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DEDICATIONS OF THE CREATOR.

THE

INDICATIONS OF THE CREATOR!

THE NATURAL EVIDENCES

FINAL CAUSE.

b?

GEORGE TAYLOR.

Besides the pleasure derived from acquired knowledge, there lurks in the mind
of man, and tinged with a Bhade of sadness, an unsatisfied longing for something
beyond the present— a striving towards regions yet unknown and unopened. Humboldt.

NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER, 145 NASSAU STREET.
1851.

' Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by
GEOEGE TATLOE,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.

O. W. BENEDICT,
SlBEIOTIPIB AHD PbIH-TEE,
SOI William Street

TO
MY FATHER,
WHOSE KINDNESS SUPPORTED, AND WHOSE COUNSELS DI
RECTED ME, IN MY YOUTH ; AND BT WHOSE ADVICE THE
LEISURE HOURS OF LIFE HAVE BEEN DEVOTED TO SELF-
IMPROVEMENT J THESE LEAVES, GATHERED AT DIFFERENT
TIMES, AND UNDER VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, ARE AFFEC
TIONATELY INSCRIBED.

PREFACE.

The Author of the following pages has been
induced to submit them to the public by the favor
able reception which was given to a part of the con
tents when published in another form.
Much has been written on the same important
subjects ; but generally the sciences have been treated
separately. We have here made an effort to group
them together, and to show their relations and adap
tations, and their necessary dependence on each
other, believing this to be the best way to secure the
object contemplated.
In the collection of our facts from the domain of
science, the most reliable Authors have been con
sulted, and many quotations from such have been
introduced. And in all cases where it was possible,
the name of the authority has been- given.

iv PBEFACE.
We have written during the leisure hours of a
professional life ; hoping to enlarge our own view of
the material universe and of its Author ; and we
now publish what was thus written, with the hope
that others may be induced to devote some portion
of their time to the contemplation of the mysterious
potencies which surround them, and of the Infinite
Power by which those potencies are directed and
controlled. July 28, 1851. G. T.

CONTENTS,

PART I.
NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS.

PAGE
Nebulae of Andromeda and Orion — Herschel's Catalogne — Gradual Condensa
tion — Indications of Age — Stars with Halos — Herschel's Speculations —
Zodiacal Light — Moon's Acceleration — Crepuscular Theory— Attraction and
Centrifugal Force — Hypothesis of Laplace — The Great Primary — The
Modus — Distances — Densities — Motion — Increased Interest in Astronomy —
Sir John HerscheL  ¦  81

n.
Increased Instramental Power— Dumb-Bell and Dog's Ear Nebula*— Lord
Eosso's Telescope — Cambridge Telescope — Nebulae in Andromeda— Its Reso
lution— One in Orion— Dr. Nichol's Report— Lord Eosse's Suooess— Mr.
Bond's Triumph— Greatness and Glory of the Creator  43

CONTENTS.

PART II.
ASTRONOMY.

PAGE
Circumstantial Evidence — Opposition to Newton's System — Moon's Apsides
— Clairant's Calculations— Orbits of the Planets— Ellipsis— Eccentricities-
Security of the System— Evidences of Design — Acceleration of the Moon —
Dr. Halley — Playfair— The Supposed Laws — Radiation and Condensation—
The Minor Planets— Size of the Original Nebula— Orbit of Uranus  &7

H.
The Distances and Densities of the Planets — Venus — Mars-^-UTanus — Saturn
— Neptune — Exceptions — Crepuscular Theory of Light — Harmony of the
Universe — Limits to all things-^The Work of an Intelligent Creator  71

in.
The Mean observed by all Physical Forces— Convergence of- the Series — M.
Poisson— Stability of the System— The Earth's Eevolution — Increase of
Velocity, as the Square of the Distance decreases — Copernicus— Galileo —
Descartes— Bacon— Milton— Locke— Newton— Evidences of Original Design 80

PART in.
GEOLOGY.

Age of the two Sciences— Gradual Growth of Geology— Difficulties— Increased
Importance— Vulcanists and Neptunists— Joint testimony of the two Sci
ences—Various Theories— Boldness of the Speculations— Their Tendency
— Human Weakness. 

89

CONTENTS.

PAGE
Development Theoet— St HUlaire and Lamarck— Successive steps towards the
Theory — Changes— New Species— Earliest Period of the Globe— Internal and
External Forces— The Silurian System — Llandielo Bocks— Ludlow Rocks —
Old Red Sandstone or Devonian Group — Ctenoid and Cycloid Fishes — Ele
vation of the Mountains — Carboniferous Formation — Its Fauna and Flora —
No Fruits — No Flowers — No Insects or Birds — Carbonic Acid Gas — Sir
Henry De la Beche's Estimate — No Land Animals — Formation of Coal — The
New Bed Sandstone— Lizards — The Supposed Link— The Oolitic Formation 96
m.
The Thus Histoet— Division of the Silurian System— Wenlock— Ludlow—
Llandielo and Caradoc Formations — The Uncbus Murchisoni and Tennistri-
atus — Spines of the Aymestry Limestone — Onondaga Placoid Spines — Mr.
Hall — Fish bones of the Oriskany Limestone — Ludlow and Bala Limestone
Unchus — Cambrian and Silurian Systems — Opinions of Professors Agassiz,
Owen, and Sedgwick, Sir P. Egerton and James Wilson — True Osseous
Skeletons  :  110
IV.
Old Red Sandstone — The Position of the Theorists— Their Errors— Fishes
of the Highest Order.  114

Asteeolopis — Fossils found by Hugh Miller and Mr. Peach — Division of the
Animal Kingdom — Departments — Classes. — Orders, &c. — Order of the Aste-
rolopis — Cranial Buckler — Size of the Fish— Evidence of Class— Brain and
not Bone — Quantity of Ichthyolites— Impressions formed by Mr. Lea at
Potterille — Their Importance  115
VI.
Caebontfeeodb Era— Divisions of Plants — Sigillaria— Dicotyledons — Mono
cotyledons — Pines — Firs, &c — The Argument— Exogenous Trees— Forma
tions in England — Fresh Water and Marine Deposits — Preponderance of
Certain Families — Dr. Lindley's Experiments — Cotton Wood — Southern
Rivers — Inferences — Human Remains — West Indian Archipelago — Addi
tional Proof  • 122
vn.
Fattna of the Cabbontfeeotts Eea — Recent Discovery — Carbonic Acid
Gas — Opinion of Professor Hunt — His Experiment — Reptilian Fossils found
—Footmarks in Pennsylvania— Fossil Birds — Different Formations made at
the same time — Inference — Providential Goodness exhibited in the Coal
Formation  ,  181

CONTENTS.
vm.

1SS

New Bed Sandstone— Permian Group-Supposed Link—Footprints in New
Bed Sandstone-Extinction of Species^-Dodp- Nestor Productus— Apteryex
" —Bison— Gradual Extinction of the Indians— The Conclusion— Testimony of
Owen— Agassi*- Muller— Cuvier— Murchison — Vernuel— D'Orbigny — Mil
ler— Lyell— -and Bell. 

PART IV:
COMPAEATIVE PHYSIOLOGY.

Living Witnesses of Creative Power— Distinct Embryonic Forms— Variety-
Inorganic Elements — Contiguity — Aritiaris- Toxicaria — Perisperm — Germi
nation—Primary Differences— Globules of the Blood— Vital Force— Vegeta
ble Cells or Utricles— Divisions of the Egg— Primordial Elements— Adapta
tion of the Leaves— Buds— Fascicles— Desfontaine's Division— Flowersr-
Eoots— Effect of the Solar Bays— Distinct Principles of— Mr. Hunt's
Investigations— Growth of the Wood.  14T

n.
Vegetable Variety and Adaptation— The Question— Evidence of Design —
Adaptation to Climate — Tropical Plants — Difference — Chemical and Medici
nal Properties — Beauty inwrought with the Useful— The Silkworm — Mul
berry Leaf— Mountain Plants— The Flower— The Lily — Urgurphraa— Valas-
neria— Protection— The Holly— Oaks of" Hampshire — General Protection .... 1T0

in.
Difference in the Two Kingdoms — Tissue of Vegetables — Theory of Prof.
Schwann — Composition of the Plant— Manner of Growth— Respiration — Or
gans — Fovilla Chara — Respiratory Nerves — Superadded Mechanism — Dia
phragm — Man's Superiority — The Nerves — Regurgitation — Orbicularis — The
Kangaroo — Impossibility of Transmutation — Distinguishing Features — Law
of Reciprocity.  188

CONTENTS. II
PAET V.
PHYSICAL GEO GE A PHY.

i.
FAGH
Discoveries in Science— The Earth's Figure— Zones of Temperature— Propor
tion of Land and "Water — The Atmosphere — Distribution and Configuration
of the Continents — Arrangement in Pairs — Connecting Islands — Peculiarities-
— The Mountains — Importance of their Arrangement — Highest Elevations —
Mean Relief of the Continents — Effect of— Local Compensations— Climate
of Europe — Of Sweden — Causes — Growth of the Cereals — Elevation of Asia
" — Importance of the Present Arrangement — Torrid Zones— Effect of Eleva
tion—Changes of the Earth's Surface— Springs of Antiquity  ,  200
n.
The Gbeat Central Source op Heat— Action of the Sun— Line of, during
its Perihelion— Radiation— Its Effects— Ocean — Saline Contents— Winds —
Their Agency— The Atmosphere— Exchanges— Trade-Winds— Monsoons —
Direction— Influence npon the Temperature -Authority Doubted — All
things Obedient to the Superior Power — The General Result— Local Com
pensations—Internal Forces.  225
HI.
The Atmosphere — Its Importance— Pressure— Composition — Volcanoes —
Nature's Chemical Laboratory — The AlgsB— Adaptation of—Carbonic Acid
— Oxygen— Universal l hain — Man the Recipient— Expansion and Condensa
tion of Water— Electricity and Magnetism— The Invisible Cause— The Ar
gument  — 24T
Conolusiox  268

INTRODUCTION.

These was a time when this Planet, now so
crowded with life and beauty, existed in the contem
plation only of the Infinite Mind. The Orbit in
which our pathway lies, like the immeasurable fields
of space beyond the existing stellar and planetary
families, had no visible tenant. No planet answered
tbe primeval orbs with its language of light, or told
of its unceasing activity by continued changes and
varied appearances. But, even then, the mighty
mechanism was perfect in the mind of the Eternal.
Nothing was wanting to fill up the varied parts with
well adapted forms and unceasing life, but His
Almighty mandate.
There is no record to tell how long this state
of things existed. We know only that Oeeative
Wisdom thought it best to introduce this sphere into
the family ; and that in doing so, it was adapted to

xii introduction.
the varied life 'it-was destined to support. -The light
was divided from the darkness, and the watejgtfj
gathered together so that the dry land appeared.
Continents were created, mountains elevated, .the
surface of the earth enlivened by streams, and1 the
waters collected into deep seas. After which, the
elements were filled with animal and vegetable life.
Thus the creation progressed, until it was* prepared
for the introduction of man, its intellectual sovereign,
who was honored with the image of the Father. '
Of this Creation, a brief history only has been
given to mankind; and in it, the time occupied is
. divided into periods apparently too short to agree
with the natural phenomena. The first impression '
made by the sacred record, was, that the whol,e
Creation was accomplished in a few of our modern
days; while the geological formations induced the
"belief that unnumbered ages of active preparation
preceded the introduction of man. These early opi
nions necessarily arrayed the friends of the two
records against each other. Geologists denied the
correctness of revelation, and the , friends of the
sacred history ridiculed geology. Thia conflict of
opinions resulted unavoidably from the imperfection
of human knowledge. One of the records was too
literally interpreted, while the bold characters of the
other were but partially, understood.

introduction. xiii
How long these difficulties would have continued
Joiiisturb society, had not other sciences contributed
to -widen the breach, it is impossible to say. But it
is quite certain that* the opinion of Geoffrey St.
Hillaire, regarding the transmutation of species,
followed up and enforced by Lamarck ; and the
discovery of ;bodies in the far-off regions of space,
supposed 'to be " Nebulous" in their character, were
indispensably necessary to perfect the system of
infidelity which fastened itself on the sciences. It
grew gradually, not upon any single fact, but upon a
multitude of errors which sprung up in the different
departments of human knowledge, and which pointed
with remarkable harmony to the same conclusions.
The cosmogony of our globe has been a fruitful
subject for speculation ever since the days of Pythar
goras. After that philosopher had enriched his mind
with the Egyptian and Persian lore, he returned, to
his own country with a system of the world which is
remarkable for its singular mixture of truth and
error. It met the concurrence, however, of Aris
totle ; and to jndge from passages in Phsedo and
Theaetetus Plato must have entertained similar
views. Pythagoras contended that nothing retained
the same image for any length of time, but that they
did not perish, as they only changed their forms ;
that all things were imdergoing a constant change ;

XIV INTRODUCTION.
the earth and sea, and all that they contained.
"Solid land," he said, " has been converted infer
sea, and the sea has been changed into land." Aris
totle, following up the same idea, says ; " The distri
bution of land and sea in particular regions, does not
endure throughout all time, but it becomes sea in
those parts where it was land, and again it becomes
land where it was sea. ... As time never fails,
andthe universe is eternal, neither the Tanais nor
the Nile can have flowed for ever. The places
where they rise were once dry, and there is a limit
to their operations ; but there is none to time."
Other ancient philosophers advocated this system;
while another school promulgated different views.
Thus speculation followed speculation, and theory
succeeded theory, until the latter part of the eight
eenth century, when the whole artillery of learning
and science, in certain localities, was turned against
the Christian religion. Many causes operated to
bring this about.
Among the first questions for the philosopher to
answer, and the theologian to combat, were those
connected with the deluge. These necessarily led to
those involved in the history of the Creation of the
world, many of which are still unsettled. The
Naturalist found petrified shells scattered over the
surface of the earth, irregularly, without any regard

INTRODUCTION. XV
to locality. The mountain-top contained as many as
the valley below. It appeared quite certain to
inany that these shells were of marine origin, while
others believed that they were sports of nature. But
supposing them to be true shells, it was difficult to
account for their location. This the friends of the
Mosaic record explained by the deluge, while the
geologist thought the mountains had been raised by
some internal force, after the shells had been depos
ited, and that they necessarily carried their fossil
freight up with them. But this suggested another
difficulty ; by what force were these terrestrial eleva
tions effected ? And here was another division of
opinion. A few savans attributed their elevation to
earthquakes ; while the greater part thought the
inequalities of the earth's surface resulted from the
influence of the oceanic element.
Palissy opened the debate on these questions in
the latter part of the sixteenth century. He con
tended that the fossil shells were of marine origin,
and that they had been scattered over the surface of
the earth, during the changes which took place from
time to time, in the ocean. This idea was received
with great bitterness by the theologians of that day.
They felt the importance of sustaining the Scriptural
account of the deluge; and as they considered the
location of these shells important corroborative testi-

XVI INTRODUCTION.
mony, any, and all other explanations met their
unqualified displeasure. It would be difficult, if not
useless, to trace all these questions through the mul
tiplied phases and forms which they were forced to
assume. Almost every philosopher had his own
theory, and with few exceptions, these theories were
opposed to the Mosaic cosmogony.
Thus these questions progressed without any par
ticular interference or restraint, until Buffon, who
was .at the head of one of -the schools, published his
views, This was done with such boldness, that the
Sorbonue of Paris felt it necessary to interpose their
authority. He said in his Theory of the Earth, that
" The waters of the sea have produced the mountains
and valleys of the land," and that " the waters of
the heavens, reducing all to a level, will at last
deliver the whole land over to the sea, and the sea
successively prevailing over the land, will leave dry
new continents like those which we inhabit." This
was not more objectionable than the theory advanced
by Pythagoras and Aristotle, and others contempo
rary with Buffon.. He, however, was compelled to
renounce his opinions publicly, by that distin
guished Faculty of Theology, distinguished more for
that act of persecution than anything else.
But the course pursued by the Sorbonne did not
secure the object they contemplated. The theory

INTRODUCTION. Xvii
was advocated on the continent with great ability ;
" and finally met an able advocate on the other side of
the channel. These debates prepared the public
miud, notwithstanding the action of the Sorbonne,
for the Huttonian theory; which, although denounced
as atheistical at the time, was warmly received by
many of the most active and influential members of
the learned fraternity. Hutton contended that the
ruins of an older world were visible in the composi
tion of this, and that there were no traces of a begin
ning, and no prospect of an end ; that there had
been at least three distinct periods of animal exist
ence before the introduction of man ; and that all the
changes of the globe had been effected by the agency
of causes which were then acting gradually upon it.
These questions, with others necessarily connected
with them, excited the deepest interest, and the
most searching investigation. The surface of the
earth was explored, and its deepest caverns pene
trated. Every visible witness in the wide domain of
nature was interrogated. The living species were
collected and arranged, and the interior of the earth
was forced to yield the testimony of its buried
tenantry. At this time, when the excitement had attained
its highest point,, Lamarck, a celebrated naturalist,
suggested his hypothesis of organic progress or

Xviii INTRODUCTION.
development. He found, in trying to arrange the
species, that they A into each other, or that the
difference between them was so small, that it was
almost impossible to tell where one ended and another
began. It appeared also, that the greatest changes
were effected by cultivation, domestication, &c. He
believed that plants and animals were frequently
surrounded by circumstances which either imposed
restraint or stimulated unusual efforts, and by which
their character and physical organization might be
changed. He contended that we had an example of
this change in wheat, as a similar plant could not be
found as a native of any country. These changes
are also common in domestic animals, many of which
are found only in their domestic condition. Other
animals were changed according to this theory, by
circumstances which impoBeda necessary alteration
of some of their organs. A bird, for example, driven
to the water for food, would stretch out its claws to
enable it to swim, and that in these efforts it would
finally become web-footed.
The successors of this distinguished Savan carried
the idea still farther. They contended that animals
and plants, not only advanced in type and character
during successive generations, but that there are
natural forces capable of producing all the varied
organisms, and that the laws by which the existing

INTRODUCTION. XIX
species were created, are still operating to a certain
extent. Thus, they assigned to the operation of gen
eral laws, what Lamarck attributed to the influence
of particular causes. In doing so, they disparaged
the influence and action of the Great Creator,
by transferring His chief prerogatives to mere physi- •
cal forces, and by reducing Hm to the position of a
silent observer, of the Infinite potencies which it is
admitted, He originally created, but over which He
exercises no control.
Geologists reported a succession of organic remains
m the strata of the earth's crust, and also that the
lower or earlier denizens were of an inferior order,
and that the character and organization improved as,
you ascended in the geological formations. This led
them to adopt the idea of a regular advance from the
lower to the higher orders and departments of the
vegetable and animal kingdoms. Beginning at the
lowest order and extending to the human mind, that
superior faculty by which man is enabled to arrange
and survey the multiplied parts^ of the material
universe. Thus, while Lamarck and his successors
advocated the transmutation of species, and their
gradual development and improvement, the geologist
insisted that the records of past generations as written
on stone by the extinct species themselves, proved
the theory to be true.

XX INTRODUCTION.
This was the position of things at the beginning of
the present century, when a new and important
element was added by another department of human
knowledge. Geology and physiology had united
their testimony, while up to that period Astronomy
iad served rather as a check upon its sister sciences ;
but it was now destined to take a different position.
Simon Marius, Huygens, and Messier, had previously
discovered dim and mysterious bodies, faintly shining
out amid the darkness of the far-off regions, but the
imperfection of their instruments prevented them
from distinguishing their true character. It was
suggested that they were composed of stars, but this
was not generally believed ; many thought they
were merely self-luminous clouds ; and this opinion
seemed to gather strength from their inability to
resolve these luminous masses into distinct stellar
bodies. These mysterious bodies were now brought under
the increased instrumental power of Sir William
Herschel's improved telescopes ; but he was not
much more successful in detecting their true char
acter, than his predecessors had been. It is true, he
succeeded in arranging them in classes; some of
which he called resolvable nebulae, or nebulas which
gave signs that they might be resolved into stars by

INTRODUCTION. XXI
increased instrumental power, and true nebulae, or
such as he believed to be irresolvable. He thought
he had been able to apply a certain and reliable test
to them, and that such undoubtedly was their charac
ter. Thus, while the labors of Sir William resulted
in the discovery of the true nature of the resolvable
class, they contributed to confirm the belief in a
real nebulosity, and led finally to the theory of
Laplace. While Sir William was engaged in observing
these nebulous appearances, he discovered certain
bodies which appeared to represent planets and stars
in the different periods of their growth ; some half-
formed, and others but one degree removed from the
nebulae, which was considered the rudimental mate
rial. Thus he was forced to the conclusion that
these bodies were in the process of formation, under
the direction of some natural force, and that these
phenomena represented the members of one family ;
as infants, half-grown children, and adults. This
led astronomers to adopt the Huttonian principle ;
forj if all the stages of growth exist, then the agencies
by which they are produced must be at work now
the. same as they were in the beginning. And as
these phenomena appear to be developing them
selves gradually without the aid of any supernatural

XX11 INTRODUCTION.
cause, they must depend upon and result from laws
within the system itself. By this course of reason
ing, the only element wanting in the development
theory was supplied by astronomers. The materials
were now ready for a complete system of the world,
and ingenious infidelity was not long in its arrange
ment. It was supposed that all the heavenly bodies were
elaborated out of this nebulous material by the
forces of attraction and radiation. That in the
beginning this attenuated fire-cloud filled all space ;
and that by some cause unknown, and at some period
equally uncertain, a nucleus was formed, to which
this nebulous matter was drawn by the force of
attraction, and around which it commenced its revo
lutions. Thus the sun, the great central body of our
system, began its career of usefulness. After a cer
tain length of time, the first planet was thrown off
from the great primary; and then again another;
and these in turn threw off their satellites. And
thus the process was continued until this globe was
swung into its orbit, A rough cast, perhaps, but
nevertheless subject to certain laws which were
designed to fit it for the various forms and grades of
life to which accident might introduce it. These
changes were all effected according to this theory,
without the aid of any other agency than those of

INTRODUCTION. XX1U
attraction and radiation. There was no superior
Cause of Causes — no- Power behind the clouds,
moving the machinery, and ordering the results.
This globe having taken its place under such cir
cumstances, is at first covered with water, and is,
therefore, unfit for anything but marine vegetable
Ufe, and the lowest order of inollusks. These were
forced into existence by some ^electric ox chemical
agency, as yet imperfectly understood, but when
once in existence, they became the Adams of the
earth, and the parents of a numerous and infinitely
varied progeny. Thus the Nebular hypothesis was
interwoven with the Development theory, and a
complete system of the world constructed out of
the two.
It will not be forgotten that these theories were
perfected in times well adapted to the infidelity
wliich they taught. When the ministerial corps, for
some reason either within itself, or without its sacred
precincts, had become unpopular — when Paine and
kindred writers were encouraged by the people, and
supported by crowned heads; and when, if an author
desired to distinguish himself and enrich his family,
he had only to minister to the infidel age in which
he lived. The seed, however, had been sown, and
in many instances by minds having little or no sym
pathy with those who cultivated it for such , mis-

XXIV INTRODUCTION.
chievous purposes, and it became the duty of the
philosopher and the Christian, to correct the errors
and refute the arguments of an unbelieving age ; and
to erect a more perfect and holy temple out of the
sacred truths of science.
The astronomical part of this task could not be
performed without an increase of instrumental power.
Sir William Herschel had exhausted the greatest
power of his best telescopes in arriving at the conclu
sions heretofore referred to ; and nothing more was
expected from that source until the ingenious
artisan succeeded in arming the philosopher with a
longer vision. To this important end the efforts of a
better age were directed. In the geological and
physiological divisions, time and labor only were
wanting. The great book of nature had been but
partially opened. Its mightiest volumes and pro-
foundest secrets were still locked up in the rock for
mations of the earth. These were to be broken open,
and their widely-scattered leaves collected and
arranged. The records of the Silurian system had to be
gathered up by Sir Eoderick Murchison, and filed
away in the mighty, archives of science, while the
leaves of Stromness, and the plates of the Old Eed
Sandstone, were to be deposited by the indefatigable
Hugh Miller. The reptilian fossil history of tire

