

The loftier volcanoes are, the less frequent are their
eruptions. The lava which they vomit forth, issuing from

1Some men of science have expressed their wonder that the interior of the
earth can furnish matter sufficient for these eruptions, but a little reflection will
show that no great contraction of the crust of the globe is required to feed them.
Violent eruptions do not usually emit more than 1300 cubic yards of lava, and
seldom so much. This quantity, supposing it spread equally over the surface of
the globe, would not form a layer so much as ;i;th of a millimetre (or about
sztocth of an inch) in thickness. Thus we see that a contraction of the earth suffi-
cient to shorten its radius by one millimetre, would furnish matter for five hundred
violent eruptions; and on consulting the history of recent voleanic phenomena
we arrive at the conclusion that a contraction of 3 centimetres (or 12 inch) is

sufficient to have supplied the lava thrown up in all the eruptions that have
occurred on our planet during the Jast 3000 years.
GEOLOGY. 649

furnaces the depth of which is probably the same in every
case, it is clear, that for the waves to mount in the chim-
neys of those which are very high, a much greater force
is required than in the others. Thus one of the smallest
of all, Stromboli, is always throwing out flames; since the

 

 

295. Goenong Api, Banda Islands, in the Moluccas.!

days of Homer it has served as a beacon to navigators
approaching the Eolian Islands. On the contrary, the
volcanoes which animate the crests of the Cordilleras, and
which are six or cight times as high, seem condemned to
long intervals of repose, and often only break out from
century to century.

The volcanoes which lord it over the frozen summits
of the Andes often produce phenomena equally striking
and unexpected. When they melt the snows which

1 The island of Goenong Api is one of the most active volcanoes in the Indian
Archipelago. It forms an immense cone 7880 feet high, and is covered with
luxuriant vegetation except where this has been destroyed by recent eruptions of
lava. By the proximity of this volcano the Banda Islands are subject to frequent
and destructive eruptions and earthquakes. The strongest recorded were those
of 1598, 1615, 1632, 1691, 1711, 1798, and 1820; but the most fatal in their con-
sequences were those of 1629, 1683, 1686, 1743, and 1816. So terrible were the
ravages of the eruption and earthquake of 1691, that all the more wealthy inha-
bitants fled the islands, and the establishment wag almost totally broken up. Tr.
650 THE UNIVERSE.

crown their craters, their eruptions produce impetuous
torrents, which, precipitating themselves, bear with them
smoking scori, fragments of rock, and blocks of ice.

At a great distance most volcanoes look just like
pointed cones vomiting flames or vapours by a very narrow
fissure. But when patience and courage have carried us
to the rugged crests of their burning mouths, or when we
have penetrated their sides, we are astonished at the scenes
of grandeur which present themselves to our eyes in the
midst of these frightful and dangerous abysses, where the
heat and deleterious gases threaten to suffocate the tra-
veller. I had felt astonished at the dimensions of the
ancient craters of France and Italy, the one filled up with
lakes, the other transformed into forests. I experienced
the same feeling in exploring Vesuvius and Etna; but
nothing in their fiery mouths can be compared with what
is found in America. The immense crater of Orizaba,
according to Baron Miiller, is not less than 6000 metres
(19,725 feet) in circumference. Persons standing on the

opposite sides of it are almost invisible to each other.
~ On another mountain in Mexico we find again a crater of
very remarkable dimensions, that of Popocatepetl. Placed
on the summit of a crest in the Cordilleras, from whence
can be seen at the same time the two seas which bathe
America, and in the distance Mexico encircled by its fairy
lake, this crater, which is nearly circular, is, according to
M. Boscovitz, 5000 feet in its longest diameter. The
eullet of this giant has never been disturbed since the
discovery of the New World; but in former times it must
have thrown out flames abundantly, as thick beds of its
ashes are found for more than twenty leagues round about.
Where it has been possible for them to accumulate, their
mass sometimes displays a depth of more than fifty metres
GEOLOGY. 651

(about 164 feet). The top of this volcano is covered with
eternal snow, and by a strange contrast its once blazing
summit, now almost extinct, has become an emblem of the
alliance between the rigours of winter and the empire of
fire. The crater of Popocatepetl is about 1000 feet deep.

 

296. Summit and Crater of Orizaba.

The descent, which is effected by the assistance of a
cord wound on a windlass, is made for the purpose of
seeking sulphur. Arrived at the bottom we find a mass
of snow, and long stalactites of ice which hang from its
walls or occupy the soil in every place where the sun does
not reach, and which are not heated by the jets of hot
652 THE UNIVERSE.

vapour seen springing up here and there. Some writers
think that Cortez obtained sulphur from this mountain to
make powder when he ran short of it. What is more
certain is, that some of his daring companions tried to
reach the crater, and that they failed the first time.

The crater of Masaya, which struck the first conquerors
of America with terror, seems to be even larger. Oviedo,
who visited it, was appalled. He relates that in its depths
there is a space so vast that a hundred horsemen could
easily manceuvre in the presence of a thousand persons.
Moreover at that time there could be seen a furnace where
a burning wave rose and fell at intervals, which the pious
explorer of America estimated at about six times as long
as it would take to repeat the Credo. As he moved away
from the precipice quite stupified, he exclaimed, “ I can-
not believe that a Christian could contemplate such a
spectacle without thinking about hell and repenting of his
sins.”

The fire-belching mouths have always alarmed the
inhabitants of volcanic countries, and everywhere they
have been compared to the gulfs of Tartarus. The crater
of the mountain we have just spoken of was called by the
ancient American caciques the Hell of Masaya.

Many countries of our globe, now buried in the most
perfect repose and covered with a vigorous vegetation,
were, at an epoch that cannot at present be definitely fixed, °
everywhere convulsed by volcanic fires; rich harvests now
abound where formerly rolled burning streams of lava.
Ancient craters now display only grass and moss in the
depths of their mouths, which formerly vomited torrents
of fire. This spectacle is even met with in the centre of
France, in all the mountains of Auvergne.

Active volcanoes are common at the present time on the
 

83

257. View of the Interior of the Crater of Popocatepetl, seen from a breach in its side.
GEOLOGY. 655

surface of the globe. But by this it is not meant that they
are agitated by perpetual convulsions. Nearly all awake
to their terrible activity only at long intervals, and during
the space of time between the eruptions their internal toil
is only revealed by slight and deceptive phenomena.

When a formidable eruption breaks out it is often ac-
companied by dull roars which seem to shake the moun-
tain. In a short time the fiery mouth launches into the
air sheets of flame and smoke, as well as masses of cinders
and burning rock; in 1553, in one of its most terrible erup-
tions, Cotopaxi projected to a distance of three leagues
blocks of trachyte a hundred cubic metres (a cubic metre
is 35°317 cubic feet) in size. During this time the lava
escapes with violence from the entrails of the mountain,
and pours over its sides like so many streams or cascades
of fire, consuming everything in their path.

In very lofty volcanoes the lava, in order to rise to the
crater in which they culminate, must require an almost
incalculable force; hence it often happens that it makes its
way out before reaching it, and having burst the flanks of
the mountain near its base forms a small additional volcano,
in which, for the future, all the efforts of the eruption are
concentrated, and from which pour streams of lava of a
magnitude we should not expect from so low an elevation.

In high volcanic mountains we often find at the base
of the great cone a series of small accessory volcanoes: as
we have seen, Etna possesses quite a family scattered over
its flanks. In fact it is these that have in particular
ravaged the surrounding countries.

The most frightful eruption of Etna in modern times
was produced by one of these young volcanoes, the Monte
Rosa. From it issued the long river of lava which rolled
its burning waves over a distance of nine leagues, fired
656 THE UNIVERSE.

ereat part of Catania, and only stayed its passage when
it plunged into the sea amidst a most tumultuous struggle
between the waves and fire.

Notwithstanding its smaller proportions Vesuvius has
experienced fearful eruptions. One is especially cele-
brated for the destruction of two rich and important cities

 

298. The Crater of Etna.

which rose on its sides, Herculaneum and Pompeii. The
former was in part invaded by a lava stream, the second
absolutely buried under a prodigious mass of ashes. This
eruption took place in the year 79, and possibly attracted
more notice from having been the cause of the death of
the naturalist Pliny than for the ravages it produced.

In our time Vesuvius, in its throes, has produced lava
floods which have annihilated some small towns. In 1794
its burning waves submerged all the habitations in Torre
del Greco, rising above their roofs. Recently again the
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

299. Ruins at Torre del Greco.—From a photograph.
GEOLOGY. 659

same volcano destroyed a part of this country town which
had been rebuilt after the disaster.

The great lava floods sometimes present a tolerably
smooth surface, like that of a river which has descended
peaceably from the mountain heights to the bottom of the
valley. The lava then forms a ready-made road, and I have
traversed several which the fire of the volcano seemed tohave
thus prepared for the wants of man. But more frequently
these immense lava fields, as is seen in the approaches to
Etna, Hecla, and so many other volcanoes, are contorted
and broken like a furious sea which the wand of a fairy
had suddenly transformed into fractured and blackened
rocks, only that they are still more horrible than any sea.
A man who lost himself for many hours in these frightful
solitudes would infallibly perish.

Some volcanoes in their eruptions throw out mud, and
these occasionally constitute a very remarkable phenome-
non. <A very learned Japanese writer, Tit-singh, relates that
in 1793 a volcano of the island of Kiou-siou, one of the
largest of the empire, suddenly ejected such torrents of
liquid matter, that more than 50,000 of the inhabitants
perished, swept away by the waves. Similar circum-
stances have taken place in America. A large village
near the equator was destroyed in 1797 by a river of vol-
canic mud.?

1 Instances of submarine volcanic eruptions are not uncommon, and the Bay
of Santorin, the ancient Thera, in the Grecian Archipelago, contains several small
islands which owe their origin to this cause. The last eruption occurred in 1866.
It began about the end of January with a noise like a heavy cannonade. Ina
short time flames issued from the sea, rising sometimes to the height of fifteen
feet. This continued till the 14th February, when the eruptions became more
violent and the sea more troubled. Gas forced its way upwards from the bottom
with terrific noise, flames arose in several places, and a dense column of white
smoke mounted steadily to an immense height. A new island appeared next
morning, which by the 28th had reached a height of thirty feet with a circumfer-
ence of 300 yards at the sea-level. It was composed of a heap of loose clinker
660 THE UNIVERSE.

This strange phenomenon is due to a communication
being formed between a crater and a subterranean lake
concealed in the side of the mountain. This fact also
accounts for the enormous quantity of fish mixed with the

 

300. Pimelodes of the Cyclops—Pimelodus Cyclopum.

water and mud which Cotopaxi and other volcanoes of
America sometimes eject. And this explanation is so
much the more plausible, because the species which is
ejected at such times is the only fish which lives in the
most elevated water-courses of the Cordilleras, at a height
of 9000 feet. This fish belongs to the family Siluride, and
naturalists have recently given it the name of Pimelodus of
and lava. During this time a new volcano had arisen on the island of Neo
Kaimeni (itself produced by voleanic action in 1707), and part of that island had
sunk below thesea. The new island lay a little to the south-west of Neo Kaimeni,

but by its gradual increase it became united with that island, and now forms its
south-western extremity.—Tr.
GEOLOGY. 661

the Cyclops, in recognition of the singular changes to
which it is hable in the course of existence.

These eruptions containing fish are not rare. Hum-
boldt relates that in one of them, Cotopaxi ejected such a
quantity of Pimelodes on the estate of the Marquis of
Selvalégre, that they poisoned the air all round. Towards
the close of the last century the town of Iburra was ravaged
by a malignant fever, which was attributed to the mias-
mata arising from an enormous mass of these fishes vomited
by a neighbouring volcano.

Astonished at the power and variety of volcanic phe-
nomena, the learned of all ages have sought to explain the
mystery of them. Numerous hypotheses have been put
forward for this purpose, and have successively fallen into
oblivion. We shall mention only some of the most cele-
brated.

During the era of the encyclopedists, in the eighteenth
century, when all kinds of audacious theories were put
forward, volcanoes were explained very variously. One of
the ideas then most in vogue was that they only resulted
from the ignition of a mass of coal and pyrites which
happened to be in the strata of the mountain in question.

Lémery the chemist proposed another hypothesis. In
his experiments in the laboratory he had produced a sort
of small artificial voleano by mixing together finely
powdered sulphur, iron-filings, and a little water. In a
short space of time such an amount of chemical action
was set up in this mixture that it took fire. According to
the professor of the Jardin du Roi, similar phenomena take
place in burning mountains. All those who saw this
experiment went forth convinced. Buffon himself adopted
this hypothesis. “Behold,” said this great man, “what a

volcano is in the eyes of a master of physics!”
84
662 THE UNIVERSE.

Another philosopher, the illustrious Sir Humphry
Davy, also proposed a very ingenious chemical theory, too
ingenious perhaps, for which reason it came less into
favour than that of Lémery. Having discovered certain
metals, potassium and sodium, which have the singular
property of taking fire so soon as they are brought into
contact with water, the English chemist supposed that the
flames which issue from volcanoes are only the product of
the combustion of these metals taking place in the depths
of the globe when the water reaches them.

Notwithstanding the great celebrity of its author, this
hypothesis had only a very brief existence: phenomena so
powerful and general could not have their source in local
chemical reactions. The geologists of our epoch are
almost unanimous in admitting that all volcanic pheno-
mena are to be attributed solely to the central fire of the
globe making greater or less efforts to project outwards
the superfluity of its incandescent materials. It is certain
that this theory explains easily and better than any other
what happens during eruptions, and all those who have
visited volcanoes admit it without hesitation.

Earthquakes are essentially united to volcanic phe-
homena, and often accompany them. They apparently
result from the effort which the igneous materials of the
globe make to Jaunch themselves from their furnace. In
countries where there are volcanoes they are looked upon
as being in some measure safety-valves; so long as they
are in full activity, and the centre, when overfilled,
empties itself by the fire-spouting mouth, the country is
tranquil.

No phenomenon offers such a dreadful spectacle as the
earthquake. The naturalist who explores a dangerous
volcano arrives at it armed with patience and courage. He
GEOLOGY. 663

knows the monster he proposes to face; its fury is announced
by warning signs, whilst the earthquake, in the twinkling
of an eye, entirely annihilates a large town.

The celebrated earthquake of Lisbon took place the
Ist of November, 1755. Nothing had occurred to make
men suspect such an occurrence, when, at five and twenty
minutes to ten in the morning, at a time when all the
people were quietly preparing themselves for business, a
frightful subterranean noise struck all the inhabitants with
stupefaction, and six minutes afterwards this great city
was only a heap of ruins, under which lay an immense
number of victims.

In the catastrophe of Messina, in 1783, the movement
was still more rapid: in two minutes the town was utterly
overturned, and, to add to the horror, fire devoured the
ruins which the earthquake had heaped up.

But if these shocks thus concentrate their principal
action upon one point—if a city collapse entirely without
the neighbouring districts suffering any notable damage—
volcanic action, on the other hand, is sometimes so power-
ful that it shakes the crust of the earth from one pole
to another. Thus all Europe and part of Africa were
shaken when the commotion of Lisbon took place. The
Alps and the Pyrennees trembled to the base, the sea
rose and fell on the coast of Sweden, Norway, the British
Isles, and also upon those of America. At the time when
Lisbon collapsed all the richest cities of Morocco were
almost totally destroyed. Near the capital of this state an
oasis with 8000 or 10,000 inhabitants disappeared.

Earthquakes are sometimes accompanied by very
unwonted phenomena. Some curious ones were noticed
during that which ravaged all Calabria in 1785. Accord-
ing to Hamilton, mountains were seen to rise at one
664 THE UNIVERSE.

moment and sink again some time after. Dwellings, with
the persons they contained, were transported from one
place to another without the least damage; some were
moved to higher places than they had previously occupied ;
others descended quietly into the valleys. The earth
cracked from place to place, and engulfed men and beasts
in its great fissures. At the time of such a disaster it has
been sometimes remarked that objects were carried by a
rotatory movement which is quite inexplicable. The
upper layers of the stone pyramids in front of the gate

 

301. The Great Geyser, Iceland.

of the monastery of St. Stephen del Bosco were twisted
round upon their axis by a circular impulsion, whilst their
bases remained fixed. M. A. Boscovitz, in his remark-
able work on volcanoes, also relates that during the con-
vulsion of the island of Majorca, in 1851, the shocks im-
pressed a horizontal rotatory movement on a tower, and
that in the interval they lasted it was displaced about 60°
on its axis.

We cannot terminate this rapid sketch of volcanic
GEOLOGY. 665

phenomena without mentioning the singular geysers of

Iceland, which are essentially connected with them.
’ y

They are hot springs which at certain times issue from

 

302. Entrance to Fingal’s Cave, Staffa,

clefts in the ground, and rise into the air in the form of a
ereat jet of boiling water. In the Great Geyser the watery

 

303. Basaltic Cliffs and Giant's Causeway, Staffa.

eruption is preceded by dull sounds like artillery, at the
end of which a jet of vapour and boiling water is launched
into the air to a height of a hundred feet.
666 THE UNIVERSE.

It is also to volcanic efforts that we must refer those
gigantic crystals of basalt which seem to have been pushed
out of the earth by a prodigious force, in order to form at
the surface, in one place, those remarkable ‘giants’ cause-
ways,” which are a favourite haunt with the inquiring; in
another, those islands and grottoes which, rising from the
bosom of the waves, astonish us by their mass or the
arrangement of their prismatic columns; such as the rocks
of the Cyclops near the coast of Sicily, and especially the
grotto of Fingal in the island of Staffa.
BOOK V.

GLACIERS AND ETERNAL SNOWS.

The glaciers which extend their motionless waves over
the summits of the globe, and the gleaming splendour of
the snowy winding-sheet which envelops them, strike the
traveller still more than the aspect of the sea and the
desert.

All is frightful amid the frozen solitudes of the moun-
tains, and a horrible death seems at each step to threaten
the rash mortal who enters them. On one side the aval-
anche threatens to bury him; beneath his feet open fright-
ful precipices in which he would be shattered, while cold
and hunger may destroy him. Every day the names of
new victims are inscribed in the records of deaths, and yet
each day some intrepid traveller tries a new enterprise.

A chamois-hunter said to De Saussure that his grand-
father and father had both been buried in the glaciers
whilst pursuing game, and he added, with a feeling of
sadness, that he was certain he should experience the
same fate as they had done, and that his knapsack would
be his shroud! Yet in spite of this he would never
renounce his fatal passion. Some years after this conver-
668 THE UNIVERSE.

sation the Genevese savant, returning to this part, learned
that the hunter’s sad foreboding had been realized.

In Europe the mantle of eternal snow, which buries in
death all the upper regions of our mountains, generally
begins at a height of 2700 to 2800 metres (8865 feet and
9193 feet). In equatorial America the limit of these inces-
sant frosts is almost half as high again, while at Spitz-
bergen it sinks to the level of the sea (see Fig. 304).

This imposing shroud of snow, by its calm majesty,
sometimes gives an air of fantastic lightness to the loftiest
peaks. When these are softly undulated, they are often
taken at a great distance for a transparent curtain of
motionless clouds scattered upon the horizon. The chain
of the Alps often appears like this. The eye is frequently
deceived, especially towards evening, and the conviction
that they are really mountains is only acquired by observing
that the false clouds do not undergo the least change of
form, whilst if they were true ones, a few minutes would
suffice to change their outline.

Sometimes also the diadem of snow which crowns a
mountain becomes the theatre of the most unusual phe-
nomena: fire and ice are at war, and it is a struggle as to
which shall overwhelm the other. This happens in the
inaccessible Erebus, a volcano of the polar regions, dis-
covered by Sir James Ross. Enveloped in snow and ice
from the base to the summit, and resembling an immense
block of rock-crystal, its crater is yet in perpetual activity.

It isin these lofty mountain regions that we hear the
thunder of the avalanche growl—their most terrible and
most imposing phenomenon. Here the traveller may
every instant enjoy this grand spectacle, for it is almost
incessant wherever the snow and ice extend their covering
over slightly inclined smooth surfaces.
 
GEOLOGY. 671

Avalanches are generally formed by enormous masses
of snow which from the height of the mountains precipi-
tate themselves into the valleys. It is particularly in
spring and during summer that they occur, at the time

 

305. Mount Erebus, Antarctic Regions.

when the heat of the day makes itself most felt. At such
times the least agitation in the air produces the fall.
There has been only too often occasion to regret their
ravages; they frequently engulf travellers, and sometimes
carry with them forests and villages.

In the mountain passes where there is most reason to
dread them, the muleteers always travel before day, the time
when they are least to be feared; and in order not to agi-
tate the air, they observe absolute silence, and even stuff
the little bells on the harness with linen. But notwith-
standing these precautions, the avalanches engulf every
year a certain number of victims. At different times
hundreds of men have perished at once, crushed under
their mass. The most deplorable accident due to this
cause upon record is that which befell 400 Austrian
soldiers who, in the fifteenth century, were buried under
one of these falls of snow.
672 THE UNIVERSE.

Glaciers are met with most frequently in the valleys of
high mountains. From thence they are sometimes seen to
descend to a considerable depth, far below the line of
eternal snow, and display themselves in the midst of a lux-
uriant vegetation, among the forests of conifers and the
flowers of the valleys which surround them. In the Arctic
seas, as at Spitzbergen, they even launch their gigantic
crystaline masses into the waves of ocean (Fig. 306).

These icy plains, sometimes formed of obtuse and
nodulated blocks, sometimes bristling with immense crys-
tals, the azure of which contrasts with the dead white
of the snow when they are heaped up in the mountain
gorges, appear to our eyes like oceans, the waves of which
have been solidified by magic, in the midst of their most
frightful commotions, and destined to eternal immobility.
They are really seas of ice, six to eight leagues long,
which climb the valleys and clear the elevated passes of
mountains in order to cross from one side of a mountain
chain to the other. Frequently vast blue and diaphanous
erottoes open at their bases, from which spring fountains,
which soon become impetuous streams or rivers. .

During fine nights, when the silvery gleams of the
moon light up the glaciers which wind along the gorges
of the Alps, these resemble long and imposing opal
shrouds spread silently over the mountain sides, while
their numerous crystals here and there sparkle pale and
luminous.

Notwithstanding their apparent immobility, these seas
of ice, as they are called, possess a very decided move-
ment of their own, the force of which no power can stop.
They constantly tend towards the base of the valleys,
where the milder temperature transforms their mass into
the water which forms our river-sources.
 
GEOLOGY. 675

The first geologists who announced that glaciers move
like rivers, though much more slowly, found their views
very ill received by their colleagues.

However, this phenomenon had been suspected ever
since it had been noticed that a small stone hut, situated
on the side of the Lower Aar Glacier, in the Upper Alps,
had descended towards the valley.

Desirous of clearing up this mystery, Agassiz had
the courage to go thither, and for two years to confine
himself to a residence on this glacier in a hut sheltered
by a fragment of rock—a rude abode which, since the
sojourn there of the illustrious naturalist, has enjoyed a
certain celebrity, and which is now known only as the
Hotel of the Neufchatelese. What a hotel! A room
excavated in the ice, and a bed of stone covered with
a mattress of hay!

Soon after he had been installed in this frightful desert,
Agassiz discovered the hut we have spoken of; it had
descended about 4930 feet in thirteen years, showing that
the annual movement of the glacier was about 380 feet.

But notwithstanding their aspect of grandeur and
terror, notwithstanding the too frequent sacrifice of life
they occasion, what are the glaciers of the Alps in ap-
pearance and extent when compared to the congealed
deserts of the polar regions, as for instance the glaciers of
Spitzbergen, and especially the Humboldt Glacier, which
presents to the traveller an impenetrable barrier twenty-
five leagues in length?

In one or two days’ travel we cross our most redoubt-
able glaciers; we pass the Col du Géant, or we climb
Mont Blanc. But in fact, despite the majestic splendour
of their cold realms and charming passes, the picture of
their perils and their extent is diminished in effect when
676 THE UNIVERSE.

they are contrasted with the horrible solitudes of the
boreal regions, where navigators have wintered several
seasons inclosed by bergs or mountains of ice, and where
they have sometimes traversed three or four hundred
leagues of frozen sea.

For long a sombre and seemingly impenetrable mys-
tery veiled from us everything that happened in these lati-
tudes, and all that men knew of them was derived from
the mournful and obscure legends of superstitious whalers,
until a painful accident directed to these regions the atten-
tion of the civilized world.

Towards the commencement of this century it was sup-
posed that the north of America, long considered as a
land that prolonged itself over the pole, was perhaps
occupied by a sea which might permit a passage from
Europe to Asia by a shorter route.

Two intrepid navigators, Parry and Ross, had in the
course of their celebrated voyages in vain braved tempests
and wintered in the midst of ices in order to seek out this
passage.

But after their attempts, a final expedition, commanded
by Sir John Franklin, already known for his arctic explo-
rations, not having returned, all the European nations were
seized with a strong desire to find some traces of the
noble-minded navigator, and it was during the expeditions
fitted out everywhere for this purpose, that the passage
round the north of America was discovered by Captain
M‘Clure. Being a man of great resolution he exclaimed
at starting, “I will discover Franklin or the passage ;”
and he kept one of his two promises.

