Univ.of 111. Library 53 THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY From the collection of Julius Doerner, Chicago Purchased, 1918. R.GEA5T Sc SON BOOKSELLERS 82. Princes Street. EDINBURGH. Mi, * -H 0 fosn/ & P595.34 Chappuis, Pierre A Canthocamptinae nouveaux d'Afrique occidentale franpaiee. 1932. Reprinted from Buletinul Societatii Cakeonieeiious Pinnacle at St. Andhews, THE MARTELS OE SCIENCE, AND THEIR TESTIMONY HOLY WRIT. BY S. W. FULLOM. “ There is nothing hidden that shall not be known.” jJFtftlj lEtutton, LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1853 . The Author hereby notifies that he reserves the right of Translating this Work in France, Brunswick, and Hanover. LONDON : Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. DEDICATION. TO HIS MAJESTY, THE KING OF HANOVER. Sire, The sentiments which impelled me to dedicate this volume to your Majesty, as a tribute of my grateful devotion, have, if possible, been deepened by the gracious expressions in which your Majesty has signified your acceptance of the dedication — expressions which can never be effaced from my memory, or my heart. I am sensible of the many defects of the book, but I feel persuaded that, whatever may be its imperfections, your Majesty will look with 808171 IV DEDICATION. indulgence on a work which, while it appears under the august protection of your Majesty's name, aims to promote the service and exalt the works of the King of Kings. I have the honour to be. Sire, Your Majesty's most humble, and most devoted Servant, STEPHEN WATSON FULLOM. LONDON, JUNE, 1853. CONTENTS I. SCIENCE AND RELIGION II. THE EMPIRE OF THE SUN . III. THE REGIONS OF SPACE IY. THE RUINS OF CREATION . Y. THE TWO REVELATIONS YI. NATURAL FORCES AND PHENOMENA 10 46 50 . 115 . 148 VI CONTENTS, VII. LIGHT VIII. THE CELESTIAL FIRE . IX. THE MYSTERIES OF THE DEEP . X. THE ATMOSPHERE XI. THE WORLD OF PLANTS XII. THE ANIMAL KINGDOM XIII. THE RACE OF MAN . XIV. THE HUMAN FRAME . Page . 176 . 193 . 211 . 227 . 242 . 272 . 319 . 336 ILLUSTRATIONS carboniferous pinnacle at st. Andrews . Frontispiece. map of the moon Page 27 TIIE PLANET SATURN 34 COMET OF 1680 41 THE GREAT NEBULAE IN ORION . . . . 54 CARBONIFEROUS FLORA 86 THE LABYRINTHODON 92 THE PALJEOTHERIUM — THE PTERODACTYL 99 FOOTPRINTS IN OLD RED SANDSTONE ... — THE ORGANS OF RESPIRATION .... 344 THE BRAIN AND CRANIAL NERVES . . . 347 THE MARVELS OF SCIENCE, I. SCIENCE AND RELIGION. Undoubtedly the most precious of man’s gifts, invaluable and indispensable as they all are, is revealed religion. In comparison with this, the pleasures and the treasures of the world, and even the endowments of his own nature, sink into insignificance. Without religion, he would stand on the earth a forlorn and desolate being, aimless and hopeless. The very faculties which now contribute so largely to his happiness — which invest him, in fact, almost with the B 2 EFFECTS attributes of a God — his reason, his imagination, and his habit and power of reflection, would tend to aggravate his despair. He would behold himself made but to perish, after enduring a life which, in its best aspect, could be regarded only as a burden. Ignorant of his origin, his nature, and his destination, this wise and elevated being would be confounded by his own superiority, and envy the worm crawling at his feet. A spectacle more harrowing, or more awful, it would be difficult to conceive. Thought, now so fruitful of enjoyment, would then become torture ; a sullen gloom would settle on his mind ; and, flying from reflection as from a tor- mentor, he would, if still tolerating life, sink into a savage state, but little removed from the beasts of the forest. Religion is thus made one of the most essen- tial conditions of our being ; and Nature, to use a philosophical term, has not left it unprovided. Apart from Revelation, the mind itself is im- pressed, at a very early period of its develop- ment, with an intuitive consciousness of a superior Power — a Deity, or a fellowship of OF RELIGION. 3 Deities, to whom it is subject and accountable. This supplies at once a restraint, a support, and a source of elevation ; and so deeply rooted in man’s heart is the instinctive conviction of a Presiding Intelligence, that all the inventions of superstition, accumulating through successive ages, till scarcely a vestige of reason or under- standing remained, have never completely ob- scured it. A vague sense of an immortal destiny* and of a supreme, overruling Being, has clung to the benighted mind in the darkest night of its faculties, in its most desperate and most degraded state, raising it up from that slough of despond in which it must other- wise have been immersed. Man has thus, under circumstances of the most depressing tendency, become reconciled to his situation, supported in his reverses, comforted in his sorrows, and ennobled in his duties and aspira- tions. If such is the effect produced by mere natural religion, it must be immeasurably enlarged by a faith emanating directly from God, and dissemi- nated by Revelation. Enlightened by such a b 2 4 REVELATION. communion, man becomes immediately a new creature, inspired by divine sensibilities. His mysterious origin, hitherto so distracting a pro- blem, is unravelled and explained ; bis mission is defined, and he receives an assurance of per- petuity. Light streams upon his mind, and virtue and self-respect kindle in his heart. His feelings, impulses, and passions, so long un- governed and ungovernable, learn, with but little effort, the sacred lessons and beautiful restraints of morality, and readily submit to their wholesome discipline. Ferocity, revenge, sensuality, and selfishness, the propensities de- veloped by indulgence, are in great measure abandoned ; and the redeemed man is happy, beyond what can be expressed by words, in the assiduous cultivation of forbearance, continence, charity, forgiveness of injuries, and self-denial. He is baptized in knowledge, as well as in faith, and the expansion of his heart induces a corresponding advancement of intellect. He no longer gropes in the dark, embarrassed alike by the past and the present ; but walks erect and free, assured of the overruling care of a tutelary THE SCRIPTURES. 5 Providence. The earth, basking in this holy light, is no more a gloomy prison, but the threshold of Paradise; and man now succeeds to his appointed inheritance, the empire of Creation. Revelation being thus inseparably blended with our welfare, and inductive to our progress, it is but reasonable that we should guard its truths with the most jealous care, and deem any aspersion on their sanctity impious and heretical. They are not only the basis of our social happiness, the anchor of our restless minds, associated with every tie and every rela- tion of life ; but they give us an assurance, in words intelligible to the meanest understanding, of another life hereafter, to which they are the guide and beacon. In short, we consider them a testament from Heaven, dictated by the Creator himself, and nominating us its heirs. This holy volume, so replete with knowledge and wisdom, dates from earliest antiquity, though from time to time, as new centuries have rolled by, it has received inestimable aug- mentations, all throwing new light on our na- 6 SACRED HISTORY. ture and destiny. Up to a certain era, it professes to be a history of onr species, and then, with but few digressions, devotes itself more particu- larly to the affairs of one people, elected to this distinction by a signal interposition of Provi- dence. Even this limitation, however, is ante- rior, in part, to the long range of ages classified as the historic period ; and, therefore, the sacred volume may still be regarded as the annals, less of a race, than of the whole human family. Considered only thus, it is a narrative more valuable and more complete than the most finished record of antiquity, instructing us at once in the history, the geography, the learning, and all the characteristics of those remote times. Travellers in the East are amazed at the accuracy of its descriptions, even where Time, realizing its terrible prophecies, has left but few memorials of ancient habitation. The explorers of ruined cities, entombed for more than a thousand years, find their antiquarian researches mere illustra- tions of Holy Writ, confirming it in points and allusions previously veiled in obscurity. Monu- ments rise to light, like witnesses from the SCIENCE. 7 grave, to elucidate and corroborate its historic statements ; and the mystic hieroglyphics of Nineveh and Memphis wake from their sleep of ages to bear testimony to its truth. Approach- ing a more regular chronology, it derives a strange confirmation from the pages of contem- porary annalists, removed from all possibility of collusion, and writing in a language entirely dif- ferent. Later still, it promulgates a new dis- pensation, inculcating the most exalted precepts, adopted and carried out in a divine example ; and the blood of countless martyrs, redeemed from the taint of human error, consecrates this bequest to all posterity. Man has another guide to the Creator, and key to the mysteries of his being, in the attain- ments and experiences of his own mind, or what is commonly denominated Science. Science is the witness to Religion — the natural missionary of Faith. It shows us the beauty, the order, and the perfect harmony of the Creation ; that it cannot be a thing of chance, but is, in every aspect, infallibly the result of the nicest calcu- lation, directed by supreme wisdom. While 8 INDUCTIVE SCIENCE. unveiling the lowest depth, our winged tutor carries us to the highest heavens, and, always reverting from effect to cause, traces in every quarter the hand of the same Architect. Science, in short, is an intellectual sun, whose night- dispelling beams fly further than the trackless comet, and unfold to view the whole breadth of the universe. It is a mighty Apostle, who vin- dicates his ministry by signs and wonders, and is ever leading us to look from nature up to nature’s God. It must not be supposed, however, that Science, so considered, is a spontaneous acquire- ment. On the contrary, it is the child of Time, matured in the womb of ages. It glimmers through the darkness of space, a faint and far- off beacon, to which man gropes his way, with slow and uncertain steps, over many a tor- tuous path, beset with delusive phantasma. It is a stupendous mountain, whose every succes- sive steep opens to view some new object, but whose cloud-capped summit, whence we may scan the whole horizon, can only be attained in thousands of years. For centuries its very FALSE IMPRESSIONS. 9 elements were mis-stated ; and inquiry, how- ever ably directed, was led further and further from the goal. Observation w 7 as distorted by prejudice, and every successive deduction was based on error. Man sought in the mine of nature for its gems of knowledge, but laboured without judgment .and without light. The marvel was not that, in this dismal uncertainty, he diverged from the right track ; but that so many failures and disappointments, and the seeming impossibility of success, did not induce him to abandon the pursuit. His perseverance, however, was destined to achieve a noble and sublime result. Gradually traces of light ap- peared ; precious facts, pregnant with signifi- cance, were ascertained and stored ; and every new phenomenon was carefully recorded. Then, indeed, men began to build a tower whose top should reach unto the heavens — a tower not made with hands, and which, unlike Babel, was to be a memorial, not of confusion, but of uni- versal harmony and concord. It is a reasonable consequence that science should be but imperfectly developed in the b 3 10 FIRST OBSERVATIONS. infant stage of communities. Our first care is to ensure the means of subsistence, and to pro- vide, as far as possible, for our personal comfort and security. This is a law of nature, and though not absolutely arbitrary, is of almost universal application. Savage or nomade tribes, from their unsettled mode of life, are peculiarly absorbed by these pursuits ; and, consequently, have but little acquaintance with physical know- ledge. The wild Indian beholds the sun rise in the east, and knows that, as day declines, its orb of flame will sink in the west ; but occupied in the excitement of the chase or by the perils of war — taken up by mundane necessities, he seeks no explanation of the phenomenon. The inquiry suggests itself more readily to men independent of these cares — whose employments are less distracting and less barbarous. We owe this first scrutiny of the mysteries of nature to shepherds, who, in the early ages of the world, when beasts of prey still infested the haunts of men, guarded their flocks through the long watches of the night, and then gazed in wonder on the starlit heavens. Minds accus- DAY AND NIGHT. li tomed to solitary contemplation, uninterrupted by any vicissitudes or startling incident, were immediately arrested by this spectacle, and sur- veyed its manifold wonders with wistful curiosity. The moon, whose benignant beams softened the terrors of darkness, became, in such a condition of being, an especial object of interest ; and the first streak of light rivetted the weary eye of the watcher on the rising sun. In time he learnt to account, by observation and inference, for the recurring phenomena of night and day, conceiving the apparent revolution of the sun and moon to be real, and the earth stationary ; and thus, by a process rigidly inductive, gained his first notions of astronomy. Science was cradled in delusion and error. For thousands of years this vital fallacy, kernelled in the very root of knowledge, was received as a fundamental truth, and deemed indisputable by the learned. Every new phe- nomenon, however incompatible with such a theory, was distorted into corroborative testi- mony, and, when that was beyond the greatest powers of reasoning, explained in a manner 12 GALILEO. utterly chimerical. The hypothesis even ac- quired the sanction of religion, and was held as an article of faith. It was thought to be established by divine revelation, recorded on the page of Scripture ; and when, after count- less ages, its fallacy was demonstrated, the great objector, Galileo, was denounced as a heretic and blasphemer. Behold the aged man in the chamber of the Inquisition, arraigned at its sullen tribunal. Seventy changeful winters have shed their snows upon his brow, which wisdom has impressed with her most majestic characters. The eye whose penetrating glance, directed by the inspi- ration of genius, has pierced the mysteries of the heavens, now looks on instruments of tor- ture, demanding the renouncement of its dis- coveries. The world moves, and, knowing this, he is required to declare that it stands fast. He appeals to the clemency and the justice of his judges, and challenges disproof of his state- ments. He claims indulgence for his failing years, his infirmities, and his life of study and toil. In vain : he cannot witness to a lie ; and THE INQUISITION. 13 the sentence of condemnation, hateful even to the inquisitors, is reluctantly pronounced. What spectacle so lamentable as that writhing frame, released from the bonds of the rack, and stretched on the damp straw of a dungeon ! Shut out from the world, his every limb quiver- ing with pain, the martyr is yet cheered, in his isolation and misery, by the magnitude of his researches. The light his potent intellect has summoned from the sun, will one day be aug- mented, more than the wildest imagination can conceive, from the confines of infinity. Already the old system of astronomy, with all its intractable theories, and unwieldy suppo- sitions, is for ever destroyed. Like another Sampson, he has plucked up the pillars on which it rested, and the whole cumbersome pile has fallen to the ground. But a new founda- tion is laid, sure and immoveable as the ever- lasting rocks, and on this a fabric will rise, spite of the opposing forces of ignorance and superstition, to be a memorial of his genius till the end of time. Well had it been for the venerable sage if he 14 RECANTATION. had remained faithful to his revelation ! What were the sands of an exhausted life, rapidly running out, in comparison with the admiration and esteem of all posterity ! But the philo- sopher, divine in the vigour of his understand- ing, was human in his weakness. The alterna- tive offered was the stake or recantation — and he decided to recant ! Kneeling in the court of the Inquisition, with his eyes raised to the heavens he had explored, his faltering lips renounced their glorious and holy mission. Clasping the testament of salva- tion to his bosom, he pronounced the first truth of nature, on which the whole Creation was based, to be a false and heretical fable ; then mur- mured in a low voice — “ For all this, it moves.” Yes ! the truth was uttered ; and once put on record, all the devices of man, backed by his most malignant prejudices, would fail to refute it. It was eternal and immutable — as immutable as the world itself. God, of whose laws he was the chosen interpreter, had made it the governing principle of the universe, and such it should remain for ever and ever. earth’s motion. 15 We now see the association that exists between science and religion, and how one tes- tifies, with resistless force, to the divine authority of the other. We have arrived at the pri- mary elemental truth — the earth moves ; and we have now to consider, as briefly as the subject will permit, what are the various rela- tions of this capacious globe, and how it is connected with the sidergpl heavens. We may then view it in its structure, its geological history, its ever-changing phenomena, its vege- tation, and its inhabitants. II. THE EMPIRE OF THE SUN. The Earth is one of a group of orbs, which circle round the sun, and hence are called the “ Solar System.” The cluster consists of twenty-eight primary orbs, or planets, so named from their perceptible motion, the term signi- fying “ wanderers” — at least twenty secondary planets, or moons, which revolve round the larger masses ; a number of aerolites, familiarly designated “ shooting stars,” and a host of comets. Six of the primary planets, just distinguished by names, were discovered dur- ing last year (1852) ; three by foreign ob- servers, and three by Mr. Hind. Astronomers ZODIACAL LIGHT. 17 include in the system a ring of vaporous matter, lying in an apparently pyramidal form, beyond the orbit of the earth, and which bears the name of the Zodiacal Light. The whole forms a thin stratum in the heavens, on the plane of the Milky Way. The control of the vast group is vested in the sun, which, by unerring laws, at once sustains it in space, and holds it in complete subjection. From this mighty orb the cluster is overlooked, and stability car- ried, on the wings of light, to its remotest frontier. The aspect of the sun accords with such supremacy of position, and is unrivalled in magnitude, in lustre, and in majesty. The immeasureable sphere of heaven, in which our entire system is less than a span, seems his exclusive domain ; and when his glorious effulgence bursts forth, all other luminaries disappear. Throughout the broad expanse of his stupendous empire, if we may judge from the effect visible to ourselves, he exer- cises the same benignant, kindly, and exhi- larating influence. To our Earth he extends 18 THE SUN. the genial blessings of light, warmth, and ever- recurring fruitfulness. His beams, spreading from furthest East to the remote West, shed unmingled gladness over the face of nature, and cover her naked form with a rich mantle of vegetation. He clothes the stately forest with foliage, and carpets the rugged ground with verdure and flowers. The waters sparkle under his light ; and the refreshing shower, exhaled by his rays, descends to cool and fertilize the earth. To him we owe the successive and charming variety of the seasons, which bring us, first, the snows of winter, driven onward by the fierce blasts of the North ; then, in regular and unbroken order, the promise and lovely blush of spring, the glorious fulness of summer, and the mellow tints of more sober autumn. Through all he is alike ascendant, the monarch of the skies. This sovereign rule very soon attracted the attention of mankind, and led them to regard the sun with peculiar veneration. Few gene- rations had passed before his attributes and his physical supremacy were recognised, and FIRE-WORSHIPPERS. 19 in the estimation of the infant world, he was elevated into a god. The renowned sect of the Magians, or fire-worshippers, whose tenets prevailed over a large portion of the East, were his earliest adorers, and their faith was the most primitive of antiquity. They conceived the world to be the work of an eternal God, who combined in himself the opposite prin- ciples of good and evil; and that the sun, hung in the highest sphere of heaven, was his flame-girt throne, whence his glance sur- veyed the universe. Gradually the sun itself became the object of their worship, and at length they even extended their adoration to fire, which, adopting the opinion then universal, they supposed to be the material of the guardian orb, and consequently sacred and divine. Although the self-luminous stars which so thickly stud the heavens, further than the eye can penetrate, are possibly but the centres of numberless other systems — beacons in the sky to worlds as perfect and as vast as our own, but far removed from human observation — our sun, whose every movement has been so 20 MUTUAL ATTRACTION. thoroughly investigated, is the only luminary absolutely ascertained to be a central body, indissolubly linked with subordinate and de- pendent globes, moving in orbits round it. It is, however, placed beyond dispute, that there is no one mass of matter positively isolated, but that all are alike influenced by extraneous bodies, subject to the same unerring law. This law pervades the universe, and is the principle of mutual attraction, by which these floating worlds, acting and re-acting on each other, are buoyed up for ever in the aerial ocean of space. Thus the moon is knit to the earth, the earth to the sun, and the sun, with its mighty train of planets, comets, asteroids, and moons, to the other clusters of Creation. The power of attraction is in proportion to the weight and density of the mass ; and therefore, in our system, these greatly pre- ponderate in the sun, which holds the other bodies in subjection. Its magnitude indeed is too prodigious for the human mind to com- prehend, presenting a diameter of 883,000 earth’s stability. 21 miles, while its weight is no less than 354,936 times greater than that of the earth. This stu- pendous preponderance completely negatives the effect which the planets, obedient to the law of gravitation, would otherwise exercise on each other, and wfyich is consequently restricted to mere perturbations, causing no disturbance of the system, but contributing, by the counter- action, to insure its stability. Till very recently, no such guarantee for its permanence had been discovered, and it was supposed to contain within itself the germ of dissolution. The orbit of the earth, originally an ellipse, was observed to be gradually changing, and in time, say in the course of tens of thousands of years, must become circular, whence it was erro- neously inferred that the revolving planet would eventually be precipitated on the sun, and all nature be destroyed. But it is now ascertained that on attaining the circular orbit, the earth will slowly and imperceptibly alter its track, and return, by degrees apparent only after thousands of revolutions, to its primitive ellipse — so wonderfully has God constructed 22 EVIDENCE OF DESIGN. the universe, and so apparent is the divine hand in all its arrangements ! The sun is separated from the earth by a gulph of 90,000,000 of miles, yet, illimitable as this space seems, its light, travelling at the rate of 12,000,000 of miles in a minute, reaches our hemisphere in seven minutes and a half. The emission and diffusion are thus almost simultaneous ; but the sphericity of the earth interposing, creates the charming interval of twilight, by which the eye is prepared alter- nately for the darker shades of evening and the full radiance of morn. The revolution of the world round its axis produces the phenomena of day and night. Its circuit round the sun marks the ever-recurring year. I have mentioned the mutual attraction of the planets as an evidence of design in the construction of the heavens, inseparable from the great first cause of an all-wise Creator; but as we advance in the survey of our system, this design becomes more obvious, and the power of attraction is exhibited in a more striking manner. In fact, our scheme of worlds GRAVITATION. 23 is so nicely adjusted, each one is balanced so accurately against the other, that were it pos- sible for any two to exchange orbits- — as Saturn, for instance, to occupy the position of Mars, and vice versa — the whole fabric would be instantly overthrown. The gravitating prin- ciple lodged in the sun, though undoubtedly a leading element in the control of the planets, would itself be a cause of derangement, were it not aided and corrected by this provident distri- bution of forces. The natural tendency of a body which has received an impulse forward, though it may be restrained for a time by central gravitation, is to fly onward in a straight line ; and this disposition is more especially the characteristic of revolving masses, which, by the velocity of their revolution, acquire a centrifugal force, rendering gravitation nugatory. Thus the earth, swayed by the projectile influence, would, after a certain number of revolutions round its centre of motion, break away from its orbit and wander into space, were it not restrained by an equivalent power vested in the other planets. 24 THE MOON. Nor is the law of gravitation itself essentially a property of matter, inherently fixed upon it by its own nature. The most elaborate researches of science can arrive at no such conclusion, and to those who object to the miraculous in the work of creation, considering the infinite and immeasurable universe the slow result of natural agencies, here is an undeniable and perpetual miracle, which no sophistry can evade. The effect of the incessant antagonism of gra- vitation and reciprocal magnetism is strikingly illustrated in the relations of the earth and the moon. The satellite, conforming to the same economy that governs the primary planets, revolves round the world, its centre of motion, in an orbit nearly circular, at a distance of only 240,000 miles ; and is thus immediately in the sphere of the earth’s attraction. Such proximity, unrestrained by any opposing in- fluence, would, sooner or later, inevitably rend it from its orbit, and drag its shattered hulk on to our globe ; but, to prevent such a de- rangement, a corresponding power is deposited in the sun, which draws the enslaved satellite moon’s stability. 25 in the opposite direction, and so negatives the ascendancy of the earth. The moon is thus confined to her orbit, and the balance of the heavens is preserved. The relations of the moon to the earth bear, in some respects, a singular resemblance to those which the earth maintains with the sun. I have stated that the orbit of our globe has been slowly changing, and, as time rolls on, will infallibly become circular; and it is now ascertained, on evidence equally decisive, that the moon is subject to a similar aberration. On referring to the observations registered by the Babylonians, and comparing them with those made in our own time, the faithful satellite is found to have taken several days longer to perform her revolution in those primitive ages, shrouded in the mists of an- tiquity, than she does at the present moment. From the dark abyss of the past a voice pro- claims the startling truth that she is drawing nearer and nearer to the earth — whirling round it, as the moth flies round the flame, faster and closer, till the awful moment arrives when c 26 LUNAR ACTION. her balance will be destroyed, and the whole prodigious mass be precipitated on her primary. Reason is confounded at the mere imagination of a catastrophe so overwhelming and tremen- dous. We cannot believe that the omniscient Creator, perfect in all his works, has left so great a flaw in the mechanism of the universe ! Nor is our confidence misjudged. The moon, like the earth, is undoubtedly changing her orbit ; but, like the earth, she can diverge only to a certain point. That attained, she retraces her successive gradations of distance, and so falls back to her original curve. Her stability is insured, and she becomes an ever- lasting witness to the majesty and power of the Almighty. The intimacy of our connexion with the moon makes itself apparent in the internal economy of the world, over which, rotating on her distant axis, she exercises an influence at once mild and benignant. To her we owe the beneficent action of the tides, which, by their constant ebb and flow, impart a healthful motion to the waters, and conserve their purity LUNAR SUENERY. 27 and freshness. To her we are indebted for a thousand ministrations, inextricably associated with our physical requirements. Nor is her usefulness restricted to an active force, operating on the elements of our globe. Leaving his native earth, man plants himself on this de- pendency, and finds, on looking round, that it is the threshold of the heavens. The ever- lasting doors are lifted up ; and while his eye measures the diameter of the sun, he is able, from this platform, to span the distance of the remotest nebulae. He is no longer lord only of the world : he has subdued the universe to his rule. The moon has no inhabitants. Her vast orb is not, like our own, enveloped in a life-breathing atmosphere, more invigorating than Promethean fire. No seas fill her bottomless depths, and no rivulets gush, in crystal cascades, from the secret recesses of her mountains. One mountain, visible even to the naked eye, is of prodigious dimensions, having a diameter nearly as large as England, and rising to the height of the loftiest of the Andes. In other places the tele- c 2 28 ETERNAL FROST. scope, more piercing than lightning, reveals mighty hollows, sinking below the reach of measurement. Clefts yawn from the heart of rocks, and large boulders impend, as if the slightest breath would hurl them into the abyss. A scene more dismal or more awful cannot be imagined. There is no verdure, no vege- tation. From the towering summit of Mount Newton, mantled in impenetrable ice, to the lowest cavity of this silent world, all is sterile, lonely, and desolate. The moon is the throne of eternal winter ! Some authors, with little regard to the obser- vations of our eminent astronomers, represent the frozen orb as the theatre of incessant volcanic eruptions, bursting from every part of its restless surface; and, pursuing this hypothesis, even trace the stream of lava in its outbreak from the crater, and deadly progress onward. But there can be no volcanic action where there is neither water nor air ; and fire, to burn per- petually, must have other fuel than ice. Inves- tigation, in fact, has established that, whatever may have been its primitive condition, the moon MERCURY. 29 is no longer subject to volcanic agencies, but lies unchanged through revolving ages, in all the disorder of chaos. But we must now, for a time, leave our earth and its dependency, and take a hasty glance at the other planets, the neighbouring orbs of our mighty system. And here I would observe that the globe which we inhabit is not the first in the series, but incloses in its orbit two inner worlds, rotating in minor curves round the sun. It does not fall within the compass of this work, which has reference only to the grand outlines of the Creation, to describe these bodies with minuteness ; but it is necessary to speak of them individually, and I shall therefore indicate their position and bearings. The first in order is Mercury, which is only 36,000,000 of miles from the sun, or little more than a third of the distance of our earth. It is the smallest of our primitive planets, being only 1,300 miles in diameter, but from its proximity, it is seen distinctly without a tele- scope. It performs its revolution round the sun 30 VENUS. in eighty-eight days, which is the shortest period of the system. The second planet of the group is Venus. This, less influenced by attraction, moves in a more protracted orbit, at a distance from the sun of nearly 70,000,000 of miles. Its magnitude is far greater than Mercury’s, and nearly equals that of the earth. According to Sir William Herschell, it is enveloped in a dense atmosphere ; and Schroter, who subjected it to a severe scrutiny, considers that some of its mountains are upwards of twenty miles high. Venus is supposed to be attended by a satellite. Nearly 30,000,000 of miles more must be traversed ere we alight on the earth, the garden of the cluster. This planet seems designed ex- pressly by the Creator for the abode of his most favoured creatures. Situated at such a distance from the sun as to enjoy, without intermission, all the brilliancy of his light, its position secures, at the same time, a measured and healthful temperature, and the beautiful variety of the seasons. To render its gifts more complete, it MARS. 31 is furnished with a dependent and subsidiary moon, its constant attendant and satellite, and an unwearying minister to its physical require- ments. We now pass a great boundary of the system, and wing our flight to Mars, which, doubling the circle of Venus, revolves round the sun at the mean distance of 142,000,000 of miles, Mars is smaller than Venus, and scarcely more than half the magnitude of the earth, having a diameter of only 4,000 miles. Its year is 687 days, in which period, rotating swiftly on its axis, it completes its revolution round the sun. More than 100,000,000 of miles intervene before any other body presents itself, when the system, hitherto so regular, assumes a new aspect, completely at variance with the apparent principle of its economy. Instead of a ponderous orb, surpassing in magnitude the diameter of Mars, we come upon a knot of minor planets, whose size is comparatively insignificant. This remarkable group, the existence of which has but recently been discovered, chiefly through 32 ASTRAL GROUP. the vigilance and unremitted researches of Mr. Hind, constitutes an anomaly which the most sagacious of our philosophers cannot satisfac- torily explain. It consists of no less than twenty planets, describing orbits of varied eccentricity, bent to the plane of the ecliptic and intersecting each other. These bodies are respectively named Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Astrea, Hebe, Iris, Flora, Metis, Hygeia, Parthenope, Vic- toria, Egeria, Irene, Eunomia, Melpomene, For- tuna, Massillias, Calliope, Thalia. Their appear- ance is so minute that Science, even with its most profound calculations, is unable to deter- mine their precise extent, but probably the largest has not a greater diameter than France. Dr. Olbers, the eminent German astronomer, speculating on so strange a violation of the principle of our system, considers this astral archipelago to have originally formed one com- pact orb, which some internal convulsion snapped asunder ; and, though not very eagerly received, the theory has gained many adherents. It rests, however, on very slender grounds, if I except the elaborate computations of Lagrange — com- JUPITER. 33 putations which, while they are undeniably subtle and ingenious, are not recognised as evidence by the scientific world. The truth, indeed, seems to be, that this anomalous cluster forms a sort of frontier, a chain of outposts, to those worlds of the system whose orbits it surrounds, and which are essentially distinct from those which lie beyond. Thus the system slowly changes ; and a belt of islands, standing like signal towers in the mid-way, forms a connecting link with either extremity. On turning our attention to the outlying planets, we are immediately struck by their vast magnitude, their compressed form, and the velocity of their motion, so greatly exceed- ing that of the inner worlds. At a mean distance from the sun of 480,000,000 of miles, we alight on the largest of the series, not inaptly named Jupiter. This brilliant orb, the gem of our system, has a diameter of no less than 90,000 miles, and is twelve years performing its revolution round the sun. It is attended by four moons, revolving in con- secutive orbits, the outermost of which is c 3 34 SATURN. 1,040,000 miles distant. The third moon, while more intimately connected with its primary, is the brightest satellite of our group. A mighty abyss of 410,000,000 of miles divides Jupiter from Saturn — so far as we yet know, the most peculiar body of the heavens. Surrounded by several luminous and two dark rings, and attended by eight moons, whose lustre its flashing radiance almost throws into eclipse, Saturn presents an appearance at once sublime and awful. Twenty-nine and a half years are required to effect its revolution round the sun, though moving, as I have before intimated, with astounding velocity, so as almost to fly round its axis. The rings in which it is set, inclosing its prodigious diameter of 77,000 miles, revolve with corresponding swiftness, and are so constructed as to insure a per- petual equilibrium, their thickness, from edge to edge, being varied with the most beautiful and consummate delicacy, by which derange- ment is rendered impossible. This, without doubt, is the most signal, most marvellous, OF X ,S URANUS. 35 and most direct indication of the Divine Hand that the whole Creation presents — the most startling exhibition of the Almighty’s power, and his unsearchable wisdom, that man has been permitted to contemplate. What a thrill of wonder, what transports of solemn joy, do we not experience, when the piercing telescope lifts the veil of distance, and reveals to us this glorious mystery ! Our souls bend in adora- tion; and we are ready to exclaim in the devout words of the Psalmist : “ O, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the world: thou hast set thy glory above the heavens !” Leaving Saturn, an almost boundless interval succeeds ere we reach another world, when, at the distance of 1,800,000,000 miles from the sun, we arrive at Uranus, long considered the outermost of the planets, but lately dethroned from this dignity. Uranus, differing from the two preceding orbs, rotates with diminished speed, and is eighty-four years accomplishing the circuit of his orbit. In this ceaseless journey he is attended by a retinue of six moons, which 36 NEPTUNE. are constantly encircling his path, and minister- ing to his necessities. We now approach the confines of our system, where Neptune, our remotest acquisition, moves, like a mighty warder, round his awful and im- measurable orbit, guarding all within. True, at rare intervals, some erratic comet vaults over the dread boundary, and plunges into the void beyond ; but this, followed by the eye of science, only goes forth like an adventurous mariner to sound the depths of that gulf of darkness, and return with the olive-branch of security and order. And here, at the threshold of our group, it will be well to look more narrowly at these wandering bodies, and mark their character and peculiarities. In the early ages of the world, the appearance of comets in the sky, with tails of greater or less extent, struck mankind with consternation, and was universally regarded as prophetic of calamity and disaster. Nor is this surprising, seeing that the fevered imagination easily dis- torted their magnificent trains of light into flaming swords, or resolved them into shafts of COMETS. 37 fire. It was even announced, from the oracular lips of the priesthood, that the gods, no longer able to forbear, manifested, by these terrific signs, their wrath at the wickedness and corrup- tion of the world, and menaced it with instant destruction. For thousands of years superstition clung to this delusion, and Science, itself wan- dering in a maze, strengthened it with her more reasonable apprehensions. These met the un- welcome visitant on the remotest frontier of our system, and attended him, with hourly increasing trepidation, in his fearful flight towards the sun. As he still drew nearer and nearer, with a velo- city more frightfully rapid, the observer, in a paroxysm of suspense, expected each moment to see his serpent-head dart at the great lumi- nary, and light the universe in flames. Even to within these few years, such a catastrophe was thought within the bounds of probability. The announcement that Biela’s comet, which returns in its track towards the sun every six years, would, on some night in October, 1832, actually cross the earth’s orbit, in its passage to- wards the centre of motion, created a very general 38 biela’s comet. feeling of alarm, and an opinion became exten- sively diffused, among the intelligent no less than the vulgar, that it was likely to come in collision with our globe. To quiet such idle fears, the eminent astronomer Arago, to whose genius and earnest labours science owes so much, presented to the French Academy of Sciences a most valuable exposition of the characteristics of the intruder, which robs it of all its terrors. It is now demonstrated, on evidence admitting of no dispute, that even if a collision should ever occur — of which there is not one chance in a million — the matter composing the comet is of such excessive rarity, that the earth would pass through it without sustaining any derangement, and without any inconvenience to its inhabitants. On such foundations has God, in his supreme wisdom, constructed our world, and ordained that it shall for ever stand fast ! Comets, from the difficulty of elucidating their character, have been supposed by some eminent astronomers to be worlds in course of formation — the germs of future planets, yet crude and uncondensed. But this theory, though halley’s comet. 39 it has won many adherents, is, in fact, at vari- ance with the whole principle of their economy. Though their flight is so remote, and their motion so eccentric, the limits of their vast orbits are known and defined ; and we are able to calculate and foretell their periods, even when extending over thousands of years. Such a result could not possibly be attained by the grandest appliances of science, if the bodies in question were of a progressive character, as, in that case, their periods, to whatever extent they might reach, would infallibly decrease at each revolution. But the theory is opposed by more direct and more conclusive evidence. If comets were really incipient worlds, the matter compos- ing them, as century on century rolled by, would surely condense and thicken, so as to form something more than a mere shell ; but, instead of reaching an advanced stage, it rarefies and evaporates. The comet of Halley, which has been traced back for two thousand years when its first appearance is recorded, originally sur- passed the sun in lustre, stretching like a beam across the heavens ; but from that time, its 40 PROJECTILE FORCE. figure and magnitude have sensibly altered, and at its last visit, in 1835, it had very materially shrunk. Nor did this diminution of size, still growing beautifully less, arise from condensa- tion, as the nucleus had acquired no increase of density, although, according to the observations of Sir John Herschell, it was sometimes bold and defined. While it thus seems clear that these flaming visitants cannot be considered in the light of rudimentary planets, the researches of science demonstrate, with equal certainty, that they are not to be regarded with any degree of appre- hension. A wondrous discovery has dawned on modern investigation, which most strikingly exhibits the beautiful design and singular har- mony of the Creation. The sun, the centre of gravitation, which calls back the wandering comet from its remotest flight, not only attracts, but repels. Sir John Herschell was the first to detect this repulsive power, and to trace it analogically to its source. The great astro- nomer, whose active genius is ever developing some new truth, asks triumphantly “ where . of .f COMET OF 1680. 41 we are to look, if only gravity be admitted, for any reasonable explanation of a comet’s pro- jection outward from the sun !” Where indeed, when its natural tendency, under the primary principle of motion, would inevitably be to plunge headlong on the centre of gravity, and destroy the whole fabric of Nature. The revolutions of the cometary host extend over a wide range of periods. While Encke’s comet, one of the telescopic series, performs its uneasy but rapid journey in so short a term as three years, that of 1811 is absent for three thousand and sixty-five, and Encke calculates that the terrific comet of 1680 only returns towards the sun once in 8800 years. During this round of centuries it recedes to the amazing distance of 79,200,000,000 of miles, or forty-four times further than the orbit of Uranus. Even here, however, it is still within the limits of the sun’s dominion, and far removed from any ulterior or rival influence. The distance of its centre of motion, as already stated, is 79,200 millions of miles, while that of a Centauri, the nearest of the 42 PROBABLE FUNCTIONS stars, is 19,727,000 millions. But the planets of our system have long since disappeared ; the imperial sun itself has vanished from sight ; and yet, true to the grand law of nature, the obedient comet acknowledges its supremacy. It now moves through the dark ocean of space so slowly, that it scarcely advances a mile in an hour ; but soon, by the utter exhaustion of the projectile force, it is again animated by the sun’s attraction. Returning on its wild orbit, it gradually increases in velocity, till it dashes with reckless speed into the midst of our system. Thus the sun’s ascendancy is vindi- cated, and proves itself absolute and unbounded. On considering the whole subject, I think it a reasonable conjecture, in harmony with the known tenor of the Creation, that comets should he the appointed vehicles for the agglomeration of detached vapours — in fact, a sort of police of the skies, preserving everywhere the same uniform consistency and order. Stray exhalations, attracted by the flying mass of the comet, are thus swept from the more defined and precise track of the OF COMETS. 43 planets, where they might exercise a pernicious influence, and being brought into one focus, are subjected to the operation of the sun’s heat, by which they are either utterly dispelled, or broken up into fragmentary shooting-stars. This hypothesis solves, at the same time, the enigma presented by those minor outlaws, which have so long eluded the researches of astronomers. And surely it is far more rational to consider the shooting- stars fragments of rarefied comets, thrown off in the manner described, than, as some allege, ejections from volcanoes in the moon, where, indeed, as has already been shown, no volcanic action exists. We have now surveyed the grand fabric of the solar system, and scanned its wondrous and sublime proportions. We have yet to see that it forms but a speck in the great scheme of the Creation — that the regal sun, vested with such irresistible attributes, is itself but a subordinate — the viceroy of a far mightier lord, throned in the immeasurable distance. To M. Maedler, the eminent astronomer of Dorpat, science owes the startling discovery, that the star Alcyone, in 44 CENTRAL SUN. the Pleiades, is the centre of a boundless suc- cession of clusters, forming what has hence been called an astral system, and of which our sun, with its stupendous train of planets, moons, comets, and asteroids, is but an insignificant unit. So remote from our sphere is this central orb, that its distance can only be marked by comparison, and may be faintly comprehended from the fact that its light, travelling at the rate of 7*20,000,000 miles an hour, occupies 350 years in reaching our earth. Such is the awful chasm which divides the sun from its primary ; but the interval, wide as it is, is bridged over by the same universal, eternal, immutable law of gravitation. As the moon revolves round the earth, and the earth round the sun, the sun in its turn is bent to an orbit, and is flying round its centre at the rate of 34,000,000 of miles in every year. The mind would be bewildered in tracing these results, if every step forward, from our first advance, were not an easy sequel — if the mechanism of the whole were not as simple as it is complex — if the harmony that sustains SUBLIMITY OF NATURE. 45 it were not the effect of known laws, directed by an overruling, inscrutable, and almighty power. But, thus viewed, the sublime spec- tacle calls up a solemn feeling of joy; and we thankfully remember that the same bene- ficent Creator who constructed the heavens, far above out of our sight, has declared that none of his creatures are forgotten before him, and that even the very hairs of our head are all numbered. III. THE REGIONS OF SPACE. It it impossible to look up at the heavens on a clear still night, and not be struck with wonder at the countless multitude of stars, spread over its everlasting sphere in every direc- tion. The mind is reluctant to admit, on any other evidence than absolute demonstration, that all those twinkling orbs are grand and magnificent suns — most probably the centres of whole systems of worlds, as vast and as perfect as our own. Even Religion hesitates, as if it were an impious thing to magnify so marvel- IMMENSITY OF CREATION. 47 lously the unbounded power of the Almighty, and show the adorable majesty of the Creator in the immensity of His works. But what shall we say, if we start at this, when the searching gaze of the telescope reveals a cluster of stars for every single one apparent to the naked eye — when far, far away in the illimitable ocean of space, the galaxy of spark- ling gems still presents itself, suspended at a distance which the ordinary medium of figures utterly fails to express. The reflection is indeed tremendous, but still suggests an inspiring moral. We feel elevated by the lesson which, awful and occult though it is, we have been gifted with faculties to acquire. The soul finds an anchor in its own endowments, and we worship and glorify the Being who has given such power unto men. Probably the first point that attracted the primitive observers of the heavens, in consider- ing their structure and economy, was the remarkable configurations of stars composing the twelve constellations, and which still bear the names they received in the earliest ages of 48 THE MILKY WAY. the world. By them the sphere is divided into distinct regions, which serve, by their well- defined boundaries, to mark the position of any individual star. The stars themselves are arranged in five classes — namely, fixed stars, plural stars, lost stars, periodic stars, and new stars. The other celestial bodies constitute the scarcely visible clusters of the nebulae, and the dazzling stream of the Milky Way. The Milky Way forms the grandest feature of the firmament. It completely encircles the whole fabric of the skies, and sends its light down upon us, according to the best obser- vations, from no less than 18,000,000 of suns. These are planted at various distances, too remote to be more than feebly understood ; but their light, the medium of measurement, requires for its transit to our earth periods ranging from ten to a thousand years. Such is the sum of the great truths revealed to us by the two Herschells, who, with a zeal which no obstacle could daunt, have explored every part of the prodigious circle. Sir William Herschell, after accomplishing his famous section, believed FIXED STARS. 49 that he had gauged the Milky Way to its owest depth, affirming that he could follow a cluster of stars with his telescope, constructed expressly for the investigation, as far back as would require 330,000 years for the transmis- sion of its light. But, presumptuous as it may seem, we must be permitted to doubt this asser- tion, as the same telescope, in the same master- hand, was not sufficiently powerful to resolve even the nebulae in Orion. Nor must we forget, that light, our only clue to those un- searchable regions, expands and decomposes in its progress, and, coming from a point so remote, its radiant waves would be dispersed in space. Thus the reflection is forced upon us, that new clusters and systems, whose beaming light will never reach our earth, still throng beyond; and that though it is permitted to man to behold the immensity, he shall never see the bounds of the Creation. From the Milky Way, we turn to contem- plate the fixed stars, which constitute the great landmarks of the heavens. Their motion, on account of the tremendous distance, being D 50 PLURAL STARS. scarcely appreciable, they have always been designated as fixed, although, in truth, their periods of revolution are known and defined. Hundreds of thousands of years must elapse before even the shortest term will draw towards its close ; and then, as the cycle of time slowly runs out, the swiftest of the fixed stars will have made one circuit round its centre. Their motions are directed by the same principle of gravitation which forms the great law of our own system, though the distance of 61 Cygni, the nearest fixed star, from our sun, is so infinite, that its light, travelling at the rate of 18,000,000 of miles a day, would require ten years for its transit. Fixed stars of the ninth magnitude occupy no less than 580 years in transmitting their light to our globe. The plural stars, as I have ventured to name them, are that wondrous class which modern researches have proved to have a duplex, triple, and even quadruple character — that is, to be two, three, or four stars merged by distance into one. Under the penetrating gaze of LOST STARS. 51 Herschell, these confederated orbs, apparently so closely linked, were resolved into clusters of suns, revolving in their orbits with the utmost precision, and the most beautiful har- mony. Their revolutions extend over the widest imaginable range of periods. Zeta, a double star in Hercules, completes its circuit in thirty-five years. That of a quadruple group in the Harp, composed of two pairs of revolving suns, occupies no less than a million of years. Amazing as the plural stars appear, a still more startling enigma is presented by the lost stars. The first authenticated disap- pearance of a star took place in 1790, when Sir William Herschell, the geographer of the firmament, detected the absence of one in Hercules, which, though sought for with the most powerful instruments, has never since been visible. From that time astronomers have been more alert, and numerous other cases have been recorded. The missing stars have, by this close investigation of their move- ments, been formed into a class, and it is now thought that they are merely rotating on their D 2 LIBRARY ' — UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 52 PERIODIC STARS. orbits, and will reappear on the completion of their respective periods of revolution — perhaps after an absence of thousands of years. The same theory applies to the movements of the periodic stars, which indeed, by exhibit- ing similar phenomena in a contracted degree, furnish a clue to the solution of the mystery. A bright star in Medusa, named Algol, is one of the most striking examples of the periodic class, traversing the whole of its orbit in a few hours. Others gradually diminish in magni- tude, from one stage to another, for more than a year, when they recover their full lustre. Some suffer complete occultation — probably, as has been very reasonably suggested, by the in- tervention of opaque bodies, the planets and satellites of those restless systems. As one class of stars disappears for a time, or vanishes altogether from the heavens, so the eager eye of the astronomer, sweeping over the depths of space, has sometimes been enchained by the dawn of a new star, of which there was no previous record in the registries of science. Not to invoke the equivocal testimony of anti- NEW STARS. 53 quity, I need only mention, as an example of the class, a most remarkable new star that appeared about the middle of the sixteenth century, and remained visible for two years, during which it so increased in lustre, that, at last, it was distinctly seen in the day- time. Gradually declining, it disappeared in the spring of 1575, and has never again been observed. Several similar orbs have since visited our sphere — travellers from another universe, and after a short sojourn, receded from view in the same manner, emphatically attesting, what I have already ventured to affirm, that far as we may plunge into that dark profound, the boundary, the awful frontier of the Creation, can never he reached by man. The remotest recesses of the universe, accessi- ble to our present means of observation, are the nebulae, undoubtedly the most singular objects in the heavens. For a long time baffling the utmost powers of the telescope, they were sup- posed to be masses of chaotic matter, slowly digesting into new systems. But, whatever 54 NEBULJE OF ORION. philosophers may dream, the Creation, when examined earnestly, nowhere presents a trace of any inductive process. The great nebulae in Orion, on which the theory of a chaos was founded, has been resolved by Lord Rosse’s famous reflector into stars ; and thus the order and beautiful completeness of Nature are vindi- cated. To the very verge of space, all is regular, fixed, stable, and perfect. The nebulae of Orion throws its light down upon us from a distance not to be conceived, no less than 60,000 years being consumed in the transit ; yet on the equator I have seen this beautiful object, like a soft white cloud on the depths of heaven, with the naked eye. It is bewildering to reflect that such a minute spray of light, covering so small a diameter, should emanate from millions of suns, composing a stream as infinite as the Milky Way; but if we look around, and turn the mighty glass of the telescope on the other principal nebulae, the awful truth will burst upon our minds, that it is still, with all its clus- ters of beaming suns, only a fragment of the universe. THE UNIVERSE. 00 We can explore no further ; for we have reached the mysterious boundary which no power can pass ; and, looking back over the immea- sureable abyss, we are only amazed at the achievements of human science. From such a consideration we may well turn to contemplate ourselves — to commune with our own hearts, and be still. We behold the majesty and glory of our Creator exhibited on a scale that, if we have any of the endearing sensibilities of humanity, should at once fill the heart with reverence, and bend the knee in adoration. Sun upon sun, system upon system, obedient to one pervading principle, sweep in unbroken order round the throne of the Most High ; and we see His watchful Providence in all His works. Let us pass from great things to small — from the heavens to the world — to ourselves — to the meanest animalcule revealed by the most searching microscope. It is still and still the same. The further we investigate Nature, the more cause do we find to wonder, love, magnify, and adore. THE RUINS OF CREATION. As Astronomy is the parent of the sciences, Geology, the natural sequel of those acquisitions in physical knowledge, may be considered their offspring. Astronomy explores the heavens, and shows us the relations of our world to the external creation : the Earth, originally sup- posed to be stationary, is now allotted an orbit in the skies, and moves with beautiful precision round her primary. Here Astronomy leaves her ; and Geology, taking up the abandoned tablets, becomes her historian. The theory is at once sublime and startling. It professes, with all the boldness of inspiration, GEOLOGY AND RELIGION. 57 to trace back the earth through various grada- tions of condition to its first being — to show the influences which have operated to effect those changes, and to record the origin and development of the mineral, vegetable, and ani- mal kingdoms. It digs in the constituent strata of the earth for the buried secrets of Creation, disinters the crumbled bones of Time, and, to leave no vestige untracked, rifles the awful grave of Nature of her shadowy remains. But is it expedient to attend a teacher, who, straying from the beaten paths of knowledge, invites us to contemplate such terrible myste- ries ? We are accustomed to look for light to Heaven, and cannot be persuaded, with the ardent disciples of Werner, that it is to be found in the gloomy depths of the earth. But this is a delusion. Wherever Science penetrates, Reli- gion need not hesitate to follow. We cannot descend so low, but that we shall be able to trace distinctly the adorable finger of God. Before we investigate the fundamental prin- ciples of Geology, and consider its claims to be accepted as a true revelation of Nature, I pro- d 3 58 earth’s floor. pose, in the present chapter, to give a summary of its leading deductions, as exhibited in what may he called the Ruins of Creation. The other question may then be canvassed with more perspicuity and freedom. The upper structure of the earth is composed of numerous compounds of matter, differing essentially in individual qualities, but blended together by mechanical and chemical agency. These compounds are resolvable, under powerful action, into fifty-four elements, or simple sub- stances, entirely distinct from each other, and naturally incapable of union. In their combined form, they constitute a series of strata, ascend- ing from a certain depth in the earth in pro- scribed layers, the lowest, as the most ancient, resting on primeval rock, called by geologists the floor. Perhaps it might more justly be termed the roof of the globe, beneath which, screened from the prying eye of man, Nature conducts her mysterious operations — for here all human researches are arrested. What may be the character of the matter beneath, forming the interior of the planet, cannot possibly be earth’s crust. 