INTRODUCTION. XXV
Carboniferous era had to be written out by Yon
Meyer, Von Dechen, Dr. King, Isaac Lea, and Prof.
Eogers ; and that of the Footprints of the New Eed
Sandstone, by the industrious Hitchcock ; and finally,
the discoveries of all these distinguished geologists
had to be arranged and philosophically treated by
the accomplished Lyell, before the geological part
of this important work was finished.
It is our present object to trace the progress of
these discoveries in the different sciences, and to
ascertain, if possible, how far they deny the theories
referred to, and to what extent they go, in proving
the existence and ever-active presence and goodness
of a Great Intelligent First Cause. In doing this
we have been led to notice the agreement and adap
tation of the infinitely varied parts of the universe,
and how each part. is inseparably interwoven with
every other ; and how all work together as some
mighty piece of mechanism, in which nothing is
wanting, neither can anything be taken away.
If there were no beautiful adaptations — no pre-
arrangement of parts to secure general and particular
ends, there would be much more difficulty in refuting
the arguments of scientific infidelity. But fortu
nately for truth and faith, all nature is full of these
arrangements. When the friends of these theories
are directed to the harmony which everywhere

XXVI INTRODUCTION.
exists in the universe ; they reply, that as there is a
natural connection between all things, there is,
therefore, a necessary harmony. This. was one of the
pioneer suppositions in the theory of Laplace. He
thought the harmony and just counterbalance of the
planetary motions and the general arrangement of
the whole system, could be best accounted for by
supposing that they had been originally thrown off
from a great primary, through the agency of some
natural force.
It was not so easy to dispose of the adaptations of
the various parts of the creation to each other. It
was impossible to deny the necessity of these adap
tations, and yet they were not able to point out any
physical cause for them. In this way they were
compelled to adopt the idea of original design in the
universe, and this led them involuntarily towards a
belief in the Supreme Intelligent Cause.
By such arguments, the immortal philosopher of
Athens was enabled to persuade Aristodemus to
believe that man was the masterpiece of some great
Artificer, as he carried along with him infinite
marks of the love and power of a Creator, whose eye
pierceth throughout all nature, and whose ear is open
to every sound, extending to all places and all times j
and whose bounty and care can know no other bounds
than those fixed by his own creation. In this way

INTRODUCTION. XXVU
the votaries of science were met on their chosen
grounds ; and while nature, to which they appealed,
supplied facts from its inexhaustible storehouse of
phenomena, more than sufficient to answer the argu^
ments of the unbeliever, the sacred record rose
above the dust of the material conflict.
Not indeed above the contradictions or attacks of
the infidel philosopher, but superior to them. A
contest so unequal could not be maintained for any
considerable time, even with the united strength of
false science and false men. But the final triumph
was delayed by the timidity and compromising
spirit of those whose high privilege it was to defend
the Mosaic record. They yielded more or less to the
ingenuity and boldness of an attack which was con
ducted with zeal, and apparently sustained by incon
trovertible evidence. Had no concessions been
made the question would have ceased to be one of
faith, and become one of fact, much sooner.
Every concession made by truth to error and false
hood, contributes to protract the existence and
struggle of the latter. The Christian world had
abundant evidence of the Divine origin of the sacred
record, and of the truth of every material statement, to
take its position upon those statements as proved, and
to challenge the arguments of their enemies ; and to
go out of it for confirmation was wholly unnecessary.

XXVlil INTRODUCTION.
The error, therefore, consisted in seeking cumulative
evidence from doubtful sources, and in casting the
whole issue on the strength of such evidence.
It. was fortunate for the final result of this great
question, that eternal truths were not made to depend
upon the policy of human advocates. Their triumph
is certain, however much delayed by error and weak
ness. So intricate and mysterious is the mighty
mechanism of the universe, and of the human mind,
that important principles are as frequently stumbled
upon, as they are searched out ; and yet the Creator
has arranged the natural agencies so that the full and
perfect revelation of every material and important
fact is secured. Nor can it be material to Him who
seeth and knoweth all tilings, whether that revelation
is made amidst the thunders of Sinai, and written on
stone, or whether it is made in the Secret Chambers
of nature ; in the delicate shades of some unnoticed .
flower,- or the feeble instinct of some despised insect.
With Him all things are the same ; every organism
has a voice, and every voice is speaking of the
Creator. As the human body is to the soul of man,
so is the universe to the Infinite and Eternal ; and
every part is but a different manifestation of the
Spirit that sustains the whole. Out of His great
Being all existence sprang, and each mysterious ele
ment is an organ for the expression of His will.

INTRODUCTION. XXIX
Science has accomplished much in distinguishing
the various forces, and in detecting their connection
with, and their influences on, each other ; and in
doing so it has benefited the human family, by
enabling man to apply the natural agencies and
forces to his own purposes. It has also ennobled him
by giving him a clearer conception of the Power and
Goodness of the Creator. And thus Science, like
all else, has finally contributed to strengthen the
Christian's faith, and confirm his hope. As the
innumerable inland streams roll steadily on to the
deep ocean which awaits them, so all things move on
to their Infestfe Source and <end.

PART I.
¦ ¦+¦¦¦
NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. I.
As early as the year 1612,- the Nebula in Andro
meda was described by Simon Ma^rius ; but, from
the writings of Ismael Bouillaud, a writer of the
seventeenth century, it appears that this nebula
was discovered much earlier than that period. It is
probable, says a distinguished astronomer, that it
was recognized at least six hundred years before the
invention of the telescope. It excited much attention
at the time, and has since become one of the most
interesting nebulous bodies. Another remarkable
Nebula, the one in the Sword of Orion, was dis
covered and described by Huygens, in 1657. This
new discovery contributed to increase the interest
and curiosity which its elder brother had excited.
It was reserved, however, for Messier, an astronomer
of the eighteenth century, to extend the catalogue

32 ANDROMEDA AND ORION.
of these mysterious bodies, and to lay the founda
tion for speculations of a most exciting character ;
which, while they threatened to unsettle established
theories and cherished beliefs, have greatly increased
our obligations to the science itself, and have led
to those glorious achievements of the mind, which
have immortalized individuals, and now contribute.
to dignify and ennoble mankind.
While this distinguished astronomer was engaged
in observing comets, to which he devoted much of
his time, he discovered one hundred and three ob
jects, Or Nebulous Islands, of a light, hazy appear
ance, irregularly scattered through, space. Under
moderate telescopic power, these objects appeared as
self-luminous islands of vapor ; but, when examined
with refractors of larger aperture and greater focal
length, it was ascertained that many of them con
sisted entirely of stars, so closely crowded together,
that their light blended in a single blaze at the
centre. A few of these bodies, however, were not so
easily disposed of; among which, the nebulae in
Andromeda and Orion are the principal ones : they.
defied the space-penetrating power of the finest
instruments, and remained, until recently, wholly
irresolvable. The great variety of forms, and the difference in
the appearance of these bodies, excited the curiosity,

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 33
and engaged the time and attention of successive
astronomers for nearly two centuries ; but they were
made the objects of more particular observation by
Sir Willian Herschel, to whom the world is so
largely indebted. After much laborious observation,
he was enabled, in 1802, to present to the Eoyal
Society a catalogue of two thousand newly-dis
covered nebulae, which he had arranged in appro
priate classes. These bodies were as irregular in
their figures as they were in their distribution.
" They are of all degrees of eccentricity," says Sir
John Herschel, " from moderately oval forms to
ellipses so elongated as to be almost linear." They
varied in their appearance from that which seemed
to be the irregular aggregation of self-luminous
vapor, or ' star-dust,' to the oval island, in which the
outlines of stellar bodies were dearly distinguish
able. In Sir William's catalogue, these bodies were
divided into globular and irregular clusters ; resolv
able nebulae, or such as he believed would yield to
increased optical power; nebulae proper, in which
there was no appearance of stars ; planetary nebulae,
and nebulous stars. In some instances, the nebulae
presented the appearance of a faint luminous atmos
phere, of a circular form, and of large extent, sur
rounding a star of considerable brilliancy. These

34 herschel's speculations.
were considered, in the speculations which followed
the discoveries, and to which we will soon invite the
reader's attention, the oldest, or advanced stages of
the nebulous matter, and were called stars with burs ;
because their light appeared to increase from the
borders to the centre. It was soon ascertained that
the globular or oval forms yielded readily to in
creased optical power ; and that their appearance
was the effect of their great distance from us. The
irregular or elliptical clusters were less condensed at
the centre ; and although some of them, as the one
in the girdle of Andromeda, could be seen with the
unaided eye, they steadily maintained their nebulous
appearance. It was thought, however, that they
changed their appearance from time to time ; but
this was owing to the imperfect sketches taken of
them, and the difference in the space-penetrating
power of the telescopes used at the various periods.
It was these remarkable and distant bodies, ap
pearing more or less distinet according to their
varying distances, which led Sir William Herschel
to speculate on the gradual subsidence and con
densation of the gaseous or elementary sidereal mat
ter, which, it was thought, was dispersed through the
regions of space. " Assuming that in the progress of
this subsidence, local centres of condensation, subor
dinate to the gradual tendency, would not be want-

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 35
ing, he. conceived that in this way solid nuclei might
arise, whose local gravitation still farther condens
ing, and so absorbing the nebulous matter, each in
its immediate neighborhood might ultimately be
come stars, and the whole nebula finally take on the
state of a cluster of stars. Among the multitude of
nebulae revealed by his telescopes, every stage of this
process might be considered as_ displayed to our
eyes, and in every modification of form to which the
general principle might be conceived to apply. The
more or less advanced stages of a nebula toward its
aggregation into discrete stars, and these stars them
selves towards a denser nucleus, would thus be in
some sort indications of age."
The lowest orders or riidimental nebulae were vari
able, both in their figures and degrees of brightness.
These, it was thought, represented the -first stage of
aggregation. The more advanced were distinguished
from stars by the faint light only by which they
were surrounded. These phenomena produced a pro
found sensation on the mind of the elder Herschel.
He, however, felt fully persuaded that these bodies,
or a large proportion of them, were simply congeries
of stars, so far removed from us as to blend their
light, and thus present their nebulous appearanee.
But they aroused his active and vigilant mind, and
prompted him to continue his observations, that he

36 STARS IN CIRCULAR HALOS.
might become more intimately acquainted with these
mysterious strangers. He labored to apply some
more certain and reliable test to'them, and was
gratified, as he supposed,, in, this desire. While
sweeping the heavens with his telescope, he dis
covered stars shining, or appearing to shine, through
floating clouds of this highly attenuated matter.
These he believed were ' stars enveloped in circular
halos,' and afforded him an opportunity to contrast
the true star with the nebulous matter surrounding
it. It is difficult to imagine the anxiety and interest
which agitated ..the mind of that great man, at this
period of his glorious career. An opportunity to
prove or disprove the suspicions which had per
plexed his mind so long, now presented itself ; and,
beUeving the result of his observations to be of the
greatest importance, he must have undertaken the
task with feelings of the most trying, character. We
will give the history of that observation in his own
language : " In the first place," he says, " if the
nebulosity consist of stars that are very remote,
which appear nebulous on account of the small
angles their mutual distance subtends to-, the eye,
whereby they will not only, as it were, run into one
another, but also appear extremely faint and diluted ;
then, what must be the enormous size of, the. central
point, which outshines all the rest in so superlative

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 37
a degree as to admit of no comparison ! In the next
place, if the star be no bigger than common, how
very small and compressed must be those other lu
minous points, that are the occasion of the nebulosity
which surrounds the central one ! As by the former
supposition the luminous central point must far ex
ceed the standard of what we call a star, so, in the
latter, that shining matter about the centre will be
much too small to come under this denomination : we
therefore either have a central body which is not a
star, or have a star which is involved in a shining
fluid of a nature totally unknown to us. I can adopt
no other sentiment than the latter, since the proba
bility is certainly not for the existence of so enormous
a body as would be required to shine like a star of
the eighth magnitude, at a distance sufficiently great
to cause a vast system of stars to put on the appear
ance of a very diluted milky nebulosity." Thus we find
Sir William, one of the world's greatest astronomers,
laying the foundation for- conjectures and theories
which have interested, and will continue to interest
mankind, so long as there is any doubt about these
bodies, or so long as there is any outward twilight
into whieh the inquiring mind can penetrate. He
had wandered into the dim distance, until lost amid
the shadows and darkness of unexplored regions, and
was forced to adopt the course which appeared to be

38 ZODIACAL LIGHT.
supported by the strongest probabilities. One of the
positions increased his bewilderment ; while the
other pointed out the way of return, but left him
standing astounded by his own discoveries, and the
remarkable deductions to which they would inevit
ably lead.
There . were other phenomena, however, which
greatly contributed to establish the idea of a phos
phorescent' vapor, or elementary form of luminous
sidereal matter; the most important of wliich is
known as the zodiacal light, which is seen after sun
set during the spring months, and before sunrise
during the fall. It is a cone of lenticularly-shaped
light, extending from the horizon obliquely upward,
following generally the course of the ecliptic, or
.rather that of. the sun's equator. It has been con
tended that this was a residuum of the nebulous
matter, or star-dust, collected around the sun. An
acceleration discovered in the motion of the moon,
which, it was supposed, resulted from the resistance
of an ethereal medium in which the heavenly bodies
revolved, also united with the various concurring
phenomena to establish the belief in the existence of
this highly attenuated vapor ; out of which nature
elaborated her suns and planetary systems by the
powers of attraction and gravitation. This belief was
;also favored by the crepuscular theory of lignt. It

NEBULAE HYPOTHESIS. 39
was supposed that the waste of the celestial bodies,
by the perpetual diffusion of their light, was compen
sated by this collecting and condensing process, and
the balance of the system restored by the formation
of new planets and stars. Indeed, the general har
mony that prevailed throughout the mechanism of
the whole system, seemed to strengthen the various
evidences, and establish the theory. This harmony,
so delightful to the astronomer, could be most satis
factorily accounted for by supposing the planets to
have been thrown off from the sun by centrifugal
force, as the mighty primary swept around with incal
culable speeds It was contended that the dimensions
of the nebulous matter, which extended beyond the
orbit of the most distant planet, were contracted by
loss of heat through radiation ; and that rotary
motion was produced by the force of the outward
particles rushing to the centre, and that this rotary
motion caused centrifugal force, which threw off the
outward particles, whenever it gained the ascendency
over the power of attraction*
These speculations of the elder Herschel, concern
ing the possible aggregation of the self-luminous par
ticles, and their condensation into planets, were
followed by' the " Nebular Hypothesis" of Laplace,
a philosopher, whose varied and profound attain
ments enabled him to systematize the speculations

40 THEORY OE LAPLACE.
of others, and to erect a glorious temple in honor of
man, out of the abundant and rich materials which
the learned and great of all preceding ages had scat-
"tered around his feet. It was suggested, in his
hypothesis, that the stars and planets were originally
the same as the supposed nebulous bodies, and that
they had passed regularly through the various stages
of advancement or growth, necessary to prepare them
for the habitation of animate matter ; and that when
in the course of this natural process, they were fitted
for the great offices of life, they were left under the
influence of certain arbitrary physical laws, to per
form their part in the innumerable and brilliant
sisterhood. The first motion of this infant world of attenuated
vapor, thrown off by laws originally stamped on mat
ter itself, strikes the student with astonishment,
barely sufficient to prepare him for the future revela
tions of which these early evidences of life are but
feeble intimations. The changes and motions of the
new-born planet will be observed through innumerable
centuries of time, divided only by the immeasurable
periods required for the birth of other and. younger
planets and planetary systems. The first and eldest
of the sisterhood, sweeping around the outward hori
zon, will be lost in darkness to all unaided vision, long

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 41
before the junior members are prepared to cheer it
with the warmth and gladness of the parent light.
The existence of the nebulous matter appeared to be
satisfactorily proved by these phenomena. Nothing
now remained to perplex the minds of astronomers,
but the questions which grew out of the original obser
vations of the nebulous matter ; indeed, it was these
subsequent questions which gave the first so much
importance. How far did the great primary nebula ex
tend? From, whence did it come, and what is ita
destiny ? The nebular hypothesis begins with the sup*
position that it originally extended beyond the orbit
of the most distant planet, and that by loss of heat,
through radiation, it contracted its dimensions, and
that the inward rushing of the outward particles
caused its rotary motion. This rotary motion gave
birth to centrifugal force, which continued to increase
with the condensation of the body, until it threw off
the external particles into a separate zone or ring, as
the rings of Saturn. These were broken up by some
imaginary influence, and the partieles again drawn
together by the attractive power of a central point,
which became the nucleus of the new-born planet.
This in its turn is put into motion by the same
forces, and throws off other rings, which by a similar
process are transformed into revolving satelites. Thus,

42 PLANETARY DISTANCES AND DENSITIES.
step by step we are led to look upon the world of
matter as one vast field of changing elements. Har
monious, however, in all its various changes. The
laws which at first appeared to act against the system,
rending the particles asunder, and scattering them to
the winds of heaven, are the chief workmen in re
constructing the fragments, and in extending the
mighty family of planetary and stellar systems.
As additional proof of the truth of this remarkable
hypothesis, we are directed to the appearance of the
planets and satellites ; their distances, densities, and
motions, which, it is contended, confirms the theory of
their creation. The first planet thrown off must neces
sarily be the largest and least compact, as well as the
most remote member of the system* As the mass con
tinues to contract and solidify, the second planet must
be smaller, and its constituent particles closer than the
senior member ; and so through the whole system, in
proportion to the distance the various members are lo
cated from the great central primary ; and as they are
all thrown off by the same forces, they must move
necessarily in the same direction. Truly, these were
suppositions worthy of the consideration of the greatest
minds, and so they were received. They aroused the
philosophic world, and gave point and energy to its
observations. Before this period, astronomers appear
to have been stimulated in their labors chiefly by the

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 43
love of the wonderful, and the disposition, so pre
dominant in some minds, to wander into unknown
regions. But now astronomy appeared more in
teresting and infinitely more important. It was now
believed to be the key by which the mighty archives
of the universe were to be unlocked, and the hidden
mysteries and forces of Nature's creative agencies
(not to speak irreverently) revealed to the gaze of
mortals. The feeble representative of the great de
signing intelligence was to be introduced, uncovered,
and trembling though it might be, to the sublime and
awful forces which work out the designs of the in
finite and the eternal. No wonder that astronomy
assumed an increased importance, and that , the
initiated waited for farther revelations with deepen
ing anxiety.
For years the far-reaching vision of astronomers
had been turned upon these appearances, and for an
equal length of time the learned corps had been
defeated and mortified by the uncertainty in which
they were compelled to remain; while theories, as
wild as the nebulae are distant and indistinct have
resulted from their irresolvability, which have alter
nately disturbed the foundations of the Christian
religion and the science of astronomy itself — that
glorious star-crowned superstructure, whose arches
span the widest range of stellar matter. These irre-

44 OPINION OF SIR JOHN HERSCHEL.
solvable islands were found in the very borders of
that vast field which the astonishing improvements
of man have enabled him to bring within the com
pass of his vision, and therefore were the more diffi
cult to examine. But, as successive improvements
were constantly enlarging the field of view, and ren
dering more distinct the remote territory already
partially surveyed, it was hoped that these phenomena
would soon be understood. That period has now
arrived. Out of the dark cloud that settled on the
bosom of philosophy, light and truth have been dis
tilled, and science comes out more closely allied
to the religion which sustained her faithful priest
hood. It was believed by Sir William Herschel, that
many of the nebulous bodies would eventually be
resolved into clusters of stars, and hence he divided
them, as we have seen, into different classes ; but he
as firmly believed that the nebulae proper would
never be resolved into stars. A similar opinion,
stated, however, with less confidence in the existence
of nebulous matter, was advanced by his distin
guished son, Sir John Herschel, at a recent period.
In speaking of these bodies, at one of the meetings
of the British Association, in 1845, he said : ".By
far the major part, probably at least nine-tenths of
the nebulous contents of the heavens, consist of

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 45
nebulas of spherical or elliptical forms, presenting
every variety of elongation and central condensation.
Of these a great number have been resolved into dis
tinct stars, and a Vast multitude more have been
found to present that mottled- appearance which ren
ders it almost a matter of certainty that an increase
of optical power would show them to be similarly
composed. A not unnatural or unfair induction
would therefore seem to be, that those which resist
such resolution, do so only in consequence of the
smallness and closeness of the stars of which they
consist ; that, in short, they are only optically, and
not physically, nebulous. There is, however, one
circumstance which deserves especial remark, and
which, now that my own observation has extended
to the nebulas of both hemispheres, I feel able to
announce with confidence as a general law, viz : that
the character of easy resolvability into separate and
distinct stars is almost entirely confined to nebulae
deviating but little from the spherical form ; while,
on the other hand, very elliptic nebulae, even large
and bright ones, offer much greater difficulty in this
respect. The cause of this difference must, of course,
be conjectural ; but I believe it is not possible for
any one to review seriatim the nebulous contents of
the heavens, without being satisfied of its reality as a
physical character. Possibly the limits of the con-

46 SIR JOHN herschel's opinion.
ditions of dynamical stability in a spherical cluster
may be compatible with numerous and compara
tively larger individual constituents than in an ellip
tical one. Be this as it may ; though there is no
doubt a great number of elliptic nebulae in which
stars have not yet been noticed, yet there are so
many in which they have, and the gradation is so
insensible from the most perfectly spherical to the
most elongated elliptic form, that the force of the
general induction is hardly weakened by this pecu
liarity ; and for my own part I should have little
hesitation in admitting all nebulae of this class to be,
in fact, congeries of stars. And- this seems to have
been my father's opinion of their constitution, with
the exception of certain very peculiar-looking obr
jects, respecting whose nature all opinion must for
the present be suspended. The wildest imagination
can conceive nothing more capricious than their
forms, which in many instances seem totally devoid
of plan, as much so as our real clouds ; others offer
traces of a regularity hardly less uncouth and charac
teristic, and which in some cases seem to indicate a
cellular, in others a sheeted structure, complicated in
folds, as if agitated by internal winds." " Should
the powers of an instrument such as Lord Eosse's
succeed in resolving these also into stars, and, more
over, in demonstrating the starry nature of the regu

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 47
lar elliptic nebulae which have hitherto resisted
such decomposition, the idea of a nebulous matter,
in the nature of a shining fluid, or condensible gas,
must, of course, cease to rest on any support derived
from actual observation in the sidereal heavens,
whatever countenance it may still receive in the
minds of cosmogonists, from the tails and atmos
pheres of comets, and the zodiacal light in our own
system. But, though all idea of its being ever given
to mortal eye to view aught that can be regarded as
an outstanding portion of primeval chaos be dissi
pated, it will by no means have been then demon
strated, that among these stars, so confusedly scat
tered, no aggregating powers are in action, tending
to draw them into groups, and insulate them from
neighboring groups ; and, speaking from my own
impressions, I should say that, in the structure of the
Magellanic clouds, it is really difficult not to believe
we see distinct evidences of the exercise of such a
power." This language was held by a learned as
tronomer, on the very morning of the greatest dis
coveries ever made by man.