Men had dreamed of the existence of a polar sea, but
it was thought to be completely blocked with eternal ice.
Captain Parry, when he started from Spitzbergen with
 

 

307. A Chain of Icebergs in the Polar Regions.

86
GEOLOGY. 679

sledges, promised himself that he would reach the pole and
plant the flag of Great Britain upon the axis of the globe.
But in proportion as the expedition advanced towards the
north over the frozen sea, he found to his great astonish-
ment more and more openings in the ice which were not
frozen over, and it became necessary to return, as they
were equipped for travelling on the ice, not for navigating
an ocean. :

In course of the researches made in the north of America
with the view of discovering the remains of Franklin’s
companions, it was found out that this region is formed
solely of a congeries of large and small islands, separated
by tortuous channels. The voyages undertaken for this
purpose have revealed a host of surprising facts, and
among others the existence of an immense and furious
sea, the waves of which extend over all the pole, till then
believed to be only an icy desert.

All navigators have drawn striking pictures of the polar
latitudes. Though sometimes on all sides only a luminous
sea was to be seen, over which rose fairy and splendid
colonnades of ice, letting their rigid stalactites droop on all
sides, more frequently islands of ice, driven by the vio-
lence of tempests, seem, every instant, on the point of
engulfing the vessels, or of inclosing them within their
prodigious masses.’ Then we have, besides, the monoton-
ous descriptions of those long and trying winters passed
amid darkness and snow, under latitudes where man has

1 Breaking up of an iceberg.—* We have just witnessed what was for the
moment a perfect cataract of ice with all its motion and many times its noise.
Quick as lightning and loud as thunder, when bolt and thunder come at the same
instant, there was one terrific crack, a sharp and silvery ringing blow upon the
atmosphere, which I shall never forget nor ever be able to describe. The spec-
tacle was nearly as startling as the explosion. At once the upper face of the

berg burst out upon the air as if it had been blasted, and swept down across the
great cliff a huge cataract of green and snowy fragments, with a wild crashing
680 THE UNIVERSE.

to struggle on all sides against a cold which freezes mer-
cury. Here the sole event which sometimes breaks in
upon the uniformity of life is the visit of some Esquimaux
tribe, men of iron who alone resist this frightful climate,
and who, incredible as it may seem, prefer it to happier
countries. Their appalling nights, six months long, their

 

308. Young Esquimaux.

huts of snow, their dresses of skins, which give them the
look of beasts, have more charms for them than all the
sweets of civilization, and all the benefits of a sun which
daily ripens rich harvests.

roar, followed by the heavy sullen thunder of the plunge into the ocean, and the
rolling away of the high-crested seas, and the rocking of the mighty mass back

and forth, in the effort to regain its equilibrium.”— After Jeebergs with a Painter.
By the Rev. L. L. Noble.—Tr.
GEOLOGY. 681

It was one of the boldest explorers of these boreal
regions that discovered the waves of the new ocean be-
yond the barrier of ice which bars the path to the pole
against our vessels.

Instead of finding, as he advanced towards the pole, a
more and more rigorous climate, Captain Morton beheld

 

309, Kennely Channel.—Sketch by J. Noel, from Kane.

the bloom of a new spring, and life, instead of becoming
extinct, appeared to revive. The boreal flora became richer,
and at the same time immense flocks of ducks, sea-gulls,
and other birds plunged into the waves or sported upon the
shores. But very soon after, the indefatigable traveller,
vanquished by obstacles and exhausted by so many fatigues,
yet transported with the view of the sombre polar sea
which he had just discovered, with a failing hand planted
his flag upon a cape which had never been reached by
682 THE UNIVERSE.

the foot of man; and then, pale and wearied, saluted
that ocean which no vessel had yet ploughed, and
after a few. hours of repose commenced the arduous task

of returning.
 

310. Morton planting the American Flag on the shores of the Polar Sea.
BOOk VU.

CAVERNS AND GROTTOKES.

The upheaval of large mountain chains frequently pro-
duces deep and winding caverns in their sides. In some
places there are really so many of these that, the interior
seems to be only a succession of vast galleries, so rugged
and profound that the boldest man dare not attempt to
traverse them. This state of things is seen in the cavern-
ous Alps of Carniola, which present a considerable num-
ber of water-courses in their recesses; indeed, these seem
to be more numerous in the bowels of the mountains than
on the surface of the ground.

Some of these subterranean rivers are known to run
several leagues. They even nourish peculiar animals which
never see the light, as for instance the Proteus, a singular
animal provided with both lungs and branchiz, which thus
appears to combine all the attributes of an amphibious
being.

Among the numerous grottoes which have been ex-
plored there is one, that of Antiparos, which has become
celebrated, not from its extent, but on account of the ex-
cursion which Tournefort made to it during his eastern

travels. The entrance to it is narrow, and the descent
87
686 THE UNIVERSE.

is effected by means of a rope-ladder. ‘‘ When we arrive
at the bottom,” says the celebrated botanist, ‘‘ we have to
creep some time among the rocks, sometimes on one’s back,
sometimes on one’s face, and after all this fatigue we at
last reach this celebrated grotto.” It only presents an

 

311. Proteus of the Subterranean Rivers of Carniola—Proteus anguinus (Laurenti).

extent of 900 feet in length and a width of 150; but on
every side the marble forms clustered pillars, is twisted into
columns like the trunks of trees, or hangs in numerous
stalactites which awaken every one’s admiration. These
varied forms astonished Tournefort, and the view of them
recalled his favourite hypothesis, the dissemination of life.
“Tt seems,” he said, “as if these marble trunks vegetate ”
And further on, perceiving the altar with its beautiful
flutings of dazzling whiteness, he exclaimed, “ This pyra-
GEOLOGY. 687

mid is perhaps the most beautiful marble plant in the
world!” It was the error of a great genius.

Although this celebrated grotto is verysmall, the Marquis
of Nointel, one of our ambassadors to the Sublime Porte,
took the fancy of celebrating midnight mass there on
Christmas Eve. He descended into the grotto accompanied
by a great number of persons of his suite, of merchants
and pirates, and then had 100 torches of yellow wax and
400 lamps lighted up, which illuminated all the interior.
At the moment of the holy sacrifice of the mass, fireworks
and cannon, arranged at the entrance to the grotto, aroused
the echoes with their detonations, whilst the trumpets
sounded. This being over, the Marquis of Nointel did not
end there; he wished to sleep in the famous grotto to which
he had taken such a fancy, and there he slept.

Another cavern, the Mammoth Cave in the United
States, owes its renown not to the celebrity of those who
have visited it, but to its extent, which is perhaps greater
than that of any other existing cave.

Although imperfectly known up to the present time,
it has been found possible to penetrate only about ten
leagues into it. The entrance is narrow and low, but after
progressing for a few minutes by torch-light through a
subterranean passage, the scene changes, and views of
the most grand and varied kind unfold themselves. On
one side is seen the magical splendour of stalactite halls
decorated with pillars twisted in a thousand shapes, and
fantastic statues draped in their crystal mantles; on
another are seen regular churches formed of precious
stones, gleaming with different coloured lights, the splen-
dour of which dazzles the traveller.

In this obscure labyrinth every spot has its historical
name. One is called the Chamber of the Spirits, or
688 THE UNIVERSE.

haunted chamber, thus called because it was found strewed
with mummies of Indians, most probably from the people
who of old inhabited this part of America. In another
place a still more striking scene presents itself, for we
arrive beneath the Dome of the Giant, the immensity of
which strikes one with stupor. Enveloped in profound
darkness, notwithstanding the great fires lighted by the

 

312. Cyprinodons of the Mammoth Cave.

guides, the eye of the explorer cannot make out the cupola
suspended at a height of about 430 feet above his head.
At some depth below, the Styx slowly rolls its sad
waters beneath dark vaults, the windings of which are
indented bya thousand rocks. In this subterranean river,
the course of which we follow in a boat, dwells a very
peculiar fish, the Cyprinodon, which is said to be blind,
  

[Us v XAYS OL “ETE

“OARLY YFOULULT YT oy Ul TIATYT ULOUGL

 
GEOLOGY. 691

and which, in fact, ought to be so, for what purpose could
eyes serve in the midst of waves where the most perfect
darkness reigns!

Further on, in this immense Mammoth Grotto filled
with rivers, cataracts, and subterranean lakes, the traveller
is astonished to find himself beside a large sheet of water
on which glide slowly a few boats, the dull glare of
their torches being lost in the obscurity of the distance
without lighting up the banks and projecting rocks.’ This
dark and calm mass of water is called the Dead Sea.

As happens in many of the cavernous openings in the
globe there are in the Mammoth Caves certain abysses
which seem bottomless. The guides throw down ignited
substances, which are seen to descend for an extraordi-
narily long time, whirling round and round, and at last, to

1 The Mammoth Cave is always an object of great curiosity with the Ameri-
cans. They go there in crowds, and there is not always accommodation to be
found in the great hétel intended to receive the tourists, although it is arranged
for 300 guests. The exploration requires five or six days, and an army of guides
is always kept ready for the service of travellers.

Each site in this celebrated cave bears a picturesque name. There is the
Starry Cavern, dazzling with stalactites; the Chamber of the Spirits, formerly
encumbered with Indian mummies, which by an act of profanation has become
a species of refreshment-room, where the wives of the guides supply liquors and
newspapers to those travellers who are already fatigued with the subterranean
journey, and glad to make a short halt. There is also a kind of hospital here,
where some medical men keep patients afflicted with chest affections, thinking
the sulphureous atmosphere of these caverns would be favourable to them.
In the centre of this hall an almost entire skeleton of a mastodon has been set
up. It is also at this part of the Mammoth Cave that the wives of the guides
show and sell to those who care for such things, the extraordinary little blind
fish, the Cyprinodons, which are caught in the water-courses of these immense
caverns.

Further on is seen the Devil’s Arm-chair, which, like a gigantic crystallization,
rears itself all gleaming on the brink of a dark bottomless abyss. Besides the
Styx and the Dead Sea, these caverns, in which underground windings 20 to 25
miles in length are known, possess other bodies of water. Up to the present
time 226 avenues have been made out, besides 57 domes, 11 lakes, 7 rivers, 8
cataracts, and 32 abysses, some of which are of an immense depth.
692 THE UNIVERSE.

the great surprise of travellers, become extinguished on
their obscure journey before they reach the bottom.

Other cavities of only very small extent attract the
attention of naturalists much more than those of which
we have spoken. These are the bone-caves, in which we
find heaps of bones of carnivora, principally bears and
hyenas, which lived at an epoch very near our own, and

 

314. Dead Sea in the Mammoth Cave.

the numbers of which in such places we cannot very well
explain. It is, however, probable that they were brought
thither by currents of water. Sometimes, too, we find mixed
with them traces of the handicraft of the most ancient
human races, and sometimes human crania.

But the difficulties presented by the exploration of
grottoes and mines, the desert nature of the country where
their mouths open, and the ignorance of the rude inhabi-
GEOLOGY. 693

tants of the mountains have always kept us from seeing a
great part of the treasures scattered in the ground. On
the other hand, those inflammable gases which by their
frightful ravages carry desolation into mines, those pois-
ous vapours, those spzritus lethales, as Pliny calls them,
which instantly destroy life and extinguish a torch, were
they not calculated to freeze with horror those who
should dare to penetrate into the abysses of the mountains?

Superstitious alarms also long hindered men from gath-
ering the mineral riches which the bosom of the earth
incloses. As they are principally found in countries which
have been the theatre of the most violent convulsions, it
was with unmixed terror that men approached the wild
and gloomy spots where they lay stored up; and sometimes
gross credulity spread the belief that they were guarded by
dragons, jealous of the supremacy of their dark domains.
To these all the accidents which happened to miners were
attributed: at the moment when the fire-damp exploded,
it was said that they were seen in the shape of horses,
with fiery manes, passing through the ruins and the fire.

Pacific spirits, however, everywhere effaced the work of
these evil genii; this was a rooted belief in all the mining
districts, brutalized by isolation and the most degrading
superstition. The venerable father of mineralogy, Agricola,
influenced himself by the legends of the workmen, in his
celebrated work describes these spirits as minutely as if
he had held them in his hand; not a detail of form or
dress is wanting.

The belief was a last ray of the antique philosophy
which held that every particle of created matter was ani-
mated by invisible intelligence, and possessed sensibility
and a spirit of harmony.

According to the believers in the Cabala, there existed
88
694 THE UNIVERSE.

innumerable legions of gnomes, which were scattered
through the bowels of the earth. The humble German
miner believed there were elves (KKobolds) hidden in every
nook and corner of the caverns, working silently and
spreading everywhere activity and life; pigmies of the
mountains dressed like miners, whose instinctive foresight
enabled them to forge metals, to heap up precious stones
in veins, and also to collect mysteriously in the darkness
those singular petrifactions which were one day to reveal
to us unknown worlds. Although they loved him greatly,
these Kobolds fled before the approach of man. They
had been rarely seen, but every happy event in the ancient
mines was attributed to them.1

1 Schleiden took a far bolder flight than Agricola had done. The old miner-
alogist of Suabia had only described the genii of earth, Schleiden represented
them at work. In his work on The Plant (Za Plante) there is a beautiful en-
graving, representing little gnomes laboriously occupied in laying bare all the
riches of earth. Some hew the rock in order to withdraw large trunks of fossil-
ized trees; others collect or solder together the torn fragments. Each gnome or
IXobold appears under the form of a little laborious and decrepit miner. The

back-ground of the picture is occupied by a cascade which bounds and foams
among the rocks.x—Schleiden, Za Plante, pl. 13.
BOOK VIL,

STEPPES AND DESERTS.

“Let him,” says Humboldt, “who wishes to escape
from the storms of life, follow me into the depths of the
forests, across the deserts, or over the lofty summits of the
Andes.”

The illustrious philosopher was right, for face to face
with these great scenes of nature, man feels his passions
and sorrows die out, and contemplation absorbs all his
being. St. Bernard felt this deeply when he said to his dis-
ciples, “‘ Believe my experience of it; you will find in our
forests something more choice than in books; the trees and
rocks will yield lessons preferable to those of the ablest
masters.”

The vast solitudes of nature themselves present their
harmonies and contrasts. Sometimes the deserts only
represent a sea of sand, calm and boundless like that of
Libya, which fills the mind with a sense of infinitude.
Sometimes, as in the steppes of America and Asia, they
are covered with a carpet of verdure. Lastly, other deserts,
as we see in the Arabian chain, are wholly composed of a
stony and rugged soil like the arid surface of a planet
waiting for the creation of organic life.
696 THE UNIVERSE.

A desert of sand possesses a tranquil beauty; a desert
of stone is horrible. In the former the horizon develops
itself before our eyes, it is accessible and on the confines
of it are liberty and repose. In the other the horizon
seems impassable, death separates us from it, it is a dis-
ordered mass of rocks, burned by the sun, irregular and
rugged; there is no practicable road, and it is easy to
imagine that a few hours’ stay in such a frightful place
would prove fatal to the most robust traveller. The fright-
ful aspect of such a desert cannot be better compared than
to that which the old engravers gave of the sea in a
tempest. It was thus that the desert of Assouan on the
borders of Nubia looked to us.*

And yet in arid deserts an oasis here and there, rich in
shade and coolness, rejoices the heart of the Arab, for it
is here that he quenches his thirst and rests his caravan.
Poetry, usurping the place of truth, has generally promul-
gated the belief that these spots only consist of a group of
palm-trees, protecting with their foliage some limpid desert
spring, where the camels slake their thirst on their halt.

1 About 100 miles south of Assouan, occurs the remarkable desert of Korosko.
For the space of two days’ journey southwards from the town of Korosko (lat.
22° 35’ N.), before reaching the plains called rivers without water and sea of sand,
the desert is covered with remarkable conical hills, among which winds the path
of the traveller. On the slopes of these hills lie moving sands, liable to be dis-
placed by every storm; the winds disperse them generally on the slopes opposed
to their course. These hills are formed of a quartzose sandstone, which gradually
becomes less solid in its composition as we advance towards the south. They are
not due to upbeavals or convulsions of the earth’s crust (though dislocations
caused by earthquakes may be traced in the valleys of erosion), but are formed
Ly horizontal irregular strata of different density, some only slightly knit, but
others united by argillaceous-ferrugineous cement, and more capable of resisting
the destructive effects of the atmosphere. The upper layers are those that seem
less hard, but none of them are very homogeneous. From this geological forma-
tion there result the most picturesque effects: the sands are driven along the
bottom of the valleys, which they fill up horizontally to a certain height, leaving
exposed ouly the tops of the bills.—Jmperial Gazetteer.—Tr.
GEOLOGY. 697

But these healthful stations, scattered over the sand, to
use the expression of Ptolemy, like the black spots on the
yellow hide of the panther, are sometimes large spaces,
abundantly supplied with springs and sheltered by a vigor-
ous vegetation. In the Sahara there are even some which
form small but populous kingdoms, and which the caravans
take several days to cross.

When reviewing the steppes, those living deserts, other
pictures unfold themselves to our gaze. In them we see
diversity of vegetation sharply defined, so that we might
fancy each zone had at first its own special sheet of ver-
dure. As Humboldt says, “The history of the vegetable
envelope of our planet, and of its gradual propagation over
the naked surface of the earth, has its epochs, like the
most ancient history of the human race.”

In some places we find steppes which display only an
attempt at vegetable life; extending over immense spaces
and losing themselves in a boundless horizon, they open out
before the eye like the ocean, but without offering the charm
of the perpetual movement of its waves. All is sadness.

In other regions these great spaces, the surface of which
is only slightly irregular, are covered with a perfectly uni-
form vegetation; one species rules there despotically and
stifles all the others. Such is the spectacle presented by
the Landes of Bordeaux, exclusively pervaded by heath,
which at the time of flowering waves gently like a sea
of purple, whose waves agitated by the breeze melt away
in the azure of the distant horizon.

Struck by the monotony of their steppes, thickly over-
grown by the humblest plants, the Mongols named them
the land of grass. But it is particularly in America, where
they bear the name of pampas, that they dismay the tra-
veller by their immense extent and often by their im-
698 THE UNIVERSE.

penetrable nature. There, according to Humboldt, exist
some which occupy a space of 16,000 square leagues.

Grasses and leguminous plants cover the surface as far
as the eye can see. In other places the steppe bristles
with tall thistles, which form impenetrable spiny barriers.

The steppes of Southern America, being covered with a
light clothing of plants, and being periodically inundated
by torrents of rain, often present a luxuriant growth of
erasses. These solitudes are at such times traversed by
legions of animals, which there find water and an ample
supply of nourishment.

But the scene changes so soon as the drought sets in.
Then death and aridity appear everywhere. The tropical
heat allows only a very ephemeral duration for this luxu-
riant vegetation. When the heat of the sun is no longer
tempered by the rains, and when he darts his vertical rays
upon the steppe, the marshes are soon dried up, all the
plants wither and turn to dust, and a sea of ashes succeeds
to an ocean of verdure. The extreme heat stupifies the
crocodile and the boa-constrictor; like the hybernating
animals of the polar regions, they sink into the mud and
remain there motionless till the return of the rains. All
the animals express their sufferings by deep groans, a few
only understand how to quench their thirst with the succu-
lent stems of certain Cacti, the spiny armour of which tears
their mouths and makes them bleed.

1“The mules,” says Humboldt, “more circumspect and wily, endeavour to
satisfy their thirst in another manner. A plant of spherical form and bearing.
numerous flutings, the Melocactus, contains a very watery pulp under a spiny
envelope; the mule, by means of its fore-feet, separates the spines, puts down its
mouth carefully, and ventures to drink the refreshing juice. But it cannot always
drink at this living vegetable spring without danger. Animals are often seen
which have been lamed in the hoof by the spines of the cactus.

“To the burning heat of day succeeds the freshness of the night, which equals
the day in duration; but the cattle and horses cannot even then enjoy repose.
GEOLOGY. 699

When this consuming drought has wasted or burned up
the steppe, the torrid heat kills numbers of wild animals
which can find no place to slake their thirst, and their
corpses strew the ground in thousands. Night brings no
relief to such sufferings. Frightful bats attack the ex-
hausted animals, and like the vampires of the old German

 

315. Travellers attacked by Vampires.

legends suck their blood, only that they assail living flesh
and blood instead of betaking themselves to the corpses
in the graveyards. Man himself is not safe from their
voracity. When some traveller overtaken by night falls
asleep in the open air, he wakes in the morning greatly
During their sleep monstrous bats fasten like vampires on their backs, suck their
blood, and occasion purulent sores, in which horse-flies, mosquitoes, and a host of
other stinging insects establish themselves. Such is the painful life of these ani-

mals so soon as even the heat of the sun has made the water disappear from the
face of the earth.”"—Humboldt, Tubleaux de la Nature, b. i. 8. 39.
700 THE UNIVERSE.

exhausted, scarcely able to stand upright, and finds one of
his feet in a pool of blood. This is the work of the vam-
pires, as they are called, which have assailed him during
the nght with so much skill and precaution that he has
not been even awakened by their punctures.’

After the sufferings occasioned by the heat, the dangers

 

316. The American Vampire---Vampirus spectrum (Linnzeus).

of inundation ensue. Some steppes in America are then
totally submerged by the overflowing of the rivers, and
only look like a vast sea which threatens the animals with

1 It is really from their habit of sucking the blood of animals that naturalists
have given them the name of vampire. La Condamine asserts that they exhausted
and destroyed the earliest troops of cattle and sheep which were imported into
some regions of America. Man himself is not safe from the attacks of these bats.
The traveller Azara was several times bitten when sleeping without shelter.
The wound is like that of a leech, and is not perceived till waking, when the feeble-
ness which results is felt and the blood is seen all round.
=

GEOLOGY. 701

imminent death. Some seek a refuge and gather in groups
on the heights. Many are drowned; others are attacked
and devoured by the crocodiles, which have now regained
all their vigour. A redoubtable eel, the Gymunotus elec-
tricus, adds to thé dangers run by the mammals, the
shocks it gives being powerful enough to kill even horses.!

The aspect of the desert is more monotonous. With
the exception of the oases which it displays here and there
it is, in Africa, completely arid. In one of the deserts of
Upper Egypt, situated between the Nile and the Red Sea,
the eye only perceives an unbroken sheet of burning sand.
And yet upon its borders I found, to my great surprise,
braving the heat of the sun and never refreshed by a single
drop of water, numerous tufts of an asclepiad (Asclepias
procera, Willd.), the large, moist and velvety leaves of which
elistened with freshness. It was an inexplicable problem!

But this last effort of life soon disappears, and we see
before us only an ocean of sand and a horizon of death.
Not acry, not a murmur is heard, and scarce even a loiter-
ing vulture devours the last fragments of some camel which
has fallen on the sand, and the bleached skeleton of which
will soon be added to so many others now marking out

1 Humboldt says that it is not only the crocodiles and jaguars that lay snares
for the horse. This animal has also a formidable enemy among the fish. The
marshy waters of Bera and Rastro are filled with electric eels, the slimy bodies
of which, covered with yellow spots, spontaneously emit violent shocks in every
direction, These Gymnoti (the name they are known by in science) are five to six
feet long; they are strong enough to kill the most robust animals when they put
in action all their organs, armed as they are with an apparatus of numerous nerves,
at the same time and in a suitable direction. At Uritucu it had become necessary
to change the road across the steppe, owing to the eels having so increased in a
little river, that every year many horses, struck with paralysis, were drowned in
passing the ford. All the fish fly before the approach of these formidable eels.
They even assail unawares men fishing with a rod, the moistened line often form-
ing a medium for communicating the fatal shock. In this case the electric fluid
is discharged even from the bottom of the water—Humboldt, Tableaux de la

Nature, t. i. p. 45.
89
702 THE UNIVERSE,

the desert routes. Not a cloud tarnishes the azure of the
sky, not a breath refreshes the air; a sun, the ardour of
which nothing moderates, pours down its sparkling light
and fiery rays, burning even through one’s clothes. The
motionless and heated atmosphere tortures the face with its
fiery breath, and even the sand attains an extreme heat;
my thermometers being broken I tried to ascertain the
temperature by plunging my hands into the superficial
layers, but at the end of a few seconds a stinging pain com-
pelled me to withdraw them. The soil also, by reflecting the
solar rays from the sparkling fragments of mica and quartz,
sometimes becomes insupportably dazzling to the eye.

Instead of the rolling waves and cool breezes of the
sea, this funereal region only gives out burning gusts,
scorching blasts which seem to issue from the gates of
hell; these are the szmoom or poison-wind, as the word
signifies in Arab. The camel-driver knows this for-
midable enemy, and so soon as he sees it looming in
the horizon, he raises his hands to heaven and implores
Allah; the camels themselves seem terrified at its approach.
A veil of reddish black invades the gleaming sky, and very
soon a terrible and burning wind rises, bearing clouds
of fine impalpable sand, which severely irritates the eyes
and makes its way into the respiratory organs.

The camels squat down and refuse to move, and the
travellers have no chance of safety except by making a
rampart of the bodies of their beasts, and covering their
heads so as to protect themselves against this scourge.
Entire caravans have sometimes perished in these sand-
storms; it was one of them that buried the army of
Cambyses when it was traversing the desert.

Maxime du Camp, in his charming work on the Nile,
describes in the following terms one of these desert tem-
 

 
GEOLOGY. 705

pests, to the least violent of which the name khamsin is
given in Egypt: “It comes towards one,” he says, “growing,
spreading, and advancing as if on wheels. Its overhanging
summit is of a brick colour, its base deep red and almost
black. In proportion as it approaches it drives before
it burning effluvia, like the breath of a lime-kiln. Be-
fore it reaches us we are covered with its shadow. The
sound it makes is like that of a wind passing through a
pine-forest. So soon as we are in the midst of this hurri-
cane the camels halt, turn their backs, throw themselves
down, and lay their heads upon the sand. After the cloud
of dust comes a rain of imperceptible stones, violently
hurled about by the wind, and which, if it lasted long, would
quickly flay the skin from those parts of the body unpro-
tected by the clothes. This lasted five or six minutes,
and was frightful. Then the sky became clear again, and
gave the same feeling of sudden change to the eye as a
light suddenly brought into a dark place.”