59 ascertained; but it is conjectured, as a conse- quence of the great law of gravitation, that it must undoubtedly be more ponderous and more condensed. The internal heat, too, is supposed to be much greater than that which pervades the upper matter ; and Humboldt considers it to increase in the descent so rapidly, that at a depth of thirty miles from the surface, granite, the least impressible of substances, must be in a state of fusion. The strata of compound matter form what is designated the earth’s crust, and though in- cluding chalk, clay, and other uncondensed sub- stances, have received collectively, by way of classification, the somewhat arbitrary name of rocks. They present unequivocal evidence of having been originally deposited in water, as the various layers, rising one over the other, are strewn with marine and aquatic remains, and these monuments of a bygone world speak to us as plainly in their shells and fishes, as the proud ruins of ancient Egypt, interpreted by a Belzoni or a Wilkinson, in their mystic hierogly- phics. Plants and trees, many of which must 60 EXTINCT RACES. have enjoyed an existence of a century, ere the storms of time tore them from the soil, and launched them, like the lumber of the modern St. Lawrence, on the wide waste of waters, are among the buried relics of these natural cata- combs. Nor do the organic remains, either of plants or animals, belong to families now existent. Some represent tribes which have utterly passed away, and others, though they cannot be considered extinct, survive only in more advanced forms, under new conditions of being. Thus it is held clear that they were subject to physical influences of a totally dif- ferent character from those which now pre- vail. The strata of the earth rarely exceed twelve miles in depth, and frequently are not more than three, the structure below, supporting this ponderous mass, being wholly unstratified. The various layers dip under the plains from one ridge of mountains to another, shaping their declination according to the situation of the heights ; and the scale and definite value of the declination, as obtained by the best authorities, SOIL. 61 is in proportion to the altitude of the ridge. The order of the strata, however, is by no means perfect, and they frequently present evidence of having been subject to some great convulsion, which has completely perverted their course. Hence arise chasms and distortions, commonly called “ faults,” which sometimes interrupt the dip, in horizontal extent, for upwards of thirty miles, and throw the whole series into con- fusion. Resting on an unstratified basis, cognate in form and substance with the authenticated pro- ducts of actually existing volcanoes, and which consequently is assumed to be of volcanic origin, the stratified rocks, no longer swept by a bound- less ocean, are covered at the surface with a soft, thin coat, called soil , composed of the depositions of decayed rocks and plants, and the drift of mountains. The depth of soil is regu- lated by the situation, and by the character of the stratum beneath; but even in the most favoured spots, where vegetation attains its greatest luxuriance, the layer is only a few feet in thickness. It is almost passed over in the 62 earth’s figure. geological scale of time, as a mere accumulation, of comparatively recent origin, not to be com- pared with the vast periods previously absorbed, and which themselves beheld but the infancy of the world. The earth, thus strangely encrusted, is a globe flattened at the poles — the compression amounting, by the calculation of Bessel, to ^- 9 - The polar radius, as given by Humboldt, is shorter than the equatorial radius by eleven and a half miles, and the equator has thus an excess of gravitation consequent on the curvature of the surface, equal, according to the same autho- rity, to about 4-f- times the height of Mont Blanc. The figure of the earth is such as would naturally result from its revolution on its axis, when in a state of fluidity, having relative freedom of motion, but subject to the control of powerful internal and outward agen- cies, almost incessantly in operation. From the igneous compound called granite, which is formed of a combination of crystallized felspar, quartz, and mica, thrown up in confused and unstratified heaps, geologists commence EPOCH OF CREATION. 63 their chronology, though some, to whom even this latitude is a constraint, imagine that the granite base is but the molten remains of a long range of decomposed strata, ejected from the bottomless gulf below. All agree, however, that the strata above are a deposition from water, amalgamated with ejections of eruptive fluid, and cemented by the infusion of rocks, dissolved by mechanical or chemical action. From this platform, the mind looks back with consternation through the vast round of ages, to the tremendous moment when, in obedience to the Almighty fiat, our wondrous and myste- rious globe, now so perfectly developed, was first called into existence, and comprised only the rudiment of a world. What dread perturbations may have marked its course as, yet new to the great laws of nature, it struggled with the forces that bent it to its orbit, and which met its pon- derous frame at every point. It may have sped forward with the velocity of a comet, and sud- denly, as it verged on the gloomy abyss of space, have darted round in another direction, and dropped with lightning speed towards the 64 IMMENSITY OF TIME. sun. The great luminary itself was then in embryo, and, perhaps, like the erratic planet, rocked restlessly to and fro. And, to render the picture more terrible, the earth, we are told, was a crude and shapeless mass, without form and void. The water and the land, light and darkness, fire and vapour, mingled confusedly together, formed one promiscuous and irressolv- able heap. The future world was still maturing in the womb of Creation. Who shall fix the date of that occult and awful period ? Shall we measure its distance, so shrouded in the mists of eternity, by the feeble range of human comprehension? We are told that time is nothing with God, who counts a thousand years as but one day ; yet from a foolish misconstruction, the fallacy of which will be demonstrated hereafter, it is contended that all his prodigious works are of yesterday. Miserable delusion, repugnant alike to reason and to Holy Writ ! God is eternal. The very stones cry out to us, as we kick them beneath our feet, that the operations of his hands have been from everlasting, and that SEPARATION OF ELEMENTS. 65 even they have scarcely had a beginning. For millions of years they have been strewn over the land, or have accumulated in the hidden depths of the sea. How much, then, do we circumscribe the majesty of the Most High, when we place such a limit to his dominion. Six thousand years is the age of a tree, not of the Creation ! The fluid mass which swept with such inconceivable velocity, and in a course so un- certain, round its overruling primary, was transformed, at the bidding of the Creator, into a solid and perfect globe. God said, “ Let there be light,” and the appalling dark- ness of space, never before broken, was in- stantly dispelled. The luminous rays burst in a glorious flood over the heavens, and revealed the foundations of the rising universe. Light, so essential to every condition of matter, was separated from darkness, and the mighty work of development proceeded. The waters which were above the firmament were divided, by the creative will, from the waters which were under the firmament, and the dry land ap- 66 FUNDAMENTAL LAWS. peared. The fire which had kept the whole in fusion was allayed, and receded, with dimi- nished flames, to the interior of the earth. From the dire confusion of chaos arose sym- metry and order. The earth was no longer without form. Moving round the sun in a defined orbit, it was a mechanical result, demanding no direct interposition of the divine power, that it should take the shape adapted to this revolution. Nor are we to suppose that every phenomenon of nature is the immediate effect of a miracle. Such a conclusion would divest the works of God of half their glory ; for they are even more marvellous in their mechanism, in the chain of causes on which they depend, than in themselves. All, indeed, is miraculous ; but it is in connection with certain definite and immutable laws, which, acting with unerring precision, invariably accomplish their appointed ends : and we may imagine it to be a position worthy even of the Almighty, to contemplate, through the lapse of successive ages, the opera- tion and sublime effect of these great principles, DISORGANISATION, 67 and the great changes they were gradually, but steadily producing. None will deny that it was in his power to complete at once, and in an instant of time, the whole fabric of the uni- verse ; but, in that case, its wonderful structure would scarcely have been so apparent, and we should be unable to trace so clearly the ves- tiges of his presence. The spectacle presented by the world on the first separation of its elements was one of frightful disorganization. We may suppose, from the evidence furnished by geology, that the sea rose in tumultuous waves, and, sweep- ing over the less elevated land, sought to recover the dominion it had lost. Nor was this agitation merely temporary, as the suc- cessive elevation of new territories, thrown up by volcanic action, displaced additional bodies of water, and thus continually deranged the level of the ocean. While portions of the land were completely inundated by these deluges, other regions, defended from the sea by mas- sive ramparts, were invaded by monster water- spouts, which, rearing their prodigious columns 68 VOLCANIC ACTION. to the heavens, tore with equal force over land and sea. In the midst of such convulsions, the earth would rend asunder with terrific violence, in a hundred places at once, and rise in waves as lofty and irresistible as those of the ocean. And to add to the disorder, a thousand vol- canoes, communicating with the interior of the planet, made the sky red with their flames, and wrapped the shattered land in a mantle of granite. The heat discharged from so many sources necessarily discomposed the atmosphere, which resounded with endless peals of thunder, and ravaged every quarter with hurricanes and whirlwinds. At the same time, the strata of air were blackened with smoke, and loaded with deadly exhalations. It was by the combined action of these varied forces, directed by the hand of Supreme Wisdom, that the earth, from being a chaotic heap, acquired a positive and definite figure, securing alike stability and equilibrium. The subterraneous heat expended itself in volcanic action, which, whether manifested in the ejection of lava, or in the no less awful phenomena ACTION OF WATER. 69 of earthquakes, served in an equal degree to elevate, mould, and diversify the surface. While volcanoes were thrown up to the clouds, to kindle them, as it were, with their lurid watchfires, other tracts of the infant globe were spread out in plains, or hollowed into valleys ; and thus it acquired that endless diversity of aspect, which adds so much to its beauty. The great agent in effecting these excava- tions was water, though it is impossible to say, with any certainty, in what manner it operated. Geologists seem agreed, that denudation was produced mainly by inundations of the sea, but, on considering the magnitude of the re- sults, it seems doubtful whether mere currents could achieve such immense effects. We may suppose the land to have been subject, from time to time, to the wearing action of floods, admitted from the sea by the subsidence of coasts, or by the derangement of the level of the water ; but would this cause be sufficient, even in the lapse of countless ages, to wash away the foundations of mountains, and break the huge masses of rock into slopes and dales ? Vast areas have obviously been scooped out by 70 DENUDATION. some extraordinary force, which accomplished its mission at once, and it seems probable that this force resided in water-spouts. The power of water-spouts to grind away the very hardest substances cannot be doubted. Even a torrent furrows the side of a precipice, as it plunges madly downward, with a deep and rugged ravine, cut in the adamantine rock, and driven through every obstacle. But the force exerted by a torrent will bear no comparison with that of a water-spout. This potent minister of nature, in her great work of construction and transforma- tion, will alter in a moment the whole aspect of a country, and, considering that it was most likely a phenomenon of frequent occurrence, its effects on the outlines of the early world will readily be understood. Yet it cannot be denied that denudation by means of the sea was also a great source of change. A curiously-shaped rock at St. Andrew’s, in Scotland, shown in our frontispiece, is the last vestige of a carboniferous ridge, washed away by this means. The ocean has also left traces of its action in places far be- yond its present boundaries, and which remove all doubt as to its having once occupied regions now teeming with vegetation. The waves which INLAND BEACHES, 71 broke, perhaps millions of years ago, on the desolate and gloomy beach, have left the im- press of their ripple on the early rocks, an everlasting record of their ebb and flow. Over these registries of the primeval tides rise crags and cliffs, then the barriers of the sea-girt shore. Now they look down on sequestered valleys, or, haply, on ample and expansive plains, leagues removed from the confines of the waters. It must not be supposed, from these traces of ancient dominion, that the sea ever covered at once the whole surface of the earth. Rocks, or, to use a less technical term, tracts of dry land, have been thrown up from the earliest times. Sir Charles Lyell is even of opinion that various kinds of rocks have originated simultaneously at every period of the world’s existence ; but probably the oldest of the series, the key-stone of the stupendous masonry, is granite. From this basis rise the fossiliferous rocks, which, after much dispute, have at length been arranged in the following chro- nological order, beginning with the most ancient : 72 ROCKS. i Cambrian Silurian Devonian Coal i Permian Triassic Oolitic y Chalk i Eocene Miocene ^ Pleiocene Notwithstanding that these successive layers of rock rest, as already stated, on a foundation of granite, it often occurs that granite rises to the surface, while the fabric of strata lies all around it in unbroken order. This incongruous appearance has been mentioned before, as con- stituting what is commonly designated a fault, and forms a curious feature in the earth’s history. Indeed, it is hence made apparent, that although the plu tonic structure, viewed as a formation, is undoubtedly the most ancient, it is not peculiar to any one epoch, hut is found PRIMARY SERIES. 73 in juxta-position with rocks of comparatively recent date. While the latter have been slowly accumulating for thousands and thousands of years, a volcanic convulsion, generated in the interior of the earth, has in one brief instant shattered the whole pile, and injected through the breach a mass of granitic fluid, which has taken the place of the dislocated strata. Thus a tract of igneous origin, hardly to be distin- guished from the earth’s floor, is frequently enframed by aqueous deposits, the monumental remains of ages long anterior. The aqueous rocks are divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary. The primary, which are also called Paleozoic or Ancient , rest on the metam orphic series, which are composed chiefly of siliceous and argillaceous rocks, as gneiss, mica-schist, clay, and slate, with crys- tallized limestones, and differ but little in their ingredients, and sometimes even in appearance, from the subjacent granite. The argillaceous rocks indeed are but a deposition of granite conveyed by water, and it seems clear that E 74 THERMAL OCEAN. water was also the medium of deposit for the rocks of the siliceous system. From the testi- mony of these facts, it is urged, with almost universal assent, that nearly the whole earth was then submerged in a thermal ocean, fre- quently agitated by violent internal and outward action, which was quite incompatible with any condition of organic life. Traces of vegetable and animal remains, however, have actually been found in the masses of gneiss and mica- schist, and hence these rocks received from Werner the appellation of Transition , indicating that they are an advance towards more decided revelations. Some geologists, indeed, have been inclined, from the circumstance of their inclosing organic remains, to include them in the fossiliferous strata, but their crystalline texture, and the nature of their component minerals, seem to have secured their enrolment among the Azoic series. At the same time, it is contended by Sir Charles Lyell, that their crystalline condition is not inherent, but is a transmutation from a fossiliferous state, effected CAMBRIAN SYSTEM. 75 by the joint means of plutonic action and the superinducement of the metamorphic texture of sedimentary strata. In the next layers, which are argillaceous in character, with an admixture of arenaceous matter, and constitute the slate system, organic life shows itself distinctly, and in an advanced form of animal. These primitive creatures belong to the tribes of zoophyta and conchi- fera, and show no defect in their structure, or imperfectness of outline. The rocks them- selves present a curious aspect, being of the most motley colours, and occasionally trans- lucent; and, from their composition and tex- ture, are universally regarded as a deposition from water. The group is developed princi- pally in North Wales, and has received the appellation of Cambrian ; but though Professor Sedgwick assigns it a very important position, it seems doubtful, from the investigations of Sir R. Murchison, whether it is entitled to any particular prominence. The strata of slate are overlaid by the Silurian system, an amalgamation of argilla- E 2 76 SILURIAN SYSTEM. ceous, arenaceous, and calcareous compounds, deteriorated in quality, and not very distinctly marked. But the sandstones and limestones of the fabric, though looser in texture, show but little disorder in the stratification, and seem to have accumulated from very protracted deposits. Like the strata beneath, they are diversified in colour, and clearly of aqueous origin, the several layers, the archives of the era, being stored with marine remains. This is thought to explain the remarkable paucity and sameness of the plants, of which, not- withstanding the most zealous researches, only a few fragments have been discovered. Animal life, on the contrary, is widely disseminated, and fruitful of variety. Among the fossils brought to light in England alone are an immense number of Brachiopoda, which have been classed into about a hundred and forty species. The Gasterapoda are also abundant, and there are no less than eighty species of Cephalopoda. The seas swarmed with fishes ; and a considerable portion of the engulphed earth, upheaved by internal action, appears to ANCIENT REPTILE. 77 have risen from the expanse of waters, and formed the basis of the existing land. Indeed, the footprints of a reptile have been detected in a fragment of the Silurian rocks of Ame- rica, which alone, without other evidence, goes far to establish this supposition. The animal had five feet, and, judging from the impres- sions, they were each about four inches in length. But what is still more conclusive, a slab of white sandstone, belonging to the Lower Silurian, has been found at Beauharnais, in Canada, marked with the footprints of a quadruped, and it can no longer be doubted that at least a part of the American continent was then reclaimed from the sea. It is as- sumed, however, that the physical condition of the ocean remained much as before, though there is evidence of violent terrestrial dis- turbance, and the strata of the system, generally regular, are in many places deranged by igneous rocks, unquestionably the produce of volcanic eruptions. The displacement of the strata is strikingly 78 SILURIAN FOSSILS. manifested in Wales, where, contrary to all analogy, the slaty beds are curved and vertical, while the formation next above is horizontal. Sir Charles Lyell, however, considers that the dislocation was not caused by any violent sub- terraneous convulsion, but should rather be attributed to the carboniferous deposits of a later system, which, settling in prodigious masses, produced a local derangement. But it may be contended, the admission of the gifted geologist that the derangement is local, and that the strata elsewhere are flat and horizontal, favours the hypothesis of volcanic agency. The shells and tribolites of the Silurian strata, presenting themselves in such rich pro- fusion, are thought to have exceeded the number at present existing, although, from the imperfectness of the remains, it is extremely difficult to trace many positive distinctions of species. Indeed, the division of the Silurian fossils into zoological provinces is alleged to be impossible, though some assert, with an OLD RED SANDSTONE. 79 equal degree of confidence, that both the animals and flora are infinitely diversified, and admit of easy and accurate classification. The Silurian system merges into the Old Red Sandstone, or Devonian, so called from the strata of the series found in Devonshire being the richest in organic remains. The group, like that which it surmounts, is divided into Upper and Lower, and includes stone of various kinds and colours, mingled occasionally with marl and slate. In these beds of adamant lie the faded skeletons of numerous species of fish, which, after appearing in different varieties, finally became extinct with the epoch. It was long supposed that the series, while exhibiting a store of marine reliquia, afforded no proof of the existence of land animals, but later re- searches have elicited some very conclusive revelations in reference to this important point. The late Dr. Mantell, in a memoir read before the Geological Society, describes the discovery in the Old Red Sandstone of Scotland, by Mr. Patrick Duff, of a four-footed reptile, six or seven inches in length. The fossil embraces 80 FOSSIL OVA. the greater part of the skeleton, surmounted by a fragment of the cranium, and, from the structure and outline, seems to be the remains of a small land lizard. Dr. Mantell, however, is undecided whether to consider it purely terrestrial, or a fresh- water Batrachian. To indicate its extreme antiquity, he has given it the name of Teherpeton, from two Greek words, signifying afar off and a reptile. On the same occasion, Dr. Mantell drew attention to some fossil ova, found in the lower Devonian shales of Scotland, and which, from certain peculiarities, he pronounced to be eggs of Batrachian reptiles. These interesting reliques are variously disposed, many being clustered together and others isolated, thus in some measure marking the habits and dis- tinctive condition of the depositors. Hence Dr. Mantell, after a careful investigation, has been led to conclude that those found together have been deposited by animals of the frog tribe, while the others, standing by themselves or sprinkled about in pairs, seem to be the ova of aquatic salamanders. ANCIENT QUADRUPED. 81 But, perhaps, the most interesting memorial of the Devonian epoch has been brought to light by Captain Brickenden, since it is one that demonstrates, in a manner not to be dis- puted, that the earth was then peopled by the higher order of animals, simultaneously with those of inferior rank. The fossil represents thirty-four foot-prints of a quadruped, on a slab of Old Red Sandstone, of the upper series, and was hewn out of a rock near Elgin, in Morayshire. Judging from the dimensions of the foot-prints, it was a much larger animal than that found at Beauharnais, in the Silurian rocks of Canada, although, like its precursor, it was probably of the tortoise family, and consequently of kindred structure. Marvellous beyond belief does it seem, that the stride of a creature so insignificant in the scale of Crea- tion, should, after the lapse of millions of years, rise up to testify to the countless cycles of time, and the immutability and eternity of the works of God ! But, while they cannot be considered posi- tively sterile, the archives of the Devonian E 3 82 CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. group, as far as they have been explored, tell us but little of the natural history of the period, or of what were its main characteristics. The fossils are few, and seem, on the whole, to approximate in character to those of the carboniferous epoch. The flora, being subject to the same influences, probably had a tendency precisely similar, but, as none but marine plants have been discovered, this must for the present be matter of conjecture, and, perhaps, will never be clearly ascertained. The world, judging from the appearance of the succeeding strata, now underwent a great change, completing one of the immeasurable rounds of Time. From the Devonian series we pass to the Coal, a peculiar, and perhaps the most wondrous section of the terrestrial struc- ture. Ironstone is an important ingredient in some of the layers, and, in the coal-beds, the ore is found in curious conical and spheroidal shapes, one of which, very common in English coal- fields, and aggregated in large masses of prodi- gious weight, is known among geologists as the “ cone-in-cone.” But the distinguishing feature FOSSILS. 83 of the carboniferous system is the evidence it affords, in its rich organic memorials, of the great extent of dry land; and it is generally allowed that a portion of England, with some other fragments of Europe, was now covered with a luxuriant vegetation. Till recently, how- ever, no traces of terrestrial animals had been discovered, and the nearest approach to the reptile family was supposed to be the Megalich- thys, which, from some similarity in structure, is included in a class called sauroid fishes, alleged to be the link with reptiles. But Sir Charles Lyell has since detected the footprints of a reptile, apparently a large Batrachian, in a series of shales and sandstones opened at Greens- burg, in Pennsylvania, containing likewise un- doubted coal plants, memorials of the carboni- ferous epoch ; and he also records the discovery of three saurian skeletons, proving beyond dis- pute the contemporaneous existence of reptiles. Other spoils have lately been recovered from the cemeteries of that ancient world. A tract of shales and sandstone, lying at the base of the Alleghany mountains, retains the footprints of 84 INSECTS. three distinct species of quadrupeds, which once found subsistence in the carboniferous forests. The footprints of reptiles have been traced in many places, and the skeletons of three, ascer- tained to have been air-breathing animals, were disinterred a few years ago from the unexplored coal-fields of Germany. Even insects have been embalmed in this sylvan mineral ; and the great coal deposits of Europe, once more laid bare, have yielded up the remains of several species of beetles, and the fragile carcase of a moth. Among the inhabitants of the waters, the mollusca, favoured by the new condition of phy- sical influences, formed a considerable section, and a swarm of brachiapodous bivalves appear in their ranks, giving a singular aspect to the period. The zoophyta, found chiefly in the calcareous masses, are not particularly nume- rous, but comprehend various species of cri- noidea and polyparia. The plants of the system are very abundant, and, in fact, form the entire mass of the coal. Being indisputably of terres- trial growth, geologists, while alleging the strata to be of aqueous derivation, are at issue as to VEGETATION. 85 the exact agency by which they were deposited. By many they are regarded as the ruins of various distinct elevations of land, which, under some operation of nature, successively rose and subsided, bearing with them into the dark abyss immense tracts of centennial forest, clothed in all the luxuriance of tropical vegetation. Others conceive them to be mere sweepings from the land, deposited in the bed of the ocean by floods and inundations, or snatched by rapid and head- long waves from the margins of mighty rivers, the Mississipis of the infant world. However derived, the system is most extensively de- veloped in England, and at different points is found descending to an unfathomable depth, or almost bursting from the surface, as if those primeval woods had but just sunk under our feet. Judging from the texture of the deposits, the carboniferous land, so fruitful in its productions, probably consisted of granite, thrown up in mountain ridges, and numerous insular groups, intersected by broad estuaries, or traversed by a labyrinth of rivers. The 86 SYLVAN REMAINS. depositions are frequently lacustrine, and in- dicate subsidence in the immediate vicinity of land, where the water, yet remote from the contagious influence of the ocean, was evidently fresh. Nor do the fossils exhibit that degree of maceration which would probably have been produced by deposition in the sea, the boughs and branches, and in some instances even the leaves, being singularly perfect. From these reliquia, moreover, it is established, after long controversy, that the vegetation of the era was not confined to ferns, as the adherents of a progressive development have maintained. Not only are trees contained in the coal beds, but they are found in an upright position, with fragments of root attached, showing that, like the ferns, they had grown on the banks of rivers, and, therefore, must have existed in great abundance. It is remarked, however, as a curious circumstance, that this extensive and varied flora does not include any dico- tyledons ; and it must be admitted that the great mass of the remains is composed of ferns. Many of these attained an extraordinary height, , , in III C'l, JSi&K. fe,„ GIGANTIC TREE. 87 and a fossil Lepidodendron, of the family of Lycopodiums, has been discovered in one of the collieries of Northumberland, which is nearly fifty feet in length. Of the Sigillaria, to which family most of the carboniferous trees belonged, whole groves have been brought to light, standing erect, with their roots fixed in the ground ; and one of these sylvan giants, found in a coal-mine near Newcastle, after presenting a perpendicu- lar elevation of ten feet, bent over, and ex- tended more than sixty feet in an horizontal direction, thus showing altogether an altitude of upwards of seventy feet. The coniferse of the epoch, which were numerous, also attained a great height, but, in other respects, present little variation from those of the present day. The excessive fertility of the carboniferous world has led to considerable discussion respecting the precise character of its climate. From the preponderance of ferns, it had been argued that the temperature must have equalled that which now prevails in the tropics ; but this conclusion is no longer undisputed. 88 FOSSIL RAIN. A new relic, more marvellous than any yet discovered, has been snatched from the fading sepulchres of the Past, to show what was the actual condition of the atmosphere, and clear up a point so full of interest. This witness is Rain ! Such are the humble agents which the Almighty converts into everlasting monuments of his power ! Who could dream that the shower which fell with refreshing coolness on the trees and ferns of primeval forests, was destined by Supreme Wisdom to fulfil also another mission, which should strike angels with wonder. What mind could conceive, that when millions of years had elapsed, when world upon world had been changed, when successive creations had been moulded and swept away, the traces of that grateful rain would be dug from the depths of the earth, and exposed to the inquiring eye of man ! Surely we may draw from the same abyss a conclusion yet more precious — that man has been ordained from the beginning, to be the spectator and expounder of the works of God, and that, whatever difficulties SECONDARY SERIES. 89 may for a time surround his investigations, ultimately all things will be placed under his feet. From the coal system we pass to the Se- condary series of strata, called also the Mesozoic from two Greek words signifying middle and ancient. This division consists of four prin- cipal groups, which, though preserving a certain affinity in their ingredients, are respectively com- posed of several inferior formations, frequently differing in their organic remains. In the two lowermost groups, indeed, the distinctive cha- racteristics are not so striking, and for many years they were classed together, bearing, in allusion to their diversified aspect, the signifi- cant designation of Paikilitic, or Variegated . The underlying rocks, however, are now recog- nised as a separate group, and have received the name of Permian, from Perm, a district of Siberia, where the fabric has been found in the most complete state. But they may in some respects, for the sake of perspicuity, be still classed with the superior system, called from the 90 NEW RED SANDSTONE. colour of its ingredients the New Red Sand- stone, and sometimes Trias, in consequence of the German group, which was discovered subse- quently, including three separate layers, known as the Keuper, the Muschelkalk, and the Bun- ter-Sandstein. The whole structure is com- posed of a series of granular rocks, based on red conglomerates, and mingled with variously- coloured marls. The conglomerates, which acquire some prominence from their position, are usually stored with pebbles, though these ves- tiges do not always appear, and in many in- stances are only sprinkled through the layers. Beds of salt, met with in nearly all the preceding strata, are particularly conspicuous in the New Red Sandstone, whence it was formerly called the saliferous system. The series is developed very fairly in England, though not uniformly, but it covers wide tracts on the Continent, par- ticularly in the North and West of Germany. It would appear, from the preponderance of salt, that the deposits are chiefly marine ; but the sea was now gradually retreating to its FOOTPRINTS OF BIRDS. 91 depths, while the earth, relieved from the mon- strous pressure, continually threw up fresh ele- vations of land. In the organic remains of the series we are presented with imperishable memorials of its history. The ocean, the rivers, the land, and the air, for the first time linked in the great chain of being, have all a share in these fossil monu- ments. Traces of the footsteps of birds of every size, from the ostrich to the minor genera, have been discovered in the saliferous formations of America, and English ground has rendered up the relics of various species of quadrupeds, though chiefly referable to extinct races. Re- mains of three different species of carnivorous quadrupeds of the marsupial order, in which the brain appears in a rudimentary form, typical of a low stage of development, have been dug out the saliferous cemeteries of England ; and nu- merous marsupial reliquia have been found in Australia. The protorosaurus and the phyto- saurus appear among the oviparous quadrupeds, ascending to the later Oolitic strata ; and the fruitful family of reptiles, which embraces a 92 THE LABYRINTHODON. great variety of species, takes the same direc- tion. Fishes were abundant ; and huge sharks scoured the seas, or floundered in the bays that now indented the swampy coasts, while croco- diles dragged their loathsome forms through the ooze of the rivers. Perhaps the most remarkable animal of the Triassic epoch, in respect both to shape and proportions, was the Labyrinthodon, a gigantic frog, equal in hulk to a rhinoceros. Traces of this monstrous Batrachian were first disco- vered at Storton Hill, near Liverpool, where a slab of sandstone was dug up, marked with its footsteps. The enormous length of these impressions and their peculiar appearance — which was an exact representation of the human hand, enlarged to four times its size — excited the greatest astonishment, and for a long time geologists were unable to agree as to the species of animal to which the track could be referred. The discovery of some large Batrachian teeth in the Trias of Germany first lent a clue to the enigma, and it is from the labyrinthine struc- ture of one of these teeth, as seen through a OF THE REPTILES. 93 microscope, that the animal derives its name. A jaw and other bones were subsequently dis- interred, and at length, after various intervals, nearly the whole skeleton has been recovered. From this it appears, on a careful scrutiny, that the jaws were of an immense length, and fur- nished with more than a hundred fangs. The skin was probably scaly, and in some parts was encased and protected by ossiferous plates. Two tusks protruded from the mouth, and the size of the animal may be inferred from the fact, now clearly established, that some pieces of the posterior bones, identified with the skele- ton, correspond in dimensions with the same parts in a crocodile thirty feet in length. The Nothosaurus and the Phytosaurus, two singular members of the reptile family, also characteristic of this epoch, have, in company with the Lahyrinthodon and other Triassic species, been exhumed from the rich Trias of Germany. Among the Lacertians, the Rhy- cosaur and the Dycinodon — the latter discovered at the Cape of Good Hope — probably occupied a prominent place ; and tortoises and turtles 94 MYSTERIOUS FOOTPRINTS. seem to have been very numerous. But all these relics are thrown into the shade by the footprints of an enormous bird, which, judging from the evidence of its track, must have greatly exceeded the proportions of the ostrich. The impressions left by the toes of this plumed monster are twenty inches in length ; and its feet were of fabulous size. Supposing the bulk and height of the animal to be in proportion, we have here a bird upwards of twenty feet high ; nor is there any reason to believe, on comparing its footprints with those of the largest living birds, and carefully investigating all the facts, that these dimensions are the least exaggerated. One series of bipedal footprints found in the Valley of Connecticut, in the neighbourhood of the bird-tracks, is veiled in mystery. The impressions are no less than twenty-two inches long, by twelve in width, and differ, both in form and magnitude, from any yet discovered. The toes, which are four in number, have joints analogous to those of birds, and, in fact, the imprints have been referred to a bird, but the LIAS. 95 variations of structure are too decided to sanction this supposition. Nor is the suggestion of Agassiz, founded on the peculiar form of the foot, that the track was left by a monstrous Batrachian — a bipedal frog, which must have exceeded in side the largest elephant — to be implicitly received, though coming from an au- thority entitled to respect, and usually infallible. Indeed, this relic of a world of monsters, isolated from every other vestige, is still a puzzle to philosophers, and perhaps will never be fully or satisfactorily identified. Animal life shows itself on a still grander scale in the succeeding Oolitic system, composed of blue or yellow clays, oxidated grits, and coarse Oolitic rocks. At the base lies a forma- tion of argillaceous limestone, marls, and clay, commonly designated Lias, The series, how- ever, is by no means regular, and over a great part of the continent exhibits serious derange- ments and dislocations, frequently occasioned, as in Scotland, by the eruption of igneous rocks. The whole system, indeed, attests that some great change was at this time accomplished in 96 LAND AND SEA. the physical condition of the world, effecting a complete re-adjustment of the limits of land and sea. Formed throughout of aqueous sediment, the Oolitic strata are in great measure arranged by molecular attraction ; and shells and other marine exuviae, the spoil of the receding ocean, enrich their clays and chalks. The group is divided into three sections, the upper, middle, and lower, marking three distinct periods of time, though, on examination, they are found to assimilate in their organic deposits. Articulated and verte- bral creatures abound, and the minor forms of animal life, no longer confined to a few species, are as diversified as they are numerous. The rivers, bursting in silvery cascades or rushing torrents from a hundred lofty mountains, afforded aliment in their course to a multi- tude of univalves and bivalves, and the vast estuaries which received their tributary waters teemed with every kind of fish. Among the mollusca, cephalopoda are the most varied, and appear in amazing numbers. Saurians, both terrestrial and acquatic, are common, though CLIMATE. 97 those of marine habit predominate. The ab- sence of any mammalia higher in order than the marsupial family, now almost confined to Australia, is attributed to the fervid tempera- ture, which is also thought to account for the great abundance and prodigious magnitude of the reptiles. A tropical climate, such as then prevailed, is undoubtedly favourable to the development of the reptile tribes, as the zoology of existing tropical regions amply testifies ; and it is no less demonstrable that they are discouraged by cold, the countries bordering the Arctic Sea, which are prolific in mammalia, present- ing scarcely a trace of reptiles. But the ab- sence of the higher orders of mammalia from the organic fossils is by no means a proof of their non-existence; and should the negative evidence be admitted, we must suppose that nature, advancing in everything else, in this instance made a retrograde movement, effacing the creation she had already matured. In the succeeding Cretaceous system, indeed, mam- malia wholly disappear; and the sea, recently F 98 OOLITIC SYSTEM. confined to bounds, seems to be once more supreme. The Oolitic system is rich in terrestrial vege- tation ; and trees, including perfect exogens, have been found in England, with fragments of root attached, which are supposed to occupy the exact spot where they grew. The same may be said of its whole range of animals, from the stellerida to the reptiles, the highest organic development it attained. The very genera, viewed by the searching eye of the naturalist, assume peculiarities of structure totally distinct, and while all those of the primary strata have quite disappeared, very few species of even the elder secondary remain. It would seem, therefore, that the world was clearly subject to successive changes of tempe- rature, which gradually developed and destroyed certain specific races ; and Hooke is of opinion, that the climate of England now resembled that of the modern torrid zone. The period, how- ever, is one of inextricable perplexity and con- fusion, presenting no reliquiae of land, though some important deposits, embracing both library Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FLYING REPTILE. 99 animals and plants, are decidedly lacustrine. Where were the channels whence these were poured forth ? And why, if the waters had so immensely abated, have they brought no olive-branch from the redeemed land ? Round the delta of the mighty river which at this period swept over England, crawled numerous reptiles, one of which, the Cetiosaurus, was probably about sixty feet long. This king of monsters was furnished with a broad vertical tail, capable of administering a terrific blow; and the toes of its webbed feet, pro- portioned in size to the prodigious bulk they had to sustain, were armed with sharp claws, with which it fastened on the fish and smaller reptiles constituting its food. The Mega- losaurus was another gigantic reptile, which is supposed to have combined with the magnitude of the hippopotamus, the structural peculiarities of the alligator. But the strangest of these hideous creatures, in point of structure and appearance, was the Pterodactyl, a Flying Reptile, formed to subsist both on land and water. The size of the Pterodactyl is variously F 2 100 CRETACEOUS SYSTEM. estimated, but perhaps the outstretched wings, from the extremity of one to that of the other, did not quite cover seventeen feet. It was of predacious habits, and its jaw, which was per- fectly reptilian in form, was set with about sixty conical teeth, firmly riveted in the bone. The legs appear to have been of considerable length, and adapted equally for walking or swimming. The neck was also long, closely assimilating with a bird’s ; and the wings, which differed from any organs of flight now existing, pos- sessed extraordinary power, and enabled this aerial scourge to soar to incredible heights, and thence fall like lightning on its destined prey. The next changes in the physical condition of the world are marked by the cretaceous system, the ingredients of which, originally sup- posed to consist chiefly of chalk, include a com- bination of various limestones, chalk, chalk and flints, chalk marl, greensand, and gualt. These deposits, which are of marine origin, rest in some places on a freshwater formation, com- posed of clay, sand, limestones, and marls, and THE WEALDEN. 101 known by the name of Wealden. The Wealden is well developed in the south-east of England, and in parts of the continent, particularly in Hanover. On English ground, the aspect it presents is very singular, and among the successive strata, an accumulation called the dirt bed of Portland, composed of decayed vegetation, is especially remarkable. Indeed, it is clear, as well from the character of the deposits, as from the different species of testacea, that the relations of land and sea underwent extraordinary and repeated alterations during the erection of the Wealden, and the denudation to which the land was subject materially affected its figure. The chalk, from its affinity to modern de- posits of a similar character, is thought to be composed, to a great extent, of the ejections of fish, but it has also received considerable con- tributions from corals, which, indeed, form the entire material of the limestone of Faxoe. It appears to have been a period when, in obedience to some inscrutable law, the sea once more rolled over the land, and only a few isolated 102 VORACIOUS REPTILES. tracts were preserved from the irruption. These solitary islets were frequented by the Mosasaurus, a marine reptile, upwards of twenty feet in length, and by the Pterodactyl, or Flying Reptile, which was still an inhabitant of the earth. From the tall seaweed which encircled the naked shores, the Mosasaurus darted out, with in- credible swiftness, on the shark or the whale — for the jawbone of a whale has been found in the elephant bed of Brighton — and as these monsters of the deep gave each other battle, the waters were dyed with their blood. Mean- while, the Pterodactyl hovered above, and when the fight was won, claimed a share of the lifeless prey. Then another contest ensued, and the recent victor, enfeebled by his pre- vious struggle, either sought safety in flight, or himself became the prey of the winged dragon. The absence of all fluviatile and floral relics, beyond a little drift-wood, and some fragments of ferns, clearly indicate the marine character of the era, and, therefore, we are prepared to expect that there should be no traces of TERTIARY SERIES. 103 quadrupeds. That such animals did exist, however, there can be no doubt, though the islands to which they were confined may have been widely separated, and have hitherto baffled the search of the geologist. It is reserved for some future Columbus, versed in the geography of primeval ages, to indicate their position, and then no doubt a Lyell will arise to disinter their fossils, and bring them once more on the stage of being. The cretaceous system was followed by another change in the physical condition of the earth, which makes itself apparent, with very unequivocal distinctness, in the suc- ceeding tertiary formations. These comprise three separate periods — the Eocene, Miocene, and Pleiocene. The first includes two minor formations, the Faluns of Touraine and the Molasse of Switzerland, while the whole structure, to the termination of the Pleiocone, marks various gradations of tem- perature and condition. Large sections of Europe, extending in irregular and fragmen- tary patches from the then fruitful Arctic 104 DISTRIBUTION OF LAND. regions to the cloud-capped chains of the Pyrenees and Alps, had now risen to light, and formed a barrier against the encroaching sea. Still the land was traversed by number- less streams, expanding very frequently into lakes and estuaries, or branching off into mighty rivers, which strewed the ocean with sweepings of the soil. The future Paris was entombed in the waters of a Gulf ; and London, the destined capital of a later world, was lying in the womb of an estuary. But the spoil of the land was by degrees choking the great marine channels, and the sediment snatched from mountains, or washed from the banks of inland seas, was gradually, as the depositions increased, accumulating into new territories. Vast tracts of marsh and gloomy swamp were thus spread round the land, affording a genial haunt for gulls and sea-birds, and a retreat for the most loathsome of reptiles. Immense forests, whose hoary woods assimilate occasionally with those of the existing world, clothed the rugged heights, or stretched in matted thickets over the hollows; EOCENE SYSTEM. 105 and as the untold periods of time rolled on, giraffes and rhinoceroses, with monstrous and unwieldy elephants, the huge mastodon and colossal mammoth, had their lairs and dens in these sylvan recesses. Vegetation became more varied, though per- haps less prolific, as the earth, so long subject to a tropical temperature, first felt the influence of cold. The climate of the Eocene era, how- ever it may have differed from that which prevailed during the secondary epochs, was probably still of a uniform heat, favouring equally the primeval plains of the north and the hills and islands of the south. But, as new eras opened, ice began to collect in scat- tered but frequent masses on the northern shores of Siberia, and forming into floats and bergs, drifted round the frozen coast to the Atlantic. Such an accumulation necessarily affected the atmosphere, and the whole region of the North, exposed to thesa combined influ- ences, became the seat of perpetual winter. Universal sterility ensued, and animal life, prompted alike by instinct and necessity, f 3 106 FOSSIL MAMMOTH. retreated from a harsh and ungenial climate. Thus the North, as in modern times, re- tained only those creatures which, like bears and reindeer, could subsist on the slender nutriment of the Arctic flora, or which preyed on feebler and more gentle animals. The hippopotamus sought a refuge in the bays and rivers of England, and the lion and pan- ther, as then represented, found in the caves of the Hartz mountains, or the impenetrable forests of Germany and Italy, a safe and inviting retreat. The change of temperature and physi- cal condition operated so prejudicially on many species, that they passed completely away, leav- ing only fragile and imperfect remains, like half- erased characters, to mark their epitaph on the tomb of Time. But the mammoth yet lin- gered in the ice-bound solitudes of Asiatic Russia, or prowled over the wilds of Northern Europe. The carcase of one of these stupendous creatures, in a singular state of preservation, was found recently in Siberia in a bed of ice, supposed to have been formed entirely of drift- snow, which, driving with the force of an ava- MAMMALIA. 107 lanche, had overwhelmed the monster in its descent, and then piled a mountain above. We learn from a work called “ Revelations of Siberia/’ recently published, and to which I shall hereafter have occasion to refer, that the snow often drifts into these heaps, whirling round in a spiral mass, like a water-spout. Sir Charles Lyell observes, that where the snow- drifts occur, it may sometimes happen, that cattle grazing near rivers may be swept away, and be transported, imbedded in ice, to the polar regions, where they may find a mausoleum like that of the mammoth, in the frozen depths of the North. Looking at the great extent of territory redeemed from the ocean during the three tertiary periods, it is natural to expect, on a first glance, that we should be able to trace the landmarks of the system with perfect ease, and find numberless monuments of its history. And it does undoubtedly yield a great number of fossils, though, comparatively speaking, very few, considering the lateness of the era, are terrestrial, and, among the animal reliquia, 108 ANIMALS AND PLANTS. fewer still are remains of mammalia. Geolo- gists have discovered innumerable species of Zoophyta and Enchinodermata, members of the shell family, with a great variety of reptiles and fragments of fish, where scarcely one mam- miferous relic has been brought to light ; and in the same way, the flora also is chiefly marine. Still the tertiary catacombs embalm in their sands and clays precious vestiges of terrestrial creation ; and among them we find several species of the elephantine genus, with tigers, wolves, hogs, deer, opossums, monkeys, and other land animals, some of which belong to species now extinct. Birds appear, but in no force, and but little variety. Few of the count- less mollusca, of which so many species have been discovered, are represented by living genera ; and the family of reptiles also present wide marks of distinction. Of the plants of the era, the greater part, as already remarked, are aquatic, but the terrestrial species brought to light indicate a vegetation very similar to our own. So close, indeed, is the resemblance, that naturalists, in examining the later tertiary SEA SERPENT. 109 formations, can scarcely detect a difference, as the species can only be ascertained by certain internal marks, not easily recognized. These, when the cellular fabric has not perished, are the dots on the vesicles ; but it frequently hap- pens that only the elementary fibre remains, and the difficulty of fixing the species is then greatly increased. In some cases, however, the genus is easily recognized, and the fruit of a particular kind of palm, now indigenous to the Philippine Islands, and of another confined to Japan, has been found in the tertiaries of the Isle of Sheppy, as well as some cocoa-nuts, melons, and gourds, which, while they attest the fertility of the soil, indicate a very different climate from that of the present day. Among the animal fossils of the tertiaries, we find one suggestive of an incident of our own times, which indeed invests it with peculiar interest. This is the Palseophis-typhaeus, a marine serpent, measuring upwards of twenty feet in length, and an undoubted inhabitant of the British seas. Several other species of Serpentia have been discovered, one of which, no MONSTER QUADRUPEDS. allied to the Boa family, is of gigantic dimen- sions. A monster tortoise, measuring twenty feet across the back, has been dug out of the freshwater tertiaries of India, and, in the same deposits, a giraffe and camel represent the animals of the existing creation. The Siva- therium, Mastodon, and Deinotherium, as well as the Palaeotherium and Anoplotherium, huge and unwieldy quadrupeds, connecting the elephantine and tapir families, are seen pro- minently in the Eocene rocks, but gradually disappear. The tapir is the nearest living representative of these races, and is found in the Indian Archipelago and South America. The tertiary strata are of comparatively modern date, but the time occupied by their deposition, if the evidence they furnish may be relied on, is absolutely incalculable. The whole of the eighty cones of Etna are supposed to have been thrown up in the latter part of this period ; and it is conceived, from the tex- ture and fabric of their rocks, that at least twenty thousand years must have elapsed between the eruption of the first and last GREAT CONVULSION. Ill cone. Only one, Mount Rossi, has been erected during the historic era. Over the tertiary strata, time has accumulated a heap of diluvial and alluvial deposits, which, in the promiscuous character of their sediment, tell a strange tale of convulsion and disorder. It would seem that the earth was now subjected to some tremendous catastrophe, which entirely deranged the order of nature. What was the precise character of this visitation cannot be ascertained ; but it is universally admitted, by geologists of every class, that there are un- equivocal indications of the action of water. Enormous boulders have been wrenched from their beds, and carried over mountain ridges into other regions ; masses of rock have been torn from the rugged heights of Scandinavia, and swept across the sea to Yorkshire and Cumberland ; even the Alps have formed no barrier to the swollen tide, and the green valleys of Switzerland are strewn with frag- ments of St. Bernard. The organic remains of the deposit include, in various heaps, relics of almost every type now 112 FOSSIL MAN. in existence ; and, strange to say, many animals of the most opposite tendencies, utterly inimical to each other, are found lying together in caves and natural fissures, which barely afford space for the crowd of inmates. Thus we have elephants, lions, tigers, panthers, wolves, horses, oxen, deer, monkeys, snakes, and lastly, for the first time, Man, occupying without hostility one and the same retreat. Philosophers have been unable to account for appearances so completely at variance with the fundamental laws of nature ; and invention has been exhausted in attempts to devise a satis- factory explanation. Some assert that the diluvium is the result of an inundation of mud, which, rising to a great height, and driven by a resistless impulse, possessed suffi- cient force to bear away with it the numerous erratic blocks, and transport them to enormous distances. It is contended, however, by others, that both boulders and gravel have been dis- persed by icebergs, which brought them round from the Arctic regions, and deposited them wherever they happened to thaw ; while not a CATACLYSM. 113 few maintain that the entire formation has indisputably been deposited by water, though they allege that the earth could not have been universally submerged except by displacement from its axis. On the other hand, those who favour the theory of a cataclysm, as coinciding alike with Scripture and tradition, consider that it might have been occasioned by the sudden elevation of mountain chains, which would displace a great body of water, and necessarily drive it over the adjacent territories. But the Alps and the Pyrenees, the Andes and the Himma- laya, whose snow-crowned heights are more especially referred to, had, if the chronology of their strata is to be credited, been long previously in existence ; and even had their elevation been actually co-eval, the displace- ment it effected would not have been terrestrial, but atmospheric. Nor does the supposition of the uplifting of a vast shoal, which would drive an immense volume of water from its custo- mary basin, and by raising the level of the ocean, pour a flood over the land, seem more 114 ARARAT. reasonable or probable. In fact, though the evidence of a great convulsion presents itself at every point, Science is baffled in her efforts to trace it to natural causes. But a fresh dispensation — a new covenant of being, was now established, never again to be infringed. The raging waters, which had swept over every barrier, were rolled back to their depths, subdued and powerless. From the summit of Ararat, a single family gazed down on the expanse, and though preserved from the past, looked with dread solicitude to the future. Then it was that, in the silence of that mighty solitude, they heard the reassuring voice of God, proclaiming that henceforth seed- time and harvest should never fail : and as the smoke rose slowly from the atoning sacrifice, piled on its homely altar of stones, the beau- teous rainbow spread its brilliant hues on the sky, a pledge to remotest generations that “ all flesh shall not be cut off any more by the waters of a flood, neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” Y. THE TWO REVELATIONS. The earth has risen from the bottomless grave of the Past to divulge the long story of her existence. We hear and wonder, and the delusions in which we have been reared, with so much mistaken and misguided piety, vanish like smoke before the flame. We thought to behold the Creator reflected in His works; but, blinded by Rabbinical tradi- tions, could only see Him as in a glass, darkly : now the veil is removed, and we stand before Him face to face. At first, the mind, measuring all things by its own capacity, reels under an impression so 116 TIME. awful, and, like the Prophet on the Mount, shrouds itself from the presence of God. But we need not fear. The Being we behold, though more fully revealed, is no new Deity. It is the same voice speaks that talked with Adam in the garden, and called to Moses from the burning bush. From the moment we re- ceive this conviction, our thoughts, instead of being paralyzed with terror, acquire a reverent confidence, and eagerly recal the accents of in- spiration. Looking back to the early ages of the world, they discern a lapse that, to human comprehension, indeed appears endless, but which is less than a breath in the sight of the Almighty. They seem to contemplate Eternity, and learn that it is only Time. Time, then, is immeasurable. The light that gleams upon us, with feeble lustre, from the immovable stars of Heaven, has been thou- sands of years on its way. Some of the for- mations which constitute the crust of the earth, to a depth of many fathoms, are composed merely of the remains of animalcule, which must have been millions of years accumulating. ETERNITY. 