48 INGREASrD POWER. f
H.
THE RESULTS OF INCREASED POWER.
According to the predictions of these distinguished
philosophers, it was found that each increase of in
strumental power made large additions to the cata
logue of resolvable nebulae. Nebulae which appeared
as dim, milky spots, scarcely perceivable to Sir
William Herschel, burst into splendid galaxies under
our present second-rate instruments. In fact, nearly
all of the nebulas which resisted the power of his
telescope yielded successively to the instruments
which followed in the train of improvement. A dim
spot, shining out from the far-off distance, as an
irregular aggregation of "star-dust," was resolved by
Lord Eosse's three-feet telescope, into his Lordship's
splendid Crab Nebula, which is now known to be a
mighty system of brilliant orbs, more splendid perhaps
than the one of which our planet constitutes a com
paratively insignificant, yet necessary part. The cir
cular nebula of Lyra, less distinct even than the Crab
Nebula, was not fully resolved by that instrument ;
but sufficiently so to convince astronomers that its
resolution was near, and that it, also, was a mighty
galaxy. The most indistinct^-those found on the

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 49
very verge of the horizon of the longing eye of
science, the Dumb Bell and Dog's Ear, for example
— were more difficult to resolve. The first of these,
however, appeared through that instrument as a
wonderful system, clustering around two nuclei or
knots of stars. The last required the extraordinary
power of Lord Eosse's six-feet mirror to resolve it.
This nebula presented the most astonishing figure ;
and it is not less an object of profound interest,
although it is now believed to be a cluster of distinct
stars, than when it lay dimly shining mid the dark
ness of the unexplored regions of space. He who
can view these phenomena without feeling his own
insignificance in the vast universe around him, and
bowing with reverential awe before the Almighty
Power on whose will all these mightysystems hang
trembling in their orbits, must have a singular com
position of faculties, darkened by passion or deadened
by improper education, exciting the sympathy not
only of angels, but of their Creator himself.
Thus far, these bodies, by yielding to the progres
sive steps of science, have thrown light upon the
darkness by which they were surrounded, and gradu
ally prepared us for the revelations which were
reserved for the immense space-penetrating telescope
of Lord Eosse, and the less renowned but equally
astonishing mirror at Cambridge. These telescopes,
3

50 CAMBRIDGE TELESCOPE.
: themselves the grandest achievement of. artj have
opened up new and deeply interesting territories for
the contemplation of man. Dim and distant nebulae,
so remote that it requires sixty thousand years for
their light to reach us, burst upon the long-reaching
vision of these mighty instruments with a grandeur
before unknown. The nebula in Andromeda, dis
covered in the tenth century, and the only one out of
four thousand which was discovered before the inven
tion of the telescope, has been resolved by the great
refractor at Cambridge, but by no other instrument.
Sir John Herschel described it in 1826, as a nebula
of a milky appearance and perfectly irresolvable, not
having the slightest tendency to that separation into
floeculi, seen in the nebula in Orion, and having no
appearance of a star in the centre. In August, 1847,
the Cambridge refractor was directed upon it, when
the centre appeared condensed almost into a star
like nucleus, and a vast number of stars, of every
gradation of brilliancy, rose upon its surface, not,
indeed, fully and distinctly defined, but showing
clearly that they were not component parts of it. On
the fourteenth day of September following, a favor
able opportunity for farther investigation offered
itself, when, by directing the attention to the pre
ceding portion of the nebula, says Mr. Bond, as
it passed the centre of the field of view, it was evi-

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 51
dent that what had hitherto been regarded as its
boundary in that direction, was rather a sudden inter
ruption of light, appearing like a narrow, dark band,
in which the eye could detect no deviation from per
fect straightness, stretching in the direction of the
axis of the nebula, entirely across the field of vision.
Exterior to this, with respect to the axis, was another
band or canal, closely resembling the former, but some
what less distinct, of equal regularity, and so nearly
parallel with it as to make it difficult to decide, by
simple inspection, whether they were not perfectly so.
What particularly commands attention here, is the
regularity of structure displayed — the uniform influ
ence, made manifest to the senses, of the same law,
over an immensity of space of which the mind can
form no adequate conception ; since the distance at
which Sir William Herschel placed this nebula re
quires that the length of the interior canal should
not be estimated at less than twenty times the dis
tance of Sirius from our system. The number of
stars visible with the full aperture of the object-glass
within the limits of the nebula, prevented Mr. Bond
from attempting to execute a map of them ; but it
was thought that two hundred at least could be seen
in a single field of the telescope. This is nearly equal
to the number found in a single field of view in the
Milky Way. With high powers minute stars can be

52 NEBULA IN ORION,
discerned on the borders of the nucleus ; and al
though it cannot be said that this extraordinary body
has been fully resolved, yet its character can be the
subject of speculation no longer.
But we turn to the last and perhaps the most
wonderful of these bodies, the nebula in Orion. On
examining this nebula' through telescopes of ordinary
power, the middle star seems affected by an indis
tinctness not common to small stars ; indeed, it
appears rather as a diffused haze, not a star properly,
and even when examined with instruments of still
greater power, this hazy , appearance continues un
changed. When Sir John Herschel's eighteen-inch
mirror was directed upon it, strange and fantastic
branching arms were discovered, with such an extra
ordinary appearance as to induce Sir John to believe
it to be something very different from a stellar con
stellation. In the winter of 1845, Dr. Nichol exam
ined this nebula through Lord Eosse's six-foot mirror,
after which he says, " owing to the incompleteness
of the instrument, and the unfavorable weather, it
was the first time that grand telescope had been
directed towards that mysterious object. Not yet the
trace of a star ; looming, unintelligible as ever, there
the nebula lay. But how brilliant its brighter parts !
How much more broken the interior of its mass !
How innumerable the streamers now attached to it

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 53
on every side ! How strange, especially that large
horn, rising in relief out of the dark skies, like a huge
cumulous cloud ! It was still possible, then, that the
nebula might be irresolvable by the loftiest efforts of
human art ; but doubt continued to remain." The long-
cherished hopes of the Professor were all blasted. He
who had measured the heavens, and furnished us a
geography of its wide domain, with the size, location,
and motions of the starry hosts, was compelled to
turn once more from the contemplation of this won
derful phenomenon with feelings of profounder reve
rence and awe. Not discouraged, however, by the
failure of the first effort, the distinguished owner of
the " Parsonstown Leviathan" continued his observa
tions at every favorable opportunity, until March,
1846, when his labors were crowned with success.
He was enabled, not indeed to resolve this obstinate
body fully, but sufficiently to satisfy himself and
others that it was undoubtedly a splendid galaxy of
stars, which fact he communicated to Professor
Nichol the morning following his success. No longer
a self-luminous vapor, or planet in its infancy, but a
bright firmament of stellar orbs, so far removed from
us in space, that the brilliancy of its constituent stars
is merged into a uniform, faint light. The difficulty
was removed, and all the strange appearances
accounted for as the effect of varying distances. The

54
stars of heaven are perfect ; no rudimental or half-
grown ones are found ; the choir is full. The Nebu
lar Hypothesis vanishes as a pleasant dream, profit
able though we believe it has been ; and with it
various systems of cosmogony j the fear Of timid
Christians, and the hopes of Atheistical philosophers.
When the drawing of that nebula, as seen through
Lord Eosse's grand tdescope, was shown to Sir John
Herschel, he said he felt an inexpressible delight
when contemplating the achievements of that instru
ment, that, Jby opening up new scenes of the grandeur
of creation, it would tend to elevate and ennoble our
conceptions of the great and beneficent Architect,
and that that was the grand object contemplated,
and the noblest aim of all science. He who
 " Spangled o'er infinity with suns,
And wrapped it round about him as a robe,
And wrote out His own great Name
In spheres of fire, that Heaven might alway tell
To every creature, God 1"
rises above the majestic movement of his own creation,
bidding man, in gentle but reproving language, to
gird up his loins and declare, whether he can " bind
the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose the
bands of Orion !"
The dark cloud which had so long obscured the
vision of astronomers, not only preventing further

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 55
investigation, but casting heavy shadows upon objects
already surveyed, and doubts and fears upon facts
wliich otherwise would have served as a sure founda
tion for hope and faith, had, at least, been broken
into detached parts, and now only waited the agency
of the splendid telescope at Cambridge, to be. re
solved into thinner vapor than the most highly atten
uated nebulae, which was ever supposed to have an
existence. The Cambridge refractor has not the
space-penetrating power of Lord Eosse's telescope;
but, our atmosphere is more favorable, ana hence
more has been achieved than has yet been accom
plished by that immense instrument. When the
Cambridge refractor was directed upon the nebula in
Orion, the stars of that immeasurable mass burst into
the most distinct and well-defined light. The learned
director of that Observatory has executed a splendid
drawing of the nebula, locating and numbering a
catalogue of several hundred stars, varying in his
scale from the fourth to the nineteenth degrees of
magnitude. The nebulous appearances are not en
tirely dissipated ; nor can we hope they ever will be.
From past experience we may expect, that as the
space-penetrating power of the telescope is increased,
the present nebulous appearances will be resolved
into stars, and that other nebulous appearances, still
more remote, will rise upon our vision, to perplex the

56 OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD.
inquirer, and to invite renewed efforts; but telling
man, in silent yet astounding language, that beyond,
and still beyond, there are other systems, too mighty
and too remote for his limited vision ; that there are
no bounds to space or to matter ; and that to the Infi
nite Mind, the power to scan the illimitable and com
prehend the incomprehensible, has been reserved.
What infinite distances, what dread potencies, are
here for our contemplation ! But above these poten
cies, mighty though they are, we cannot fail to recog
nize a Creative Power, more worthy of our serious
and reverential contemplation. 'Twas He who spread
out these illimitable fields of space ; who created
and now controls the mighty forces pervading them ;
to whom the deep-toned thunders and whispering
zephyrs are alike obedient. To Him all times, all
distances, and all things, are the same. The delicate
flower, breathing its fragrance upon the thoughtless
wanderer for a day, and the dim, yet mighty systems,
sweeping with incalculable speed around the verge
of the outward horizon ; my infant daughter, yet
unconscious of the dread agencies around her, teach
ing us by her simplicity and innocence, of primal
purity ; and the throng of angels, the loved and lost,
" whose bright and long-missed faces seem bursting
through the sky," are all the 'creatures of His infinite
love, and the objects of His parental care.

NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS. 57
" The smallest dust which floats upon the wind
Bears the strong impress of the Eternal Mind :
In mystery round it, subtle forces roll ;
And gravitation binds and guides the whole .
In every sand before the tempest hurled,
Lie locked the powers which regulate a world ;
And from each atom human thought may rise
With might to pierce the mysteries of the skie s ;
To try each force which rules the mighty plan,
Of moving planets, or of breathing man ;
And from the secret wonders of each sod,
Evoke the truths and learn the power of God I"

3*

PAET II.

ASTRONOMY.

From the review of the phenomena upon which
the Nebular Hypothesis was based, themselves
depending on suppositions and conjectures, we turn
to facts equally interesting to the candid inquirer,
and infinitely more important in guiding the mind to
correct conclusions, and the heart to the great source
as well as end of all its best affections.
A distinguished jurist, when speaking of circum
stantial evidence, said that it might be, and not
unfrequently was, better than direct and positive
proof. The ear and eye may be deceived ; but an
unbroken chain of dependent circumstances, standing
in the relation of cause and effect, or of independent
facts, all tending to establish the same hypothesis,
and to exclude every other analogous to the reductio
ad absurdum in geometry, amounts to proof almost

ASTRONOMY. 59
above the possibility of error. And although proof
of this kind is seldom of an absolute or demonstrative
character, yet it is sufficient to exclude all reasonable
doubt, and thus generate moral conviction and belief.
The most important and beautiful of all philosophical
theories, that of Sir Isaac Newton, for explaining the
solar system, as exhibited by that great philosopher,
amounts simply to this ; a cause, viz., gravitation
exists. It is matter of demonstrative proof, that if
such a cause did, really operate upon the system, it
would produce all the effects or phenomena which
are actually observed; that is, the supposed cause is
sufficient to explain all the phenomena, hence it is
inferred to be true ; and the force of this inference is
in proportion to the improbability that all the minute
coincidences between the phenomena aud the hy
pothesis should be merely fortuitous, and that they
should have resulted, not from a cause known to
exist, and which is adequate to produce them, but
from some other cause unobserved and unknown.
And in philosophical, as in judicial proofs, the chain
of coincidences, and the chain of circumstances
proved to exist, must be perfect and unbroken ; the
least chasm will destroy the whole. If there are any
incongruous circumstances or faets which cannot be
removed, or any. chasm which cannot be filled, the
hypothesis must fall, although no other can be sug-

60
gested. So true is this, that the French philosophers
opposed Newton's system of the world, because his
calculations made the moon's apsides but one half as
great as they were proved to be by actual observation.
And this, be it remembered, was after every other
difficulty had been removed.
The problem of the. three bodies challenged the
greatest minds of the eighteenth century, and threat
ened the total overthrow of that system, which is
both the 'glory of Newton, and the honor of his
species. Clairaut, D'Alembert, and Euler, were the
three distinguished competitors for the honor of re
moving the difficulty. And it was not until they dis
covered that the difference between the calculations
of the apsides and the actual observation, resulted
from an error in neglecting a tangential force in the
calculation, which, when taken into the account,
reconciled the theoretical with the actual observation,
that the French fully adopted Newton's theory.
Clairaut found that the motion of the longer axis
of the moon's orbit came out only half of what obser
vation made it. In consequence of this, he came to
the conclusion that the force with which the earth
attracts the moon, does not decrease exactly as the
square of the distances increase ; but that a part of it
only follows that law, while another part follows the
inverse of the biquadrate or fourth power of the dis-

ASTRONOMY. 61
tances. This was objected to for want of simplicity.
On farther calculation he was induced to carry his
approximation farther than he had done, and to
include quantities before rejected. Having done this,
he found the numerator of the fraction that denoted
the part of gravity which followed the new law, equal
to nothing; that is, that it had no existence. The
calculus was then rectified, and the approximation
carried out, when it was clearly and satisfactorily
settled that the moon's apsides, as deduced from
theory, coincided exactly with observation. This was
an important triumph for science, connecting as
it did, the mighty chain of facts which established
Newton's theory. Gravitation was then acknow
ledged by the learned of all countries^ to be as
mighty as it was mysterious ; as regular and power
ful as it was universal and essential in the glorious
family of brilliant orbs, whose pathways it marked
out and whose revolutions it controlled.
The orbits of the planets are all ellipses, having
the sun for their common focus. The distance of the
focus from the centre of the ellipsis is what astrono
mers call the eccentricity of the orbit. This eccen
tricity is small in all of the planets, and the ellipse
approaches nearly to a circle. These eccentricities
are subject to constant changes, but they are so influ
enced and regulated by each other, that the change is

•62 PLANETARY EOCENTRICITDjB.
never very great. This fact was dearly and satisfac
torily established by Laplace, in his " Traite de
Mechmique Celeste." If the mass of each planet be
multiplied into the square of the eccentricity of its
orbit, and this product into the square root of the
axis of the same orbit, the sum of all these quantities,
when they are added together, will remain for ever
the same. This sum is a constant magnitude, which
the mutual action of the planets cannot change, and
which nature preserves free from alteration. Hence
no one of the eccentricities can ever increase to a
great magnitude ; for as the mass of each planet is
given, and also its axis, the square of the eccentricity
in each is multiplied into a given co-efficient, and the
sum of- all, the products so formed is incapable of
change. ' The orbits of the planets, however, are not all
alike. They differ in form as well as distance.
Whether this was designed by the great Architect,
or resulted accidentally from the different degrees of
velocity with which the planets were originally
thrown off from the supposed nebulous primary, can
be inferred from the evidence only which their diver
sified forms and their necessary forces present. Had
the. velocity been such, says a distinguished author
ess; as to make the planets move in orbits of unstable
equilibrium, their mutual attraction irdght have

ASTRONOMY. 63
changed them into parabolas, or even hyperbolas, so
that the earth and the planets might, ages ago, have
been sweeping far from our sun, through the abyss of
space. But as the orbits differ very little from circles,
the momentum of the planets, when projected, must
have been exactly sufficient to insure the perma^
nency and stability of the system. Besides, con
tinues the same authority, the mass of the sun is
vastly greater than that of any planet ; and as their
inequalities bear the same ratio to their elliptical
motions, that their masses do to that of the sun, their
mutual disturbances only increase or diminish the
eccentricities of their orbits by very minute quanti
ties 4 consequently the magnitude of the sun's mass is
the principal cause of the stability of the system.
Thus we see that the orbits of the planets are import
ant elements ; and we must also see that they were
originally designed to perform the office which we
find them performing in the system. It would be
useless to inquire, whether the Creator chose to
establish them through the intensity of their primi
tive momentum, or independent of it ; it is enough
to know that the forces exerted by them are neces
sary in the system, and that these forces result from
peculiarities which cannot be accounted for, and
which might have ' been different. This important
and necessary arrangement has always been consider-

64 ORIGINAL DESIGN.
ed an interesting and conclusive evidence of original
design ; because it depends on conditions arbitrary in
themselves. The quantity which secures the stability
of the system depends on the uniform motion of the
planets, their circular orbits, and the smallness of
their eccentricities ; all of which might have been
different from anything we can discover in the laws
pervading the universe.
The inequalities of the planets, for a correct under
standing of which the world is indebted to Lagrange,
are also interesting' and important evidence of original
design or final cause. Lagrange found that the
inequalities were all periodical ; and that the greater
axis of the ellipse, or the mean distance of each
planet from the sun, and its mean motion, were
always the same. This was one of the greatest dis
coveries of science. It was then ascertained that
these inequalities were limited ; and that, although
the planets under the influence of one law did
wander from their course, they were drawn back
again by a potency equal to the former ; and that the
discord and destruction which would necessarily
result from the supremacy of either power, was pre
vented by a just and equal balance of both.
In this connection we may refer to the acceleration
of the moon, discovered by Dr. Halley, while com
paring ancient with modern observations. This, it

ASTRONOMY. 65
will be recollected, was one of the evidences relied
on to establish the existence of a nebulous matter.
Dr. Halley observed that the moon's motion around
the earth appeared to be performed in a shorter time
than was formerly required ; and that the difference
appeared to be slowly but regularly increasing. This
could not be explained by gravitation. It was sup
posed by many savans, that gravitation did not act
instantaneously, and that the time thus taken up
caused the acceleration ; others thought it was
caused by a resistance of the medium in which she
moves. The last opinion was adopted by the friends
of the nebular hypothesis. It was reserved for
Laplace to show how this acceleration agreed with
the inequalities depending on the changes in the'
eccentricities of its orbit, and that it is not constantly
increasing, but like other inequalities, periodical. It
was these unexplained accelerations and inequalities,
favoring the idea of a final destruction of our system,
that inspired the eloquent lines of the philosophic
Darwin: —
" Koll on, ye stars ! exult in youthful prime,
Mark with bright curves the printless; steps of Time.
Near and more near your beamy cars approach,
And lessening orbs on lessening orbs encroach.
Flowers of the sky ! ye too to age must yield,
Frail as your silken sisters of the field,

66 PROFESSOR PLAYFAD3.
Star after star from heaven's high arch shall rush,
Suns sink on suns, and systems systems crush ;
Headlong, extinct, to one dark centre fall,
And earth, and night, and chaos mingle all ;
Till o'er the wreck, emerging from the storm,
Immortal Nature lifts her changeful form j
Mounts from her funeral pyre on wings of flame,
And soars and shines another and the same !"
" The destiny of nature is, however," to use the
language of Professor Playfair,; " more noble than
that which this magnificent description holds up to
the fancy ; and the algebraist has extracted from his
calculus a more sublime conclusion than the inven
tion of a poet has been able to attain. The constancy
of nature, amidst all the changes she undergoes, is
upheld by the constitution of these changes, which
prescribes to each its limits, and forees it to recur in
a series, which in time reduces to nothing the sum of
all the deviations from the mean. Thus, the amount
of the whole is permanent, though the terms them
selves are perpetually changing ; and hence nature
is rendered immortal, not by emerging from the
storm, but by being ever superior to its power ; its
order is not renovated, but preserved ; and the
wisdom of its Author has provided an antidote to
evil, that renders all remedies unnecessary."
But we return to the ne"bular hypothesis, according
to which the nebulous matter must have originally

ASTRONOMY. 67
filled all space, and all Celestial bodies of every cha
racter most have resulted or sprung from it. They
should, therefore, all move in the same direction
around the primary, and should observe some law as
to the relative time required to complete that mo
tion ; secondly, they should rotate in the same direc
tion on their axes ; and thirdly, the satellites should
observe the same laws towards their primaries. And
as the great primary continued to solidify as it con
tracted its dimensions through the influence of radia
tion, the inner or nearest planets should be more
compact than the outer ones ; and so in proportion to
their distances, or the date of their creation. It is
also contended that the size of each must agree with
its distance from the primary : we do not think,
however, that this is a necessary consequence.
At the expense even of repetition and prolixity,
we must, before going any farther, refer to the
positions first assumed. A nebula, extending through
all space, is reduced by radiation, which in itself
produces an inward rushing of the outward particles ;
and this causes rotary motion, which, in its turn,
gives birth to centrifugal force. Now, .without
inquiring into the cause of this radiation, or the pos
sibility of it in a body such as this diffused nebulous
mass must have been, we will proceed to inquire how
the revolving motion resulted from the inward rush-

68 RADIATION OF THE NEBULA.
ing of the molecules. This is explained by the whirl
pools or dimples observed by the " musing poet " in
fantastic eddies, where the current, is forced out of
its direction by some opposing power turning it back
in a semi-Circular course, which brings it in contact
with the current above, and this carrying it down
again to the point of resistance, gives it a circular
motion. We see this illustrated in the bends or
curves of rivers, where, the current rushes against
the bank, and at the meeting of streams flowing
together from oblique directions. But these pheno
mena are not fair illustrations of the motion of the
nebulous particles. The nebula must have been a
globe: if so, the radiation acted equally on all the
agglomerating particles in the same circle, and the
momentum of each must have been the same. This
neutralized their force, and destroyed all cause for
rotary motion. Whirlpools are caused by currents
running to different points ; but the agglomerating
particles of the nebula are all drawn to a single
nucleus. The different currents have unequal force
and velocity ; but the motion of the molecules is pro
duced by the same influences, and their forces are
necessarily equal.
But suppose the external particles were thrown
off in the form of a ring around the primary,
and afterward broken up ; we still meet with a

ASTRONOMY. 69
difficulty of no ordinary character, in getting them
around a single nucleus. These fragments are scat
tered around an orbit too inconceivably vast for
computation, and around a globe (the primary) mil
lions of times larger than the nucleus which is des
tined to attract the widely scattered particles toge
ther. It is a well-known law in physics, that there is
a mutual attraction between all bodies in the propor
tion of their mass. How, then, is the attractive
power of the great central mass overcome by that of
the mere. point? Is it owing to a centrifugal force
which continues to throw them off? We can imagine
the planets taking oblate forms under the reciprocal
attraction of their component parts and centrifugal
force, for this process is natural, and does not conflict
with well established laws ; but how detached parts,
under the influence of conflicting forces, separated as
widely as these must have been, were brought under
the attractive power of a single nucleus, is a question
not easily settled.
The four minor planets, occupying the space be
tween Mars and Jupiter, seem to be more natural,
having been formed according to this theory, out of
the same broken ring; but they constitute an excep
tion to the general law, and are accounted for by
supposing that a planet had been burst asunder by
some internal force, after it had been formed out of

70 SIZE OF THE PLANETS.
the particles thrown off from the primary. It ap
pears more likely, however, that the broken ring
would have originally formed around the different
nuclei, and not around a single one.
But, did this supposed nebulous body ever occupy
the whole orbit of the most distant planet ? The
diameter of the'sun is eight hundred and eighty-eight
thousand miles ; and that of Jupiter, the largest
planet, only eighty-eight thousand miles. It has been
ascertained by calculation, that if all the planets and
satellites in our system were moulded into a single"
globe, that globe would not exceed the five-hun
dredth part of the globe of the sun : in other words,
the bulk of the sun is five hundred times greater than
the aggregate bulk of all the rest of the bodies of the
solar system. If the planets and satdlites were
brought to the density of the sun, they would still
bear no greater proportion to that body. According
to this calculation, we have a globe whose diameter
is eight hundred and eighty-dght thousand miles, and
other bodies, the aggregate bulk of which is but one
five-hundredth part as large, of the density of water,
to fill an orbit whose diameter is not much less than
six thousand millions of miles. We repeat, is it pos
sible that these bodies ever filled the orbit of Uranus ?
The discovery of Neptune increases the difficulty

ASTRONOMY. 71
We know the astonishing extent to which water may
be expanded ; but there are limits to the expansion of
steam, as well as to everything else.

n.