It is in the sand deserts that the phenomenon of the
mirage takes place most frequently. I was enabled to see
it once in all its splendour.

The captain or reis of our escort had asked leave to
stay at a part of the Nile where stood one of his harems,
in order to pass the day there with his wives and family.
I say one, for he had several, ingeniously established along
the river, the scene of the continual voyages which he
made. He stopped by successive stages at each of his
establishments, in such a way as not to excite the jealousy
of any of the sultanas whom he maintained.

I had profited by this halt to make an excursion into
the desert, and had started when the reis, seeing me in
the distance, came with some Arabs of his tribe to beg I
would accept the hospitality of his roof. In the East, to
706 THE UNIVERSE.

refuse such an offer would be almost an offence, so I
turned towards the oasis which he inhabited. It was a
delicious hamlet, crowned with date-trees, and the entrance

 

 

318. The Mirage in the Desert.

to it was picturesquely decorated with some tombs of a
most charming appearance.

After the frugal repast of dates and milk which was
offered me, I plunged into the desert, and I was already
GEOLOGY. 707

at a distance when the idea came into my head to salute
this hospitable abode for the last time. But everything was
transformed. The picturesque village seemed enveloped
in a magnificent sheet of the most transparent waters, in
which the dwellings, palm-trees, and tombs were reflected
in a marvellous manner. The phenomenon was produced
with such exactness, and the sheet of water was so beau-
tiful and limpid, that if I had not a few minutes previously
traversed the spot which it occupied on the burning sand,
I should have thought:it real. Such is the mirage, which
so often and so painfully deceived our worn-out soldiers
when they traversed these very regions. Exhausted with
fatigue and dying of thirst, they thought they saw in the
distance the water they longed for so much, while it was
only a bitter delusion!

Yet other phenomena engage the view of those who
traverse the deserts of Africa. Among these is the rising
of the sun, the splendour of which, as Byron says, is with-
out equal!

After traversing the great cataract of the Nile, we re-
solved to rest for a few days in the island of Phile, situ-
ated at the entrance into Nubia. So soon as we had
anchored our boats on the east shore of the sacred island,
crowded as it is with religious monuments, we set to work
to erect our tent on the platform of one of the great gate-
towers or pylones of the temple of Isis. It so happened
that there was at this place a complete gathering of
scientific men: M. Grimaux, my friend and travelling com-
panion, whom Rouen numbers among her chosen men of
eminence; Captain Tuifort, who commanded the advanced
guard in the expedition to the sources of the Nile which
we had just rejoied, and my sons Georges and James
Pouchet, the one naturalist to the expedition, the other an
708 THE UNIVERSE.

engineer on the Suez canal. There, each evening, plunged
in melancholy meditation, and tranquilly reclining on the
ancient balustrade of the building, I watched the setting
of the sun as it sank behind rocks as black as ebony; and
there also, having slept under the open sky, I rose so soon
as the first gleams of day began to disperse the night, in
order to seat myself upon the lofty parapet of the great
gate-tower, in order to enjoy the indescribable spectacle
of the dawn.

The setting of the sun is each day the same uniform
spectacle. Rolling through a sky of which its rays have
absorbed all the vapours, it plunges into the sea of sand
like an immense globe of fire hung in a burning horizon.
After its disappearance, the blazing luminary only leaves
a fiery hue, which extends over an immense portion of the
distant plain. If at this time a caravan happen to pass the
desert on the west of us, the men and camels are clearly
defined against the reddish tint of the sky like so many
animated silhouettes of an intense blackness; they might
be taken for some of the well-known Chinese shadows.
Then all at once the night comes on, for the twilight in
these burning zones is only of short duration.

The dawn on the contrary is infinitely varied, and pre-
sents by turns the most majestic spectacle one can imagine.
The freshness of night has condensed all the vapours on
the surface of the desert, and the lamp of day which
lights us has first of all to disperse the thick veil of mist
ere it can appear in all its splendour.

In our foggy country night fades away in tranquil
majesty. When dawn begins to appear behind the forest
or the icy diadem of the mountain, the first gleams of day
scarcely illume the pale azure of the sky. And if we
were permitted to see our pale Aurora athwart the last
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GEOLOGY. 711

folds of the tunic of Morpheus, she would appear with
that fresh and pleasing countenance which ancient poesy
gave her.

But in the East, that palace of light, this phenomenon
shows itself in forms as varied as they are marvellous; the
richness of our most fairy-like decorations is left behind
by reality. When the paling splendour of the constella-
tions announces the advent of day, the region where the
sun is soon to launch himself into the heavens is covered
with an immense and thick black curtain. In a short
time this sombre veil of clouds is irregularly rent, as if, in
their aérial dances, the joyous sylphs had torn it here and
there in order to discover to us the dazzling fire on the
horizon. Then the Nubian Aurora appears, looking as if
she had issued from the furnaces of Etna. She is no longer
the fresh and timid goddess whose tears distil in trans-
parent pearls on our morning flowers, but an intoxicated
bacchante, with burning eye and purple visage, whose
black tresses float loosely over the azure vault, and who with
fingers of fire opens the blazing gates of the East. Then
sparkling corruscations are shot from every fragment of
night’s mantle, which breaks up in all directions; whilst the
festoons on high allow us to catch a glimpse between
them of celestial vistas of sapphire and opal.
BOOK VIII.

THE AIR AND ITS CORPUSCULES.

The aérial ocean .which envelops the earth is from
fifteen to sixteen leagues high. It is the medium for
diffusing animation and life, and its disappearance would
be immediately followed by a general destruction of ani-
mals and plants, and the silence of death.

The vital principle of the air, or oxygen, enters into its
composition to the extent of rv. It has been generally
thought that this element is found in the same proportion
over the whole surface of the globe. According to M.
Martins, the air of the Faulhorn, one of the highest moun-
tains in Switzerland, yields the same percentage of oxygen
as that of Paris.

Paradoxes have always had a certain success. Some
chemists maintained that the air in hospitals, drains, and
even the foulest places, maintains all its purity... Notwith-
standing these different assertions, as a great deal of oxygen
is consumed in populous cities, whilst plants are continually
pouring it out into the atmosphere, it seemed a priori as

1 In a prize memoir of a provincial academy, M. Julia Fontenelle has
maintained that the air of hospitals, and even of sewers, is as pure as that of our
fields.
GEOLOGY. 713

if we ought to find more respirable gas in the air of the
country than in that of towns. Experience began by
invalidating this view; then it was found that the respir-
able gas is nevertheless a little more rare in the latter
than in the midst of the fields) M. Houzeau, one of our
most able chemists, in some experiments carried on upon
a large scale, found that oxygen is really a little more
abundant in the depths of forests, which distil it incessantly
from every pore of their leaves, than in our towns, where
a hundred thousand mouths absorb and consume it.

This is what we know for certain relative to the chemi-
cal composition of the air; let us now speak of its micro-
scopy, so easy to study, and which has yet given rise to
so many puerile fables.

The ancient theogonies, full of mystery and poesy,
peopled space with an infinity of invisible and charming
divinities, who animated every part of creation. The gnomes
were scattered in the depths of the earth, the fire had its
salamanders, the naiads sported beneath the crystal waters,
and the sylphs, light and diaphanous as the plains of air,
everywhere lent life to the atmosphere in the long and grace-
ful gyrations of their dances.

Modern philosophers, without being more precise than
antiquity, have been less happy. Instead of sylphs, they
have filled, nay, surcharged the air with an incalculable
quantity of germs, always ready to shed everywhere
fecundity and life. Fiction for fiction, we like that of our
predecessors better; it is much more attractive, and, more-
over, much less crude.

By means of these germs disseminated in every part,
and entering by myriads wherever the vehicle in which
they live finds access, the learned of the eighteenth cen-
tury explained the appearance of those innumerable swarms
714 THE UNIVERSE.

of microscopic animals or plants which inevitably attack
all created things given up to putrid disorganization.*

Nothing could evade their terrible inroads. The won-
derful minuteness of these destructive agents allowed them
to clear all obstacles, and to insinuate themselves into the
most sheltered cavities! Human intelligence was quite at
fault in attempting to penetrate into the secret of their
transmission through the most compact tissues of animals
and plants.

In order the better to prop up their systems, at an epoch
when the talent of the orator was often substituted for
real learning, some of the philosophers attributed most
paradoxical properties to these germs. It was as much
as glass could do to stay their invasion, or the hottest
furnace to consume them. Nothing arrested Bonnet on
the subject of these germs: he believed that they resisted
the most destructive chemical agents; and even maintained
that by means of a circulation which was more than mar-
vellous, they penetrated the entire economy of animated
beings.”

The supporters of the unlimited dissemination hypo-
thesis did not stop here; one absurdity brings others in
its wake. Some of them, falling back into the conceptions
of the hermetic philosophy, constituted these germs im-
perishable metaphysical entities, descended according to

1 One of the doctrines which for a time seemed likely to displace the theory of
germs was that of the existence and properties of ozone, but both, it seems, are
now disputed by some authorities. Ozone bas been considered by some chemists
to be always present in the atmosphere, but it is now thought that the evidence
in favour of such a fact is of the most doubtful character. That it is occasionally
generated in the atmosphere, and that it may be artificially produced, there can
be no doubt. The reader will find an excellent paper on ozone in Popular Science
Review, vol. v. 1868.—TR.

2“ Every organized body,” says Bonnet, “presents itself to me under the image
of a little earth, where I perceive in miniature all the species of plants and ani-
GEOLOGY. 715

them from the Mosaic creation, capable of traversing ages
and cataclysms, and arriving at our epoch full of fecundity
and life.

All this was the result of one false idea; for if the air
were filled with all the generative elements which would
be necessary to its part of universal dissemination, it would
be so thick that we could not move about in it, and we
should be plunged in the most profound darkness. In
fact, if some globules of the vapour of water are sufficient
to produce thick and choking fogs, which as at London often
force us to have recourse to links in mid-day, what would
the atmosphere be if it were loaded with eggs and seeds?

The name of panspermism has been given to this pre-
tended universal dissemination of the reproductive bodies
of animals and plants. But this perfectly gratuitous hypo-
thesis falls so soon as it is submitted to the criterion of
observation.

There are plants which only appear under circumstances
so exceptional and so extraordinary, that the mind revolts
at the idea of their tiny seed loading the atmosphere for
century after century in order at long intervals to fertilize
some imperceptible part of the globe. This would be in-
utility in immensity.

A fungus is known which never grows except on the
bodies of dead spiders; another only appears on the surface

mals which are found on a large scale on our globe. An oak appears to me com-
posed of plants, insects, shells, reptiles, fish, birds, quadrupeds, and even men.
I see innumerable germs rise into the roots with the juices designed for their
nutrition. I see them circulate in the different vessels and lodge in the thickness
of their membranes, in order to augment their growth in every direction.”

Who would believe then that such a science found supporters in the nine-
teenth century? ‘Yet this has taken place. M. le Vicomte Gaston d’Auvray, in
order to save from shipwreck the old doctrine of panspermism, and the theories of
M. Pasteur, has assumed that there exist in the air myriads of eggs and spores,
the vitality of which resists boiling for eight hours and even a white heat.
716 THE UNIVERSE.

of horses’ hoofs in a state of putrefaction. One little para-
site of the same family, the Isaria of the sphinx, has
hitherto only been observed on certain nocturnal moths.
The chrysalides and larvee of these are never attacked by
it; other species infest them. Unless one possessed the
imagination of a Bonnet, is it possible to suppose that
nature would uselessly have burdened the air of the whole
globe for the mere purpose of scattering seed on the bodies
of a few spiders and moths; and that there was always a
stock ready for the perfect insect, its chrysalis, and its
larva?

Still more curious facts are known; for instance, that of
a fungus never found but on the neck of a caterpillar of
tropical countries. It is always solitary on this, and of
enormous size in proportion; being often four to five inches
high. In this fortuitous case is the air necessarily choked
with seeds in order that from time to time one may be
planted on a particular spot not more than a square milli-
metre (00155 sq. inch) in extent?

As a particular vegetation is present in every form of
fermentation, its germs, according to the panspermists, must
have floated loose in the atmosphere from creation up to
the time when any new fermented liquor was discovered.
Did they rest so many ages unoccupied, awaiting the
moment when Osiris invented beer? And even now does
the atmosphere, loaded with these little seeds, drift them
from pole to pole till the Greenlander or Patagonian sets
to work to brew a few quarts of this drink, or till it can
fecundate the new ferments which each chemist may in-
vent in the silence of his laboratory ?

If it really were so, we might groan over the fate of the
atmosphere!

Again, botanists are acquainted with a peculiar plant,
 

320. The New Zealand Swift-moth (Hepialus virescens) and its Larva; the latter with a
Fungus (Cordiceps robertii) growing on it and rooted by it in the Soil.

91
GEOLOGY. 719

the Racodium cellare, which has never been found except
on the casks in our cellars. Where did the germs dwell
before these were invented, during the long ages when our
forefathers only employed amphoree?

Bérard, a physiologist of the faculty of medicine, even
speaks of a plant which only lives on the drops of tallow

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321. Spontaneously formed Microscopic Grains which are found in Fermentations—Crypto-
coccus cerevisice (Auct.)

which the miners in working let fall upon the soil. Were
the seeds of this singular species produced then at creation,
in anticipation that mines would be worked by the aid of
our common means of lighting?

Lastly, do not all botanists know that every sick or
dying plant is certain to be attacked by its special parasite?
There is no explaining the introduction of the seedlets of
this fatal guest, and we may say that there are as many
varieties as there are species of plants. Who then could
dare to maintain that the air suffices to furnish so many
destructive germs?

Reason revolts before so daring a supposition. In fact,
if panspermism were anything but a fiction, the atmos-
phere ought to be so obstructed with eggs and seeds, that
all movement and respiration would become impossible,
and we should perish by suffocation.

Microscopy has by one single word for ever overturned
this strange hypothesis. It says, ‘These eggs and these
seeds are tangible things: one can generally feel and see
720 THE UNIVERSE.

them; whoever speaks of them is bound to show them.
Then show them!” But this is what no one has yet
done.

I have vainly sought for these atmospheric germs, in-
vented to support certain hypotheses, and have never been
able to find them. Two observers, equally illustrious for
their learning and the splendour of their diction, P. Mante-
gazza of the university of Pavia, and N. Joly of the faculty
of Toulouse, have not been more fortunate than myself.

But although the atmosphere is not surcharged or
saturated with these indiscoverable eggs, it must yet be
admitted that notwithstanding its transparence and pene-
trability, there are an immense number of invisible cor-
puscules floating in it. Is there any one who has not re-
cognized this in entering a dark place traversed by a ray
of light? The beholder is quite surprised to see the infi-
nite variety of all the objects whirling about in it, rising
and falling, so as to form iridescent and sparkling waves.

These light corpuscules represent the remains, the
detritus of all bodies on the surface of the earth, which
have been borne away by the agitation of the atmosphere.

In the open sea and in calm weather, scarcely any
motes are seen in a ray of light; a few specks of dust de-
tached from the ship alone float in it.

On the summit of a lofty mountain we notice the same
paucity of corpuscules. Near the crater of Etna the breeze
only brought to us particles of ashes and sulphur thrown
out by the volcano.

But so soon as we abandon the solitudes of the sea or
the mountains, the nearer we approach populous cities, the
more does the air become loaded with invisible particles.
The catalogue of these is in reality only the summary of
all that man makes use of for his wants or pleasures.
GEOLOGY. 721

We find atoms of food, of our clothes, of our furniture, and
of our dwellings, everything in short is represented there.

The flour of wheat, which constitutes the basis of our
food, and is used everywhere, is disseminated everywhere
by the air. By means of this fluid it penetrates into the
most secret recesses of our dwellings and monuments. I
have discovered it in the most inaccessible nooks of our old
Gothic churches, mixed with dust blackened by the anti-
quity of six or eight centuries; I also found some in the
palaces and crypts in the Thebais, where it perhaps dated
from the epoch of the Pharaohs!

In our cities it is one of the most abundant corpuscules
in the air, the falling snow and the wheeling insect take
up an enormous amount as they traverse it. I have
counted as many as forty or fifty grains on the wings of
certain flies. It also attaches itself to the surface of the
body of man and large animals.

We also discover in the air the skeletons of different
infusoria, and what is still more extraordinary, we even
find there animalcules perfectly alive. We also frequently
meet with the débris of insects, filaments of wool, silk, or
cotton, tinged with the most various colours; likewise abun-
dant refuse of the soil, and even particles of smoke expelled
from our manufactories and household fires. Everything is
found here, and with a little practice can be readily recog-
nized; and the only thing we do not encounter, or what is
at any rate prodigiously rare, is the eggs and seeds with
which the panspermists burden it. 5

All atmospheric corpuscules penetrate with the air
into our respiratory organs. Hence our lungs always con-
tain a certain amount of fecula. I have even discovered
microscopic crustaceans living in those of a dead man.

It is known that the bones of birds, instead of being
722 THE UNIVERSE.

filled with marrow, are perfectly hollow, and that by means
of a curious mechanism they communicate with the lungs
and assist respiration; hence these pneumatic bones are
well suited for retaining the aérial corpuscules which reach
their cavities. A peacock bred in a chateau, presented in
its bones abundant filaments of wool and silk tinted with
the most magnificent colours: these were clearly remains
of the rich dresses of the noble ladies of the place, or of
work executed by their delicate hands. On the contrary,
in fowls from the humble abode of a baker the pneumatic
cavities were almost solely stuffed with meal and the re-
mains of coarse clothes: in those of a charcoal-burner they
displayed numerous particles of charcoal.

In woodpeckers, which inhabit none but the most soli-
tary parts of our forests, the respiratory passages contain
only the remains of leaves and bark. In contradistinction to
this, the bones of the crows, which pass part of their lives
on our roofs and part in the fields, are filled with every-
thing that circulates in the different places which they
frequent. We find in them variously coloured filaments
of wool and cotton, flour and smoke, which they acquire
on the roofs of our dwellings, and lastly fine vegetable par-
ticles which they inhale in the midst of the woods.

It is curious to see the habits of animals told thus by
an examination of their respiratory canals.

But everywhere, whether we examine the air or the
innermost organs of animals, we only find a very insignifi-
cant quantity of those eggs or seeds with which the pan-
spermists nevertheless maintain that the air is loaded.
THE

SIDEREAL UNIVERSE.
“On a sondé ces régions voilées,
Les bornes du possible ont été reculées.
Un mortel a pu voir, armé d’un cil géant,
Osciller des lueurs aux confins du néant!” :
J. J. AMPERE.

Man has plumbed these veiled realms,
The boundaries of the possible have been extended.
A mortal, armed with the eye of a giant,
Has been enabled to see gleams of light oscillating on the
Contines of empty space!
BOOK 2,

THE STARS AND IMMENSITY.

CHAPTER I.
THE STARS.

Kepler, whose genius surmounted all obstacles, was the
first to trace the great physical laws of the spheres. All
the stars are, according to him, only suns like ours, each
of which has its planetary system. And our luminary,
with his whole host of satellites, is itself thrown, like a
wandering star, into the ocean of worlds, where it forms
the central point in the stellar cloud which we call the
Milky Way.

All round the sun, disseminated in immensity, the stars
majestically lend life to the vault of heaven. Their splen-
dour, the dazzling spectacle which they display to our eyes,
fill the soul with a sense of humility and nothingness. It
is in the valleys of the glowing Thebais, never wetted by
a drop of water, that we ought to yield ourselves up to
such contemplations. One enjoys there nights which are
eternally serene; and under their magnificent dome the

stars, these immortal flowers of heaven, as St. Basil calls
92
726 THE UNIVERSE.

them, raise the spirit of man from the visible to the invis-
ible. The heavens relate the glory of God: Celt enarrant
gloriam Dei.

The number of known stars, the orbits of which have
been calculated, is considerable. Astronomers compute
the number that can be seen by the naked eye on the horizon
at the same moment at 3000. The sharpest sight, favoured
by an extremely clear night, can only number nearly
6000.1

This starry wealth became embarrassing, and at a very
early period the necessity was felt for making distinct
groups, to which the name of constellations was given.
Nearly all these assemblages are named after living beings,
sketched out on the celestial sphere.

But this grouping into constellations, the origin of
which goes far back into antiquity, has only been carried
out by successive attempts. According to Clement of
Alexandria, it was Chiron, the preceptor of Jason, who,
1420 years before our era, first divided the starry sky into
distinct constellations, tracing them out on a sphere which
he presented to the Argonauts. Such is also Newton’s
opinion.”

However, the first authentic proof of the division of the
heavens only belongs to the times of Hesiod, much nearer
to our epoch. In his book, the Works and Days, written

1Argelander, director of the observatory of Bonn, says, in his Mouwvelle
Uranométrie, that on the horizon of Berlin 3256 stars are seen with the naked
eye in the course of a year. A Munster astronomer, M. Heis, asserts that his
sight is so penetrating, that he can see 4000 more than his brother worker.
According to Humboldt 4146 are counted at Paris. But the difference becomes
very great so soon as we examine the sky with even feeble instruments. Thus
in a corner of a constellation of the Twins, where the most practised eye can only
make out six stars, a good glass shows a mass of more than 3000.

* Several of the constellations, however, are already mentioned in the Bible
at an epoch anterior by some years to that in which the celebrated Centaur is
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 727

about 800 years before Christ, this poet speaks of the
Pleiades, Arcturus, Orion, and Sirius.

The Odyssey and Iliad are barren in respect to astro-
nomical allusions. Homer, however, relates that Ulysses
steered his ship guiding his course by the Pleiades and
Bootes; and the prince of poets, when he describes the
shield of Achilles, mentions several constellations, and
among them the Great Bear, “which alone never sinks in
the waves of the ocean.”

The invention of almost all the constellations is gener-
ally attributed to the Greeks. As to those which lie near
the equator, and which are called zodiacal, the learned
consider that they emblematically recall the Egyptian
divinities. The Virgin represents Isis, and the Goat
Mendés. The Ram is consecrated to Jupiter Ammon, the
Bull is only the emblem of the god Apis, and the Lion
that of Osiris.

This division of the celestial sphere, though very ancient,
has been successively adopted by the learned of all epochs,
said to have lived. In the book of Job allusion is made to the constellations of
Orion, the Pleiades, and the Hyades. The grouping of stars thus goes back
nearly three thousand three hundred years.—Arago, Astronomie Populaire, t. i.
p. 346.

We also find on the monuments of ancient Egypt indications of the grouping
of constellations. But we now know that many of these monuments are much
more recent than was thought at first.

? Among the Greeks the Bull recalled to mind the carrying away of Europa
by Jupiter. The sun, when he arrived at the sign of the Crab, indicated, by his
moving backwards to the equator, the way in which this crustacean progresses.

According to M. J. Coulier, the Egyptians, by the sign of the Lion, intended
to indicate the great heats which occur towards the summer solstice, a time when
the lions are very abundant and very dangerous in Ethiopia. With the Eeyptians
the Virgin was only the emblem of the goddess Isis. The Balance anciently in-
dicated the place where the sun is found at the autumnal equinox, the time when
the days and nights are of equal length. The sign of the Archer doubtless recalls
the season for hunting, for people abandon themselves to it with more ardour at

the period when the sun reaches this sign.—J. Coulier, Dictionnaire d’ Astronomie,
Paris, 1824.
728 THE UNIVERSE.

notwithstanding the attempts which have been made to
reform it. Towards the eighth century some theological
astronomers, scandalized at seeing all the divinities of
Olympus scattered over the vault of heaven, attempted to
depose them, and to substitute for mythological designa-
tions, names borrowed from the sacred writings. But this
attempt, of which Bede was the promoter, failed com-
pletely. However, those curious in such matters quote
calendars wherein St. Peter replaces the Ram, St. Andrew
the Bull, while David, Solomon, and the three kings of
the Magi, have also their places. Sir John Herschel,
more exact, looking at the difficulties presented by at-
tempts to settle the boundaries of the constellations with
accuracy, proposed to trace simple quadrilaterals on the
celestial sphere, and to class the stars in each of them.
But this system met with no success.

Guided by calculations and instruments of admirable
precision, the astronomer in our days boldly penetrates to
the spheres scattered towards the confines of immensity.
He weighs them and calculates their volume and density,
as if they were placed on the scale of his balance.

Modern science draws ample supplies from its splendid
storehouses, whilst in its cradle all was wanting but
genius! Hipparchus and Ptolemy had no instrument to
scrutinize the heavens with. The astronomers of the
Renaissance, such as Regiomontanus, Copernicus, Tycho-
Brahé, and Kepler, were scarcely more favoured, and yet
how many immortal discoveries do we owe to them!
They seem with their lynx-eyes to have seen or divined
everything.'

The first telescope made, Galileo’s feeble instrument,

1 The first telescope which was constructed of large dimensions was that of
Sir William Herschel. He discovered the sixth satellite of Saturn with it. The
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 729

only magnified objects seven times, and yet with it he dis-
covered the satellites of Jupiter.