117 To mention an example, Tripoli stone is formed of exquisite little shells, so minute and so numberless, that a cube of one-tenth of an inch is said to contain 500,000,000 of individuals. The chalk beds have accumu- lated from the excrement of fish ; and the Numilitic limestone, which has furnished the imperishable blocks of the pyramids of Egypt, is a concretion of small shells, chambered with the most perfect symmetry, and deposited in the course of innumerable ages. What is it, then, to say, in the devout words of the Psalmist, that a thousand years are esteemed by the Deity as but one day? In comparison with the vast periods of geological time, a thousand years are as nothing ! The soul feels cheered and elevated by this sublime discovery. Our perceptions of eternity, which hitherto has seemed an enigma, become more definite, and, standing on the platform of the past, we are enabled to appreciate the dura- tion of the future. We look at the fabric of the earth, and the stupendous architecture of the skies, and learn, with deep and solemn joy, 118 INFINITY OF CREATION. that they are not the work of yesterday, but have existed from a period beyond comprehen- sion. The divine image of the Creator shines forth with increased effulgence, and we see more clearly, in its universal presence, the majesty and infinity of His attributes. How marvellously are they displayed in the Heavens, beyond what the mind can fathom or the ima- gination conceive, making the clouds his chariot, and the furious winds, which seem to fly master- less through the air, his messengers. With what wonder do we find them manifested in the secret depths of the earth, where successive creations, swept from the face of nature, have sunk into everlasting rest ! Design seemed ex- hausted in the endless variety of existing races, but the book of nature, unfolding its tablets of stone, discloses myriads of other creatures, all exhibiting equal diversity of form and aspect. The end of each world of beings, defined by the rocks in which they are deposited, is but the frontier of one anterior, and life, instead of being a modern novelty, extends back so far, that it is impossible to say where it disappears. TRACES OF MAN. 119 One thing, however, is always apparent, and that is, the directing and over-ruling power of a tutelary Providence. But while the extreme antiquity of the earth must be received as an absolute and incontest- able fact, it is no less certain, that man, its present sovereign, is a creation of comparatively recent date. After tracking him backward for nearly forty centuries, we lose the traces of his presence in the massive ruins of Nineveh. Here, almost as the waters of the Flood sub- sided, his industry and genius were again active, and employed themselves in the erec- tion of structures which should endure for all time. The cities and edifices of the earlier world, built, perhaps, with little regard to solidity, had left not a fragment behind, but here we find walls of adamantine strength, de- signed to resist the mightiest shocks. As if warned by the catastrophe of the past, the new generation recorded their history, not in archives liable to perish, but on walls of granite, to con- vey the wild tale to latest posterity. Languages might pass away, but Time, with all its changes, 120 NINEVEH. could not destroy the identity of sounds, and, adopting this medium of perpetuating their annals, they trusted to human invention to dis- cover a key to the mystery. Egypt, wandering to another soil, carried away the same tradition of instability, and the hieroglyphics of Thebes and Memphis were suggested by the characters of the sons of Asshur. The first vestige of man is a colossal city, laid out with mathematical precision, and exhi- biting an extensive knowledge of the arts. Gorgeous palaces and stately temples, adorned with imposing columns, which support the light and graceful arch, are among the wonders of this entombed capital ; and conduits and gigan- tic statues still further attest its magnificence. Its Kings were attended by mighty armies, and surrounded by all the accessories of barbaric pomp. Priests thronged its courts; and the worship of the one true God, still preached in its purity by Noah, was disguised in myths, or superseded by that of Dagon and Baal. The cruelty of man kept pace with his civilization, and the mild sway of patriarchial government, PROPHETIC DENUNCIATION. 121 which prevailed among pastoral communities even so late as the time of Abraham, vesting the head of a family with the prerogatives of a King, was exchanged for the terrors of Asiatic despotism. Dungeons were excavated in the bowels of the earth, and miserable captives were butchered in secret, or impaled alive on the ramparts of the city. But the colossal masonry which, in the ima- gination of its founders, was to defy the waters of another flood, was swept away by an inunda- tion of the Tigris. Long before, the arrogant inhabitants of “ the city of blood” had been apprised of their fate : “ With an overruling flood” cried the prophet, “ God will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. The gates of the river shall he opened , and the palace shall be dissolved.” In fulfilment of this prophecy, Cyrus, with an army of Medes, flushed with recent victory, was knocking at the gates, when thirty furlongs of the wall were washed down by the river, and the conquering host marched unopposed into the city. Learning what had G 122 FALL OF NINEVEH. occurred, the King, in a fit of despair, fired his palace with his own hands, and perished in the flames. “ The fire,” exclaimed the prophet, “ shall devour thy bars ; then shall the fire de- vour thee.” And the total destruction of the city is foretold in the most emphatic manner, “ The Lord hath given a command concerning thee, that no more of thy name shall be sown : I will make thy grave, for thou art vile.” Between such a state of things as existed at Nineveh, and the last relics of geological time, there is a wide and seemingly impassable gulf. The earlier creations, with their strange and marvellous races, are swept completely away, and the world is peopled by a new order of beings, at best represented very feebly before. The forests no longer afford a haunt to the pro- digious mammoth, or the frightful labyrintho- don ; no flying reptile, like the dragon of fable, lords it equally over the land, the ocean, and the air ; and no hideous monsters wade along the shores, or battle in the depths of the sea. Yet the variety of form and condition, which seems to characterise every previous aspect of nature MAN. 123 as far as the researches of geologists extend, is no less grand and decisive. To add majesty to the new creation, it is headed by man, a rational and accountable being, distinct from all others, and endowed with faculties connecting him im- mediately with the Creator. Where are we to look for an explanation of this gap in Time, this wondrous transformation of nature? We turn over the tablets of the earth, on which its earlier annals are recorded, without gaining a clue to the enigma, and search in vain among the ruins of primeval worlds for the first footsteps of man. We learn indeed a sublime and precious lesson, but it is of the eternity, the infinity, and the omnipresence of God. We behold creatures of every shape and size, adapted, by habit and instinct, to every grade of existence, but find no remnant of the divine form of the lord and master of all. The historic rocks proclaim that the world was yet strange to the beautiful conceptions of his mind, the achievements of his art, and the contrivances and fruits of his industry, his intelligence, and his labour. Garden it might G 2 124 MOSAIC RECORD. be, but the halo of intellect was required to constitute an Eden. At this point we should pause, in a maze of perplexity and doubt, but what we miss in science is supplied by religion. Thus we possess Two Revelations, which confirm and establish each other: one, the terrestrial, is interpreted by geology; the other, written by Moses, is dictated by inspiration, and claims to be re- garded as the Word of God. It is not surprising that, at first sight, these chronicles should seem to record facts at variance with each other, and which it is difficult to reconcile. The contradictions, however, are but in appearance, and vanish before the eye of inquiry. “ The Two Revelations” are perfectly distinct, and when viewed together, should be considered with a clear perception and recogni- tion of the individual purpose of each. The Mosaic narrative, for instance, while describing the grand incidents of the creation, is less a history than a religious exercise, apprising us that all things had a beginning, and that that beginning was with God. It shows us our THE CREATION. 125 origin and our mission, and points out, in precise and unmistakeable terms, the debt of worship, obedience, and service which we owe to our Maker. The work of creation receives but a cursory glance, just to set forth the supremacy of its Author; but the history of man, to whom it is addressed, is related at large, and the various epochs of his career are faithfully and carefully noted. In* short, the account given by Moses is a lesson, not in science, but in religion, appealing by its simple dignity to the understanding of the ignorant and foolish, while it carries conviction to the minds of the enlightened and the wise. Very different are the aim and tendency of the occult revelation of geology, and, indeed, of science generally. Here man finds a field of investigation as fruitful as it is unbounded, opening fresh treasures at every step. From Holy Writ he learns, by a direct communication from Heaven, that he is the appointed lord and heir of all things : the volume of nature teaches that he is less than an atom in the vast circle of creation. Instructed in all that concerns his 126 STUDY OF NATURE. moral and religious government, he is invited, by the beauty and peculiar character of every object, to contemplate the mechanism of the whole universe, and explore its remotest and most secret recesses. In this pursuit an employ- ment is provided for the great faculties with which he is endowed, and which make him who was created a little lower than the angels, their fellow and equal. By such means only could he be brought, through the sublime me- dium of reason, to understand the superiority and dignity of his position, and the majesty and beneficence of his gracious and omnipotent Maker. Nor should it be forgotten, in considering the character of the divine record, that Moses, though writing under inspiration, was probably himself ignorant of the precise meaning of his statements. Indeed, he has imparted to them a colouring which goes far to establish this fact, and which is evidently derived from his Egyptian tutors. It is a miraculous circum- stance that the bias of the sacred historian does not impair the authority of the narrative, EGYPTIAN PHILOSOPHY. 127 nor commit it to views which are really op- posed to the disclosures of science. We can imagine that, with his previous training in the fallacies of Egyptian philosophy, which was based on the testimony of external appear- ances, and, consequently, confirmed by the senses, his mind would have been unable to comprehend the true economy of the universe, even had it been revealed to him; and, if the prophet were confounded, what faith could have been expected from the common people ? How would the Israelites have mocked had they been told that it was not the sun that moved, but the world ; that the moon, whose soft lustre illumined both Heaven and earth, was like our own globe, a black opaque body, traversed by chains of mountains, and broken into plains and valleys; and, finally, that the countless stars above were so many suns, the centres of other systems. Nor was it needful that they should possess this information, which it had been ordained by God from the beginning should be acquired by our own researches. The object of the historian was simply to relate the origin 128 USE OF PARABLES. and course of the creation, and while no prin- ciple of physical science was negatived, it was permitted by the Deity, with equal wisdom and forbearance, that the narrative should bear a construction acceptable to a people naturally hard of belief, and deeply tainted with the superstitions of paganism. Probably it was to attract their minds from the lures of idolatry, as well as to foreshadow a future and more merciful dispensation, that the laws propagated from Sinai enjoined a ceremonial of so gorgeous and elaborate a cha- racter, and which was calculated to impress them at once with awe and devotion. And we find throughout the Bible, that it was customary with the prophets to clothe their religious ad- monitions in myths and fables, as if to enchain that passion for mystery which the people had acquired from their heathen neighbours. Thus Moses describes the fall of our first parents, disguising, in a simple but sublime apologue, the nature of the dreadful trespass they com- mitted. Nathan, under the immediate in- spiration of heaven, appealed to the sleeping FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. 129 conscience of David in the touching story of the pet lamb, in which he demanded vengeance for the blood of Uriah. The book of Ezekiel abounds with allegorical images, addressed to the same spirit of mysticism, and, to mention a more memorable example, our blessed Lord himself, in his forcible and beautiful parables, employs a similar machinery to engage the sympathies of his hearers. This frequent adoption of metaphor should never be lost sight of in studying the Mosaic narrative, as there can be little doubt, in any rational and unprejudiced mind, that the term “ day” in the account of the Creation, like that of “ week” in the book of Ezra, repre- sents a period of far greater duration. At first sight, indeed, this would seem to be directly op- posed to the fact ; for it is distinctly stated, as if in anticipation of such a construction, that “ the morning and the evening were the first day.” But the Oriental versions of the Bible give the passage in a different manner; and from them we learn, what is more consonant with the disclosures of science, that “ there G 3 130 THE SIX DAYS. were mornings and evenings, a first day,” indicating, in fact, that the term is used to mark a long interval, which embraced mornings and evenings without number. Admitting, however, that it is to be inter- preted in its most limited signification, we are not called upon to believe that the six days appropriated to the Creation were consecutive days, and, for all that appears to the contrary, vast periods may have elapsed between each. Nor would this circumstance, if properly and religiously considered, at all detract from the glory and greatness of the Creator, or set any limit to His unbounded power. With Him, to will is to do, and He holds all things in the palm of His hand. Except to accomplish a wise and inscrutable purpose, it was not neces- sary, in the exercise of His almighty attributes, to devote six days to the work of Creation: six minutes — a single second, had been ample time for its completion. But it is the pleasure of the Deity to operate through the interposition of specific laws, which, while they act with unerring precision, only fulfil their end in the THE BEGINNING. 131 course of countless ages. And it is, as I have before remarked, the mechanism of His works, as much as their grandeur and sublimity, that excites our wonder and adoration. The Mosaic chronology commences with the creation of man. The date of the beginning, which some include in its range, is not indicated.. We are simply told that, “ in the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.” No time is mentioned, but it would seem, from the context, and the order in which the statements appear, that after the lapse of a considerable period, some great change was effected in the condition of our globe. Other alterations, indeed, of a character equally decided, may have occurred previously, and we now know that such was the case ; but only one is particularly mentioned, because it is that which immediately preceded the existing Creation. The derange- ment produced, whatever it might be, was not confined to the earth, but extended to the whole of the solar system. The sun, the moon, and the stars — by which we are to understand, not the entire circle of the heavenly bodies, which J 32 LIGHT. are described in Scripture as “ the host of Heaven,” but only the planets — were all sub- jected to the same convulsion. The earth was without form and void — that is, the incessant elevations and depressions of the surface, con- sequent on internal commotion, left its form undefined, and nature desolate, although, as a matter of necessity, it retained its figure of an ellipsoid of revolution, by which it was held in its orbit, and continued to revolve round its centre of gravity. Darkness was on the face of the deep, because the sun, the great source of light, no longer gladdened the skies with his radiance, and the deranged atmosphere shut out the feeble rays of all other orbs. The sun was still obscured when the voice of the Deity exclaimed “ Let there be light !” By what means the luminous effect was produced, it would be idle to conjecture, but science has taught us, among other wondrous and mysterious truths, that the sun, supreme as it undoubtedly is, is not the only source of light, and, familiar as we are with the extraordinary appearances produced by refraction, and the dazzling efful- THE SUN. 133 gence of the Aurora Borealis, we can see no difficulty in attributing the light described by Moses to some natural phenomenon. The Jewish law-giver, trained in the philosophy of the ancients, which held the sun to be the sole distributor both of light and heat, was neces- sarily unacquainted with this fact ; and, had he been prompted only by the traditions of men, would doubtless have recorded the creation of the sun as anterior to that of light. Thus the seeming inconsistencies of his narrative are a testimony to its truthfulness and authority. The sun, indeed, was soon to burst forth with sublime majesty, to enliven, exhilarate, and beautify the restored earth. The prodigious mass that had lain so long, like a blot, on the darkened sky, was now enveloped with a luminous atmosphere, which spread light and joy over the whole Heavens. At the same time, the moon, which had participated in the general disorganization, was re-constructed, and resumed its majestic functions, Thus, “ God made two great lights : the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the 134 RESTORATION night and though, strictly speaking, the moon is not in itself a light, but a reflector, yet it does undoubtedly serve as a luminary to the earth, and, therefore, may justly be called one. Meanwhile, the atmosphere, or, as it is rendered by our translators, the firmament — literally, expansion — was relieved of the deadly exhalations with which, in the universal convulsion, it had become so largely impregnated, and the earth was surrounded by successive strata of air, free from every noxious particle. By some process of nature, evapo- ration was effected, and the waters exhaled from the globe, previously almost submerged, were raised above the firmament — that is, condensed into clouds — and separated from those that were under the firmament. This operation was probably conducted on a scale surpassing any experience of man, as the immense expanse of water, occupying nearly the whole extent of the earth, was peculiarly susceptible to evaporization, and there can be no doubt that the medium employed was one of extraordinary power. The result was, that OF NATURE. 135 the land, of which only mountain chains or tracts of gloomy swamp had previously been visible, was redeemed from the waves, and the sea driven back to its natural boundaries. The same agent which acted as a source of light, and a means of evaporization, neces- sarily imparted heat, which, in fact, is consi- dered by philosophers to be only another form of the luminous fluid, and has even been called obscure light. We may conclude, indeed, that a temperature existed far exceeding that which depends on the sun, and that this was one reason why the great centre of gravitation, the natural means of action, was still permitted to remain a dreary and naked blank. Its heat would have been insufficient, without some miraculous interposition, to draw out the latent virtues of the earth, and, therefore, another agent was substituted, which, as fertility re- turned, gradually fell back on the sun, and clothed its mighty heights with flame. The earth had “ brought forth grass, and herbs yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after 136 ORDER OF his kind, and God saw that it was good.” The equilibrium of nature was restored, and now, approved and blessed by the Deity, she might safely be left to the government of her own everlasting laws. It is singular, when so much attention has been directed to the first chapter of Genesis, that the manner in which the creation of both plants and animals is described, has hitherto escaped particular remark ; for the record, though brief, bears a very significant import. We are told that God said : “ Let the earth bring forth grass ; the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : and it was so.” And again, God said : “ Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind ; cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth, after his kind : and it was so.” Such declarations seem to intimate, with less obscurity than one might expect (remembering that Moses addressed a people immersed in ignorance and barbarism), that there had been an anterior creation ; and that it was no new THE CREATION. 137 thing for the earth to bring forth trees yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself after their kind, or for living creatures, called into exist- ence by the divine fiat, to increase and multiply upon the earth, after their kind. It is true that, in a subsequent chapter, the sacred historian expressly states that the vege- tation did not spring spontaneously from the ground as the natural produce of the soil, but was a specific creation of God, when, “ as yet, there was none of them and we are undoubt edly to believe, as a fact established both by Scripture and Geology, that our present bota- nical products are peculiar to the existing con- dition of the world. But while they do indisputably belong to a new and distinct creation, it is equally true, that the earth had previously brought forth “ the herb yielding seed, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after their kind,” although, as their remains testify, they were of a different character and structure. The same explana- tion applies to the creation of animals, which, though in some cases approaching very nearly 138 THE DELUGE. to pre-Adamite races, are nowhere actually referable to the same species, and, conse- quently, mark an entirely new epoch in the condition of being. More than two thousand years elapsed before the world was again subjected to any signal derangement. It was for a long time supposed, from the general tenor of the facts, that this derangement was universal, and of a similar character to those terrific convulsions which, as we learn from geology, have frequently over- taken our planet, and might almost be con- sidered periodical. But such a conclusion would seem to be unfounded, and is by no means authorized by the language of Holy Writ. All philosophers agree, that the Deluge extended over the whole territory oc- cupied by man, and left but one family alive to relate the catalogue of its horrors. But it should be borne in mind, that man then inha- bited only a section of the earth, and there- fore, that the Flood, though it ingulfed the entire race, might easily have been confined to a single continent. The object of this visita- DESTRUCTION OF MAN. 139 tion was to destroy man; for all flesh — that is, the whole human race — had become corrupt on the face of the earth, and it repented God that he had made man. Nor are we justified in giving too wide a significance to the expres- sions used by Moses. The phrase of “ under the whole heaven,” which in this case is thought to be decisive, is not more emphatic than the terms used frequently in the Scrip- tures to denote only a portion of the globe, and that of limited extent. Even St. Luke, who was not only an inspired Evangelist, but a scholar, versed in all the knowledge of his time, describes the memorable Feast of Pentecost at Jerusalem, as being attended by strangers from every part throughout the world. But St. Peter shows clearly what range we are to give to the Mosaic descrip- tion, when he tells the Churches of Asia, in his eloquent and emphatic epistle, that the Flood was sent to destroy the world of the ungodly — in fact, those regions inhabited by man. It has been deemed conclusive of the com- 140 OBJECTIONS. pleteness of the Deluge, by those who support that view, that a tradition of a cataclysm pre- vails universally among mankind, so that even the most savage tribes afford corroborative testimony to the record of Moses. But this proves only that the Flood ingulfed the entire human family, and that the races now existing, however different in external appearance, not only sprang originally from one stock, but spread over the World from one point. On their dispersion, they naturally carried away with them a tradition of that memorable catas- trophe, which has thus become localized in every region. But while admitting that a universal Deluge appears unlikely, as being, so far as we are able to judge, more than the purpose in view re- quired, it must at the same time be acknow- ledged, that the arguments advanced to disprove its universality, as a physical impossibility, are far from conclusive. It is idle to say that the submersion of the globe would displace it from its axis; for, if we suppose the Deluge to have occurred at all, we must believe that EXTINCT VOLCANOES. 141 it arose from a derangement of the ordinary laws of nature, and, therefore, through a direct interposition of the Deity ; and special circum- stances being recognized in the incident, must be allowed also in the effect. More weight attaches to the discovery that a chain of conical hills in France, identified as the craters of ex- tinct volcanoes, are still strewn at their summits with volcanic ashes, the product of eruptions anterior to the Flood, and which, had the sub- mersion been universal, must have been washed away by its waters. But it is no argument to urge that, in the ordinary course of nature, each of this cluster of peaks would require two thou- sand years for its development, aad hence to con- clude that some account of their elevation would have been preserved, had it occurred subse- quently to the Deluge. The conjecture may be correct as far as relates to a general principle ; but nature, though her operations are for the most part uniform, is sometimes strangely in- consistent, and the Deluge itself could only have resulted from a complete overthrow of her equilibrium. We can easily imagine, too, that 142 PLAIN OF THIBET. the great catastrophe was followed by extensive changes in the configuration of the land, princi- pally effected by volcanic action. To drive the waters back to the depths, and raise the level of the land, volcanoes may have been thrown up in a single century, which, in the usual course of events, would only have been elevated in myriads of ages. And even supposing that no more than one of the peaks is post-diluvian, the eruption of a single crater would be sufficient, without any separate action, to strew the whole chain with volcanic matter. Nevertheless, it is certainly a singular circum- stance that no similar vestige has been found in the East, but that, on the contrary, the state- ments of the sacred record, that “ the waters prevailed exceedingly,” and that “ the tops of the highest hills were covered,” are fully borne out by the character of the soil. From a letter in a recent number of the Athenaum , it appears that the plain of Thibet, which is at an elevation of 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, is a post-tertiary formation, and, as it has rendered up bones of the elephant and hippopotamus, BOULDER FORMATION. 143 must have accumulated in comparatively recent times. Thus we see that some of the highest ground in the world was at no distant period covered by the ocean, and yet incloses in its crust the remains of animals essentially terres- trial. It cannot be doubted, therefore, that we behold on this spot incontestable traces of the presence of the Deluge. The boulder formation, to which I have re- ferred at large in the preceding chapter, is no longer considered a diluvial deposit; and pro- bably a recantation endorsed by the distinguished names of Buckland and Sedgwick, ministers alike of religion and science, will leave few minds obdurate in the old delusion. At the same time, it cannot be denied, by any dispas- sionate judge, that the dispersion of the erratic blocks is very unsatisfactorily explained by the glacial theory, which, however subtle and elabo- rate, fails to induce conviction. Abandoning the supposition of diluvial agency, we are forced to the conclusion that, at some earlier period, the earth was the theatre of a terrific and uni- 144 THE ARK. versal convulsion, the precise character of which we are utterly unable to comprehend. The strongest argument against the univer- sality of the Deluge is furnished by the dimen- sions of the ark, which Moses, apparently to guard against misconception, has set down with the greatest precision. In describing the Flood, he uses general terms, possibly taking that poetic latitude so popular among Oriental nations, and which, after an interval of 4,000 years, is still the household language of the East. The same spirit pervades his account of the animals collected by Noah, but in recording the dimensions of the ark, in which they were all to find refuge, he indicates clearly the precise sense in which his expres- sions are to be received. If we suppose those creatures only to have been preserved which were useful to man, or necessary to carry on the functions of nature, as far as they ministered, by their operation and effect, to man’s wants and comfort, then the ark might easily have afforded room for the favoured seven couples of ASSEMBLAGE OF ANIMALS. 145 each species. And if we add to this extensive assembly the families of Noah and his sons, and the provisions required for the sustenance of all, and which — a convincing proof that no miracle was intended — Noah was directed to stow in the ark, we shall find the whole space fully occupied. Nor is it easy to conceive that man would be enjoined, not only to preserve, but himself to associate with wild and rapacious beasts, and venomous reptiles, which every instinct urges him to destroy, although, in point of fact, they have each their special place in the beautiful economy of nature, and are all designed in the same spirit of wisdom and mercy. But the difficulty presented by the dimen- sions of the ark, though certainly serious, is not absolutely insurmountable : and, should the uni- versality of the Deluge be insisted upon, we must conclude that the measurement given by Moses is merely symbolical, and that the great repository of life was really far more capacious. How so unwieldy a body could be sustained on the waters, is a question we are not called upon to 146 OSSIFEROUS CAVES. examine. Guarded by the divine hand, it rode calmly and steadily on the flood, while the subversion of nature was complete — a floating Goshen, safe amidst destruction. The ossiferous caves found in so many parts of the world, and to which I have before alluded, may, I think, be regarded as un- questionable vestiges of the Deluge, showing the submersion of, at least, the greater part of the land. These gloomy recesses are packed with animals of every kind, which, as the waters rose upon the earth, here sought a common shelter. It is well known that, in the presence of great natural convulsions, the most untamable beasts quite lose their native ferocity, and the tiger and lion herd in peace with the lamb. But how Man, so widely separated from all, could seek a retreat in such a den of monsters, does indeed baffle compre- hension. How must he have striven with his terrors, ere, climbing the rugged steeps of the ravine, he threw himself into this horrible refuge. But even here there was no hope of escape. The rain still descended : the flood, UNIVERSAL DESTRUCTION. 147 fed by a thousand roaring torrents, rose higher and higher, and, at length, rushed furiously into the cave, while its voice of thunder stifled the cry that rose, at the same moment, from man and beast. NATURAL FORCES AND PHENOMENA. One of the most fascinating problems on the Sybilline leaves of Science, refers to the structure and economy of the earth, from the dust of which we sprung, and to whose capa- cious womb, when the struggle of life is over, we must all return. While we contemplate with wonder and awe the starlit sphere of Heaven, where universe balances universe, and the Creation parades its grand and mysterious details, a mechanism equally sublime and no less startling is in constant operation in our own planet, and partly under our own eyes. The Earth, our ever-fruitful mother, is enve- earth’s origin. 149 loped in an atmosphere of marvels ; her bosom heaves with prodigious emotions ; her heart is the prey of unquenchable flames. This stupendous orb is supposed by philo- sophers to have been thrown off by the sun, in a fluid mass, which, as the temperature diminished, gradually solidified. Its figure, as determined by a comparison of measurements in different latitudes, is an ellipsoid of revo- lution, with an equatorial radius of 3962*824 and a polar radius of 3940*580 miles. The entire circumference is 24*856, and the dia- meter nearly 8000 miles. This body has, ac- cording to the recent experiments of Reith, a density of 5*44 in excess of water; but as that of the surface does not exceed 1*6, it is obvious that, either from the peculiar character of the matter, or from condensation, the density is much greater towards the centre. Of what the centre is composed is indeed a problem, which baffles both science and conjecture, though it is sometimes urged, as a not unreasonable hypo- thesis, that the internal structure is cavernous, rising from a condensed mass, and supporting 150 MAGNETISM. a shell, or crust, of comparatively-superficial depth, on which we tread. This causeway, resting on these mighty arches, is formed of stratified rocks, the only masonry that can vanquish time; yet the basement of its pillars, down in the centre of the earth, is, from internal heat, reduced to fluid, con- verting the depths below into an unfathomable cauldron. The magnetic force varies in intensity in different latitudes, attaining its maximum at four remote distances, which, from the peculiar action, correspond neither with the magnetic nor the rotatory poles. The exact character of the force is unknown ; but its influence, which is regulated by the sun, by subterraneous gal- vanic currents, and by variations of terrestrial temperature, is universal. There are two points of maximum intensity in each hemisphere, those in the northern regions being, according to the best computations, about 120° east longitude in Siberia, and the other near Hudson’s Bay ; and those in the opposite hemisphere, by the testimony of the same authorities, at different MAGNETIC NEEDLE. 151 points in the South Atlantic. The maximum intensity for the entire surface of the globe is 2*052, and the minimum 0*706. In addition to the phenomenon of varying intensity, the magnetic power distributed over the surface of the earth, in the manner de- scribed, exhibits itself in two other forms, the tendency of the inclination, and the horizontal deviation from the terrestrial meridian. All three phenomena are measured and ascer- tained by two simple instruments — the mari- ner’s compass, and the dipping needle. One end of the magnet, or declination needle, points unerringly to the north, and the other end to the south ; and in the northern hemisphere, the north end has a motion from east to west, while, in the southern, its motion is from west to east. The dip of the needle, as it is gene- rally called, ceases at a certain point, where the earth is traversed by the magnetic equator, which, like the terrestrial, divides the two hemispheres, though with less precision; and in this region the needle has no dip, but is always horizontal. 152 mariner’s compass. Magnetic storms, which arise without the least warning, greatly disturb the horary motion of the magnetic needle, and are felt simulta- neously in different quarters, extending them- selves, after a brief interval, over the whole surface of the globe. Whence they arise has long been a puzzle to the learned ; and, after the closest observation, philosophers are unable to decide, with any certainty, whether the dis- turbing influence resides in the Cimmerian caverns of the earth, or in the atmosphere. At the same time, it is unquestionable that they are sometimes connected with electricity, since the affinities of that force with magnet- ism, long suspected by adepts, have now been placed beyond dispute, and, in fact, constitute the key to electro-magnetism. The magnetic compass, one of the most precious of human inventions, is the charmed gift of magnetism. Without this faithful pilot, we could neither make direct roads by land, nor direct our course by sea. The power of the magnet for this purpose appears to have been known to man from time immemorial ; ELECTRICITY. 153 and it was in use among the Chinese, if their boastful traditions may be believed, in the ear- liest ages, though not introduced into Europe* till the era of the Crusades. Nor was its uni- versal adoption by mariners, as an indispensable item of their equipment, followed speedily by any increased knowledge of its properties, several centuries having elapsed before its variation was discovered by Columbus, who, in his first voyage, noticed, as he progressed, that the hitherto-steadfast needle declined from the meridian. What must have been the re- flections of the daring navigator, when, in that unknown and pathless sea, never before invaded by the keel of a ship, he thus saw himself for- saken by his only guide ! In what could he place his trust, when even the magnet swerved from the pole ? Magnetism, as already observed, is intimately connected with electricity, a fact established by Oersted so late as 1820. Like the sister influence, electricity baffles analysis, but is supposed to be a modification of ether, the thin, subtle element which fills the bounds of H 3 154 ELECTRIC SHOCKS. space. Electricity pervades the earth, and all substances, as well as the atmosphere, but seldom penetrates beyond the surface. The intensity is greatest when the form of the body is circular, and a sphere, round which the surface is spread in equal proportions, retains the electric fluid with the greatest facility. All bodies, however, are subject to it, though not in an equal degree, some offering considerable resistance; and the distinction is so great that one class is called conductors, and the other non-conductors. Electricity may be either positive or nega- tive : when bodies are, from any peculiarity of character, overcharged w 7 ith the fluid, the electricity is positive ; when imperfectly supplied, it is considered negative. Substances are mu- tually attracted and repelled by their relative quantity of electricity, and may transmit it, by contact, to each other, the greater force dis- charging itself into the less. Collision is attended by a shock, which, however, carries off the redundant electricity, and the portion retained becomes perfectly quiescent. ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY. 155 Electricity may be elicited by any cause which deranges molecular attraction, whether it be natural or artificial. Atmospheric electricity, the more unsearchable essence, is assumed to be produced by the evaporation of fluids charged with earthy or saline particles, and by the action of heat and chemical decomposition. Thus the ocean is a great source of electricity, and it has been observed, as a general result, that the electric equilibrium is most steadily maintained where the atmosphere canopies water. The islands of the main ocean serve as magnets for the electrified vapour, collecting round their lofty peaks the floating masses of the atmo- sphere, like a robe of state ; and I have been unable to discern the gaunt outlines of St. Helena and Ascension, the two watch-towers of the Atlantic, from the incumbent heaps of cloud. Hence it is that islands are so fre- quently visited by violent storms, though this effect, however prevalent in certain latitudes, is by no means universal. During a sojourn of several months in Malta and Gozo, 1 do not remember a single storm, though sheet light- 156 CLOUDS. ning, unattended by thunder, was a frequent occurrence, and there were two or three slight shocks of earthquake. Iceland, according to Humboldt, is scarcely ever subjected to storms, though thunder is occasionally heard in Spitz- bergen. Evaporation by heat draws from the surface of the ocean an immense volume of water, which, condensing above, takes the shape of hollow bubbles, inclosing a fluid lighter than air, hermetically sealed by electricity. These clouds, as we call them, are seized by currents of air, which keep them in constant motion through every part of the atmosphere. At the same time, the repulsive influence which, like all cognate electrified bodies, they exercise on each other, sustains them aloft, and prevents their dissolving in rain. Clouds of a white-red and orange colour con- tain the greatest amount of positive electricity, and those of a grey hue are coated with the negative fluid. When masses thus oppositely charged, overcoming the repulsive influence, approach each other, the electric element ex- THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. 157 plodes, and hence arise thunder and lightning. Lightning evolves in three distinct forms — zig-zag, sheet, and globular ; and is so rapid and sudden in its motion as to render scrutiny impossible. A flash is said to fly more than three miles in an uninterrupted straight line ; but it is not absolutely known whether the final direction of lightning is upward or downward. Zig-zag and sheet lightning, the least destruc- tive, expire as they appear; but fire-balls are not so rapid in their flight, and may sometimes be traced for several seconds, though in this brief space of time they cover a vast and incredible distance. The back-stroke of lightning will destroy a person at a distance of many miles from the point of the first discharge, though it does not always follow, as an inevitable consequence, that a person struck by lightning will be killed. A few years ago, my father, then advanced in life, was struck down by lightning, and after remain- ing a moment stunned on the ground, got up, and walked home. Fortunately he had been drenched in a violent shower of rain, and to 158 RAIN. this circumstance he probably owed his life, water having a repulsive power, and so diverting the electric fluid from the body. The flash passed through his hat, which was perforated by two holes; and on one side, where the fluid probably escaped, the nap was entirely burnt off. A reduction in the temperature of the air will cause the clouds, sustained in the atmo- sphere in the manner described, to fall below the point of saturation, when they become aqueous, and descend in rain. This sinks into the pores of the earth, passing through the sandy strata as through a filter, and halting on the clays, whence, impregnated with lime, oxide of iron, &c., acquired during its passage through the rocks, it is discharged in springs, which usually find their way to rivers. Thus fed by subterraneous tributaries, charged with earthy substances, and themselves urged through a channel of unequal consistence, which yields up particles to the grinding force of the current, rivers become powerful agents in the transport and deposition of matter. The natural SPRINGS AND RIVERS. 159 drainage, too, by means of springs, constantly tends to waste the high land ; and this sedi- ment is borne by the rivers into hollows and valleys, which thus rise in altitude as the high ground wears away. The effect of rain there- fore, in its ultimate result, is to change the level of the whole surface of the earth. But the action of atmospheric precipitations is extremely slow, and the changes they produce are such, that it is not till after the lapse of ages that they make themselves apparent. Forces of a more violent character are in constant operation in the interior of the globe, and occa- sionally hurst forth, at certain points of the surface, in the most terrific phenomena. The volcano and the earthquake — the furnace and foundry of nature — accomplish more in a few hours than rain can effect in millions of years. By their combined agency, excited by similar and contemporaneous causes, continents are elevated and depressed, mountain chains thrown up, lakes and estuaries excavated, and the ocean studded with rocks and islands. The imagi- nation can picture nothing so awful as these 160 VOLCANOES. prodigious ebullitions. In the midst of Egyptian darkness, while lightning darts in forked flashes across the heavens, and peals of thunder, crashing above, are answered by subterraneous detonations, the volcano shoots up a towering column of flame and steam, and inundates the surrounding country with molten fire. The atmosphere is choked with ashes, which, falling at a distance of many miles, fill up valleys, and entomb cities. The irruption at Sumbawa, in 1815, ejected ashes as far as Java, a distance of 300 miles, and clouded the air to such a degree, that the darkness at noon surpassed that of the darkest night. The change effected by this convulsion was beyond anything that tradition or history has recorded, and tends to show, in a definite and precise form, what may have been the extent of such operations in the early ages of the world. The ground was agitated over a circumference of more than 1000 miles. Ships sailed, with a good depth of water, over what had been dry land, and stranded where they had pre- viously ploughed the sea. In many places the VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. 161 land was upheaved to a considerable height ; in others, depressed into hollows, or gashed with unsightly fissures. In short, the aspect of the whole region was totally changed. But although volcanic eruptions are of pe- riodic occurrence, and have probably been in operation at different times in every part of the globe ; and although, moreover, they do produce great and marvellous transformations, we are not to apprehend that they ever endanger the order and stability of nature. The modifications which they effect in the elevation and configu- ration of land, and the distribution of water, are, after all, of slight value, when considered in relation to the magnitude and bulk of the earth ; and were a chain of mountains to be suddenly thrown up to twice the height of the Andes, it is not to be supposed that they would derange equilibrium. The surface, and even the form of our planet, are continually altering, but only in obedience to the great laws of the Creation, which, in the midst of universal and perpetual change, preserve the harmony of every part. 162 VOLCANIC REGION. Volcanoes will remain for centuries in a state of repose, and then, with little or no warning, become fearfully active. Vesuvius, restless in the early world, was so long quiescent, that it was considered extinct, when, about sixty years after the Christian era, it suddenly renewed its eruptions. Ten years afterwards came that tremendous convulsion, which brought upon Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Italian cities of the plain, the awful doom of Sodom and Gomorrah. Although every part of the earth’s surface is supposed to have been affected, at some time or other, by volcanic force, volcanoes are now only found in particular regions, which, from un- known causes, remain subject to their action. In Europe the centres of action are Iceland, Sicily, Naples, Stromboli, and the Archipelago. Within the last twelve years, a small island, such as abound in the Archipelago, was thrown up by volcanic action in the Mediterranean, in sight of an English man-of-war, and was actually taken possession of by the Captain on the part of the Crown. But scarcely had our flag been VOLCANIC PRODUCTIONS. 163 planted on this ephemeral terrritory, so strangely upheaved from the waters, when the whole fabric disappeared ; and, like the baseless thing it was, left not a fragment behind. Volcanic action is excited by the internal heat of the earth, operating on its surface, and this, on attaining a certain temperature, relieves itself by eruption. When the outbreak occurs, a column of fire and cinders, mingled with dark clouds of steam, shoots up perpendicularly from the crater, to an appalling height, and a stream of fused minerals, better known as lava, pours in overwhelming torrents down the sides of the mountain. The metallic ingredients of this fiery deluge are lead, copper, iron, arsenic, and silenium. With these are mingled rocks rent asunder by the eruption, augite, felspar, leucite, mica, and sulphur. Aqueous vapours, too, ejected from the burning crater, impend for a long period over the apex of the cone, and then descend in torrents of rain, which, washing over beds of scoriae, cover the surrounding country with a deposition of mud. This fre- quently sweeps away trees and houses, and i 64 TERRIFIC ERUPTION. overwhelms villages, spreading devastation and ruin in every direction. The “ Polynesian,” a local newspaper, thus describes a recent eruption in the Sandwich Islands : “ By an accurate measurement of the enormous jet of glowing lava where it first broke forth on the side of Mauna Loa, it was ascertained to be 500 feet high. With a glass, the play of this jet at night was distinctly observed at a distance of 50 miles, and a more sublime sight can scarcely be imagined. A column of molten lava, glowing with the most intense heat, and projected into the air to a distance of 500 feet, was a sight so rare, and at the same time so awfully grand, as to excite the most lively feelings of awe and admiration. The diameter of this jet is supposed to be over 100 feet. Jn some places this river is a mile wide, and in others more contracted. At some points it filled up ravines of 100, 200, and 300 feet in depth, and still it flowed on. It entered a hoary forest, and the giant growth of centuries was cut down before it, like grass before the mower’s scythe. No obstacle can arrest it in its MAUNA LOA. 165 descent to the sea. Mounds are covered over, ravines are filled up, forests are destroyed, and the habitations of man are consumed like flax in the furnace. Truly, ‘ He touche th the hills, and they smoke.’ The eruption seems to have broken out through an old fissure, about one- third down on the side of Mauna Loa, on the north-west side, and not from the old crater on the summit, called Mocquoweoweo. The altitude of the present eruption is about 10,000 feet above the level of the sea.” Volcanoes appear, from observations made during the last hundred years, to be in sympa- thetic connexion with earthquakes ; and probably the exciting cause of both phenomena is abso- lutely cognate. The regions subject to earth- quakes include all the volcanoes which have not become extinct ; and it has been remarked, as a curious and suggestive fact, that an earthquake is sure to be either attended or followed by the eruption of a neighbouring volcano. Indeed, there can be no doubt that earthquakes are owing, like volcanoes, to the agency of the 166 EARTHQUAKES. internal heat of the planet on its crust. Resting on a cavernous base, the crust is subjected, at certain periods, to the action of vapour, generated in those gloomy recesses from subjacent lavas, and the rocks above being elastic, acquire an un- dulatory motion, which produces disruption. An eminent authority attributes the movement to “an actual pulsation, engendered in the molten matter itself, by a linear disruption under enormous tension, giving vent to elastic vapours, which escape either to the surface, or into cavernous spaces beneath.” The vibration is vertical, hori- zontal, or rotatory. The undulations, yielding to the impulsive force, most frequently expand in circles, and spread with a rapidity perfectly astounding. While the massive rocks heave in waves of commotion, the soil, possessed of no power of cohesion, runs about like water, shaping its course according to the inclination it receives. An explosive noise, more or less loud and protracted, usually precedes or accompanies disruption, but this is not invariably the case, and I have been present during a shock in EARTHQUAKE OF TANGURAGA. 167 Malta without hearing any noise. Nor is the volume of the detonations in ratio with the violence of the shock. The great earthquake of Tanguraga, the most devastating and extensive on record, was not attended by any noise, though detonations were heard about half an hour subsequent to the disruption, at a considerable distance from its centre. The noise usually has a hollow sound, resembling what would be created by the pas- sage of a number of heavy waggons through a vault, with explosive claps like thunder ; and occasionally, when the shock has been scarcely perceptible, the reports have had a ringing sound, such as is caused by the collision of metals. On the other hand this subterraneous thunder is sometimes heard, in districts subject to volcanic action, when the surface of the earth is undisturbed, and no convulsion follows. In 1784, the city of Guanaxuato, in Mexico, was visited by one of these subterraneous storms, which lasted, with brief intermissions, for nearly a month. During the earthquake at New Grenada, in 1835, similar detonations were 168 EXPLOSIONS. experienced in several of the West India islands, though the ground was not in the least shaken. Such sounds, however, must certainly indicate internal commotion, and always awaken in the reflective mind an irresistible feeling of awe and dread. But noise is by no means the most frightful phe- nomenon attendant upon earthquakes. Streams of scalding water, impregnated with a deadly stench, burst from the gaping fissures by which the ground is rent, with flames of fire, and tor- rents of boiling mud, and shooting up to an immense height, fall in a deluge on every side. Huge lakes, which have been undisturbed for centuries, are drained of their waters, and new ones formed in spots previously arid. The sea is thrown up from its bed, and impelled on the land, often submerging houses, villages, and forests with a single wave. In the great earth- quake of Tanguraga, already mentioned, the surrounding valleys were filled with water, which rose to a height of six hundred feet, and brought destruction alike on man and beast. On some occasions, the land, after undulating in EARTHQUAKE OF LISBON. 169 various directions, is elevated, and on others, depressed. In an earthquake on the coast of Chili, in 1835, witnessed by Captain Fitzroy, in command of H.M.S. ‘ Beagle,’ the ground at- tained an elevation at different points of eight, nine,, and ten feet. Sometimes the elevated mass, after remaining stationary for a short period, subsides to nearly its former level, and resumes the appearance it presented originally. In other cases the rise is permanent, and the aspect and configuration of the region are totally changed. The range of a shock of earthquake is at times incredibly vast. It is said that the great earthquake of Lisbon, in 1775, was felt over an area four times the extent of Europe. The shock of the terrific earthquake of Tanguraga, which ingulphed the cities of Riohamba and Quero, dislocated the ground for more than one hundred and seventy leagues, and at a consi- derable distance from the centre of action every town was heaped with ruins. To come nearer to our own era, the shock of an earthquake in Chili, in 1822, spread in a second of time over i 170 EXTENT OF EARTHQUAKES. a surface of one thousand two hundred miles, producing the most fatal effects at remote and unconnected points. Nor is the terrestrial com- motion confined to land, as the ocean, far from the seat of disturbance, is thrown up from its depths, and vessels have felt the vibration a hundred miles from land. On the 9th of November, 1852, the west of England was visited by a shock of earthquake, felt simultaneously at Liverpool, Carnarvon, and Manchester, and a second or two later, at Dublin and Wicklow. The weather was sultry and foggy, with drizzling rain. The shock, which took place at 4.30 a.m., lasted two seconds. At 4.35 a smart shock was felt at Malaga, and caused the greatest con- sternation. Altogether there are notices of two hundred and fifty-five slight shocks of earthquake in Great Britain, of which forty-five have oc- curred in England, and thirty in Wales. They have usually been accompanied by foggy and sultry weather, and by a remarkable fall in the barometer. The greatest ever known in EMANATIONS. 171 England occurred on November 14, 1328, and did considerable damage to buildings. The most awful circumstance in connexion with earthquakes is the consequent destruction of human life. In the earthquake of Lisbon, which lasted only five minutes, thirty thousand people perished. An earthquake in Sicily, in 1693, destroyed one hundred thousand lives. It is computed that forty thousand persons were killed at the great earthquake in Calabria in 1783; and in the numerous disruptions in Chili, the great centre of terrestrial disturbance, probably not less than one hundred and fifty thousand people have perished in the course of two centuries. The fissures caused by the waves of commo- tion become outlets for gaseous exhalations and thermal springs, mingled with clouds of steam. The predominant emanation, according to Hum- boldt, is carbonic acid gas ; and he conceives that, in the early ages of the world, when its internal temperature was much higher, and the fractures in the surface more numerous, carbonic acid was emitted in very large quantities. To i 2 172 THERMAL SPRINGS. this he attributes the luxuriant vegetation which then overspread our planet, and which, on de- composition, formed, from its excessive absorp- tion of carbon, strata of coal, paving the earth with carboniferous rocks. Thus a store of pre- cious mineral was laid up for the use of man, while the atmosphere, subjected to the incessant action of the vegetable kingdom, was relieved of its load of poison, and adapted to the require- ments of animated beings. With such fore- knowledge and such care did the Lord of all power and might prepare the earth for his crea- tures ! The columns of steam thrown up in ter- restrial convulsions, perhaps from a depth of two miles, force their way through every ob- stacle, but are condensed by contact with cold springs, flowing over beds of clay, and issue from the fissures in jets of thermal water, of a temperature varying from tepid to boiling. These Plutonic fountains are strongly imbued with mineral and earthy particles, blended with noxious gases, of which carbonic acid is the most potent. They are derived, in the first MUD VOLCANOES. 