THE DISTANCE AND DENSITY OF THE PLANETS.
And what are the distances and densities of the
planets? for these are important elements in the
theory. The nearest planet is thirty-six millions of
miles from the sun, and the second is seventy millions
of miles, or nearly twice the distance of its younger
sister; while the earth, the next in order, is only
ninety-five millions, — being less than one third in
crease on the orbit of Yenus ; and Mars, the fourth,
is one hundred and fifty millions of mileSj or a little
more than one third increase on the orbit of the earth.
Uranus is one billion eight hundred millions of
miles from the sun, or nearly twice the distance of
Saturn. But Neptune exhibits the greatest viola
tion of the supposed law of planetary distances.
The interval between its orbit and that of Mercury,
instead of being nearly double the interval be
tween the orbit of Uranus and Mercury, as the
law requires, does not, in fact, exceed the latter
interval by much more than one half its amount.

72 INCREASING DISTANCE.
".This remarkable exception," says Sir John Her
schel, " may serve to make us cautious in the too
ready admission of empirical laws of this nature to
the rank of fundamental truths, though, as in the
present instance, they may prove useful auxiliaries,
and serve as stepping-stones, . affording a temporary
footing in the path of great discoveries !" The space
between Mars and Jupiter is accounted for by sup
posing that the planet originally thrown off in that
place, was broken up by some internal violence ; and
that the four small planets first discovered, which
revolve between these two planets, at nearly the
same mean distance from the sun, were formed out
of the fragments of the broken planet. This may be
true, but how are the other small planets, recently
discovered within our system, accounted for ? The
only vacancy in the order of the planets, lies between
Mars and Jupiter : to fill that there are eleven small
planets, which, if moulded into one, would make it
too large for the law of proportion. Thus, while
astronomers restore the apparent order of distances, by
reconstructing a large planet out of the small ones
found in the chasm, they violate the law of increasing
size. Every discovery removes some strong column
from the vapory edifiee, and adds new difficulties for
the ingenious and the learned to surmount.
The same difficulty presents itself in the bulk or

ASTRONOMY. 73
size of the planets. Mercury, the nearest to the sun,
is about three thousand two hundred miles in diame
ter, and Neptune, the most distant planet yet dis
covered, is not far from twenty thousand miles in
diameter. There is not, however, a progressive
increase of bulk from Mercury to Neptune. Jupiter,
the fifth large planet, is much the largest, having a
diameter of eighty-eight thousand miles. Saturn is
larger than Uranus, being eighty thousand miles in
diameter ; and Uranus is nearly twice as large as
Neptune. The diameters of Venus and the earth are
nearly equal, each of them being twice as great as
that of Mars, whose distance from the sun is more
than one third greater than that of the earth, and
more than twice the distance of Yenus. There is,
then, no regularity to be found here, however import
ant an element it may be in the hypothesis. The
measure of density adopted, and which is sustained
by the exact , calculation of some of the planets,
reduces Uranus down to an inconceivably attenuated
mist, and Neptune to "the shadow of a shade."
The density of the planets is different, but not more
regular in increase than in their size. Indeed, there
is no law, either in their distance, size, or density.
Appearances at first seem to indicate the existence of
such laws, but observation and measurement establish
exceptions to them, at once too numerous and too
4

74 PLANETARY GROUPS.
great to admit of such a belief. The advocates of the
theory are not more fortunate in the motion of the
heavenly bodies ; for. it is found that the* satellites of
Uranus have a retrograde motion, that is, from east
to west. This fact appears to be established ; and it
conflicts with calculations more important than the
nebular theory. We will see hereafter that the
uniform motion of all the bodies, including satellites,
in one direction, is considered necessary to the
stability of the system.
In connection with these differences, we may refer
to the contrast between the interior. and exterior
planetary groups. The members of the interior
group are denser, rotate more slowly and with nearly
equal velocity, and are less compressed at the poles.
The compression at their poles may be accounted for
by their velocity, but beyond this there is no inherent
necessity, no natural law, by which their peculiarities
can be explained. The time of rotation diminishes
with increasing solar distance, yet it is greater in
Mars than in the- earth, and in Saturn than in Jupiter.
The same differences exist in the elliptidty of their
orbits. Juno, Pallas and Mercury have the greatest
degree of eccentricity, " The eccentricities of Juno
and Pallas," says the illustrious Humboldt, "are
very nearly identical, and are each three times as
great as those of Ceres and Yesta. The same may be

ASTRONOMY. 75
said of the inclination of the orbits of the planets
toward the plane of projection of the ecliptic, or in
the position of their axes of rotation with relation to
their orbits ; a position on which the relations of
climate, seasons of the year, and length of the days
depend, more than on eccentricity. Those planets
that have the most elongated elliptic orbits, as Juno,
Pallas, and Mercury, have also, though not to the
same degree, their orbits, most strongly inclined
toward the ecliptic. Pallas has a comet-like inclina
tion nearly twenty-six times greater than that of
Jupiter ; whilst in the little planet, Yesta, which is
so near Pallas, the angle of inclination scarcely by
six times exceeds that of Jupiter. An equally irregu
lar succession is observed in the position of the axes
of the few planets whose planes of rotation we know
with any degree of certainty. It would appear from
the position of the satellites of Uranus, two of which,
the second and fourth, have been recently observed
with certainty, that the axis of this planet is scarcely
inclined as much as eleven degrees toward the plane
of its orbit ; while Saturn is placed between this
planet, whose axis coincides with the plane of
its orbit, and Jupiter, whose axis of rotation is
nearly perpendicular to it. * * * *
The planetary system, in its relations of absolute
size, and the relative position of the axis, density, time

76 CREPUSCULAR THEORY.
of rotation, and different degrees of eccentricity of the
orbits, does not appear to offer to our apprehension
any stronger evidence of a natural necessity, than the
proportion observed in the distribution of land and
water on the earth, the configuration of continents, or
the height of mountain chains. In these respects we
can discover no common law in the regions of space,
or in the inequalities of the earth's crust."
We have noticed every evidence which contributed
to support the nebular hypothesis, except those de
rived from the crepuscular theory of light, and the
zodiacal light ; and we have found that the evidences
themselves either had no existence, or that they
proved the reverse of the theory. The crepuscular
theory of light has yielded to another more reason
able, and which agrees more fully with known
phenomena. While the writer does not believe
in the correctness of either of the theories of
iight, he considers the undulatory the most reason
able and probable. This certainly does not agree
with the idea advanced by the friends of the hypo
thesis; and the other theory is almost entirely su
perseded. The uncertainty which continues to
hang about the origin, character, and destiny of
the zodiacal light, prevents us from speaking as
positively concerning it. But we believe that future
discoveries will also rob the hypothesis of this, its

ASTRONOMY. 77
last support ; for the same discoveries will, if the
the past have not already, remove even the shadow
of an argument, so far as the appearances of the
Magellanic clouds are concerned.
But we pass from negative to positive evidence ;
from the imaginary evidences of an empty theory to
the astonishing facts and beautiful adaptations of a
glorious reality. While speaking of the planets, their
axes, orbits, and eccentricities, we were necessarily
compelled to anticipate this part of the subject; for
it appeared impossible to pass them by without allud
ing to the evidences of design, which were written in
.characters as bright as the sunlight in which they re
volved. Many of the arrangements to which we have
referred, although they are, as we have seen, indis
pensably necessary in the harmoniously acting ma
chinery of the universe, do not result from any known
physical law, and cannot be accounted for by any
thing within the compass of scientific research. They
are not the offspring of gravity, that mysterious power
which pervades the universe, and binds the various
parts in relations of dependency. Without them, the
harmony and beauty, as well as the permanency of
the system, would be lost ; yet they appear inde
pendent of all physical laws, and must depend upon
some power without and above the solar system, if
upon any. God, who created and designed the

78 VOICE OF NATURE.
various parts to perform their respective offices, wrote
out the law of their existence in the act of their crea
tion. " Thus far and no farther ;" to that end and no
other, spake the Almighty at the time he separated
the heavens from the earth, and drew the boundary
line between the dry land and the watery deep ; and
thus, when He scattered His starry host, and planted
His planetary sentinels through the infinitude of space,
were their axes fixed, their orbits prescribed, and their
eccentricities limited.
" He spake, and it was done ; eternal night,
At God's command, awakened into light;
He called the elements, earth, ocean, air —
He called them when they were not, and they were.
He looked through space, and, kindling o'er the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars, came forth to meet His eye.
Hrs Spirit moved upon the desert earth,
And sudden life through all things warm'd into birth.
Man from the dust, He raised to. rule the whole ;
He breathed, and man became a living soul ;
Thus were the heavens and all the hosts displayed,
In wisdom thus were earth's foundations laid."
To confirm this, the smallest insect beneath our
feet — the creature of a moment's duration— and the
mighty planetary and stellar systems, scattered through
infinity, in a single revolution of which unnumbered
years are exhausted, unite their testimony. Each is
a mystery beyond the comprehension of man, and both
silently point him upward for the revelation he seeks.

ASTRONOMY. 79
in.
PHYSICAL LAWS. M. POISSON's LABORS.
In speaking of the eccentricities of the planetary
orbits, we referred to the evidences of Clairaut,
Lagrange, and LaPlace, to show that the planets
were so controlled by physical forces or laws, that
they would always observe a mean ; that if they did
wander they would surely return; and that thus all
danger to the system was avoided : to this we may
add what is indeed a most important fact, furnishing
as it does the most conclusive evidence of original
design. The same distinguished astronomers suc
ceeded in proving, that the eccentricities and inclina
tions of the planetary orbits, and the revolution of all
the bodies in the same direction, were conditions
necessary to secure the stability of the system. More
recently it was asserted that the periodicity of the
terms of \ the series expressing the perturbations was
sufficient within itself; but this proved to be a mis
take. M. Poisson has shown that the three condi
tions referred to are requisite for the necessary con
vergence of the series, and are therefore indispensable
elements. It appears from this, that the conditions
which man's imagination converted into the elements

80 STABILITY OF THE SYSTEM.
of destruction, are the ones which the Creator made
essential to the system. The stone which the builders
rejected has become the corner-stone of the mighty
edifice, the simplest component parts of which are
beyond the comprehension of man. The talents and
accumulated learning, and the untiring perseverance
of centuries, have enabled him to weigh the planetary
bodies and measure the immensity of their orbits, and
partially to comprehend the mysterious forces which
bind them in one great system ; but beyond this he
has not been able to penetrate. The inner sanctuary
of the Almighty's dwelling-place, and the innumera
ble potencies which move the hidden machinery, have
not yet been exposed to the gaze of mortals.
The planets are constantly subjected to, and are
influenced by, certain forces which move them in
different ways ; yet the counter influences of these
forces, and the attractive power of the sun, prevent
these variations from becoming great. But minute
as these changes or variations are, says the distin
guished authoress heretofore referred to, they might
be supposed to accumulate, in the course of ages,
sufficiently to derange the whole order of nature, to
alter the relative positions of the planets,.to put an end
to the vicissitudes of the seasons, and to bring about
collisions which would involve our whole system,
now so harmonious, in chaotic confusion. It is

ASTRONOMY. 81
natural to inquire, what proof exists that nature will
be preserved from such a catastrophe ? Nothing can
be known from observation, since the existence of
the human race has occupied comparatively but a
point in duration, while these vicissitudes embrace
myriads of ages. The proof, however, is simple and
conclusive. All the variations of the solar system,
secular as well as periodic, are expressed analytically
by the sines and. cosines of circular arcs, which in
crease with the time ; and as a sine or cosine can
never exceed the radius, but must oscillate between
zero and unity, however much the time may increase,
it follows that when the variations have accumulated
to a maximum, by slow changes, in however long a
time, they decrease by the same slow degrees till
they arrive at their smallest value, again to begin a
new course ; thus for ever oscillating about a mean
value. This circumstance, however, would be insuf
ficient, were it not for the small eccentricities of the
planetary orbits, their minute inclinations to the
plane of the ecliptic, and the revolutions of all the
bodies, as well planets as satellites, in the same
direction. These secure the perpetual stability of the
solar system.
But suppose it is admitted that all these conditions
and cooperating forces might result, or even that they
did result from the laws of gravity and centrifugal
4*

82 earth's revolution.
force, and that these laws are self-existent, or neces
sary to matter itself, which is not contended for ; yet,
when we find that these conditions are necessary to
the existence of the vegetable and animal kingdoms,
and that the earth— for we can speak positively of no
other body-^-would be a waste in the great creation
if it were not for the laws which cause its rotation and
revolution, and regulate its axis and orbit, can we
resist the conviction that every part is the work of an
all-wise Intelligence, to whom the past and the fu
ture are known, and to whose will all agencies are
obedient ?
While the earth revolves around its own axis, it
moves in an elliptical orbit around its primary, the
sun. In this annual motion the axis of the earth is
inclined from the perpendicular to its orbit at an angle
of twenty-three degrees and twenty-eight minutes ;
and during the time of the motion, the diameter is
kept parallel to the same direction. • By this simple
but stupendous contrivance, the changes of the sea
sons and temperature are effected. Had the axis of
the earth been perpendicular to the plane of its orbit,
like Jupiter, (and we see no physical cause to . have
prevented it,) the same places would have had the sun
always vertical. Under such an arrangement the equa
torial regions would have been parched with intolerable
heat, and that which is now the fairest portion of our

astronomy. 8,3
globe would have been doomed to sterility and deso
lation. By this inclination of the earth's axis, all
parts are brought more or less under the solar influ
ence; and thus the various climates are modified.
But there are other dements equally important in pro
ducing the variety of seasons, and in securing the
beautiful and necessary alternations, which make our
globe the scene of such varied and ever-active life.
We are nearer the sun during the winter than we are
during the summer ; the difference.in the temperature
of the seasons does not therefore depend on proximity
to the sun, but on the time the terrestrial surface is ex
posed to its rays, and the manner in which they are
received, whether vertically or obliquely. During
our near approach to the sun, (for the earth is about
one twenty-ninth of its whole distance from the sun
nearer to it during its perihelion than it is during its
aphdion,) its velodty is increased in proportion to the
decrease of the square of its distance. It is this in
creased angular velocity of the earth, when at its
perihelion, that protects us from the excess of heat to
which our comparatively near approach to the sun
would otherwise expose us.
"Were it not for this," says Sir John Herschel,
" the eccentricity of the orbit would materially influ
ence the transition of the- seasons. The fluctuation
of distance amounts to nearly one thirtieth of ita mean

84
quantity, and consequently, the fluctuation in the
sun's airect heating power to double this, or one fif
teenth of the whole. Now, the perihelion of the orbit
is situated at the place of the northern winter solstice ;
so that, were it not for the compensation we have just
described, the effect would be to exaggerate the dif
ference of summer and winter in the southern hemi
sphere, and to moderate it in the northern ;. thus
producing a more violent alternation of elimate in the
one hemisphere, and an approach to perpetual spring in
the, other. As it is, however, no such inequality sub
sists, but an equal and impartial distribution of heat
and light is accorded to both." Thus, though the
seasons depend on the inclination of the earth's axis
to its orbit, the influence of this inclination would be
partially defeated by the eccentricity, were it not
for that law of gravity, by which the velocity is in
creased in proportion to the decrease of the square of
the distance. The one-fifteenth increase of solar heat,
which, without some compensation, would seriously
aggravate the sufferings of all exposed to the direct
solar rays, is thus avoided by the increased angular
velocity. But we have seen that the inclination of
the axis of the earth's orbit is wholly arbitrary, and
that it might have been even as Jupiter's, which is
perpendicular to the plane of its orbit; This, would,
as we have heretofore remarked, have changed en-

ASTRONOMY^ , 85
tirely the character of our globe. This, then, for we
can arrive at no other conclusion, must have been
designed originally for the important offices it per
forms, by the Power that created it; and that Power
must have been intelligent and all-powerful, for no
other could have foreseen the necessity of this condi
tion and established it as a law.
A single glance at the heavens appears sufficient to
establish the fact that the celestial bodies, their
arrangement and movements, are the result of a well-
ordered system, conceived and carried out by a self-
existent Creator. And certainly a long continued
examination and study of them does not change the
first deep impression ; indeed it is only the superfi
cial observer, or he whose mind is impervious, and
who delights to challenge accumulative evidence,
that fails to be convinced, or asks additional proof.
Nothing is wanting to fit the earth for the great
offices of life. Every law essential for this purpose,
whether connected with the centre of heat and light,
the distant planets, or the earth itself, is stamped un
alterably upon them ; and not only on these, but on
everything connected with them — particularly on the
atmosphere — that important agent without which all
else would be useless.
Plain and convincing, however, as these facts
appear to us, they have not always produced the

86 COPERNICUS, GALILEO.
same conviction on other minds. Men, learned in
almost every branch of human knowledge, have
viewed these evidences of original design in the
creation, in a very different light. They saw no
moving power behind the horizon that bound their
vision ; heard no voice within their own souls direct
ing them to a presiding Intelligence, to whom all
physical forces are obedient ; felt no -humility before
the dread potencies which held and moved the va
rious planetary systems in their orbits. But, for the
honor of our spedes, there have been few only so
constituted ; and these have not been the greatest.
It was not so with Copernicus, after years of patient
but persevering industry had furnished him the data
which were to establish the true system of the Uni
verse ; not so with him, when he was persecuted by
a bigoted and intolerant church, and publicly jridi-
culed by a community whose diseases he had healed,
and whose poverty he had relieved ; not so when he
rallied his energies in the last moment of life, to
touch the immortal volume just published, . before
passing into a higher state of existence, to test the
truth of his theory and receive the reward of hi&
labors. It was not so with Galileo, when rich in
experience and knowledge, and venerable in years,
he was compelled by the* same intolerant spirit to
renounce a system which his enlightened consdence

ASTRONOMY. 87
approved, and succeeding ages have confirmed. Not
so with Descartes, when Holland achieved a distinc
tion in persecuting him, almost as unenviable as Italy
established when she forced the venerable Galileo to
bow, and disgraced herself by libelling both science
and nature.
The good and the great of all ages, and all civilized
countries, have recognized something more than mere
physical force in the dread agencies around them.
They have felt and still fed that these things had a
beginning and must have an ending ; but that there
is that which had no beginning, and can have no
ending, to whom the past and present are known,
and to whose future they confidently committed
spirits chastened by humility and purified by love.
With such we desire to be found ; for they not only
excite our sympathy, but command our admiration
and respect. In the eloquent language of another :
"If they erred, it was in a heavenly region; if they
wandered, it was in the fields of light ; if they
aspired, it was at all events a glorious daring ; and
rather than sink with infidelity into the dust, we are
content to cheat ourselves with their vision of eternity.
It may, indeed, be nothing but delusion, but then it
was and is the delusion of the disciples of philosophy
and of virtue ; of men who drank deep at the foun
tain Of human knowledge, but who dissolved not the

88 evidences around us.
»
pearl of their salvation in the draught. We err with
Bacon, the great confident of nature, fraught with all
the learning of the past, and almost prescient of the
future ; yet too wise not to know his weakness, and
too philosophic not to feel his ignorance. We err
with Milton, rising on an angel's wing to heaven,
and like the bird of mom, soaring out of sight, amid
the music of his grateful piety. We err with Locke,
whose pure philosophy only taught him to adore its
source; whose warm loVe of genuine liberty was
never chilled into rebellion with its Author. We
err with Newton, whose star-like spirit shot athwart
the darkness of the sphere, too soon to re-ascend to
the home of his nativity."
But we need not appeal to human evidence to
sustain us ; nor is it necessary to cast a longing eye
up to the mysterious and unknown, to interrogate the
ever-active elements and forces, which answer only
by the silence and grandeur of their motions. We
are surrounded by witnesses, less imposing, perhaps,
but not less truthful. Who has not felt the truth of
these lines, while watching an autumnal sunset, when
the great luminary, drawing his vestment of crimson
and gold more closely around him, sunk behind the
horizon ; or while gazing upon the still more gorgeous
and thrilling scene of an ocean sunrise, when from
cloud to cloud the varied hues of light like animate

ASTRONOMY. 89
beings passed, until the deep-blue element itself
seemed all on fire ; or as he stood on nature's moun
tain-altars, looking up into the boundless infinite of
noon-day, breathing an atmosphere composed of differ
ent elements, all blending in one great ocean of kind
ness ? Who has not felt that here, even on this mate
rial globe, and within the range of human vision,
enough, yea, more than sufficient existed to inspire the
noblest feelings of his nature, and to lead him trem
bling to the throne of the Eternal! But what are
these, all these, — the gorgeous settings and risings of
the great luminary ; the smiling valley or stupendous
mountain ; the mighty ocean with its' surging billows,
or the boundless fields of planetary matter, — if we do
not hear them join with the immortal Galen in his
hymn of praise in honor of their Creator ? They
are distinctly heard, however, by the attentive ear of
Nature's votary ; and it is this that arouses man from
the dreamy reverie into which he so easily . falls, and
points his timid eye to the Almighty hand, wrapped
in the radiance of its own existence, which supports
the machinery of the universe, and moves the car of
humanity onward.

PART III.

GEOLOGY.