At present Sir J. Herschel explores the stars with in-
struments which multiply 6500 times. Lord Rosse fathoms

 

322. The great Reflecting Telescope constructed by Lord Rosse.

Exploration of the Infinitely Great.

the depths of the heavens with a telescope having a six-
feet opening, and fifty-five feet in length. Thus by the
potency of this immense optic tube, in which a man could
walk with ease, we see several nebule, which up to the
present time had defied all our instruments, resolved into
dense swarms of stars.

tube of this instrument being extremely heavy, movement could only be com-
municated by a very complicated mechanism ; a mass of ladders and masts, form-
ing a gigantic pyramid. Its length was nearly 40 feet; its diameter nearly 5.

1 Euler maintained that in order to see the largest animals in the moon, it
would be requisite to have a telescope several hundred feet in length. Hooke
thought a glass 10,000 feet long (nearly two miles) would be necessary, and pro-
jected the construction of one. The telescope of Lord Rosse has shown that
we can obtain this advantage much more easily.

“Tt is,” says Sir David Brewster, “one of our most marvellous combinations
730 THE UNIVERSE.

We see that at the present time our means of investi-
gation have given gigantic proportions to the field of
science. When the sidereal world was only explored with
the naked eye, the catalogues of stars compiled from an-
tiquity up to the Renaissance, from Hipparchus to Tycho-
Brahé, only made mention of about a thousand stars. In
our days the vault of heaven, seen through a telescope
twenty feet long, is found, according to M. Struve, to
contain more than 20,000,000 stars.

But Sir W. Herschel pried yet more deeply into the
mysteries of the heavens. By means of his telescope,
40 feet long, the Milky Way, this long white train which
the Arabs called the Heavenly River, has been resolved
into a stellar cloud, in which the English astronomer
counted 18,000,000 telescopic stars.

And yet can we say that with these overwhelming
numbers,—these numbers which confound the imagina-
tion,—we have reached the extreme bounds of science,
and that it has traced out the farthest limits of the sidereal
universe? Probably not. Other revelations, not less
marvellous, may yet astonish our descendants!

The aspect of this star-formed cloud, dispersed through

of art and science.” ‘This magnificent instrument is fixed in the midst of walls
which resemble segments of fortifications.” The telescopic tube is 55 feet in
length, and weighs 14,575 lbs. avoirdupois. With it one can gauge the immeas-
urable depths of the heavens. It is thought that by means of this instrument
we could easily perceive a monument the size of the pyramids of Egypt, if any
existed on the moon. The surface of this planet is there as accurately depicted
as a terrestrial landscape.

The telescope of Lord Rosse, says M. Babinet, would certainly not show us a
lunar elephant, but a troop of animals like a herd of American buffaloes would
be quite visible. Troops marching in order of battle would be clearly percep-
tible. The observatory at Paris, Notre Dame, and the Louvre would be very
easily seen. We must therefore conclude that if we see nothing of this kind on
our satellite, it is because its surface, formerly all flame and volcano, and now
all ice, did not or does not contain anything of the kind.
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 731

the firmament, only gives us an imperfect idea of the
grandeur of the heavenly regions. Number and distance
weaken the impression. It seems as if the stars, so
abundant and apparently so heaped together, could only
be luminous points! It is science that gives objects their
real importance by calling calculation to our aid. In
order to give the dimensions of one of these bodies
with precision, we will quote the exact words of M. A.
Guillemin: ‘‘Wollaston,” he says, “affirms that the appa-
rent diameter of the most brilliant star in the sky, Sirius,
is not equal to the fiftieth part of the second of an arc.
But we may at once say that this calculation would still
leave a large margin for the real dimensions of this
star, seeing that at the distance at which it is from us,
an apparent diameter so small would yet represent a real
diameter of 4,500,000 leagues, which is twelve times that
of our sun.”

Does not this simple quotation prove that the phe-
nomena of nature possess proportions not less extra-
ordinary than unexpected? Thus when man begins the
study of the sciences, it is with profound astonish-
ment that he recognizes that the marvels which they
reveal to him far surpass the most audacious fictions of
antiquity.

Let us prove it by a few instances.

The ancient philosophers thought they gave a grand
and majestic idea of the sun by comparing its dimensions
to the superficies of the Peloponnesus. But what a mean
comparison! This torch of the world, this /ucerna mundz,
as Copernicus called it, is of such proportions that if we
supposed the earth placed in its centre, the mass of the
sun would extend beyond the orbit of the moon, and our
satellite would only accomplish its revolutions while still
Loz THE UNIVERSE.

buried under the thick incandescent layers of the star
which gives us light."

In his Theogony, Hesiod, wishing to give an idea of the
height of the firmament, tells us that.an anvil of brass,
falling from the summit of heaven, would sink nine days
and nine nights through space before reaching the earth.

How vastly the imagination of the poet of Bceotia is
below the truth; a truth which quite confuses one! In-
deed, on one hand, physics prove that a solid body, fall-
ing by gravitation during this space of time, would only
traverse 143,000 leagues; whilst, on the other hand, the
astronomy of the nineteenth century teaches us that a
ray of light issuing from Alcyone, the most brilliant of
the Pleiades, takes five years to traverse the intervening
space before reaching our eyes. And yet light is so rapid
that in the tenth part of a second one of its vibrations will

1 The volume of the sun is more than 600 times as large as that of all the
planets put together. It turns round its axis in twenty-five days and a half.
We may form an idea of the immense bulk of this star relative to that of the
earth, by means of a comparison mentioned by Arago in his Astronomie Popu-
laire. “A professor of Angers,” he says, “hit upon the idea of counting the
number of grains of average size contained in the measure of capacity called a
litre; he found there were 10,000. Consequently a décalitre ought to contain
100,000, a hectolitre 1,000,000, and 14 décalitres 1,400,000. Having collected
the 14 décalitres of wheat, he showed his audience a single grain, and then said
to them, ‘This is the size of the earth, while the heap represents the sun.’ This
comparison occasioned infinitely more surprise among the students than the
statement about the relative size of 1 to 1,400,000 in abstract numbers had done.

If we wish to compare the weight of the sun with that of the earth, astronomy
weighs them with as much precision as though each were placed in one of the
scales of a balance. The weight of the sun is 2,096,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
tons. That of the earth is only 5,875,000,000,000,000,000,000.

The physical constitution of the sun has only been made out by the astrono-
mers of our epoch. The body of this star is almost entirely dark, but it is
surrounded by three envelopes, one formed of vapours which touch it; another,
which is luminous, placed at a great distance, and which is called the photosphere;
and, lastly, a third, which covers the latter, and in which float the clouds. The
spots on the sun are occasioned by perforations in the photosphere which allow
us to see the earthy nucleus of the star.—See Guillemin, Ze Ciel. Paris, 1865.
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 733

pass round the globe. But the depth of the heavens does
not stop short at the group of the Pleiades: on the con-
trary, they belong to its nearer regions.!

Space being infinite, and our minds finite, they can
only take in some small portions of it, and yet, though
these are very limited compared to the field of immensity,
they are enough to confound the human comprehension.
It would be puerile to try and define them by numbers:
all the resources of our intellect would not suffice for such
an attempt. The space which light traverses in a year
far outstrips the measure of our perceptive faculties;
we are not surprised when we remember that it clears
the distance separating us from the sun, that is to say,
91,328,600 miles, in 8 minutes 18 seconds; and yet it is
this light which in its dazzling progress serves to measure
the vast distances between the globes, and to give us a
grand idea of some fragments of the infinite!

As light passes through 77,000 leagues in a second,
the speed of anything we can place beside it is low in-
deed. Compared with it sound is propagated with ridicu-
lous slowness. °

Supposing the immense abyss interposed between the
earth and the sun were capable of transmitting sonorous
undulations, it has been calculated that sound produced
on the surface of the glowing torch of the world would
take fourteen years and two months to reach our ears.

If we attempt, by an interesting calculation, to com-
pute how long it would require by means of our most
rapid locomotion to accomplish a journey from the star

1The Alpha of the Centaur, one of the nearest stars to us, which is ouly
about 8,000,000,000 geographical leagues from the earth, sends us its light in
three years; and the pole-star, which is more than 70,000,000,000 leagues, in

a quarter of a century.
93
734 THE UNIVERSE.

which lends us light, we are altogether astonished at the
result. According to the calculations of M. Guillemin,
an express railway train, starting from the earth on the
Ist of January, 1865, and travelling at the rate of thirty-
one miles an hour, would only reach the sun in the year
2212; that is to say, in 347 years; a journey performed
by light in a few minutes!

We have said what a great lapse of time a luminous
ray starting from the Pleiades would require to reach the
earth. But the conquests effected by the genius of man
over the infinite are not limited to these constellations;
sidereal astronomy, aided by the accurate instruments of
our epoch, has shown, as we have stated, that the Milky
Way is only a congeries of telescopic stars. Now, Sir
John Herschel thinks that, according to his photometric
calculations, these stars are at such a prodigious distance
from the earth, that a ray of light starting from one of
them would take 2000 years to reach us.

Yet human investigation penetrates much farther than
this. When the observer carries his investigations more
deeply into immensity, when he reaches those nebule
which lie on the confines of space, the distances are so
ereat that they confound the imagination, and figures no.
longer suffice to represent them. According to calcula-
tions, says Humboldt, which are not devoid of probability,
light, notwithstanding its tremendous speed, requires more
than two millions of years to traverse the enormous distance
which separates us from these stars. Hence, while the
telescope still displays to our eyes the luminous gleam of
one of these nebulee, it may be that more than two million
years ago this mysterious body was extinguished in space.
Thus the history of the heavens traversing the night of
time passes through ages, and then appears to us like con-
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 7935

temporaneous events! This is, as has been said, the most
authentic proof of the immense antiquity of matter.

CHAPTER II.
THE NEBULA.

The investigation of the universe is not limited to the
stars. By means of large telescopes we discover at the
farthest distances in the heavens white patches of dif-
ferent shapes, which were long regarded as simple cos-
mical, phosphorescent vapours, or as germs of the universe
ready to be condensed into new worlds. It is to these
white gleams that the name of nebul@ was given, in order
to designate their diffused appearance and the uncertainty
of their nature. But by means of newly-invented powerful
instruments it has been made out that these luminous
clouds, in which it was thought man had discovered
globes in the process of formation, are only groups of
small telescopic stars, often aggregated in considerable
numbers, and assuming the most varied and unexpected
figures.

Some nebule are nearly globular, others, like those in
the constellations of the Virgin and the Greyhounds, are
like a spiral whirlwind, and there are some which resemble
aring. The nebula of the Bull shows like a luminous
body lengthened out, from which project claw-like ap-
pendages formed by long trains of stars. Struck with
its appearance, Lord Rosse, when he saw it for the first
time through his immense telescope, gave it the name of
736 THE UNIVERSE.

the Crab nebula, an animal of which its singular form
puts one in mind.

The nebule mark the limits of sidereal investigation.
In proportion as with our new means we extend our

 

Ta

323. Spiral Nebula of the Constellation of the Greyhounds (Canes Venatici).

researches further into the starry sphere, we find new
luminous bodies of this class. But in the extreme depth
of the heavens there are still a certain number which
cannot be resolved.

Already 4500 nebule are known. They are scattered
through both hemispheres, and the least of them consists
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 737

of a perfect swarm of suns, for each of their imperceptible
stars represents a sun.

The stars which form the nebule are so massed together
that they cannot be counted with exactness. Astrono-

 

324. The Dumb-bell Nebula, Constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula).

mers have only been able to calculate approximately the
number in several of those which present a globular form.
Arago asserts that there are as many as 20,000 in some
of those celestial lights which are in appearance not more
than one-tenth of the magnitude of the moon’s disk.
These bodies are scattered irregularly enough over the
celestial vault. Large spaces seem entirely without them,
whilst in other regions they are dispersed like numerous
archipelagoes, and the observer can, for instance, particu-
larly near the Virgin, see more than 300 traverse the field

of the telescope within an hour.
738 THE UNIVERSE.

Although the dispersion of the nebule apparently does
not follow any plan, yet some exact law seems to have
presided at their formation, for there are generally very
few stars in their vicinity, as if they had drawn towards

 

325. The Crab Nebula, Constellation of the Bull (Zaurus).

their centre all the cosmical particles of the regions in
which they are placed. Thus Herschel, in his nocturnal
explorations, when he saw few stars pass before his instru-
ment, calculated upon a nebula appearing in their place,
and was so certain of this that he used to tell his secre-
taries to be ready to take a note of them. ‘Be ready to
write,” he would say, ‘the nebule are coming.”

The Clouds of Magellan, those luminous patches which
cover so large a space in the southern region, and look
like rags torn from the Milky Way, present a complex
composition, being analogous to a certain extent with
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 739

the nebule. Sir John Herschel says they are formed of
isolated stars, of swarms of stars, and lastly, of nebule,
more compact than those which we find near the Virgin
and in the Tresses of Berenice.

The first mariners who ventured into the southern
seas were also struck by certain phenomena of a totally
opposite character; these were black patches irregularly
outlined on the vault of the heavens, to which in their
imaginative language they gave the name of cval-sacks.
According to astronomers, these patches, the most cele-
brated of which are near the Southern Cross, are due to
the sky being at these parts to a great extent without
stars. They seem to be really holes, according to the
expression of Humboldt, by means of which our vision
pierces into the remotest spaces of the universe.
BOOK, LT.

THE SOLAR WORLD.

CHAPTER I.
THE SUN.

This flaming star, to use the beautiful metaphor of
Theon of Smyrna, is the heart of the universe, vivifying
everything with its pulsations. Of all those lights that gra-
vitate in the immensity of the heavens, the dazzling splen-
dour of the sun first captivates the attention. Yet great
as may be its apparent size, and vivid as may be its
light, it is still only one im those myriads of stars which
form the Milky Way. But for us it is the centre of a
system, or of a family of globes, of which it was the cradle,
and which, after being separated from it, revolve eter-
nally round their common parent. Like a sovereign
seated on his shining throne, it sits in the centre of its
satellites; its invisible power upholds them in space,
directs their regulated course, and disseminates every-
where movement and life.

For if its light were extinguished, eternal night would
envelop the globe, and with that would come the destruc-
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 741

tion of all created things, which its rays alone protect
from the horrible mantle of ice perpetually threatening
to invade them.

Compared to our globe and to the other orbs which it
enchains in their orbit round itself, the sun is of enormous
dimensions. It is about a million and a half times the
bulk of the earth, and has been calculated to contain seven
hundred times the mass of all the planets together which
circulate in its system.

Astronomers have not rested content with knowing the
volume of the sun; they have attempted to estimate its
weight, and have succeeded. By comparing its weight
with that of the earth, they have made out that it would
require a large number of the latter to. counterbalance it.
If we supposed the existence of a prodigious balance,
which allowed us to place the sun in one scale, we should
have to put 350,000 terrestrial globes into the other in
order to weigh it properly.

The orbit of the earth is rigidly limited to 91,000,000
miles from the sun. Some planets roll at a much
greater distance from this luminary; others much nearer.
He scorches the one, and condemns the other to the em-
pire of eternal frost. Mercury, his nearest neighbour, al-
most in a state of combustion, is only 37,000,000 miles off.
Neptune, which is doubtless all covered with ice, rolls
in the furthest orbit of the system at 2,854,000,000 miles
from the blazing star, and thus it only accomplishes its
revolution in 164 years, which constitute its year!

However dazzling may be the splendour of the sun, it
was discovered 250 years ago to display here and there
some black patches, very small, it is true, im compari-
son with the extent of its surface, but in reality of

vast extent relatively to the dimensions of our globe.
94
742 THE UNIVERSE.

Although the eye cannot generally perceive these spots,
some of them are nevertheless as much as 75,000 miles
in diameter, and if we suppose that they represent gaps in
the solar envelope, the earth might be engulfed in them
with the greatest facility.

Although the existence of these spots is as easily proved

 

826, Spots on the Sun

as anything can be, yet when they were first pointed out,
and even after the great Galileo had attested their presence,
some theologians, founding their convictions upon false
philosophic ideas, resolutely denied the fact. They main-
tained that the pure and radiant star was perfectly immacu-
late, and that its pretended blemishes only existed on the
glasses of the telescopes of astronomers.

But though the existence of these is now an incon-
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 743

testable fact, yet their real nature is as yet very imper-
fectly explained. Some astronomers maintain that they
are only holes in the luminous envelope of the sun, which
allow us to see its dark strata. Others think they are
clouds of vapour which wander over the surface of this
immense globe of fire. However this may be, it is to the
observation of these spots that we owe the discovery of
the rotatory movement of the sun—a movement which
takes place in twenty-five days.!

The solar heat is so powerful that we can only form a
very imperfect idea of it. The greatest combustion in our
blast-furnaces, pushed to a white heat, cannot fora moment
be compared with it. An attempt, however, has been made
to estimate the temperature of this formidable furnace.
“Let the sun,” says Camille Flammarion, “‘ be considered
as a globe as large as 1,400,000 terrestrial globes, and com-
pletely covered with a layer of coal seven leagues in thick-
ness. Then the heat furnished by the combustion of all
this coal would be equal to what the sun annually projects
into space.”

And yet great and incomprehensible as may be the heat

1It seems probable from the solar observations recently made by De La Rue,
Stewart, and Loewig, “On the Nature of Sun Spots,” that the spots are colder
than either the photosphere or the sun; that this greater cold is not due to the
general body of the sun at the bottom of a spot being of a lower temperature
than the photosphere, and is not produced by any chemical or molecular process,
but by matter coming from a colder region, aud that when a spot is formed
there is a down-rush and melting of photospheric matter. In a paper by M.
Faye in the Comptes Ltendus, the author deduces from Mr. Carrington’s re-
searches the conclusions that sun spots are depressions beneath the surface of the
sun’s photosphere from 20,000 to 40,000 miles in depth; that many of the ap-
parent irregularities of their motion, attributed to cyclones, are probably ex-
plicable by the continued variation in the motion proper to each successive
parallel of the photosphere, aud that the great regularity of their motions seems
incompatible with any hypothesis of mere superficial or local movements in the
photosphere, and rather points to some more general action arising from the in-

ternal mass of the sun.—TR.
744 THE UNIVERSE.

of this incandescent focus, which burns us at a distance of
91,328,600 miles, astronomers are so daring that they
have ventured to calculate the quantity of water necessary
if not to extinguish it entirely, to put out at any rate the
surface conflagration.

CHAPTER II.
THE EARTH.

We have previously spoken at length of the earth in
reference to geolegy; here we only have to speak of its
position as a planetary body forming part of the solar
system.

The earth represents a sphere a little flattened towards
the poles. It is subject to two movements, one which
takes place round the sun in an orbit of which it traverses
the circuit in a year, the other is performed in about twenty-
four hours round the axis which passes through its poles.
It is the latter movement which occasioned the belief that
the sun and the heavens turn round the earth in a direction
from east to west, whilst on the contrary it is the terrestrial
globe that turns from west to east. Copernicus was the
first to demonstrate this great astronomical fact, and
Galileo, with all the influence of his genius, confirmed it.

The terrestrial surface is estimated at 196,000,000 square
miles, and the learned have calculated that to cover it
completely would require a thousand kingdoms the size
of France.
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 745

Our planet is entirely enveloped by a thick layer of air,
which forms round it the softest cushion imaginable.
Notwithstanding its apparent lightness, this atmosphere
weighs heavily upon all bodies on the earth, and exerts
greater pressure in proportion as they offer a larger sur-
face. Physiologists consider that each of us has a weight
of about 35,300 Ibs. to support, but this great weight
is not usually felt, because it is counterbalanced by a
counter action equal in all directions, so that the one
destroys the other.

The earth is not rich in respect to satellites, possessing
as it does only one, which however is of dimensions ample

 

ere

327. Comparative Dimensions of the Earth and Moon.

enough as compared to it: this is the moon, the faithful
companion of its course. Other planets, it is true, like
Jupiter and Saturn, are more richly endowed, and have
from four to eight satellites; but again there are others
which do not possess any, as is the case with Venus and
Mercury.
746 THE UNIVERSE.

CHAPTER ILL
THE MOON.

This sole and faithful satellite of the earth, formed by
a fragment detached from it, now cold and wan, rolled
round us when it began a red and blazing sphere, vomiting
torrents of fire from its whole surface. Whilst gravitation
was regulating its form and path, the moon, in the course
of thousands of years, exhausted its fires to show us at last
its pale and silvery face, the sad luminary of our nights,
the splendid nocturnal mirror which reflects to us, pale
and cold, the divergent rays of the sun.

Compared to the immeasurable distances of the nebule
and stars, the space which separates us from our satellite is
quite insignificant; she is our next-door neighbour, and the
eye can so Clearly discern her form and peculiarities, that
she seems alinost to touch us. But this insignificant dis-
tance, abstractly considered, is yet vast enough. The
distance from the earth to the moon is about 237,000
miles. If it were possible to get there by means of
steam, it would require 1 year and about 322 days fora
locomotive starting from our globe and travelling at a high
rate of speed to reach the moon and land its passengers.
A heavy body, projected from the lunar orbit, would, it is
true, reach us much quicker. In his charming work on
celestial marvels, M. Camille Flammarion says, it would
arrive at the surface of the earth in 3 days, 1 hour, 45
miuutes, and 13 seconds.
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. - TAT

The moon is in every part roughened with eminences of
different shapes, but they only very rarely group them-
selves into mountain chains comparable to those of our
globe. The Alps, Caucasus, and the Apennines repre-.
sent the principal ones. Certain isolated summits have

 

328. Appearance of the Moon when Full.

received the names of celebrated men, but those of past
times have been chosen in order not to excite any jeal-
ousy; we travel from the Mountain of Aristotle to that of
Hipparchus, from that of Ptolemy to that of Copernicus.
The astronomers have very properly ‘not forgotten their
claims.

The highest lunar mountains attain an altitude which
surpasses most terrestrial elevations, a fact which may
well astonish us. Generally they do not rise beyond
22.750 feet. But in proportion to the size of the planet,
we may say that the mountains in the moon are much
748 THE UNIVERSE.

loftier than those of the earth. The summits of Mount
Deerfel are 24,700 feet above the valleys which environ
it, whilst the crest of Mont Blanc only rises 15,632 feet
above the level of the sea.

Most of the mountains of our pale companion are of

 

329. Craters on the Moon’s Surface, at sunset.---After Julius Schmidt.

a Clavius, 6 Maginus, ¢ Tycho, d Longomontanus.

volcanic origin, and its surface has been so shattered by
subterranean fires that in many places the craters are
heaped up close beside each other. Probably no star was
ever so horribly torn by the fury of volcanoes. These even
attain proportions far beyond what is seen on our globe.
Some of those lunar craters are four or five leagues in
|

Aa Hall
|
i
I
Hh

 
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 751

diameter, and the gaping mouth of the volcano of Aris-
tillus, still more prodigious, is ten leagues from one edge
to the other! Our glasses enable us to see these extinct
craters in such proportions, that none of their details
escape us; whilst, were we on the moon, our telescopes,
according to Humboldt, would scarcely enable us to make
out terrestrial volcanoes.

Seen from the earth many lunar volcanoes appear very
much depressed, and the edges of their craters resemble
so many flattened rings, projecting very little above the
plains. Some regions are so riddled with them that their
mouths touch. Others surmount lofty summits, and their
crenellated ramparts surround enormous excavations,
which pierce deep into the mountains below the level of
the plains.

Formerly the dark patches which cover part of the
moon’s surface were considered as representing lunar seas,
but at present men are disposed to look upon them as only
immense plains. ‘The first astronomers gave them names
full of poetry. There was the Sea of Tranquillity, the Sea
of Clouds, the Sea of Nectar, the Ocean of Tempests, and
the Sea of Serenity.

The rocky and shattered soil of our satellite is perfectly
bare; not a blade of grass grows there, not a flower opens.
Totally deprived of water and air, life is an impossibility.
A threefold death would overtake the least animal that
happened to alight there; a squirrel would perish of
hunger, thirst, and asphyxia! In these cold and horrid
realms of the moon, everything is plunged in torpor and
silence; the echoes are mute, nothing alters the dull
monotony of the heavens, and the breath of a zephyr
never plays round the summits of the rugged mountains.

By means of our instruments, which have now been
Coz THE UNIVERSE.

brought to so great perfection, we can pry into the minutest
details of our satellite, and examine them with as much ac-
curacy as if it were some distant view on earth; hence we
can to a certain extent make out its geological disposition.
The precision of our glasses has been carried to such a
pitch, that we could with them easily perceive large build-
ings, if any existed on the lunar surface; we could even
make out troops of animals moving about. It would, it is
true, be impossible to perceive one of its inhabitants travers-
ing the valleys of its silver crescent; but if the much spoken
of Selenites existed, we should certainly perceive their
movements when they were collected into dense masses.
According to Humboldt, however, there is only a noiseless,
silent desert there.’

CHAPTER IV.
COMETS.

Among the myriads of stars scattered through the
vault of heaven, there are none which have so much
taxed the imagination of the learned as comets. They
have often given rise to the most opposite and most

1 Mr. Harrison seems to have shown that the moon really gives out heat, and
that the heat which it receives and radiates to the earth is what Professor Tyn-
dall calls dark heat, or what would be almost wholly absorbed by our atmospheric
vapour. This, by raising the temperature of the air above the clouds, would
diminish their density, and raise or disperse them. In either case there would
be a fall in the temperature near the earth; and the tabulated results of tem-
perature at Oxford, Greenwich, and Berlin, taken for several years at each place,
agree in showing that at the time when, by calculation, the moon must have ac-
quired the greatest heat, the average temperature on the earth’s surface was lower,
accompanied by a dispersion of cloud.—Tr.
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 753

ridiculous hypotheses. Descartes thought they were only
old stars which had become crusted over and sick, and
which being too feeble to maintain their places, were borne
away by the vortices of neighbouring stars.