173 place, from streams of pure water, which circu- late, like blood, in the heart of the earth ; and their temperature is in proportion to the depth of their source. The deepest springs have the greatest degree of heat, and gush forth, as from a cauldron, in a bubbling torrent, full of mineral and gaseous ingredients, salts, bitumen, and iron. They are chiefly found in volcanic countries, but a few exist, in equal vigour, where the ground is no longer subjected to internal commotion, though some local dislo- cation of strata, the effect of a primeval earth- quake, affords the turbid and foaming water an outlet from the interior of the earth. Ebullitions of mud escape through channels of a similar character, forming what are com- monly called mud volcanoes. The operations of these vents, however, are on a very limited scale, and are usually intermittent. Mr. C. W. Day, in his recent work on the West Indies, describes the mud volcanoes of the Antilles as mere plug-holes, which have run nearly dry. The Devil’s Wood-yard in Trinidad, the princi- pal crater, is in very feeble ebullition, and seems 174 LANDSLIPS. to continually diminish in activity. Indeed, it is believed, from the peculiar character of the phenomena attending the emissions, that the passage connecting mud volcanoes with the abyss below, the original seat of action, gra- dually closes, and thus the issue heals at its source. The translating motion of earthquakes, some- times occasioned by very slight shocks, exhibits itself in landslips, by which a portion of ground is carried over another portion, and there per- manently settled. In the coal districts of England landslips are frequent, but here they are owing, not to any internal commotion, but to the subterraneous excavations of the miners, who, in working the coal veins, derange the overlying strata, and thus cause a shift on the surface. Landslips produced by earthquakes are of more moment, and on a scale of far greater magnitude. The force in action is such, that it has proved sufficient, in some cases, to remove mountains; and, in others, has filled up valleys, and changed the course of rivers. Fields and vineyards, freighted with a golden UNIVERSAL LAWS. 175 harvest, and planted with stately and um- brageous trees, have been transported bodily for several hundred yards, and sustained no damage ; and even houses have been carried a similar distance without injury. Such are the wondrous forces in perpetual operation within the interior of the earth, acting periodically on its surface. We tread on a huge machine, which, as it ploughs its way through space, regulates its momentum by internal evolutions. The earth is like a living being. It moves, it throbs, it breathes ! But it is animated, not by the mere property of life, but by infallible and everlasting laws : by the divine intelligence of the Creator. It tells us of his might, of his majesty, of his eternal presence ; and the more closely we examine it, the more forcibly must we recal the impassioned words of the Psalmist : “ O, Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all : the earth is full of thy riches.” VII. LIGHT. Philosophers are divided as to the exact nature of the property of light, which by New- ton is considered to be an emission of material particles from luminous bodies, flying through space at the prodigious rate of 192,000 miles in a second of time. That such is its actual velocity, as ascertained by repeated observations, none can dispute ; but, in other respects, the Newtonian elucidation is not generally adopted, preference being now given to the etherial or undulatory theory. By this system it is main- tained, with great appearance of probability, that the endless regions of space are occupied by a fine, subtle essence, called ether, which, ETHER. 177 restrained by no limits, washes the remotest shores of the universe with an invisible ocean. The etherial medium is of so refined a cha- racter, that the stellar bodies, revolving round their orbits, move through its elastic depths without encountering any resistance, though there can be no doubt that its particles are susceptible of very decided agitation. Hence arise waves, or undulatory motions, which, spreading with excessive velocity, in every pos- sible direction, produce the effect of light. This beautiful and divine emanation moves in straight lines, and is composed, in the first place, of certain distinct and divisible parts, called rays, which derive their colour from the number of undulations attending their propaga- tion. On alighting upon any body, a portion is reflected, and another portion, varying in quantity with particular conditions, enters the body, and is either transmitted through it, or absorbed. Bodies are of three kinds : self-luminous, non-luminous, and transparent. Self-luminous bodies, endued innately with the power of ema- i 3 178 SOURCES OF LIGHT. nation, are the sources of light. Such is the sun, and such are flames, sparks, & c. Non- luminous bodies reflect the light thrown upon them by luminaries, but possess no power of emanation in themselves. The moon, as we all know, is of this character, borrowing her soft, silvery light from the sun. On the other hand, transparent bodies, though really non- luminous, eagerly admit light, and transmit it with but little inexactness. Air, water, glass, &c., are transparent, though in different de- grees. The colour of light in direct emanation is white, but, in its elements, it embraces seven different tints — namely, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The particular hue is regulated, as already mentioned, by the ratio of etherial vibration, blue requiring more numerous undulations than red, while a gradu- ating number of waves produce the various intervening tints. White light, compounded of the whole, may be resolved by absorption and refraction into the seven component parts. Three colours — red, yellow, and blue — are COLOUR OF LIGHT. 179 called primary : the remaining four result from the combination of these, and are designated secondary. Variations of colour, analysed by the search- ing power of the prism, sink into each other by shades scarcely perceptible, red passing into orange, orange into yellow, yellow into green, green into blue, blue into indigo, and indigo into violet. Each variation has a corresponding index of refraction, and the whole seven colours, after separation by analysis, may be again compounded, when the light resumes its original character, and becomes perfectly white. Light cannot pass through a body, be its nature what it may, without diminishing in quantity, and it is found that even the most transparent substances transmit the precious element with reduced force, absorbing a portion in its passage. This process of absorption, so universal in its operation, is one of the great mysteries of nature, baffling every attempt at investigation. It is conjectured, however, that the minute atoms of light are resisted by the matter of the transmitting medium, and thus 180 ABSORPTION. are dispersed through its particles, becoming blended with the mass. Even air possesses the power of absorption ; and water, in some cases so transparent, becomes at a certain depth perfectly opaque. While a portion of light transmitted through bodies is absorbed, or lost, another portion is diverted from its course, receiving an impulse in a different line; and this result, from its faculty of driving back, is called Refraction. The effect of refraction is strikingly manifested in the atmosphere, which possesses refractive power in a high degree. Light, in fact, as it nears the earth, is turned aside by particles of air, and made to continue its course in a curve. It is found that the upper strata of the atmo- sphere, which approach more nearly to the nature of ether, offer less resistance to the luminous rays, and hence it is that a greater number of stars are visible from lofty heights than can be seen from the level of the ground. The refractive power is consequently greatest at the earth's surface, where the atmosphere, pressed down by the overlying strata, attains its REFRACTION. 181 greatest density, and it follows that any object seen through this medium, such as a fixed star or planet, never appears in its real place, unless it happen to lie in a directly vertical line. The power of atmospheric refraction is greatly influenced by temperature, as the density of the air, both on the ground and in elevated situ- ations, varies with the degree of heat and cold. Excessive heat or cold materially heighten the refractive power, producing optical appearances of a marvellous and startling character, which, as departures from ordinary laws, are designated Unusual Refraction. Phenomena of this kind are very common in the East, where the tempe- rature of the atmosphere, owing to the inter- mixture of different currents of air, is subject to frequent local changes. The famous mirage of Egypt is an example of the magical effect pro- duced by such agencies. A recent traveller, in an account of a voyage up the Nile, gives the following description of an Egyptian mirage : “ When about ten miles from Alexandria, we came on a rare, and, to strangers, most novel spectacle, which opened to us a land of en- 182 EGYPTIAN MIRAGE. chantment. It was the Egyptian mirage ; and the illusion was so perfect, that for some time I could not be persuaded that what I saw with such distinctness w T as not real. The vast plain of sand, stretching beyond sight, assumed the appearance of a boundless lake, smooth and serene as glass ; trees projecting into the Desert, became capes and headlands, washed by the tranquil waters, and the w 7 hite towers of the Suez telegraph, far in the background, were transformed into a fleet of ships. The scene held us spell-bound, and it was with a feeling of disappointment that we saw it vanish.” The Fata Morgana of Messina is a still more curious spectacle. Here, as the sun diffuses his beams over the azure sky, a phantom city, adorned with magnificent palaces and stately temples, rises, like a vision, on the placid bosom of the sea, while around are spread luxuriant meads, where flocks and herds pasture at will. The optical illusion observed on sea- coasts, of cliffs and trees elevated on the surface of the water, the counterpart of the adjacent land, is well known, and often occurs even in THE FLYING DUTCHMAN. 183 our own country. Ships have been seen at sea, complete to the hull, before even their topmasts have risen above the horizon, and the appearance of a ship inverted, while the vessel actually represented is out of sight, is, in some localities, a common occurrence. The legend of the Flying Dutchman, so universally believed by sailors, has had its origin in this species of refraction. That the illusive image of a ship has repeatedly been seen in the cruising ground of the errant Hollander, is a fact well attested, and which no person of scientific knowledge will venture to dispute. I must confess to having felt great disappointment, when approach- ing the Cape of Good Hope, that I never fell in with the phantom rover. Optic illusions at times present themselves in very curious and mystic aspects, which probably is owing as much to some weakness or tem- porary derangement of the sight, as to external refraction. Awaking one night from a sound sleep, I was surprised, on looking up, to observe a woman standing by the bedside. The room was wrapped in darkness, so that 1 could not, at 184 CURIOUS ILLUSION. first, distinguish even the white blinds of the windows; yet the whole figure of my strange visitant stood forth, distinct and prominent. What was more singular, as showing the inscrutable nature of refraction, I made out the colour of its drapery, which was a green and white plaid, falling in a long gown on the floor. Quickly perceiving that the figure, however feminine in outline, was above the stature of woman, I became sensible that it was an illusion, and sat up in the bed to regard it more steadily. 1 was then struck by the grace and exquisite dignity of its attitude, and the softness of its outline. The whole disposition of the figure was emblematic of the profoundest sorrow ; and, as I continued to gaze, it became next to impos- sible, with such appearances before me, to believe that I was contemplating a mere phan- tasma. To place this beyond doubt, I touched the figure with my foot, when it instantly changed into mist, and dispersed. The most familiar effect of refraction, in connexion with natural phenomena, is the rain- bow, which, as every observer of nature is THE RAINBOW. 185 aware, spans the sky with its variegated arch, when rain is falling opposite the sun. This beautiful fabric is an everlasting testimony to the means by which the Creator, while possess- ing supreme and unlimited power, works out his will, and serves, at the same time, to commemo- rate to latest ages his covenant of mercy with man. From the moment that the radiant bow first appeared in the heavens, a symbol of stability and peace, it has renewed to a thousand generations, the benignant promise that, “ while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest shall never cease.” As soon as the ministering rain begins to fall, the divine banner, inscribed with that significant and memorable writing, is unfurled in the sky, and becomes a beacon of confidence to all mankind. The rainbow is sometimes composed of two bows, a primary and a secondary ; and in the space between, the eye may occasionally observe intermediate bows. Usually, however, only one is seen, embracing in succession the seven different colours, namely — violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red ; and of these 186 THE AURORA BOREALIS. the innermost is violet, and the outermost red. This primary bow is produced by the action of light on drops of rain, which, as they are dis- charged by the aqueous clouds, in the region facing the sun, become a medium of refraction, and display the seven constituent hues of light with the accuracy of a prism. The secondary bow, which has its colours reversed, is thrown off by the first, and consequently is much fainter in colour, the refraction and reflection being double. It is probably to refraction, operating in conjunction with terrestrial magnetism, that we owe the phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis, more commonly known as the Northern Lights. This beautiful object seldom makes its appear- ance in our clime; but in the winter of 1837, passing through London at a late hour of the night, I saw its streamers displayed in great perfection. It first appeared as a rack of red clouds, hanging immediately overhead : but in a few minutes, it spread, on lightning wings, over the whole city, draping the heavens with flame. The few stragglers in the streets con- NORTHERN LIGHTS. 187 templated the magnificent spectacle with wonder and awe, and these motley groups of observers, summoned in the dead hour of night to behold the marvels of nature, presented a spectacle scarcely less startling. The phenomenon, how- ever, was of short duration, and in half an hour the whole fabric had vanished. It is in the ice-bound regions of the North that the Aurora Borealis is seen in all its grandeur. The author of “ Revelations of Siberia/’ a lady of no ordinary observation, thus describes its appearance at Berezov, in Siberia, in the winter of 1840 : “At ten o’clock at night, a loud crackling noise was heard in the air, as though coming from a distance. The Berezovians were not slow in divining what this uproar in the atmo- sphere betokened, but almost before they could rush to their windows, the whole of the environs were enveloped in one blaze of illumination. Called by our landlord, we hurried into the court-yard to contemplate the phenomenon, and were enraptured at what we saw ; but to 188 SUBLIME SPECTACLE. describe the spectacle is beyond the power of my feeble pen. “ The night was frosty and clear. Every object around the earth, the forest and the town, were white with snow. Berezov was no longer a miserable collection of huts, but radiant with lights, reflected by its covering of snow, looked like a world of enchantment. The different parts of the strange scenery seemed to form but a single grand and stately structure — a structure with walls of flame, surmounted by a cone-like cupola of fire, which towered over our heads. The light was neither red nor lurid, but beamed with mild, soft, indescribable lustre, unlike anything that can be imagined “ The entire fabric, as it seemed, gradually threw off the cupola, and assumed the form of a sugar-loaf. It was narrow at its base, but the summit or apex of the cone rose to such an immense height, as to bewilder the vision. It appeared as though it even penetrated the vault of heaven, and at that hour of extraor- OCCULTATION OF STARS. 189 dinary solemnity, permitted mortals, though but for a moment, to catch from their earthly vale a glimpse of that mysterious region inaccessible hut to the spirits of the blessed. “ The walls of the wondrous cone were formed by light floating clouds of silvery brightness, which curling upward like volumes of thin smoke, spread their luminous rays in every direction. These clouds rose like vapours from the base, as if they were engendered in the earth, and rolled rapidly up to the summit, where, after covering the apex, they vanished as quickly as they had ascended. Their disappear- ance, however, did not in the slightest degree interrupt or diminish the splendour of the spec- tacle, and fresh volumes of cloud continued to roll up in all kinds of fantastic shapes, and with the same brilliant effects. “ These floating walls completely blocked out the sky, so that nothing could be seen of the blue vault of heaven or the countless stars. The eye could only behold the wonderful evo- lutions of masses of light set in motion by an invisible hand, while the ear was enchained by 190 ARCTIC REFRACTION. majestic strains of harmony, with which the whole atmosphere resounded. “ The Aurora was undiminished in brilliancy for several hours, but afterwards its motions were less rapid, the coruscations of light faded gradually away, and at two o’clock all had vanished. The stars which up to that hour had been obscured or only partially visible, appeared in all their former glory; the moon shone brightly as it sailed over its clear azure path, and everything resumed its usual aspect. “ Wishing to ascertain what the Berezovians, who have not the slightest knowledge of natural philosophy, thought of the Aurora, I made in- quiries with this view. The explanation I obtained from the wisest among them was, that the waves of the Arctic Ocean, reflecting the light of the moon, threw back a radiance on the sky, whence arose all the effects of the Aurora.” Light falling at certain angles, cannot, after acting on one transparent body, be a second time reflected or refracted, except in particular directions, nor does it retain the property of POLARIZATION OF LIGHT. 191 penetration. The modified light is said to be polarized — a term suggested, in the first in- stance, by a misconception regarding the poles of the magnet, but which has since been universally adopted. The phenomena produced by polarization are as numerous as they are beautiful, and while they charm the eye by their picturesque charac- ter, possess the higher merit of unfolding to us, in their marvellous effects, what Sir John Herschell happily calls “ the minuter mecha- nism of the universe.” Polarization may be accomplished, as numberless experiments attest, by reflecting substances of every description, but not at the same angle of incidence, or with equal completeness. Substances endued with a great degree of refractive power polarize with less facility, and only to a limited extent. The diamond, in which the property of refraction is very active, polarizes but feebly. Thus the queen of gems becomes valueless in the production of these dazzling and wondrous phenomena. Polarization is continually affording us some 192 SUPREMACY OF GOD. new insight into the secret operations of nature ; and surely it is a significant circumstance, that one of our guides in that vast field of inquiry, which embraces so much that it concerns us to know, is light. We are turning this mighty power on a region hitherto enveloped in Egyp- tian darkness, and. at every step, our eyes discover, with mingled reverence and joy, fresh traces of the chain of design which encircles the universe. No longer can it he denied that we are surveying the works of an all- wise and all-powerful Being, which symbol forth, in characters appreciable by the humblest under- standing, his majesty and his supremacy. As we pause in awe-struck wonder at results so sublime, it is meet that we should recal those dread and thrilling words, “ I form light, and create darkness,” and declare, with fervent and devoted faith, that to Him indeed “ darkness and light are both alike.” VIII. THE CELESTIAL FIRE. The examination of the principle of light naturally directs our attention to that of heat, with which, if we may receive the conclusions of philosophers, it is identical. Nor is it in any degree less important, or less necessary. As light is the life of Nature, and air her breath, heat, which works invisibly within, may be considered her soul. It is, in fact, the celestial fire of Prometheus, which pervades, animates, and sustains all things. Without heat, nothing could exist. Not only is it indispensable, as a quality of being, to every class of animal and organic life, but it K 194 EFFECTS OF HEAT. is found in every form and condition of matter. The creatures that walk the earth, the fish in the depths of the sea, the bird that, far beyond the reach of sight, cleaves with agile wing the crystal fields of heaven; land, water, and air, even hail and ice, are penetrated in various degrees by this subtle and vital property. Innate, commingled, and unsearchable, it leavens every substance, and is the leading agent in every development. Art and Science, and all the mechanical accessories of life, as well as the operations and whole economy of nature, depend altogether on the action of heat. The universality of this power, and the benefits it confers upon mankind, both directly and through the medium of art, were recognized in the first ages of the world. Fire, as the presumed source of light and heat, was invested with divine functions, and adored as the symbol of the Creator. Man thought that he could not sufficiently revere a force which exercised such unlimited sway, and to which he owed so many blessings. It was heat that, by its foster- ing rays, covered the earth with trees and flowers, DISTRIBUTION OF HEAT. 195 and afterwards refreshed it with rain. To heat he was indebted for food, clothes, and every household comfort. Heat it was that imparted an invigorating warmth to his frame, and endued him, in its effects, with life, strength, and motion. The distribution of heat is regulated by the Divine Hand with the most beautiful precision and forethought. The mind can conceive no scheme of measurement so accurate, no balanc- ing of cause and effect so mathematically exact, as the adjustment, by relative position, of the quantity of heat which the earth receives from the sun. An eminent professor has announced, as a fact not to be disputed, that were the distance between our planet and the great luminary diminished, the access of solar heat would convert her waters into air, while the rich stores of metal garnered in her bosom would become brazen rivers, discharging them- selves, when their course was run, into the vacant depths of the ocean. If the distance were increased, the difference, from the directly opposite effects, would be no less decided. The K 2 196 NATURE OF HEAT. diminution of solar heat would cause the air to liquify, turn the sea into crystal, and bind the great continents of the earth in eternal frost. The nature of heat, like that of light, is a subject on which philosophers are not agreed. It is held by some, that heat is a material sub- stance, residing in all bodies, and blending itself with their constituent particles. An accession of heat, therefore, when diffused through the parts, causes the body to expand, though the degree of expansion varies according to the nature of the body. The proportion in which bulk can be increased is governed by the affinity subsisting between the constituent molecules and the infused particles of heat — bodies in which the attraction is slight, being, with an infusion of equal quantity, susceptible of greater aug- mentation than bodies in which it is strong. But this theory is open to one objection, which would seem to render it untenable. It is well known, that all matter, whatever may be its particular character, is subject to the great law of gravitation, but this quality does not reside IDENTITY WITH LIGHT. 197 in heat, and consequently, it cannot be con- sidered a material substance. Another theory, sanctioned by the venerable names of Bacon and Newton, derives heat from the same origin as light — -namely, vibrations of the ethereal fluid, propagated through space with inconceivable velocity. This wavy motion is communicated to the particles of bodies, and causes them, without perceptibly separating, to move round their axes, or round each other, thus generating the power of heat. The identity of heat and light, virtually asserted by this theory, is attested also by the similarity of their media — two main sources of heat being solar light and electricity. Percus- sion, compression, friction, and chemical com- bination, by which heat may be produced, are equally capable of kindling light. Indeed, the Indians of North America, unacquainted with the more ingenious contrivances of civilized life, obtain sparks for their fires by the friction of tw T o pieces of stick, as if Nature had a spon- taneous and instinctive perception of the charac- teristics of matter. 198 ABSORPTION. The quality of incandescence is another wit- ness to the sameness of heat and light. A body is said to be incandescent when, by the absorption of a certain quantity of heat, it ac- quires the power of emitting light. The degree of heat, too, as of light, is indicated by colour. Iron raised in temperature to a red heat, becomes luminous, but in a less degree, both in quantity and power, than when the heat is heightened to orange ; and orange, in its turn, yields to the superior effulgence of white heat. Nor does the resemblance of heat to light end here. It is diffused, like the more subtle emanation, by means of rays, which have a divergence corresponding with the radiation of light. It has the same power of penetrating bodies, and, according to the nature of the mass, either passes through, or is partially or wholly absorbed. Absorption is attended by an increase of temperature, which, in some sub- stances, rises to that of the body from which the heat is derived. The rays, too, like those of light, possess the qualities of reflection and refraction. COMBUSTION. 199 The application of heat causes some sub- stances to ignite, and the light evolved then takes the form of flame. Combustion — for by that term the effect is designated — is a con- sequence of the exposure of heated matter to the air, by which it is brought in combination with the atmospheric gases, and the heat in- creased till it becomes luminous. As all bodies are not capable of combustion, it follows, as a necessary result, that they will not be equally affected by the same pro- portion of heat. Each body, therefore, has a different temperature, which varies with its density ; and the quantity of calorific fluid which it retains is called its specific heat. The specific heat of a body regulates both its magnitude and temperature. The natural effect of any accession of calorific power, from what- ever source, is to cause the particles of a substance to swell, and this necessarily increases the bulk of the whole. The augmentation of dimensions, which is proportioned to the elas- ticity of the matter, is called Dilatation. This property of heat is in constant opera- *200 DILATATION. tion, changing the dimensions and temperature of bodies with every moment, although, in ordinary cases, unless tested by scientific in- struments, the change is too minute to be perceptible. Should the temperature of a sub- stance, however, be for any period the same, its magnitude remains stationary, and is only dis- turbed when there is any alteration of the tem- perature. When heat is abstracted, the body contracts ; and when heat is infused, the result is an immediate and uniform enlargement. The dilating faculty of heat is exhibited very strikingly in the atmosphere, where, by that divine economy of causes which forms so con- spicuous a feature in the creation, and so glorious a testimony to the constructing hand of the Creator, it is made the agent of a very essential effect in the great scheme of nature. From the action of heat on the atmosphere, indeed, arise all the phenomena of winds, which are wholly governed by variations of temperature. When the atmospheric gases are invaded by heat, whether discharged from the sun, or sent up from the earth, their particles EXPANSION OF METALS. 201 dilate, and, in making room for increased bulk, push away the colder air, which of itself has a tendency to contract. A diminution of heat, spread rapidly through the region, is followed by contraction, and as the subsiding gases recede, the colder air presses up, forcing it, as the lighter material, to rise higher, when the whole of the adjacent strata are deranged. From this confusion spring the winds. The change effected by heat in the dimen- sions of solids is on a smaller scale, and not so easily ascertained. Lead, one of the weightiest of solids, shows the greatest amount of dilata- tion, but the quantity is insignificant in com- parison with the bulk. The expansive quality of iron is very minute, though on examining the rails on a railroad, in very sultry weather, I have been able to detect the enlargement. The difference, perhaps, would not have been per- ceptible under other circumstances, as the ex- pansion is uniform, and spread equally through the length, breadth, and thickness. But the rails being laid in a line, and each pressed at its extremities by the rail adjoining, the K 3 202 CONTRACTION. expansion in length cannot be accomplished, and, as a consequence, it is thrown up in a pro- tuberance at the end of the rail, where the pressure is greatest. On the other hand, the abstraction of the calorific power, by an altera- tion in the temperature of the air, causes the rails to contract, so that an interstice is created between each rail. Among liquids, water displays the most marked effects under peculiar variations of temperature. It is found that, after attaining a certain coolness, the contraction of this liquid ceases, and though heat may continue to be abstracted, the bulk of the water is un dimi- nished, and remains stationary till the tempe- rature is lowered to a point variously estimated, but ranging between 39° and 40°. With any further diminution of heat, water, contrary to all analogy, assumes an expansive quality, and goes on dilating, with every fresh fall of temperature, till it is frozen. The point at which it freezes, computed by the scale of Fahrenheit, is 32°. Frost, however, does not invariably accrue from this temperature, and water sometimes retains LATENT HEAT. 203 , its liquid form under a degree of cold much tfnore severe. As soon as congelation takes place, the dilatation is very striking, causing, as an •inevitable consequence, a considerable rise of level, which only terminates when the body is converted into a solid. At the same time, the calorific power, antagonistic though it is, is not wholly dismissed, a portion remaining latent in the ice. It is called latent, because it does not render the ice warmer, and heat imparted to ice in its transition to the liquid state, though possessing sufficient force to dissolve the con- stituent particles, is impotent in its effect on the temperature. Ice is endued, however, with a singular capacity for attracting heat from neighbouring bodies, and this accounts for the degree of cold usually attendant on thaws, during which, by the operation of this peculiar property, ice absorbs the heat of the atmo- sphere, and renders it latent till congelation disappears. The boiling point of water is 2 1 2°. At this temperature, it begins to bubble, a natural result of its expansion, by which each par- 204 STEAM. tide, enlarged in an excessive degree, presses on every side against the particles around, and a general displacement ensues. This com- motion is familiarly termed boiling, and is the stage at which water attains its greatest heat, when the calorific fluid, in whatever force it may be applied, can no longer raise the tem- perature. But should the heat be sustained, the water, still kept in ebullition, is converted into vapour, and becomes a new and more subtle element. Hence we derive the marvel- lous and prodigious power of steam. Steam is analagous in its nature to air, but is invisible, for the vaporous smoke which ascends through a tube from boiling water, is, in fact, not steam, but minute atoms of water recovered from the ascending vapour by the action of the atmosphere. The steam, meanwhile, expands in a wonderful manner, insomuch that each particle is enlarged to nearly 2000 times its bulk in water, acquir- ing with this enlargement a corresponding degree of pressure, by which, in proportion as it expands, it forces its way through the STEAM-ENGINE. 205 air. The property of pressure is exerted, with even increased violence and force, when the boiling fluid is contained in a vessel, bearing against the sides in such a manner as, if pro- portioned in quantity to the resisting power, must inevitably rend them asunder. Such is the restless spirit we have invoked from the deep, to dwell, like the breath of life, in the iron frame of the steam-engine, to carry us with the speed of thought over con- tinents and seas, and bring the ends of the world into constant and intimate communion. Steam, water, the simple element which has nourished and sustained the world from its first creation, is now to be the apostle of commerce, civilization, and religion. War, with all its train of ills — ignorance, barbarism, and superstition — the crimes and excesses of savage life, and the horrors of idolatry, must ultimately be scattered and dispelled by this divine and unwearying missionary. To the mighty steam- engine mountains can raise no barrier, and gales offer no impediment : it throws a bridge over oceans, and, outstripping the swiftest ships, ploughs its way in the very teeth of the wind. 206 VAPORIZATION. But it is not at the boiling point only that liquid generates vapour. In that condition, it vaporises, so to speak, in all its particles, though with more rapidity in those which are most contiguous to the calorific force. But liquids emit vapour from the surface, where they have free communication with the air, at every degree of heat. Vaporization, as it is called, is in unremitted operation from the surface of all liquids, and the particles thus discharged are immediately borne away by the currents of air, leaving room for a fresh distillation. Another form of this process is designated evaporization, and is the agent which, under the directing power of heat, draws up from the seas and rivers of the earth vast quantities of water, which are stored in the mystic hollows of the clouds, and descend from those aqueducts of heaven, when their heat is abstracted, as dew, rain, hail, and snow. These moisten and refresh the earth, carpet its soil with verdure and flowers, nourish the umbrageous woods, and support and invigorate the waving corn. Having fulfilled the functions of fructification, they penetrate still further into the ground, and re-appear, at a certain depth, as fountains and CONGELATION AND LIQUEFACTION. 207 springs, to be poured again into the ocean. So complete, and so provident, is the great scheme of phenomena which regulates the economy of the earth ! While the abstraction of heat causes water to condense, changing the liquid into a solid, the restoration of the calorific power, in what- ever quantity it may be imparted, does not immediately produce a contrary effect. Hence it is argued, with every appearance of probabi- lity, that heat, instead of dissolving, combines with the congealed body, and becomes a part of its substance. It is only under the continued pressure of heat, maintained with unabated force, that the frozen particles liquify, and, as the water remains at the same temperature, it necessarily follows that the heat infused has become latent. Heat may be sensible, how- ever, even in a congealed body ; and water partially solidified has been raised in tem- perature by the immersion of a piece of ice. By the application of heat, metals are reduced to liquids, and this property, conjoined with their malleability, renders them the most useful accessories of human industry. In their liquid 208 CALORIC SHIP. form some metals may be turned to almost any purpose, and moulded to any shape. Gold, silver, or copper, however, sustaining a contrac- tion in the transition from the liquid to the solid condition, cannot be cast to the figure of a mould ; and, consequently, all coin receives its impression from a stamp. The last great purpose to which heat has been applied is in relation to its effect on air, and the caloric ship, invented by Captain Ericsson, a Swedish machinist, and constructed in the United States, is the first result of this beautiful principle. The engine consists of a large working cylinder, placed over a furnace, by which the air, the motive power, is heated, and above is a supply-cylinder, or air-pump, connected with a supplemental receptacle, called a regenerator. This affords the hot air already worked, a passage, through a graduated tem- perature, into the cold part of the vessel, when, having all its heat abstracted, it is again sus- ceptible of dilatation, and brought to act anew on the cylinder. The vessel, as is well known, is about to make a trial trip across the Atlantic, and the extent of the caloric power will then be fully ascertained. THE THERMOMETER. 209 Heat may be measured, with an accuracy perfectly unerring, by two instruments, the thermometer and the hygrometer, the latter of which, however, is used only in connexion with a very elevated temperature. The liquid adopted as a gauge, includes between its freezing and boiling points — the two ex- tremes — a considerable scope of action, in both directions, beyond the freezing and boiling points of nearly all other liquids, and possesses, more- over, an acute sensibility to heat. This liquid is mercury, or quicksilver, of which a small quantity, purified from all alloy, is infused into a spherical cavity, terminating a tube of glass, and, under the action of different degrees of heat, it expands or contracts, necessarily effect- ing a corresponding rise or fall in the tube above. The precise point of temperature is indicated by a scale at the side. Thus the invisible property of heat has been conquered by man, and becomes at once his benefactor and his slave. Its universal presence, in every substance, and under all circumstances, renders its subjection to science one of the greatest achievements of the human mind, while it furnishes a key to mysteries that would 210 VITALITY OF HEAT. otherwise be impenetrable. In heat, we have wrested from nature the secret of her vitality. Whether it darts on lightning wings across the heavens, or embalms itself, like a sealed spring, in the ice-bound depths of the Frozen Ocean, heat, sensible or latent, is still the same im- perishable, sustaining, animating principle, by which nature and the world exist. Who can say even that it is not the ethereal essence which we call life , and which, like itself, is invisible and unsearchable ? As the spark of life begins to expire, our frames gradually lose their warmth', and grow colder and colder. Heat, enfeebled by the strain on its powers, or swayed by some undiscovered law, recedes from the extremities, but lingers for a while in the pant- ing recesses of the heart. Then the breath of man “goeth forth out of his nostrils, and all his thoughts perish.” THE MYSTERIES OF THE DEEP. The ocean is the symbol of eternity. Boundless and unfathomable, it suggests to our limited understanding, at a loss for a parallel, the extreme of immensity. From pole to pole, from east to west, it is in per- petual and unremitted circulation — ever moving on, yet never passing for an instant its feeble and unguarded barriers. As we traverse this awful expanse, day upon day, and week after week, without seeing any bound to the rolling waters, but only the same everlasting flood blending on every side with the firmament, the mind receives such an impression of the majesty and sublimity of nature as nothing 212 THE OCEAN. else could inspire. In such a situation, amidst the silence and repose of night, while the canopy of Heaven is gleaming with myriads of stars, and no sound is heard but the whis- pering voice of the breeze, the most sluggish soul acquires a perception of the mysteries around. In higher natures, this manifests itself in a grave spirituality, which at once elevates and refines : in those of a more gro- velling or timid stamp, it takes the odious form of superstition. At one moment, smooth as a lake of glass, but showing below a depth beyond calculation ; at another, in fearful com- motion, agitated by mountainous waves, and rent by tremendous chasms, the ocean is indeed ever suggestive of vicissitude, of adventure, and of danger. In this light, it has always been a favourite simile of the poets, when, in the sweet measures of song, they have dwelt on the mutations of human fortune, and the instability and frequent changes of life. In fact, it is a familiar custom, common to every age, and perhaps every nation, to associate the sea with all that is precarious, fickle, perilous, and unknown. SCRIPTURAL ALLUSIONS. 213 A subject so susceptible of metaphorical application could not be overlooked by the sacred writers; but we find in the Scriptures, on the whole, fewer allusions of this character than we might expect. When the fruitful theme is touched upon, the aim is chiefly to show that the mechanism and complete eco- nomy of the ocean, which seem so amazing and sa inscrutable, are the immediate work of the Almighty, and hence to create a proper idea of His wisdom and power. Solomon refers to it frequently in this light, and always with the same devout purpose. “ When He estab- lished the clouds above,” he exclaims — “ when He strengthened the fountains of the deep ; when he gave to the sea His decree that the waters should not pass His commandment.” David expresses a kindred sentiment, with equal eloquence and force. — “ They that go down to the sea in ships, and have their business on the great waters, they see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.” The royal lyrist’s description of a storm at sea, so well known to the Scripture student, is one of the grandest passages in the 214 DEPTH OF WATER. Psalms. — “ For He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven, they go down again to the depths ; their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distress. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet : so He bringeth them unto their desired haven.” It is conceived that when the earth was a fluid mass, its figure was an ellipsoid of re- volution ; and the ocean, undisturbed by the influences of the sun and moon, retains this form, marked by a compression at the poles. The mutation of the earth’s axis would indicate that this world of waters is of almost infinite depth, but philosophers have come to a con- clusion widely different. It is conjectured, though on purely hypothetical grounds, that the depth is uniform, so that no part of the main ocean is materially deeper than ano- THE TIDES. 215 ther ; and this depth, called the mean, is supposed to range between four and six miles. On October 30, 1852, Captain Denham, R.N., of H.M.S. ‘Herald/ obtained soundings in the deep sea at 7,706 fathoms, or 7*7 geographical miles. The surface of the ocean, as an inevitable consequence of its extent, is exposed to the action of the sun and moon, and the changeful influences of the atmosphere ; but the com- bined effect of these agents is merely super- ficial. Even amidst the commotion and fury of a storm, when they are in full opera- tion, the agitation of the waters is confined almost to the surface, and at a depth of some half dozen fathoms, it is perfectly calm. Stil these influences are abundantly sufficient to fulfil the functions assigned to them in the ministry of nature ; and to the action of the sun and moon on the ocean we owe the phenomenon of the tides. The moon attracts the waters of the hemisphere beneath her, which is immediately subject to her sway, more powerfully than the solid bulk of the earth, drawing them away from the earth in such 216 SPRING TIDES. a manner that, in a short period, the great deep would be altogether emptied, if the over- ruling law of gravitation, throned in the centre of the globe, did not lessen the attraction. At the same time the queenly satellite attracts the mass of the earth nearest to her in greater proportion than the waters of the opposite hemisphere, which, as a consequence, would be left behind, if the gravitating princi- ple, by drawing them to the centre of the world, did not correct this tendency. The action of the sun is precisely similar, though, owing to a diminution of force, it is not so signal. Each agent, as in every function and ministration of nature, corrects and modifies the other, and the final result is, the alternate rise and fall of the waters, in both hemispheres, twice in the lunar day. The fluctuations in the level of the waters, though in most regions of regular occurrence, are by no means uniform in quantity: the different changes and phases of the moon causing great variations in this respect. The spring tides, which reach the greatest altitude, and show the most marked decline, occur at HIGH WATER. 217 new and fall moon, but they attain their highest elevation when the moon is in perigee. The neap tides, which are much lower, attend on her quadrature. The variations in the level and time of high water are caused by the declinations of the moon, which altogether occupy 29J days ; but, though producing periodic derangements, these declinations are, in the aggregate, balanced by those of the sun, which, with a more limited range, require for their completion 365^ days. Though the tides are most decided in narrow channels, where the water is confined, the sun and moon act with the greatest force on the main ocean, where, in fact, the tidal waves originate. Even in a large expanse of water, the ebb and flow are slight, if the inlet from the ocean, as in the case of the Gut of Gibraltar, is so narrow as to check and repress the tidal rush. During a stay of nearly twelve months in the Mediterranean, I noticed but little vari- ation in the general level of the water. Whether the tides were at any period more powerful in the Mediterranean, is a matter that L 218 ENCROACHMENT ON COASTS. cannot now be ascertained ; but it seems pro- bable, from modern explorations, that this noble inland sea formerly held less restricted commu- nication with the Atlantic. The marine deposits near the Pillars of Hercules, left by vanished waters, seem to point at such a conclusion, but philosophers are not absolutely agreed as to the fact. It is certain, from what passes year by year under our own observation, that the configura- tion of land and sea is continually varying, and I have endeavoured in a former chapter to explain how and by what means these changes are effected. I shall only remark here, that the sea, though in appearance stationary, gains on the land in some places, and recedes from it in others. This is apparent even on our own coasts, where, within memory, the sea has, at different places, both advanced and retired, in some cases quite altering the shape of the land. At Sandwich, on the coast of Kent, the inroad had been very decided, and at Reculvers the sea is only kept back by strong barriers, which break the shock of the invading waves. WAVES. 219 The sea, swayed both by the sun and moon, necessarily exercises considerable influence on climate. Since the elevation of land in the north of Europe, the climate, which originally was tropical, as the deposits most amply attest, has been seized by eternal frost. On the other hand, in the southern hemisphere, where the ocean greatly predominates, the climate, in a latitude corresponding with the south of Europe, is at once salubrious, bracing, and temperate. The rise and fall of the sea is exhibited in another phenomenon, familiarly called waves. Waves give the sea the appearance of a pro- gressive motion, which never comes to a stand. But this progress, though ■ seemingly most dis- tinct, is an illusion, having no material or real existence. The motion is not in the water, but in the wave, which, while it appears to advance, merely alters the position of its parts. Thus, the base of the wave, seized by the rising water, becomes its slope, and the slope is converted into its pinnacle, while the sea itself rises and falls, but remains for ever stationary. The power of a body to float on water admits l 2 220 SHIPS. of easy explanation. In order to possess this property, the weight of the body must be the same, bulk for bulk, as water, or it must be of such a figure that, by only partially sinking, will displace an amount of water as much exceeding it in bulk as it exceeds the displaced water in weight. Bodies of this des- cription must be ballasted, if I may use such a term, by air. A certain space below the water line, varying with the character of the body, being thus occupied, the lightness of the air reduces the weight of the bulk, and the whole is enabled to float. On this principle we construct boats and ships. But, in order to secure buoyancy to a ship, it is necessary, in the first place, to fix its centre of gravity, which, as a counterpoise to the weight of the spars and rigging, ought to rest on the keel. Hence it is that the heaviest part of a vessel’s freight is stowed first in the hold, by which the main weight, instead of being distributed over the space, is thrown on the bottom, and a proper resistance offered to the action of the water. When a ship is void of cargo, or laden SWIMMING. 221 only with light materials, the centre of gravity is maintained by ballast, composed usually of bars and pigs of iron, which lie beneath the actual freight, and secure equilibrium. If, by any casualty, the centre of gravity is disturbed, equilibrium is destroyed, and the vessel is ingulphed by the conquering waves. The human body, with a little assistance from the hands, may invest itself with buoyancy, as it assimilates very closely in weight to its own bulk of water. Respiration, indeed, alters its bulk, the emission of breath collapsing, as its inspiration expands the frame; but the air received into the lungs makes no addition to the weight, and, consequently, the body, rendered lighter than its own bulk of w 7 ater, has a tendency to rise. As the breath is emitted, however, the weight of the body is increased, and its size diminished, w 7 hen a tendency of a directly opposite character is created, and the body begins to sink. I have frequently experienced, when swimming, the effect of unguarded respiration, causing me to sink with great velocity, and have only re- 222 WEIGHT. covered buoyancy by prolonged and measured efforts. Few are ignorant that, after drowning, a corpse will rise to the surface and float. It has in fact, by the process of decomposition, in- creased in volume ; and becoming lighter, bulk for bulk, than water, is endowed with buoyancy ; but evaporization, consequent on exposure to the atmosphere, again reduces its bulk, and it then sinks for ever. The principal of relative weight is beautifully illustrated in the structure of fish, which, to adapt them to their sphere of existence, are furnished with an elastic air-vessel, equally sus- ceptible of expansion or contraction. Thus the animal is able, by inspiration, to augment or diminish its magnitude, and rise or sink at pleasure. From these examples, it will be understood, without further explanation, that a body which disperses on immersion a less amount of water than is equivalent to its own weight, will in- fallibly sink ; while, on the other hand, a body equal in weight to its own bulk of water, will PRESSURE OF FLUIDS. 223 float. But, whatever may be the weight of a body, it is more easily moved under water, where the aqueous pressure assists progression, than on land, insomuch that a man will move a weight in the water unaided, which on land half-a-dozen men would move with difficulty. The pressure thus exercised by water is a com- mon property of all fluids. Whatever position a fluid may occupy, or whatever may be its volume, it communicates a pressure to every point, each particle being pressed in proportion to the weight of the quantity of fluid above it, and the quantity on each of its four sides. It is this pressure, in fact, which keeps the particles of the fluid together, and therefore it follows, as a necessary and natural result, that the pressure must be uniform. Nor is it possible to conceive any means by which it can be interrupted, as it is exerted, at one and the same time, both in an upward and downward direc- tion and on every side. Each particle presses the one adjacent, which, by its resistance, exercises a similar force, and thus the whole unite in one indissoluble mass. 224 LEVEL. If water or any other fluid be confined in a vessel, the pressure will be directed against the sides and bottom of the vessel ; and its amount will depend, not on the quantity of the fluid, but on its depth, and, in great mea- sure, even on the depth of the vessel. Thus, if a tall vessel be only partially, and a shallow one completely filled with water, the pressure in the tall vessel will be greater, from the concen- tration of force, than in the shallow one, al- though the latter contains the greatest quantity of water. In like manner, the width of the vessel, by which the quantity of the contents must be regulated, in no way affects the pressure ; and a narrow vessel filled with water is subject to the same amount of pressure as a wide one. A vessel sustains the greatest strain in its deepest part, and the nearer a point is to the surface, the less it is exposed to pressure. This strange property of water, the test and characteristic of a fluid state, is linked with another, no less notable; namely, equality of level. The component particles of all bodies, GRAVITATION. 225 whether liquids or solids, have a tendency to fall to the bottom ; but in solids, the cohesive power of the particles prevents this result. As a consequence, the earth, instead of having one uniform surface, is beautifully and endlessly diversified: its mountains rise to the clouds, and smiling and fruitful valleys, clothed with nature’s fairest products, are spread over her bosom in every direction. But liquids, in- sensible to the principle of cohesion, are wholly governed by gravitation, and each particle falls invariably to the lowest depth. For this reason two reservoirs of water communicating with each other, by however small a channel, and at whatever distance, must necessarily be con- tinually of the same level. To this cause also, we owe the various phenomena of springs, brooks, and cataracts. The mechanism of springs and brooks, as the main sources of rivers, I have already explained ; but that of cataracts belongs more strictly to our present subject. A. number of brooks having collected into one stream, at a considerable height above the level of the sea, the water is impelled by the prin- l 3 226 CATARACTS. ciple of gravitation to precipitate itself into the lowest position, and thus rushes over any declivity that may lie in its way. Hence arise the grand and romantic phenomena of cascades and cataracts, which form one of the most sublime features of nature, and show at one view, and in the most striking aspect, all the varied characteristics of water. THE ATMOSPHERE. The wonders of nature are so familiar to us, are spread around in such endless profusion, and so inextricably blended with our existence, that we scarcely appreciate their marvellous and in- tricate mechanism. We are but too apt to regard them as matters of course, without pausing to investigate their manifold functions, or to consider, with the philosopher and man of science, how they minister to our requirements. We may indeed admire their beautiful unity, but for the most part, we are but imperfectly ac- quainted with their design, mode of operation, tendency, and effect. 228 NATURE OF. AIR. Among these household phenomena is the atmosphere, which, extending alike over land and sea, envelopes the world with a life-giving fluid, the most precious gift of heaven. Air, the common appellation of this subtle essence, penetrates every interstice, and animates and sustains all things. It is the primary essential of vitality, and by it we live, and move, and have our being. The economy of means which forms so grand a characteristic of the Creation, iri its minutest as well as greatest operations, is here most strikingly exhibited. The seed in the ground, the verdure on the surface of the earth, the golden corn, the tree and its fruit, the living creature and its food, with scarcely any one affinity in common, owe their existence and development to the same benignant agent, and thus the first provision of life displays, in its universal application, the constructing hand of an Omniscient Architect. Air is a visible, material, elastic fluid, blue in colour, and capable of almost illimitable ex- pansion. It is composed of minute globular particles, which are in ceaseless motion, revolving MATERIALITY. 229 round their axes, and, though these evolutions are not usually discernible, under certain con- ditions of temperature the particles solidify, and their movements are then apparent. The author of “ Revelations of Siberia,” to whose valuable observations I have before had occasion to refer, thus describes this rare phenomenon, as witnessed by her at Berezov. — “ The air was clear, but was in incessant motion, I might say, tremulous agitation, almost visible to the eye ; as though it were composed of a solid mass of tremulous atoms, ever re- volving, moving, and vibrating.” The editor of the English translation of the work adds, in a note, the following interesting facts — “ This peculiarity of the air is not limited to Siberia, but may occasionally be observed in portions of northern Europe. The editor hap- pened to witness a remarkable instance of it in his early youth, on the southern boundary of Prussia, near Oletzko, on a clear hot day in August, when the atmosphere seemed not only to consist of moving atoms, as described by 230 FLUIDITY. our authoress, but was like a hard compact mass, tremulously shaken, and even resounded audibly.” I believe this is the first authenticated record of the solidification of air, although the Masters of Science, arguing from analogy, have long concluded that the atmosphere possessed the properties common to more definite bodies, and was capable both of solidification and liquefaction. As they have proved correct in the one inference, it is not unreasonable to suppose, when the field of observation is continually being enlarged, that they will one day be corroborated in the other, and that air will be seen in a liquid form, as well as in a solid. Air is peculiarly subject to the repulsive prin- ciple, by which its particles, instead of coalescing, act on each other with a repelling power, and are thus in constant antagonism. The effect of this conflict is to invest air with the property of expansion, which it possesses in a very remarkable degree ; but as unrestained ex- pansion, by raising it from the earth, and allow- ing it to dilate in space, would be productive ELASTICITY. 231 of the worst results, the atmosphere is endowed also with the quality of compressibility, and, by such means, the aerial masses above weigh down the underlying strata, while they are themselves enchained, after dilating to a certain point, by the mighty law of gravitation. To such minute arrangements does God extend the ministry of His overruling providence ! It is a principle of nature, admitting of no exception, that the subdivision of matter cannot pass beyond a particular limit. Air is elastic in proportion to the amount of force by which it is restrained, and, in this position, is invested, in a corresponding ratio, with the same faculty of pressure which has been observed to reside in liquids. But as the restraining force is diminished, the quality of elasticity, meeting no resistance, becomes less active, and, after again and again dividing, air becomes stationary in its constituent particles. It is then that, reduced in weight and force, the particles lose their repulsive tendency, and become subject to gravi- tation. Still, the atmosphere, as a necessary effect of its elasticity, is diluted in proportion to 232 HEIGHT OF ATMOSPHERE. its height, and its ultimate condition is one of extreme attenuation and rarity. The total height of the atmosphere has been estimated at about fifty miles, but probably it is not of sufficient density to sustain life by free respiration at a greater elevation than five miles. I have ascended a lofty mountain in Africa without observing any material difference in the density of the air ; but such expeditions, whether from local circumstances, or from the idiosyncrasy of the individual, are not always attended with the same result. Humboldt com- plains that, in ascending the Andes, blood burst from his lips and ears ; and Gay-Lussac ex- perienced great difficulty in breathing at a height of four miles, to which he ascended in a balloon. On the 10th of November, 1852, Mr. Welsh, of the Kew Observatory, ascended in the Nassau balloon to a height of 20,400 feet, or nearly four miles. The temperature at the greatest elevation was 11° below zero, 43° below freezing point. The dryness of the air was excessive, and respiration painful and difficult. A French aeronaut, who made a trip in a balloon COLOUR AND WEIGHT. 