Turning our eyes from the brilliant heavenly orbs,
which lie like' jewels scattered through the depths of
infinite space, to the less beautiful, but not less inte
resting phenomena buried in the planet we inhabit,
we will find the transition easy : for although the
phenomena are different in their nature, they tend to
establish the' same facts; and thus reciprocally prove
each other to be the work of the same designing
Intelligence,' Astronomy is the oldest sister, and as such, her
claims to consideration were acknowledged, while
Geology was struggling in the arms of inexperienced
nurses ; besides, the elder has sverything necessary
to excite the admiration and fascinate the mind, con
nected with it. At noon-day, the eye is involun
tarily turned upwards to the great source of light and

GEOLOGY. 91
heat, and the mind as involuntarily asks the nature
of these phenomena ; and while we watch the sinking
orb to the limits of the rising horizon, as it fades
gradually away into the bosom of the approaching
night, and see the stars burst out upon the wide
spread canopy, and again hide themselves amid the
light of the early morn, we can but look on with
increasing interest, and a more earnest desire to com
prehend the mighty and beautiful changes which
mark the alternation of day and night, — and of labor
and rest. But the half-hidden resources of the earth,
and its deeply-buried treasures, covered with the dust
of centuries— disfigured and discolored by the convul
sions to which they owe their existence and locality,
have been studied and developed only as the necesi-
ties. of man required it. Unknown and unvalued in
the earlier ages, it was not until recently that their
importance was felt, and the mystery of their crea
tion acknowledged.
Astronomy gathered strength and beauty, under
the fostering care of the noble spirits to whom she
had been committed ; while geology was so contorted
by the conflicting struggles of the Yulcanists and
Neptunists, that for a long time it remained question
able whether she would survive, or if she did
whether she would not be imperfect and unnatural
But these were questions of time merely. They had

92 ITS TRUE POSITION.
similar trials in their infancy, and had the same
enemies, ignorance, and intolerant superstition, to
overcome. The spirit that followed Copernicus, and
Galileo, and Descartes, found the venerable Buffon in
the middle of the eighteenth century, and left him
not, until he abandoned everything in his book
respecting the foundation Of the earth, and generally,
all which was contrary to the Mosaic Cosmogony.
But these sister sciences have been equally trium
phant ; and now from the vantage ground of a sure
foundation, they unite their testimony to explain
each other. And while they point out the sources of
comfort and happiness so richly provided for man
kind, they also silently but eloquently urge him to a
higher and purer faith, and a deeper and holier
adoration. It was not, however, until recently, that
geology contributed to this end. Want of know
ledge, and a fear of unsettling the foundations of the
Christian religion, kept her votaries trembling over
conflicting theories, some of which are yet unsettled.
But sufficient is now known to warrant the most
satisfactory conclusions, and to justify the following
reflections, which we offer in connection with the
other sciences, in order to exhibit the harmony and
beauty of the mighty chain of arrangement and
adaptation which encircles the universe.
Each successive era of discovery in this science, gave

GEOLOGY. 93
birth to its own theory of creation ; which continued
with more or less popularity, until a new theory,
based upon new discoveries, succeeded it. In the
course of these changes, and 'after the fossil history
of the earth had been partially studied, the theory of
a gradual subsidence of our globe and the develop
ment of vegetable and animal life, was advanced by
various speculative minds. The grandeur of the
changes which this theory presented for contempla
tion ; and the excitement and pleasure which the
hope of unlocking the crypts of the primeval world,
and reading the mysterious story of past centuries
and extinct genera, afforded the student and the
philosopher ; and the fact that the Nebular Hypo
thesis, so strongly supported by astronomical observa
tion, agreed perfectly with this theory, gave it a
wider circulation and greater interest than any of the
preceding. Indeed, the magnitude of the subjects
contemplated, and their important connection with
the origin and destiny of mankind, were in them
selves quite sufficient to excite the philosophic and
Christian world.
The boldness of the speculations whieh followed
this theory, or rather grew out of it, has no parallel
in the history of the human mind. The evidences on
which it was based, were not only weak and unsatis
factory, but of a' most doubtful and conflicting char-

94 HUMAN WEAKNESS. i
acter. Depending chiefly upon the bungling inter
pretation of a witness whose language was imper
fectly understood; and whose signification was im
properly rendered, by ignorant or designing officials.
Yet, the records of the Evangelist and the truths of
revelation, written on stone by the hand of the
Almighty, amid the thunders of Sinai — attested by a
long line of miracles performed and prophecies ful
filled, and sealed with fire from heaven, were set
aside as the idle dream of some ingenious impostor,
to whose mind the past, the present, and the future,
were dimly visible. But such is the disposition of
human nature, — the doubtful, the mysterious, and the
unknown, excite more interest, and too frequently
more faith, than those real and tangible things by
which we are surrounded ; . or such even as are
inwrought with our existence. It is this, that unfixes
the mind, — that gives it a wandering, unsettled char
acter, — that fascinates it with the imaginary colors
Of revery and dreams ; unfits it for the necessary
efforts and iron tasks of usefulness ; that supplants
the real with the imaginary, and finally robs it of the
only genuine source of happiness ; faith in the pro
tecting care of an ever-present and merciful Provi
dence, during this life, and of a hereafter, compared
with which, the beauties and blessings of the present,
are but faint reflections. To such, life is unreal and

GEOLOGY. 95
empty ; a wild, uncultivated sand-desert, uncheered
by fountain, or flower, or harvest-field. They
have no true conception of its obligations and
duties, and without making any good and lasting
impression on the world without ; or receiving any
on the soul within, they die and are forgotten. For
gotten — by the world only, not by all ; one day at
least, and by one person, will they be remembered,
when the talents received are by the j Master
demanded with usury. The history of that day is
already written ; to it we refer the listless wanderer,
as we would the weather-beaten bark to a port, for
safety. The development hypothesis, to which we have
referred as the last fruit of speculative daring, finds
its chief support in the records of geology. The
Hving world presents little, if anything, to warrant
such a belief; but the evidences gathered from the
fossil history of extinct species, before the mighty
pages of the earth were fully unsealed, seemed to
authorize much that was advanced. There was
nothing, however, at any period of geological pro
gress, that could be construed by a reasonable and
just method, into the support of the development
hypothesis, and the atheistical ideas to which it
gave birth. But, in order the more perfectly to com
prehend our subject, we will give a brief statement

96 M. GEOFFREY ST. HTLLArfiE.
of the theory, and of the phenomena on which it was
based, before we examine the argument, or refer to
future and more satisfactory discoveries.

n.

THE DEVELOPMENT THEORY.
M. Geoffrey St- Hillaire, contended that the exist
ing species sprang from the extinct forms; and it
is farther insisted, that the history of the change
or transmutation is found registered ia the rock
record of the past. This idea was not without sup
porters of large and varied experience. Lamark
was among them, and not the least important. While
laboring to distinguish the various genera and species,
he found that they constantly ran into each other ; or
were separated, if at all, by lines too indistinct to be
discovered. He also found great disparity between
those which he knew must have descended from the
same stock. These facts contributed to induce him
to advocate the theory of transmutation. But it was
not these things alone which indueed that opinion ;
other phenomena contributed to the result. He was
also influenced by the change produced in various
vegetables, by cultivation, climate, locality, &c., and
the fact that they transmitted their newly-acquired

GEOLOGY. 97
character. By which means a new plant or species
was introduced into the kingdom. And also, by the
change effected on birds, fowls, wolves, horses, &c,
by domestication.
He contended, that every change in the circum
stances by which animals were surrounded, created
new desires, which resulted in a change of habits.
These caused changes in their physical structure,
which, in order to accommodate itself to the new cir
cumstances, took additional organs and varied forms.
Organs useless,- by reason of the change, gradually
wasted away ; and others, better adapted t6 the new
conditions of life, were developed by the force of
necessity. Thus, by degrees, the whole physical
structure was remodelled. Having assumed the fact,
that external circumstances may cause a change in
the organs, he proceeded to point out instances of a
supposed change. Otters, beavers, &c, he contended
were not originally created web-footed ; but, that as
their wants led them to the water in search of food,
they stretched out their toes to swim, until, by con
tinued efforts, the skin at the base of the toes became
elastic, and finally grew into the broad membrane
which now so admirably fits them for the water.
Fear, and a desire to escape from the carnivora
which fed upon the antelope and gazelle, had the
effect of remodelling their forms ; changing the dif-
5

98*
ferent and less graceful limbs into such as now dis
tinguish those" beautiful animals. The nature of
the country and foliage, drew out the neek of the
cameleopard, and prepared it for its native land, the
interior of Africa. These were some -of the starting
points for the transmutation theory.
The discoveries in geology opened up a new field
for conjecture. In its early stages or history, it ap
peared to support the theory of Lamark and his
predecessors. It was said, and with some truth at
the time, that the earliest fossils were of the simplest
forms of organic life ; and that each succeeding strata
of the earth's crust exhibited . higher and higher
organisms. Thus, becoming more and more perfect,
until the tertiary period crowned the list with man;
the present ruling monarch, at once the highest
organism and noblest specimen of created matter.
These cosmogonists, take the material globe, formed
and fashioned out of the nebulous matter, under the
influences referred to in our chapter on that subject,
immediately after it takes its place in the family of
worlds ; and covering it with its crystalline coat of
rocks of irregular thickness, invest it with power, in
dependent of all other agencies, to cover its rugged
surface with the vegetable variety which adorns it—
the rivers which gladden it with thdr music, and
refresh it with their moisture— and the countless

GEOLOGY. 99
tenantry, which quicken it with the stir and bustie
of life, and mark its strata with their bones. Tney
commence with the crystalline rocks, which they
call the "bases rocks." Next to these follow the
stratified rocks, which appear to have been thrown
up out of their original positions, and frequently rent
asunder by some internal force. These rents are
again filled up by crystalline matter resembling the
great primitive bed ; which must have been forced
up while in a state of fusion. " Thus," says one of
these cosmogonists, " there is first a great inferior
mass composed of crystalline rock,' and probably
resting immediately on the fused and expanded mat
ter of the interior; next, layers or strata of aqueous
origin ; next, irregular masses of melted inferior
rock, that have been sent up volcanically and con
fusedly at various times amongst the aqueous rocks,
breaking up these masses, and tossing them out of
their original levels." From these facts they pre
sumed that the crystalline rock6, of which granite is
the type, is the condition into which the solids of the
earth were agglomerated.
These rocks contain no organic remains — no fossil
hieroglyphics for the learned to decipher, or the
curious to admire. A solid strata of variable thick
ness, enclosing the igneous agencies of our globe,
and bearing on its surface the accumulated deposit

l&O CONTRASTS IN NATURE.
of unnumbered centuries. The dividing line between
potencies wiich communicate with the external
elements, through the mouth of the crater — the
rising and sinking of islands and continents, and the
convulsive movements of the earth itself, by which
their history has been written and their power attest
ed ; and the outward elements, so beantifully com
bined for the purposes of good — so harmoniously
blending and co-operating together in their reciprocal
and indispensable office, that the varied and necessary
changes are effected withont deranging the laws of
vegetable and animal life. , Day and night, winter
and summer, seedtime and harvest, are all welcomed
in their turn ; each making the other more desirable,
and all contributing to the gross sum of human happi
ness. The fertile valley offers up its treasure, even
under the shadow of the burning volcano. The fear-
fulchasm of the earthquake, is filled by vegetable
and detached mineral matter, and covered with the
ivy and the vine ; while the bald surface of the new
born island is clothed with flowers and evergreens.
Such is the contrast between the internal and ex
ternal elements of our globe. A contrast which meets
us at every turn we take in the innumerable and
diversified walks of nature. But it is too frequently
unseen, and seldom, if ever, fully appreciated. The
harvests of fruits and grains, have their annual return

GEOLOGY. K)l
celebrated by many a well-measured line; but the
combining elements, and changing solar rays, by
which this well-appointed plenty is secured, are
seldom seen even by the eye which their labor
brightens. This, however wrong in appearance, may
yet be right. The great eternal Author lifts the
mind up to the contemplation of Himself by other
means, and deems it best.
Next, in the ascending steps of these theorists, the
Grauwacke, or Silurian system is interrogated. This
6ystem rests generally on the primary bed, but in
some cases directly on the granite. Here the trans-
mutationists find the first evidences of organic re
mains ; sea-plants, corals, and shell-fish ; the humblest
divisions of the vegetable and animal kingdoms. The
radiata, articulata, and mollusca, were, according to
their report, represented by their simplest forms;
while the higher and more perfect divisions were
wholly wanting. Ascending to the next strata, they
found the fossils more abundant; in which, the
trilobites, various genera of mollusks, gasteropoda,
and cephalopoda, make their appearance. First, the
lowest orders of the mollusks,. then a higher order, and
continuing to advance until the highest is reached.
Establishing, even in these early records, the progres
sive tendency of organic matter. Next in the scale,
and a little above the Llandielo rocks, certain annelidea

102 OLD RED SANDSTONE.
or sea-worms were found. They were fed-blooded,
and it was supposed that they formed a link of con
nection between the white-blooded worms, and the
humblest classes of the vertebrata.
Passing into the Ludlow rocks they found there-
mains of " six genera of fishes of obscure character,"
and afterwards the remains of minute fishes dis
covered in the Amystry limestone, by Mr. Phillips,
Thus, the friends of the theory, are encouraged as
they ascend in the strata of the earth. The various
witnesses appear to confirm each other. There is no
conflict of testimony notwithstanding the multiplicity
and variety of the sources from which it is drawn,
and the utter impossibility of conference and prior
agreement between the witnesses.
Ascending, they find themselves next in the Old
Eed Sandstone or Devonian group, where they find
an increase of fossil fishes. The silurian forms con
tinue, but they show a decrease. The fishes in this
system are not, according to the theory, of the highest
order, although they show signs of advancement.
" The predominating fishes of this system and the
only ones which existed for some ages," says an advo
cate of this theery, " are arranged by M. Agassiz, in
two orders, with regard to their external covering,
which that naturalist holds tq be, in fishes, a reflection
of the internal organization. Both, it is to be re-

GEOLOGY. 103
marked at the very first, are manifestly of an inferior
character to the two other orders which afterwards
came into existence, and still are the principal fishes
of our seas, these being covered by true scales, and
respectively named Ctenoid and Cycloid, from .the
forms of that part of their organization. The two
orders of early fish are covered with integuments
considerably different in character ; the one (plaooids)
with irregular enamelled plates,' the other {ganoids)
with regular enamelled scales, the first being not
placed over each other, as scales are, but laid edge to
edge, in the manner of a pavement. These charac
ters, according to M. Agassiz, were accompanied by
a rudimentary or cartilaginous skeleton, while the
Ctenoids and Cycloids possess an Osseous structure."
" Of certain of the ganoids, it is remarked by every
geologist, how much they approximate to the form
and armature of the crustaceans, an order of the next
lower department of the animal kingdom."
"The cephalaspis may be considered as making
the smallest advance from the crustacean character ;
it very much resembles in form the asaphus of lower
formations, having a longish tail-like body inserted
within the. crust of a large crescent-shaped head,
somewhat like a saddler's cutting-knife. The body is
covered with strong plates of bone, enamelled, and
the head is protected on the upper side with one

104 ELEVATION of mountains.
large plate as with a buckler — hence the name, im
plying buckler-head. A range of small fins conveys
the idea of its having been as weak in motion as it
was strong in structure."
We cannot admit that this argument is a good
one, even if they had the basis for it ; but this they
have not. These positions are assumed ones ; and
the authority which they presume to quote is grossly
abused. But, we leave it for facts hereafter stated to
contradict. Up to this period, their light was un-
cheered by land plants, from which, with their
characteristic readiness, they inferred that there was
no dry land in this era of the world's history. But,
happily for them and us, this state of things could
not always continue. Change is written upon all
things, and not less certainly on systems which
require centuries to effect it. The elements were at
work, and in due time the Grampians, Alps, Appen-
nines, Pyrenees, and Carpathians, emerged from
the wide extended ocean. Thus commenced the era
of dry land, and with it, a new order of things.
The carboniferous formation, with which they date
ihe earliest dry land, is one of great interest, not only
to the theorist, but to the world. It is appreciated
by all classes, and all ages ; the rich and the poor,—
the ignorant son of idleness, the child of poverty, and
the profound philosopher. But, at present we are to

GEOLOGY. 105*
consider the part this group is forced to perform in
the theory of Development, and not the ten thousand
uses to which its coal-beds are put, and the innumer
able blessings resulting from that wellrappointed
provision for the benefit and happiness of mankind.
The advocates of Devdopment linger long with
this formation ; indeed, it may be called their favorite
one. It is composed chiefly of limestone formed in
different ways : first, by the accumulation of carbo
nate of lime in the bottom of deep seas, which is
afterwards conglomerated by volcanic action; second
ly, by the coral deposits ; and thirdly, such as are
composed almost entirely of marine shells. From the
immense coal-beds, found in this formation, these
inferential gentlemen infer that the vegetable king
dom predominated ; and that it was more luxuriant
than at any preceding or subsequent period of the
earth's history. But, notwithstanding the luxuriance
of that Flora, they contend that it was composed
entirely of gigantic shrubs, at present but partially
represented. " Two-thirds of the plants of the car
boniferous era are of the cellular or cryptogamic
kind." Thus they attempt to prove that the earth's
Flora, as well as its Fauna, commenced with the
humblest characters ; the flowerless lichens, mosses,
ferns, &c. Associated with these they found the
lepidodendra, now extinct, whose internal structure

106 CARBONIFEROUS FLORA.
induced them to believe that they were a kind of link
between the singel-lobed and double-lobed plants.
In condusion, the author from whom we have
quoted, says : " such was the vegetation of the car
boniferous era, composed of forms at the bottom of
the botanical scale, flowerless, fruitless, but luxuriant
and abundant beyond what the most favored spots on
earth can now show. The rigidity of the leaves of its
plants, and the absence of fleshy fruits and farina
ceous seeds, unfitted it to afford nutriment to animals ;
and, monotonous in its forms, and destitute of bril
liant coloring, its sward probably unenlivened by any
of the smaller flowering herbs, its shades uncheered
by the hum of insects, or the music of birds, it must
have been a sombre scene to human visitants. But,
neither man nor any other animal was then in
existence to look for such uses Or such beauties in
this vegetation."
Although this school of speculative philosophers
admit that the fishes of the carboniferous era made
advances to the lizard character, yet they think no
land animal made its appearance until after that era
had passed away ; and the atmosphere had been pre
pared for terrestial zoology, by some chemical process,
by which the superabundant carbonic acid gas was
taken up and deposited in the limestones of that
formation.

GEOLOGY. 107
The absence,- or apparent absence, of land animals
in that era, induced the belief that the atmosphere
was not adapted to air-breathing animals. To prove
this hypothesis, reference has been made to Sir Henry
De la Beche's estimate of the, quantity of carbonic
acid gas locked up in limestone. According to his
calculation, each cubic yard of limestone contains
10,000 cubic feet of carbonic acid gas. This gas was
known to be injurious to animal life, while it was
¦ believed that vegetables could flourish in an atmo
sphere containing much more than exists in the
present combination. From these evidences it was
easy to infer, that before and during the progress of
the carboniferous formation, the atmosphere was
unfit, from the superabundance of that gas, for the
existence of air-breathing animals ; and, that it was
not until after the carbonic acid gas of that period
had been imprisoned in the limestone, that terrestrial
zoology commenced. "There can be little .doubt,"
they wrote, " that the infusion of jij large $ose of thjs
gas into the atmosphere at the present ^aj, would i^be
attended by precisely the, same . circumstances 'as in
the time of the . carboniferous . formation. Land
animal life would, not have a place on earth ; vege
tation would be enormous ;( and coal strata would be
formed from the vast accumulation of woody matter,
whiph would gather in every sea, near the mou,th& of

108 NEW RED SANDSTONE.
great rivers. On the exhaustion of the superabund
ance of carbonic acid gas, the coal formation would
cease, and the earth might again become a suitable
theatre of being for land animals."
We will see hereafter how perfectly ridiculous this
argument is ; and how wholly it is based on assump
tions. It will be found that large quantities of
vegetable matter are now gathering " in every sea, at
the mouths of great rivers," and that coal-beds are now
in the process of formation, and ever have been ; and
that future generations will find the same evidences,
and will be equally warranted in coming to a similar
opinion regarding this era. But, it will not be for
gotten that we are now giving the theory and the
evidences on which it was based.
In following these friends of development, we next
find ourselves in the era of the new red sandstone,
with which they date the beginning of terrestrial
zoology. The second group of this series, is a lime
stone with an infusion of magnesia, in which,
"zoophytes, conchifera, and a few tribes of fishes,"
appear, " with faint traces of land plants ; and a new
and startling appearance, a reptile of Saurian (lizard)
character." Next to this group is. the musehelkalk,
noted for the specimens of land animals, which the
friends of development considered first in the fossil
record. " They are of the vertebrate sub-kingdom,

GEOLOGY. 109
but of its lowest class, next after fishes — namely,
reptiles," with imperfect respirator organs, allied to
the crocodile and lizard tribes of the present day.
Here also, are found ripple-marks, made by the
receding tide, and perpetuated by the hardening of
the stone ; and foot-marks of various land animals,
and finally at Euncon, near Manchester, and in
other localities, the tracks of an animal sujyposed to
have had the body of a reptile, and the beak and
feet of a bird, "which had been a Imh between
these two classes." The next step brings you to the
Oolite, where you are introduced to the first, and as
these theorists always begin the departments, to the
lowest order of mammalia. Thus, step by step, you
are carried along by this theory, through the various
grades of organic matter. Entering the lowest and
most imperfect orders and families, they pass regularly
through all the intermediate divisions to the upper
geological groups, where the highest and most perfect
types of vegetable and animal life appear. Strange
and beautiful, yet, imperfect and dangerous theory ;
how many noble minds have stumbled over thee into
the unknown future ! Wise in every thing but the
one great essential — in that foolish.
Enough has been said of the theory, to enable the
general reader to comprehend the force of the entire
argument; and without following it through the sue-

110 RECENT DISCOVERIES.
ceeding strata of the earth's crust, we will proceed to
notice new discoveries which contradict the evidences
on which the theory rests. And as we have followed
the friends of development up through the various
strata, beginning at the Silurian system, we will
again return to that system ; and again follow the
strata up in the same order. In this second journey,
or new reading of the fossil record, we' will follow the
interpretation of Sir Charles Lyell, Hugh Miller,
Prof. Agassiz, and others of like distinction. In
their, edition of the fossil history of our globe, all the
recent discoveries are carefuily,noted. If the reader
will go with us, we will compare the theory of
development with this edition, and thus learn,, if
possible, how far they agree with each other.

III.

THE TRUE POSITION OF THE FOSSIL REMAINS.
Sir Charles Lyell. divides the Silurian system.into
two parts ; known as the upper and lower Silurian
groups. These are again divided into the Wenlock
and Ludlow formations in the upper ; and the Llan-
deilo and Caradoc formations, in the lower Silurian
group. These formations are found in the following

GEOLOGY. Ill
order — first and lowest, the Llanddlo ; secondly, the
Caradoc ; thirdly, the Wenlock, and last and upper
most, the Ludlow. At the base of the Silurian sys
tem, a dark-colored micacious grit is formed, which
is now known as the " Llandeilo flags." This forma
tion contains large quantities of trilobites, graptolites,
Imgula and crystidicB. Of these the trilobite are the
most interesting. They were extraordinary in their
formation, and certainly, judging from the perfection
of their eyes and other parts, they were not low in
their order. The same genera are found in these
several divisions ; with an increase of shells as you
ascend. And as early as 1839, it was known that
fossil fishes were to be found in the Ludlow group.
Thus stood the fossil history of that system for many
years ; but now it is entirely changed. Eecent dis
coveries have invested this group with infinitely more
interest. In 1838, Sir Eoderick Murchison found the Onchus
Murchisoni, and Onchus tennistriatus, the highest
order of placoids, in the Llandeilo flags. This was
the commencement of a series of discoveries in that
system, both interesting and important. In 1842,
Mr. Phillips found " innumerable small teeth and
spines," just above the Aymestry limestone ; and in
1845, " a portion of a fish belonging to the cestaciont
family of the placoid order," was found in the Wen-

112 NEW YORK SURVEY.
lock limestone. While these discoveries were being
made in the old continent, the geologists of this
country were busily engaged in the same field. " A
defensive spine of a placoid was found in the Onon
daga limestone of New York," which occurs near the
base of the upper Silurian system. But, before this
last discovery, Mr. Hall, of the States' survey, found
a fish-bone in the Oriskany limestone, which is much
lower than the Onondaga limestone. In 1847,
" defensive spines of fishes" were found in the
Upper Llandeilo flag, by Sir Eoderick Murchison ;
and afterwards similar spines were found in the Bala
limestone by the Government Survey. The Bala
limestone is below the Lower Silurian group, in the
Cambrian or older fossiliferous rocks. The Onchus,
above referred to, has been found: in both the Upper
Ludlow rocks, and the Bala limestone ; yet they are
separated from each other by thousands of feet, and
must have required centuries for the deposit Of the
strata between them. The Onchus, however, is as
perfect in the Bala limestone, as it is in the Ludlow
rocks. Prof. Agassiz found on comparison, that the
spme of the Onchus which was found is more than
twice as large as the spine of the dog-fish ; or that
even of the Port Jackson shark. These early placoids
were found to be larger than those of the present
day. They were not mere abortions or pigmies, but

geology)^ 113
true and noble vertebrate, of enormous proportions,
armed with defensive spines, five times as large as
the dog-fish of the present era ; Adams at their
birth, admitting of no improvement, and proving by
comparison that none has ever taken place.
So much for the Cambrian and Silurian systems,
in which the friends of development found nothing
but trilobites, mollusk, gasteropoda, and cephalopoda.
It is true, they found annelides, the supposed link
between the white-blooded worms and the humblest
classes of vertebrata ; and a little higher up in the
Ludlow rocks, they found a few very " small fishes
of obscure character." It is well for the friends of
development, that the Onchus and the other placoids
of that era of the world's history, are now unable to
use their defensive spines, and that all redress for
slander is " barred by the limitation of time." In
dther case they might suffer the just penalty of their
wilful ignorance and malicious misrepresentations.
It is now well settled, by authority of the highest
character, that the placoids of the Silurian and
Cambrian systems belong to the most perfect type
of that division of the vertebrata. Professors Agassiz,
Owen, and Sedgwick, Sir Phillip Egerton, and
James Wilson, all agree in assigning them the high
est position. Their osseous skeletons, defensive
spines, mouths, and brain, most clearly establish their

114' OLD RED SANDSTONE.
claims, and prove that they were not " fishes of •
obscure character," but that they were representa
tives of the highest types of their class.