The regular movements of comets seem to have been
suspected by Seneca, but it was Newton who taught the
method of calculating them. These vagabond stars, how-
ever, frequently move in such a way as to deceive all the
sagacity of astronomers. The reader may recollect, in
reference to this point, that Jacopo Bernouilli had an-
nounced the return of the comet of 1680 for the 17th of
May, 1719; it ought, at this time, to have made a ma-
jestic entry into the sign of the Balance. Voltaire says,
that in order to see this beautiful spectacle, not a single
astronomer went to bed that night; but the comet did not
appear. These wandering meteors are sometimes guilty
now-a-days of the same want of politeness.!

The learned themselves have contributed largely to all
the errors circulated by the vulgar about these strange
stars, and even astronomers, though least of all, have sup-
plied their contingent. At one time the appearance of
comets inspired such dread that people shut themselves
up in their dwellings in order not to see their horrible
aspect; now-a-days, on the contrary, we rush out of doors
the better to gaze upon their luminous tresses. Naturally
enough ignorant crowds were alarmed when the most
enlightened men, such as J. Bernouilli, maintained that

1 Seneca suspected not only the regular movements of comets, but even the
possibility of tracing their path by means of calculation. ‘I look upon them,” he
says, “not as wandering fires, but as works that are eternal in their nature.
Every comet has its defined limits.”—See Just. Astron. de Lemonnier. To New-
ton belongs the honour of having first demonstrated their course by calculation.
—Newton’s Principia. Euler has equally contributed to throw light upon the
movements of these stars.— Theoria Plunetarum et Cometarum, 1744.
754 THE UNIVERSE.

the tail at least, if not the body, of comets might be looked
upon as a sign of celestial wrath.

The imagination of Maupertuis gave way to all sorts
of phantasies in respect to these nebulous stars. He
never forsook the idea that they were probably peopled by
a certain race of men; and in their phosphorescent tails the
astronomer saw only a dazzling train of jewels. In speak-
ing of such a contingency as a comet falling upon our globe,

aa eae

 

331, Donati’s Comet on 5th October, 1858, near Arcturus, as seen with the naked eye.

he expresses himself thus:—“Earth would enjoy the rare
treasures which a body coming from so far would bring
to it. We should perhaps be much surprised to find that
the remains of these bodies which we despise are formed
of gold or diamonds; but which would be the more sur-
prised of the two, ourselves or the inhabitants whom the
comet would land upon earth? What a strange appear-
ance we should wear in each other’s eyes!”—Zettre sur la

Coméete, 1752.
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 755

Although the vulgar cannot fathom all the mysteries
of the heavens, their imagination receives some compensa-
tion in the strange fancies which comets engender, as
they have always enjoyed the privilege of creating ecstasy
or horror.

The history of these wandering stars, from the begin-
ning to the end, is really only a determined abnegation of
the evidence of our senses and the testimony of the masses.
In respect to them fiction has been pushed to the wildest
extravagance. In every age comets have been considered
as sinister omens. In ages of credulity their gleaming
tails appeared to the vulgar like formless heaps of flaming
swords or bleeding heads and daggers, precursors of the
most murderous wars. At other times the fascinated
imagination of our forefathers saw in them hairy stars
which threatened the world with a general conflagration.

Such erroneous ideas were so deeply rooted in men’s
minds that some learned men of the Renaissance, even
the most advanced, represent comets in their works under
the most grotesque shapes; a fault of which even Ambroise
Paré is guilty.

Kepler himself, though an eminent astronomer, was so

1In Ambroise Paré we may see to what an extent even the shrewdest men
allowed themselves to be misled respecting comets. The illustrious surgeon,
who was certainly not superstitious, gives in his valuable work most fantastic
figures of some of these stars.

In the chapter entitled “Des Monstres Célestes,” Ambroise Paré speaks of
bearded and hairy comets, of comets like a shield, a lance, a dragon, or a battle
in the clouds. And he there describes and represents in all its details a bleeding
comet which appeared in 1528. “This comet,” he says, “was so horrible and
frightful, and engendered such terror among the vulgar, that some died of fear,
and others fell sick. It appeared to be of excessive length, and was of the colour
of blood; at its summit was seen the figure of a bent arm holding a large sword
in its hand, as if about to strike. At the end of the point were three stars.
At both sides of the rays of this comet were seen a great number of axes, knives,
and swords of the colour of blood, among which were a great number of hideous
human faces, with rugged beards and locks.— Ambroise Paré, chap. xxxii.
756 THE UNIVERSE.

subjugated by the superstition of his epoch that he saw
in comets a kind of monsters, similar to those produced
by the sea, and wandering vaguely in the heavenly regions.

Although in its progress science has eradicated these
absurdities, still on the other hand it has given rise to some
fears. It was dreaded every instant that the shock of
one of these wandering stars would shatter the earth into
fragments. The theory of Buffon and the assertions of
Kepler in no way reassured men. The former, it may
be remembered, had put forth the view that our globe
was only a fragment struck off from the sun by the shock
of a comet; and the danger seemed only the more imminent
when Kepler, in his picturesque language, said that “there
are more comets in the sky than fish in the ocean.” The
worst was to be feared.!

But modern science has swept away a part of the
danger. At the same time that it has shown the immense
size of these stars, it has also demonstrated their inoffen-
sive nature. The tail of a comet, which the Chinese
fancifully call its broom, because it seems to sweep the
azure of the sky, and which to our eye appears only like
a luminous fan, sometimes exceeds 2,000,000 leagues
in length. This luminous cone may even attain much
more prodigious dimensions, and has been known to
equal the distance which separates the earth from the sun.

But notwithstanding these frightful proportions, comets
ought to produce scarcely any fear for the earth, as they are
of all stars those of which the material particles show the
ereatest looseness. Their mass sometimes does not reach

1 Arago adopts the hypothesis of an equal distribution of comets in all parts
of the solar system, and founding his calculations on the number of comets
observed between the sun and Mercury, computes the number of these stars

which circulate within the known limits of the solar system, that is to say the
orbit of Neptune, at 17,500,000.—Guillemin, Ze Ciel. Paris, 1865, p. 348.
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 7a7

sosoth of that of the earth, which induced Theon of
Alexandria to give them the picturesque name of wander-
ing clouds. Some ‘observers have looked upon them as
-even much lighter than this—so light, indeed, as to sur-
pass everything one can imagine. Comets, says M. Flam-
marion, have been seen several million leagues long, the
weight of which was yet so trifling that one could have
carried them on one’s shoulders without fatigue.’

We have, therefore, no reason to dread their contact,
and may sleep securely. In 1770 astronomers saw a
comet bar the path of Jupiter’s system, and envelop the
planet on every side, without the slightest perturbation
to the course either of the great star or that of its satel-
lites. On the contrary, it was the nebulous star that
suffered from the contact. Besides, it seems that during
the passage of certain comets in our vicinity, their tails
may have penetrated into our atmosphere.’

However, according to Maupertuis, though there are
some comets so small that their collision with the earth
would only destroy a few kingdoms, without shattering its
mass, there are others the contact of which might be fatal
to every living thing on the globe.

In his Lettres Cosmologiques, Lambert leads us to dread

1 Mr. Huggins, who has examined the subject very carefully, has come to
the conclusion that the nucleus of comet 1, 1866, was self-luminous, that it con-
sisted of matter in the shape of ignited gas, and that this matter is similar in
constitution to the gaseous material of some of the nebulee. The coma was found
to shine by reflected light, and as from its extreme diffusion it cannot be supposed
to contain solid or liquid matter at the high temperature necessary for incandes-
cence, it seems almost certain that it reflects the light of the sun. The nucleus
of meteors is probably a fragment of mineral matter, of which sodium is one of
the chemical ingredients. Their spectra are often highly coloured and continuous
like those from solid matter at a white-heat.—Tr.

2 According to Humboldt, the tails of the comets in 1819 and 1823 must have
reached our atmosphere. The same thing is supposed to have happened with the

last great comet observed in our latitudes.
96
758 THE UNIVERSE.

the most serious accidents. According to him, the shock
of a comet might pulverize our globe, and prove the de-
struction of everything living on it by means of a deluge
of water or a general conflagration; or comets might even
carry off our moon by sweeping it away in their orbit, or
hurl us beyond the regions of Saturn, where hideous
winter reigns for ages together.

But even supposing that comets are not so marvellously
light as to allow of a man carrying them off upon his
shoulders without being as strong as Atlas, and if too
their shock is far from being so formidable as Buffon
supposed; yet certainly these bodies are too imperfectly
known for us to lay down general rules about them.
M. Guillemin, in his remarkable work on the heavens,
speaks as follows: “If there be comets the nebulosity of
which is quite gaseous, and so transparent that small stars
can be seen through their substance, there are others the
nucleus of which is without doubt very dense, as their
light was bright enough to be perceptible in full day, even
in the vicinity of the sun.”

The mass of Donati’s comet has been estimated at
about the seven-hundredth of that of the earth. ‘That is
to say,” says M. Faye, “the same weight as a sea of 16,000
square leagues surface, and 330 feet in depth. It must
therefore be admitted that such a mass, impelled with
great speed, might produce sensible effects by coming in
contact with the earth.”

Is it not possible, in cases where the tail of a comet
is formed of atoms widely scattered, that the brilliancy
of their nucleus may just be the result of incandescence?
and then, even supposing there was nothing to fear from
the shock, would not the approach of such a furnace be
enough to make us dread being burned up?
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 759

The phenomenon of shooting-stars strikes the untutored
mind less than the appearance of comets, and yet notwith-
standing its frequency the explanation of it is not free
from obscurity on some points.

The distance of the stars does not allow us to ascribe
to them the long trains of light which we see so frequently
traverse the heavens; hence this phenomenon is at present
attributed to bodies entering our atmosphere.

Twice in the year the sky is constantly traversed by a
prodigious quantity of these luminous trains; in a single
hour we may at such times occasionally count 200 or 300.
One of these periods occurs from the 10th to the 12th of
August, and it is to this phenomenon, which has long as-
tonished the vulgar, that the name of St. Laurence’s rain
has been given, on account of his festival falling on the 10th
of August. These luminous trains are looked upon by
Irish Catholics as the burning tears of the venerated saint.

During the night of the 12th and of the 13th of Nov-
ember, the same abundance of shooting-stars has been
observed. Humboldt and Bonpland, who were witnesses
of it in Cumana, relate that the number of luminous
trains traversing the sky was so great that the spectator
might have thought it was some magnificent display of
fireworks at a prodigious height. At sea the phenomenon
is no less extraordinary, it looks like so many rockets
which fall towards the horizon. |

An attempt has been made to explain this abundance
of shooting-stars at the two periods we mention, by sup-
posing that the sun is encircled by a ring composed of
myriads of little bodies, which ring the earth passes through
annually at these times.

The number of these meteoric bodies which penetrate
into our atmosphere in this way, and appear under a lumi-
760 THE UNIVERSE.

nous form, is computed at millions. There are some which,
according to Humboldt, seem almost to graze the summits
of Chimborazo.

Meteoric stones, which have all the appearance of
shooting-stars, but which are much bulkier, and leave
behind them a long stream of fire, which for a moment
lights up the earth like the moon, must be briefly
noticed. :

 

332. Swarm of Shooting-stars at Sea,

They sometimes burst with a sound like that of a
cannon, and let fall on the earth a number, sometimes
considerable and at others not, of meteoric stones, which
drop smoking and burning.

While speaking of the mysterious phenomena which
attract our wondering eyes to the celestial regions, we
must not in such a work as this omit to mention the great
lights which often illuminate the heaven of the polar
ctic Seas. —After M. L. Figuier.

 
THE SIDEREAL UNIVERSE. 763

regions during the long nights of winter, a phenomenon
known as the Aurora Borealis or Australis.

Whilst this lasts the heavens sometimes present the
most splendid spectacle. On the black and starry back-
ground of the sky we see traced out a vast luminous
cupola, or kind of panelled vault, formed of colonnades of
stalactites heaped together and pendant, and which sus-
pended in the clouds reflect the brightest hues of the
rainbow. Sometimes they resemble fireworks which dart
their sheets of flame in every direction, and seem to set
on fire the horizon, forming one of the most imposing
spectacles it is possible to enjoy amid the ice of the north.
POPULAR ERRORS.

MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

I purpose to terminate this sketch of the glories of
nature, by giving as a contrast a short account of the
ridiculous fictions which our forefathers were too often
pleased to substitute for them. We shall then have com-
pleted the picture of the march of science.

The people of antiquity had their superstitions and their
fabulous legends, but those were never so widely diffused
as they became in the middle ages, a period of simple
ignorance and ardent faith. ‘At that time,” as M. Figuier
says in his excellent work on this epoch, “all classes of
the people, and even a great part of the nobility, the magis-
tracy, and the clergy, believed in magic.”

The Renaissance itself did not throw off this weakness
of the human mind; on the contrary, learned men vied with
each other in collecting all the fables of their forefathers
and recording them in their works. They found monsters
in every kingdom of nature, and equally in the depths of
the sea as in the heavens. Ambrose Paré even devoted
a chapter to “Celestial Monsters,” in which he describes
the fabulous comets we have spoken of.

All that a fantastic imagination could beget, all that
MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 765

diseased minds could discover wild in tradition or terrible
in legend, was for many ages looked upon as expressing
occult truths. Fools gave themselves up to punishment
and death accusing themselves of unheard-of acts, while
the judges never noticed their delirium!

 

 

 

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334. Comet of 1528.—Facsimile taken from the Work of Ambrose Paré.

In the middle ages magic was confounded with science;
it was not attacked; but in the sterner times of the Re-
naissance the fagots were lighted. The victims that suf-
fered for imaginary crimes cannot be numbered.

But if so many and such serious errors spread through

the vulgar, we must with sorrow admit that they were in
97
766 THE UNIVERSE.

great part the work of the learned men of these later times.
The most eminent men of the middle ages and the Re-
naissance, who could discuss all branches of human know-
ledge of that day with perfect clearness, seemed to become
struck with blindness so soon as ever the question turned
upon monsters: instead of dissipating error, they lent all
the weight of their authority to sanction it. And this
deplorable mass of superstition issued neither from the
smoky laboratory of the alchemist nor from the mysterious
cave of the cabala; the fountain-head is to be found in the
works of scholars the most esteemed and religious of
their epoch.

In fact all these fabulous traditions, which credulity still
collects with such avidity, were put forth as so many reali-
ties by the naturalists of past ages. This is what we see
in the writings of Albertus Magnus, Olaus Magnus, Aldro-
vandus, Gesner, and Scheuchzer. Not content with simple
recitals, they ornament their works with figures represent-
ing all these fantastic creatures, as if they had been drawn
from nature. Who could doubt after that?

When we analyze the works of all these writers we are
astonished to find side by side so much science and cre-
dulity, so much exactness and error! Thus Scheuchzer,
a naturalist deeply imbued with religion, in his Jtinerary
of Switzerland describes with minute precision all the
localities in the Alps, all the animals to be found there,
and every flower that blooms in their valleys. Every
object is drawn with extraordinary skill; there is so much
delicacy in his engravings that the humblest moss may be
recognized. But along with these faithful representations
of nature, we find frightful aérial monsters; winged dragons
which swarm in the obscure windings of roads, and stop
the alarmed traveller. The perusal of the work of this
MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 767

author might well have sufficed to prevent our credulous
ancestors from venturing into the gorges of the Alps or
searching into their dark caverns!

 

 

335. Dragon of the Caverns of Mount Pilatus. —Facsimile taken from the AZundus Subter-
rancus of the Reverend Father Kircher.

Kircher the Jesuit, who was one of the most progres-
sive men of his epoch, fell into the most deplorable errors.
He represents frightful dragons which guard the riches of
the earth, and which must be yanquished before obtain-
ing possession of them. And as we sometimes find in
768 THE UNIVERSE.

caverns the bones of bears, hyenas, and other mammals,
nothing more was necessary in times of such credulity to
make men assign (as was particularly the case in Franconia)
the fossilized remains of these ancient animals to fabulous
reptiles.

It is particularly at the height of the Renaissance that
we see this love of monstrosity reach its climax; every
author then thought himself obliged to devote a few chap-
ters of his work to it. Aldrovandus, a naturalist of Bologna,
a profoundly learned man, even wrote a big work on mon-
sters, in which are delineated some of the most fantastic
kind. Ambrose Paré, surgeon to Henry III. of France,
though he had travelled with the army, was no less credul-
ous than the others. In his celebrated work he represents
sirens, monks, and men-at-arms of the sea, all covered with
scales, and as fresh as if they had been just withdrawn from
the gulfs of Neptune. One asks with astonishment how
the old Huguenot could believe such rubbish. I will not
speak of the treatise on monsters by Licetus, as that is an
important work, in which the anatomist has only exag-
gerated some details in order to give interest to his subject.

But if anything can surprise us more it is the fact that
the history of monsters is found with all its exaggerations
at two periods widely distant from each other. We find
it in the height of its extravagances in the middle ages and
the Renaissance, and then at the beginning of the present
century it returns in order to astonish us by the audacity
of its flights.

In the middle ages it was the sombre countries of
northern Europe that harboured this belief, and it is in
the works of Olaus Magnus, the Albertus Magnus of the
north, that we find the most incredible display of it.
From this work our moderns have taken their horrible
MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 769

sea-serpent. The author does not rest satisfied with
giving a description of this creature; he delineates it, and
in his engravings we see the reptile issuing from the waves,

 

 

 

 

 

336. Sea-serpent.—Facsimile taken from Olaus Magnus: De Gentibus Septentrional ibus, 1555.

and launching itself upon the ships in order to devour
the crews.!

Elsewhere the Bishop of Upsala represents Cetacea
which crush ships in their formidable jaws!

And yet though it seems incredible, our epoch, in
respect to the history of marine monsters, leaves the old
legends of the middle ages and of the Renaissance far
behind. In fact it is impossible to dream of anything

1 “The old Scandinavian writers attribute to the sea-serpent a length of 600
feet, with a head closely resembling that of a horse, black eyes, and a kind of
white mane. According to them, it is only met with in the ocean, where it
suddenly rears itself up like a mast of a ship-of-the-line, and gives vent to hissing
noises which appal the hearer, like the tempest roar. The Norwegian poets
compare its progress to the flight of a swift arrow. When the fishermen descry
it, they row in the direction of the sun, the monster being unable to see them
when its head is turned towards that planet. They say that it revolves some-
times in a circle around the doomed vessel, whose crew thus find themselves
assailed on every side.”—The Mysteries of the Ocean, by Mangin.—Tr.
770 THE UNIVERSE.

more fabulous than what Denis de Montfort in compara-
tively recent times gave out as a feast for the credulous.
His mind must really have been diseased.

The lucubrations of this naturalist have found a place
in the great edition of Buffon’s works. He there states,
without the least hesitation, that in the northern seas
there are cuttle-fish of such a size that a whale is a pigmy
in comparison with them. According to him these mol-
luscs are even of such prodigious dimensions, that when
they rest motionless and half out of the water their bodies,
which ages have covered with tufts of marine plants, have
sometimes been taken for islands floating on the sur-
face of the waves. It is even related in some old Scandi-
navian chronicles that sailors, deceived by this treacherous

 

 

 

 

 

337. Cetacean attacking a Ship.—Facsimile from the Work of Olaus Magnus: De Gentibus
Septentrionalibus, 1559.

sien, have been known to anchor their ships on the flanks
of these sea monsters, and land on their backs.

In those times of credulity, when the life of the sailor
was so full of anxiety and terror, such facts were held to
MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 771

be quite authentic. Thus we see Olaus Magnus represent
in one of his works a company of fishermen warming
themselves and cooking their food at a glowing fire lighted
on the body of one of these fantastic creatures; but the
author has sketched a cetacean, not a polypus. Gesner,
a zoologist of the Renaissance, seems to believe such
fables, for he reproduces the figure given by the learned
Swede.

 

538. Marine Monster.—Facsimile from the Work of Olaus Magnus: De Gent. Sept.

In the wide field of absurdities, Denis de Montfort
displays credulity almost surpassing belief. He asserts,
with a strong sense of conviction, that amid these great
seas there are gigantic cuttle-fish, which, by means of
their immense arms thickly covered with suckers, en-
circle ships and wreck them by plunging them into
the abyss.

The naturalist even attributes the inexplicable disap-
pearance of some of our ships to these formidable tenants
of the ocean. He isso convinced of the truth of this fact,
that he devotes one of the plates of Buffon’s work to the
exhibition of it. We there see a monstrous cuttle-fish
with flaming eyes, the horrible arms of which are twined
round the masts of a ship of war, which they are tightly
straining, while the animal looks as if it would devour it.
Ti THE UNIVERSE.

Trees themselves and plants, notwithstanding their calm
and peaceful life passed in the broad light of day, have still
their legendary history and their superstitious traditions.
Some have become celebrated on account of the strange
animated progeny which has been attributed to their
leafy tops; others for their medical or cabalistic power.
Rousseau complained that plants had been defiled by
transforming them into disgusting remedies. We should
be more correct in accusing those who attribute ridiculous
virtues to them.

Several water-birds were long considered to be the
produce of certain trees which grow in the marshes or
borders of the sea. Our credulous forefathers were per-
suaded that there was one of these growing in Scotland
or the Orkneys, the fruits of which, as large as eggs and

 

 

 

 

 

 

339. The Bird-tree.—Facsimile of the Sketch in Sebastian Munster’s Cosmography.

having the same shape, opened at maturity and allowed
each a little duck to escape.
The vulgar would not have dared to doubt such a fact,
MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 173

for it was quoted by the most renowned scholars. Sebas-
tian Munster attests the truth of it in his great work on
Cosmography.

“We find,” he says, ‘‘trees in Scotland which produce
a fruit enveloped in leaves, and when it drops into the
water at a suitable time, it takes life and is turned into
a live bird, which they call a tree-bird.” In order to pro-
duce a still fuller proof, the writer himself gives a drawing
of it! Wesee the young ducks opening the fruits in order
to escape, whilst the newly-hatched ones swim in the water
near at hand!

 

 

 

 

 

340. The Tree producing the Sea-ducks.—Facsimile from the Work of Aldrovandus,

But the case becomes still more serious when we see
the most learned ornithologist of the Renaissance, Al-
drovandus, propagate such ridiculous fables in his great
work. He there maintains that sea-ducks are the pro-
duct of certain trees, and he even represents these with

the fruits which they bear. But by an unpardonable
98
774 THE UNIVERSE.

error for a naturalist, these pretended fruits from which
the birds are issuing are only barnacles (Lepas anatifera),
crustaceans which live at the bottom of the sea, and with
which he nevertheless overloads the miraculous boughs!

After this one may well ask, Which is the most censur-
able—the savant who transcribes such absurdities, or the
public who believe in them?

Some plants have also become celebrated in the annals
of charlatanism. There were plants that warded off evil,
plants that caused injury, and magical plants. Antiquity
possessed a long list of these, and we have not fallen be-
hind it.

On one side we find a venerated plant, the Artemisia
vulgaris or St. John’s-wort, which, gathered at the moment
pointed out by the legend and hung over the outer door,
preserved the house from lightning. On the other was a
long list of cabalistic plants, among which the thorn-apple,
Datura Stramonium, ought to be mentioned in the first
rank. This was the frightful poison which sorcerers made
use of to intoxicate their senses, and procure for themselves
the spectacle of the Sabbath.

But no magical herb ever enjoyed more celebrity than
the mandrake, an indispensable ingredient in all the philtres
employed by the old sorcerers. Antiquity had already
conducted us to this dark road, by maintaining that the
roots of this plant were of a human form, a fact pointed
out by the name anthropomorphos which Theophrastus
gaye it, whilst Columella called it semihomo.

To speak the truth, they in no way resemble a man, but
the credulity of the learned and the astuteness of charlatan-
ism have supplied what was requisite to give a certain
amount of credibility to the opinions of the ancients. It
was after they had rudely shaped them into human like-
MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 775

ness that the magicians employed them in their incanta-
tions, and it was also under this form that the vulgar
thought they were found at the foot of gibbets, where,
after having fed on the remains of those who had suffered
punishment, they had taken on their shape. The tenants
of a place so sinister and so dreaded could not be removed

 

 

341. Mandragora Roots Carved; used for Enchantment.

without great danger. The learned themselves did not at-
tempt to destroy so many absurdities, for in their works
they sometimes represent mandrakes which resembled men
and women, for there were some of both sexes. They pos-
sessed the same power as the enchanted philtres of Circe,
to which Pliny and Dioscorides had given thisname. One
thing is certain, the mandrake is one of the most fatal
poisons we possess.

A charming little plant, all covered with hairs, which
abounds on the slopes of Mount Ida, the dictamnus of
Crete (Origanum Dictamnus) was formerly considered the
most marvellous vulnerary that nature ever presented to
man. The gods themselves had revealed its omnipotence
to him, and animals instinctively made use of it. It was
with this dictamnus that Venus dressed the wounds of
£neas. Aristotle tells us that the goats scattered over
776 THE UNIVERSE.

the celebrated mountain, so soon as the hunter has pierced
them with an arrow, seek out the plant and eat it in order
to make the arrow drop out and so to heal the wound.
Half a century ago, who would have dared to deny such
a wonderful property, when at that time a noble work on
Greece contained a long chapter on the virtues of the divine
vulnerary, and when, in addition to this, the reader might
see an engraving representing a goat pierced with arrows
and browsing upon the salutary herb?