233 on horseback, in the summer of 1851, observed that blood poured from the horse’s nose and mouth, as in the case of the great German philosopher, at an elevation of a few thousand feet, though he himself appears to have breathed with perfect freedom at a much greater altitude. It is the extreme height of the atmosphere that enables us to ascertain its colour, the masses which overlie each other, in successive strata, presenting the appearance w T hich we call “ sky,” in the same way that all objects at a distance seem the intervening extent of air, which is the medium of view, colouring them with its own tint. I have already spoken of air in its solid state, and we now see that, like all bodies, it possesses colour ; and, in fact, is visible. But it is endowed with two other qualities of mate- riality — namely, weight and resistance. Air has been actually poised in the balance, and its weight ascertained with the greatest nicety. It is found that, at the level of the earth, the amount of pressure which it exerts on a body in every direction, is at the rate of 234 RESISTANCE. 1 5 lbs. to the square inch ; so that a full-grown man, whose body presents a surface of 2000 square inches, is positively loaded for life with a burden of 30,000 lbs. It might be supposed that so ponderous a mass would make some perceptible impression on the frame, or even he sufficient to crush it; but far from exercising such an effect, it is absolutely necessary, as an external agent, to preserve the completeness of our organization. The pressure which the air directs on the surface of the body, is proportioned to the pressure which the blood and gaseous fluids, circulating in the various organs, exert on the interior, and thus one force totally coun- teracts the other. But for this beautiful pro- vision of the Deity, the blood would gush from our lips — as we have seen in the case of Humboldt, when the amount of the atmospheric pressure was lessened — and every living creature would perish. Resistance, a most decisive proof of mate- riality, is that force which a quiescent body opposes to a body in motion, when by any contingency they come in collision. This TRADE WINDS. 235 quality depends on impenetrability, by which the body at rest, however powerfully it may be struck, is able to repel the advance of the assailing body, until, by displacing some third substance, it has lodged itself in another position. In riding or walking quickly, we may notice that we do not open or penetrate the air, but that it flies before us, and, in fact, resists our progress till it has itself displaced the masses beyond. The moving body thus loses an amount of force, equivalent to that which the body subjected to the shock acquires. The most general cause of atmospheric disturbance is heat. It is to fluctuations of temperature, which contract or expand the air, and consequently derange its equilibrium, that we owe all the phenomena of winds. Of these the most important are the Trade Winds, which, by their prevalence in those latitudes where we might expect to find a perpetual calm, throw a bridge over the pathless ocean, and enable the ends of the world to communicate. The Trade Winds are caused by the action of the sun on the atmosphere at the equator, operating in 236 MONSOONS. conjunction with the rotation of the earth on its axis. The upper strata of air, under the rarefying influence of the solar rays, are driven towards the poles, while the subordinate and cooler strata fly along in the opposite direction from the poles towards the equator ; but their rotatory motion being corrected by the velocity of the earth, their northerly and southerly in- clination is subdued, and they receive an easterly impulse, blowing from the north-east in one hemisphere and from the south-east in the other. The Monsoons are another class of winds, confined to the Indian and Eastern seas. They are caused by a diminution in the amount of solar action, which, agitating the atmospheric currents, produces periodically winds from the north and south, directed towards the east by the rotatory motion of the globe. Hurricanes are thought to be owing to the intermixture of different currents of wind, in the masses immediately over the surface. The rotatory impulse, which is first acquired in the upper strata of the atmosphere, carries the HURRICANES. 237 storm round a progressive axis of rotation, inclined forward by the friction of the earth ; and, in consequence of the varied temperature of the commingled currents, is attended by frightful precipitations of rain, with thunder and lightning. The storm sweeps along with terrific velocity, sometimes covering a thousand miles in a day, and in its progress tearing up trees and buildings, and laying whole towns in ruins. Suddenly the awful tempest, by which all nature seems convulsed, ceases, and is followed by a dead calm, as the centre of the whirlwind, which remains in repose, unin- fluenced by the circling blasts, steals on its treacherous way. Then the winds again bound on, blowing in every direction from the centre ; and the dread conflict of the elements, instead of abating, acquires new violence and fury. Whirlwinds descending on the sea, after pro- ceeding some distance in the upper strata of the atmosphere, impart to the water a centrifugal force, by which it is raised in a spiral mass, forming what is called a water-spout. The velocity of the water-spout, when progressive, 238 WATER-SPOUTS. is regulated by that of the whirlwind, and is frequently very great. Two prodigious water- spouts, which, in December, 1851, swept over the island of Sicily, together with a terrific hurricane, are thus described in the newspapers of the day : “ The water-spouts were two immense sphe- rical bodies of water reaching from the clouds, their cones nearly touching the earth, and, as far as could be judged, they were a quarter of a mile apart, travelling with immense velocity. They passed over the island near Marsala. In their progress houses were unroofed, trees uprooted, men and women, horses, cattle, and sheep raised up, drawn into their vortex, and borne on to destruction. During their passage, rain descended in cataracts, accompanied with hailstones of enormous size and masses of ice. Going over Castellamare, near Stabia, they de- stroyed half the town, and washed two hundred of the inhabitants into the sea, who all perished. Upwards of five hundred persons have been destroyed by this terrible visitation, and an im- mense amount of property, the country being MECHANISM OF SOUND. 239 laid waste for miles. The shipping in the harbour suffered severely, many vessels being destroyed, and their crews drowned.” Air is the medium through which we receive all the impressions of sound. If the world were not enveloped by this elastic fluid, it would be the seat of eternal silence. The thousand melodious notes which gladden and enliven nature, throwing an atmosphere of life over every object, would have no existence, and the human voice would be useless. The ear would no longer be susceptible of the concord of sweet sounds, and the terrific thunder peal, equally with the low hum of the meanest in- sect, would be unheard and unknown. Sound is the effect of vibrations of air propagated by waves to every point. Its volume is in proportion to the force of the initial shock, and is susceptible of almost in- finite variation. The human ear, by the deli- cacy and intricacy of its structure, is admirably adapted for distinguishing these differences of sound, and it is even supposed to be confined to no particular range, though in most cases, 240 ECHOES. according to the experiments of Wollaston, it is restricted to nine octaves. The hearing is most acute at night, when, owing to the aug- mented elasticity of the air, sound is propagated with increased velocity, and can be heard from the greatest distance. Sir John Herschell, while stating this fact, finds another reason for such a result in the solemn stillness which then universally prevails. Sound is always propagated outwards, in straight lines; but recoils, like a hall, when driven against an obstacle, which, by its dimen- sions, is sufficient to intercept the undulation. It will pass with great velocity through glass and timber, and massive buildings, hut is beaten back by mountains and caverns; and this reflection of sound, as it has been called, produces the beautiful effect of echoes. Every sound is propagated at an equal rate of velocity, and hence we hear the notes of all the instruments of a musical band, however varied their volume, at the same instant. The extent to which sounds may be transmitted depends on the temperature and elasticity of MUSIC. 241 the atmosphere. Frequently they are audible at a great distance ; and the famous Samuel Pepys, in his Diary, mentions having heard the cannonade between the Dutch and English fleets, in an action off the coast, more than thirty miles from the spot. The explosions at the memorable volcanic eruption at Sunbawa, were audible at a distance of many miles ; and the report which accompanied the bursting of the meteor of 1785, resounded on the earth, a depth of fifty miles, like a clap of thunder. Water, as a fluid susceptible of compression, possesses the quality of transmitting sound, though only in cases where the undulation is created below the surface, when its particles are subjected to the shock. It also propagates sound with greater velocity than air. Music on the water, in the calm stillness of a summer evening, has a peculiar charm : — “ Like music on the waters, Is thy sweet voice to me : When as if its sound were causing The charmed ocean’s pausing, The waves lie still and gleaming, And the lull’d winds seem dreaming.” M THE WORLD OF PLANTS. We have hitherto contemplated Nature in its magnitude and general outlines, or in re- ference to those more striking phenomena which pervade and conduct its operations. In all these aspects she presents the same marvellous unity, the same adaptation of means and end, the same significant and unerring design. We recognize in every law, and in every effect, the hand of an almighty and beneficent Creator, manifesting in his prodigious works infinity of wisdom and power. W orlds and suns and systems, spread in countless myriads over the regions of space, PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 243 give a faint idea of the unlimited extent of the Creation. The lurid volcano, which affords a passage of escape to the internal fires of the earth, like a mighty safety valve; the awful earthquake which destroys to reconstruct ; and the implacable hurricane, show, in a grand and sublime manner, the wonderful character of its economy. The lightning that clears the atmosphere; the gentle rain, which moistens and refreshes the soil ; the genial heat and glowing sunshine, which bring life and healing on their wings, are ministering wit- nesses to its tenderness and bounty. All alike proclaim, with solemn and impressive emphasis, the existence, omnipresence, and overruling providence of God. But it is not so much in the more stupendous works of the Creation that God reveals himself to the bewildered eye and mind of man. Had it been so, thousands of years must have elapsed, ere the benighted world, aroused by the voice of Science, could have acquired any con- sciousness of his presence. But his unchanging attributes are equally distributed over the whole m 2 244 THE LILY. universe, and not more signally displayed in the heavens, or in the intricate phenomena of na- ture, than in objects of the most familiar interest. In communing with man, indeed, the Creator has most frequently assumed a guise that, while fully consistent with supreme majesty, appealed not to his wonder, but to his devotion. Elijah looked for Him in the earth- quake, the whirlwind, and the fire ; but there was no convulsion or derangement of nature, when the small still voice, more imposing than thunder, swept softly over the holy mountain, announcing that God was there. And we learn from the wisest of Teachers, that even the meanest of his works, which we have come to regard with indifference or contempt, sur- pass in excellence and beauty the greatest achievements of human art. To say that Solomon in all his glory was hot arrayed so sumptuously as the lily of the field, might seem preposterous to ignorant men ; but the magic microscope, unveiling the secrets of the in- visible world, shows how true is the assertion. Viewed through this medium, the finest and PERFECTION OF NATURE. 245 most costly fabric of the loom, which has tasked the utmost reach of human skill, be- comes hideous ropes and rags, while the beauty, grace, and exquisite finish of the lily is infinitely magnified. And if we descend still lower in the scale of the creation, we find perfection exhibited, with equal clearness, in objects too minute for sight. That great leviathan who takes his pastime in the deep, breasting its stormiest billows with his huge and unwieldy frame, is not more admirably or perfectly formed than the animalcule whose ocean is a drop of water, and which is only visible through the searching eye of the microscope. The Almighty, in fact, has set his seal on all his works, and the impression and effect are ever the same. This vast field of observation we are now about to enter, that we may see the Creator reflected and preserved in the creature. Before, however, we proceed to survey the animal world, it is desirable that we should take a glance at that which, though equally pervaded by the principle of life, is vulgarly termed 246 FERTILITY OF PLANTS. inanimate, and which affords sustenance and aliment to the other. It is impossible to look round on the face of nature without perceiving at once how much she owes to vegetation. Nearly 80,000 distinct species of plants, extending into untold varieties, lend their countless charms to diversify her features. The rugged mountain crag and the dismal savannah, hill and dale and plain and swamp ; the yawning chasm and the frightful precipice, hide their nakedness with these beau- tiful products. Verdure of every shade, flowers of every tint, plants and fern, bush and shrubs and trees, as varied in appearance as in cha- racter, everywhere present themselves, gratifying the eye with the most pleasing combinations of form and grace and colour. From these we derive our first sense of the beautiful, and an inexhaustible store of delightful impressions. At the same time, they supply us with the most essential articles of sustenance; and, in their various delicious fruits, minister not only to our wants, but to our luxuries. I have already remarked, that this boundless CARNIVOROUS PLANTS. 247 kingdom of vegetation, which covers and adorns the earth, is infused with the principle of life ; and so closely does the vital property of plants approximate to that of animals, that naturalists, after the most elaborate investigations, have been unable to fix the degree in which it differs. Plants not only live — they breathe. They perform nearly all the functions, and, though of an inferior and less intricate organization, have many of the characteristics of animals. Perspiration exudes from their pores; blood circulates in their intercellular passages; and their pliant frames, so curiously and elaborately constructed, are encased in skin. They eat and drink, and in some cases, strangely deviating from the general law, even require the stimulus of animal food. In the nepenthes, or pitcher- plant, one of the most singular and striking of these carnivorous flora, a tendril supports a hollow, deep vessel, shaped like a pitcher, with a membranous lid, which, after the plant has attained a certain development, is always raised ; and in the bottom of the pitcher a glandular section is incessantly secreting liquid, which 248 SEXUAL DISTINCTIONS. serves as a trap for insects, and thus secures the required nutriment. The Venus’s Flytrap has its leaves terminated by two lobes, margined with bristles, while three dwarfed bristles, grouped in a triangle, rise from the ridge of each lobe, so that an insect crawling over the leaf is sure to encounter a bristle, when, by a beautiful provision of nature, the shock is com- municated to the whole fabric, and the leaf immediately folds together, remaining closed till the insect is absorbed. But plants resemble animals in points still more significant. They have sexual distinc- tions ; and propagate their species, so infinitely varied in character, in a manner not dissimilar to the parturition of human beings. To com- memorate this resemblance, one of the botanical orders of Linnaeus, the great Swedish naturalist, bears for its name a Greek word signifying “ woman another is distinguished by a com- pound appellation, signifying both “ woman” and “ man and a third is designated “ marriage.” Of the organs and mode of propagation I shall speak hereafter. SLEEP OF PLANTS. 249 The sleep of plants, exhibited in the legu- minose family, presents a curious analogy to the economy of animal life. As day draws to a close, the leaflets of these voluptuaries assume a depressed appearance, strangely expressive of weariness ; and by degree^ as the last traces of light disappear, they bend and fold together, and continue closed through the night. Morning brings them recruited vigour, expanding their leaves and flowers to the fullest extent. It has been found, however, that the leguminosae placed in a room from which daylight was rigidly ex- cluded, and where they were subjected to artificial light at night, have, after a short period of indecision, been brought to conform to this altered condition, and have closed their leaves during the darkened day, and expanded them at night. This reminds us of the custom which prevails among the inhabitants of Siberia, who, during the Arctic summer, when the parched and sultry night is as radiant as day, create an artificial darkness by obscuring the windows of their dwellings, and thus secure M 3 250 DISEASES OF PLANTS. more easily the blessing of sleep. So similar are the affinities of plants and animals ! Plants are subject to diseases, and to marked idiosyncracies, which baffle every attempt at elucidation. Two plants of the same species, derived from the §ame stock, and in every respect alike, may be placed in situations pre- cisely similar, when one will flourish in a re- markable manner, and the other wither and die. Different species, and even varieties of the same species, removed only by some trifling charac- teristics, require a temperature wholly distinct, and the most opposite conditions of soil and culture. Their diseases are numerous, and have been reduced to a separate science, which bears the expressive but not euphonious appellation of Nosology. The idiosyncracies of plants explain, in some measure, the wonderful diversity in their periods of existence. While some plants spring up but to die, and others live only till they arrive at maturity, certain tribes of trees, placed in situa- tions favourable to their development, attain OLD TREES. 251 incredible longevity. In the class of Dicotyle- dons, or Exogenae, naturalists ascertain a tree’s age with great precision, as the diameter of the tree is enlarged annually by a new cylinder of wood, and thus preserves an accurate registry of its own age. It is no uncommon thing for trees to brave the storms and vicissitudes of centuries. My lamented friend, Eliot Warbur- ton, in one of the most picturesque chapters of “ The Crescent and the Cross,” mentions a group of cedars of great antiquity in the forest of Lebanon ; and other travellers in the East speak of trees varying in age from 800 to 1000 years. Evelyn mentions a yew in a country churchyard which was sixty feet in circum- ference, and, judging from the lines in its diameter, must have been upwards of 2800 years old. De Candolle, who paid great atten- tion to this branch of botany, furnishes a most valuable record of the results of his examination of a large number of old trees, including many different species, and extending over a variety of periods. Of these the most remarkable are an orange tree 600 years old, a lime 1100 252 PRINCIPLE OF LIFE. years, an oak 1500 years, a yew 2500 years, a baobab 5000 years, and a taxodium ( Cypressus disticha) 6000 years old, or, according to the alleged chronology of Moses, the age of the earth. Speaking of the Taxodium, De Can- dolle justly observes that it u certainly goes back to the origin of the present state of the world, an epoch of which it is the most indisputable monument.” But though this relic of the Creation would seem to claim immortality, plants share the fate to which all things mundane are condemned. The oak, with its sturdy trunk — the cedar, with its frame of iron, though surviving through countless ages, must at last yield to death. The king of terrors, never forgetful of his mis- sion, reigns everywhere supreme ; and plants and animals alike acknowledge his sovereignty. Philosophers have in vain endeavoured to ascertain, by experiments and researches of every kind, what is that mysterious principle of life which so universally prevails, and after a term of uncertain duration, is thus infallibly and unreservedly extinguished. So impenetra- VOLITION. 253 ble and occult is the question, that it has' hitherto, as I have before remarked, been found impossible to trace out even the distinctions and modifications of life, so as to fix the line of demarcation that divides the animal from the vegetable world. Divisions have indeed been made, but they are at once arbitrary and unwar- rantable. The limit of animal life, by a very natural error, was originally supposed to be marked out by the quality of locomotion ; but that, we now well know, is not extended to the meanest order of animals ; and, therefore, cannot be invested with such undue significance. Nor am I inclined to adopt the modern distinc- tion of Sensibility ; for many plants, from the delicacy and peculiar character of their organiza- tion, are largely endowed with this quality, while some of the inferior animals have scarcely any. In fact, I think the only barrier which can be recognised with safety or propriety is Volition. The very lowest order of beings, as an essential condition of animal life, are endued with voli- tion, though destitute of that nervous influence which, after forming so prominent a characteris- 254 SENSITIVE PLANTS. tic of the higher groups of animals, reappears in the world of plants. That some degree of volition is indispensable to an animal, no one can doubt ; and that sensibility is exhibited by certain tribes of plants, in a manner both curious and impressive, is indisputable. As an instance, I need only mention the Desmodium gyrans, which combines sensibility with motion. These two qualities, moreover, are spontaneously exercised, and are not the effect of an external stimulus. The leaflets, paired laterally beneath a large terminal leaf, alternately incline up and down, changing one movement for the other as soon as they attain a certain elevation or depres- sion ; and this oscillation, performed with such beautiful regularity, is shared by the terminal leaf, which has a corresponding range of in- clination, and moves up and down in a similar way. The plants which shrink from the touch are pretty generally known ; but the degree in which this sensitiveness is developed, in certain indivi- duals, is not so well understood. The concen- tration of the sun’s rays, through a common DISPERSION OF PLANTS. 255 lens, on the Mimosa pudica, will cause a singular commotion of its leaflets, and it has been ascer- tained that the power of motion emanates from joints at the root of the leaf ; but though the medium is apparent, its mode of operation, by which the elastic texture of the joints is brought into play, defies detection. Until these minute arcana are unravelled, it cannot be expected that the great distinctions between plants and animals will be universally and satisfactorily settled. But the organization of plants, designed with such exquisite skill, is not more wonderful than their dispersion, and the simple means by which that effect is accomplished. Here we see the Almighty carrying on the great operations of nature through agencies of the humblest de- scription, involuntary instruments of His will. In many cases, fruits and vegetables, containing aliment indispensable to animal life, have the power of dispersion vested in themselves, and become the disseminators of their own seed. In the pseudospermic family, including the parsnip, carrot, and other edibles, this is espe- 256 TRANSPORT OF SEED. daily manifest, and some of the pseudospermic seeds are winged with down, which, being caught by the wind, greatly facilitate their diffu- sion. The seed-vessels of some of the capsular fruits, such as the balsams, are so constructed, that when the imprisoned seed attains perfec- tion, they rend abruptly asunder, and the shock ejects the precious contents a considerable dis- tance. The seeds of some other species fall, when ripe, immediately under their parent, and either spring up in the adjacent soil, or are blown along by the wind to a less crowded location. Those of pulpy fruits, which are in- closed in a nut, or stone crust, to preserve them from the corrupting moisture of the pulp, by which they would otherwise he destroyed, are disseminated by animals, being swallowed un- consciously in the fleshy portion, and then passed in their stony envelope through the di- gestive organs without injury. In many cases, the beasts of the forest, lying down where they have fed — perhaps under the shade of an umbrageous tree, which is at that moment shedding its produce — pick up seeds in their ORIGINAL DISTRIBUTION. 257 shaggy coats, and convey them to spots pre- viously sterile. Birds also are instrumental in their dissemination, and like the larger animals, eject them in a state peculiarly suited to vege- tation. Winged seeds being easily dissemi- nated by the air, are not dependent on acci- dental influences, but, under certain circum- stances, will cross seas and vast deserts on their own filmy pennons, searching for a genial soil. Less buoyant, but not less intrepid adventurers, coated in impervious husks and pulps, or per- haps still lodged on their parent branch, are swept from the regions of their nativity by brooks and rivers, and deposited unimpaired in new and remote situations. But while we are struck with wonder at the efficiency of this natural provision for dispersion, and admit also how signally it has been aided by the enterprise and industry of man, it by no means follows that we should assume, with the disciples of Linnaeus, and the theoretic philoso- phers of the day, that plants have all emanated originally from one particular region. On the contrary, the infinite variety of species, requiring 258 FIXITY OF SPECIES. such endless differences of temperature, makes it abundantly clear that they could never have been thus restricted, but must always have been dispersed pretty equally over the world. Indeed, seeds have sometimes been found by persons excavating shafts and tunnels, buried deep in the earth, being, by some condition of the soil, prevented from germinating, and on removal to other beds, have sprung up and flourished. This would indicate a primeval distribution, which best accords with the grand scheme of the Creation ; and certainly the idea of a botanical Eden is unsupported either by reason or Revelation. Modern science has established beyond doubt, by experiments of the most decisive character, that the numberless species of plants now in existence, are essentially independent and dis- tinct. It is found that the vicinity of the equator is favourable to Dicotyledons, and embraces in its flora the greatest number of species, while temperate latitudes, in proportion as they are removed from the great central line, cherish the cryptogamic species. All species are classed into three divisions, called Primary, PRIMARIES. 259 and bearing the several designations of — 1, Di- cotyledons, or Exogenae — 2, Monocotyledons, or Endogenae — and 3, Acotyledons. The two first are also called phanerogamic, or flowering, to distinguish them from the Acotyledons, which, as a flowerless species, are termed crypt- ogamic. Linnaeus, the legislator of plants, has divided these three groups into twenty-four classes, of which twenty-three are Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons, and only one Acotyle- dons. These are again divided by characteristic distinctions, resting on certain peculiarities of structure or organization, into minor groups, called genera; and a further division is some- times effected, when the appellation of sub- genera is applied. The term “ race,” which is so commonly used, denotes a variety well-distin- guished from the parent stock, and capable of reproducing itself. The first primary division of the botanical kingdom, which derives its name of Dicoty- ledons from the structure of the seed, and its appellation of Exogenee from the habit of enlarging the stem by external additions, is 260 THE THREE GROUPS. composed, with comparatively few exceptions, of those plants whose embryo is formed of two Cotyledons, — soft lobes, consisting of two undeveloped leaves, held together by a diminu- tive germ, which they scarcely suffer to appear. When the plant germinates, the Cotyledons, relieved from restraint, open into two distinct leaves, which, however, never attain perfection. Other embryos of this order are encrusted with albumen, and hence derive strength and nutriment during the helpless period of in- fancy. Monocotyledons, whose alias of Endogenae denotes that the accessions to the stem are developed inwardly, are not so broadly marked in their embryos as the Dicotyledons. Their solitary Cotyledon, which emanates from one end of the embryo, is conical in shape, and as it matures, discloses a rolled leaf, which makes its appearance in a corresponding form. The other end of the embryo is furnished with a radicle. Acotyledons, or flowerless plants, do not yield seed, but reproduce themselves from STRUCTURE OF PLANTS. 261 sporules, little granular spheroids, inclosed in superficial cells, or lodged in the interior of the plant. Plants have two series of organs : — the one composed of those which, carrying on the structural functions, secure it a proper supply of nutriment ; the other consisting of the or- gans of reproduction. They have also two tendencies, adapted to the opposite characters of different organs, and from a certain point in the stem, designated the neck, the develop- ment of one portion is downwards, while the other shoots upward. The internal structure consists of an accu- mulation of cells, formed of tissue, which is hence called cellular tissue, and traversed by tubes of a similar material, called vascular tissue. Many inferior Acotyledons, however, are composed wholly of the former texture, without any admixture of fibre. In the other classes, the cells, which always greatly predo- minate, are generally polygonal in shape, and the tubes cylindrical ; and little perforations in the cells afford a passage of communication 262 NUTRITION. from one cell to another. Through this channel, answering to the arteries of animals, flows the sap, though botanists are not agreed as to its mode of progression. It ascends from the root to the leaves, where, by contact with the atmosphere, it is converted into carbonic acid, the fluid best adapted at the moment to the sustenance of the plant, but which, under the action of light, ultimately decomposes, and becomes a fixed compound. The first change is accomplished by respiration ; when the air, mainly inhaled by the leaves, is introduced into the stem, and becomes an active agent in the organic economy. A nutritious alimental juice, derived from the decomposed sap, is now diffused through the structure, and imparts vigour to all its organs. This is, in fact, the blood of the plant, circulating in its veins ! Plants are, for the most part, covered during the period of development by a fine thin network, or skin, called the epidermis, which is generally porous, sometimes presenting the appearance of scales, or seeming to be coated with bristles or hair. The pores, which bear 'the name of ROOTS. 263 stomata, are created by a combination of vesicles, in form resembling a crescent ; and the attached particles are vesicles of various shapes, differing in this respect according to the character of the plant, but all composed of cellular tissue. The primary nutritive organs, indispensable to the existence of a plant, are the root, the stem, and the leaf. The root, as the source of life, usually constitutes the lower extremity, and secures itself in the soil by branches, or fibrils, traversed by ducts, and terminating in uncovered cellular points, called spangioles, which perform the function of absorption. Such roots are developed from seed, but in many cases roots are derived from the stem, or from cuttings, and some tropical plants, as the barba-dos of the West Indies, produce roots from their branches, which drooping down, fix themselves in the soil, and start up as independent plants, expanding their magni- ficent foliage in the arms of the parent tree. Some aquatic plants, dependent on atmospheric influences, have their roots furnished with air- 264 STEM. bladders, which float them on the water, and so secure the position necessary to their exist- ence. In crossing the Grassy Sea, I fished up some of the floating weed, and found it was sustained on the surface, amidst the fury of the roughest billows, by little bladder-like vessels, filled with air, which defy the violence of the ocean. To such minute objects do the overruling care and providence of the Almighty extend ! From the root proceeds the stem, the ten- dency of which, be it remembered, is to shoot upward. In the lower plants, indeed, the stem is but slightly developed, though generally by far the largest organ, and known, according to the character of the plant, either as the trunk or the culm. Pith and bark are prominent ingredients in the stems of dicotyledonous trees, in which medullary rays, the nerves of the wood, are also conspicuous. The stems of monocotyledonous trees, usually the produce of warm climates, are, with some few exceptions, nearly cylindrical in shape, and, though most frequently bare to the top, are BUDS AND BRANCHES. 265 crowned with a mass of exuberant foliage, by which the long naked stem is nourished and sustained. The stem gives birth to the buds, minute and delicate germs, formed of several folds of embryo leaves, carefully protected by textures varying with the genus of the tree, from any adverse influence of the atmosphere. These burst into shoots, which, gradually maturing, advance into branches, corresponding in organi- zation, and in their internal economy, with the stem, of which they are at once the offspring and the support. The branches are clothed with a rich mantle of leaves, generally periodic appendages, falling off in the autumn, and reappearing with the spring, though the family of evergreens retain their verdant robe through the nipping frosts of winter. Leaves are composed of a number of veins, traversing an expansion of cellular tissue, covered with epidermis, and are either perfectly flat, or slightly curled. The veins, called from their function the nervation, meet at the petiole, or leaf-stalk, whence, concentrated in one line, N 266 FLOWERS. they proceed together to the expansion, or limb, and then, again dividing, are distributed in various directions, ministering to the wants and the tendencies of the plant. Flowers, the gems of vegetation, which charm the eye with their brilliant hues, and fill the air with delicious odours, germinate in a manner similar to the leaf-bud, and are, in fact, a modification of the same class of embryo. In this case, however, the function attached is not nutrition, as in the leaf, but reproduction. A flower, as it becomes developed, is found to consist of a series of whorls, rising from a torus, or receptacle, and inclosing the fertilising organs, essential to the perfection of the seed. The number of whorls varies with the character of the plant — some plants having their whorls divided into four distinct organs, while others comprise only one. This, which is the source of reproduction, must be either the stamens or the carpels — the tw 7 o inner whorls, surrounded, in plants endued with the larger number of organs, first by the corolla, and afterwards by the calyx. ODOURS. 267 The odours of plants emanate from a volatile oil, secreted, by some process yet undiscovered, in the stalks and leaves, and diffused from flowers by the action of the atmosphere. The scent emitted is not always agreeable, and in a few cases is even excessively offensive; but nature, with the discrimination apparent in all her works, has made beauty of form and colour an almost certain pledge of the sweetest of odours. The commencement of decay in the external parts of the flower, not connected with the functions of reproduction, announces the ger- mination of the fruit. The receptacle of the seed, at first designated the ovarium, continues to grow, and is gradually converted into a peri- carp. This is composed of cellular matter, called sarcocarp, enveloped in two coats of skin, the outermost of which, usually the most per- fect, is named the epicarp, while the inner bears the appellation of endocarp. It is the endocarp which, in certain kinds of fruit, becoming more and more developed, ultimately takes the shape of a heart of stone, imbedded in the soft, fleshy, N 2 268 FRUIT. pulp of the sarcocarp, which forms the nutri- tious and edible part of the fruit. The latter, as it continues to mature, absorbs the alimental liquid circulating in the branches, and thus becomes pervaded with delicious juices, derived from every portion of the tree. In succulent fruits, these distillations consist chiefly of water, mingled with gummalic acid, colouring ingre- dients, and malate of lime ; and the pulpy matter, of lignine. Colour, as in flowers, proceeds originally from the internal secretions, and is rendered more prominent and distinct by the operation of light. The process of reproduction in plants approxi- mates closely to that of animal gestation. Though in some cases superseded by cuttings, the natural course of propagation, as I have before intimated, is from seed, developed under sexual influence. The distinctive organs are the stamens, which re- present the male, and the carpels, or female ; and each, as a special appendage, is surrounded by a whorl, occupying the centre of the bud. The stamens are an aggregation of silken stems, each supporting two small oval tubes, or cells, ORGANS OF FERTILITY. 269 termed anthers, which are charged with pollen, a fine powder, essential to fertilization, and this, when matured, escapes through a puncture in the anther, and is discharged on the seed. The seed, as the germ of reproduction, is lodged in the carpels, which, like the stamens, comprises two divisions — the ovarium, or re- ceptacle of the seed, and the stigma, which forms the vehicle of communication. Acotyle- dons, or flowerless plants, having no actual seed, propagate their species by means of sporules, a substitute every way efficient, and bearing a striking external resemblance to the bodies they represent. It is unnecessary to follow out this section of the subject in its bearings on hybrids and varieties, and thus show more fully, by other examples, how close is the analogy between the vegetable and the animal kingdoms. Enough has been said to demonstrate, to the most sceptical and unwilling minds, that the simi- larity is real and inherent, and that the same mysterious principle of life, which baffles re- search in the highest orders of animals, is 270 SPECIFIC CREATION. no less occult, no less unsearchable, in the meanest and most insignificant plant. We penetrate the structure; we unveil the won- drous and beautiful mechanism, we behold and participate the existence ; but what, in all this grand series of agencies, is the pervading but invisible property by which we have our being ? That indeed is a question which Science is unable to solve ! The rapid outline I have given of the economy and characteristics of plants, as evinced in their organization and structure, ad- mits of but one conclusion — namely, that the floral world is manifestly the work of an all- wise and all-powerful Creator. In the whole of this mighty scheme we find nothing left to accident or chance, but every development, in its most minute and most insignificant details, foreseen, predetermined, and settled. Plants do not — as a recent publication would have us believe — grow spontaneously; but they spring from seed, and that seed is the ova of another plant. It gradually breaks into life, develops its various organs, and takes, not a capricious, REPRODUCTION. 271 but a certain fixed and defined form — the form of its parent. Its existence does not depend, as the sceptical philosophers insist, on accidental influences of temperature, but on established and immutable conditions, directed and per- petuated by fundamental laws, which, in their universal operation, embrace at once the greatest and the meanest objects. Attaining maturity, it becomes itself a parent, and the species is continued in its progeny. Such are the works of God ! We are told, as much for our admonition as our learning, that even the countless hairs of our heads are all numbered : and does this seem impossible, when we find that the minute bristles and shadowy down of plants, though perhaps in- visible to the unaided eye, are measured out with no less forethought, discrimination, and precision ? The fact conveys its own lesson ; and in the amazement it inspires, we instinctively recal the devout words of the Psalmist — “ Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me : I cannot attain unto it.” XII. THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. The beautiful arrangement and admirable completeness of the botanical kingdom, showing at every point such obvious evidence of design, and so marked an adjustment of conditions and capabilities of being, prepare us for the more wonderful revelations of the animal world, which, ascending successive steps in the scale of nature, forms a connecting chord between the Creation and the Creator. I have already pointed out how intimate are the relations of the two kingdoms, so that, in a manner, each runs into and blends with the other, as if the frontier tribes on either side ANIMAL LIFE. 273 combined the characteristics of both. And this close and indivisible fellowship, instead of pro- ducing confusion, is a link in the grand scheme of universal harmony, without which it would be broken and imperfect. But, however im- perceptible, a chasm must somewhere exist, as the distinction, when developed, is wide, decided, and real. It is, in fact, the difference between still and active life, a passive and an impulsive organization. The vital principle, hitherto merely rudimentary, now becomes perfected, and assumes a new range of tendencies and func- tions. The marvels of this enlarged and more complex mechanism surpass the reach of imagi- nation, and baffle the penetration of the most subtle minds. Long and closely as they have been investigated, every day proves, by some accidental discovery, that the observations which naturalists have so jealously hoarded are bald and meagre, and our knowledge of the subject superficial. We see enough, indeed, to trace in each organization, and every successive grade, the constructing hand and over-ruling wisdom of the Creator ; but how much remains that, N 3 274 DIVERSITY OF ASPECT. after exerting all the appliances of Science, no eye can search out ! Well may the Apostle exclaim, “ God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise ; and the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty.” Nowhere can we find a more elevating pur- suit than the study of animated nature, yet, from perpetual familiarity, mankind, with a few isolated exceptions, regard it with indifference or neglect. We listen enraptured to the tuneful voices of the birds, as they fill the woods with their melody ; but not many pause, with the naturalist and the philosopher, to inquire into their habits and instincts. The wisdom and forecast of the bee are a proverb, yet the fact that so minute a creature, with a vocation appa- rently so humble, continually exercises these great and sublime faculties, excites neither curiosity nor wonder. Even among those who are arrested by the spectacle, few search its less prominent details for a vestige of its Author. The commanding genius of Aristotle, which pushed its researches into every department of INFUSORIA. 275 knowledge, could not overlook a subject so rich in moral and scientific interest ; and accordingly we owe to the mighty Stagyrite the first rude outline of zoology. But groping in the dark, it was natural that, as he advanced on his unexplored way, the sage should unconsciously deviate from the right path, and be led into conclusions at variance with truth. Indeed, the accumulated investigations of two thousand years, including the labours of a Buffon, a Linnaeus, and a Cuvier, have brought us only to the threshold of the Science, and we still see a boundless expanse before us, scarcely broken, at wide and uncertain intervals, by a few flickering beacons, which lend no light to our steps. Animal life, as at present defined, commences with the Infusoria, bodies so small as to be only perceptible with the microscope, but which are endued with surprising vitality and fecundity. Some species, indeed, possess a structure that, at first sight, would seem to belong to a more elevated grade, although, in point of fact, pecu- liarly adapted to their position. The Botifera, or wheel-insects, are the most highly organized 27 6 MICROSCOPIC ANIMALS. of these invisible monsters, having a month, a stomach, an intestine, an anus, and a tail, while the neck, examined through a powerful micro- scope, appears to be furnished with eyes, and anteriorly it bears a most curious organ, the denticulated edges of which vibrate in succes- sion, giving the whole member the aspect of a revolving wheel. The Fercularia, which were subjected by Spallanzani to a series of ingenious experiments, are chiefly remarkable for their extraordinary tenacity of life, to which they may be recalled by a drop of water, after the vital principle has been for some weeks extinct. In the second order of Infusoria, called the Homogenea, we find the genus Vibrio, which embraces two sexes, and produces, at different seasons, both a living progeny and eggs. The Proteus is perhaps the most wonderful genus of all, as it is perpetually changing its shape, and rarely preserves the same form for two moments together. Another genus is remarkable for its mode of propagation, which, in opposition to all the uses of nature, is by subdivision, each dis- carded particle assuming the figure of the ZOOPHYTA. 277 parent, and becoming immediately a perfect and independent being. From the Infusoria we ascend to the Zoo- phyta, or radiated animals, a class in which they are generally included, although, as will be seen, their organization is in many points dif- ferent. They derive their name of Zoophyta, or animal plants, from the radiation of their organs, which thus bear a resemblance to the petals of flowers ; but the individual is, in all respects, an animal, possessing, in conjunction with the minor faculties, the distinctive quality of volition. The sexes, as might be expected in such a low condition of life, are not always visible, and in some orders, are wholly wanting ; propagation being effected by division, or by ger- mination. Most frequently there is no nervous system, and when apparent, it is disposed in radii, and is both feeble and imperfect. Indeed, the organization in general, though varying in de- gree according to the habits and requirements of the genus, is essentially rudimentary, and marks unmistakably the first faint pulse of existence. The Holothuria, of the order of 278 POLYPI. Pedicelluta, have their oblong, coriaceous body traversed by an intestinal canal, open at each end, and embracing an intricate and duplex system of vessels, which present an appearance of circulation. Many genera, however, have but an intestinal sac, or stomach, furnished with only one aperture, and this serves for both mouth and anus. The Polypi, forming the fourth class of the group, show so little trace of animation, that they were for a long time considered to be stone plants ; and not much more than a century has elapsed, since Imperati, by his indefatigable and elaborate investigations, established their claim to animal rank. The bodies of this class, varying in shape with the genera, are either cylindrical or conical, en- veloping a cavity, and sometimes a visible stomach, where they are penetrated by intestinal vessels, which, linking both, probably serve as ducts to the central excavation. Propagation is effected both by ova and buds, and on a scale so stupendous, that Polypi become, in the slow cycle of ages, the architects of promontories and islands, founding new territories for the SPONGES. 279 residence of man. Lamarck has even con- jectured that they constitute the whole of the calcareous strata of the world ; but this, like other assertions of the same author, may reasonably be doubted. Spongia, or Sponges, of the order of Corticati, are the humblest form of animal life yet discovered ; and have only lately been raised to this rank, having been classed by the early naturalists in the catalogue of marine plants. Their vitality appears to be lodged in an adhesive gelatine, and is evinced by excessive sensitiveness, and by respiration. They supply themselves with nutriment, an important animal function, through their pores, which have been observed to imbibe sea-water by expanding, and to eject it, when its ailment was extracted, by the counter-process of contraction. Pores are very conspicuous in the common sponge, in such general and familiar use, and intersect each other in every direction, providing alike for the beautiful functions of nature, and for the purposes to which the animal is devoted by art. 280 THE ACTINIA. Zoophytes, as a class, are but sparingly en- dowed with locomotion, and many genera may be said to be wholly deficient in this faculty, possessing freedom only in their arms or feelers, which, by seizing objects as they float past, secure them an abundant supply of aliment. Generally they are enchained by stems, or fixed immoveably to rocks ; but even then, so essen- tially are they distinguished from the world of plants, the power of motion is vested in certain members, and evident in the meanest organi- zation. The Actinia, a species of Polypus, are furnished with a number of tentacula, disposed like the petals of a double flower, whence, indeed, the animal take its ordinary name of Sea-Anemony, and, in changing their position, they use their tentacula as feet, and thus impel themselves along. The voracity of these little creatures is amazing, and with the aid of their tentacula, which surround their capacious mouth, they will frequently seize small fishes, of much greater dimensions than themselves, and gorge them without injury. Even Sponges have been seen to move, though it may be con- ARTICULATA. 281 eluded, as a general principle, that their freedom of motion is very restricted. The step from the Animalia Radiata to the Articulata, which compose the next great divi- sion of the animal kingdom, introduces us to a wide range of beings, differing materially in detail, but all marked with the distinguishing characteristic of articulation. The rude forms of life gradually fade in a more complex struc- ture, adapted with unerring precision to particu- lar conditions and habits, embracing the whole existence of the individual. The little creature is thus enabled, by its wonderful and intricate organization, to meet every contingency that, in the natural course of things, it can possibly be exposed to, while, on the other hand, a directing influence within restrains it to its specific desti- nation. Here the light of instinct breaks, like the first dawn of reason, through the inscruta- ble mystery of being, and even attains its highest development in some of the minutest insects. The more we contemplate it, the more we find to examine, while we are continually arrested by its marvellous effects. Here we behold the 282 INSECTS. tutelary control of an overruling Deity, displayed in the meanest of his works, and involuntarily recal those memorable words — “Are not two sparrows sold for one farthing ; and not one of them is forgotten before your Heavenly Father!” The Articulata, thus signally endowed, are divided by Cuvier into four grand classes, comprising various orders, which are subdivided into a number of families. The classes are severally designated Annulata, Crustacea, Arach- nides, and Insecta. Insecta, as the lowest class of the section, from the next superior grade to the Zoophyta, and thus have the first claim on our attention. It would be impossible, however, in the limited space to which my observations must be con- fined, to do more than glance at their principal and distinguishing attributes ; for volumes have been written on the habits and endowments of insects, without in any way exhausting the interesting and fruitful subject. The bee alone, in its wondrous instinct, its refined communism, and its provident and untiring industry, pre- sents a study worthy of the noblest minds. FACULTIES OF INSECTS. 283 Bees are even supposed to be endued, to a certain extent, with a faculty equivalent to speech ; and on the abstraction of the queen, those sensible of the loss have been observed, in traversing the hive, to cross their antennae over any of the community they may encounter, and strike them gently, on which, as if ap- prised of the disaster, the animals which re- ceive the communication hurry away in the greatest uneasiness and alarm. Nor should we pass over their power of discerning any ap- proaching alteration in the weather, so essential to their peculiar avocations, and by which they ascertain, more surely than the best instruments of science, that a shower is at hand, and hasten to seek the shelter of home. Other insects are endowed, in various proportions, with gifts equally estimable, and adjusted in a singular degree to the range of their requirements. All are invested with the five senses, though not to the same extent, as many, to qualify them for their particular mission, possess them in a high degree. The sense of touch, deposited in the antennae, is almost universally of excessive deli- 284 PASSIONS OF INSECTS. cacy, and in the case of the spider, has been forcibly described by the pensive muse of Cowper : — “ The spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine. Feels in each thread, and lives along the line.’* Insects are largely endowed with the faculty of sight ; for their eyes, though unable to turn, are infinitely multiplied, and compensate by quantity for their want of motion. To give an idea of the numbers some orders possess, I may mention that one species of butterfly, by no means among the largest, is allotted nearly 35,000 eyes. These are distributed over every part of the body, and thus, whatever may be the position of the animal, no danger can approach unperceived, as a sentinel keeps watch in every quarter. The passions of love and fear, and sometimes higher emotions, are exhibited very signally in some orders of insects, and are even expressed in sounds, which, while not without significance to the human ear, are doubtless full of meaning to themselves. The fact may be demonstrated AFFECTIONS OF INSECTS. 285 by giving chase to a common blue-bottle, which will immediately raise its note in a surprising manner, the tone being one of unmistakable alarm. In tropical countries I have noticed the same peculiarity, with but little variation, in mosquitoes; and the adroitness with which these little janissaries avoid capture, indicates an organization still more subtle. Few are unacquainted with the alertness or the ferocity of spiders, exhibited so constantly within the sphere of familiar observation. Let a fly be thrown on a spider’s web, and a strange spectacle will follow. The terror and despair of the fly at the first approach of his inexorable enemy — his energetic efforts to es- cape from the tyrant’s clutches, and his last touching death-struggle, with the exultation, rage, and malignant cruelty of the spider, are a vivid mimicry of the mightier paroxysms of man, which few will be able to contemplate with apathy or indifference. I need not dwell here on the affection of insects for their progeny, as that is a passion which, by the w 7 ise providence of the Almighty, 286 VITALITY OF INSECTS. prevails, with few differences of degree, through- out the whole scale of nature. But it would be an omission not to say, that they experience more than usual difficulty in providing for the necessities and requirements of their young, yet pursue this object, under every disadvantage, with unwearying forecast, tenderness, and perse- verance. Insects, as a compensation for the brevity and precarious tenure of their existence, which is exposed continually to a thousand dangers peculiar to their particular condition, are endued with an extraordinary tenacity of life, surpassing that possessed by any other order of creatures. Many will fall from great heights without receiving the least injury, and others, more invulnerable still, may be stripped of their legs and wings with apparently the same result. Some will even survive after being cut in two, each fragment exhibiting an equal degree of vitality, and not a few seem to retain the vital property after all trace of it has disappeared. One fine winter morning, the sun, with an unseasonable exertion of power, pouring a flood RESURRECTION OF INSECTS. 287 of warm and dazzling beams on the window, I observed several flies lying among a heap on the frame suddenly evince signs of life, and in a few minutes they were feebly crawling over the glass. As I looked on, the genial sunshine gave every moment fresh strength, though they did not, as I expected, acquire any lasting accession of vigour. It was the dream of summer that had burst the cerements of their long sleep, and the little glow of life went out with the syren sun. In this wondrous vitality we behold another wise provision of the great Author of being, measuring the endowments of the creature with such marked regard to its especial wants, and to the influences to which it is exposed. Nor must I neglect to remark, that the same mer<- ciful dispensation, mindful of every contingency, has happily withheld from insects all sensibility of pain, thus rendering the contusions and mu- tilations to which they are so perpetually and unavoidably subjected utterly innocuous. Insects form the chief aliment of the Arach- nides, the next superior order of Articulata, which, 288 CRUSTACEA. seizing them alive, either devour them bodily or draw out their fluids by suction. Some, how- ever, will eat only vegetables, and others feed on vertebrated animals. Their organization, view- ing the class generally, is especially adapted to subsistence by suction, the mouth being fur- nished with two pointed blades, used as lancets, and constructed to act as a sucker. They are not, like insects, provided with wings, but possess moveable legs, united by a segment to the abdomen, and usually terminating in two, and sometimes three hooks. Their form is not liable to change, nor do they undergo metamor- phosis, but at certain seasons they cast their skin, and relieve themselves by this effort of what must otherwise have been fatal to their existence. Arachnides and Insects have been grouped by Linnaeus with the Crustacea, and the three classes received from the great philosopher, whom Science invested with the mission and authority of Adam, the general name of Insecta. But as Arachnides differ from Insects, so do Crustacea, as a more perfectly organised class, ANNULATA. 289 claim superior rank to Arachnides. They are usually encased in a solid calcareous skin, perforated by openings, through which they receive and exhale air, and do not attain maturity, according to the observations of the most experienced naturalists, till this envelope has been several times cast. Like the order immediately below them, however, they are not subject to any mutations of form, only enlarging their proportions as they become older, and in some cases slightly modifying, while in others they increase the number of their locomotive organs. Their development is gradual and perceptible, covering a considerable period, and they enjoy an existence of several years. As a class, they are carnivorous, and their condition and habits are aquatic. The Annulata, which are the class above the Crustacea, complete the articulated group, and are the only invertebrated animals furnished with red blood, whence they have received from Cuvier the appropriate name of “ Red-blooded Worms.” The vital fluid circulates through their bodies in a double system of vessels, of o 290 WORMS. an intricate and complicated structure, inter- spersed with fleshy ventricles, which seem to fulfil the ordinary functions of a heart. The body itself, from one extremity to the other, is composed of a series of rings, in all respects perfectly similar, except that the head, formed by the anterior ring, is the chief seat of the senses. They have no legs, but rest on a number of sharp bristles, which answer all the purposes of articulated feet ; and as the entire class, with the solitary exception of the earth- worm, is aquatic, this structure is singularly suited to their condition. Cuvier divides them into three orders — the Tubicola, which inhabit tubes ; the Dorsibranchiata, whose vessels, occupying the centre of their stem-like bodies, are somewhat ramified; and the Abranchiata, which have no visible organs of respiration, and are supposed by naturalists to breathe through the skin. From the Annulata we advance into the second grand section of the animal world, classed under the general designation of Mol- lusca, and composed of creatures which, MOLLUSCA. 