IV.
OLD RED SANDSTONE.
In the Old Eed Sandstone, the friends of develop
ment found a few fishes, but " they were manifestly
of an inferior character to those which succeeded
them." These manifestly inferior fishes were no
other than the ganoids and placoids of the Silurian
and Cambrian systems. They reported them . as
inferior, with nothing but " a rudimental or carti
laginous skeleton ;" and approximating very nearly
to the " form and armature of the crustaceons, an
order of the next lower department of the animal
kingdom." This is a mistake ; for the placoids had
a real osseous skeleton, and other marks which in
duced the best naturalists and physiologists to place ,
them among the most perfect of their order ; and
superior to their kindred of the present day. But a
more recent and thorough examination of the lower
old red. sandstone, has introduced other fishes of that'
system, equally interesting. •-. If the fishes first dis
covered in that era were of low order, and imperfect

GEOLOGY.

115

structure, recent discoveries prove that it was not
owing to the strata in which they were imbedded, or
the age of the world in which they flourished and
decayed. Without attempting a further defence of
of the much-abused placoids of the Silurian and
Cambrian systems, we will at once present the defen
sive spine, and other armor of the Asterolopis, a
native of the Old Eed Sandstone.

V.
ASTEROLOPIS.
For our knowledge of this extraordinary fish, we
are indebted to Hugh Miller; one of the most
thorough and successful geologists of the present day.
His. own career and enterprise, as interesting as the
extraordinary fish which he has so fully described
and illustrated ; and his fame as enduring as the
fossils he has torn out of the strong leaves of the
Orkneys ; or Stromness, which he has immortalized.
In speaking of the Orkneys, he says ; " It is not too
much to affirm, that in the comparatively small
portion which this cluster of islands contains of the
third "part of a system regarded only a few years
ago as the least fossiliferous in the geological scale,
there are more fossil fishes enclosed than in every

116 HUGH MILLER.
other geologic system in "England, Scotland, and
Wales, from the coal measure to the chalk inclusive.,"
But of all this ichthyie collection, the Asterolopis is
the most interesting. Yarious parts of its skeleton
were found in the " three-barred pyramid of Strom
ness," in 1848, by Mr. Miller, and in Cornwall in
1850, by Mr. Peach.
The first " well-marked bone," noticed by Hugh
Miller, resembled a roofing-nail, about seven inches
long. This length indicated a fish of enormous pro
portions. It was an object of much interest ; and the
more so to Mr. Miller ; for previously in his work on
the " Old Eed Sandstone," he had represented that
system as an age of dwarfs at the beginning, termi
nating at the top,, with an age of giants. But he
now for the first time discovered his error. Here, at
the very base of that system, the remains of a fish
of colossal proportions, greater than any he had
before denominated giants, are formed, showing the
danger of hasty conclusions based on limited observa
tion. It is well for science that we have such men as
Hugh Miller ; men with moral courage to correct an
error whenever detected, regardless of theories or
opinions; who seek truth and truth only, and as
fearlessly declare it. As long as the discoveries of
science are transmitted to the "public through such
mediums, there need be no apprehension of impo-

GEOLOGY.

117

eition and wrong. Such men are the true representa
tives of their age ; and heaven seems to have fitted
them for their high and responsible offices.
We have selected the Asterolopis, or star-scale, so
called from its star-like markings, because it has
been more fully examined, and is, perhaps, the best
representative of its order. But let us first inquire
into the grand divisions of the animal kingdom;
which we will find divided into four great depart
ments; and these again into classes, which are
divided into orders; and these are again divided
into families, &c, &c. The first department, that of
the vertebrates, is divided into four classes; first,
Mammalia; second, Birds; third, Eeptiles; and
fourth, Fishes. The class of fishes is divided into
the gandds, the first order; having large, bony,
enamelled scales, and osseous skeletons; secondly,
the placoids ; thirdly, ctenoids ; and, fourthly, cy
cloids. It will be seen on examination, that these
orders are each distinctly marked by peculiarities,
which enable the naturalist to arrange the exhumed
remains without any difficulty. The Asterolopis has
all the marks of the ganoid, and is therefore placed
in that order. It is in the highest order of its class,
and we think it is entitled to the highest place in its
order. But -what are the facts on which this opinion
is based.

118 CRANIAL BUCKLER.
The Asterolopis was covered with true osseous
Scales, and well supplied with free and protected gills.
Its head was covered with an osseous plate, which
constitute, a Cranial buckler, in some cases large
enough for a shield. The nail-like bone found by
Mr. Miller, measured five and a half inches, and must
have belonged to a buckler more than eighteen indies
in length ; and it is believed that the Asterolopis to
which it belonged was at least nine feet long. These
are the conclusions at which Mr. Miller arrives, after
much and patient ^investigation. Other Cranial
Bucklers show that still larger ganoids existed during
that period. Fish at least twelve feet long, with all
the marks of their high order. "Thus," says Hugh
Miller, " in the not unimportant circumstance of size,
the most ancient Ganoids yet known, instead of
taking their places agreeably to the demands of the
development hypothesis, among the sprats, stickle
backs, and minnows of their class, took their place
among its huge basking sharks, gigantic sturgeons,
and bulky sword-fishes. They were giants, n'ot dwarfs,"
Again, the same author says:— "In Cranial buck
lers in which theaverage thickness of tbeplateg does .not
exceed three eighth parts of an inch, their thickness in
the centre of the ridges must have been three quarters.
The head of the largest crocodile of the existing
period is defended by an armature greatly less strong

GEOLOGY. 119
than that worn by the Asterolopis of the Lower Old
Eed Sandstone. Why this ancient Ganoid should
have been so ponderously helmed we can but doubt
fully guess ; we only know, that when nature arms
her soldiery, there are assailants to be resisted and a
state of war to be maintained."
The Asterolopis was supplied with sharp teeth, and
powerful jaws with two sharp cutting edges ; thus
approaching the character of the reptile. This rep
tilian cast, together with the twisted or spiral cop-
rolites found so abundantly, induced the belief that it
was carnivorous in its habits. Many other bones
belonging to different parts of the Asterolopis,. have
been found ; such as the maxillary bone, the hyoid
bone ; the coracoid and dermal bones ; the Ischium,
Kays, and internal bones of various forms and sizes.
These prove the osseous character of its skeleton
beyond a doubt. It was at first inferred from the
supposed covering or scales of the Asterolopis, that
these early Ganoids had cartilaginous, and not
osseous skeletons, and therefore, of an inferior order.
The learned Prof. Agassiz is quoted as authority
for this position, but we think very unjustly. This
we assert has not been the opinion of any eminent
naturalist since the discovery of the specimens alluded
to. " This fish," to speak in the technical language
of Agassiz, " undoubtedly belongs to the Cestraciont

120 EVIDENCE OF BANK.
family of the Placoid order, — proving to demonstra
tion that the oldest known fossil fish belongs to the
highest type of that division of the vertebrata." This
was the language held by a learned reviewer, when
speaking of the Asterolopis. Certainly, if it was the
highest type of its division, it had not a cartilagenous
skeleton ; but on this point there appears to be no
dispute at present. Instead of approximating to the
form and armature of the crustacians, as the develop
ment theory required, their whole structure indicated
an approximation rather to the reptile.
But as Mr. Miller very justly remarks, rank
depends on bram and not bone. If bone, indeed, was
the evidence of advancement, the. animals of the
present era would prove to be below and not above
their ancient or early progenitors ; for there are none
which will bear a comparison in size or osseous struc
ture. to the huge monsters of the tertiary period. By
this standard man himself would dwindle down into
a secondary position. This is not true, however ; it
is the brain that distinguishes the true superiority ;
and it is by this that development should be measured
and orders arranged. By this standard, which un
doubtedly is the only true one, the Placoids and
Ganoids of the Lower Silurian and Cambrian, and
the Old Eed Sandstone systems, take their places
high up in the scale of iehthyic existence. Not at

GEOLOGY.

121

the foot of the list of fishes, but at the head ; real
giants, constituting the highest and best specimens in
their order.
Before leaving this system we must beg our readers
to remember that we have not referred to all the
witnesses of this vast field. The Asterolopis is not
the only large and well devdoped fish whose history
has been written on the rock-book of that. era. There
are many, to use the language of Mr. Miller, this
series " could supply with ichthyolites, by the ton and
the ship load the museums of the world." A few
only, of the many witnesses, have been interrogated,
but these, we think, fully contradict the idea of
Development. But, these fish, however perfect, are not the only
vertebrata of this group. In 1849, " a double row of
impressions, bearing a considerable analogy to the
European cheirotherium, was announced as having
been detected by Mr. Isaac Lea, in the Old Eed
Sandstone at Pottsville, near Philadelphia, in the
gorge of the Alleghany hills, where the Schuylkill
breaks through the Sharp Mountain. These foot
prints occur on a ripple-marked sandstone, and are
each about four inches long, and four broad. The
animal appears to have had five toes, some of which
exhibit unguinal appendages. The geological posi
tion of the bed is well determined, and the overlying

122 REPTHJAN FOOT-MARKS.
coal formation contains the usual characteristic plants."
Such is Sir Charles Lyell's, report of the reptilian foot
marks of that era, based on the authority of the
ninth volume, January number, 1850, — of the Scien
tific Journal of our distinguished fellow-citizen, Prof.
B. Silliman. Thus, at this late period it is first
ascertained that air-breathing animals, — that reptilian
monsters, began their existence at and before that
early period of the world's history.
The discovery of these foot-marks was considered
of the greatest importance. So much so, that Prof.
H. D- Eogers at once proceeded to the place where
they were found, in order to gratify himself by a
personal inspection. He concluded after much exa
mination, that they were not in the Old Eed Sand
stone system, but in the lowest part of the coal
formation, or carboniferous system'. On this point,
therefore, there is some contrariety of opinion. But if
these foot-marks are not in the Old Eed Sandstone,
there can be no doubt that they exist in the dividing
strata of the two systems^ and ages before the great
mass of the carboniferous group was deposited.

GEOLOGY. 123
VI.
CARBONIFEROUS ERA.
In our remarks on this group, we will be governed
almost entirely by Sir Charles Lyell ; than whom,
no man is more reliable. In treating of this series,
he observes the divisions usually made by geologists :
" 1st. That known as the coatmeasure, of mixed fresh
water, terrestrial, and marine origin. 2d. That which .
in England is called the mountain or Carboniferous
limestone, of purely marine origin, containing corals,
shells, fishes, &c." These divisions are not only
different in their origin, but as a consequence, they
are also different in their fossil history. By referring
to our preceding synopsis of the reading of this forma
tion, by the friends of development, it will be seen
that they failed to find anything more advanced than
vegetables of the. simplest character ; and the lower
genera of crustaceans and mollusks.
Over five hundred species of plants have been
found in this group. Of these, the ferns are most
like existing species. But, although many of the
carboniferous plants, indeed, a large majority, are
now extinct, they have left a perpetual record of their
size and character. The botanical families are all

124 MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS.
represented, from the Gryptogamic or lowest, to the
highest dn the vegetable kingdom. The Sigillaria,
are among the most interesting forms. About thirty-
five species of this genus have been found. They
grow to an enormous size. Some of the fossil trunks
measure between sixty and seventy feet in length ;
and from one to five feet in diameter ; while their
fossil roots prove that they must have spread in the
earth from sixteen to twenty feet. These certainly
were not pigmies. Their size and texture unite to
show that they belonged to the highest and best
developed family of the first order. Five genera
of Dicotyledons ; embracing Pines, Firs, &c, have
also been found ; and last, but not least important,
several families of Monocotyledens, have been found
associated with their more humble relatives.
Thus it is seen, that this era was not without
flowers and fruits, and farinaceous seeds. Most of the
Monocotyledons which have been found, were fruit-
bearing trees. The forests of that early period must
have been abundantly supplied with fruits and fra
grant with flowers ; nor could it have been without
the hum of insects, and the music of birds. It con
tains evidences almost beyond the possibility of doubt,
that its wild and luxuriant woodlands were redolent
with the blossoms of productive, vegetation ; and
vocal with the music of a well-appointed choir. It

GEOLOGY. 125
is possible that man did not then exist; but the little
feathered songster sung no less sweetly. The morn
ing breeze caught up its grateful notes and bore them
to a holier ear than his. In the unbroken quiet of
those sylvan solitudes, there may have been no think
ing, rejoicing, or sorrowing human heart, with the
quick throbbings of angmsh or delight; yet in
nature's great cathedral, God's humbler creatines
offered up their low perpetual hymn.
"True exogenous trees existed in great numbers
and of vast size," says Hugh Miller, after having
examined the coal-fields with the greatest care. In
speaking of the Ddkeith and Falkirk coal-fields, he
says:" "I can scarce take up a piece of coal from
beside my study-fire, without detecting in it fragments
of carbonized wood, which almost always exhibit the
characteristic longitudinal fibres, and not unfre-
quently the medullary rays." Among the fossils of
this group large araucarians and pines are abundant.
But, below this system, ferns have been found. A
fine specimen found in the lower old Eed Sandstone,
is figured by Hugh Miller, in his "Footprints;"
with another fossil lignite, belonging to the same
system, which bears all the marks of a true Dicoty
ledonous plant. In many localities marine plants
only are found, but this is not at all wonderful. It
will be recollected that the carboniferous era is

126

FORMATIONS IN ENGLAND.

divided into what are called fresh water and marine
formations. In the fresh-water division, land plants
are found belonging to almost every family ; but in
the marine division the higher orders are not found,
and the reason is obvious.
This difference is natural, and depends upon the
locality, and not upon the relative ages of the vegeta
ble groups. The same distinctions exist at the pre
sent time. The sea has its lichens, mosses, &c-, and
the dry land has its pines, oaks, &c. In some of the
south-eastern counties of England, there are, first, a
layer of marine origin, with all the fossils belonging
to such a formation ; next above, there are three
fresh-water formations ; each bearing the fossil marks
of their origin ; and then above these there is another
marine formation, with fossils similar to those in its
kindred strata far down bdow. This arrangement
very clearly illustrates the cause of tbe difference
between the fossils in the two divisions of the car
boniferous group.
But this, it will be remembered, is precisely the
position assumed by the friends of development.
They contend that the surface of our planet was, in
an early period, covered with water or an ocean ; and
that that period is marked by the humblest types of
vegetable life. This state of the vegetable world
continued, until dry-land appeared, when terrestrial

GEOLOGY. 127
or land plants first made their appearance. If this
were admitted as a fact, it would not prove a trans
mutation of species, but only that land vegetation,
which is entirely different from marine, did not
exist in the ocean or in the marine era. They are
different in their organization, distinct in their
character, and therefore require different and distinct
conditions for^ their development or growth. This
was then, is now, and always must be true.
The preponderance of certain families proves that
they resisted the changes to which they were exposed
better than other families who passed away without
leaving any fossil record. The resisting power of
vegetables is different in different families. This
was proved by experiment made by Dr, Lindley.
He threw one hundred and seventy plants into a
vessel containing fresh water. This number included
or embraced all the families of which the coal
measures seem to consist, and some others which
might be supposed to have co-existed with them. In
the course of two years one hundred and twenty-one
species had disappeared, having entirely decomposed.
Of those which remained, the most perfect were
species of the eoniferm, ferns, palms, tyc&podiacece,
and thdr kindred of similar character. These, it
will not be forgotten, are analogous to the plants of
the coal measures. It appears from this, that the

128 PREDOMINANCE OF FAMHJES.
vegetables composing the great body of the coal
formations, are such, as were able longest to resist the
decomposing agencies. Other families existed, but
they passed, away without leaving any registry of
their growth and decay. In this way the pre
dominance of families may be accounted for. But
there may have been other causes for it. That the
coal-beds were formed from a deposit of accumulated
vegetable matter at the mouths of rivers and in
estuaries, there can be no doubt. In this way large
quantities of vegetable matter are now annually
deposited at the mouths of our rivers, where they are
covered up with sand and mud, thus forming regular
layers. The banks of the Mississippi and of almost all its
contributaries, are lined with what the citizens call
" cotton-wood." This tree is one of very rapid
growth, confined chiefly to low and wet places.
Every change of the stream or bed of the river, and
these changes are frequent in southern rivers, necessa
rily sweeps away a larger or smaller quantity of these
trees. These are carried down to the mouth of the
great outlet, and there deposited together. In this
process other trees are collected and deposited, but
the great body of the future coal-bed, is necessarily
composed of " cotton-wood." If in the far-off future
this bed is turned up for the accommodation and

GEOLOGY. 129
comfort of man, either gradually or by some sudden
violence, it may then be inferred from the pre
dominance of "cotton-wood," that that family was
the rding one of the present era ; and that the
atmosphere was especially adapted to the growth of
that tree ; whereas, in fact, it is an insignificant tree,
confined almost entirely to the sand-banks and newly
made deposits, on the shores of the rivers in the
southern section of our country.
It may also be inferred from the immense deposit
of vegetable matter, that this era was one in whieh
the vegetable creation predominated ; just as it is
now inferred from the coal beds, formed in the same
manner, that the era of their formation was uncheered
by terrestrial zoology. And if there should be large
quantities of limestone found in that formation, as
there is now in the coal era, it will also be inferred,
that the great abundance of vegetable matter resulted
from the pecdiar constitution of the atmosphere,
which favored vegetable, but retarded ammal de-
vdopment ; unless they shodd be fortunate enough
to discover the human remains in the limestone,
which is now in the process of, formation on the
northwest coast of Gaudaloupe, at St. Domingo, and
other localities in the West Indian Archipelago. A
discovery of that kind would destroy the theory, just
as the discovery of fossil reptiles and birds in the

130 each day adds to the proof.
carboniferous era, has destroyed similar arguments
and speculations, concerning it. Hereafter it may
be inferred, from the human remains found in the
limestone, of which we have spoken, that this, era was
best adapted to the development of man ; while the
vast deposit of vegetable matter in the Mississippi,
and other places, will lead to an opinion- directly
opposite. These contradictions, however, will not be
greater than the contradictions, found in and based
upon, the carboniferous era.
It must be borne in mind, that the entire fossil
history of the earth's crust is not known. A few
detached leaves only have been torn out of the vast
book ; and these are as yet but imperfectly trans
lated; the remainder is sealed even to the eye of
science. Every advancing step of the geologist, and
each succeeding stroke of the pickaxe, brings some
new fossil to light. Appearances and evidences
which warranted an opinion yesterday, are contra
dicted by the discoveries of to-day. But each newly-
introduced witness contributes something to the
argument for final cause. And thus it must ever
be. It will be found, as science rolls back the
vapoiy cloud of the far-off heavens, that other planets
and planetary systems lie hid within their sombre
shadows, and that other Wonders, more astonishing
and mysterious than any yet discovered, are buried

GEOLOGY. 131
in the bosom of the outward darkness ; it will be
found dso, that each stone turned up by the strong
arm of the miner, or the ingenious hand of the
geologist, will expose new and perhaps more interest
ing pages of the fossil history of creation.

vn.
THE FAUNA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS ERA.
Dismissing the flora of this era, which we have
seen fails to support the idea of development, we
will now turn to its fossil fauna. Yast forests had
been discovered in various places, before the remains
of any air-breathing animal were found. Indeed, it
was not until 1844 that the true reptilian and bird
were discovered in the carboniferous strata. Fishes
of the highest order had been found in great abun
dance, but nothing above them in the scale of animd
existence. This was a matter of profound astonish
ment to many experienced geologists. Is it possible,
they inquired, that no land animal inhabited the
luxuriant forests which overshadowed the mighty
streams of that era ? There was, undoubtedly, dry
land; this fact is estabUshed by the vegetation.
Whatwas.it, then, that prevented the commence
ment of terrestrial zoology ? And thus the questions

132 CARBONIC ACID GAS.
increased. Finally, the friends of development
attempted to account for the apparent absence, by
supposing the atmosphere of that period to have been
imfit for air-breathing animals, from the large quan
tity of carbonic acid gas which it contained. The
carboniferous formation occupied a middle position ;
and according to the theory of development, imme
diately preceded the introduction of land animals.
In fact, the friends of that theory make it necessary'
to their introduction.
The existence of the superabundance of carbonic
acid gas is inferred from the luxuriant vegetation of
that era ; and from the limestone which constitutes so
large a portion of that formation, and from which it
derives its name. It is contended that the vegetable
kingdom would not only live, but thrive better in an
atmosphere charged with a much larger portion of
carbonic acid gas than exists in the present aerial
envelope of our globe. But this is very doubtful.
" The evidence upon these points is by no means
satisfactory," says Eobert Hunt, an accomplished
chemist of large experience ; " and although at one
time qmte disposed to acqdesce in a conjecture
which appears to account so beautifully for the
observed geological phenomena of carboniferous
periods, we do not regard the necessities for such a
condition of the atmospherg as clearly made out."