In this way, unfortunately, did the authority of the
learned retard and fetter the progress of truth.

THE END.
ND EX.

A.

Absorption, in plants, 396; a vital phenome-
non, 400-408; by means of leaves, 402;
engraving of, 403.

Acacia, growth of roots in direction of water,
397.

Adanson, on migration of swallows, 337; veri-
fication of value of rings in trees by, 433.

ial masons, 298.

Aérial mouths or stigmata of the common
fly seen with the microscope, engraving of,
127,

Aérial or pulmonary and aquatic or branchial
leaves (Ranunculus aquatilis), engraving
of, 385.

Aérial roots of trees, 398.

Agriculture, protectors of, 230.

Air, the, and its corpuscules, 712.

Aldrovanda, fecundation of, 505.

Algz, great plain of, 62.

Alpha Centauri and pole-star, distance of,
from earth, 733, note.

Alusia Olivieri destroys eggs of Chlorops
lineata, 111, note.

American continent, age of, 608.

Ammonites, Autediluvian, great size of, 42.

Amphora plant (Sarracenia purpurea), 439;
engraving of, 430.

Anabas (Perea scandens), climbing habits of,
358; engraving of, 359; water reservoir of,
engraving, 358.

Anatomy of plants, 369.

Anemone patens, vagaries of flowers of, 435.

Anguillule, 52.

Auimals, believed to be capable of resuscita-
tion, 48; migrations of, 313.

Anobium, feigning of death by, 154.

Anoplotheria, 600; Anoplotherium commune,
engraving of, 601.

Ant, Amazon, military expeditions of, 177;
length of army of, 178; subsequent degra-
dation of, 178; dependence of, on slaves,
179,

 

 

Antenne, diversity of forms of, 122; engrav-
ing of, 122.

Anthers, 390; four-lobed, of the Persian
laurel, engraving of, 391.

Anthia duodecimpunctata, engraving of, 234.

Antiaris toxicaria, wpas-tree of Java, en-
graving of, 487.

Antiparos, Cave of, 685; midnight mass cele-
brated in the, 687.

Ant-lion, its mode of constructing its snare,
169; adult, engraving of, 169.

Ants, specific against, 102, note; sagacity of,
180; questioned by some observers, 180;
note; slaves occupied in domestic work, 181;
slave life of, more sedentary in England
than abroad, 181; yellow, great courage of,
181; battles of, 182; going to milk aphides,
engraving of, 183; warrior or white (see
Termites), 185.

Aphides, milked by ants, 182; stables built
for, by ants, 182.

Aphis, Woolly (Aphis lanigera), injurious to
apple-trees, 111; extraordinary fecundity
of, 130.

Apteryx (A. mantelli), engraving of, 243Vis.

Aquatic plants, respiration in, 412; nuptials
of, 501,

Arabian mountain chain formed of nummu-
lites, 37.

Aranea pullaria, chicken-spider, engraving
of, 175; A. avicularia, 175, note.

Arborescent ferns from the forests of New
Zealand, engraving of, 531.

Arbours of bower-birds, 278; engraving of, 279.

Archzopteryx, 593, note.

Archegosaurus, the first antediluvian reptile,
engraving of, 5:

Architect insects, 95

Architects of the sea, 62.

Architectural work of Neptune’s Cup, 60.

Architecture, intended for enjoyment, 278,

Architecture, Naval, of birds, 282.

Ariel swallow (Hirundo ariel), the, engrav-
ing of, 335.

Armadillo, Extinct, appearance of, 602.

99

  

 
778

Arum, transpiration in, 423; edible (Colocasia
esculenta), engraving of, 425.

Ascents, Mountain, dangers of, 637.

Aspect of the full moon, engraving of, 747.

Atmosphere, composition of, identical with
that of 2000 years ago, 418.

Atoms, hypothesis of, by Leucippus, 45.

Aurora borealis, illuminates the heaven of the
polar regions, 760; engraving of, 761.

Avalanches, 671.

B.

Baltimore oriole, nest of, 310.

Bamboo, rapid growth of, 435.

Banyan-tree, aérial roots of, 398.

Baobab, luxuriance of, 533; probable age of,
declared by Adanson, 546; gigantic (Adan-
sonia digitata), engraving of, 547.

Bark, component parts of, 378; inner posi-
tion of the, 379.

Basalt, crystals of, 666.

Basaltic cliffs, Staffa, engraving of, 665.

Bee, Common, working feet of, 117; brush
and pincers of, engraving of, 117; seen
from below, engraving of, 118.

Bees, their mode of dealing with intruders,
157; slugs, 157; garden-snail, 159; choos-
ing a queen, 160.

Beetle, Luminous (Later noctilucus), of the
Antilles, 132; engraving of, 134; lumino-
sity of, doubted, 134; cage or lustre for
illumination, engraving of, 134; Chinese
candle (Hotinus candelurius), 135, note.

Berlin built on bed of microscopic animal-
cules, 23; engraving of the animalcules, 24.

Bernard the Hermit, soldier-crab (Pagurus
Miles), 207, engraving of, 208.

Bernard Palissy, teaching of, 620.

Biological Society, observations of, on desic-
cation of animaleules, 54, note.

Birds, migrations of, 326; mechanism of,
suited to rapid flight, 329; architecture of,
236; pigmies and giants, 241; differences in
strength of, 245; substances discovered in
bones of, 722.

Bird-tree, 772; engraving of, 772.

Bisons, migrations of, 322.

Blood, showers of, 148.

Bombardier (Brachinus crepitans), mode of
fighting, 155; engraving of, 155,

Bombyx (Pavonia minor), engraving of, 144;
of mulberry tree furnishes our silk, 144,

; Bombyx dispar, 161; caterpillar, chry-
salis, and butterfly, engraving of, 162; Pha-
lena Bombyx pint, ravages of, 216-220; en-
graving of, 217; B. monacha, engraving of,
221; Monk, 223; Phaleena Bombyx pinivora,
engraving of, 224; of oak, 225; Processionary,
migrations of, 316; engraving of, 317.

Bonaparte, Charles, on miner owl, 303,

   

note

 

 

 

INDEX.

Bones of birds, substances discovered in, 722.

Bonnet on fineness of spider’s web, 197.

Bostrichus denticurvatus, ravages of, 226;
engraving of, 226; B. typographus, ravages
of, 226; engraving of, 226.

Bouyer, Captain, on ocean monsters, 42.

Bower-hirds, constructions of, 278.

Pread-fruit of Otaheite (Artocarpus incisa),
composition and size of, 373; tree, engray-
ing of, 371; fruit, engraving of, 374.

Breaking up of an iceberg, 679, note.

Broca, M., on Pouchet’s experiments with
rotifers and tardigrades, 56, note.

Brush and pincers of common bee, engraving
of, 117.

Bud-twister, the (Tortrix Turionana), en-
graving of, 225,

Buffon’s statements about size of polypi, 770.

Buprestidz or Richards, lustre of, 97.

Buprestis imperialis, engraving of, 97.

Burrowing-owl (Strix cunicularia), nest of,
303; engraving of, 304.

Burying-hbeetle, the, 193; Vecrophorus sepul-
tor, engraving of, 193; English, interment
of birds by, 195, note; beetles interring a
small rat, engraving of, 196.

Butterfly, scales of, seen with microscope,
engraving of, 113; development of, 144;
head and proboscis of different kinds, en-
graving of, 147.

Butter-tree of Africa, 448, and note.

Buxton, Mr. Charles, on acclimatization of
birds, 337, note.

C

Cacti, multiplicity of husbands of, 493.

Cactus grandiflora, flowering of, 472; changes
of, 490.

Calcareous strata formed of microscopic
skeletons, 89.

Calosome, 97.

Calosoma inquisitor, 155 ;
engraving of, 234.

Calyx, the, 389.

Camphor-tree, 457; orcamphor laurel (Laurus
Camphora), engraving of, 459,

Canary-pine (Pinus canariensis), enduring
nature of, 446, and note.

Cantharis officinalis, 136, note.

Capricornis, Great (Cerambyax heros), destruc-
tion effected by larva of.

Car of Neptune, 79

Carahi, 97.

Carabide, engravings of, 234, and note.

C. sycophanta,

 

Carabus purpureus, engraving of, 168; C.
gruphcus, engraving of, 234.

Caravan assailed by the khamsin, engraving
of, 703.

Carbonic acid, absorption of, by plants, 415;
exhalation of, by man, 415; by plants, 417.
INDEX.

Carboniferous period, 577.

Cardan on showers of frogs, 346.

Carnivorous birds, nests of, 271.

Carpenter-bee (Megachile sicula), 205; and
its little chambers, engraving of, 206,

Carpenters, insects, 197.

Caryophillia ramea, engraving of, 66.

Cascade in the gorges of Mount Taurus, Val-
ley of Erosion, engraving of, 635,

Cassava, extraction of, from poisonous fluids,
437, note.

Cassicus Jupuba, nest of, 309; engraving of,
311.

Cataclysms and upheavals of the globe, 624.

Caterpillar, great numbers of muscles in, 114;
willow, muscular apparatus, engraving of,
115; great digestive powers of, 124; head
and jaws of, engraving of, 124; devoured
by larvee of ichneumons, and covered with
their cocoons, engraving of, 164.

Cedar of California (Wellingtonia gigantea),
size of, 537; engraving of, 539.

Cellular tissue filled with fecula, seen with
the microscope, engraving of, 373.

Cerambyx, musk odour of, derived from same
source as smell of bugs, 136.

Cetacean attacking a ship, engraving of, 770.

Cetonia cerulea, C. cervus, and C. sanguino-
lenta, engravings of, 97.

Cetoniz, 97.

Chalk animalcules, immense accumulations
of, 89; minuteness of, 90; of Meudon, seen
with the microscope, engraving of, 90.

Chapel oak in Normandy, engraving of, 531.

Chateaubriand on migrations of bisons, 322.

Chemistry, instinct of, in birds, 250,

Chestnut of a Hundred Horses, 534; engrav-
ing of, 535.

Chicken spider (Aranea pullaria), the size
of life, engraving of, 175.

Chlamydera, Spotted, construction of bower
of, 278; engraving of, 279; in London Zoo-
logical Gardens, 282.

Chlorops lineata, devastations occasioned by,
109; its numbers checked by the Alysia
Olivieri, 111, note.

Chlorostilbon prasinus, emerald humming-
bird, household of, engraving of, 339;
limited sphere of action of, 345.

Cicindela campestris, and Chinese engravings
of, 168.

Cinchona, value of, in medicine, 451; history
of discovery of, 451, note.

Cinnamon-tree (Laurus cinnamomum), true
value of, 453; engraving of, 453.

Circulation in plants, causes of, 404; force
of, 405; engraving of, 406.

Circus of Gavarnie in the Pyrenees, engrav-
ing of, 646.

Cities built of microscopic shells, 35.

Clarke, Dr., on mosquitoes in the Crimea,
105, note.

 

779

Claw of lion compared to claw of spider, 119;
engraving of, 119.

Clothes-moth (Tinea sarcitella), 208; in its
butterfly state, engraving of, 209,

Clouds of Magellan, the, 738.

Clover plant, sleep of, 468.

Clusia rosea, aérial roots of, 399.

Coal, formation of, 579; period, supposed
duration of, 578, note; theories of forma-
tion of, 584.

Coal period, forest of, imaginary view, 582.

Cocoa-nuts, long journeys of, 556.

Cocos (Cocos nucifera), seeds of, 508.

Coffee, dissemination of, by Viverra musanga,
561, note.

Coleoptera, Aquatic, eyes of, 121; of the family
of Carabidie, engraving of, 152; feigning
of death by, 153.

Colibri, limited sphere of action of, 345.
folymbus minor, nest of, engraving of, 291.
Combustion of vapours from plants, 446; of

bastard dittany, engraving of, 447.

Comet, length of tail of, 756.

Comets, 752; strange idea of Maupertuis
concerning, 754; Donati’s of 1858, engrav-
ing of, 754; bleeding, of 1528, 755, note;
engraving of, 765.

Common Guat (Culex pipiens) and its meta-
morphoses magnified, engraving of, 129,

Common Utricularia, nuptials of, 504.

Comparative dimensions of birds’ eggs, en-
graving of, 245.

Condor of the Andes (Vultur gryphus), flight
of, 330; engraving of, 327.

Cone Pyralis (Tortrix Strobiliana), engraving
of, 228.

Coniferous forests in Germany, destruction
of, by Bombyx Phaleena pint, 216.

Constellations, attempt to rename, 728.

Convolvulus, huge size of a, 541.

Coral, its builders, 64; natural history of,
65; completed by Lacaze-Duthiers, 71,
note; considered to be a submarine shrub,
65; vegetable nature affirmed by Tourne-
fort, Marsigli, Reaumur, and Jussieu, 65,
67, 68; engraving of Caryophillia ramca,
66; engraving of polypi of, 67; vegetable
nature disproved by Peyssonnel, 67 ;
fishing for, engraving of, 69; supposed to
harden by contact with the air, and dis-
proved by Nicolai, 71; fishing, remuner-
ative nature of, 72, note.

Coral banks, growth and nature of, 72;
Owen on, 73; rapid growth of, contested
by Quoy and others, 73, note; where princi-
pally found, 73; in Europe, 76; at ante-
diluvian periods, 76; Buckland on mission
of, 76; Ellis on wonders of, 76.

Corn-weevil (Calandra granaria and C.
oryze), destruction caused by, 357; rapid
multiplication of, 357, note; engraving of,
307.
780

Corolla, the, or internal envelope of the
flower, 389.

Coronary plants, 367.

Cossus ligniperda, or goat-moth, destruction
effected by, 202; engraving of, 203.

Cow-tree of Caraccas (Galactodendron utili),
448; extraction of milk from, 451, note;
engraving of, 455.

Crab, Soldier or Hermit (Pagurus Miles),
208; nebula, engraving of, 738.

Crane’s nest on an Egyptian monument, en-
graving of, 329.

Crater of Mount Etna, 637; view from, 638;
engraving of, 656.

Craters on the moon’s surface at sunset, en-
graving of, 748.

Cucifera of the Thebais (Cucifera thebaica),
523.

Cuckoo, mode of depositing its eggs, 275;
only lays two eggs, 275; massacring of
young birds by, 278; engraving of, 277.

Curculiones, 97.

Cuvier on hybernation of swallows, 334.

Cypress, probable age of, 546.

D.

Dacus of olive-tree, devastation occasioned
by, 110.

Dates, assuring harvest of, 496.

Dawn at the Isle of Phils, description of,
708.

Dead Sea in the Mammoth Cave, 691; en-
graving of, 689.

Death’s head and cross-bones, discovery of, in
interior of a tree, 434.

Debans, Camille, on the death of a rose, 470.

De Candolle’s observations on the circula-
tion of the sap, 405,

Deceptions effected by insects, 154.

De Jussieu on Peyssonnel’s discovery of
nature of coral, 68.

Deluge, the various theories respecting, 626.

Descartes on automatic nature of insects,
150.

Deserts, 695; sand and stone, 696; oasis in,
696; aspect of, 701; phenomena of simoom
in, 702; mirage in, 705; engraving of mirage
in, 706,

Desfontaines on decline of sensitiveness in a
mimosa, 474.

Desmodia, oscillating mobility of,
Desmodia oscillans, engraving of, 478.

Devourers of towns, 185.

Dictamnus of Crete (Origanum dictamnus),
supposed vulnerary powers of, 775.

Didelphis dorsigera, engraving of, 594.

Dinornis, Gigantic, of New Zealand, 242; en-
graving of, 243%.

Discerea nivalis, the cause of red snow, 25.

Diving-bell invented by a spider, 211.

477;

 

INDEX.

Dogs’-bane (Apocynum androscemifolium),
capture of insects by, 480, note.

Donati’s comet, size of, 758; engraving of, 754.

Dove, nest of, 270.

Dover Crag blown up, 91.

Dragon of the Caverns of Mount Pilatus, en-
graving of, 767.

Dragon-fly (Libellula depressa), metamor-
phoses of, 138; life and metamorphoses of,
engraving of, 139.

Dragon’s-blood tree (Draccena Draco), 550;
engraving of, in Teneriffe, 550.

Ducks, Sea, tree producing, engraving of, 773.

Duhamel, experiments of, on roots of plants,
376,

Dung-beetle, Sacred (Ateuchus sacer), of
Egyptians, mode of protecting offspring,
164; beetles or sacred scarabei making
their balls, engraving of, 165; its great
perseverance, 166; revered in ancient
Egypt, 166; represented in ancient car-
touches, 166; represents military caste, 167,
note.

Dutrochet on the existence of a nervous
system in plants, 474.

Dytiscus, feet of, 117; engraving of 118;
wiliness of, 153; D. marginatus, nymph,
larva, and perfect insect, engraving of, 154.

E.

Eagle, carries off children, 249, and note; en-
graving of, 247; nest of, 249, 272.

Earth, fables of formation of, 4; its form,
movements, and area of surface, 744; and
moon, comparative dimensions of, 745;
engraving of, 745.

Earth-eaters, 32.

Earthquakes, theories of, 662; at Lisbon, 663;
at Messina, 663; phenomena observed, 663,
664.

Earwig (Forficula auricularia), metamor-
phoses of, 146.

Echinus, carapaces of, mistaken for nests of
kingfisher, 286, 289; engraving of, 286;
solitary life of, 286, note.

Eels, swarms of, 319; migrations of, 319; fry,
M. Coste on weight of, 319, note.

Egyptian carrying geese to the market, en-
graving of, 316.

Ehrenberg on cause of colour in Red Sea, 23;
infusoria in dust showers, 26; infusoria in
tripoli, 29; exposure of animalcules to
heat, 49; revival of animalcules, 55; fora-
minifera in chalk, 89; fossil animalcules in
calcareous strata, 89.

Electricity, influence of, in germination, 516.

Elephant tusks, immense quantity of, in New
Siberia, 605.

Ephemera communis, engraving of, 126.

Epiornis, egg of, 245.
INDEX.

Eruption of Monte Rosa, 655.

Eruptions containing fish, 660; air poisoned
by, 661.

Escargot, garden-snail (Helix aspersa), en-
graving of, 159.

Esquimaux, hardihood of, 680; young, en-
graving of, 680.

Exhalations of flowers, 491.

Extracting milk from the cow-tree (Galacto-
dendron utile), engraving of, 455.

Eye of insects, 120; of the Ichthyosaurus,
590.

F.

Fable about the mastodon, 613; Cyclopean
rocks, 641; Kobolds, 694.

Fauna of secondary epoch, 585; tertiary epoch,
599.

Fecula, abundance of, in cellular tissue of
plants; 370.

Fecundation of plants, 492.

Fingal’s Cave, engraving of entrance to, 665.

Fish, showers of, 347.

Fishing for coral in the Mediterranean, en-
graving of, 69.

Flamingo, nest of, 293; red (Phenicopterus
ruber), and nest of, engraving, 295.

Flies (Diptera) with rudimentary wings, 99;
wingless in wool of sheep, 99;

Flint, 57; contains remains of sponges, 61;
connection with sponge, 61;

Floral calendar, description of, 364; hours at
which they open, 365; clock, description of,
365, note; apparatus, component parts of,
388.

Flower, the, 387; difficulty of describing, 387;
protected by a spathe, engraving of, 393;
great consumption of, in France for per-
fumes, 439, note; Victoria regia, 483;
Rafflesia and poison-tree or upas of Java,
engraving of, 487; of the Asclepiadacez
and Orchidacez, 500.

Fly, Domestic, swarms of, in Upper Egypt,
107 ; voracity of offspring of, 130.

Fondia erythrops, nest of, 305.

Fontenelle recommends study of facts, 7.

Foot, Prehensile, of male Dytiscus, engrav-
of, 118.

Foraminifera, chalk formations composed of,
89; engraving of, 90; enormous quantity in
single ounce of sea-sand, 90, note.

Forests, insect ravages of, 216; of mangroves,
engraving of, 511; various aspects of, 520;
of palm-trees on the banks of the Nile, en-
graving of, 521; virgin, impenetrability of,
527.

Forficula auricularia, adult, nymph, and
larva, engraving of, 146.

Forster and Péron on madrepore reefs and
islands, 75.

 

781

Fossil-meal, 32; ammonites, engraving of,
42; shells of secondary period, engrav-
ing of, 595; tertiary period, engraving of,
603; man, supposed remains of, G11.

Fossils, 617; their variety, 617, 618; long
supposed to be freaks of nature, 620;
Buffon’s opinion, 621; various theories
regarding, 620, 621.

Frogs, showers of, 345.

Fuci, root of, represents a sort of cramping-
iron, 377.

Fucus, Swimming, or Sargassum (Fucus bac-
ciferus), engraving of, 63.

Fungi, strange growth of, 715.

Fungus which grows on neck of caterpillar,
716; engraving of, 717.

G.

Gall and Camper on anatomical signs of intel-
lect, 151.

Gall insects, maternal devotion of, 161.

Gaseous vapours, disengagement of, from
plants, 446.

Geckoes, destruction of young of mason-bee
by, 214; extreme agility of, 214, note.

Geer, Baron, on Reduvius personatus, 156.

Geese, Wild, migrations of, 314; catching of,
by Egyptians, engraving, 315; appoint sen-
tinels, 315; carried to market, engraving
of, 316.

Generation, Spontaneous, in plants, M. Trécul
on, 370.

Geology, sketch of, 570.

Germany, scenes in coniferous woods of, 216.

Germination, phenomena of, 510; of pri-
mary epoch, 573; transition period, 575;
secondary epoch, 585; tertiary epoch, 596;
quaternary period, 604; of Arundo indica,
engraving, 513.

Geysers of Iceland, 665; watery eruption of,
665; engraving of, 664.

Giants, field of, 623; supposed remains of,
623, note.

Gigantology almost a special science, 623,
note.

Glacial period, phenomena of, 607.

Glaciers and eternal snows, 667; in the Bay
of the Magdalen in Spitzbergen, engraving
of, 673; movement of, established by
Agassiz, 675

Gladiolus versicolor, changes in corolla of,
486.

Gleaner bird of Australia (Talegalla La-
thami), 258; engraving of, 255.

Gleditsch, fecundation of plants proved by,
497.

Globe, theory of formation of, 569.

Glowworm (Lampyris noctiluca), luminosity
of, 132; male and female, engraving of,
132.
Gnat, 100; Gosse on, 101, note; organs of
mouth of, same as mosquito, 101, note.

Goat-moth, destruction effected by, 202;
engraving of, 203.

Goedart, devotion of, to study of insects, 99.

Goenong Api, Banda Islands in the Moluccas,
engraving of, 649; eruptions of, 649, note.

Goliath, giant beetle, 93; of Drury (Goliathus
giganteus), engraving of, 94,

Gould on bowers built by Spotted Chlamy-
dera, 281.

Gramme, equivalent of, in English measure,
24, note.

Granite-beds, first upheaval of, 574.

Grave-diggers, 192.

Grebe, Little (Colymbus minor), floating nests
of the, engraving of, 291.

Grossbeak, sociable lives, in numerous so-
cieties, 262; engraving of nest of, 265.

Growth of plants, 432; computation of, by
annual rings, 432; made visible by Cavan-
illes, 435,

Gryllotalpa vulgaris (mole-cricket), 195; en-
gravings of, 116, 196.

Guérin-Méneville on destruction caused by
insects, 356.

Guettard’s experiments on transpiration of
plants, 421.

Gull, Yellow-footed (Larus fuscus), engrav-
ing of, 333.

Gutta-percha, production of, from one of the
Sapotacez, 448; tree (Isonandra gutta), en-
graving of, 449.

Gypaetus vulture attacks man, 249, note.

Gyrinus natator (Little Whirlwig), engraving
of, 121.

H.

Haggren on disengagement of light from
plants, 447, note.

Halcyon nest, 285.

Hales’ experiment on circulation of the sap,
405-407; transpiration of plants, 423.

Hartzoecker discovers microscope, 8; attempts
to penetrate into Leuwenhoeck’s secrets, 9.

Harz, Plateau of the Dance of Witches in
the, 643%.

Hearing, organs of, possessed by insects, 123.

Heat, power of resisting, by man, 50, note.

Hedgehog, a carnivorous animal, 233; substi-
tuted for the cat in Astrachan, 234.

Hedge-mustard, sudden growth of, after the
fire of London, 517.

Herring, Common, 347; migrations of, 348;
denied by Bloch and Noel, 349, note; great
consumption of, 349, note.

Herschel,Sir John, proposal respecting bound-
aries of constellations, 728,

Herschel, Sir W., large telescope of, 728, note;
resolves the Milky Way, 730.

 

INDEX.

Hind feet used as ciliary oars in the male
and female Dytiscus, 118.

Hindoo Vedas, or sacred books, assertions
of, 609.

Hippopotamus, colonies founded by, 320.

Holm-oak, large size of, 545.

Holt on sagacity of ants, 180, note.

Homrain, species of, imprisonment of female
by, 262.

Honey, poisonous kinds of, 439,

Hooked feet and nail of the willow-cater-
pillar, engraving of, 147.