291 differing mainly from both the neighbouring systems, have neither an articulated skeleton nor a vertebral canal. Their bodies, varying in size and form, are almost uniformly enve- loped in a very sensitive skin, sometimes of a fleshy texture, and acquiring for certain species the appellation of “ Naked and in other cases becoming so indurated, that the external development, incrusting the whole animal, is converted into a shell, and hence procures for the order the name of Testaceous. Their powers of motion are confined to creeping and swimming, which, however, they accomplish very slowly. Many have no articulated feet, and therefore can only propel themselves by contraction and expansion, a laborious and impotent process. For the most part, Mol- lusca have no organs of sight ; but the Ceph- alapoda, forming the first and principal group, have both eyes and ears, protected, by adaptations to their peculiar condition, from all the injurious influences to which they are naturally exposed. Their body, which is of the customary soft texture, consists of a mus- 292 CEPHALAPODA. cular sac, and is surmounted by a well-developed head, thrown backward in swimming, and at other times carried beneath the body. From the head project arms or feet, of a conical shape, and used with equal effect both for adhesion and propulsion, fastening on stones and plants, their ever-accessible moorings, with great tenacity, or when required, moving freely through the deep. As a condition of their aquatic character, the Cephalapoda, most com- monly living at great depths, respire through water, which, from the disposition of the bran- chiae, finds its way into their sac-like bodies, and passes out by an anterior aperture. Being utterly defenceless, and constituting the prey of other inhabitants of the ocean, in every respect superior to themselves, they are provided by nature with an equivalent for their weakness in the shape of a colouring fluid, with which, when threatened, they blacken the water, and thus cut off pursuit. So true it is, that even the tiniest atoms are remembered before God, whose “ tender mercy is over all his works.” Several bivalve Mollusca, as a necessity of BIVALVES AND UNIVALVES. 293 their peculiar structure, are denied the faculty of locomotion, and, among these, some na- turalists reckon the common oyster, which is usually found adhering to rocks, or sheltered reefs, as if it were permanently stationary. It is now known, however, that oysters do possess the power of moving themselves, though in a very limited degree, accomplishing the object by squirting water., from their shells, which, agitating the stream around, has the effect of propelling them forward. The muscle, another bivalve, moves itself with a sort of tongue, capable either of contraction or elongation, and used at once as an arm and a foot. The snail offers the most familiar example of locomotion among univalves, so abounding in our lanes and gardens, and being an object of daily observation from our earliest youth. This little traveller, who carries his dwelling from place to place as an indispensable item of his equipment, has no legs, but glides along on his belly, and when required, pitches his homely tent, like some weary Arab, at an instant’s notice, adhering to any surface, whether rough 294 VERTEBRATA. or smooth, with the greatest tenacity. To this, too, he retreats, when danger threatens, as to a tried and impregnable citadel, and there remains in safety till the peril has passed by. Cuvier groups the remainder of the animal kingdom in one section, divided, however, by two essential distinctions, into viviparous and oviparous, which are again arranged in subor- dinate classes, differing in many important particulars. Of the Oviparous Vertebrata, the principal divisions are Pisces, Reptilia, and Aves. Pisces include every species of fish, classed in two grand orders, the Acanthropterygii, or spiny-fins, and the Chondropterygii, or cartila- ginous fishes. The first are by far the most numerous, and comprehend the greatest variety. Their bodies, shaped with especial regard to their aquatic condition, are protected by a coat of scales, and terminate in a tail, which, moving alternately on either side, is a most efficient instrument of progression. Indeed, the sin- gular adaptation of form and condition which marks every individual group of the animal FISHES. 295 world, from man to the meanest creature, is in none more strikingly or more beautifully appa- rent. The structure of the fish, through all the varieties of the group, is expressly and obviously designed, no less in its organization than in its relative gravity, for existence in water, and for the only mode of progression which that element admits of. The specific gravity of a fish, morever, may be regulated, in most species, by the compression or dilation of a pouch of air, lying directly under the spine, and by this means the animal may rise to the surface, or sink to any depth, as its will or its requirements dictate. Respiration is effected through the agency of water, which is swallowed by the fish, and, after conveying a supply of air to the blood-vessels, is expelled through branchiae, or gills, on either side of the neck. Fins, depending from ossiferous rays, and used to facilitate and expedite swimming, furnish their bodies with rudimentary limbs, and com- plete the organization of these citizens of the deep. Of all the inhabitants of the seas, the most 296 THE WHALE. wonderful, perhaps, is the whale — the great Leviathan, made to take his pastime therein. Whales are frequently eighty feet long, and I have myself seen one which, measuring it by the length of the ship I was in, while it lay immediately alongside, could not have been short of one hundred feet. Yet these un- wieldy monsters, who might be looked upon as the monarchs of the waves, are often a prey to animals very inferior in strength and size. One of their enemies is a small shell-fish, which, seizing a favourable moment, insinuates itself beneath their fins, where it feeds in security on the thick layers of fat, defying every effort to shake it off. But the most terrible foe of the whale is the sword-fish, at whose approach, in dread of the battle that must ensue, it ex- hibits an extraordinary degree of agitation, and endeavours to retreat in the opposite direction. Having no instrument of defence but its tail, the inoffensive monster is but ill-adapted for conflict, and the sharp, tooth- edged beak of the rapacious sword-fish, darting first on one side and then on the other, lacerates and mangles its THE SHARK. 297 huge frame with impunity, dyeing the water with its blood. The most fierce as well as most voracious fish, if we may rely on our present experience, is the shark, which sometimes approaches in magnitude to the whale, though I must affirm, for my own part, that the largest I ever saw did not exceed sixteen feet in length. The terrible array of teeth possessed by this fish renders it as formidable as it is destructive. These fearful instruments are arranged in six rows, in a wedge-like figure, and altogether are a hundred and forty-four in number. The voracity of the shark is well known ; and sailors, who regard it as their natural and most relentless enemy, have strange supersti- tions concerning its instincts. I have myself observed, on several occasions at sea, that when any person on board the vessel has been suffering from sickness, a shark has invariably appeared, and attended the vessel for days together. This may have been accidental, but, happening more than once, it was a o 3 298 THE DOLPHIN. coincidence that one could not but consider singular. Equally marvellous stories are related of the dolphin, which, though not so formidable, is scarcely less voracious than the shark, and, from the extent of its depredations, is called the plunderer of the deep. By a wise provi- dence, however, both the dolphin and the shark seize their food with difficulty, being obliged, from the peculiar situation of the mouth, directly under the head, to turn on their backs to bite, thus allowing the prey time to escape. But for this check, their united ravages would speedily depopulate the ocean. I must not omit to mention the variations of colour in the dolphin, which, spite of the declarations of travellers, many naturalists still consider fabulous. That this finny chameleon, however, does actually change his hue, and in his dying hour, glow with a hundred beau- tiful tints, ought not to be disputed, and I must add my testimony that the statement is strictly true. THE FLYING FISH. 299 Not the least remarkable of the piscatorial tribes is the flying-fish, an aquatic Mercury, met with in great abundance in the Tropics. Some naturalists suppose, with a pardonable scepticism, that its alleged flight is a leap, extending only from wave to wave; but I have seen it fly at least twenty yards, and on one occasion, a full-grown flying-fish, nearly as large as a herring, alighted on the deck of our vessel, seven or eight feet from the water. The wing, therefore, must be endued with no slight powers, though some assert that it is very feeble, and regard it as a mere elongation of the fin. It is equally an error to suppose, that this little wanderer is subjected, more than any other inhabitant of the deep, to inces- sant attacks on its existence, pursued beneath the waves by the dolphin or the shark, and when it seeks safety in flight, becoming the prey of rapacious birds. What may be its troubles below it is impossible to say, but I have, in various voyages, seen hundreds of flying-fish, careering in gay squadrons over the deep, and in no case have I ever known 300 REPTILES. them to be assailed by a gull. It is, there- fore, fair to conclude that they are not so terribly persecuted as we have been led to imagine. From Pisces we ascend by an easy gradation to the section of Reptiles, which, when young, resemble fish in many important particulars. The Batrachia, constituting the lowest order of the Saurians, are born with the branchiae and forms of fish, and several even retain the branchiae on reaching maturity. Of this order are frogs, toads, salamanders, sirens, &c. But perhaps the most striking of the Saurians, as respects both size and structure, is the crocodile, an animal of amphibious habits, too familiar from report to call for description. This hideous monster, found chiefly in the rivers and swollen estuaries of Africa, is frequently from fifteen to twenty feet in length, and five feet in circumference. His body is encased in a most curiously-wrought skin, looking like a suit of armour — a purpose, indeed, which it most effectually answers ; while it is endued with a strength and ferocity commensurate THE CROCODILE. 301 with its formidable appearance. It is the enemy alike of man and beast, attacking the fiercest and strongest, as well as the weakest animals, and in every case achieving an easy victory. Being no less prolific than destructive, it would, if suffered to propagate without hin- drance, overrun the whole earth ; but it is wisely ordained that the eggs containing its offspring should be the favourite food of nume- rous birds, which hunt for them with the greatest avidity; and, to render the chance of attaining maturity still less, the progeny, after escaping from the durance of the shell, are frequently devoured by the inexorable parent. But notwithstanding its ferocity, the crocodile may be made subject to man; and in some kingdoms of the East, as Ethiopia and Siam, we hear of its being harnessed, like the tame elephants, to the triumphal cars of Kings, and driven peaceably through populous cities. Of the serpent tribe the largest is the Boa Constrictor, which frequently attains a length of forty feet, while its girth, except at the extremi- 302 SERPENTS. ties, is in proportion. This terrible king of monsters lurks in the dense recesses of tropical forests, where, when prompted by hunger, it preys on every animal that comes within reach. Fastened round the boughs of trees, it has darted on the unwary traveller passing beneath, and after crushing him to death in its folds, gorged him at a meal. In the same way, and with equal facility, it has attacked and killed the strongest animals, and then swallowed them whole. These unconscionable repasts are followed by torpor, and the unwieldy animal, buried in some inaccessible lair, then digests its meal, and awakes to feel once more the sharp pangs of hunger. Thus prompted, it glides cautiously forth, and every beast of the forest flies at its approach. Much has been said of a mystic power in the serpent tribe, of rivetting their destined prey by the fascination of their gaze. That there is some foundation for such statements I can myself vouch, having a few years ago, while travelling alone in South Africa, personally experienced the feeling. I was sitting on a BIRDS. 303 most seductive, lawn-like patch of turf, when, happening to look up, I saw a black snake within a few yards, regarding me with a pecu- liarly fixed and steady look. There was an intelligence, a spirituality, in the reptile’s gaze, that held me enchained, and my eye remained fastened on its large glassy orbs. It was not fear, but wonder, awe. In another moment it would probably have sprung upon me, but in that time I had collected myself, and being without even the defence of a stick, took care to remove beyond danger. Aves, the community of birds, raise us from the forest and savannah, the haunts of the noxious and loathsome reptile, to the crystal regions of air. The feathered tribes form one of the most beautiful and striking features of the Creation. Their varied and often brilliant plumage, and infinite diversity of form and size and colour, with their peculiar powers of flight, often accompanied by the precious gift of song, combine, with their habits, instincts, and endear- ing associations, to render them objects of especial interest. Who has not been cheered 304 THE EAGLE. by their melodious notes, resounding like a song of praise through the glorious woods ? Who has not felt the charm of their presence, when contemplating, with enraptured eye, the lovely face of nature ? More especially are they har- bingers of the gladsome season of spring, re- calling by their notes, the pious and impassioned lyric of the royal musician of Israel — “ The flowers appear on the earth ; the time of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land.” The chief of the feathered tribes is the eagle, called by the ancients the bird of Jove. The golden eagle, found principally in mountainous and thinly-inhabited countries, attains a stature of three feet and a half, and its wings often measure as much as eight feet. Of all animals it flies the highest, and is extremely difficult to ensnare. Its strength of wing and powers of flight are frequently alluded to in Holy Writ. Saul and Jonathan are described by David as “ swifter than eagles.” Isaiah, so fruitful of imagery, promises the faithful that “they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” And a similar CHARACTERISTICS OF EAGLES. 305 allusion is made even by the Almighty Him- self, addressing the perverse and rebellious Israelites — “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians ; how I bare you on eagle’s wings, and how I brought you unto my- self.” The affection of eagles for their young, which forms one of their most striking characteristics, is also noticed in Scripture — “ As an eagle stirreth up her nest, iluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.” By such methods, the parent, for the moment forgetful of herself, teaches her little ones to fly, and accustoms them to soar to great heights. Their nests, built in towering cliffs, remote from the haunts of men, afford the helpless progeny a safe and inaccessible asylum ; and it is the chief employ- ment of the parent to supply them with food. If not disturbed, the eagle inhabits the same nest during the whole of its life, said to extend over a hundred years, and even then, if the general report is to be credited, it dies not of old age, but in consequence of its beak turning 306 THE OSTRICH. inward on the under mandible, which prevents it from taking any food. While the eagle soars to incredible heights, the ostrich, though furnished with wings, is unable to raise its bulky frame from the ground. The average weight of the ostrich is about eighty pounds, which, were flight one of the properties of its condition, would require immense strength of wing to sustain it in the air. But, though denied the faculty of flight, it possesses extraor- dinary swiftness of foot, and will outrun the fleetest horses. When running, its wings, in- stead of hanging useless at its side, are stretched out, and worked in a manner corresponding with the motion of the legs, materially accelerating its progress. The voracity of this strange bird exceeds belief ; and, when hungry, it will swal- low leather, hair, glass, stones, and iron, with equal avidity and relish. Its height, from the top of the head to the ground, is six feet, but from the top of the back it is only four ; and, measuring the neck with the back, it is six feet long. Among the warblers the palm is given to the THE NIGHTINGALE. 307 nightingale, the undisputed king of melody. This renowned songster, who fills the woods with harmony, arrives in England with the glad sunshine of April, and takes his departure about the middle of August. He is chiefly found in the south of England, and but rarely, if ever, visits Scotland or Ireland. The rich flow of music which, amidst the silence of night, sweeps in thrilling notes through the air, proceeds from the male, who, perched at some distance, thus addresses his mate, confined by maternal cares to the nest, and cheers her with his melting tale of devotion. The further the night advances, the clearer does his little voice ring out its lay, and full well she knows, from the marvellous force of instinct, that only the approach of danger will bring it to a close. Thus she is warned to prepare for flight. The family of warblers is very numerous, and, according to Buffon, includes upwards of a hundred and fifty species. Of English songsters, the redbreast, perhaps, is — after the nightingale — the greatest favourite. Still its claims on our affection are not higher than those of the lark, 308 BATS. the sweet bard of morning, or of the black-cap, called, from the exquisite pathos of its notes, the nightingale of the north. Birds, after extending through so many varie- ties, and ranging over such an endless diversity of forms, seem to be linked to the terrestrial animals by the Vespertilio, better known by the English name of bats. This family has some organs in common with Quadrumana, par- ticularly the three sorts of teeth, and their fore- arms, represented by wings, have the same power of revolving. They are nocturnal, and their sight, if not imperfect, is very near, and of the same character as that of the owl. To compensate for this, their almost naked wings possess the sense of touch in such exquisite perfection, that even after losing their sight, they will guide themselves, solely by the impressions of the air, through dense and intricate thickets. In appearance, the body of the bat has great affinity to that of the mouse, and its wings, though carrying it to considerable altitudes, are bare of plumage, and consequently have but little resem- blance to a bird’s. MAMMALIA. 309 The highest order of animals is the mam- malia, so called from their mammae, or breasts, with which they suckle their young. Man, himself is included in this class ; hut as I pro- pose to speak of him at length, in a separate chapter, I shall not enter on his history here, considering that such amalgamation is not only calculated to induce mistaken views, but is in itself a serious and fundamental error. Mammalia are as remarkable for the com- pleteness and intricacy of their structure, as for their superior faculties and endowments. They possess, consequently, a greater degree of intel- ligence than other animals, amounting in some cases almost to sagacity ; and it is not always that their refined and acuter instincts can be satisfactorily distinguished from the operations of reason. The brain, which may be regarded as the most important medium of sensibility, preserves the same outline throughout the class, being uniformly divided into two hemispheres, linked by a medullary layer, inclosing the ventricles. Their lungs are duplex, and formed of lobes, and are lodged between the ribs and 310 THE ELEPHANT. diaphragm. Mammalia possess the five senses, so essential to their particular condition of life, in great perfection, and hence are most subtle in their habits, and adroit in resources. With a few exceptions, they are intended for walking on the earth, and their motions, varying with the character of the animal, are defined and regulated by the internal organization. Of all animals, man alone excepted, the ele- phant is the most powerful and the most sagacious. It has been well said, that he combines the judgment of the beaver, the dexterity of the monkey, and the sentiment of the dog, while, in addition to these endowments, he possesses the advantages of strength and size. When brought into subjection to man, the docility of this huge animal is amazing ; and he may be trained, as among the nations of India, to perform almost any service. He is endued with the faculty of memory in an astonishing degree, and displays so much moderation, grati- tude, and fidelity in his attendance on man, that the ancients, misled by his demeanour, con- sidered him to possess the moral virtues. He MARSUPIALIA. 311 is undoubtedly less the slave of impulse, and more courageous, prudent, and tractable than any other animal, seeming to be ruled by a principle approaching to consciousness. In the East, he is used in time of peace to swell the barbaric pomp of its effeminate satraps, and when hostilities break out, becomes a formidable arm of war. Bearing on his mighty back a battlemented tower, garrisoned with armed men, this Titan of beasts advances, with fearless step, to meet the shock of battle, and ploughs his way through serried battalions. The elephant attains great longevity, frequently living through two centuries, and, if the testimony of his Hin- doo tamers may be relied on, retains his vigour almost to the last. His favourite haunts, when in a state of nature, are the glades of African forests, and the matted jungles of Asia; and in these sylvan retreats, he finds the grass and foliage which serve him for food. One of the most singular orders of mammalia is the Marsupialia, or pouched animals, so called from a peculiar development of the skin of the abdomen, which forms a sort of pouch beneath 312 QUAD RUM AN A. the mammae. In this recess the progeny, brought forth in a rudimentary form, with their organization only imperfectly marked, are care- fully and tenderly reared, and in moments of danger, they take refuge here, even after they are able to walk. The opossum, philager, kangaroo, &c., are of the marsupial order. Quadrumana, or animals with four hands, approach nearest in anatomical structure to man. The class, though including numerous species, admits of only two principal divisions — monkeys and lemurs. The ourang-outang, or wild man of the woods, a native of the regions north of Coromandel, is the most perfect of the order, having neither cheek-pouches nor tail, and resembling man in the shape of his head, the quantity of his brain, and, according to some authorities, even in stature. The body of this satyr is clothed with hair ; his muzzle is promi- nent, and his visage tinged with blue. In youth, he is docile and gentle, and may be tamed without difficulty. The Pongo, a variety of the species, found principally in Borneo, is said to attain a height of six feet. THE CHIMPANZEE. 313 The Chimpanzee, reputed to be the largest monkey in existence, is, if the reports of travellers are to be credited, superior in stature to the tallest man. These Brobdignagian monkeys are located in Congo and Guinea, where, mimicking the habits of the human population, they reside in villages of huts, con- structed of leaves and branches of trees, and when molested, take up clubs and stones, and defend themselves with great vigour. De la Brusse, a French traveller, asserts that they frequently surprise and carry off the negresses, whom they detain as captives in their lairs, treating them, however, with great tenderness and consideration ; but all these statements must be received with great caution, and most probably are mere inventions. Two young Chimpanzees are now in the Zoological Gardens Regent’s Park, but at present do not approach the proportions assigned to their race. Another large species of monkey is the mandril, which, like the ourang-outang, grows to the size of man. Of all animals this is the most revolting and the most hideous. His p 314 THE MANDRIL. muzzle is long, and seamed with wrinkles ; his nose, which has some resemblance to that of a dog, is tipped with scarlet ; and the rest of the complexion is blue. His face, so unsightly in form, is pierced by two additional nostrils, quite independent of the nose, and which exude a continuous stream of mucus, adding greatly to the horror of his appearance. This monster is very ferocious in his nature, and is much dreaded by the negroes of the Gold Coast, and the southern regions of Africa, where, with a number of other baboons, he roams uncon- strained over the soil. It is said that he occasionally walks erect — a physical impossi- bility ; and that he sighs and weeps like a human being. In contemplating the spectacle presented by the animal kingdom, the feature which most excites our astonishment, above every other point of its marvellous details, is the wonderful and inscrutable property which governs the habits of each individual species, and to which we are accustomed to give the name of instinct. To this mysterious principle, we attribute every THE WHITE ANT. 315 variety of impulse, and every gleam of in- telligence. So amazing, in some instances, are its operations, that it is difficult to say, at first sight, in what respect it differs from reason. Nor is it among animals of the greatest bulk, if we make the single exception of the elephant, that its overruling qualities are most apparent. The smallest insects acknowledge its power, and yield obedience to its dictates. It gives passions and desires to the invisible animalcule, and has won an enviable reputation for the bee. Guided by instinct, the white ant of Africa, perhaps the most ingenious of all insects, adopts a scheme of life and government, such as man himself may study with advantage, and can only regard with admiration. The pyramids of the Pharaohs, those Alps of art, the most stupendous monuments of human labour and industry, are, comparatively speaking, not more colossal than the dwelling of this little architect, which he rears to the incredible height of twelve feet from the ground. This towering fabric is traversed by numerous tiers p 2 316 COMMUNITY OF ANTS. of galleries, communicating with chambers and recesses, the life-long abodes of a busy and ingenious community. While the queen ant lives royally, though a perpetual prisoner, in the basement story of the structure, attended by sedulous courtiers, and surrounded by a guard of honour, restless artificers are engaged in constructing and tunnelling roads, and la- bourers bring in provisions, and distribute them to the consumers. Indeed, were I to set down all that is told of the white ant, and its won- drous and unaccountable faculties, I should seem, from the marvellous nature of the narrative, to be relating fables, requiring as wide a latitude of belief as those of iEsop. The facts, however, are well authenticated, and in all probability, were known to philosophers in the earliest times. The industry and providence of the ant, its two greatest characteristics, are indeed referred to very pointedly by Solomon. “ Go to the ant, thou sluggard : consider her ways, and be wise : which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, pro- videth her meat in the summer, and gathereth NATURE OF INSTINCT. 317 her food in the harvest.’’ And again : “ The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” What, then, is this influence, this divine and mysterious property, which governs and directs every irrational being ? In what does it differ from judgment, from reason ? How are we to separate the two principles, and allot to each its precise and especial dominion ? One thing seems clear, that if we invest any individual of the brute kingdom with reason, we must, as an inevitable consequence, extend the gift to every species ; and it is equally obvious, if the matter is viewed in a candid spirit, that the moment an animal receives this endowment, he becomes a rational and an ac- countable being. Yet no one will be brought to imagine, by the wildest stretch of specula- tion, that a spider is responsible for its actions, or a tiger for its propensities. Their pursuits are shaped, not by themselves— not by a free and reflective capacity, but by a law of nature — by instinct, from which all their impulses pro- 318 CONSCIOUSNESS. ceed. They are not unshackled and independent agents, but slaves. We thus see that instinct is involuntary, and not governed by will. Its limits are fixed, and, whatever may be the condition of the animal, it cannot travel out of them. From age to age, under every variety of circumstance, it pursues the same beaten track, and never either retro- grades or advances. Instinct is an unerring guide, but it is a blind one. On the other hand, the ruling faculty of reason, its most absolute and leading character- istic, is consciousness — the knowledge of good and evil. It is not impulsive, but reflective — not inflexible, but yielding. In a word, it is an emanation of the Divine Intelligence, immortal and imperishable — the seal of God, stamping His image on the noblest of His creatures. XIII. THE RACE OF MAN. The head of the Creation is Man. En- dowed with the greatest beauty of form, the noblest aspect, and an organization every way peculiar, he is designed by God to rule over all things, and to be an immediate reflection of His own image. As if to symbolise this pre- eminence, he is the only animal that walks erect, or that is invested, in compensation for phy- sical deficiencies, with the sovereign attributes of reason. The erect position is not only the most natural to man— the most becoming to his appearance, and the best suited to his habits, 320 NATURAL POSTURE. but he could not, if inclined, move for any length of time on his hands and feet. In such a posture, the action of the heart, which is differently placed from that of other animals, would be impeded, and the whole circulation of the blood deranged. His eyes, being adapted only for looking straight forward, would be useless, as the head could not be sustained by the small indented muscle on which it rests, and keeping the line of the spine, would be continually bent towards the ground. Thus his majestic features would always be hidden, while his movements, instead of being remark- able for dignity and grace, would be ludicrously grotesque and clumsy. On the other hand, his body is admirably formed for vertical motion, and, in this attitude, displays a singular combination of beauty and proportion. The feet, instead of resting on the outer edge, as with monkeys, have an expanded heel and almost flattened surface, supporting easily the whole weight of the legs. The toes are short, and not opposable to each other, so that, while no way adapted for climbing, they HELPLESSNESS OF MAN. 321 are capable of great exertions on level ground. In the vertical position, too, the head sits lightly and gracefully on its sustaining muscle, and all the features of the face are fully dis- played. The eyes have an uninterrupted sphere of vision, which, indeed, is all the more perfect from being concentrated in one direction, and the ease with which the head may be turned, as necessity or inclination prompts, enables them to overlook every quarter. But with all his imposing appearance, and marked peculiarity of structure, man is physi- cally the most helpless of beings. The skin which encases his frame, unlike that of other animals, is soft and delicate, and unprotected by hair. He possesses no instruments of defence, nor can he, without the aid of art, even supply himself with nutritious food, his teeth being formed only for grinding bulbs and roots, and not for masticating flesh. The extremes of temperature to which he is subjected in different regions of the globe — often indeed in the same — would be fatal to his existence, if he remained in a state of nature ; and, instead of flourishing p 3 322 NECESSITY OF SELF-RELIANCE. in every latitude, he would be altogether swept from the earth. Nor does he possess the fine subtle instinct which is so unfailing a resource with the subordinate animals. In infancy he derives his nurture from his mother’s breast, and for years is subject to her rule, and de- pendent on her care. Not till after a tedious education, acquired with difficulty and pain, is he fitted to take part in the pursuits of life, and to provide his own subsistence. Then disease attacks him in a hundred virulent and malig- nant types, and age, treading close on his prime, bends his worn and aching frame, and brings all his years to an end, as a tale that is told. Such is the natural, inherent feebleness which forces man to look for aid to his intellect, and calls into constant requisition the divine faculties of his mind. These enable him, by their ad- mirable contrivances, to cover and negative his defects, and turn his weeknesses into points of strength. The instruments of attack and defence so necessary to his safety, he constructs with his own hands ; he clothes his delicate and sensitive body, exposed by nature to all the baneful ACHIEVEMENTS OF ART. 323 influences of climate, in sumptuous clothes, manufactured from the warm furs and skins of beasts ; some animals he subdues to be crea- tures of burden, or bumble ministers of his will ; the flesh of others, prepared and rendered palatable by fire, provokes his appetite, and is made to furnish an inexhaustible supply of savoury and nourishing food. His weapons reach the wild game in the woods, and the bird in the air ; his ingenuity and dexterity, stopping at no obstacle, draw the snake from his hole and the fish from the stream. He learns to till the earth, and reap its varied and delicious fruits ; he digs in its mysterious depths, far removed from the light of Heaven, for useful and precious minerals, and makes them contri- bute to his wants, his comfort, and his luxury. As his knowledge and skill increase, mansions take the place of huts, and a city spreads its arms round the temple and the palace. But it is not only in reference to the require- ments and care of the body that our intellectual faculties are brought into play. These indeed form their first, but are by no means their prin- 324 INTELLECTUAL ATTAINMENTS. cipal consideration. The whole scheme of nature, from the ground on which we tread to the remotest star of the firmament — every living creature, and every object, invites their attention, and affords them endless matter for inquiry. If we contemplate man in his original miserable condition, and then consider his present attain- ments in knowledge and science, his proficiency in the arts, and sublime achievements in litera- ture — and bear in mind that all has been accom- plished by his own unaided genius, we shall then admit that no miracle in nature is so won- drous and astounding. Driven by necessity to take counsel of his own mind, he has developed and enlarged its latent talents, and by every fresh invention, augmented its resources. His reason, his imagination, his searching investigations, and his mechanical skill, directed continually on new objects, have raised him immeasurably in the scale of being, and leave no limit to his progress. A time may come when his civilization will be universal, and then, if ever, wars will surely ter- minate, and nations live in security and peace. While he is invested with divine intelligence, THE VOICE. 325 man is endowed, in further token of his supe- riority, with a medium of in ter- communication, by which he is enabled to convey his impres- sions and inmost thoughts to his fellows. The faculty of speech belongs exclusively to man, and is his master gift, giving form and expres- sion to all the others. Indeed, it is impossible to estimate, in the ordinary compass of words, the blessings and advantages it confers upon us, or the sources of enjoyment it places at our command. In the accents of a Lind or a Kemble it becomes the very soul of music ; a Brougham makes it the vehicle of the most impassioned eloquence ; from the lips of a Siddons — when one rises to enchain our souls — it is equally sublime, touching, and persua- sive. And, in the ordinary course of life, we derive from the power of speech every social and domestic endearment. Man is no less favoured in the choice of his companion — Woman, in whom we behold the perfection of nature. What shall we say of an influence which is the mainspring of our exist- ence, which animates every impulse, and shares 326 WOMAN. every hope of our hearts? The beauty and gentleness of woman — her tenderness — her devo- tion, her deep and holy affections, and the noble example of her endurance, have done more to humanize and elevate mankind, than all the inventions of genius, or all the revelations of science. Precisely as woman is appreciated, do we find a nation advanced in civilization and refinement. Among savage tribes, living in a state of the grossest barbarism — who eat human flesh, and sacrifice human beings to idols, she is a hewer of wood and drawer of water : by the effeminate people of the East she is degraded into a concubine and a toy ; among the polite nations of Europe, she takes her proper place as man’s companion and friend. Nor is the intellectual capacity of woman unequal to this position, or at all inferior to that of man. The mightiest kindgdom of the world, on whose territories the all-circling sun never sets, is proud to own the benign sway of a wise and gracious Queen, and history makes a boast of the great names of Semiramis, Helena, Catherine and Elizabeth. Heroism has its Zenobia, its ORIGIN. 327 Boadicea, and its Joan of Arc. In our own day, a Somerville has solved the abstrusest pro- blems of science ; a Strickland has excelled in the field of history ; a host of female names have won distinction in the arena of fiction ; and a Landon, too soon snatched from amongst us, has touched the most plaintive chords of song. What more do we require to prove that woman is the equal, as well as the helpmate of man? The whole human race is one family, and has sprung from one pair. The anatomical structure, by which distinctions of species are ascertained, is the same in all, and the differences of appear- ance are confined to complexion and the cast of the features. These are the effects of climate, developed and matured by a succession of gene- rations. It has indeed been urged, that negroes having been in existence, as we learn from the sculptures of Egypt, as early as within four or five centuries of the Flood, such changes could not have been produced in so short a period, and, therefore, that either the black man must have had a distinct origin, or that there must be 328 RESEARCHES OF LAYARD. some error in the Mosaic chronology. But not- withstanding all that has been said on the sub- ject, by the most subtle and most powerful intel- lects, nothing has ever been advanced to shake in the least the authority of the Scriptural reckon- ing, and, indeed, the invaluable discoveries of Dr. Layard, at Nineveh, bear irresistible testi- mony to its correctness. The only question to consider, then, is, whether the interval was sufficient to give the Ethiope his skin, and produce those facial peculiarities by which he is distinguished. Few who have had experience of tropical climates will doubt either the ade- quacy of the cause, or the sufficiency of the time. Even in one generation, the children of European parents, born under a tropical sun, exhibit considerable differences of appearance, and the complexion of the Dutch boors, at the Cape of Good Hope, is but a shade or two lighter than that of the Indian. What, then, must have been the effect of climate on men living in a savage state, going about naked, having no dwelling but the bush, and no food but berries and wild fruit, or perhaps unwhole- THE HUMAN COMPLEXION. 329 some roots? Continual exposure to the sun, in regions where its rays are most powerful, would naturally crisp and dry up the hair, and blacken the skin ; and unrestrained indulgence in the animal passions would combine to distort and brutalize the features, and derange the organization of the brain. Nor must we forget that, in all probability, the original colour of the human complexion was not white, but dark, the tint which still prevails in the East, where the present race of men originated. In point of fact, therefore, it is not more difficult to account for the black complexion than the white ; and that the latter is the effeet of climate, no one will venture to dispute. Indeed, it has been remarked, in the course of the recent Arctic expeditions, that the climate of the Polar regions exercises an immediate effect on the complexion, and a few weeks in the vicinity of the poles is sufficient to render the swarthiest face as white as snow. The three principal varieties of mankind are the Caucasian, the Mongolian, and the Ethio- pian. From these, as they spread into different 330 CAUCASIANS. latitudes, sprang numerous offshoots, varying in tint and feature, but always preserving the distinguishing marks of descent. The Cau- casians, or whites, form the noblest race, possessing the highest intellectual organization, and the most beautiful appearance. Cradled on the lofty heights of Caucasus, they early descended, with the simple habits of their native mountains, to colonise the fertile plains around, and gradually sought pasture for their flocks in more distant regions. While the Armenian families proceeded to the south, occupying Chaldea, Assyria, Egypt, and the wild solitudes of Arabia, the Pelasgic and Teutonic branches, more daring and adventurous, penetrated to the West, and founded the great nations of Europe. A few of the European families, indeed, appear to be of Mongolian extraction — for by such a supposition only can I account for the high cheek-bones and broad physiognomy of the Celts, though they have, I believe, always hitherto been classed amoung the Caucasians. The Caucasians have ever been foremost in the path of civilization, and have reached the MONGOLIANS. 331 highest point of moral and physical excel- lence. The Mongolians, or yellows, form the next great variety, and approach the Caucasians in intellectual endowments, though they appear quite incapable of attaining the same perfection. The Chinese, the most unique of nations, are of this race, and probably were the first to acquire a knowledge of learning and the arts. But these pioneers of civilization reached only the borders of the land of promise, and have ever since sojourned in the desert. In the late war with England, they displayed a degree of puerility and impotent cunning, joined to cowardice and treachery, such as could hardly have been expected from the most ignorant savages, and which was strangely suggestive of the infancy of mankind. They unques- tionably possess, however, many rare qualities, which, under proper direction, may lead to great results, and obtain for them a prominent place among the nations of the earth. In California they have been conspicuous for industry, tact, perseverance, and ingenuity ; 332 CALMUCS. and are likely to prove equally useful in Australia. The great wall which divided them from their fellow-men, as effectually as the gloomy Styx, is now demolished, and they swarm from their hive in countless thou- sands, to populate and fertilize hitherto un- peopled regions. Who can say that they have not yet a mission assigned to them in the development and regeneration of the world '? The Calmucs are another powerful branch of the Mongolian family. The Bedouins of the East, they occupy, in restless hordes, the vast deserts of Tartary, where they are con- stantly wandering to and fro. More than once, they have poured from these wilds in overwhelming numbers, and ravaged the neigh- bouring territories with fire and sword. Tamerlane, the most heroic of their chiefs, subdued the haughtiest kingdoms of Asia, and Attila led their conquering hosts to the gates of imperial Rome. They still retain the courage of their ancestors, and are the terror and scourge of the effeminate Chinese. NEGROES. 333 The Mantchures, the Japanese, the Carcans, and the Malays are also of Mongolian origin, and, judging from their high cheek-bones and broad features, the Samoiedes, Ostiaks, Esqui- maux, and Laplanders, who inhabit the north- ern regions of Asia and Europe, spring from the same stock. The Indians of America probably found their way to that continent from Siberia, with the inhabitants of which, as recent travellers inform us, they have many points of resemblance. The third great division of the human family is the negro, or black, distinguished by his complexion, thick lips, flat nose, compressed cranium, and crisped or woolly hair. This race is chiefly confined to Africa, but, strange to say, is met with again, after an interval of a thousand miles, in the Alfourons, inhabit- ing one of the islands of the Indian Ocean, and on the coast of New Guinea, in the Papuas. I am inclined to believe, however, that these isolated blacks, instead of being wanderers from the torrid regions of Africa, are of 334 THE NEGRO INTELLECT. Mongolian extraction, and owe their difference of appearance to barbarism and climate. Much has been said of the inferiority of the negro intellect, but there seems no ground for believing, with the opponents of the theory of a common descent, that, when properly culti- vated, it is not capable of very high development. Considering how long the negro has been steeped in moral and physical debasement, it is unrea- sonable to expect, that the first rudiments of education should convert him at once into a philosopher and a savant. We must look for this result to time, and to the effect, not of learning only, but of Christianity. In my intercourse with negroes, I have often met with a degree of intelligence that, bearing in mind all the circumstances of their condition, has struck me with surprise, and which inspires me with a firm hope that they will one day approve them- selves worthy descendants of our common parents. Let us labour with diligence to accomplish this desirable end, and not be turned aside, when we have already made some progress, NEGRO REDEMPTION. 335 by the insolence and ingratitude of the poor, untutored savage, but with all patience and long-suffering, continue our efforts, and lead him, by the mighty beacon of the Cross, to take his proper place among the sons of men. THE HUMAN FRAME. Know Thyself, said the great heathen ; and the lesson thus enjoined, though it has employed the energies and engrossed the at- tention of the wisest and mightiest spirits of every age, is not yet mastered. Man, after an interval of thousands of years, is still the noblest study of man, and remains a problem to himself. We turn from the grand spectacle of the universe, with all its untold wonders, to contemplate ourselves ; and find, in the exquisite mechanism of the human frame, the extent of its capacity, and the range and variety of its faculties, an object as full of THE BODY. 337 mystery as of interest. Nature is everywhere marvellous, but in man we behold her foremost work. The human form divine, as it has been beautifully named, is composed of a porous tissue, and four chemical elements, essentially requisite to an animated being. These are, besides the tissue, the cellular membrane, the muscular fibre, the medullary matter, and the blood. The cellular texture consists of a number of minute cells, opening into each other, and forming the whole outline, or frame- work, of the body, which, by the tension of the other parts on the cellular fabric, is restricted to certain definite limits. The tex- ture is formed of a substance called gelatine , which may he reduced by boiling to a liquid, and on cooling, presents the appearance of a jelly. It furnishes the principal material for membranes, fibres, vessels, muscles, and bones. The body is sustained by a structure of bone, called the skeleton, adapted equally for the Q 338 THE BONES. purposes of organic action, and the protection of the various organs. Within this stately dwelling, protected at all points by intersecting ramparts, resides the principle of life, acting continually on its three great ministers, the heart, the lungs, and the brain. The bones, which are 240 in number, are linked together by seams, or sutures, by a gristly substance called cartilage, and by fibrous bands termed ligaments. Those of the head, the first anatomical section, rise in an arch over the brain, constituting what is called the cranium, or skull, within which, as in a fortress, the great medium of thought and action safely reposes. Hence fourteen bones descend, like the portcullis of the castle, to form the face, branching off into cheeks, nose, mouth, and jaws, the last of which, in full-grown persons, are furnished with thirty- two teeth, sixteen in each jaw. The back- bone, or spinal column, the great pillar of the body, is the basement of this noble struc- ture. It is formed of twenty-four distinct bones, seven of which, rising above the trunk, THE EXTREMITIES. 339 compose the neck, while five descend into the loins. The twelve central bones, united in the column of the back, supply a scaffold for the ribs, which sweep round in a half- circle, twelve on each side, to the breast bone, inclosing the vital recesses of the chest. The breast bone is surmounted by two collar bones, one on each side, which connect it, like a clasp, with those of the shoulder, two bones of triangular shape, descending to the seventh rib. These are the roots of the arms ; and the upper fabric of the shoulder, adjoining the second rib, is indented with a socket, in which the ball-joint of the arm is inserted. Below all comes the pelvis, composed of the five hip bones, forming the last section of the trunk. From the trunk depend the extremities, the branches, as it were, of this tree of life. A long cylindrical bone, called the humerus, linked by the elbow joint to two bones of similar shape, forms the arm, which terminates in the wrist, a bracelet of eight bones, so united as to admit of the utmost freedom of move- 340 JOINTS AND MUSCLES. ment. This is the key to the hand, a master- piece of mechanism, consisting of five bones, in almost parallel lines, four of which lead to the fingers, while the fifth, the shortest of the bunch, joins the thumb. The fingers, so beautifully flexible, and so exquisitely sensitive of touch, are each composed of three bones, but the thumb has only two, and these are disposed differently from those of the fingers, giving greater variety and power of move- ment. The thigh bone, the most important in point of size, and perhaps the strongest in the frame, is of cylindrical shape, and is joined at the knee to the two bones of the leg, which terminate in the foot, composed of seven bones, guarded from injury above by an arch, not more remarkable for its beauty of appearance than its durability and strength. The fourteen bones of the toes complete the extremities. This framework of bone is linked together by joints, lubricated by membraneous secre- tions, and is penetrated, at different points, by THE SKIN. 341 blood-vessels and nerves, and put in motion by muscles. The muscles are the springs and works of the body— the machinery, so to speak, by which the overruling brain accomplishes its will. They are upwards of 500 in number, and are composed, in great part, of fibres and layers, traversed by blood- vessels, and amply supplied with nerves. Some act spontaneously, as those of the heart and intestines, requiring no interference of the will ; others are swayed by the brain, through the medium of the nerves ; and not a few, as those of the respiratory organs, are partly involuntary and partly spontaneous. The skeleton is mantled in a membraneous covering, called skin, consisting of three dis- tinct layers, the cuticle, the mucous fluid, and the cutis. The outermost is the cuticle, an albuminous membrane, composed of a number of scales, or pores, so minute as to be visible only through a microscope. It is lined by the mucous fluid, a secretion from the mem- brane beneath, which it protects, by its soft, jelly-like substance, from external injury, while 342 THE HEART. it imparts to the outer and semi-transparent skin its peculiar tint, whether red, black, brown, or white. A network of nerves, glands, and blood-vessels, nowhere presenting a single perceptible opening, forms the cutis, or true skin, the innermost envelope of the frame, from which the organs of touch, and the glands secreting the waste of the blood, as well as the lubricatory and absorbent ves- sels, penetrate to the outer covering, and consummate their several functions. Absorp- tion, however, is very imperfectly effected through the cuticle, though on its removal, as in cases of vaccination, the function is promptly discharged by the subordinate layers, through which matter of any kind may be introduced into the system. Perspiration is the chief function of the cuticle, for which its struc- ture, formed entirely of numberless minute pores, is admirably adapted, and to such an extent is it carried on, that nearly forty per cent of the food we consume is exuded through the skin. In the spacious cavity of the chest, guarded TESTIMONY TO SCRIPTURE. 343 by its breastplate of bone, throb the heart and lungs, the chief organs of vitality. The heart is the temple of life, within which, as in a sacred fane, the vital spark is first kindled, and finally becomes extinct. It is a muscular formation, intersected by compartments, the contraction of which, by an impulse residing in the organ, and acting successively on each, circulates the blood. The fount and source of our present existence, the heart is made also a witness to that of futurity. For a long time, philosophers, only too much inclined to the sin of Didymus, found a stumbling-block to their faith in that memorable passage of the New Testament, so familiar to all, which describes the wound in the side of the dying Saviour as pouring forth blood and water; and it was alleged that such a thing could not have happened, as the issue from the wound, if the frame of the Redeemer perfectly resembled our own, would necessarily have been blood only. But Science has risen up, like a holy apostle, to testify to the truth of Chris- tianity. The discharge from the heart would 344 CIRCULATION AND RESPIRATION. indeed have been blood alone ; but it is now known that the great reservoir of the vital fluid, from which a ruddy stream is circling continually through the veins, is invested by a hollow, purse-like membrane, called the peri- cardium, containing a small quantity of clear water, and consequently the issue from the divine wound must necessarily have comprised both water and blood. By such seeming acci- dents are the authority and truthfulness of the Scriptures established and vindicated. The heart is crowned by an arch, called the aorta, the duct that, by means of arteries and vessels, conveys a supply of blood to the head and extremities; and on either side lie the lungs, the conduits of the well. The lungs are the organs of respiration; and rise from the diaphragm, the basement of the chest, to the level of the first rib, draping the sides of the whole interior like a cloak. Air, received by inspiration, purifies the blood in its passage through the vessels of the lungs, when, having imbibed a certain quantity of poison, it is carried ORGANS OR RESPIRATION. 1. The windpipe, or trachea, for conveying air to the lungs. 2. Branches of the windpipe, called the right and left Bronchus. 3. The lungs. 4. The heart. 5. The aorta. 6. The carotid arteries. 7. The Superior Vena Cava. 8. The Jugula Veins, which bring hack the blood from the head. 9. The Inferior Vena Cava. 10. The Pulmonary Artery, for conveying the blood to the lungs. 11. Right and Left Branches of the same. 12. The Pulmonary Veins, for bringing back the blood from the lun 13. Section of the Pericardium. 14. The Mediastinussa, or space between the lungs. THE BLOOD. 345 off by expiration, and a fresh supply inhaled, which is immediately subjected to the same searching process. The blood, thus carefully ventilated, is a colourless fluid, containing a number of bright red globules, which give it the appearance of a ruddy stream. It is the medium through which sustenance is received by the body ; and, circulating incessantly through the veins, con- veys to every part in succession, from one extremity to the other, the nutriment extracted from the food. Thus the muscles, fibres, and flesh, composing the various organs of the frame, are continually strengthened and nourished ; and, when the blood ceases to perform this function, the whole structure breaks down, and the prin- ciple of life expires. The blood in the body of an adult is said to weigh twenty-eight pounds, and traverses the round of the veins, from the great basin of the heart, in little more than two minutes, so that the heart discharges about a hogshead daily. The vital fluid is supplied with air through the 346 ORGANS OF DIGESTION. trachea, or windpipe, the shaft of the lungs, proceeding direct from the mouth ; and behind this lies another passage, the pharynx, commu- nicating with the esophagus, the avenue by which food is conveyed to the stomach. The stomach is a sort of bag, formed of two duplex coverings, so constructed that, on the introduction or ejection of food, they can expand or contract at will. The food, moistened by the saliva of the mouth, is here met by the gastric juice, a secretion from the vessels of the internal mucous membrane, by which it is dissolved, and another infusion, called the pancreatic juice, then separates the nourishment from the waste. The reserved portion, so carefully and effectually extracted, is absorbed by the small intestines, while the large intestines receive the other, and pass it off by excretion. The liver, a glandular mass in the upper region of the abdomen, plays an important part in the process of digestion, and is the alembic of the bile, from which, when secreted, the bitter fluid passes into the gall-bladder. Chyle is TIIE BRAIN AND CRANIAL NERVES. 1. Section of the Brain, exhibiting its convolutions. 2. The Cerebrum, or upper portion of the brain. 3. The Cerebellum, or little brain. 4. The Ventricles. 5. The Medulla Oblongata, or expansion of the Spinal Cord. 6. The Spinal Cord. 7. The first pair of nerves, called the Olfactory. 8. The second pair of nerves, called the Optic. 9. The third pair of nerves, called the Common Motor. 10. The fourth pair of nerves, called the Trochleares. 11. The fifth pair of nerves, called the Trifacial. 12. The sixth pair of nerves, called the Abducentes. 13. The seventh pair of nerves, called the Auditory. 14. The eighth pair of nerves, called the Pacumogastric. 15. The ninth pair of nerves, called the Lingual. 16. Roots of Cervical Nerves. *** The brain is inclosed in three membranes, the outer called the Dura Mater, the middle called the Arachnoid, and the inner called the Pia Mater. THE BRAIN. 347 produced in the duodenum : and after traversing the lacteals, and the mesenteric glands, pours through the thoracic duct into the heart. Four of the senses — sight, hearing, taste, and smell — reside in the head ; and their respective organs — the eye, ear, tongue, and nose — are linked by the cranial nerves to the brain, the seat of sense, thought, and will. Another branch of the nervous system, called the spinal cord, descends from the brain into the back bone, and connects it with the remote nerves of the extremities. The brain is an oval-shaped mass, guarded by a membraneous stay, called the dura mater, which, passing across the skull, divides it into two hemispheres, and also separates the upper from the lower compartment. The upper por- tion, which has the greater dimensions, bears the name of the cerebrum, and is parted beneath the surface into three lobes, the back, front, and central. The lower portion is called the cerebellum, and is also disposed in lobes, though, from the reduced size of 348 CONCLUSION. the mass, they are not on the same scale of magnitude. The brain is the throne of the soul, from which its decrees are sent forth, for good or evil, through every region of the frame. Here Reflection sits, like a reverend hermit, in the silent recesses of the brow ; here Imagination spreads her wings, and Genius prompts and directs her flight. Beneath the dome of this sacred temple, the adoring spirit looks grate- fully up to its Creator ; and here too often his majesty is outraged, and his holy laws violated and contemned. Volumes might be, and indeed have been, written, on each member of the body, and yet leave something more to be said of the delicacy and exquisite finish of its mechanism, and the beautiful adaptation of part to part. We need go no further for a complete and triumphant answer to the idle theory of Lamarck, which would make nature, in all its endless aspects, the offspring of spontaneous generation, and distort its very harmony into an element of CONCLUSION. 