GEOLOGY. 133
Experiments are now being made by Dr. Daubeny
and Mr. Hunt, at the request of the British Associa
tion, to test the ability of plants to receive or repel
this gas. Dr. Daubeny is already satisfied that ten
per cent, would have been destructive to the plants of
the coal formation ; and it is doubted by both of
these distinguished men, whether vegetation would
be at all benefited by an increase of that gas over
the present proportion. The luxuriant vegetation of
that era must have depended on some other cause
than this. Again, it was inferred from the quantity
of limestone, that the superabundant gas was taken
up and deposited in them ; and that it was in this
way that the atmosphere was prepared for the intro
duction of air-breathing animals. We think this
inference about as groundless as the preceding,
which experiment has proven wholly 60.
But, leaving these specdations to those who con
sider them more important, we proceed to the exa
mination of the reptilian fossil record. In 1844, a
true reptile was found in Ehenish Bavaria by H-
Yon Meyer ; and in 1847, three skeletons of similar
air-breathing reptiles were found by Professor Yon
Dechen, in the coal-field of Saarbruch. Of these,
the skulls, teeth, &c, with a large part of the skin,
have been preserved in the centre of spheroidal con
cretions of clay iron-stone. About the . same time

134 FOOT-MARKS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
that the Bavarian skeleton was found, the footprints
of reptiles were discovered and described by Dr.
King of Pennsylvania. These were found in the
Greensburg coal in Westmoreland county. These
foot prints were examined by Sir Charles Lyell, in
1846, when he wrote as follows : — " I was at once
convinced of their genuineness, and declared my
conviction on that point, on which doubts had been
entertained both in Europe and the United States.
The foot-marks were first observed standing out in
relief from the lower surface of slabs of sandstone,
resting on their layers of fine unctuous clay."
" No less than twenty-three footsteps, were observed
by Dr, King in the same quarry before it was aban
doned, the greater part of them so arranged on the
surface of one stratum as to imply that they were
made successively by the same animal- Everywhere
there was a double row of tracks, and in each row
they occur in pairs, each pair consisting of a hind
and fore foot, and each at nearly equal distances
from the next pair. We may assume that the rep
tile which left these prints on the ancient sands of
the coal-measures was an air-breathing animal, be
cause its weight would not have been sufficient under
water to have made impressions so deep and distinct.
The same conclusion is dso borne out by the casts of
the cracks in the clay, whieh in some instances

GEOLOGY. 135
divide the track or footprint; for these eraeks show
that the clay had been exposed to the air and sun, so
as to have dried and shrunk."
"The geological position of the sandstone of Greens-
burg is perfectly clear, being situated in the midst of
the Appalachian cod-field, having the main bed of
coal, cdled the Pittsburg seam, one hundred feet above
it, while many of the characteristic carboniferous plants
are found both above and below the level of the rep
tilian footsteps. " Andogous footprints of a large rep
tile of still older date have since been found (1849,) by
Mr. Isaac Lea, in the lowest beds of the coal formation,
at Pottsville, near Philadelphia ; so that we may now
be sdd to have the foot-marks of two reptilians of the
coal period, and the skeletons of four/' The location
of these footprints has been assigned to the Old Red
Sandstone by many geologists ; but Mr. H. D.
Sogers, who perhaps is the best authority on the sub
ject, thinks the stone in which they are found,
belongs to the lowest strata of the carboniferous
formation. * " After such unexpected discoveries,"
says Sir Charles Lyell, " we shall do well to be on
our guard agdnst the presumption of taking for
granted, that our present knowledge of the earliest
occurrence of a particular class of fossils in stratified
rocks, can be reasoned upon as if it afforded a true
indication of the first appearance of a particular class

136 FOSSIL BTRDS.
of beings on the globe. We must not even feel too
confident, that some mammalia may not have co
existed with the European Saurians of Saarbruck, or
with the American Cheirotherium of Greensburg."
The existence of reptiles during that period, is no
longer a question for scientific investigation. But it
is still questionable whether a true fossil bird has
been found so low down as the carboniferous era.
Their remains are rare even in tertiary deposits, and
for obvious reasons ; they are enabled to- avoid casu
alties by flight ; and if they fall or are thrown into
the water, their tubular bones and feathers float
them on the surface of the stream until they decay or
are destroyed by animals. These facts have pre
vented them from leaving their history in the records
of the stone book. But like the reptiles we have just
described, many of them have left their foot-marks
on the margins of those ancient seas and rivers ; and
in this way their history has been perpetuated. They
were neither scholars nor engravers, yet they have
written the evidence of their existence on the solid
rocks of the earth. These foot-marks have been found
in the strata between the lias and coal; and in a
few places immediately above, if not in the coal-
measures. Foot-marks of a great variety of species, including
all sizes, from the plover to that of a bird which must

GEOLOGY. 137
have been considerably larger than the ostrich, have
been found by Professor Hitchcock, in the Yalley
of the Connecticut, in the New Eed Sandstone of
that district. These foot-marks are found in a strata
which Sir Charles Lyell thinks is older than the coal-
bed near Eichmond, Virginia. This, although it
does not prove the existence of birds during the car
boniferous era, proves that they had an existence
before and at the time a large coal deposit was being
made within a short distance of them ; and therefore,
that it was not necessary that the atmosphere should
contain an unusual quantity of carbonic acid gas in
order to secure such deposits ; for with it, these air-
breathing birds must have expired : and it is not
possible that the atmosphere of Eichmond was at any
time different from that of Connecticut. We admit
that there is considerable difference between the pre-"
sent inhabitants of those localities ; but it is more
the effect of education than of atmospheric causes ;
and it is equally true that they both claim the ad
vantage. If there were no birds during the carboniferous
era, it was not owing to the atmosphere ; for there
were true air-breathing ammals. But we think the
evidences quite sufficient to warrant the assertion,
that there were birds then as now, and that future
discoveries will prove the fact. Before leaving this

138 PROVrOENTIAL WISDOM AND GOODNESS.
interesting formation for the New Eed Sandstone,
which rises before us, we stop to acknowledge the
wisdom that foretold the necessity, and the goodness
that supplied the materials, and deposited the coal
beds, for the present and future use of man. It is
but one link in that mighty system of provision for
the comfort, happiness, and continuation, of the
human species ; and d though a single and simple
link, it is one of the greatest importance.
Without this deposit, the shivering nakedness of
indolence and poverty wodd be greatly increased,
and the iron fingers of our ingenious machinery
would cease their labor. The winds would resume
their former control of our commercial intercourse,
and the greatest improvements of civilization par
tially, if not wholly defeated. We think no one can
reflect on the importance of the coal series, without
feeling that the want of it was foreseen by the
Infinite Eye, that looked through the eternity to
come as through the eternity past ; and without
bdieving that it was expressly designed to supply the
wants, and secure the improvements which were
written on the character of man.

GEOLOGY. 139
vm.
THE NEW RED SANDSTONE.
In quitting the Carboniferous formation, the friends
of the development theory enter the field of the New
Eed Sandstone ; taking no notice of the Permian
group ; or rather making no distinction between
these two groups. The latter, however, is unlike the
former, and approaches more nearly the character of
the carbomferous series. It is composed almost
entirely of limestones of different character. It con
tains shells in great abundance; fossil plants of
an advanced character ; like, and in some cases iden
tical with those of the carboniferous flora. Fishes are
also found, and many of them are of the most
advanced types. But this group, which it will be
remembered is scarcely distinguishable from the car
bomferous, contains remains more interesting than its
fossil fish. In some localities there is a conglomerate
of breccia, resting directly on. the coal deposits, in
which the teeth of Saurians and fractured bones are
found. From these it appears, that the reptiles to
which they belonged were " allied to the living
monitor; and their appearance in a primary or
pdeozoic formation, observes Mr. Owen, is opposed to

140 THE SUPPOSED LINK,
the doctrine of the progressive development of rep
tiles from fish, or from simpler to more complex
forms ; for if they existed at the present day, these
monitors wodd take rank at the head of the Lacer-
tian order."
Thus, we find, that each group contributes some
thing of importance in contradicting the idea of
development. The New Eed Sandstone, which is
next in order, is not an exception. According to the
theory so frequently referred to, nothing but " the
lowest class of the vertebrate sub-kingdom" was
found in this group, until an animal was discovered
at Euncon, near Manchester, which had the body of
a reptile, and the beak and feet of a bird ; thus prov
ing, as they supposed, that it had been a link between
the two classes. It is necessary only to refer to our
previous remarks on the footprints of birds, found by
Professor Hitchcock in this group, in the valley of
the Connecticut river. These and others of a similar
character were found in the lowest strata of that for
mation, and prove very dearly that the Supposed
limk was not necessary, and, therefore, that it had no
real existence.
It wodd be useless to follow the footsteps of these
theorists any further. We have seen enough to satisfy
any impartial mind, of the perfect absurdity and
foolishness of their conclusions, as well as the want

GEOLOGY. 141
of correctness in the data on which they rest their
theory. Eeptilian footprints have been found in
the New Eed, Permian, Carboniferous, and Old
Eed Sandstone systems ; while the skeletons of
highly orgamzed fish have been found in the Silurian
group- below. The highest class of ammals, the ver
tebrate, is represented in the ddest fossiliferous
strata. There are no birds and quadrupeds to be
found in the ancient beds ; but this is because they
were chiefly marine deposits; and in such these
remdns are seldom found.
But, it has been said that the fossils of those
ancient formations represent plants and animals, as a
general thing, very different from those of the present
day. And, as their particular forms and genera can
not be found at this time, it is inferred that they
were changed into new forms and families which
transmitted their new character to succeeding gene
rations ; in other words, that transmutation of species
was common, nay, that it was the law of their ex
istence, and their unavoidable and necessary end.
But this is not a legitimate condusion or inference.
Species are dying out at the present time, and it may
have been the course at that early period. It is thus
with the Dodo, a remarkable bird which was found
on the small islands of Bourbon, Mauritius, &c, near
the coast of South Africa ; and the Nestor productius,

142 INDIAN TRIBES.
a species of parrot pecdiar to Philip's Island ; and
the Apteryex, and other birds of New Zealand.
These birds are all dying out, yet there is no proof
that any of them have perished by what is called a
catastrophe. They have wasted gradually away, one
by one, as the Bison is now disappearing from the
earth. Circumstances operate to change or entirely destroy
different families or species. Animds, like plants,
are so constituted' that they can bear change to a
certain point and no farther ; anything beyond will
either injure or entirely destroy them. This is true
also of man. He is not exempt from the common
laws of life. The Indians of this country are rapidly
dying out, if such language should be applied to a
naturally noble, but unfortunate and badly-treated
people. In a few brief years some of the tribes will
have disappeared. The last of the Miamies, Potto-
watomies, Cherokees, and many other tribes will soon
be left to mourn the departed greatness of their
fallen people in silent and bitter solitude. Years,
nay, centuries, may pass away before this sad event,
yet sooner or later it must come. Extinction is
written on these tribes as certainly as death is upon
the different members. A different course of treat
ment might possibly avert it for a time, how long can
not be foretold ; but the voice of their sufferings-, and

GEOLOGY. 143
the eloquence of their silence, have not yet been able
to effect that change, and may not.
These changes of species are natural, so far as they
are in fact changes ; they are not, however, of the
character represented. There is no change from one
to the other — no transmutation of species. Time
produces changes, but these are effected by the ex
tinction of one, and the creation of a different one.
And by removing species from one locality to
another, which is sometimes demanded by change of
climate. It appears from the review we have taken of this
subject, that the geological history of the earth's
crust does not sustain the idea of a regular advance
from the lowest or simplest, to the highest forms of
vegetable and ammal organization; but, that it
proves the contrary to be true. Among the earliest
inhabitants of the world, animals of the first depart
ment, and of a high organization, differing in almost
every particdar from the structure of their more
humble associates, are found ; and not unfrequently
the highest and most perfect remains appear first in
the singdar record of their history. Professor Owen
and other distinguished authorities, say that the
general structure of the advanced order of fishes,
upon which the transmutationists engraft the simplest
forms of reptiles, utterly forbids the idea of the least

144 PROFESSOR AGASSIZ.
possible connection between them. But, if the fossil re
cord clearly established a regdar advance of animal and
vegetable forms, from the lowest to the highest strata
of the earth, it wodd not prove the theory in question ;
but only, that each succeeding generation was more
perfect than the former. The distinguished professor
just referred to, in writing on the subject, expressed
the opinion that, the different species in their pro
gressive development wodd maintain their typical
character; and that if any improvement did take
place, it would not result in the least change of form
or character.
This is the opmion of nearly all of our distinguished
Naturalists and Philosophers, and we think the only
reasonable view of the subject. A change is not an
improvement. While advantageous or disadvan
tageous circumstances, may improve or injure the
organs separately, the nature, form, and charac
ter of the plant or the animal, must always remain
the same. Professor Agassiz, after being engaged
for many years in the observation of fossils, says that
he cannot admit the transmutation of species. Again
he says, there is a freedom in the development of
animate matter, in which the action of an intelligent
and omnipresent Creator may be seen.
In the professor's lectures on Embriology, before
the Lowell Institute in Boston, he used the most dia-

GEOLOGY. 145
tinct and satisfactory language on this subject : " It
has been long and generally asserted," he says,
" especially by the physi-philosophers, that the lower
animds were first introduced upon our globe, and
formed alone the popdation of the earliest periods in
past-time ; that Polypi existed before Mollusks ;
these before the Articdata ; and that Vertebrata
were the last to make their appearance. But the dis
coveries in fossil ichthyology which it has been my
good fortune to describe in my researches upon fossil
fishes, have shown that vertebrated animds — fishes —
have existed in the oldest epochs, and that such an
order of succession as mentioned before, did not agree
with the plan of creation. Indeed, that representa
tions of all the four great divisions of the animal
kingdom, ATticdata, Mollusca, Eadiata, occur simul
taneously with fishes, in dl the lowest geological
formations, was soon ascertained by the investigations
of paleontologists, and that the fact of any regular
succession was afterwards altogether denied. How
ever, the simultaneous occurrence of the four great
types does not indicate the want of regdarity in the
development of the various classes of the animal
kingdon, taken isolately."
Muller, the distinguished German physiologist,
says that the species were created, Originally^ distinct,
and that there is not even a remote possibility that

146 cuviee, d'orbigny, bell.
one species has been produced from another. Baron
Cuvier bore the same testimony, and he denounced
the theory of development as chimerical, and as re
nounced by philosophy. To this authority we might
add that of Murchison, Yernuel, D'Orbigny, Miller,
and Lyell, and many others of equal weight ; but the
facts speak louder than these. Mr. Charles Bdl, one
of the greatest men England ever, produced, whose
large experience enabled him to speak in the most
positive terms, wrote as follows: — "It is above all
surprising with what perverse ingenuity men seek to
obscure, the conception of a Divine Auth©r,.an intel
ligent, designing, and benevolent , Being — rather
clinging to the greatest absurdities, or interposing
the cold and inanimate influence of the mere ele-
• ments, in a manner to extinguish all feeling of de
pendence in our minds, and all emotions of grati
tude," In another place,- the same distinguished
author says : " It must now be apparent that nothing
less than the Power which originally created, is equal
to the office of effecting those changes on animals, by
which they are adapted to their conditions; that
thdr organization is predetermined, and not conse
quent on the condition of the earth, or the surround
ing elements. Everything declares that the spedes
took their origin in a distinct creation, and not in a
gradual variation from some origind type ; and any

GEOLOGY. 147
other hypothesis than that of a new creation of ani
mals suited to the successive changes in the organic
matter of the globe — in the condition of the water,
atmosphere, and temperature — brings with it only an
accumdation of difficdties." To the weight of such
authority, it would be usdess to add the testimony of
others less distinguished, but not less sincere and
positive. With these historical facts, together with the testi
mony of the distinguished savans referred to, we will
leave, this branch of our subject ; which, if not as
attractive as the astronomical part, is not less inter
esting and important. The one excites our pro-
foundest astonishment, and leaves us gazing with
bewildered look up into the boundless and the infi-
mte, in which the planets hold their orbits, and exer-
dse their varied influences ; while the other fixes the
mind upon the revelations of the earth's mysterious
record, which tells of long ages past, distinguished by
different physical and organic forces. But, however
different in the character of their phenomena, they
umte in proving their common origin and dtimate
end.

PAET IV.

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY.

From the vast and mysterious records of nature,
upon which the wonders of unnumbered ages have
been written, we pass, with increasing reverence, to
the widespread field of organic matter. And here,
surrounded by the living witnesses of Creative
Power and Goodness, we learh facts of deeper inte
rest and more startling significance. Beneath us we
see the various fruits of past centuries ; the indis
pensable materials of the present; which internal
convulsions and external violence, which life and
death, lengthened prosperity, and sudden extinction,
have deposited in this mighty storehouse of genera
tions. But over all these successive changes of
matter, animate and inanimate, an Infinite Wisdom.
presided; and out of their ruins a more perfect
edifice has been constructed for man. We still have

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 149
the humble tenant of an hour, whose progenitors
lived and sang before man was ; still the varied
forms, organs, and remarkable adaptations of each,
which enable us to distinguish the exhumed denizens
of the earliest periods. Between the multitudinous
forms various resemblances exist, but they result from
the necessity which similar constructions and instincts
create. There is a universal harmony in the discord
ant members. As music is composed of different
sounds, so God, in his wisdom has created a perfect
whole out of innumerable and apparently contradic
tory parts. The earth is diversified with frowning
mountains and smiling, plains ; with barren and
with fertile spots ; with arid deserts and ocean
depths; it is dothed with the lichen and the oak,^
and tenanted with different species^ classes, and
departments of the animal kingdom, each of which
perforins a distinct office. The mountains feed the
springs and rivers which supply the intervening
valleys. The inequalities of the surface serve to
relieve it from a superabundance of water, and the
depths of the oeean receive it. And although the.
desert appears useless to man, it may not be less
important in the economy of nature than the ocean
by which it is surrounded.
Certain philosophers consider the various orga
nisms simply different forms of the same life; not

150 DISTINCT EMBRYONIC FORMS.
separate and distinct creations, but the legitimate
offspring of the same common parents ; that through
an instinctive longing for improvement, the inferior
gradually but steadily advanced to the superior. H
this is true, the changes must have been uniform,
and the superior and inferior composed of the same
constituent elements. It is our purpose, however, to
show that this is not the case. To do this, we will
attempt to draw the line of distinction between the
various forms and divisions of the vegetable world,
and successively point out the differences which exist
between the vegetable and animal kingdoms.
It becomes necessary, in the development- hypothe
sis, to establish the existence of some connecting
link between the grand divisions of organic matter.
If no such connection exists, the possibility of a
change of character or transmutation cannot be sus
tained. In each division of the Vegetable kingdom,,
the embryos are marked by peculiarities by which
they are easily distinguished. " The monocotyledo-
nous embryo is of an ovoid form, or like a cylinder
rounded at its extremities. The dicotyledonous em
bryos are sometimes similar in form, but are always
distinguished from the monocotyledons by the divi
sion of the cotyledonous extremity into two lobes.
The gemmule in the monocotyledonous embryo occu
pies a cavity in the inside, and differs in the donga-

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 151
trun of the axis." The embryos are dissimilar, and
this difference finally decides the character of the
plant. But not only in form are they different ; the
elementary particles are not the same in the very
beginning of its growth. This variety of form and of
elements naturdly secures different powers ; and as a
iresdt it is found that the functions performed by the
one are beyond the powers of the other. " Yegetable
substances, apparently identical, not only present
themselves under entirely different forms, but they
also produce (in the poppy, for instance) certain
bodies, which are entirely different from those pro
duced either in the aeonite or in the dak tree ; nay,
in different organs of the same plant they give rise to
entirely different products, and perform entirely dif
ferent functions." The constituent materials are
different, and these produce a difference in form,
which finally results in the production of. a different
wood and frait. The whole depends on the combina
tion of the constituent elements. These are differently
combined in the various families, and therefore they
take dissimilar forms, and perform entirely different
functions. If these facts are granted, it must be
admitted that the first visible form of the plant
results from, and is in accordance with, the primary
arrangement and combination of its elementary
parts.

152 COMBINATION of the ELEMENTS.
The incalcdable variety of the organic kingdom
depends, not so much on the variety of the inorganic
materials, for these are few and simple, as it does on
the admixture of them. After this combination,
which is the first step to, and sign of, organization,
takes place, the energies of that combination de-
velope the plant ; but this , development is involun
tary, and necessarily confined to certain and un
changeable limits. The form and functions of the
plant, therefore, are determined by the Power which
secured the combination of its constituent elements ;
and not by any peculiarities or dynamic difference to
be found in the inorganic substances. As the plant
has no existence until this combination of elements
takes place, its whole character depends on the com
bining Agency ; and this must be distinct from and
prior to the planet itself, giving it its fniit in the
season, and withering its leaves and branches at a
word, whenever exhibitions of Infinite Power are
necessary to instruct or admonish those whom kind
ness cannot reach.
While the great variety of plants depends on the
primary combination of the inorganic substances, it is
effected through the action of differently constructed
organs. For this purpose the organs are differently
constructed and arranged. Plants containing alkali
possess organs fitted to produce it ; and those abound-

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 153
ing in acids have organs pecdiarly adapted to their
production. Thus, various substances are elaborated
out of the same soil, and plants as dissimilar as any
found in the whole vegetable kingdom are made to
flourish almost in the embrace of each other. This
provision and adaptation is highly important in the
economy of life. The antiaris toxicaria, one of the
most poisonous plants in the whole range of vegetable
matter, may be found by the side of the most inno
cent and useful. The poisonous vine springs up out of
the same soil that sustains the tree whose trunk it
entwines, and around whose ddicious fruit it gathers
in beautiful but fearful festoons. We have seen
some of the rich fruits pf the tropics thus protected
from the touch 0f man, and compelled, as if by some
curse, to ripen and decay amid the flowers which
surrounded them.
From this very limited notice of the elementary
materids, and the force of different combinations,
we pass on to the growth of the embryo, which is
peculiar in each of the grand divisions. The
monocotyledonous seeds are generally provided with
a perisperm, and in such cases the eotyledon is not
disengaged from the seed. It forms either an elonga
tion on the outside, by which it is attached to the-
axis, or remains sessile on the axis. When there is
no perisperm the cotyledon is separated from its
7*

154 GERMINATION OF THE EMBRYO.
integument, and, raised vertically with the gemmde.
The germination of the dicotyledonous embryo is
entirely different ; in it the gemmde comes out of
the interval of the cotyledons at their base, and not
out of the interior of a sheath. The gemmde is
freely lengthened in its direction, while the exorhizal
radicle pursues an independent course. Acotyle-
donous plants are destitute of the organs we have
just described, and their germination is necessarily
different. Their spores are disconnected from the
cavity which encloses them, and do not open to give
passage to any interior formation, but germinate by
an elongation of themselves. They are the simplest
form of the reproductive organ, and have little or
no resemblance to the complicated structure of the
ovdes of the phanerogamous plants.
These are the leading distinctions in the growth of
the divisions. But, according to Professor Scbleiden,
the differences exist in the earliest -stages of the cellu
lar tissues. The gummy solution is taken up and
thickened into a jelly, which is changed into cytoblasis
or germs. These take forms peculiar to each class ;
in the dicotyledonous plants they are rounded lenti
cular bodies, while they are more oval and much
larger in the monocotyledons.
This uistinetion in the form of the Cytoblastsin
the various classes, corresponds with the difference

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 155
in the forms of the globdes of the blood of herbivo
rous and carnivorous animals ; and if the same experi
ment codd be made on the vital forces, we think
they wodd be found as essentially different as the
globules of the blood. The blood is a transparent
fluid, fdl of small globdes, which differ in number
and form, according to the character of the animal.
In man they are small and nearly dreular. In fishes
and birds they are larger and of an oblong spheroidal
form. In reptiles, they are still larger and have a
different form ; and in each of the grand orders of
camivora and herbivora, they are peculiarly marked ;
so much so that the blood of one order is easily
distinguished from the other under the microscope.
The distinction in the size and form of these globules
is wholly arbitrary ; yet the vital, energy depends
on their number and character. If an animal
is bled to syncope, and the blood is permitted to
flow on, death will speedily ensue ;. but if blood of a
similar character, containing globdes of the same
size and form, be injected into the veins before the
animal be entirely dead, it will recover. Experi
ments of this kind were frequently made during the
seventeenth century, under the name of Transfusion.
In- this way it was ascertained, that the vital prin
ciple of the globdes depended on their size and form ;
and that the blood of the herbivorous animal wodd

156 GLOBULES OF THE BLOOD.
not answer for injection into the carnivora.- If blood
with circular globules be transfused into the veins of
an animal whose blood contains elliptical globules,
or vice versa, the ammal will not recover. Dissimilar
globdes have the power to rouse the animd for a
time only, but cannot and do not restore it.
Thus, in the globules of the blood, in the rudimentary
particles of the body, we find a distinction on which
life depends. If life is everywhere the same, and
all animals are connected to, and spring from each
other, how came this difference in the blood ? There
appears to be no physical cause for it, and yet it is
connected with the highest functions of the body.
Certainly, if the blood had been transmitted from one
animal to another, in a natural descent,' it would
have maintained its primary character. The globules
of the lowest and the highest would be of the same
form, and possess the same vital energy ; but such is
not the case. The globules differ not only in all
the departments of the animal kingdom, but also in
each class and order; and in the fishes^ reptiles, and
birds, the difference is observable in almost every
family. In the great divisions, the differences are
marked, but they become less distinct in the various
orders and families. Admitting all that " the advo
cates for transmutation or development desire ; that
the natural longings of the animal, and the circum-