Horns of stag, inclosure of, by trunk of tree,
434,

Household of the emerald humming-bird
(Chlorostilbon prasinus), engraving of, 339.

Huber on dependent state of Amazon ant,
179; protection of ant-nests against rain,
181; imprisonment of aphides by ants, 182.

Huber the younger on ant-battles, 183.

Humboldt, on ocean animalcules, 21; use of
Murichi, 367, note; ignorance of cinchona
among savages, 454, note; torpidity of
plants in hot climates, 466.

Humming-bird, Saw-beaked, nest of, engrav-
ing, 243; Mango, nest of, engraving, 246;
emerald, household of, engraving, 339;
family of Typhena Duponti, engraving,
343,

Hydraulic engineer insects, 211.

Hydrogeton fenestratum, leaves of, 385.

Hydrostatic Physophora, highly magnified,
engraving of, 21,

Hylesinus, Pine, ravages of, 229,

L

Iceberg, breaking up of, 679, note.

Icebergs, transportation of plants by means
of, 558; engraving of, 677.

Ice-plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum),
absorbing powers of, 402; engraving of,
402,

Ichneumons, their mode of providing food
for young, 163; cocoons of, 164.

Ichthyosaurus communis, 590; eye of, 590;
skeleton and head of, engraving of, 591.

Idlers and assassins, 268,

Impressions of rain-drops and animals’ foot-
steps on antediluvian rocks, 619; engrav-
ing of, 620.

Infusoria, Ehrenberg on, 14, 16; digestive
system in, 17; Owen on, 17; found at the
bottom of the sea, seen with the micro-
scope, engraving of, 18; power of resisting
cold, 18; pressure, 19; found by Sir James

Ross in Polar Seas, 19; in Gulf of Erebus,
19; large deposits of, under Berlin, 23; in
Luneburg, 23; quick reproduction of, 24,
note; in the atmosphere, 25; in blood, 26;
antediluvian, 28; at Richmond, N.A., 29; in
INDEX.

tripoli from Richmond, N. America, as seen
with the microscope, engraving of, 30; Bilin,
30; cause of colour in tripoli, 31; in silex,
31; engraving of skeletons of, 31; in rock
salt, 32; in edible earths, 33; incombusti-
bility of, denied, 47.

Inorganic ingredients in plants, necessity for,
401, note.

Insect, organization, marvels of, 99; organiza-
tion, beauty of, 100; development of, 142;
metamorphoses, protection of, 143; life
active in every stage, 145.

Insects, arrangement of, by Rennieand Reau-
mur in castes, 93; diversity in form of, 94;
varieties in size of, 95; power in arresting
progress of man, 100; invade ulcers, 109,
note; numerous varieties injurious to
oak and pine tree, 109; results from bite
of, 109, note ; occasion deformities in trees,
110; rapidity of motions of, 111; strength of,
116; feet of, 116; tactile faculty in, 119; eyes
of, 120; power of distinguishing smells, 121;
organs of hearing in, 123; great digestive
powers of, 123; sucking apparatus of, 125;
heart of, 125; circulating apparatus of, 125;
respiratory apparatus of, 126; aérial mouths
of, 127; ravages occasioned by, 130; eggs of,
130; sexuality of, 131; luminous, 132; meta-
morphoses of, 137; always wingless at birth,
141; three states, as seen in the great
Capricornis, engraving of, 143; intelligence
of, 150, 354; foresight of, 151; ideas of
strategy in, 159; maternal instinct in
protecting young, 161; maternal instinct
in providing food for young, 162; insects
hunting, 168; services of, unappreciated
by man, 168; rapacious, 171; slave-makers
and warlike tribes of, 176; their thirst for
rapine, 176; upholsterer and carpenter, 197;
joiner, 202; clotheutters, 207; calcographer,
226; influence of, on the fecundation of
flowers, 497; engraving of, 499.

Invisible world, the, 3.

Irritability of plants, 481.

Island-builders, 72.

Isle of Phile, engraving of, 709.

Ivory, vegetable, 509; immense quantity of,
in Asia, 605; mines of, in New Siberia, 605.

J

Jenner on the mode in which the cuckoo
provides for the hatching of its eggs, 276.
Jerdon, M., on imprisonment of birds by

some species of Homrain, 261.
Jorullo, upheaval of, 630; engraving of, 630,
Jupiter Serapis, temple of, gnawed by stone-
eating Modiolus, 83; rising and sinking of,
doubted, 84, note ; ruins of, engraving, 85.
Jussieu, Barnard de, errors of, about coral
being a plant, 68,

 

“I
CO
eo

Ke

Kamtchatka lily, fecundation of, by insects
498,

Kangaroo, limited movements of, 320; en-
graving of, 323.

Kennely Channel, engraving of, 681.

Kenney, Jemmie, carried off by eagle, 249,
note.

Khamsin, description of the, 705.

Knight’s experiment on transpiration of
leaves only from inferior surface, 430.

Kobolds, believed to frequent caverns, 694;
Schleiden’s description of the, 694, note.

L.

Labyrinthodon, or monster toad, 586; re-
stored, engraving of, 589.

Lacréze-Fossat on exhalation of oxygen by
Nymphea lutea, 419.

Lagomys, Siberian, hay heaps collected by,
258,

Lake-dwellings in Switzerland, Scotland,
Denmark, 613; similar abodes in Africa,
614, note.

Lamartine, poetical description of butterfly
by, 114, note.

Lambert on comets, 757.

Lamouroux, M., on nest of Chinese swallows,
297.

Lampyris noctiluca, 132.

Land crabs, migrations of, 358; organization
of, 358.

Language, antennal, in insects, 119.

Lantern-fly (Fulgora lanternaria), lumino-
sity of, 132; engraving of, 133.

Laplanders feed on mountain-meal, 34.

La Rochelle, accident at, caused by termites,
191.

Larrey on hybernation of swallows, 337.

Larva, of the common gnat (Culex pipiens),
engraving of, 128; and nymph of the Pan-
orpis, engraving of, 145; of the Great Cap-
ricornis, engraving of, 205.

Lathrea, Scaly (Lathrwa squamarta), exten-
sion of, towards light, 475.

Lavoisier on necessity for light in organic
life, 417.

Lead-eating insects, 207.

Leaf, the, and functions of, 384.

Leafed branches and adventitious roots on
half-buried branch, engraving of, 375.

Leaves, absorption by, 402; the lungs of
plants, 412.

Lebioderus Goryi, engraving of, 122.

Lee, Mrs., on destruction effected by ter-
mites, 190.

Lemmings, migrations of,

Lenses, Leuwenhoeck’s, smallness of, 9; of
7500 diameters, 9.

325.
784

Leuwenhoeck, secrecy of, in conducting his
experiments, 8; excellence of his observa-
tions, 9.

Le Vaillant, his dispute with Tournefort about
sexes of plants, 390; on incubation of
ostrich, 269; nests of social grossbeaks, 262;
mode in which the cuckoo carries its eggs,
276,

Lias formation, 589.

Libellula fossil of secondary epoch, engraving
of, 619.

Liber, position of the, 379; use of, 580.

Lichen, edible, 555; engraving of, 555.

Lichens, rapidity of growth and slowness of
growth of, 524.

Life, animal, exuberance of, in Africa, 313.

Light, necessity of, for transpiration by
plants, 417; emission of, by plants, 446;
influence of, on plants, 477.

Lily, the pistil in, 304.

Lily crioceris, and its larva, engraving of, 154.

Lime-tree of Morat, engraving of, 543.

Linnzus, arrangement of floral calendar by,
364; clock by, 365; Mademoiselle, her de-
scription of the discovery of emission of
light from plants, 447.

Lithophagi, 83.

Little devils of Geoffroy, 96.

Living forces of our planet, 7; Diatomacece
and Infusoria from the strata under Berlin,
as seen with the microscope, engraving of,
24,

Livingstone, Dr., on the tsetse fly, 106; on
exuberance of life in Africa, 313.

Locks of the Magdalen, 646.

Locust (Grullus migratorius), immense num-
bers of, 350; migrations of, 350; engraving
of, 351; destruction effected by, 351; laws
for effecting destruction of, 352; impeded
the progress of Charles XII.’s army, 352,
note; used for food, 353, note.

Louse, egg of, 131.

Luminosity of insects, 132.

Lunar mountains, height of, 747.

Lycoperdon, gigantic (Z. giganteum), rapid
growth of, 436; or puff-ball, engraving of,
436.

Lycopodium, gigantic, of coal period (Lepido-
dendron gracile), engraving of impression
of, 580.

Lyonet, devotion of, to study of goat-moth,
‘99:

 

M.

Madrepore islands, 74; island in the Archi-
pelago of Pometou, engraving of, 77.

Maggot, Rat-tailed, organ of respiration in,
128.

Maize, high value set upon, in America, 441.

Mammoth Cave of the United States, 687;
Cyprinodons of, engraving of, 688.

 

INDEX.

Mammoth teeth, immense collection of, in
New Siberia, 605.

Man, first appearance of, on earth, 609.

Mandragora, with its rootlets in water, living
(Alropa Mandragora), engraving, 397; reot-
lets in dry sand, dying, engraving of, 398 ;
roots carved, used for enchantment, en-
graving of, 775.

Mandrake, fabled sensibility of, 468; engrav-
ing of, 470; superstitions concerning, 774.

Mangroves, peculiarity of, 509; forest of,
engraving of, 511.

Manna, collection of, from Fraxinus ornus,
442 ; engraving of, 442.

Mans, larvee of may-bug, destruction effected
by, 355.

Marble-eating Lithophagi, 83.

Marie Delex carried off by an eagle, 249; en-
graving of, 247.

Marine monster, engraving of, 771.

Mariotte’s experiment, showing absorption
by the leaves, 403; engraving of, 403.

Maritime pine, collection of resin of, 445,

Marsigli on nature of coral, 66.

Masaya, crater of, 652.

Mason-bee (Xylocopa), its stone dwelling,
213; very numerous in Egypt, 214; English
species of (Osmia bicornis), 213, note.

Mason-birds, various materials employed by
them, 293; localities in which they build,
294.

Mason ecrab-spider (AZygale cementaria), 199:
arrangement of its dwelling, 200; engraving
of, 201.

Masons, insects, 211.

Mastodon, 601.

Maury on movement of bodies in the Atlan-
tic, 64.

Mavis, nest of, 301.

May-bug (IJelolontha vulgaris), destruction
effected by larve of, 355; engraving of,

; immense swarms of, 356.

Meat-fly attacks man, 108.

Medusa campanularia, engraving of, 20.

Medusz, cause of phosphorescence in the
sea, 20.

Megapodins, nest of, 253; weight of, compared
with work of man, 254.

Megatheria, 602.

Meloé, poisonous nature of, 136.

Melophagus of the sheep (JZ. Ovis), engraving
of, 98.

Membrace, fantastic figures of, 95; engrav-
ing of, 96,

Mercury and Neptune, distance of, from sun,
741,

Metals, theory of formation of, 574.

Metamorphoses of insects, 137.

Micrometers, delicacy of, 10; great accuracy
of, 12.

Microscope, discovery of, 8; anatomy of
plants by means of, 369.

 

 
INDEX.

Microscopic animalcules, 13; experiments of
Baron Gleichen on, 13; theory of Dujardin
on, 13; complicated organization of, demon-
strated by Ehrenberg, 14; varying organs
of, 15.

Microscopic measurements, great accuracy of,
10; view of Infusoria in mountain-meal of
Ebsdorf, 33; shells, 38.

Microzoa, profusion of vital apparatus in,
16.

Migrations of animals, 313; insects, 316, 350;
fishes, 319, 345; mammals, 320; birds, 326;
reptiles, 345; plants, 553.

Miliola, constitutes coarse limestone, 353;
minuteness of, 35; with its capillary ap-
pendages, engraving of, 36.

Mimosa pudica, great sensitiveness of, 473.

Miner and mason birds, 290; insects, 192,
196; owl (Strix cunicularia), nest of, 303.

Mineral substances, absorption of, by plants,
400.

Mirage in the desert, the, 707; engraving
of, 706.

Misletoe propagated by means of thrushes,
559.

Moa, or Dinornis, 242; engraving of, 243.

Modiolus, Stone-eating (Modiola lithophaga),
83; engraving of, 83.

Mole, strictly carnivorous, 231; value of, to
agriculture, 231; voracity of, 231; Euro-
pean (Talpa europea), engraving of, 231;
structure of, 232; catches birds, 232; ex-
periments of M. Weber on, 282, note; its
mode of boring, 232; cleanliness of, 233,
note; capacity of, for seeing, 233, note.

Mole-cricket, great strength of, 115; en-
gravings of, 116, 196; destruction effected
by, 195.

Molluscs, exuberance of, in ancient oceans,
88; microscopic minuteness of shells of, 91.

Monads, extreme minuteness of, 45; Oken
on, 45; of Leibnitz, 46; engraving of, 46.

Monk Bombyx, destructive to forest trees,
223.

Monsters and Superstitions, 764.

Monte Rosa, eruptions of, 655.

Moon, the, 746; its distance from the earth,
746; its mountains, 747 ; appearance when
full, engraving of, 747; volcanoes, 748;
engraving of, 748; part of crescent, during
first quarter, engraving of, 749; reasons
for impossibility of life in, 751.

Mormolycz, abnormal exterior of, 95.

Mormolyce phyllodes, engraving of the, 95.

Morren, M., on cause of redness in water, 22.

Morton planting the American flag by the
Polar Sea, engraving of, 683,

Mosasaurus, a marine lizard, 594.

Mosquito, highly magnified (Culex), en-
graving of, 101.

Mosquitoes, organs of mouth of, 101, note ;
game as gnats, 101, note; specific against

 

785

stings of, 102, note; in Senegal, 101; in
Lapland, 102; in the Crimea, 105, note.

Motacilla, reed-warbler (M. arundinacea),
nest of, 285; engraving of, 287.

Mountain-builders, 88.

Mountain-meal, deposits of, 33.

Mountains, three kinds of layers of calcare-
ous, 92; theory of formation of, 570,625;
various forms of, 634.

Mount Erebus, Antarctic regions, 668; en-
graving of, 671.

Mummy wheat, 565.

Murichi (Mauritia flecuosa), great use of,
near mouth of Orinoco, 367, note.

Musca carnaria, disease caused by sting of,
109, note.

Muschenbroeck’s experiment on transpira-
tion in plants, 420; engraving of, 420.

Muscles, great numbers of, in insects, 114.

Muscular apparatus of the willow-cater-
pillar, engraving of, 115.

Myrica cerifera (candleberry myrtle), wax
obtained from, 445.

N.

Naiadez, aquatic spiders, form air-bell, 211.

Naiadez, aquatic plants, also called Fluviales,
respiration in, 415.

Nebula, Spiral, constellation of the Grey-
hounds, 735; engraving of, 736; Dumb-
bell, constellation of Fox, engraving of,
737; Crab, constellation of the Bull, 735;
engraving of, 738.

Nebule, the, 735; number of stars compos-
ing the, 737.

Negro hut lighted up with luminous beetles,
engraving of, 135.

Negroes of Senegal defending themselves
from mosquitoes, 101; engraving of, 103.

Nepenthes distillatoria, transpiration from,
426; engraving of, 429.

Neptune’s Cup (Raphidophora patera), 59;
engraving of, 60.

Neptune’s Glove, 58.

Nest of the tree termite (Termes arborum),
engraving of, 191; paper-making wasps,
engraving of, 215; common magpie (Corvus
pica), engraving of, 237; saw-beaked hum-
ming-bird (Petasophora serrirostris), en-
graving of, 243; Mango humming-bird
(Lampornis mango), engraving of, 246;
mound-building Megapodius (Megapodius
tumulus), engraving of, 251, 253, 254;
long-tailed titmouse (Parus caudatus),
engraving of, 260; penduline titmouse
(Parus pendulinus), engraving of, 261;
Cape titmouse (Parus capensis), engrav-
ing of, 263; tailor-bird (Sylvia sutoria), en-
graving of, 264; golden oriole (Oriolus
galbula), engraving of, 267; common

100
786

wren (Troglodytes europwus), engrav-

ing of, 269; barn-owl (Strix flammea),

engraving of, 271; goshawk (Astur palum-
barius), engraving of, 273; water-hen

(Fulica chloropus), engraving of, 283;

reed-warbler (J/otacilla arundinacea), en-

graving of, 287; little grebe (Colymbus
minor), engraving of, 291; red flamingo

(Phenicopterus ruber), engraving of, 295;
salangane (Hirundo esculenta), engraving
of, 297; party-coloured wren (Regulus
omnicolor), engraving of, 299; redwing
(Lurdus iliacus), engraving of, 301; oven-
bird (Furnarius rufus), engraving of, 302;
and burrow of the burrowing-owl (Striz
cunicularia), engraving of, 304; Fondia
erythrops, engraving of, 3! black-headed
Synalaxis (Synalaxis melanops), engraving
of, 307; Baltimore oriole (Oriolus Balti-
more), engraving of, 309; Jupuba Cassicus
(Cassicus hemorrhous), engraving of, 311;
crane on Egyptian monument, 329; chim-
ney-swallow (Hirundo rustica), engraving
of, 331.

Nettle, activity of poison of, 458.

Nicholson on vibration of wings of common
fly, 112.

Nicolai, M., proves hardness of coral under
water, 71.

Noctiluca, Miliary (Woctiluca miliaria), cause
of phosphorescence in sea, 22; highly mag-
nified, engraving of, 22.

Nourry, M., on nest of little grebe, 289,
note.

Number of known stars, 726.

Nummiulites, mountain chains formed by,
36; interior view of, engraving, 37; of
which the Sphinx is exclusively composed,
engraving of, 37.

Nuptial arbour of the spotted bower-birds
(Chlamydera maculata), engraving of, 279;
chamber of the Pine Hylesinus, engraving
ot, 227.

Nuptials of plants, 482; Spiral Vallisneria,
engraving of, 503; the common Utricu-
laria (Utricularia vulgaris), engraving of,
504.

Nutmeg-tree (Afyristica moschata), engraving

 

 

Nycterus, bat of Upper Egypt, engraving of,
321; limited movements of, 321.
Nymphea lutea, exhalation of oxygen by, 419.

O.

Oak, Chapel, of Allouville, 530; engraving of,
531.

Oolite formation, 593.

Opium, indispensable in medicine, 451.

Opossum, 593; Merian’s (Didelphis dorsigera),
engraving of, 594,

 

INDEX.

Organs of the mouth of gnat, engraving
101, note.

Oriole, Baltimore, nest of, engraving of, 309;
golden, nest of, engraving, 267.

Orizaba voleano, size of its crater, 650; sum-
mit and crater of, engraving of, 651.

Osmia papaveris, the poppy-bee, its excava-
tions, 207, note.

Ostrich, strength of, 245; incubation of, 268;
nest of, 268.

Ottomacs, earth-eaters of the Orinoco, 32.

Oven-bird (Furnarius rufus), nest of, engrav-
ing of, 302.

Owl, Barn (Strix flammea), nidification of,
270; great (Strix otus), 270; long-eared
(Strix bubo), 270.

Oxygen, consumption of, by human species,
415; exhalation of, by plants, 417; weight
of, in atmosphere, 418, note.

of,

P:

Pacific Ocean, madrepore islands in, 75.

Pagurus Miles, soldier-crab, in its usurped
domicile, engraving of, 208.

Paleotheria, 599.

Palewotherium magnum, engraving of, 600.

Palingenesis, objections to, 47.

Palissy, Bernard, teaching of, 620.

Palm, pith of, used as food, 373; horizontal
section of stem of, engraving, 383, note;
longitudinal section of stem of, engraving,
383, note ; celebrated, at Otranto, 501.

Palmated Rhubarb (Rheum palmatum), en-
graving of, 463.

Palms, artificial fecundation of, 497.

Pan-Kou-Ché, the Chinese creator, 4.

Panorpis, larva and nymph, engraving of, 145.

Panspermism, 715.

Pantheism, doctrine of, 25.

Paper Cypress (Cyperus papyrus), employ-
ment of, 380.

Paper-making wasp, 214; wasps (Vespa
nidulans), engraving of, 215; nest of, en-
graving, 215,

Papyrus of the Egyptians, engraving of, 381,

Paris built in great part of Miliolz, 35,

Peirese, M. de, on showers of blood, 148.

Penguin, Patagonian (Aptenodytes patagon-
ica), engraving of, 240; mode of carrying
its egg, 240; peculiarities of, 290; great
swimming powers of, 290; nests of, 293;
subterranean abodes of, 293; capacity of,
for resisting cold, 342.

Pentaplatarthrus paussoides, engraving of,
122.

Pepper-plant (Piper nigrum), 457 ; aroma of,
contained in fruit, 457; engraving of, 457.

Perch, Climbing (Perca scandens), provision
of, for bearing water, 358; engraving of,
399,
INDEX.

Perfumes, 439,

Perianth, the most brilliant part of the
flower, 388; petaloid, of the white lily
(Lilium candidum), engraving of, 389.

Petrifactions at foot of Pyramids, not lentils,
38.

Peyssonnel on animal nature of coral, 67.

Phalenahyematlis, female, rudimentary wings
of, 98; maleand female, engraving of, 98; P.
nuda, female, wingless, 98; velvet-winged,
destruction of coniferous woods by, 109;
larva, cocoons, and butterfly of, engraving
of, 217; nocturnal ravages of, 220; monk
(Bombyx monaca), engraving of, 21, rav-
ages of, 223; pine-eating (Phalena Bom-
byx pinivora), engraving of, 224.

Pholades, luminous, 20; effect of, in making
the mouth luminous, 20; description of,
80; method in which they excavate stone,
81; shown to be by the foot, 82; Fleuriau
de Bellevue on, 82, note; dactyloid (Pholas
dactylus), engraving of, 82.

Pholad-hunters, 80.

Phosphorescence of the sea, 20,

Phryganea communis, construction of sheath
of, 2U9,

Physiology of plants, 396.

Physophora, luminous, 20; hydrostatic (P.
muzonema), engraving of, 21.

Pigeon, Passenger (Columba migratoria),
migrations of, 338; immense destruction
of, 341; engraving of, 341.

Pimelodes of the Cyclops (Pimelodus Cyclo-
pum), engraving of, 660,

Pine Curculio, the, engraving of, 153.

Pistil, 389; of the madder plant, engrav-
ing of, 392; poppy, engraving of, 392;
motions of, at times of fecundation, 478.

Pit of the ant-lion, engraving of, 170.

Pitcher-plant (Nepenthes distillatoria), en-
graving of, 429,

Pith, position of the, 383.

Plane-tree, huge, at Smyrna, 532.

Plants, times of, opening, 364; root of, 375;
bark of, 378; stem of, 375; leaves of, 384;
flowers of, 387; sexual nature of, 389;
preserve the natural composition of the
air, 416; growth of, 432; movements of,
476; nuptials of, 492; temperature of,
495; strange germination of, 510.

Plateau of the Witches’ Dance in the Harz,
engraving of, 643.

Platyrhopalus denticornis, engraving of, 122.

Plesiosauri, 592.

Pliny, suggestion of floral calendar by, 364.

Plutarch on sacred dung-beetle, 167, note.

Poivre, M., on nest of Chinese swallows, 294.

Pollen, diversity of forms of, 391; of different
plants seen with the microscope, engraving
of, 392; fluid in, 393; abundance of, 494;
showers of, 494, note.

Polypi, 59; of coral, 65; magnified, engrav-

 

787

ing of, 67; action of, on crust of globe,
73; great works constructed by, 73 and
note; fed on by the Sparus, Darwin’s ac-
count of, 74.

Polypus, monstrous, met with by the Alec-
ton, 42; engraving of, 43.

Pontederia, root of, 377.

Popocatepetl, crater of, 651; view of the in-
terior of, engraving of, 653.

Poppy-bee (Osmia papareris), 207, note.

Poppy-plant, poisonous vapours of, 489.

Precious stones, theory of formation of, 575.

Prevost, M. Florent, on mode in which the
cuckoo carries its egg, 276.

Proboscis of the common fly, engraving of,
108.

Processionary Bombyx, migrations of, 316;
engraving of, 317.

Prophecies of the Vala, 629.

Proteus, microscopic animalcule, engraving
of, 14.

Proteus of the subterranean rivers of Carniola
(Proteus anguinus), engraving of, 686.

Pterodactylus, 592.

Pup, revival of, after long torpor, 54.

Pyralis of vine (Pyralis striculalis), mischief
occasioned by, 110; engraving of, 110.

Pyramids built of nummulites, 38.

Pyrethrum voseum, protective power of,
against mosquito stings, 102, note.

Q.

Quails, migrations of, 333.
Quaternary or post-tertiary period, 604.

R.

Radicles, selective power of, 399.

Radish, introduced from Asia, 563, note.

Rafilesia Arnoldi, flowers of, 483; engraving
of, 487.

tuin-marigold, closing of corolla of, during
storms, 366.

Ranunculus, Aquatic, leaves of, 385.

Raphidophora patera, Neptune’s cup, 60.

Raspberry seed, age of, 565.

Ratzeburg, M., on destruction caused by
larvee of may-bug, 354.

Réaumur on Peyssonnel’s discovery of nature
of coral, 68.

Red Sea, cause of colour in, 22.

Reduvius personatus, disguise of, 156; young

 

of, engraving of, 157.
Redwing (Lurdus iliacus), nest of, eugrav-
ing, 301.
Regnard on migration of squirrels, 325, note.
Respiration of plants, 412; engraving of, 416.
Resurrections, 47.
Resuscitations, Ehrenberg on, 55; reasons for
denying, 55.
788

Return of ants after a battle, engraving of,
179.