349 confusion. Everything we see indeed, living and inanimate, above and around us, in the unsearchable heights of heaven and the depths of the earth, refutes the fallacy, and proclaims itself an emanation from God. With profound joy, our souls accept the revelation, and eagerly echo the words of the Psalmist — “ O, come let us worship and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker.’’ * THE END. LONDON : Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. Just Published, in 2 vols., 21s. bound, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A MISSIONARY. BY THE REV. J. P. FLETCHER, CURATE OF SOUTH HAMPSTEAD. Author of “A Two Years’ Residence at Nineveh.” “ A graphic sketch of missionary life.” — Examiner. “ We conscientiously recommend this book, as well for its amusing character as for the spirit it displays of earnest piety.” — Standard. “ This book will interest a large multitude of readers. There are abundant passages which will amuse, and studies of individual character which will be recognised as drawn from life.” — Globe. “ This interesting and very profitable work possesses a great variety of scene, a clever delineation of character, and an impressive piety.” — Sun. “ In the form of an autobiographical tale, which by the variety of its incidents is rendered extremely entertaining, the author exhibits with great freedom and truth the various vulnerable points in the existing Church system, both in the field of missionary labour and at home. The object which he has in view is a laudable one. The story appears to us calculated to do considerable service ; it may serve as a mirror in which many may behold their own likeness, a little exaggerated perhaps, but still easily recognizable and not a little instructive.” — John Bull. “ It is hardly possible to say whether this fascinating book is a real autobiography or a fiction, or whether it combines in some measure the elements of both. If a genuine autobiography, it has all the charm and all the interest of romance : if a fiction, it is so ingeniously constructed and so naturally told, that it has the appearance of a narrative of facts. The hero relates his story with the simplicity of Defoe, and with no small share of Defoe’s power. The freshness of the ground — the novelty of the subject, leading as it does to so many new situations — gives great scope to this power. We rejoice that a subject so fruitful of interest has been taken up by a clergyman, and that he has treated it with so much ability and skill. Mr. Fletcher, indeed, as we learn from his former work on Nineveh, has himself been a zealous labourer in the field of missionary enterprise, and carried the banner of the Cross into more than one distant region. We cannot doubt, therefore, that many of the incidents described in this book are drawn from real life, and acquaint us with the experiences of the author. Especial interest attaches to the startling disclosures respecting the condition and resources of the working clergy.” — U. S. Mag. HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. Just Published, in 2 vols., 21s. bound, CLASSIC AND HISTORIC PORTRAITS. BY JAMES BRUCE. This work comprises Biographies of the following Classic and Historic Per- sonages : — Sappho, ^Esop, Pythagoras, Aspasia, Milto, Agesilaus, Socrates, Plato, Alcibiades, Helen of Troy, Alexander the Great, Demetrius Poliorcetes, Scipio African us, Sylla, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Germanicus, Caligula, Lollia Paulina, Caesonia, Boadicea, Agrippina, Poppaea, Otho, Corn- modus, Caracalla, Heliogabalus, Zenobia, Julian the Apostate, Eudocia, Theodora, Charlemagne, Abelard and Heloise, Elizabeth of Hungary, Dante, Robert Bruce, Ignez de Castro, Agnes Sorel, Jane Shore, Lucrezia Borgia, Anne Bullen, Diana of Poitiers, Catherine de Medicis, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, Cervantes, Sir Kenelm Digby, John Sobieski, Anne of Austria, Ninon de l’Enclos, Mile, de Montpensier, the Duchess of Orleans, Madame de Maintenon, Catharine of Russia, and Madame de Stael. “ This work supplies a want which every reader must have felt at one time or another — the want of a personal acquaintance with the owners of those great names that meet us in the course of reading. Mr. Bruce has set before us as perfect portraits, in features, life, and limb, as words can convey, of about sixty of the most prominent characters in history. His volume will please everywhere. They will amuse and instruct all, and convey new information even to the ripest scholar. ’ ’ — Standard. “ ‘ I believe/ says Mr. Bruce, in his preface to these very lively and attractive volumes, ‘ that there are not many persons who read biography with interest, who have not felt a desire for a more intimate personal acquaintance, as it may be called, than is usually afforded them with those men and women whose virtues and vices, joined with their natural gifts and acquired accomplishments, made them either illustrious or infamous in their own days, and still influence the world at the distance of centuries after their deaths.’ The object of Mr. Bruce’s book is to supply in the cases of various eminent personages, ancient and modern, as much of this desirable information, regarding their personal appearance and habits, as a very extensive and strangely varied course of reading, and a natural facility for acquiring and using literary materials of this peculiar class have fitted him to furnish. The power of reinvesting the great names of past ages with actual flesh and blood, rather than with disguising and concealing robes of state, Mr. Bruce is completely master of. His volumes abound in brilliant and striking passages, and we commend the book most heartily to all readers of taste, who enjoy a manly wit that finds expression in rich, easy, masculine English, and is employed on curious and congenial themes.” — Scotsman. “ Biography is the most delightful and engrossing of all studies, and, at the same time, the most profitable. We owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Bruce for these exceedingly interesting additions to our knowledge of the great, the good, and the infamous, who have figured in the past history of the world. He seeks to reproduce the men and women whose good or bad acts have given them universal celebrity— not in their moral and intellectual grandeur, or baseness, of w T hich their works and deeds afford sufficient testimony — but in their outward and visible form, as they stood before the eyes of their contemporaries, that we may see what pressure of humanity the beings whom we admire or detest received from the hands of nature. The result of his labours is a very agreeable work. His per- sonal sketches are enlivened with many characteristic anecdotes and events in the lives of the originals, which are but little known to the public. No reader of history or biography will regret either the money bestowed in the purchase, or the time devoted to the perusal of these volumes.” — Tait's Magazine. HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. MR. BURKE’S NEW WORK. Just Published, in 2 Yols. post 8vo, price 21s. FAMILY ROMANCE; OB, DOMESTIC ANNALS OF THE ARISTOCRACY. BY J. BERNARD BURKE, ESQ., Author of “ The Peerage and Baronetage,” &c. Among the many other interesting legends and romantic family histories com- prised in these volumes, will be found the following : — The wonderful narrative of Maria Stella, Lady Newborough, who claimed on such strong evidence to be a Princess of the House of Orleans, and disputed the identity of Louis Philippe — The story of the humble marriage of the beautiful Countess of Strathmore, and the fate of her only child — The Leaders of Fashion, from Gramont to D’Orsay — The rise of the celebrated Baron Ward, now Prime Minister at Parma — The curious claim to the Earldom of Crawford — The Strange Vicissitudes of our Great Families, replete with the most romantic details — The story of the Kirkpatricks of Close- burn (the ancestors of the French Empress), and the remarkable tradition associ- ated with them — The Legend of the Lambtons — The verification in our own time of the famous prediction as to the Earls of Mar — Lady Ogilvy’s escape — The Beresford and Wynyard ghost stories, correctly told — &c., &c. “ It were impossible to praise too highly as a work of amusement these most inte- resting volumes, whether we have regard to its excellent plan, or its not less excel- lent execution. The volumes are just what ought to be found on every drawing- room table. Here you have nearly fifty captivating romances with the pith of all their interest preserved in undiminished poignancy, and any one may be read in half-an-hour. It is not the least of their merits that the romances are founded on fact — or what at least has been handed down for truth by long tradition — and the romance of reality far exceeds the romance of fiction. Each story is told in the clear, unaffected style with which the author’s former works have made the public familiar ; while they afford evidence of the value, even to a work of amuse- ment, of that historical and genealogical learning that may be justly expected of the author of ‘ The Peerage and Baronetage,’ and ‘ The Landed Gentry,’ — each the best of its kind ever published. The aristocracy and gentry owe, indeed, a great debt to Mr. Burke as their family historian.” — Standard. “ There is no man living who is better versed than Mr. Burke in the domestic annals of the nobility of this country. In these volumes he has opened a source of interest which cannot fail to be most attractive. Some of the episodes in the career of various families described are of startling character, and tend to explain events of history, which hitherto have appeared inexplicable. Valuable as all Mr. Burke’s former literary labours have been, few will attract a more lively curiosity than ‘ Family Romance.’ ” — Messenger. “ The very reading for sea-side or fire-side in our hours of idleness.” — Athe- naeum. “ A work of most entertaining reading, not without points of public and historical interest.” — Literary Gazette. HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 13 , GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. NEW WORK BY THE AUTHOR OF SAM SLICK. Now ready at all the Libraries, in 2 vol$e, 21s., SAM SLICK’S WISE S AWS . AND MODERN INSTANCES; OR, WHAT HE SAID, DID, OR INVENTED. “ We do not fear to predict that these delightful volumes will be the most popular, as, beyond doubt, they are the best, of all J udge Haliburton’s admirable works. The ‘ Wise Saws and Modern Instances ’ evince powers of imagination and expression far beyond what even his former publications could lead any one to ascribe to the author. We have, it is true, long been familiar with his quaint humour and racy narrative, but the volumes before us take a loftier range, and are so rich in fun and good sense, that to offer an extract as a sample would be an injustice to author and reader. It is one of the pleasantest books we ever read, and we earnestly recommend it.” — Standard. “ Let Sam Slick go a mackerel fishing, or to court in Englaud — let him venture alone among a tribe of the sauciest single women that ever banded themselves together in electric chain to turn tables or to mystify man — our hero always manages to come off with flying colours — to beat every craftsman in the cunning of his own calling — to get at the heart of every maid’s and matron’s secret. The book before us will be read and laughed over. Its quaint and racy dialect will please some readers — its abundance of yarns will amuse others. There is something in these two volumes to suit readers of every humour.” — Athenaeum. “ The humour of Sam Slick is inexhaustible. He is ever and everywhere a welcome visitor ; smiles greet his approach, and wit and wisdom hang upon his tongue. In the present instance he appears in two new characters. From the President of the United States he receives his patent as commissioner of the fisheries on the shores of the British provinces, and his own inclination sets him at the same time in search of a wife, so that Miss Sophy Collingwood and the ‘gals’ divide his attention with the eccentricities of the skippers, the idleness of the blue-noses, and the wealth of their fisheries. The journal of his cruise is altogether a most edifying production, remarkable alike for its racy humour, its sound philosophy, the felicity of its illustrations, and the delicacy of its satire. Whether he is making love to Sophy, or chatting with the President about English men and manners, or telling ghost stories, or indulging in day-dreams, or quizzing Free-traders and Reformers, or sketching the characters of the Yankee skippers, or poaching in our fisheries, or enticing a British man-of-war on to a sand-bar, he is equally delightful ; charming us by the graphic vivacity and pic- turesque quaintness of his descriptions, and, above all, by his straightforward honesty and truth. We promise our readers a great treat from the perusal of these ‘ Wise Saws and Modern Instances,’ which contain a world of practical wisdom, and a treasury of richest fun.” — Morning Post. “ As a work embodying the cynicism of Rochefoucault, with the acuteness of Pascal and the experience of Theophrastus or La Bruyere, it may be said that, except Don Quixote, the present work has no rival.” — Observer. “ Full of broad humour, racy comicality, and sly sarcasm on all sorts of people and things.” — Globe. HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETT, SUCCESSORS TO MR. COLBURN, HAVE LATELY PUBLISHED /nil anting Jfnn -8? nr Its. MEMOIRS OF THE COURT AND CABINETS OF GEORGE THE THIRD, FROM ORIGINAL FAMILY DOCUMENTS. BY THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS, K.G., &c. Second Edition, Revised. 2 vols. 8vo., with Portraits. 30s. OPINIONS OP THE PRESS. “ These volumes contain much valuable matter. The letters which George, first Marquis of Buckingham, laid by as worthy of preservation, have some claim to see the light, for he held more than one office in the State, and consequently kept up a communication with a great number of historical personages. He himself was twice Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland ; first, under Lord Rockingham, and secondly, under Pitt ; his most constant correspondents were his two brothers, William and Thomas Grenville, both of whom spent the chief part of their lives in official employments, and of whom the former is sufficiently known to fame as Lord Grenville. The staple of the book is made up of these family documents, but there are also to be found interspersed with the Grenville narrative, letters from every man of note, dating from the death of the elder Pitt to the end of the century. There are three periods upon which they shed a good deal of light. The formation of the Coalition Ministry in 1783, the illness of the King in 1788, and the first war with Republican France. Lord Grenville’s letters to his brother afford a good deal of information on the machinations of the Prince’s party, and the conduct of the Prince and the Duke of York during the King’s illness .” — The Times. “ A very remarkable and valuable publication. The Duke of Buckingham has himself undertaken the task of forming a history from the papers of his grand- father and great-uncle, the Earl Temple (first Marquis of Buckingham), and Lord Grenville, of the days of the second Wm. Pitt. The letters which are given to the public in these volumes, extend over an interval commencing with 1782, and ending with 1800. In that interval events occurred which can never lose their interest as incidents in the history of England. The Coalition Ministry and its dismissal by the King — the resistance of the Sovereign and Pitt to the efforts of the discarded ministers to force themselves again into office — the great con- 2 HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. THE COURT AND CABINETS OF GEORGE III. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS CONTINUED. stitutional question of the Regency which arose upon the King’s disastrous malady — the contest upon that question between the heir apparent and the ministers of the Crown — the breaking out of the French Revolution, and the consequent entrance of England upon the great European war, — these, with the union with Ireland, are political movements every detail of which possesses the deepest interest. In these volumes, details, then guarded with the most anxious care from all eyes hut those of the privileged few, are now for the first time given to the public. The most secret history of many of the transactions is laid bare. It is not possible to conceive contemporary history more completely exemplified. From such materials it was not possible to form a work that would not possess the very highest interest. The Duke of Buckingham has, however, moulded his materials with no ordinary ability and skill. The connecting narrative is written both with judgment and vigour — not unfrequently in a style that comes up to the highest order of historical composition — especially in some of the sketches of personal character. There is scarcely a single individual of celebrity throughout the period from 1782 to 1800 who is not introduced into these pages ; amongst others, besides the King and the various members of the royal family, are Rock- ingham, Shelburne, North, Thurlow, Loughborough, Fox, Pitt, Sheridan, Burke, Portland, Sydney, Fitzwilliam, Tierney, Buckingham, Grenville, Grey, Malmes- bury, Wilberforce,Burdett, Fitzgibbon, Grattan, Flood, Cornwallis, the Beresfords, the Ponsonbys, the Wellesleys, &c .” — Morning Herald. “ These memoirs are among the most valuable materials for history that have recently been brought to light out of the archives of any of our great families. The period embraced by the letters is from the beginning of 1782 to the close of 1 799, comprising the last days of the North Administration, the brief life of the Rockingham, and the troubled life of the Shelburne Ministry, the stormy career of the Coalition of ’83, the not less stormy debates and intrigues which broke out on the first insanity of the King, the gradual modifications of Pitt’s first Ministry, and the opening days of the struggle with France after her first great revolution. Of these the most valuable illustrations concern the motives of Fox in withdrawing from Shelburne and joining with North against him, the desperate intriguing and deliberate bad faith of the King exerted against the Coalition, and the profligacy and heartlessness of the Prince of Wales and his brother all through the Regency debates. On some incidental subjects, also, as the affairs of Ireland, the Warren Hastings trial, the Fitzgerald outbreak, the Union, the sad vicissitudes and miseries of the last days of the old French monarchy, &c., the volumes supply illustrative facts and comments of much interest.” — Examiner. “ This valuable contribution to the treasures of historic lore, now for the first time produced from the archives of the Buckingham family displays the action of the different parties in the State, throws great light on the personal character of the King, as well as on the share which he took in the direction of public affairs, and incidentally reveals many facts hitherto but imperfectly known or altogether unknown. In order to render the contents of the letters more intelligible, the noble Editor has, with great tact and judgment, set them out in a kind of historical framework, in which the leading circumstances under which they were written are briefly indicated — the result being a happy combination of the completeness of historical narrative with the freshness of original thought and of contemporaneous record .” — John Bull. “ These volumes are a treasure for the politician, and a mine of wealth for the historian.” — Britannia. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 3 LORD GEORGE BENTINCK: A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY. BY THE BIGHT HON. B. DISRAELI, M.P. Fifth and Cheaper Edition, Revised. Post 8vo. 10s. 6d. From Blackwood’s Magazine. — “ This biography cannot fail to attract the deep attention of the public. We are bound to say, that as a political biography we have rarely, if ever, met with a book more dexterously handled, or more replete with interest. The history of the famous session of 1846, as written by Disraeli in that brilliant and pointed style of which he is so consummate a master, is deeply interesting. He has traced this memorable struggle with a vivacity and power unequalled as yet in any narrative of Parliamentary proceedings.” From The Dublin University Magazine. — “A political biography of Lord George Bentinck by Mr. Disraeli must needs be a work of interest and importance. Either the subject or the writer would be sufficient to invest it with both — the combination surrounds it with peculiar attractions. In this - most interesting volume Mr. Disraeli has produced a memoir of his friend in which he has combined the warmest enthusiasm of affectionate attachment with the calmness of the critic.” From The Morning Herald. — “ Mr. Disraeli’s tribute to the memory of his departed friend is as graceful and as touching as it is accurate and impartial. No one of Lord George Bentinck’s colleagues could have been selected, who, from his high literary attainments, his personal intimacy, and party associations, would have done such complete justice to the memory of a friend and Parlia- mentary associate. Mr. Disraeli has here presented us with the very type and embodiment of what history should be. His sketch of the condition of parties is seasoned with some of those piquant personal episodes of party manoeuvres and private intrigues, in the author’s happiest and most captivating vein, which convert the dry details of politics into a sparkling and agreeable narrative.” LORD PALMERSTON’S OPINIONS AND POLICY; AS MINISTER, DIPLOMATIST, AND STATESMAN, DURING MORE THAN FORTY YEARS OF PUBLIC LIFE. 1 v. 8vo., with Portrait, 12s. “ This work ought to have a place in every political library. It gives a com- plete view of the sentiments and opinions by which the policy of Lord Palmerston has been dictated as a diplomatist and statesman.” — Chronicle. “ This is a remarkable and seasonable publication ; but it is something more — it is a valuable addition to the historical treasures of our country during mote than forty of the most memorable years of our annals. We earnestly recommend the volume to general perusal.” — Standard. I , 4 HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. THE LIFE OF MA11IE HE MEDICIS, QUEEN OE FRANCE, CONSORT OF HENRY IV., AND REGENT UNDER LOUIS XIII. BY MISS PARDOE, Author of “Louis XI Y. and the Court of France, in the 17th Century,” &c. Second Edition. 3 large vols. 8vo., with Fine Portraits, 42s. “ A fascinating book. The history of such a woman as the beautiful, impulsive, earnest, and affectionate Marie de Medicis could only be done justice to by a female pen, impelled by all the sympathies of womanhood, but strengthened by an erudition by which it is not in every case accompanied. In Miss Pardoe the unfortunate Queen has found both these requisites, and the result has been a biography combining the attractiveness of romance with the reliableness of his- tory, and which, taking a place midway between the ‘frescoed galleries’ of Thierry, and the ‘philosophic watch-tower of Guizot,’ has all the pictorial brilliancy of the one, with much of the reflective speculation of the other .” — Daily News. “ A valuable, well-written, and elaborate biography, displaying an unusual amount of industry and research .” — Morning Chronicle. “ A careful and elaborate historical composition, rich in personal anecdote. Nowhere can a more intimate acquaintance be obtained with the principal events and leading personages of the first half of the 17th century .” — Morning Post. “ A work of high literary and historical merit. Rarely have the strange vicissitudes of romance been more intimately blended with the facts of real history than in the life of Marie de Medicis ; nor has the difficult problem of combining with the fidelity of biography the graphic power of dramatic delineation been often more successfully solved than by the talented author of the volumes before us. As a personal narrative, Miss Pardoe’s admirable biography possesses the most absorbing and constantly sustained interest ; as a historical record of the events of which it treats, its merit is of no ordinary description .” — John Bull. “ A life more dramatic than that of Marie de Medicis has seldom been written ; one more imperially tragic, never. The period of French history chosen by Miss Pardoe is rich in all manner of associations, and brings together the loftiest names and most interesting events of a stirring and dazzling epoch. She has been, moreover, exceedingly fortunate in her materials. A manuscript of the Com- mandeur de Rambure, Gentleman of the Bedchamber under the Kings Henry IV., Louis XIII., and Louis XIV., consisting of the memoirs of the writer, with all the most memorable events which took place during the reigns of those three Majesties, from the year 1594 to that of 1660, was placed at her disposal by M. de la Plane, Member of the Institut Royal de la France. This valuable record is very voluminous, and throws a flood of light on every transaction. Of this important document ample use has been judiciously made by Miss Pardoe ; and her narrative, accordingly, has a fulness and particularity possessed hv none other, and which adds to the dramatic interest of the subject. The work is very elegantly written, and will be read with delight. It forms another monument to the worthiness of female intellect in the age we live in .” — Illustrated News. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 5 MEMOIRS OE THE BARONESS D’OBERKIRCH, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE COURTS OE ERANCE, RUSSIA, AND GERMANY. WRITTEN BY HERSELF, And Edited by Her Grandson, the Count de Montbrison. 3 vols. Post 8vo. 31s. 6d. The Baroness d’Oberkirch, being the intimate friend of the Empress of Russia, wife of Paul I., and the confidential companion of the Duchess of Bourbon, her facilities for obtaining information respecting the most private affairs of the principal Courts of Europe, render her Memoirs unrivalled as a book of interest- ing anecdotes of the royal, noble, and other celebrated individuals who flourished on the continent during the latter part of the last century. Among the royal per- sonages introduced to the reader in this work, are Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, Philip Egalite, and all the Princes of France then living — Peter the Great, the Empress Catherine, the Emperor Paul, and his sons Constantine and Alexander, of Russia — Frederick the Great and Prince Henry of Prussia — The Emperor Joseph II. of Austria — Gustavus III. of Sweden — Princess Christina of Saxony — Sobieski, and Czartoriski of Poland — and the Princes of Brunswick and Wurtem- berg. Among the remarkable persons are the Princes and Princesses de Lamballe, de Ligne and Galitzin — the Dukes and Duchesses de Choiseul, de Mazarin, de Boufflers, de la Valliere, de Guiche, de Penthi&vre, and de Polignac — Cardinal de Rohan, Marshals Biron and d’Harcourt, Count de Staremberg, Baroness de Krudener, Madame GeofFrin, Talleyrand, Mirabeau, and Necker — with Count Cagliostro, Mesmer, Vestris, and Madame Mara; and the work also includes such literary celebrities as Voltaire, Condorcet, de la Harpe, de Beaumarchais, Rousseau, Lavater, Bernouilli, Raynal, de l’Epee, Huber, Gothe, Wieland, Male- sherbes, Marmontel, de Stael and de Genlis ; with some singular disclosures respecting those celebrated Englishwomen, Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, and Lady Craven, Margravine of Anspach. “ The Baroness d’Oberkirch, whose remarkable Memoirs are here given to the public, saw much of courts and courtiers, and her Memoirs are filled with a variety of anecdotes, not alone of lords and ladies, but of emperors and empresses, kings and queens, and reigning princes and princesses. As a picture of society anterior to the French Revolution, the hook is the latest and most perfect production of its kind extant ; and as such, besides its minor value as a book of amusement, it possesses a major value as a work of information, which, in the interest of historical truth, is, without exaggeration, almost incalculable.” — Observer. “ Thoroughly genuine and unaffected, these Memoirs display the whole mind of a woman who was well worth knowing, and relate a large part of her experience among people with whose names and characters the world will be at all times busy. A keen observer, and by position thrown in the high places of the world, the Baroness d’Oberkirch was the very woman to write Memoirs that would interest future generations. We commend these volumes most heartily to every reader. They are a perfect magazine of pleasant anecdotes and interesting characteristic things. We lay down these charming volumes with regret. They will entertain the most fastidious readers, and instruct the most informed.” — Examiner. “ An intensely interesting autobiography.” — Morning Chronicle. “ A valuable addition to the personal history of an important period. The volumes deserve general popularity.” — Daily News. “ One of the most interesting pieces of contemporary history, and one of the richest collections of remarkable anecdotes and valuable reminiscences ever produced.” — John Bull. 6 HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. THE LITERATURE AND ROMANCE OF NORTHERN EUROPE: CONSTITUTING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE LITERATURE OF SWEDEN, DENMARK, NORWAY, AND ICELAND, WITH COPIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE MOST CELEBRATED HISTORIES, ROMANCES, POPULAR LEGENDS AND TALES, OLD CHIVALROUS BALLADS, TRAGIC AND COMIC DRAMAS, NATIONAL SONGS, NOVELS, AND SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF THE PRESENT DAY. BY WILLIAM AND MARY HOWITT. 2 vols. 21s. “ English readers have long been indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Howitt. They have now increased our obligations by presenting us with this most charming and valuable work, by means of which the great majority of the reading public will he, for the first time, made acquainted with the rich stores of intellectual wealth long garnered in the literature and beautiful romance of Northern Europe. From the famous Edda, whose origin is lost in antiquity, down to the novels of Miss Bremer and Baroness Knorring, the prose and poetic writings of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland are here introduced to us in a manner at once singularly comprehensive and concise. It is no dry enumeration of names, but the very marrow and spirit of the various works displayed before us. We have old ballads and fairy tales, always fascinating ; we have scenes from plays, and selections from the poets, with most attractive biographies of great men. The songs and ballads are translated with exquisite poetic beauty.” — Sun. “ A hook full of information — and as such, a welcome addition to our literature. The translations — especially of some of the ballads and other poems — are exe- cuted with spirit and taste.” — Athenaeum. SCENES FROM SCRIPTURE. BY THE REV. G-. CROLY, LL.D. 10s. 6d. “ Eminent in every mode of literature, Dr. Croly stands, in our judgment, first among the living poets of Great Britain — the only man of our day entitled by his power to venture within the sacred circle of religious poets.” — Standard. “An admirable addition to the library of religious families .” — John Bull. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A MISSIONARY. BY THE REV. J. P. FLETCHER, Curate of South Hampstead. Author of “A Two Years’ Residence at Nineveh.” 2 vols. post 8 vo. 21s. “ A graphic sketch of missionary life.” — Examiner. “ We conscientiously recommend this book, as well for its amusing character as for the spirit it displays of earnest piety.” — Standard. “ This book will interest a large multitude of readers. There are abundant passages which will amuse, and studies of individual character which will be recognised as drawn from life.” — Globe. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 7 MILITARY LIFE IN ALGERIA. BY THE COUNT P. DE CASTELLANE. 2 vols. 21s. “ We commend this book as really worth perusal. The volumes make us familiarly acquainted with the nature of Algerian experience. Changarnier, Cavaignac, Canrobert, Lamoriciere, and St. Arnaud are brought prominently before the reader.” — Examiner. “ These volumes will be read with extraordinary interest. The vivid manner in which the author narrates his adventures, and the number of personal anecdotes that he tells, engage the reader’s attention in an extraordinary manner. The sketches which the Count gives of the French leaders convey to us a very accu- rate idea of some of the most remarkable military celebrities who have figured in the recent political events in France — Changarnier, Bugeaud, Lamoriciere, Cavaignac, Canrobert, Bosquet, among many others. It would be difficult to point out a chapter that has not its peculiar charms .” — Sunday Times. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ENGLISH SOLDIER IN THE UNITED STATES’ ARMY. 2 vols. 21s. “ The novelty characterising these interesting volumes is likely to secure them many readers. In the first place, an account of the internal organization, the manners and customs of the United States’ Federal Army, is in itself, a novelty, and a still greater novelty is to have this account rendered by a man who had served in the English before joining the American army, and who can give his report after having every opportunity of comparison. The author went through the Mexican campaign with General Scott, and his volumes contain much descrip- tive matter concerning battles, sieges, and marches on Mexican territory, besides their sketches of the normal chronic condition of a United States soldier in time of peace .” — Daily News. HISTORY OF THE BRITISH CONQUESTS IN INDIA. BY HORACE ST. JOHN. 2 vols. 21s. “A work of great and permanent historical value and interest.” — Post. “ The style is graphic and spirited. The facts are well related and artistically grouped. The narrative is always readable and interesting.” — Athenceum. HISTORY OF CORFU; AND OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS. BY LIEUT. H. J. W. JERVIS, Royal Artillery. 1 vol., with Illustrations, 10s. 6d. “ Written with great care and research, and including probably all the particulars of any moment in the history of Corfu.” — Athenceum. 8 HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. THE JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF GENERAL SIR HARRY CALVERT, G.C.B. and G.C.H., Lieut.-Governor of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, DURING THE WAR IN FLANDERS AND HOLLAND IN 1793-4; WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING HIS JOURNAL DURING THE CLOSE OF THE AMERICAN WAR. EDITED BY HIS SON, SIR HARRY VERNEY, BART. 2 vols. 8vo. {Just Ready.) COLONEL LANDMANN’S ADVENTURES AND RECOLLECTIONS. 2 vols. 21s. “Among the anecdotes in this work will be found notices of King George III., the Dukes of Kent, Cumberland, Cambridge, Clarence, and Richmond, the Princess Augusta, General Garth, Sir Harry Mildmay, Lord Charles Somerset, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Lord Heathfield, Captain Grose, &c. The volumes abound in inte- resting matter. The anecdotes are one and all amusing.” — Observer. “ These i Adventures and Recollections’ are those of a gentleman whose birth and profession gave him facilities of access to distinguished society; and the interest of the volumes will be found to consist in anecdotes and recollections relating to individual members of that society. Colonel Landmann writes so agreeably that we have little doubt that his volumes will be acceptable. They partake, to some extent, both of the good and bad qualities of Horace Walpole and of Wraxall.” — Athenaeum . ADVENTURES OF THE CONNAUGHT RANGERS. SECOND SERIES. BY WILLIAM GRATTAN, ESQ., LATE LIEUTENANT CONNAUGHT RANGERS. 2 VOls. 21s. “ A pleasant book, which will be read with avidity by all true soldiers, especially those of this chosen regiment. We feel sure that every regimental library will have its ‘ Connaught Rangers.’ ” — Daily News. “ A first series of the adventures of this famous regiment made so favourable an impression on the public, that the author has thought it advisable to enlarge his original work with this second series, in which he extends his narrative from the first formation of the gallant 88th up to the occupation of Paris by the English army. All the battles, sieges, and skirmishes, in which the regiment took part, are described either from the observation of the writer or the memoirs and memoranda of other officers. The volumes are interwoven with original anecdotes, and details of various occurrences that give a freshness and spirit to the whole. The stories and the sketches of society and manners, with the anecdotes of the celebrities of the time, are told in an agreeable and unaffected manner. In fact the work hears all the characteristics of a soldier’s straight- forward and entertaining narrative .” — Sunday Times. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 9 CLASSIC AND HISTORIC PORTRAITS. BY JAMES BRUCE. 2 vols. 21s. This work comprises Biographies of the following Classic and Historic Per- sonages : — Sappho, iEsop, Pythagoras, Aspasia, Milto, Agesilaus, Socrates, Plato, Alcibiades, Helen of Troy, Alexander the Great, Demetrius Poliorcetes, Scipio Africanus, Sylla, Cleopatra, Julius Czesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Germanicus, Caligula, Lollia Paulina, Csesonia, Boadicea, Agrippina, Poppsea, Otho, Corn- modus, Caracalla, Heliogabalus, Zenobia, Julian the Apostate, Eudocia, Theodora, Charlemagne, Abelard and Heloise, Elizabeth of Hungary, Dante, Robert Bruce, Ignez de Castro, Agnes Sorel, Jane Shore, Lucrezia Borgia, Anne Bullen, Diana of Poitiers, Catherine de Medicis, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, Cervantes, Sir Kenelm Digby, John Sobieski, Anne of Austria, Ninon de l’Enclos, Mile, de Montpensier, the Duchess of Orleans, Madame de Maintenon, Catharine of Russia, and Madame de Stael. “ A Book which has many merits, most of all, that of a fresh and unhacknied subject. The volumes are the result of a good deal of reading, and have besides an original spirit and flavour about them, which have pleased us much. Mr. Bruce is often eloquent, often humorous, and has a proper appreciation of the wit and sarcasm belonging in abundance to his theme. The variety and amount of information scattered through his volumes entitle them to be generally read, and to be received on all hands with merited favour.” — Examiner. “ We find in these piquant volumes the liberal outpourings of a ripe scholarship, the results of wide and various reading, given in a style and manner at once plea- sant, gossippy and picturesque.” — Athenceum. “ A series of biographical sketches, remarkable for their truth and fidelity. The work is one which will please the classical scholar and the student of history, while it also contains entertaining and instructive matter for the general reader.” — Literary Gazette. RULE AND MISRULE OF THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. BY THE AUTHOR OP “ SAM SLICK,” &c. 2 vols. 21s. “We conceive this work to be by far the most valuable and important Judge Haliburton has ever written. While teeming with interest, moral and historical, to the general reader, it equally constitutes a philosophical study for the politician and statesman. It will be found to let in a flood of light upon the actual origin, formation, and progress of the republic of the United States.” — N. and M. Gaz. “We believed the author of this work to possess a power of humour and sarcasm second only to that of Rabelais and Sidney Smith, and a genuine pathos worthy of Henry Fielding or Charles Dickens. In the volumes before us he breaks upon new, and untrodden ground. We hail this book with pleasure; we consider it an honour to Judge Haliburton. He places before us, fairly and impartially, the history of English rule in America. The book is not only a boon to the historic student, it is also filled with reflections such as may well engage the attention of the legislating statesman. Mr. Haliburton also shows us the true position of the Canadas, explains the evils of our colonial system, and points out the remedies by which these evils may be counteracted .” — Irish Quarterly Review. 10 HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. THE MARVELS 0E SCIENCE, AND THEIR TESTIMONY TO HOLY WRIT ; A POPULAR MANUAL OF THE SCIENCES. BY S. W. FTJLLOM, ESQ,. DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE KING OF HANOVER. Fifth Edition, with Numerous Illustrations. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d. “ This work treats of the whole origin of nature in an intelligent style ; it puts into the hands of every man the means of information on facts 4 the most sublime, and converts into interesting and eloquent description problems which once perplexed the whole genius of mankind. We congratulate the author on his research, his information, and his graceful and happy language.” — Britannia. “ The skill displayed in the treatment of the sciences is not the least marvel in the volume. The reasonings of the author are forcible, fluently expressed, and calculated to make a deep impression. Genuine service has been done to the cause of Revelation by the issue of such a book, which is more than a mere literary triumph. It is a good action.” — Globe. “ Its tone is grave, grand, and argumentative, and rises to the majesty of poetry. As a commentary upon the stupendous facts which exist in the universe, it is truly a work which merits our admiration, and we unhesitatingly refer our readers to its fascinating pages.” — Dispatch. “Without parading the elaborate nature of his personal investigations, the author has laid hold of the discoveries in every department of natural science in a manner to be apprehended by the meanest understanding, but which will at the same time command the attention of the scholar.” — Messenger. “ A grand tour of the sciences. Mr. Fullom starts from the Sun, runs round by the Planets, noticing Comets as he goes, and puts up for a rest at the Central Sun. He gets into the Milky Way, which brings him to the Fixed Stars and Nebulie. He munches the crust of the Earth, and looks over Fossil Animals and Plants. This is followed by a disquisition on the science of the Scriptures. He then comes back to the origin of the Earth, visits the Magnetic Poles, gets among Thunder and Lightning, makes the acquaintance of Magnetism and Elec- tricity, dips into Rivers, draws science from Springs, goes into Volcanoes, through which he is drawn into a knot of Earthquakes, comes to the surface with Gaseous Emanations, and sliding down a Landslip, renews his journey on a ray of Light, goes through a Prism, sees a Mirage, meets with the Flying Dutchman, observes an Optical Illusion, steps over the Rainbow, enjoys a dance with the Northern Aurora, takes a little Polarized Light, boils some Water, sets a Steam-Engine in motion, witnesses the expansion of Metals, looks at the Thermometer, and refreshes himself with Ice. Soon he is at Sea, examining the Tides, tumbling on the Waves, swimming, diving, and ascertaining the pressure of Fluids. We meet him next in the Air, running through all its properties. Having remarked on the propagation of Sounds, he pauses for a bit of Music, and goes off into the Vegetable Kingdom, then travels through the Animal Kingdom, and having visited the various races of the human family, winds up with a demonstration of the Anatomy of Man.” — Examiner. VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 11 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY ROUND THE WORLD COMPRISING A WINTER PASSAGE ACROSS THE ANDES TO CHILI, WITH A VISIT TO THE GOLD REGIONS OF CALIFORNIA AND AUSTRALIA, THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS, JAVA, &C. BY F. GERSTAECKER. 3 vols. post 8vo. 31s. 6d. “ Starting from Bremen for California, the author of this Narrative proceeded to Rio, and thence to Buenos Ayres, where he exchanged the wild seas for the yet wilder Pampas, and made his way on horseback to Valparaiso across the Cordilleras — a winter passage full of difficulty and danger. From Valparaiso he sailed to California, and visited San Francisco, Sacramento, and the mining districts generally. Thence he steered his course to the South Sea Islands, resting at Honolulu, Tahiti, and other gems of the sea in that quarter, and from thence to Sydney, marching through the Murray Valley, and inspecting the Adelaide district. From Australia he dashed onward to Java, riding through the interior, and taking a general survey of Batavia, with a glance at Japan and the Japanese. An active, intelligent, observant man, the notes he made of his adven- tures are full of variety and interest. His descriptions of places and persons are lively, and his remarks on natural productions and the phenomena of earth, sea, and sky are always sensible, and made with a view to practical results. Those portions of the Narrative which refer to California and Australia are replete with vivid sketches ; and indeed the whole work abounds with living and picturesque descriptions of men, manners, and localities.” — Globe. “ The author of this comprehensive narrative embarked at Bremen for Cali- fornia, and then took ship to the South Sea Islands, of which and of their inhabit- ants we have some pleasant sketches. From the South Sea Islands he sailed to Australia, where he effected a very daring and adventurous journey by himself through the Murray Valley to Adelaide. He then proceeded to Java, the interior of which he explored to a considerable distance. Before he departed for Europe, he remained some time at Batavia, and was so fortunate as to witness the arrival of the Japanese vessel bringing her annual cargo of goods from Japan. Inde- pendently of great variety — for these pages are never monotonous or dull — a pleasant freshness pervades Mr. Gerstaecker’s chequered narrative. It offers much to interest, and conveys much valuable information, set forth in a very lucid and graphic manner.”— Athenaeum. “ These travels consisted principally in a * winter passage across the Andes to Chili, with -a visit to the gold regions of California and Australia, the South Sea Islands, Java, &c.’ In the present state of things and position of affairs, no more desirable book can be imagined. It carries us at once to the centre of attractions — it conveys us to the land of promise to expectant thousands. We behold, face to face, the mighty regions where so many of our countrymen have gone, that it seems almost a second home. We are informed, in minute details of the life that is led there. There is no false glitter thrown over the accounts ; the author evidently strives to raise no false hopes, and excite no unreasonable expectations. The accounts given of California are particularly explicit. The description of Sydney during the excitement prevailing on the discovery of new mines is very interesting.” — Sun. 12 HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. AUSTRALIA AS IT IS: ITS SETTLEMENTS, FARMS, AND GOLD FIELDS. BY F. LANCELOTT, ESQ., MINERALOGICAL SURVEYOR IN THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. Second Edition, Revised. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s. “ This is an unadorned account of the actual condition in which these colonies are found by a professional surveyor and mineralogist, who goes over the ground with a careful glance and a remarkable aptitude for seizing on the practical por- tions of the subject. On the climate, the vegetation, and the agricultural resources of the country, he is copious in the extreme, and to the intending emigrant an invaluable instructor. As may be expected from a scientific hand, the subject of gold digging undergoes a thorough manipulation. Mr. Lancelott dwells with minuteness on the several indications, stratifications, varieties of soil, and methods of working, experience has pointed out, and offers a perfect manual of the new craft to the adventurous settler. Nor has he neglected to provide him with information as to the sea voyage and all its accessories, the commodities most in request at the antipodes, and a general view of social wants, family management, &c., such as a shrewd and observant counsellor, aided by old resident authorities, can afford. As a guide to the auriferous regions, as well as the pastoral solitudes of Australia, the work is unsurpassed.” — Globe. “ This is the best book on the new El Dorado ; the best, not only in respect to matter, style, and arrangement, in all of which merits it excels, but eminently the best because the latest, and the work of a man professionally conversant with those circumstances which are charming hundreds of thousands annually to the great Southern Continent. The last twenty years have been prolific of works upon Australia, but they are all now obsolete. Every one who takes an interest in Australia would do well to possess himself of Mr. Lancelott’s work, which tells everything of the social state, of the physiology, and the precious mineralogy of the gold country.” — Standard. “ A really valuable work on Australia. The Author holds a responsible situa- tion in the Australian Colonies, and is intimately connected with the gold regions. He offers advice to the middle classes of society, and shows them what they must expect, and what they must do when they come to the end of their voyage. The work deserves the largest circulation it can obtain.” — Messenger. “ A very clever, intelligent, and practical book, full of the kind of information now sought with avidity.” — Examiner. “ We advise all about to emigrate to take this book as a counsellor and com- panion.” — Lloyd's Weekly Paper. “ The most instructive book on Australia that has fallen in our way.” — Leader. “ The Author has done the world good service. His chapters on the gold regions are among the most valuable pieces of information we are possessed of.” — Dispatch. “ A book containing a great deal of information as to the present condition of Australia. It will be useful alike to the historian, the politician, and the emigrant.” — Economist. VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 13 A TOUR OR INQUIRY THROUGH FRANCE AND ITALY. ILLUSTRATING THEIR PRESENT SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND RELIGIOUS CONDITION. BY EDMUND SPENCER ESQ., Author of “ Travels in European Turkey,” “ Circassia,” &c. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s. “ Mr. Spencer is favourably known to the public as the author of several works describing the land of the Osmanli, the Greek, the Albanian, and the Slavonian ; and in the two volumes before us he has given the results of a Tour of Inquiry through France and Italy, which, commencing at Boulogne, includes visits to Paris, to the important towns in the centre and south of France, to Leghorn, Rome, and Piedmont. As a careful observer of the actual condition of the people in both countries, the results of his inquiries cannot fail to be read with much interest and instruction. Mr. Spencer has made himself thoroughly conversant with the present social, political, and religious condition of the people of France and Italy, describing at one time that curious class the vagrants of Paris ; next the modern miracles by which the parti pretre in France are endeavouring to stimulate the superstitious feelings of the peasantry ; and then the hostility of the Papal Church to intellectual progress, the political condition of Turin, the insurrection at Rome, &c. — topics which at the present moment excite the deepest interest in this country. It must not be supposed that Mr. Spencer's work is made up of mere dry political or religious disquisitions, however valuable they may be in themselves. He describes all that he saw with a facile and graceful pen, and the tone of his narrative is altogether so animated and cheerful that we defy the reader who takes the work in his hand for mere amusement to put it down unsatisfied. We have now said enough to recommend Mr. Spencer’s valuable and interesting work, which we have no doubt will command an extended popularity.” — Morning Post. “ Mr. Spencer has travelled through France and Italy, with the eyes and feelings of a Protestant philosopher. His volumes contain much valuable matter, many judicious remarks, and a great deal of useful information.” — Morning Chronicle. “ France and Italy, in their social or rather tm-social condition, are depicted in these intelligent and interesting volumes with a vivid and striking truth. Tuscany, with its unfortunate position as regards one power, and oppressed by its goaded ruler on the other, the atrocities which take place by armed soldiery in the streets, and the still greater horrors enacted in prisons in the name of the law — Rome, which once more bares her dreadful dungeons, and the sanguine secrets of the unholy Inquisition, to the eyes of the world — these, with other glaring evils, exhibit a condition of things which move our indignation and our pity. To those who would acquaint themselves with the state of these latter historic countries in particular, we do not know any volumes that convey so much that is valuable on such important heads, so interestingly, as Mr. Spencer’s ‘ Tour of Inquiry.’ ” — Weekly Dispatch. “ The work contains a good deal of fresh and striking matter on the present condition and prospects of France and Italy.” — Spectator. “ These clever and comprehensive volumes contain much valuable information and much close reasoning.” — Britannia. 14 BURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. TRAVELS IN EUROPEAN TURKEY: THROUGH BOSNIA, SERVIA, BULGARIA, MACEDONIA, ROUMELIA, ALBANIA, AND EPIRUS ; WITH A VISIT TO GREECE AND THE IONIAN ISLES, AND A HOME- WARD TOUR THROUGH HUNGARY AND THE SCLAVONIAN PROVINCES OF AUSTRIA ON THE LOWER DANUBE. BY EDMUND SPENCER, ESQ,., Author of “ Travels in Circassia," &c. Second and Cheaper Edition, in 2 vols. 8vo. with Illustrations, and a valuable Map of European Turkey, from the most recent Charts in the possession of the Austrian and Turkish Governments, revised by the Author, 18s. “ These important volumes appear at an opportune moment, as they describe some of those countries to which public attention is now more particularly directed : Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Austria. The author has given us a most interesting picture of the Turkish Empire, its weaknesses, and the em- barrassments from which it is now suffering, its financial difficulties, the discon- tent of its Christian, and the turbulence of a great portion of its Mohammedan subjects. We are also introduced for the first time to the warlike mountaineers of Bosnia, Albania, Upper Moesia, and the almost inaccessible districts of the Pindus and the Balkan. The different nationalities of that Babel-like country, Turkey in Europe, inhabited by Sclavonians, Greeks, Albanians, Macedonians, the Romani and Osmanli — their various characteristics, religions, superstitions, together with their singular customs and manners, their ancient and contem- porary history are vividly described. The Ionian Islands, Greece, Hungary, and the Sclavonian Provinces of Austria on the Lower Danube, are all delineated in the author’s happiest manner. We cordially recommend Mr. Spencer’s valuable and interesting volumes to the attention of the reader.” — U. S. Magazine. “ This interesting work contains by far the most complete, the most en- lightened, and the most reliable amount of what has been hitherto almost the terra incognita of European Turkey, and supplies the reader with abundance of entertainment as well as instruction .” — John Bull. ARCTIC MISCELLANIES, A SOUVENIR OF THE LATE POLAR SEARCH. BY THE OFFICERS AND SEAMEN OF THE EXPEDITION. DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTY. Second Edition. 1 vol. with numerous Illustrations, 10s. 6d. From the “ Times.” — This volume is not the least interesting or instructive among the records of the late expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, com- manded by Captain Austin. The most valuable portions of the book are those which relate to the scientific and practical observations made in the course of the expedition, and the descriptions of scenery and incidents of arctic travel. From the variety of the materials, and the novelty of the scenes and incidents to which they refer, no less than the interest which attaches to all that relates to the probable safety of Sir John Franklin and his companions, the Arctic Miscellanies forms a very readable book, and one that redounds to the honour of the national character. VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 15 THE ANSYREEH AND ISMAELEEH: A VISIT TO THE SECRET SECTS OE NORTHERN SYRIA. BY THE REV. S. LYDE, M.A., Late Chaplain at Beyrout. 1 vol. 10s. 6d. TRAVELS IN INDIA AND KASHMIR. BY BARON SCHONBERG. 2 vols. 21s. “ This book is an interesting one in many points of view, as the production of an intelligent and observant mind, as the recorded experience of a sensible and reflective stranger, and as the unbiassed opinion of a man competent at once to come to a conclusion on English rule and its consequences in the East, and honest enough to express his thoughts on that subject without concealment. It will well repay perusal, as much for the freshness of its descriptions as from the strict integrity and philosophical liberality of its deductions and conclusions, and de- serves the most favourable consideration at the hands of the public.” — Observer. “ This account of a Journey through India and Kashmir will be read with considerable interest. Whatever came in his way worthy of record the author committed to writing, and the result is an entertaining and instructive miscellany of information on the country, its climate, its natural productions, its history and antiquities, and the character, the religion, and the social condition of its inhabi- tants. The remarks on these various topics possess additional interest as the author views India and our rule over that country with the eye of an impartial observer .” — John Bull. KHARTOUM AND THE NILES. BY GEORGE MELLY, ESQ. Second Edition. 2 v. post 8vo., with Map and Illustrations, 21s. “ Mr. Melly is of the same school of travel as the author of ‘ EothenJ His book altogether is very agreeable, comprising, besides the description of Khartoum, many intelligent illustrations of the relations now subsisting between the Govern- ments of the Sultan and the Pacha, and exceedingly graphic sketches of Cairo, the Pyramids, the Plain of Thebes, the Cataracts, &c.” — Examiner. ATLANTIC & TRANSATLANTIC SKETCHES. BY CAPTAIN MACKINNON, R.N. 2 vols. 21s. “ Captain Mackinnon’s sketches of America are of a striking character and permanent value. His volumes convey a just impression of the United States, a fair and candid view of their society and institutions, so well written and so entertaining that the effect of their perusal on the public here must be con- siderable. They are light, animated, and lively, full of racy sketches, pictures of life, anecdotes of society, visits to remarkable men and famous places, sporting episodes, &c., very original and interesting .” — Sunday Times. 