Rheum palmatum, engraving of, 403.

Rhinoceros, fossil, 515.

Rhubarb, value of, 462.

Rice-paper, nature of, 383.

Richard, Achille, on the vital nature of the
circulation of the sap, 411.

River reach filled with floating leaves of the
Victoria regia, engraving of, 386.

Roads formed by lava, 659.

Rock of the Arabian chain formed by agglo-
merated nummulites, engraving, 37.

Rocks of primary epoch, 573.

Roots, identity of, with trunk, 375; trans-
formation of, into leaved branches, 376;
absorption by, 396; extension of, towards
water, 397 ; lighted from below, and direct-
ing themselves towards the light, engrav-
ing of, 514.

Rose-leaf cutter (Megachile centuncularis),
207, note.

Rosse telescope, the, 729.

Rotiferz, description of, 52; desiccation of,
fatal to life, 52; revival of, after desicca-
tion of, denied, 52; Pouchet’s experiments
on, 53; power of resisting high tempera-
ture, 53; great changes of temperature, 56.

Ruins at Torro del Greco, engraving of, 657 ;
of the temple of Jupiter Serapis, engrav-
ing of, 85.

  

5.

Sacred beetle (Scarabeus) of the Egyptians,
138; dung-beetle of the (Ateuchus sacer),
engraving of, 141.

Sago extracted from pith of palm, 373; palm,
the wine-bearing, 407.

Salangane or esculent swallow, nest of, 294;
fixed in sombre caverns, 294; engraving of,
297; gathering of, dangerous, 298; used as
food, 298; extensive trade in, 298, note.

Sap, power displayed in the circulation of,
404,

Sarracenia purpurea, 430; engraving of, 430.

Scales from the wings of different butterflies,
engraving of, 113.

Scandinavian Peninsula, rise in, 633.

Scandinavians, Thor the Neptune and Crea-
tor of the, 5; engraving, 6.

Scarabzeus, Sacred, cartouches of, from the
temple of Philz, 166,

Scarites, Giant, in itslurking-place, engraving
of, 235,

Scheuchzer on aérial monsters, 766.

 

Schleiden on extreme minuteuess of Infusoria,
30.

Schultz on the vital nature of the circula-
tion of the sap, 411.

Sea, architects of, 62; fecundity of, 62; the

INDEX.

gelatinous or herbose, 62; hedgehogs, en-
graving of, 286; dwellings in New Guinea,
614, note.

Sea-mews, flight of, 330.

Sea-serpent, engraving of, 769.

Sea-weed, great bank of, 62.

Secondary period, imaginary view of land-
scape of, 587.

Secretary-bird, strength of, 246.

Secretions, vegetable, 437; from roots of
plants, 463.

Section of the trunk of a cork-tree, engrav-
ing of, 379.

Seeds, large numbers of, in certain plants,
553; preservation of, 515.

Sensibility, seat of, in protoplasm, 475, note ;
vegetable, 468.

Sensitive-plant (IZimosa pudica), 473; asleep
and awake, engraving of, 467; during sleep,
465.

Sensitive souls in plants, Adanson on, 469,

Shea-butter, 448.

Sheath Phryganea (Phryganea striata), en-
graving of, 210.

Shells, fossil, of tertiary epoch,
of, 603.

Siberia, immense quantities
tusks in, 605.

Siberian sow-thistle, opening
weather, 366.

Sidereal universe, the, 723.

Silk in cocoon, tenuity of, 144, note.

Silurian period, 576.

Simoom, description of, 702.

Sirex, Giant (S. giganteus), perforation of lead
by, 210.

Sirius, diameter of, 731.

Sisymbrium Trio, sudden growth of, after the
fire of London, 517.

Slave-razzias, 177; slave-making insects, 176.

Sleep of plants, 464; discovery of, by Lin-
neus, 464; attributed by De Candolle to
absence of light, 466,

Smell, organ of, in insects, 122.

Snail, imprisonment of, by bees, 159.

Snow, Red, cause of, 25.

Soapwort, use of, for soap, 458, note.

Social grossbeaks, community of the African,
262; engraving of, 265,

Solar heat, attempt to estimate, 745.

Solar world, the, 740.

Sonuerat, M., on mode of closing nest prac-

tised by Cape titmouse, 262.
pallanzani on revivification of animalcules,
50; on migration of swallows, 337.

Spathe, the, of palm-tree used as a bath, 395;
engraving of, 304.

Spectres of the Brocken, 641; in the Harz,
engraving of, 639,

602; engraving
of elephants’

of, in cloudy

8

 

 

Sphex-fly, mode of providing food for young,
| 163.
| Sphinses, great activity of, 112.
INDEX.

Sphine Galii plundering flowers, engraving
of, 112.

Spider, claw seen with microscope, engraving
of, 119; web of, 171; bite of, not fatal
in France and England, 173; bird-eating
(Mugale avicularia), killing a humming-
bird, 173; attacks birds, 174; large tropical
species of, 174; poison apparatus of, 174;
chicken (Aranca pullaria), engraving of,
175; extreme tenuity of web of, 197; silk,
futile attempt to utilize, by Louis XIV.,
198; successful attempt to utilize, by d’Or-
bigny, 198; mason-crab (Mygale ceemen-
taria), dwelling of, 199; species of mason-
spiders, 201; raft of, in Norfolk fens, 202;
aquatic (Naiadez), 211.

Spider, Garden (Epeira diadema), male and
female, engraving of, 199.

Spider, Tarantula, bite of, not fatal, 174; and
not cured by music, 174, note.

Spiral nebula, the, engraving of, 736.

Sponge (Spongia Cyma), lowest form of ani-
mal life, 57; structure of, 57; engraving
of, 58; contained in flints, 61; with flint
framework, 61.

Spongiole of the Pontederia, engraving of,
378.

Spontaneously formed microscopic grains
which are found in fermentations (Crypto-
coccus cerevisiw), engraving of, 719.

Squirrels, migrations of, 322.

Stag’s horn covered by the growth of layers
of wood, engraving of, 434.

Stamen of the Amaryllis, engraving of, 391;
potato, engraving of, 391.

Stamens, origin of, 389; motions of, at time
of fecundation, 478.

Staphylinus, Sweet-smelling (Staphylinus
olens), engraving of, 137.

Stars, Kepler’s ideas of the, 725; their num-
ber, 726, 730; divisions of, suggested, 726;
nebulz composed of, 729; great distance
of, from the earth, 732.

Stem, transformation of the, into root, 376;
its diversified forms, 378; component parts,
378; absorption effected by, in cactuses,
403.

Stenographic insects, 226.

Stenopteryx of the swallow (Stenopteryx
Hirundinis), engraving of, 98.

Steppes, 695; some covered with verdure,
695; some only show an attempt at vege-
tation, 697; varieties of, 697.

Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus trachurus), showers
of, 347; in nest, engraving of, 348,

Sticks of dried locusts for food, engraving of,
353, note.

St. John’s-wort (Artemisia vulgaris), super-
stition concerning, 774.

St. Lawrence’s rain, phenomenon of, ex-
plained, 759.

Stone-borers, 80.

  

 

789

Stone-eating Modiola (Modivola lithophaga),
engraving of, 83.

Strabo on petrifactions found at foot of
Pyramids, 38.

Strix bubo, nidification of, 270; S. otus, nidi-
fication of, 270; S. flammea, nidification
of, 270; S. flammea, nest of, engraving,
271; S. cunicularia, vidification of, 308 ;
S. cunicularia, nest of, engraving, 304,

Styx, subterranean river in the Mammoth
Cave, engraving of, 689,

Suberous layer, the, 379.

Submarine volcanic eruption in Grecce, 659,
note,

Sugar-cane indigenous in the Old World,
440; introduction of, into Europe, 441.
Sugar-maple (Acer saccharinum), extraction
of sap from, 407, note; its harvest in

America, engraving of, 409.

Sun, the, centre of a system, its invisible
power, 740; of enormous dimensions, great
weight, spots discovered on its surface, 741;
engraving of the spots, 742; their nature,
743, note; heat of, estimated, 743; weight
of, estimated, 732, note.

Sun-dew (Drosera rotundifolia), capture of
insects by, 480.

Superstitions concerning the mandrake, 774.

Swallows, migration of, hybernation of,
334; confidence in man, 338; appropriation
of nests by sparrows, 272; esculent, 24.

Swarm of shooting-stars at sea, engraving of,
760.

Swift-moth of New Zealand (Hepialus vir-
escens), engraving of, 717.

Swimming Fucus (Lf. bacciferus), 62; engrav-
ing of, 63.

Sympathy between plants, 462.

Synalaxis, Black-headed, nest of, 306; engrav-
ing of, 307

i:

Tailor-bird (Sylvia sutoria), nest of, 264; en-
graving of, 264.

Talegalla Lathami, gathering grass for its
nest, engraving of, 255; gleaning bird of
Australia, 257.

Taliput palm (Corypha umbraculifera), great
size of its leaves, 387.

Tapioca, extraction of, from poisonous fluids,
437, and note; composition of, 438, note ;
plant (Manihot utilissima), engraving of,
438.

Tarantula, effects of bite not causing dancing,
174; bite of, not fatal, 174; and not cured
by music, 174, note.

Tardigrades, microscopic animals, experi-
ments on, 47; exposure to great heat, 47;
supposed to be incombustible, 48; explana-
tion of error, 48; engraving of tardigrade,
790

49; resuscitation after desiccation dis-
proved, 55.

Telluric phenomena, 571.

Temple of Jupiter Serapis gnawed by Litho-
phagi, 83; engraving of, 85.

Teredo navalis, description of, 84; ravages
of, 87; and fragment of wood devoured by
others, engraving of, 87.

Termes lucifugus, caused havocin France, 190.

Termites (7’. bellicosi), or white ants, live in
republics, workmen, soldier, queen, 185;
engraving of, 186; dimensions and solidity
of their nests, 186; village of warrior, en-
graving of, 187; devastation effected by,
in houses, 189; some build on trees, 190;
nest of tree termite, engraving of, 191.

Tertiary epoch, 595; imaginary view of land-
scape of, 597.

Theophrastus on ceremonies necessary for
gathering mandrake, 469, and note.

Theories, Various, concerning the Deluge,
626.

Theory of M. Frederick Klee concerning the
Deluge, 626.

Thor, the god of the Scandinavians, 5; the
Neptune and Creator of the Scandinavians
reconstructing the globe, engraving of, 6.

Thyrsus of flowers of the yellow cinchona
(C. cordifolia), engraving of, 452.

Tin-Schu, fabulous account of the, 606.

Titmouse, Long-tailed (Parus caudatus), nest
of, 259; engraving of, 260; Cape, mode of
closing nest, 262; engraving of, 263.

Toads, showers of, 345.

Tonnay-Charente, accident at, caused by ter-
mites, 191.

Tortrix Turionana, engraving of,
Strobiliana, 229; engraving of, 228.

Tourlourous or land-crabs, ¢

Tournefort on nature of coral, 65.

Transpiration, in plants, 420; engraving of,
422; great activity of, 422, 424; in the
sun-flower, engraving of, 424; of leaves,
engraving of, 431.

Travellers attacked by vampires, engraving
of, 699.

Tree producing the sea-ducks, engraving of,
773.

Trees, age of, 542.

Tremella, or nostoc, bestrews the earth
with masses like jelly, its nature, 551;
called by peasants imoon-spittle, 551, note.

Lrichina spiralis, the pig its favourite abode,

995

225;

fr.

 

 

 

27; gnawing a muscle, magnified 200 dia- |
meters, engraving of, 27; female depositing |
her young, engraving of, 28. |

Trichodesmia, Red (7. rubra), cause of colour |
in the Red Sea, 23; seen under the micro-
scope, engraving of, 23. |

Tridacna, Gigantic, a bivalve commonly called
the ‘‘font,” 38; used in the Mollucas as a ,
bathing tub, engraving of, 41.

INDEX.

Trilobites, marine crustaceans, predominated
during the Silurian period, 576; general
account of, 577, note.

Tripoli almost exclusively composed of In-
fusoria, 29.

Tsetse-fly, only destroys certain animals, 106;
natural size and magnified, engraving of,
106.

Tusks, Elephant, immense quantity of, in
New Siberia, 605.

Tuphena Duponti, limited sphere of action
of, 345.

Typographic insects, ravages of, 226.

  

U.

Upas-tree (Antiaris toxicaria), deadly nature
of its juice, 461; fables about the, 461;
engraving of, 487.

Upholsterer insects, 197.

Utricularia, Common, nuptials of, 504; hydro-
static, vesicular leaves of, engraving, 505.

¥.

Vale of Hell in the Black Forest, 642.

Valley of Hell in the mountains of Spain
(Alpujarras), engraving of, 643.

Vallisneria spiralis, fecundation of, 502;
nuptials of, 502; engraving of, 503.

Vampire, American (Vampirus spectrum),
attacks cattle and travellers, 699; engrav-
ings of, 699, 700; source of the name, 700,
note.

Vanessa, great tortoise-shell butterfly (V.
polychloros), imago, caterpillar, and chrysa-
lis, engraving of, 149.

Vegetable kingdom, the, general observa-
tions respecting, 363.

Vegetation on rocks, mode in which it forms,
563.

Venus’ flytrap (Dionwa muscipula), engrav-
ing of, 479; capture of insects by, 480;
great irritability of, 479.

Vesicles creative in plants, 369.

Vibriones in man, 26,

Victoria regia, the great water-lily, abounds
in the Amazon, its great leaves, 385;
river reach filled with, engraving of, 386.

Village of human beavers, 614, note; village
of warrior termites, engraving of, 187.

Virgin, threads of the, 199.

Virgin-forest in the equatorial regions, en-
graving of, 525,

Vital nature of forces of plants, 471.

Voleanoes, 648; send forth lava, 648; Goe-
nong Api, engraving of, and destructive
effects of, 649, and note; their appearance
at a distance, 650; Orizaba, Popocatepetl,
650; Orizaba, engraving of crater, 651;

 

     
INDEX.

Masaya, crater of, its vast extent, 652;
Popocatepetl, engraving of crater, 653;
Cotopaxi, eruption of, in 1553, 655; Etna,
and engraving of crater, 656; Vesuvius,
656; eruption in 1793 in island of Kiou-
siou, Japan, 659; submarine eruption in
Bay of Santorin, Grecian Archipelago, 659,
note; fish ejected by, engraving of, 660;
theories respecting, 661; hot springs or gey-
sers connected with, 665; basalt formed by,
666,
Voltaire, error as to shells, 621, and note.
Vultures attracted from great distances by
putrid emanations, 333.

  

W.

Wagener’s Lieberkuhnia (Lieberkuhnia Wa-
generi), engraving of, 15.

Warty nostoc, 552; engraving of, 552.

Wasp, Paper-making, nest of, 214; engraving
of, and of nest, 215.

Water-beetle (Hydrophilus piccus), 212.

Water-hen (Fulica chloropus), nest of, 285;
engraving of, 283.

Water-lentil, root of, 377.

Wax-palm of the Andes (Ceroxylon andicola),
445; engraving of, 443.

Weaver-birds, nests of various, 305, et seq.

Weeping-tree (Cesalpinia pluviosa), 425; en-
graving of, 427.

White, Mr., on intellectual development of
animals, 152.

Wild-geese, Catching, engraving of, 315.

 

791

Wine-bearing sago-palm (Sagus vinifera),
extraction of sap from, 407 ; engraving of,
413.

Wing of a butterfly seen with the magnify-
ing-glass, engraving of, 113.

Witches’ brooms, 111.

Witches, plateau of the dance of, in the
Harz, 643%.

Wood, the component parts of, 383.

Wood-borers, 80.

‘Wood-boring insects, 225,

Wool, transportation of seeds in, 562.

Worms, Intestinal, in sheep, 26.

Wren, Common, 259; engraving of nest of,
269; party-coloured, nest of, 298; engrav-
ing of nests, 299; golden-crested, young of,
killed by cuckoo, engraving, 277

X.

AXylocopa violacea, 206, note.

Y
Yellow amber, history of, 618, and note.

Yellow-footed gulls, engraving of, 333.
Young Esquimaux, engraving of, 680.

Z.

Zambesi, banks of, infested by tsetse-fly, 106.
Zodiac of Dendérah, 610.

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THE HoOLy LAND. Novres or a Ciertca, FuRLOUGH, SPENT CHIEFLY IN THE
Holy Land. By Rozert Bucuanan, D.pD. Maps and Plans. Square 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.

“Dr. Buchanan's Notes are as fresh as if no book had ever been written or printed on the subject, and as
Sull of interest as if he had been the first explorer of the Huly Land.”—Northern Warder.

THE BooK OF ECCLESIASTES: Irs Meanine anp irs Lessons, Ex-
plained and illustrated. By Roperr Bucuanan, D.D. Square 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.

“In Dr. Buchanan's hands the book loses its enigmatical aspect, and becomes clear, intelligent, and
practical.”—Glasgow Herald.

THEOPNEUSTIA: Tur Divine Onicrn anp Entire Inspiration oF THE BIBxe;
deduced from internal Evidence, and the testimonies of Nature, History, and Science.
By L. GaussEn, D.p., Geneva. Toolscap 8vo, cloth, 3s.

THE SHEEPFOLD AND THE COMMONS on, Wirntn anp Wrrnovr.
Being Tales and Sketches illustrating the power of Evangelical Religion, and the
pernicious tendency of the heresies and errors of the day. Illustrated by thirty-two
full-page Engravings. 2 vols. square 8vo, cloth gilt, 15s.

“It is full of vigorous thinking, expressed in language which betrays an author of no ordinary mind.”—
Eclectic Review.

LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, PATERNOSTER ROW; GLASGOW & EDINBURGH.

 

 

 
 

SPECIMEN OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN DR. OGILVIE’S DICTIONARIES.

   

 

 

 

 

 

DEHISCENT SILICULA.

b ai

 

TrierycH oF Ivory from the British
Musemn.

a, Muzzle. 6, Gullet.  c, Crest. d, Withers. ce, Chest.
f, Loins. gg, Girth. hk, Hip orilium. i,Croup. *, Haunch or oot 7
quarters. 1, Thigh. m, Hock. n, Shank or cannon. 0, Fet- eR arent ae
- bs i Jock. p, Pastern. q, Shoulder-bone or Seapula. 7, Elbow. . ,
Doublet and trunk-hose, s, Fore-thivh or arm. t, Knee. u, Coronet. v, Hoof. ‘vw, Point Nicue, All Souls’ College,
time of Queen Elizabeth. ofhock. 2, Hamstring. zz, Heisht. Oxford,

       
             

TRUNE-HOSB.

  

LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, PATERNOSTER ROW; GLASGOW & EDINBURGH.

 

 

 
 

 

DR. OGILVIE’S DICTIONARIES.

THE IMPERIAL DICTIONARY; ENGLISH, TECHNOLOGICAL,
and Scrzntiric. With Supplement. Adapted to the present state of Literature,
Science, and Art. Upwards of 2500 Engravings on wood. 2 large vols. imperial 8vo,
cloth, £4.

“Dr, Ogilvie has not only produced the best English Dictionary that exists, but, so far as the actual state
of knowledge permitted, has made some approach towards perfection.”—British Quarterly Review.

THE COMPREHENSIVE ENGLISH DICTIONARY; EXPLAN-
ATORY, Pronouncine, and Erymonocicat. Above 800 Engravings on wood. Large
8vo, cloth, 25s.

“« Next to the more costly ‘Imperial,’ the very best that has yet been compiled.”—London Review.

“This is unquestionably the best Dictionary of the English language of its size and scope that has yet ap-
peared.” —Nonconformist.

THE STUDENT’S ENGLISH DICTIONARY; ETYMOLOGICAL,
Pronouncrne, and Expnanarory, for the Use of Colleges and Advanced Schools.
About 300 Engravings on wood. Imperial 16mo, cloth, 10s. 6d.; half-morocco, 18s.

“ The very best of upper school and college dictionarics.”—Nonconformist.

“Tt is an invaluable gift to the rising generation. . . . To gentlemen preparing for the Civil Service Ex-
aminers, this Dictionary will be of incalculable ulility.”’—Civil Service Gazette.

DR. OGILVIE’S SMALLER DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH
Lancvuact, Erymonocicat, Pronouncrne, and ExpLanatory, for the Use of Schools
and Families. Abridged from the ‘‘Student’s Dictionary,’ by the Author. Imperial
16mo, cloth, red edges, 5s. 6d.

“The most comprehensive and intelligible school dictionary published.”—Weekly Dispatch.

“We know no Dictionary so suited for school use as this; it supplies a want which teachers have long felt.”—
British Quarterly Review.

 

THE IMPERIAL BIBLE-DICTIONARY: HISTORICAL, BIO-
GRAPHICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, and DoctriNAL, by numerous Eminent Writers. Edited
by the Rev. Parrick Farrbarrn, D.D. Many hundred Engravings on wood and steel.

* 2 large vols. imperial 8vo, cloth, £3, 12s.

“Orthodox in tone, reverent in spirit, and showing in cvery page the marks of independent and industrious
research.” —Churchman.

“ The matter is of the highest order, the ldterpress most beautiful, and the illustrations equal to anything of
the sort that has yet appeared.” —British Standard.

THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER; A GENERAL DICTIONARY
oF GrocrapHy, PuysicaL, PoLirican, SratistivaL, and Descriprive. Edited by
W. G. Buackiz, PhD. F.RGS. With SUPPLEMENT, bringing the geographical
information down to the latest dates. Illustrated by above Hight Hundred Eneravings
—Views, Costumes, Maps, Plans, &. Two large volumes, 3104 pages, imperial 8vo,
cloth, £4, 15s.

“The Imperial Gazetteer is one of the most valuable works of the kind which have ever issued from the
British press. For accuracy of statement, for the extent and variety of its information, condensed with great
judgment, and for the beauty of its typography, we know nothing of the kind to be compared with it.”—

Morning Advertiser.

“The same care and accuracy in the task of compilation that characterize the original work are displayed
in the Supplement. And the same judgment and industry in resorting to the best as well as the most re-
condite sources in collection of materials have been shown. The recognized usefulness of the Imperial
Gazetteer as a work of reference is greally increased by the issue of the present Supplement.” —Imperial Review.

LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, PATERNOSTER ROW; GLASGOW & EDINBURGH.

 

 

 
 

Some of BLACKIE AND SON'S Publications.

ON THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY iy ran Niverzeyra Cry-
TuRY, being the “ Ely Lectures” of the Union Theological Seminary, New York. By
ALBERT Barnes. Post 8vo. [In preparation.

BARNES’ NOTES ON THE BOOK OF PSALMS. Worn Eprrortan
Preface, Supplemental Notes, and Illustrations. 3 vols. post 8vo. [In preparation.

BARNES’ NOTES ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. Wirs svppte-
mentary and corrective Notes, and engraved Frontispieces. Eleven vols. post 8vo,
cloth, 34s. 6d. The volumes separately, thus :—

Matthew, Mark—Luke, John—Acts—Romans—lst Corinthians—2d Corinthians and Galatians—

Ephesians to Philemon—Hebrews—James to Jude. 10 vols. each 3s. Vol. 11, Revelation, 4s. 6d.

Dr. Hamilton, in the Lamp and the Lantern, says :—‘ For the elucidation of the text [of the Bible], there
is nothing better than the little volumes of Albert Bai as far as they have gone. As it contains Supple-
mental Notes of great value, our personal preference is for Blackie’s Edition.”

  

C8,

BARNES’ NOTES ON THE BOOK OF JOB. Wirs Eprrortay Pre-
face and engraved Frontispieces. Post 8vo, cloth, 6s.

BARNES’ NOTES ON THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. Wirs Surrrementary
and corrective Notes, and many Illustrations not in any other edition. 2 vols. post
8vo, cloth, 7s.

BARNES’ NOTES ON THE BOOK OF DANIEL. Eprrortan Pre-
face and numerous Illustrations. 2 vols. post 8vo, cloth, 7s.

BARNES’ QUESTIONS ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. For
Bible Classes and Sunday Schools. Matthew to Hebrews, one vol. cloth, 3s. 6d.; or
6 parts, at 6d., each complete in itself.

THE WHOLE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN. Onty Comprete
Edition, accurately printed from the Author's own Editions. With Editorial Pre-
races, Notes, and Lirr or Bunyay, by Gzorce Orror. Numerous fine Engravings.
3 vols. imperial Svo, cloth, 57s.

“Tt cannot sail to be the standard edition, and is every way worthy to be so.” —Eclectic Review.

THE CHRISTIAN IN COMPLETE ARMOUR. A Treatise or THE
Saints’ War against the Devil, By Winrt1aw Gurnatt, oa. Accurately printed in
large type, from the Author's own Editions. With a Biographical Introduction, by the
Rev. J. C. Ryze, B.A. Oxon., author of Living or Dead, Home Truths, &c. Engravings.
2 vols. imperial Svo, cloth, 22s.

AN EXPOSITION OF THE CONFESSION OF FAITH or ran
Westminster Assembly of Divines; with some notice of the numerous errors and
heresies against which the statements in the Confession are directed. By Rozert
Suaw, D.D., Whitburn. With an Introduction by the Rev. W. M. HETHERINGTON, L1.D.
Tenth Edition. Foolscap 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d.

LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, PATERNOSTER ROW; GLASGOW & EDINBURGH

 

 

 
 

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