16 HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. REVELATIONS OF SIBERIA. BY A BANISHED LADY. Second Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s. “ A thoroughly good hook. It cannot be read by too many people.” — Dickens's Household Words. “ The authoress of these volumes was a lady of quality, who, having incurred the displeasure of the Russian Government for a political offence, was exiled to Siberia. The place of her exile was Berezov, the most northern part of this northern penal settlement ; and in it she spent about two years, not unprofitably, as the reader will find by her interesting work, containing a lively and graphic picture of the country, the people, their manners and customs, &c. The book gives a most important and valuable insight into the economy of what has been hitherto the terra incognita of Russian despotism.” — Daily News. “ Since the publication of the famous romance the ‘ Exiles of Siberia,' of Madame Cottin, we have had no account of these desolate lands more attractive than the present work, from the pen of the Lady Eve Felinska, which, in its un- pretending style and truthful simplicity, will win its way to the reader’s heart, and compel him to sympathise with the fair sufferer. The series of hardships endured in traversing these frozen solitudes is affectingly told ; and once settled down at one of the most northern points of the convict territory, Berezov, six hundred miles beyond Tobolsk, the Author exhibits an observant eye for the natural phenomena of those latitudes, as well as the habits of the semi-barbarous aborigines. This portion of the book will be found by the naturalist as well as ethnologist full of valuable information.” — Globe. “ These ‘ Revelations’ give us a novel and interesting sketch of Siberian life — the habits, morals, manners, religious tenets, rites, and festivals of the inhabitants. The writer’s extraordinai^ powers of observation, and the graceful facility with which she describes everything worthy of remark, render her ‘ Revelations’ as attractive and fascinating as they are original and instructive.” — Britannia. EIGHT YEARS IN PALESTINE, SYRIA, AND ASIA MINOR. BY F. A. NEALE, ESQ., LATE ATTACHED TO THE CONSULAR SERVICE IN SYRIA. Second Edition, 2 vols., with Illustrations, 21s. “A very agreeable book. Mr. Neale is evidently quite familiar with the East, and writes in a lively, shrewd, and good-humoured manner. A great deal of information is to be found in his pages.” — Athenaeum. “ We have derived unmingled pleasure from the perusal of these interesting volumes. Very rarely have we found a narrative of Eastern travel so truthful and just. There is no guide-book we would so strongly recommend to the traveller about to enter on a Turkish or Syrian tour as this before us. The narrative is full of incident, and abounds in vivid pictures of Turkish and Levantine life, in- terspersed with well-told tales. The author commences his narrative at Gaza ; visits Askalon, Jaffa and Jerusalem, Caipha and Mount Carmel, Acre, Sidon and Tyre, Beyrout, Tripoli, Antioch, Aleppo, Alexandretta, Adana, and Cyprus. Of several of these famous localities we know no more compact and clearer account than that given in these volumes. We have to thank Mr. Neale for one of the best books of travels that we have met with for a very long time.” — Literary Gazette. VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 17 EIGHTEEN YEARS ON THE GOLD COAST OF AFRICA; INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NATIVE TRIBES, AND THEIR INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPEANS. BY BEODIE CRUICKSHANK, MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, CAPE COAST CASTLE. 2 VOls. 21s. “ This is one of the most interesting works that ever yet came into our hands. It possesses the charm of introducing us to habits and manners of the human family of which before we had no conception. Before reading Mr. Cruickshank’s volumes we were wholly unaware of the ignorance of all Europeans, as to the social state of the inhabitants of Western Africa. Mrs. Beecher Stowe’s work has, indeed, made us all familiar with the degree of intelligence and the disposi- tions of the transplanted African ; but it has been reserved to Mr. Cruickshank to exhibit the children of Ham in their original state, and to prove, as his work proves to demonstration, that, by the extension of a knowledge of the Gospel, and by that only, can the African be brought within the pale of civilization. We anxiously desire to direct public attention to a work so valuable. An incidental episode in the work is an affecting narrative of the death of the gifted Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L.E.L.), written a few months after her marriage with Governor Maclean. It relieves the memory of both husband and wife from all the vile scandals that have been too long permitted to defile their story.” — Standard. “ This work will be read with deep interest, and will give a fresh impulse to the exertions of philanthropy and religion .” — John Bull. LIFE IN SWEDEN, WITH EXCURSIONS IN NORWAY AND DENMARK. BY SELINA BUNBUBY. 2 vols. 21s. “ The author of this clever work never misses a lively sketch. Her descriptions of life in Sweden and Norway are all piquant, and most of them instructive, illustrating northern life in all its phases, from the palace to the cottage. The work is well calculated to excite in the English public a desire to visit scenes which have as yet been exposed to the view of few travellers .” — Daily News. “ Two delightful, well-informed volumes, by a lady of much acuteness, lively imagination, and shrewd observance. The whole work is full of delightful remembrances touched off with the skill of an accomplished artist in pen and ink, and it can be safely recommended to the reader, as the freshest, and most certainly the truthfullest publication upon the North that has of late years been given to the world.” — Observer. “ There is an inexpressible charm in Miss Bunbury’s narrative. Nothing escaped her watchful attention and her descriptions have a piquancy and liveliness which greatly enhance their interest.” — Britannia. 18 HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. NARRATIVE OF A FIVE YEARS’ RESIDENCE AT NEPAUL. BY CAPTAIN THOMAS SMITH, Late Assistant Political-Resident at Nepaul. 2 v. post 8vo. 21s. “No man could be better qualified to describe Nepaul than Captain Smith; and his concise, but clear and graphic account of its history, its natural produc- tions, its laws and customs, and the character of its warlike inhabitants, is very agreeable and instructive reading. A separate chapter, not the least entertaining in the book, is devoted to anecdotes of the Nepaulese mission, of whom, and of their visit to Europe, many remarkable stories are told.” — Post. CANADA AS IT WAS, IS, AND MAY BE By the late Lieutenant-Colonel Sir R. Bonnycastle. With an Account of Recent Transactions, BY SIB J. E. ALEXANDER, K.L.S., &c. 2 v. with Maps, &c. 21s. “ These volumes offer to the British public a clear and trustworthy statement of the affairs of Canada; a narrative of the late troubles, their causes and consequences ; an account of the policy pursued in the colony, and the effects of the immense public works in progress and completed ; with sketches of localities and scenery, amusing anecdotes of personal observation, and generally every information which may be of use to the traveller or settler, and the military, and political reader. The information rendered is to be thoroughly relied on as veracious, full, and conclusive.” — Messenger. SPAIN AS IT IS. BY G. A. HOSKINS, ESQ. 2 vols. 21s. “ To the tourist this work will prove invaluable. It is the most complete and interesting portraiture of Spain that has ever come under our notice .” — John Bull. FIVE YEARS IN THE WEST INDIES. BY CHABLES W. DAY, ESQ. 2 vols. 21s. “ It would be unjust to deny the vigour, brilliancy, and varied interest of this work, the abundant stores of anecdote and interest, and the copious detail of local habits and peculiarities in each island visited in succession.” — Globe. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE: A TREATISE ON SHIP-BUILDING, AND THE RIG OF CLIPPERS, WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR A NEW METHOD OF LAYING DOWN VESSELS. BY LOBD BOBERT MONTAGU, A.M. Second Edition, with 54 Diagrams. 6s. “ Lord Montagu’s work will be equally valuable to the ship-builder and the ship-owner — to the mariner and the commander of yachts.” — U. S. Magazine. HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 19 MEMOIRS OF JOHN ABERNETHY, tfR.S., WITH A VIEW OF HIS WRITINGS, LECTURES, AND CHARACTER. BY GEORGE MACILWAIN, F.R.C.S., Author of “ Medicine and Surgery One Inductive Science,” &c. 2 . post 8 vo., with Portrait. 21s. ( Just Ready.') FAMILY ROMANCE; OR, DOMESTIC ANNALS OF THE ARISTOCRACY. BY J. BERNARD BURKE, ESQ., Author of “The Peerage,” “Anecdotes of the Aristocracy,” &c. 2 vols. 21s. Among the many other interesting legends and romantic family histories com- prised in these volumes, will be found the following: — The wonderful narrative of Maria Stella, Lady Newborough, who claimed on such strong evidence to be a Princess of the House of Orleans, and disputed the identity of Louis Philippe — The story of the humble marriage of the beautiful Countess of Strathmore, and the fate of her only child — The Leaders of Fashion, from Gramont to D’Orsay — The rise of the celebrated Baron Ward, now Prime Minister at Parma — The curious claim to the Earldom of Crawford — The Strange Vicissitudes of our Great Families, replete with the most romantic details — The story of the Kirkpatricks of Close- burn (the ancestors of the French Empress), and the remarkable tradition associ- ated with them — The Legend of the Lambtons — The verification in our own time of the famous prediction as to the Earls of Mar — Lady Ogilvy’s escape — The Beresford and Wynyard ghost stories, correctly told — &c., &c. “ It were impossible to praise too highly as a work of amusement these two most interesting volumes, whether we should have regard to its excellent plan or its not less excellent execution. The volumes are just what ought to be found on every drawing-room table. Here you have nearly fifty captivating romances, with the pith of all their interest preserved in undiminished poignancy, and any one may be read in half an hour. It is not the least of their merits that the romances are founded on fact — or what, at least, has been handed down for truth by long tradition — and the romance of reality far exceeds the romance of fiction. Each story is told in the clear, unaffected style with which the author’s former works have made the public familiar, while they afford evidence of the value, even to a work of amusement, of that historical and genealogical learning that may justly he expected of the author of * The Peerage and Baronetage,’ and ‘ The Landed Gentry’ — each the best of its kind ever published. The aristocracy and gentry owe, indeed, a great debt to Mr. Burke as their family historian.” — Standard. “ The very reading for sea-side or fire-side in our hours of idleness.” — Athe- naeum. “ A work of most entertaining reading, not without points of public and historical interest.” — Literary Gazette. 20 HURST AND BLACKETT’S NEW PUBLICATIONS. SAM SLICK’S WISE SAWS AND MODERN INSTANCES; OE, WHAT HE SAID, DID, OR INVENTED. Second Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s. “ We do not fear to predict that these delightful volumes will be the most popular, as, beyond doubt, they are the best of all Judge Haliburton’s admirable works. The ‘ Wise Saws and Modern Instances' evince powers of imagination and expression far beyond what even his former publications could lead any one to ascribe to the author. We have, it is true, long been familiar with his quaint humour and racy narrative, but the volumes before us take a loftier range, and are so rich in fun and good sense, that to offer an extract as a sample would be an injustice to author and reader. It is one of the pleasantest books we ever read, and we earnestly recommend it.” — Standard. “ Let Sam Slick go a mackarel fishing, or to court in England — let him venture alone among a tribe of the sauciest single women that ever banded themselves together in electric chain to turn tables or to mystify man — our hero always manages to come off with flying colours — to beat every craftsman in the cunning of his own calling — to get at the heart of every maid’s and matron’s secret. The book before us will be read and laughed over. Its quaint and racy dialect will please some readers — its abundance of yarns will amuse others. There is something in the volumes to suit readers of every humour.” — Athenaeum. “ The humour of Sam Slick is inexhaustible. He is ever and everywhere a welcome visitor ; smiles greet his approach, and wit and wisdom hang upon his tongue. The present is altogether a most edifying production, remarkable alike for its racy humour, its sound philosophy, the felicity of its illustrations, and the delicacy of its satire. Whether he is making love to Sophy, or chatting with the President about English men and manners, or telling ghost stories, or indulging in day-dreams, or sketching the characters of Yankee skippers, or poaching in our fisheries, or enticing a British man-of-war on to a sand-bar, he is equally delightful ; charming us by the graphic vivacity and picturesque quaintness of his descriptions, and, above all, by his straightforward honesty and truth. We promise our readers a great treat from the perusal of these ‘ Wise Saws and Modern Instances,’ which contain a world of practical wisdom, and a treasury of the richest fun.” — Morning Post. “ As a work embodying the cynicism of Rochefoucault, with the acuteness of Pascal, and the experience of Theophrastus or La Bruyere, it may be said that, except Don Quixote, the present work has no rival.” — Observer. TRAITS OF AMERICAN HUMOUR. EDITED BY THE AUTHOR OP “ SAM SLICK.” 3 vols. 31s. 6d. “We have seldom met with a work more rich in fun or more generally delightful.” — Standard. “ No man has done more than the facetious Judge Haliburton, through the mouth of the inimitable ‘ Sam,’ to make the old parent country recognise and appreciate her queer transatlantic progeny. His present collection of comic stories and laughable traits is a budget of fun full of rich specimens of American humour.” — Globe. WORKS OF FICTION. 21 ELEC TEA, A STORY OF MODERN TIMES. BY THE AUTHOR OF “EOCKIN GHA M.” WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY LORD GERALD FITZGERALD. 3 VOls. “ Altogether, considering the powerful delineations of character and the admirably grouped and often splendidly dramatic scenes with which it abounds, and its high artistic finish, the romance of ‘ Electra,’ more than worthy of the author of ‘ Rockingham,’ will take a distinguished place among the novels of the season .” — John Bull. “ A tale of unusual interest. The author of ‘ Rockingham’ has developed his powers more fully in ‘ Electra’ than in any former effort of his genius. The volumes are embellished with illustrations by Lord Gerald Fitzgerald, in a sketchy and artistic manner, that add considerably to the elucidation of the story.” — Messenger. CHARLES AUCHESTER. DEDICATED TO THE RIGHT HON. B. DISRAELI. 3 VOls. “ Were it not for Music, we might in these days say, the Beautiful is dead.” — Disraeli s “ Lord George BentincJc.” THE YOUNG HEIRESS. BY MRS. TROLLOPE. 3 vols. “ In our opinion ‘ The Young Heiress’ is much the best of Mrs. Trollope’s novels. The characters are drawn with uncommon vigour.” — Standard. “ ‘ The Young Heiress’ cannot fail to be highly popular. The knowledge of the world which Mrs. Trollope possesses in so eminent a degree is strongly exhibited in the pages of this novel.” — Observer. “ A tale fuH of romance and interest, which will not fail to win for Mrs. Trol- lope’s distinguished talent an additional meed of popularity.” — John Bull. CASTLE AVON. By the Author of “ EMILIA WYNDHAM,” &c. 3 v. Castle Avon’ is, in our judgment, one of the most successful of the author’s works.” — Post. THE LON GWOODS OF THE GRANGE. By the Author of “ ADELAIDE LINDSAY.” 3 v. “ ‘ The Longwoods’ are a family group, in the story of whose life romance readers will find a charm and an interest similar to that which attends the annals of the ‘Vicar of Wakefield.’ Daily News. The DEAN’S DAUGHTER, OR, THE DAYS WE LIVE IN. BY MRS. GORE. 3 v. “ One of the best of Mrs. Gore’s stories. The volumes are strewed with smart and sparkling epigram .” — Morning Chronicle. LADY MARION. BY MRS. W. FOSTER. 3 v. “ This fascinating novel needs not the attraction of the name of the late Duke of Wellington’s niece upon the title-page to commend it to the novel readers of the fashionable world, nor will its popularity be confined to the circles in which its author- ship will impart to it additional interest. The work gives evidence of talent of no com- mon order .” — John Bull. 22 IIURST AND BLACKETT S NEW PUBLICATIONS. HARRY MUIR; A STORY OF SCOTTISH LIFE. BY THE AUTHOR OF “MARG-ARET MAITLAND.” Second Edition. 3 vols. post 8vo. “We prefer ‘Harry Muir* to most of the Scottish novels that have appeared since Galt’s domestic stories. This new tale, by the author of ‘ Margaret Maitland,’ is a real picture of the weakness of man’s nature and the depths of woman’s kind- ness. The narrative, to repeat our praise, is not one to be entered on or parted from without our regard for its writer being increased.” — Athenaeum. “ A picture of life, everywhere genuine in feeling, perfect in expression.” — Examiner. “This is incomparably the best of the author’s works. In it the brilliant promise afforded by ‘ Margaret Maitland’ has been fully realised, and now there can be no question that, for graphic pictures of Scottish life, the author is entitled to be ranked second to none among modern writers of fiction.” — Cale- donian Mercury. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. ADAM GEAEME OF MOSSGRAY. Second Edition. 3 vols. “ A story awakening genuine emotions of interest and delight by its admirable pictures of Scottish life and scenery.” — Post. CALEB FIELD. A TALE OF THE PURITANS. Cheaper Edition. 1 v. 6s. “This beautiful production is every way worthy of its author’s reputation in the very first rank of contemporary writers.” — Standard. DARIEN; OR, THE MERCHANT PRINCE. BY ELIOT WARBURTON. Second Edition. 3 vols. “ The scheme for the colonization of Darien by Scotchmen, and the opening of a communication between the East and West across the Isthmus of Panama, furnishes the foundation of this story, which is in all respects worthy of the high reputation which the author of the ‘ Crescent and the Cross’ had already made for himself. The early history of the Merchant Prince introduces the reader to the condition of Spain under the Inquisition ; the portraitures of Scottish life which occupy a prominent place in the narrative, are full of spirit ; the scenes in America exhibit the state of the natives of the new world at that period ; the daring deeds of the Buccaneers supply a most romantic element in the story ; and an additional interest is infused into it by the introduction of various celebrated characters of the period, such as Law, the French financier, and Paterson, the founder of the Bank of England. All these varied ingredi are treated with that brilliancy of style and powerful descriptive talent, by which the pen of Eliot Warburton was so eminently distinguished .” — John Bull. THE FIRST LIEUTENANT’S STORY. BY LADY CATHARINE LONG. 3 vols. “ As a tracing of the workings of human passion and principle, the book is full of exquisite beauty, delicacy, and tenderness .” — Daily News. WORKS OF FICTION. 23 UNCLE WALTER. BY MRS. TROLLOPE, 3 v. *“ Uncle Walter’ is an exceedingly enter- taining novel. It assures Mrs. Trollope more than ever in her position as one of the ablest fiction writers of the day.”— Morning Post. ADA GRESHAM. AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. BY MARY ANNE LUPTON. 3 v. “ Ada Gresham is entitled to a high place among modern works of fiction.” — Standard. BROOMHILL ; OR, THE COUNTY BEAUTIES. “ * Broomhill’ is a tale of life in polite society. The dialogue is easy — the interest is well sustained.” — Athenaeum. “ A refined intelligence, and an intimate knowledge of good society, are discernible in every chapter.” — Globe. THE KINNEARS. A SCOTTISH STORY. 3 v. “ We heartily commend this story to the attention of our readers for its power, sim- plicity, and truth. None can read its impres- sive record without interest, and few without improvement.”— Morning Post. MARY SEAHAM. BY MRS. GREY, Author of “ The Gambler’s Wife.” 3 v. “ Equal to any former novel by its author.” — Athenaeum. “ An admirable work — a powerfully con- ceived novel, founded on a plot of high moral and dramatic interest.” — John Bull. AMY PAUL. A TALE. 2 y. “There is a family likeness to ‘Eugene Aram’ in this powerfully- written romance. The moral is well worked out. The situa- tions are well imagined, and pourtrayed with highly dramatic effect.”— John Bull. JACOB BENDIXEN. BY MARY HOWITT. 3 v. “ This tale has the fascination and the value of a glimpse into a most strange world. We heartily commend the novel.” — Athenaeum. The LOST INHERITANCE. “ A charming tale of fashionable life and tender passions.” — Globe. ANNETTE. A Tale. BY W. F. DEACON. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Hon. Sir T. N. Talfourd, D.C.L. 3 v. “‘Annette’ is a stirring tale, and has enough in it of life and interest to keep it for some years to come in request. The prefatory memoir by Sir Thomas Talfourd would be at all times interesting, nor the less so for containing two long letters from Sir Walter Scott to Mr. Deacon, full of gentle far-thinking wisdom.” — Examiner. CONFESSIONS OF AN ETONIAN. BY C. ROWCROFT, ESQ. 3 v. “The life of an Etonian — his pranks, his follies, his loves, his fortunes, and misfor- tunes — is here amusingly drawn and happily coloured by an accomplished artist. The work is full of anecdote and lively painting of men and manners.” — Globe. HELEN TALBOT. BY MISS PENNEFATHER. 3 v. “ Miss Pennefather has in this work evinced much literary ability. The fashion- able circle in which the principal personage of the novel moves is drawn with a bold and graphic pencil.” — Globe. THE BELLE OF THE VILLAGE. By the Author of “ The Old English Gentleman.” 3 v. “ An admirable story. It may take its place by the side of ‘The Old English Gen- tleman .’” — John Bull. FANNY DENNISON. “ A novel of more than ordinary merit. An exciting story, crowded with romantic inci- dents .” — Morning Post. CECILE ; OR, THE PERVERT. By the Author of “ Rockingham.” 1 v. “ We cannot too highly recommend this remarkable work. It is earnest and elo- quent, charitable and kindly, and full of strong and genuine interest.” — Chronicle. The LADY and the PRIEST. BY MRS. MABERLY. 3 v. THE ARMY AND NAVY. Published on the 1st of every Month, Price 3s. 6d. COLBURN’S UNITED SERVICE MAGAZINE, AND NAVAL AND MILITARY JOURNAL. This popular periodical, which has now been established a quarter of a century, embraces subjects of such extensive variety and powerful interest as must render it scarcely less acceptable to readers in general than to the members of those professions for whose use it is more par- ticularly intended. Independently of a succession of Original Papers on innumerable interesting subjects. Personal Narratives, Historical Incidents, Correspondence, &c., each number comprises Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Officers of all branches of service. Reviews of New Publications, either immediately relating to the Army or Navy, or in- volving subjects of utility or interest to the members of either. Full Reports of Trials by Courts Martial, Distribution of the Army and Navy, General Orders, Circulars, Promotions, Appointments, Births, Marriages, Obituary, &c., with all the Naval and Military Intelligence of the Month. “ This is confessedly one of the ablest and most attractive periodicals of which the British press can boast, presenting a wide field of entertainment to the general as well as professional reader. The suggestions for the benefit of the two services are distinguished by vigour of sense, acute and practical observation, an ardent love of discipline, tempered by a high sense of justice, honour, and a tender regard for the welfare and comfort of our soldiers and seamen.” — Globe. “ At the head of those periodicals which furnish useful and valuable information to their peculiar classes of readers, as well as amusement to the general body of the public, must be placed the ‘ United Service Magazine, and Naval and Military Journal.’ It numbers among its contributors almost all those gallant spirits who have done no less honour to their country by their swords than by their pens, and abounds with the most interesting discussions on naval and military affairs, and stirring narratives of deeds of arms in all parts of the world. Every informa- tion of value and interest to both the Services is culled with the greatest diligence from every available source, and the correspondence of various distinguished officers which enrich its pages is a feature of great attraction. In short, the ‘ United Service Magazine’ can be recommended to every reader who possesses that attachment to his country which should make him look with the deepest interest on its naval and military resources.” — Sun. “ This truly national periodical is always full of the most valuable matter for professional men .” — Morning Herald. HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 13 , GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. INTERESTING WORKS PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN BY HIS SUCCESSORS, HURST AND BLACKETT, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. NEW EDITION OE THE LIVES OF THE QUEENS. Now complete , in Eight Octavo Volumes ( comprising from 600 to 700 pages ), price 4 1. 4s., elegantly hound , LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. BY AGNES STRICKLAND. A New, Revised, and Cheaper Edition, EMBELLISHED WITH PORTRAITS OE EVERY QUEEN. BEAUTIFULLY ENGRAVED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES. %* This Edition is also now in course of Monthly Issue, and any volume may he had separately, price 10s. 6d. each, to complete sets. In announcing the publication of the new, revised, and greatly augmented Edition of this important and interesting work, which has been considered unique in biographical literature, the publishers beg to direct attention to the following extract from the author’s preface : — “ A revised edition of the { Lives of the Queens of Eng- land,’ embodying the important collections which have been brought to light since the appearance of earlier impressions, is now offered to the world, embellished with Portraits of every Queen, from au- thentic and properly verified sources. The series, commencing | with the consort of William the Conqueror, occupies that most inte- j resting and important period of our national chronology, from the death j of the last monarch of the Anglo-Saxon line, Edward the Confessor, to i the demise of the last sovereign of the royal house of Stuart, Queen Anne, and comprises therein thirty queens who have worn the crown- matrimonial, and four the regal diadem of this realm. We have related the parentage of every queen, described her education, traced the in- fluence of family connexions and national habits on her conduct, both public and private, and given a concise outline of the domestic, as well 1 B INTERESTING WORKS 2 as the general history of her times, and its effects on her character, and we have done so with singleness of heart, unbiassed by selfish interests or narrow views. Such as they were in life we have endea- voured to portray them, both in good and ill, without regard to any other considerations than the development of the facts. Their sayings, their doings, their manners, their costume, will be found faithfully chronicled in this work, which also includes the most interesting of their letters. The hope that the ‘ Lives of the Queens of England ’ might be regarded as a national work, honourable to the female character, and generally useful to society, has encouraged us to the completion of the task.” OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. “ These volumes have the fascination of romance united to the integrity of history. The work is written by a lady of considerable learning, indefatigable industry, and careful judgment. All these qualifications for a biographer and an historian she has brought to bear upon the subject of her volumes, and from them has resulted a narrative interesting to all, and more particularly interesting to that portion of the community to whom the more refined researches of literature afford pleasure and instruction. The whole work should be read, and no doubt will be read, by all who. are anxious for information. It is a j lucid arrangement of facts, derived from authentic sources, exhibiting a combination of ' industry, learning, judgment, and impartiality, not often met with in biographers of | crowned heads.” — Times. 11 A remarkable and truly great historical work. In this series of biographies, in which j the severe truth of history takes almost the wildness of romance, it is the singular merit ! of Miss Strickland that her research has enabled her to throw new light on many doubtful 1 passages, to bring forth fresh facts, and to render every portion of our annals which she j has described an interesting and valuable study. She has given a most valuable contribu- ! tion to the history of England, and we have no hesitation in affirming that no one can be said to possess an accurate knowledge of the history of the country who has not studied this truly national work, which, in this new edition, has received all the aids that further research on the part of the author, and of embellishment on the part of the publishers, could tend to make it still more valuable, and still more attractive, than it had been in its ori- ginal form .” — Morning Herald. “ A most valuable and entertaining work. There is certainly no lady of our day who has devoted her pen to so beneficial a purpose as Miss Strickland. Nor is there any other whose works possess a deeper or more enduring interest. Miss Strickland is to our mind the first literary lady of the age .” — Morning Chronicle. “ We must pronounce Miss Strickland beyond all comparison the most entertaining historian in the English language. She is certainly a woman of powerful and active mind, as well as of scrupulous justice and honesty of purpose .” — Morning Post. “ Miss Strickland has made a very judicious use of many authentic MS. authorities not previously collected, and the result is a most interesting addition to our biographical library .” — Quarterly Review. “ A valuable contribution to historical knowledge. It contains a mass of every kind of historical matter of interest, which industry and research could collect. We have derived much entertainment and instruction from the work .” — A ihenatum. I PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN. BURKE’S PEERAGE AND BARONETAGE for 1853. A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED THROUGHOUT FROM THE PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF THE NOBILITY, &e. With the ARMS (1500 in number) accurately engraved, and incorporated with the Text. In 1 vol. (comprising as much matter as twenty ordinary volumes), 38s. bound. The following is a List of the Principal Contents of this Standard Work I. A full and interesting history of each order of the English Nobility, showing its origin, rise, titles, immunities, privileges, &c. II. A complete Memoir of the Queen and Royal Family, forming a brief genealogical History of the Sovereign of this country, and deducing the descent of the Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, and Guelphs, through their various ramifications. To this section is appended a list of those Peers who inherit the distinguished honour of Quartering the Royal Arms of Plantagenet. III. An Authentic table of Precedence. IV. A perfect History of All the Peers and Baronets, with the fullest details of their ancestors and descendants, and particulars respecting every collateral member of each family, and all intermar- riages, &c. V. The Spiritual Lords. VI. Foreign Noblemen, subjects by birth of the British Crown. VII. Peerages claimed. VIII. Surnames of Peers and Peeresses, with Heirs Apparent and Presumptive. IX. Courtesy titles of Eldest Sons. X. Peerages of the Three Kingdoms in order of Precedence. XL Baronets in order of Precedence. XII. Privy Councillors of England and Ireland. XIII. Daughters of Peers married to Commoners. XIV. All the Orders of Knight- hood, with every Knight and all the Knights Bachelors. XV. Mottoes translated, with poetical illustrations. “ The most complete, the most convenient, and the cheapest work of the kind ever given to the public.” — Sun. “ The best genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage, and the first authority on all questions affecting the aristocracy.” — Globe. il For the amazing quantity of personal and family history, admirable arrangement of details, and accuracy of information, this genealogical and heraldic dictionary is without a rival. It is now the standard and acknowledged book of reference upon all questions touching pedigree, and direct or collateral affinity with the titled aristocracy. The lineage of each distinguished house is deduced through all the various ramifications. Every collateral branch, however remotely connected, is introduced; and the alliances are so carefully inserted, as to show, in all instances, the connexion which so intimately exists between the titled and untitled aristocracy. We have also much most entertaining historical matter, and many very curious and interesting family traditions. The work is, in fact, a complete cyclopaedia of the whole titled classes of the empire, supplying all the information that can possibly be desired on the subject .” — Morning Post. “ The ‘ Peerage’ and the ‘ Landed Gentry’ of Mr. Burke are two works of public utility — constantly referred to by all classes of society, and rarely opened without being found to supply the information sought. They are accessions of value to our books of reference, and few who write or talk much about English Peers and English Landed Gentry, can well be looked on as safe authorities without a knowledge of the contents of Mr. Burke’s careful compilations .” — A thenceum. — 4 INTERESTING WORKS BURKE’S HISTORY OF THE LANDED GENTRY for 1853 . a drencalogtcal ©tctionarp OF THE WHOLE OF THE UNTITLED ARISTOCRACY OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND : Comprising Particulars of 100,000 Individuals connected with them. In 2 volumes, royal 8vo, including the Supplement, beautifully printed in double columns, comprising more matter than 30 ordinary volumes, price only 21. 2s., elegantly bound, WITH A SEPARATE VOLUME OF INDEX, GRATIS. CONTAINING REFERENCES TO THE NAMES OF EVERY PERSON MENTIONED. The Landed Gentry of England are so closely connected with the stirring records of its eventful history, that some acquaintance with them is a matter of necessity with the legis- lator, the lawyer, the historical student, the speculator in politics, and the curious in topo- graphical and antiquarian lore ; and even the very spirit of ordinary curiosity will prompt to a desire to trace the origin and progress of those families whose influence pervades the towns and villages of our land. This work furnishes such a mass of authentic information in regard to all the principal families in the kingdom as has never before been attempted to be brought together. It relates to the untitled families of rank, as the “ Peerage and Baronetage ” does to the titled, and forms, in fact, a peerage of the untitled aristocracy. It embraces the whole of the landed interest, and is indispensable to the library of every gentleman. The great cost attending the production of this National Work, the first of its kind, induces the publisher to hope that the heads of all families recorded in its pages will supply themselves with copies. “ A work of this kind is of a national value. Its utility is not merely temporary, but it will exist and be acknowledged as long as the families whose names and genealogies are recorded in it continue to form an integral portion of the English constitution As a cor- rect record of descent, no family should be without it. The untitled aristocracy have in this great work as perfect a dictionary of their genealogical history, family connexions, and heraldic rights, as the peerage and baronetage. It will be an enduring and trustworthy record .” — Morning Post. “ A work in which every gentleman will find a domestic interest, as it contains the fullest account of every known family in the United Kingdom. It is a dictionary of all names, families, and their origin, — of every man’s neighbour and friend, if not of his own relatives and immediate connexions. It cannot fail to be of the greatest utility to profes- sional men in their researches respecting the members of different families, heirs to pro- perty, &c. Indeed, it will become as necessary as. a Directory in every office.” — Bell's Messenger. PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN. 5 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN EVELYN, F.R.S., Author of “ Sylva,” &c. A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED, WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONAL LETTERS NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. UNIFORM WITH THE NEW EDITION OF PEPYS’ DIARY. In 4 vols., post 8vo, price 10s. 6d. each. N.B. — Vols. III. and IV., containing “ The Correspondence,” may be had separately, to complete sets. The Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn has long been regarded as an invaluable record of opinions and events, as well as the most interesting expo- sition we possess of the manners, taste, learning, and religion of this country, during the latter half of the seventeenth century. The Diary comprises obser- vations on the politics, literature, and science of his age, during his travels in j France and Italy ; his residence in England towards the latter part of the j j Protectorate, and his connexion with the Courts of Charles II and the two J ' subsequent reigns, interspersed with a vast number of original anecdotes of the 1 most celebrated persons of that period. To the Diary is subjoined the Cor- ! j respondence of Evelyn with many of his distinguished contemporaries; also . J Original Letters from Sir Edward Nicholas, private secretary to King Charles I., I I during some important periods of that reign, with the King’s answers ; and j j numerous letters from Sir Edward Hyde (Lord Clarendon) to Sir Edward j J Nicholas, and to Sir Richard Brown, Ambassador to France, during the exile | of the British Court. A New Edition of this interesting work having been long demanded, the ! greatest pains have been taken to render it as complete as possible, by a careful ! re-examination of the original Manuscript, and by illustrating it with such annotations as will make the reader more conversant with the numerous sub- I jects referred to by the Diarist. “It has been justly observed that as long as Virtue and Science hold their abode in this island, the memory of Evelyn will be held in the utmost venera- tion. Indeed, no change of fashion, no alteration of taste, no revolution of science, have impaired, or can impair, his celebrity. The youth who looks forward to an inheritance which he is under no temptation to increase, will do well to bear the example of Evelyn in his mind, as containing nothing but what is imitable, and nothing but what is good. All persons, indeed, may find in his character something for imitation, but for an English gentleman he is the perfect model.” — Quarterly Review. INTERESTING WORKS LIVES OF THE PRINCESSES OF ENGLAND. By MRS. EVERETT GREEN, EDITOR OF THE “ LETTERS OF ROYAL AND ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES. 4 vols., post 8vo, with Illustrations, 10s. 6d. each, bound. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. “ A most agreeable book. The authoress, already favourably known to the learned world by her excellent collection of ‘Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies,” has j executed her task with great skill and fidelity. Every page displays careful research and accuracy. There is a graceful combination of sound, historical erudition, with an air of romance and adventure that is highly pleasing, and renders the work at once an agreeable | companion of the boudoir, and a valuable addition to the historical library. Mrs. Green i has entered upon an untrodden path, and gives to her biographies an air of freshness and j novelty very alluring. The first two volumes (including the Lives of twenty -five Princesses) carry us from the daughters of the Conqueror to the family of Edward I. — a highly inte- resting period, replete with curious illustrations of the genius and manners of the Middle Ages. Such works, from the truthfulness of their spirit, furnish a more lively picture of the times than even the graphic, though delusive, pencil of Scott and James.” — Britannia. “ The vast utility of the task undertaken by the gifted author of this interesting book can only be equalled by the skill, ingenuity, and research displayed in its accomplishment. The field Mrs. Green has selected is an untrodden one. Mrs. Green, on giving to the world a work which will enable us to arrive at a correct idea of the private histories and personal characters of the royal ladies of England, has done sufficient to entitle her to the respect and gratitude of the country. The labour of her task was exceedingly great, involving researches, not only into Englisn records and chronicles, but into those of almost every civilised country in Europe. The style of Mrs. Green is admirable. She has a fine per- ception of character and manners, a penetrating spirit of observation, and singular exactness of judgment. The memoirs are richly fraught with the spirit of romantic adventure.” — Morning Post. “This work is a worthy companion to Miss Strickland’s admirable ‘Queens of England.’ In one respect the subject-matter of these volumes is more interesting, because it is more diversified than that of the * Queens of England.’ That celebrated work, although its heroines were, for the most part, foreign Princesses, related almost entirely to the his- tory of this country. The Princesses of England, on the contrary, are themselves English, but their lives are nearly all connected with foreign nations. Their biographies, conse- quently, afford us a glimpse of the manners and customs of the chief European kingdoms, a circumstance which not only gives to the work the charm of variety, but which is likely to render it peculiarly useful to the general reader, as it links together by association the contemporaneous history of various nations. The histories are related with an earnest simplicity and copious explicitness. The reader is informed without being wearied, and alternately enlivened by some spirited description, or touched by some pathetic or tender episode. We cordially commend Mrs. Everett Green’s production to general attention ; it is (necessarily) as useful as history, and fully as entertaining as romance.” — Sun. PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN. 7 THE LIFE AND REIGN OF CHARLES I. By I. DISRAELI. A NEW EDITION. REVISED BY THE AUTHOR, AND EDITED BY HIS SON, THE RT. HON. B. DISRAELI, M.P. 2 vols., 8vo, uniform with the “ Curiosities of Literature,” 28s. bound. “ By far the most important work on the important age of Cliarles I. that modern times have produced .” — Quarterly Review. MEMOIRS OF HORACE WALPOLE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES, INCLUDING NUMEROUS ORIGINAL LETTERS, FROM STRAWBERRY HILL. EDITED BY ELIOT WARBURTON. Cheaper Edition, in 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits, 16s. bound. Perhaps no name of modern times is productive of so many pleasant associations as that of “ Horace Walpole,” and certainly no name was ever more intimately connected with so many different subjects of importance in connexion with Literature, Art, Fashion, and Politics. The position of various members of his family connecting Horace Walpole with the Cabi- net, the Court, and the Legislature — his own intercourse with those cha- racters who became remarkable for brilliant social and intellectual quali- ties— and his reputation as a Wit, a Scholar, and a Virtuoso, cannot fail to render his Memoirs equally amusing and instructive. They nearly com- plete the chain of mixed personal, political, and literary history, commenc- ing with “ Evelyn” and “ Pepys,” and ending almost in our own day with the histories of Mr. Macaulay and Lord Mahon. “ These Memoirs form a necessary addition to the library of every English gentleman. Besides its historical value, which is very considerable, the work cannot be estimated too highly as a book of mere amusement.” — Standard. MADAME PULSZKI’S MEMOIRS. Comprising Full and Interesting Details of THE LATE EVENTS IN HUNGARY. With an Historical Introduction by FRANCIS PULSZKY, late Under- secretary of State to Ferdinand, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. 2 vols., post 8vo, 21s. bound. THE DIARIES AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THE EARLS OF CLARENDON AND ROCHESTER; Comprising important Particulars of the Revolution, &c. Published from the Original MSS. With Notes. 2 vols., with fine Portraits and Plates, bound, ll. 11s. 6d. INTERESTING WORKS 8 BURKE’S DICTIONARY OE THE EXTINCT, DORMANT, & ABEYANT PEERAGES OF ENCLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND. Beautifully printed, in 1 vol. 8vo, containing 800 double-column pages, 21s. bound. This work, formed on a plan precisely similar to that of Mr. Burke’s popular Dictionary of the present Peerage and Baronetage, comprises those peerages which have been sus- pended or extinguished since the Conquest, particularising the members of each family in each generation, and bringing the lineage, in all possible cases, through either collaterals or females, down to existing houses. It connects, in many instances, the new with the old nobility, and it will in all cases show the cause which has influenced the revival of an extinct dignity in a new creation. It should be particularly noticed, that this new work appertains nearly as much to extant as to extinct persons of distinction; for though dignities pass away, it rarely occurs that whole families do. CONTENTS. 1. Peerages of England extinct by failure of issue, attainder, &c., alphabetically, ac- cording to Surnames. 2. Baronies by Writ — England — in abey- ance, and still vested probably in exist- ing heirs. 3. Extinct and Abeyant Peerages of Eng- land, according to titles.. 4. Charters of Freedom — Magna Charta — Charter of Forests. 5. Roll of Battel Abbey. 6. Peerages of Ireland, extinct by failure of issue, attainder, &c., alphabetically, according to Surnames. 7. Baronies by Writ — Ireland — in abey- ance. 8. Peerages of Ireland, extinct and abey- ant, alphabetically, according to Titles. 9. Peerages of Scotland, extinct by failure of issue, attainder, &c., alphabetically, according to Surnames. 10. Extinct Peerages of Scotland, alpha- betically, according to Titles. I , ! [ MEMOIRS OF SCIPIO DE RICCI, LATE BISHOP OP PISTOIA AND PRATO; REFORMER OF CATHOLICISM IN TUSCANY. Cheaper Edition, 2 vols. 8vo, 12s. bound. The leading feature of this important work is its application to the great question now at issue between our Protestant and Catholic fellow-subjects. It contains a complete expose of the Romish Church Establishment during the eighteenth century, and of the abuses of the Jesuits throughout the greater part of Europe. Many particulars of the most thrilling kind are brought to light. MADAME CAMPAN’S MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, j Cheaper Edition, 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits, price only 12s. — The same in French, 7s. i “ We have seldom perused so entertaining a work. It is as a mirror of the most splen- I did Court in Europe, at a time when the monarchy had not been shorn of any of its beams, I that it is particularly worthy of attention.” — Chronicle. LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN LOCKE. By LORD KING. 2 vols. 16s. PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN. 9 HISTORIC SCENES. By AGNES STRICKLAND. : Author of “ Lives of the Queens of England,” &c. I vol., post 8vo, elegantly bound, with Portrait of the Author, 10s. 6d. “ This attractive volume is replete with interest. Like Miss Strickland’s former works, it will be found, we doubt not, in the hands of youthful branches of a family, as well as j in those of their parents, to all and each of whom it cannot fail to be alike amusing and i instructive.” — Britannia. MEMOIRS OF LADY JANE GREY. By SIR HARRIS NICOLAS. 1 vol., 8vo, bound, 6s. GODWIN’S HISTORY OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 4 vols., 28s. GENERAL PEPE’S NARRATIVE OF THE WAR, IN ITALY, FROM 1847 to 18S0 ; INCLUDING THE SIEGE OF VENICE. Now first published from the original Italian Manuscript. Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., post 8vo, 12s. bound. “We predict that posterity will accept General Pepe as the historian of the great Italian movement of the nineteenth century. His work is worthy of all commenda- tion.”— Standard. THE REV. R. MILMAN’S LIFE OF TASSO. Cheaper Edition, in 2 vols., post 8vo, 12s. bound. “Mr. Milman’s book has considerable merit. He has evidently, in his interesting biography of Tasso, undertaken a labour of love. His diligence has been great, his ma- terials are copious and well-arranged, and his sketches of the poet’s contemporaries form agreeable episodes in the narrative of Tasso’s works and woes .” — Edinburgh Review . MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF SIR ROBERT MURRAY KEITH, K.B., Minister Plenipotentiary at the Courts of Dresden, Copenhagen, and Vienna , from 1769 to 1793 ; with Biographical Memoirs of QUEEN CAROLINE MATILDA, SISTER OF GEORGE III. 2 vols., post 8vo, with Portraits, 21s. bound. “ A large portion of this important and highly interesting work consists of letters, that we venture to say will bear a comparison for sterling wit, lively humour, entertaining gossip, piquant personal anecdotes, and briUiant pictures of social Hfe, in its highest phases, both at home and abroad, with those of Horace Walpole himself .” — Court Journal. INTERESTING WORKS 10 CAPTAIN CRAWFORD’S NATAL REMINISCENCES; COMPRISING MEMOIRS OF ADMIRALS SIR E. OWEN, SIRB. HALLOWELL CAREW, AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED COMMANDERS. 2 vols., post 8vo, with Portraits, 12s. bound. “ A work which cannot fail of being popular in every portion of our sea-girt isle, and of being read with delight by all who feel interested in the right hand of our country — its Navy .” — Plymouth Herald. REYELATIONS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND. Second Edition, 1 volume, post 8vo, with Portrait, 10s. 6d. bound. “ We have perused this work with extreme interest. It is a portrait of Talleyrand drawn by his own hand .” — Morning Post. “ A more interesting work has not issued from the press for many years. It is in truth a complete Boswell sketch of the greatest diplomatist of the age .” — Sunday Times. HISTORY OF THE WAR IN GERMANY AND FRANCE IN 1813 & 1814. By Lieut. -Gen. the MARQUIS OF LONDONDERRY, G.C.B., &c. &c., 21s. Now ready, Volume XI., price 5s., of M. A. THIERS’ HISTORY OF FRANCE UNDER NAPOLEON. A SEQUEL TO HIS HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Having filled at different times the high offices of Minister of the. Interior, of Finance, of Foreign Affairs, and President of the Council, M. Thiers has enjoyed facilities beyond the reach of every other biographer of Napoleon for procuring, from exclusive and authentic sources, the choicest materials for his present work. As guardian to the archives of the state, he had access to diplomatic papers and other documents of the highest importance, hitherto known only to a privileged few, and the publication of which cannot fail to produce a great sensation. From private sources, M. Thiers, it appears, has also derived much valuable information. Many interesting memoirs, diaries, and letters, all hitherto unpublished, and most of them destined for political reasons to remain so, have been placed at his disposal; while all the leading characters of the. empire, who were alive when the author undertook the present history, have supplied him with a mass of incidents and anecdotes which have never before appeared in print, and the accuracy and value of which may be inferred from the fact of these parties having been themselves eye- witnesses of, or actors in, the great events of the period. *** The public are requested to be particular in giving their orders for “Colburn’s Authorised Translation.” N.B. Any of the volumes may, for the present, be had separately, at 5s. each ;. and sub- scribers are recommended to complete their sets as soon as possible, to prevent disappoint- ment. PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN. 1 1 THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON’S CAMPAIGN IN THE NETHERLANDS IN 1815. Comprising the Battles of Ligny, Quatre Bras, and Waterloo. Illustrated by Official Documents. By WILLIAM MUDFORD, Esq. 1 vol., 4to, with Thirty Coloured Plates, Portraits, Maps, Plans, &c., bound, 21s. MEM0IE.ES DE NAPOLEON BUONAPAETE. Par M. DE BOURRIENNE. 5 vols., 8vo, with 17 Plates, 1Z. 5s. REVELATIONS OF RUSSIA. By IVAN GOLOVINE. 2 vols., 12s. LIFE AND LETTERS OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 3 vols., small 8vo, 15s. The same in French, 3 vols., 10s. 6d. LOUIS NAPOLEON’S IDEES NAPOLEONIENNES. Price 5s. MEMOIEES DE LA REINE HORTENSE. Suivies de 12 Romances, mises en Musique, avec Portrait et 12 Gravures, 6s. MEMOIRS OF MADEMOISELLE DE MONTPENSIER. Written by HERSELF. 3 vols., post 8vo, with Portrait. “ One of the most delightful and deeply-interesting works we have read for a long time .” — Weekly Chronicle. LADY BLESSINGTON’S JOURNAL OF HER CONVERSATIONS WITH LORD BYRON. Cheaper Edition, in 8vo, embellished with Portraits of Lady Blessington and Lord Byron, price 7s. bound. “ The best thing that has been written on Lord Byron.” — Spectator. “ Universally acknowledged to be delightful.” — Athenaeum. MEMOIRS OF EDWARD COSTELLO, OF THE RIFLE BRIGADE. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. Comprising Narratives of the Campaigns in the Peninsula under the Duke of Wellington, and the Civil War in Spain. New and Cheaper Edition, with Portrait of the Author, 3s. 6d. bound. 12 INTERESTING WORKS ANECDOTES OF THE ARISTOCRACY, AND EPISODES IN ANCESTRAL STORY. By J. BERNARD BURKE, Esq., Author of “The History of the Landed Gentry,” “The Peerage and Baronetage,” &c. Second and Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., post 8vo, 21s. bound. “ Mr. Burke has here given us the most curious incidents, the most stirring tales, and the most remarkable circumstances connected with the histories, public and private, o f our noble houses and aristocratic families, and has put them into a shape which will preserve them in the library, and render them the favourite study of those who are interested in the romance of real life. These stories, with all the reality of established fact, read with as much spirit as the tales of Boccacio, and are as full of strange matter for reflection and amazement.” — Britannia. “We cannot estimate too highly the interest of Mr. Burke’s entertaining and instructive work. For the curious nature of the details, the extraordinary anecdotes related, the strange scenes described, it would be difficult to find a parallel for it. It will be read by every one .” — Sunday Times. ROMANTIC RECORDS OF DISTINGUISHED FAMILIES. BEING THE SECOND SERIES OF “ANECDOTES OF THE ARISTOCRACY.” By J. B. BURKE, Esq. 2 vols., post 8vo, 21s. bound. “ From the copious materials afforded by the history of the English Aristocracy, Mr. Burke has made another and a most happy selection, adding a second wing to his interest- ing picture-gallery. Some of the most striking incidents on record in the annals of high and noble families are here presented to view .” — John Bull. SECRET MEMOIRS OF THE IRISH UNION. By SIR JONAH BARRINGTON. New and Cheaper Edition. 1 vol., 8vo, with 28 Portraits, bound, 10s. 6d. PERSONAL SKETCHES OF HIS OWN TIMES. By SIR JONAH BARRINGTON. New Edition, with considerable Additions. 3 vols. 8vo, 1 1. Is. WORKS OF LADY MORGAN. 1. WOMAN AND HER MASTER. A History of the Female Sex from the earliest Period. 2 vols., 12s. 2. THE BOOK OF THE BOUDOIR. 2 vols., 10s. 3. LIFE AND TIMES OF SALVATOR ROSA. 2 vols., 12s. 4. THE O’BRIENS AND THE O’FLAHERTYS. 4 vols., 14s. PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN. 13 JAPAN AND THE JAPANESE, Comprising the Narrative of A THREE YEARS’ CAPTIVITY IN JAPAN ; With an Account of British Commercial Intercourse with that Country. By CAPTAIN GOLOWNIN. New and Cheaper Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo, 10s. bound. “ No European has been able, from personal observation and experience, to communicate a tenth part of the intelligence furnished by this writer .” — British Review. NARRATIVE OF THE TEN YEARS’ VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY ROUND THE WORLD Of H.M.S. “ ADVENTURE” and “ BEAGLE,” under the command of Captains KING and FITZROY. Cheaper Edition. 2 large vols., 8vo, with Maps, Charts, and upwards of Sixty Illustra- tions, by Landseer, and other eminent Artists, bound, ll. 11s. 6d. ADVENTURES IN GEORGIA, CIRCASSIA, & RUSSIA- By Lieutenant-Colonel G. POULETT CAMERON, C.B., K.T.S., &c. 2 vols., post 8vo, bound, 12s. NARRATIVE OF A TWO YEARS' RESIDENCE AT NINEVEH; AND TRAVELS IN MESOPOTAMIA, ASSYRIA, AND SYRIA, With Remarks on the Chaldeans, Nestorians, Yezidees, &c. By the Rev. J. P. FLETCHER. Two vols., post 8vo, 21s. bound. TRAVELS IN ALGERIA. By VISCOUNT FEILDING and CAPTAIN KENNEDY. 2 vols., post 8vo,with Illustrations, bound, 12s. NARRATIVE OF A VISIT TO THE COURTS OF VIENNA, CONSTANTINOPLE, ATHENS, NAPLES, &c. &c. By the MARCHIONESS OF LONDONDERRY. 8vo, with Portrait, bound, 10s. 6d. PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF TRAVELS IN BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA, MEDIA, AND SCYTHIA. By the Hon. COLONEL KEPPEL (now Lord Albemarle). Third Edition, 2 vols., post 8vo, with Portrait and Plates, 12s. INTERESTING WORKS 14 LORD LINDSAY’S LETTERS ON THE HOLY LAND. Fourth Edition, Revised and Corrected, 1 vol., post 8vo, 6s. bound. “ Lord Lindsay has felt and recorded what he saw with the wisdom of a philosopher, and the faith of an enlightened Christian .” — Quarterly Review. THE SPIRIT OF THE EAST. By D. URQUHART, Esq., M.P. 2 vols., 16s. SIR HENRY WARD’S ACCOUNT OF MEXICO, THE MINING COMPANIES, &c. 2 vols., with Plates and Maps, 21s. THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS; OR, ROMANCE AND REALITIES OF EASTERN TRAVEL. By ELIOT WARBURTON, Esq. Ninth and Cheaper Edition, 1 vol., with numerous IUustrations, 10s. 6d. bound. HOCHELAGA; or, ENGLAND IN THE NEW WORLD. Edited by ELIOT WARBURTON, Esq., Author of “ The Crescent and the Cross.” Fourth and Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., post 8vo, with Illustrations, 10s. 6d. bound. “We recommend ‘ Hochelaga ’ most heartily, in case any of our readers may as yet be unacquainted with it .” — Quarterly Review. COLONEL NAPIER’S WILD SPORTS IN EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA. 2 vols., with Plates, bound, 21s. COLONEL NAPIER’S SCENES AND SPORTS IN FOREIGN LANDS. 2 vols., with Nineteen Illustrations from original drawings, bound, 21s. COLONEL NAPIER’S EXCURSIONS ALONG THE SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. 2 vols., with IUustrations, bound, 12s. PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN. 15 LIGHTS AND SHADES OF MILITARY LIFE. Edited by Lieut.-Gen. Sir CHARLES NAPIER, G.C.B., Commander-in- Chief in India, &c. 1 vol., 8vo, 10s. 6d. bound. “ A narrative of stirring interest, which should be in the hands of every officer in her Majesty’s service.” — Globe. SIR JAMES ALEXANDER’S ACADIE ; OR, SEVEN YEARS’ EXPLORATION IN CANADA, &c. 2 vols., post 8vo, with numerous Illustrations, 12s. bound. “ Replete with valuable information on Canada for the English settler, the English soldier, and the English Government ; with various charms of adventure and description for the desultory reader.” — Morning Chronicle. “ No other writer on Canada can compare with the gallant author of the present volumes in the variety and interest of his narrative.” — John Bull. HISTORY OF THE PENINSULAR WAR. A COMPANION VOLUME TO MR. GLEIG’S “ STORY OF THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.” With six Portraits and Map, 5s. bound. “ Every page of this work is fraught with undying interest. We needed such a book as this ; one that could give to the rising generation of soldiers a clear notion of the events which led to the expulsion of the French from the Peninsula.” — United Service Gazette. THE NEMESIS IN CHINA; COMPRISING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE WAR IN THAT COUNTRY; From Notes of Captain W. H. HALL, R.N. 1 vol., Plates, 6s. bound. “ Capt. Hall’s narrative of the services of the Nemesis is fuH of interest, and wiU, we are sure, be valuable hereafter, as affording most curious materials for the history of steam navigation.” — Quarterly Review. “ A work which will take its place beside that of Captain Cook.” — Weekly Chronicle. LEAVES FROM A LADY’S DIARY OF HER TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 2 vols., 10s. MR. ROSS’S YACHT VOYAGE TO DENMARK, NORWAY, AND SWEDEN, IN LORD RODNEY’S CUTTER, “THE IRIS.” Second Edition, 6 s. 16 INTERESTING WORKS. POETICAL WORKS OF BARRY CORNWALL Cheap Edition, 6s. bound. ZOOLOGICAL RECREATIONS. By W. J. BRODERIP, Esq., F.R.S. Cheaper Edition, 1 vol., post 8vo, 6s. bound. “ We believe we do not exaggerate in saying that, since the publication of White’s ! 4 Natural History of Selbome,’ and of the ‘ Introduction to Entomology,’ by Kirby and Spence, no work in our language is better calculated than the ‘ Zoological Recreations’ to fulfil the avowed aim of its author — to furnish a hand-book which may cherish or awaken a love for natural history .” — Quarterly Review. THE WANDERER IN ITALY, SWITZERLAND, FRANCE, AND SPAIN. By T. ADOLPHUS TROLLOPE, Esq. 1 vol., 6s. bound. MEMOIRS OF A GREEK LADY, The Adopted Daughter of the late Queen Caroline. WRITTEN BY HERSELF. 2 volumes, post 8vo, price 12s., bound. MEMOIRS OF PRINCE ALBERT; AND THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. Second Edition, revised, with Additions, by Authority. 1 vol., post 8vo, with Portrait, bound, 6s. POPULAR WORKS OF FICTION. PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF MRS. MARGARET MAITLAND, OE STJN- NYSIDE. Written by Heeselp. New and Cheaper Edition. 1 v., 6s. bound. MR. WARBURTON’S REGI- NALD HASTINGS. Third and Cheaper Edition. 1 v., 10s. 6d. NATHALIE. By Julia Kava- nagtt. Author of “ Madeline,” 3 v., 15s. FALKLAND. By Sir E. Bulwer Lytton. 1 V., 5s. VIOLET ; or, THE DANSEUSE. A Portraiture of Human Passions and Cha- racter. 2 v., 10s. I