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 157
stances surrounding it, might change the length,
location, and even the character of the limbs and
organs, yet these new circumstances codd not change
the globdes of the blood ; nor is there any perceiv
able reason for such change. These peculiarities in
the blood exist under similar circumstances, and
depend, not on external relations, but on internal
necessity." We find the same diversity of form in vegetable
cells or utricles, as in the globules of the blood.
Some of these cells are round ; others are oval ; and
others are -lengthened and sharpened at the ends ;
while others assume tube-like forms. These forms
are modified by growth and pressure, by which
means they are forced into spheres, ellipsoids, poly
hedrons, cubes, or dies, prisms, dodecahedrons, &c.
Now, what law regdates these forms ? These first
steps, or elementary peculiarities, are not governed
by the plant ; for they are the beginning of the plant,
and as such indicate its character. We know that
the various families are composed of utricles, fibres,
or vessels, peediar to themselves, and that the flowers
of each family have their own fixed number of
whorls, and similar leaves, and that the fruit of each
partake of similar properties ; beyond this, science
has not been able to penetrate. It has been said that
the organs are the same, which, in a series of trans

158 REMARKS OF M. JUBSIEU.
formations, have assumed the different modifications
we have seen. " Observation," says M. Jussieu,
" which proves the truth of theories, determines the
contrary. On watching the development of a Vessel,
we do not find any one which in its different phases
would haye represented all the other kinds of vessels ;
and the same thing may be said of cells. Eemark,
moreover, first, that in each part of a plant such and
such modifications of cells, of fibres, of vessels, are
found. We have, for instance, in certain places,
unreliable trachae, though in others we never meet
with them. Second, that in spite of the similarity of
the chemical composition of the walls, that of their
contents is quite different, and like the shape, con
stant in appearance, and agreeing with the place
which the cavity occupies in the vegetable. Thus,
therefore, if all the elementary organs of vegetables
commence their growth as utricles, among which we
cannot discover any appredable difference, except in
their form, it is no less true that each utricle is des
tined from the beginning to assume, in its ulterior
development, such a form, and no other ; to contain Or
to elaborate sueh a substance, and no other, it is not,
therefore, always the same organ."
We have seen that the vegetable embryo or germ,
is different in the various classes, and that each class
has its own peculiar mode of germination. Animal

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 159
embryos are dso distinct in character ; for, however
dose the, resemblance, there is a distinction which,
if beyond our optical power at first, soon manifests
itself in their growth. There must be something in
the embryo which gives direction to the individual
growth ; or there is an Infinite Power presiding over
the development and growth of each one. This posi
tion proves the immediate interposition, as well as
the omnipresence, of the Supreme Cause ; and the
former establishes the distinct and unchangeable
character of each class. One of these positions must
be correct ; and as both of them contradict the idea
of transmutation or development, it is not important
which one we force our antagonists to accept. " We
know that one sort of an egg will only give rise to
one sort of an animal," says the learned Agassiz;;
-" therefore, we must admit, that as an egg of one kind
gives rise only to one sort of an animal, there must
be an immaterial principle presiding over these
changes, which is invariable in its nature, and is
properly the cause of the whole process." And as in
the case of vegetable embryos, those of the animal
kingdom are developed in different ways. In some
of them the yolk of the egg is divided and subdi
vided into innumerable little masses ; in others the
division is only partial ; while in others the germ is
elongated, and not divided at all. This division is

160 division of the yolk,
effected differently in different animals. Thus in
fishes, the yolk is first depressed, then divided into
halves, and then again at right angles; in other ani
mals, the yolk is divided into four equal parts, and
these. subdivided into small yolklets. Indeed, every
species, as with vegetables, has its own peculiar
mode of division, elongation, and growth. The
germs of some animals are surrounded by two or
more envdopes ; in others there is only one, as in
fishes. In reptiles and mammalia there are two.
These envelopes are differently formed, and arise
from different, portions of tjbe yolk. Thus the radiata
begin their growth by the formation of a distinct
layer round the yolk, in the form of a spherical
crust ; while the alimentary cavify is formed in the
lower part of the yolk. In the articulate the germ is
formed in the lower part of the yolk ; thus, occupy
ing a position directly reverse to that of the radiata.
The first stages of their growth are distinguished in
this way. But, if all these germs were developed in
the same manner ; if the same division took place
with a similar growth, the fact of an essential differ
ence in its germinative principles codd still be main
tained. Vegetables stand by the side of each other,
and draw their nourishment from the same soil, yet
are different in thdr form and chemical properties :
and animals living on the same kind of food, have

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 161
different organs, or similar organs with diversified
powers and properties. The primordid elements are
separated by the action of the digestive organs ; and
new combinations are formed by the assimilative
powers of the animal system. In this formation some
law must be observed, which is dther stamped on the
germ itself, or is obedient to the will of the Power
from which it derived its existence and vital force.
But, leaving the cell and germ, let us turn to the
bud. In addition to the difference which, in obe
dience to the primary law, determines the character
of the plant, we here find certain adaptations to locar
tion, climate, and circumstances, alike interesting and
beautiful. In warm climates, where there is no dan
ger to be apprehended from the temperature of the
atmosphere, the first leaves are as complete as the
subsequent ones'. But in northern latitudes, and on
the mountdns of the south, the first and outer leaves
serve as envdopes for the rest. They are adapted to
the nature of the plant and the temperature of the cli
mate. Some of them are hard and dry, like the enve
lope of a pear ; others are impregnated with insoluble
matter, and are bad conductors of heat ; while others
are covered with a thick down. In these arrange
ments in the vegetable creation we find the first
marked evidence of Providential care.
The growth of the dicotyledonous bud differs ma-

162
terially from that of the' monocotyledonous. In the
former, the bud develops itself, and then stops and
prepares a bud for the following year. The stem,
therefore, is composed of branches placed end to end,
and exhibits the number of, ligneous layers from the
base to the top. In the latter the stem is simple, and
there are no lateral ramifications. The bundles or
fascicles, composed of small vessels, are scattered in
the monocotyledonous stem, without any apparent
order ; while those of the dicotyledonous stem are
arranged regularly in a circle, and approaching,
touch each other, thus forming a ligneous ring. The
fascicles of the dicotyledons are uniform in their
structure ; but those of the monocotyledons are irre
gular both in thickness and composition. The dico
tyledonous fascicle is divided, after a certain period :
but such a division never takes place in the monoco
tyledons. These pecdiarities in their growth, in
duced Desfontaines to divide the vegetable kingdom
into two great classes :
" First. The Monocotyledonous, or those which
have no distinct concentric layers ; whose solidity
decreases from the circumference towards the centra
and in which the pith is interposed between the
fibrous fascicles, without meddlary elongations, into
diverging rays.
" Second. The Dicotyledonous, or those which

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 163
have distinct concentric layers ; whose solidity de
creases from the centre to the circumference, and in
which the pith is inclosed in a longitudinal canal,
with medullary elongations, into diverging rays."
The trunk of the monocotyledon is formed by the
addition of fresh fascicles from the centre-. As these
push themselves up, the outside ones are compressed,
and thus become harder than the internal ones. This
manner of growth is directly inverse to that of the
dicotyledonous plant. In this the new layers are out
ermost, and therefore we find the centre of the plant
the most compact. These peculiarities in the distri
bution, arrangement, and growth of the fascicles, and
the difference in thdr form and structure, enable the
initiated to determine the class to which the stems
belong, without seeing anything but the stem ; and it
is by these that the plants of the coal measures are
classified, and the character of their vegetation is
known. The bark of the vegetable kingdom is also marked
by certain pecdiarities. The bark of the dicotyle
donous plant is composed of several parts ; the epi
dermis, cortied layer, cellular layer, and cortical
fibres or liber. The suberous and cellular layers
found in the dicotyledonous division, are never dis
tinctly developed in the monocotyledonous plants,
nor is the liber to be found in the latter. But not

164 FORMATION OF THE LEAVES.
these alone ; there are shades of difference in all the
parts, too fine to be easily detected : many are known
to exist by the influence only which they exert on the
plant. '
In passing to the leaves we are met with differ
ences equally characteristic. The leaf is either pal
mate or pinnate, according as the petiolary fascicle
is divided into divergent ones, or continued in the
medium line. The dicotyledonous plants have articu
lated leaves, with dentate and crenate outlines, and
are divided into lobes by angles. They either radiate
like the spokes of a wheel, or follow the plane of the
petiole. The monocotyledon is more uniform and
simple, and is not marked by that net-work of nerves
which we find in the dicotyledons. The three great
classes have nearly, the same combination in the
spiral arrangement of their leaves ; the angles of
divergence constitute the principal difference. The
monocotyledons have generally three leaves to the
whorl ; while that arrangement is scarcely ever found
in the dicotyledons.
Leaves which live under water differ very much in
their construction from aerial ones ; but this depends
on the element in which they live. They have no
epidermis, and consequently no stomata ; while
lengthened cells take the place of the fibro-vascular
skeleton, which we find in aerid leaves. The paren-

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 165
chyma done composes the leaf. Its cells are closely
united together, but frequently present enlarged
lacunae, which are regdar in form and arrangement,
and are completely enclosed by the surrounding cells.
These lacunae are adapted and appear destined to
diminish the specific gravity of the leaf, thus per
forming functions andogous to those performed by
the bladders of fishes. The character and arrange
ment of the cells of the epidermis regulate the
number, position, and form of the exhaling or cor
tical pores ; which are known by the name of stomata,
and are different in each of the great divisions of the
vegetable kingdom.
The flowers of monocotyledons have five whorls,
each containing three parts ; while the dicotyledons
have four whorls, with five parts in each. This is the
leading distinction between the two classes r there
are others, however, more or less important, by which
the minor divisions are distinguished from each other.
But the variations never become parallel to each
other ; the distinctions, however slight, are main
tained through all the divisions and subdivisions of
the kingdom. The mdtiplicity of forms and colors,
each with a pecdiar fragrance, and the great variety
of pistils, petals,' stamens, and stigma, are suffi
ciently marked to impress the most careless observer.
They are so inseparably connected with every idea of

166 DIFFERENCE IN THE ROOTS*
delicacy and beauty ; such fit embl^pas of elegance
and purity, that he is unfortunate inieed who 'does
not understand their language, and the lessons they
are perpetually repeating.
The Eoots of the different classes have less- to
gratify the senses, but quite as much to convince the
judgment in an inquiry like this. In the acotyledons
there is no distinction of parts in the embryo ; the
roots are simply tubular elongations of the cells
touching the soil. But in the monocotyledons and
dleotyledaBS,.the radicles are distinct in the embryo,
yet they are developed differently in each. In the
first, the embryo is pierced to allow the radicle to
pass, and is covered by a superficial layer, which
forms a sheath for the root. In the latter, the radi
cular extremity of the axis is lengthened into what is
called the tap-root, which throws off other roots suffi
cient to support the tree. The monocotyledonous
roots are generally compound, but do not throw off
so many branches as the dicotyledonous roots. The
arrangement and- development of the vessels differ
materially from that observed in the stems. As the
radicle is not found in the acotyledons, 4here is no
analogy between thdr growth and that of the other
classes; These cells are lengthened analogous to the
epidermis, and accomplish their destiny by throwing
off adventitious roots.

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 167
The .respirati^y1- Organ differs in the different
classes of vegetables, as in animals of different
grades. The air enters through the stomata on the
leaf, and penetrates the parenchyma and other layers
before it reaches the cavities of the trachse ; but the
trachae is not the ody respiratory membrane. Some
plants (the ferns for instance) have no true trachae,
yet their respiration is perfect. These organs, how
ever, are not able to effect the necessary chemical
changes without light, the great vivifying agent.
The plant in respiring decomposes the carbonic acid
gas, and retains the carbon and a small portion of
oxygen ; but the solar action is indispensably neces
sary in the process. When plants are kept in the
dark they lose their color and solidity, thus proving a
loss of carbon, on which their sdidity depends.
During respiration vegetables throw off oxygen, and
take up carbon ; but at night when respiration eeases,
they throw off carbonic acid gas. The decomposition
and consolidation of the elementary substances are
effected by the action of the sun and water, while the
color of the plant, and the growth of the woody parts,
depend more directly on the elements of the solar
rays, and the composition of the atmosphere.
As it is our object to show the fallacy of the idea
of transmutation, and the development hypothesis,
not only from the distinctions in the vegetable and

168 PROPERTIES OF THE SOLAR RAYS.
animal kingdoms, but also from th#r adaptations to
each other, and to the world of matter around them,
it is proper to notice the harmony which exists
between the vegetable kingdom. and the laws of heat
and light, and the revolutions of the earth. Lt has
been ascertained that a ray of sdar light contains
several distinct principles; one portion represents
color, another affects the temperature, while a third
contains the chemicd principle, which is . invisible,
and has no influence on the thermometer. Yegeta-
tion is regdated . by the seasons; but what agency
does light, and especially the harmonious action of
these distinct principles, perform ? This question was
before the British Association last year, and submit
ted to Mr. Hunt for investigation. From his report,
it appears that light transmitted through yellow glass
has little or no influence on the germination of seeds,
from the fact that the chemical portion of the ray will
not pass through that color. Every vegetable re-
qdres a certain portion of all these principles, and
will not survive without them. And it is upon the
changes in the proportion of them, that germination,
growth, and fructification, depend. These changes
are in harmony with the seasons, and may resdt
from them. " It is now an ascertained fact," says
Mr* Hunt, " that the solar beam during spring con
tains a large amount of the actinic principle, so neces-

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 169
sary at that season for the germination of seeds and
the development of buds. In summer there is a
large proportion of the light-giving principle, neces
sary to the formation of the woody parts of the plant.
As autumn approaches, the calorific or beat-giving
principles of the solar rays increase. This is neces
sary to harden the woody parts, and prepare them
for the approaching winter. It is thus that the pro
portions of the different principles are changed with
the seasons, and thus that vegetation is germinated,
grown, and hardened by them." We know not how
these facts may act on the minds of others, but in
the axis of the earth, so arbitrary yet so essential ;
in the distinct principles of solar light, so mysterious,
yet so powerful and important in their action on
vegetable life ; and in the adaptation in the propor
tion of these principles to the seasons and necessities
of the kingdom, we recognize the strongest evidence
of the existence of an iNFrNiTE Wisdom and an ever-
active Goodness.
The growth of the wood is also different. We
have seen that one class has its growth externally,
and another internally ; there are differences also in
the form, growth, and arrangement of the trachae,
cells, lactiferous vessels, and fascicles. The elements
of the fascicles of the dicotyledonous plant are
divided after the first year ; one part remains as the

170 VARHSTY AND ADAPTATION.
ligneous, while the other becomes the cortical system.
This division never takes place in the monocotyle
dons. In the acotyledons the fascicles have another
arrangement, quite distinct from either of the former.
They have no unreliable trachae ; indeed, they differ
in every particular. Their stems grow at their sum
mits, by the lengthening of the fascieles already
formed, which is wholly unlike the manner of growth
in their kindred classes.

n.

VEGETABLE VARIETY AND ADAPTATION.
It is truly wonderful to contemplate the mdtiplicity
of forms found in the vegetable kingdom; but our
astonishment is increased when we think of the dif
ferent powers which these various forms possess. The
perfect adaptation of their organs to the offices they
perform, and the infinite chemical combinations
elaborated by them, force us to recognize them as
Separate and distinct creations. In this review of the
distinctions in theforms and functions of the principal
divisions of the vegetable kingdom, we have not been
able to find the point in the different plants, or
periods in their growth, in which the distinct features
are blended in each other ; or when they in the least

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 171
appear to blend. Indeed, no such point can be
found. The characteristic features are stamped in
delibly on the elementary parts, and continued
through all the various stages of their growth and
decay. They never represent each other ; never run
into each other, but are always the same ; performing
the same functions, elaborating the same substances,
and working out, through the mysterious process of
their growth, the same pecdiarities and forms;
The question now presents itself ; is it probable, or
even possible, that these differently constituted plants
sprung from the same parent stock? Their constitu
ent elements are differently combined ; their forms
are dissimilar, and their organs or tissues are not
only unlike in themselves, but elaborate different
substances out of the same soil, thus proving that
they have different powers, and that they are in fact
and in every particular distinct from, and indepen
dent of, each other. If any such transmutation took
place in the early ages of the world, would we not
know something of the fact, through the pages of
botamc history. By various means the history of
many plants has been transmitted regularly down
from century to century, yet no change "has been
observed in their character. The seeds taken from
the monuments of Egypt produced plants precisely
like those of the present day; yet centuries must

172 EVIDENCES OF DESIGN.
have passed away with their innumerable events and
changes, since those seeds were first locked up within
their mighty vaults. During this period of time, no
change has taken place in the vegetable kingdom.
A few plants have suffered some slight alteration by
cultivation and change of locality ; but none what
ever in their chemical properties or elementary
principles ; these remain essentially the same.
If in addition to the distinctions which we have
seen, there appears to be an important end obtained
by them, the conclusion to which they point will be
the more irresistible. He who contemplates the
variety and beauty of the vegetable creation, and
enjoys the fragrance of our gardens and prairies,
without feeling grateful to the Author of their exist
ence, who ordered the variety of their colors to
please, and their sweetness to gratify, is sadly defi
cient in all that refines and ennobles humanity, and
needs some correcting influence to qdeken his sensi
bilities and prompt his gratitude. Yet these are sub
ordinate offices only, when compared with the more
important parts they perform in the economy of
nature. Nor do they merit much consideration when
viewed as evidences of original design. It is the
adaptation of the vegetable families to the perform
ance of their multiplied offices, their distribution
over the continents, their chemical and medicind

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 173
properties, and their general usefulness to man,
which most clearly prove them to be the offspring of
an intelligent and kind Creator.
It has been said that it was quite as important to
provide for the wants of man as to create him. But
the great question involved in the theory of develop
ment is, not whether it was necessary to create him,
but how he was created ! By what direct and intelli
gent power, if by any ? Did the same wisdom provide
for his wants that gave him life ? or did these sup
plies resdt fortuitously from the operation of the
forces which elaborated the human soul? In the
distribution of vegetables we find much that is inter
esting and instructing. In the vegetable creation, as
in everything else, a general compensation takes place
between the different portions of the globe we in
habit. The absence of one is compensated by another ;
so that the various climates are supplied with different
vegetables, answering the same important ends. The
most useful, however, have a wider range, and seem to
be adapted to a greater variety of climate. The
cereals, which are pre-eminently the most useful, are
successfully cultivated as far north as the seventieth
degree of latitude. But this depends on the modifi
cations of the climate, for they are not usually found
so far north. Their boundary varies between fifty-
one and seventy degrees north latitude. Wheat is

174 GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS.
produced in Scotland, England, France, Germany,
Hungary, Central Asia, North America, Brazil,
Buenos Ayres, Chili, at the Cape of Good Hope, New
South Wales, and New Holland. In Spain, Portu
gal, Itdy, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Persia, and
South America, maize and rice take the place of
wheat. Eice supplies its place in China and Japan,
but it is not confined to those countries, it is success
fully cdtivated in both divisions of the western
world. Eye and barley are scattered from the
seventieth degree north latitude, as far south as Van
Dieman's Island. Thus it appears that these, the
most usefd of all plants, are adapted to almost every
climate on earth.
But in the low countries, between the tropics, other
vegetable produots are provided to supply the wants
of man. The banana, date, cocoa-nut, yam, and
breadfruit trees, are scattered over the whole inter-
tropicd zone. They commence where the cereals
stop, and appear to be better adapted to the inhabitants
of those warm elimates than those which their climate
denies them. These grains and frdts are adapted to
a great variety of climate and soil, while those less
essential are frequently confined to very small ter
ritories. The loss of one is compensated by the
spontaneous growth of another, answering the same
purpose, and almost always better adapted to the

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 175
inhabitants of the country in which it is found. This
power of accommodation, and ability to mature under
so great a variety of circumstances, are not given to
other divisions and families of the vegetable king
dom. Many of the largest, and apparently the
hardiest, plants and trees are confined to very limited
zones, and soon wither and die if removed beyond
them. This is perfectly natural, for each locality and
climate reqdres a distinct, we might say peculiar,
organization of the nervous and respiratory systems.
The mountain-plant cannot thrive in the valley, nor
the valley tenant on the mountain-top. If these
changes are made the plant will soon wither and die.
Next in importance, are the vegetables and plants
nsed for chemical and medicinal purposes. This
field- is so large that a few only can be mentioned.
In this we will discover the results of the different
organs heretofore referred to. In one family; we find
the Euphorbia Ipecacuanha, Castor-oilplant, Tiglmm,
Janipha, Manchineel, etc. These are found together,
yet how different in character. From the first,
second, and third, some of our best and mildest, as
well as our most active purgatives are derived. Tlie
janipha supplies food for a large part of the popula
tion of South America ; while the poisonous shade
of the manchineel verifies the extravagant stories about
the deadly upas. In another family we find the hop,

176 MEDICINAL PLANTS.
hemp, mdberry, fig, Indian-rubber, breadfruit tree,
and antiafis toxicaria. Here is a most, remarkable
combination of dissimilar properties in the same
family. The bread-fruit tree, so. important to the
inhabitaritsof the South Sea Islands, the hemp which
is invaluable in commerce, the hop equdly impor
tant in brewing and cooking, and the Indian-rubber,
which is becoming more and more usefd to man.
The fig supplies us with a most valuable fruity while
the antiaris toxicaria yields strychnine, an dkdoid,
very useful in chemistry and medicine.
In addition to these, we have the rhubarb, mirabUis,
jalapa, cisUc creticus, mustard, poppy, kalumba,
cassia senna, capaifera, etc., all esteemed for their
medicinal properties. It has been said, and we think
with much truth, that every country and climate
produces, in the form of vegetable and minerd
compounds, all the remedies that the diseases of each
locality require. Nature, like a vast chemical labora
tory, is constantly preparing and storing up all that
is needed as astringents, febrifuges, oils, acids,
cathartics, tonics, emetics, etc.; all the apparent
deficiencies resdt from our ignorance of the medicinal
properties of the indigenous plants. It is thus that
man is armed with remedies and antidotes against
the many disorders and derangements of the human
system. But the goodness of the Creator stops not

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 177
here. Every where in nature, from the fragrant
flower of the desert, to the indescribable display of
power above our heads, beauty is inwrought with
the usefd. The flowers might have been as fragrant
without the varieties of form and color, which make
up their beauty ; but without these the charm of the
flower-bespangled lawn wodd be gone, and the soul
compelled to remain untouched by such scenes of
beauty. The countless stellar systems might have
been arranged by the Almighty hand to perform
their various offices in the universe, without shining
upon this nether sphere ; but such an arrangement
wodd have robbed the heavens of those softly beam
ing eyes of the outward space, and left the world with
out their cheering light. No starry sentinels would
have been left to tell the sad and lonely, of other
states of existence, and of other beings who look
down from those distant orbs with earnest, anxious
gaze, upon ourtoilings here ; or to bring back with the
long train of dreamy thoughts, life's half forgotten
joys, and fill the throbbing heart with hopes of others
yet to come.

-The distant planets all

Are fill'd with radiant creatures; and the heart
Becomes interpreter, and language makes
Out of its sad sympathies, with which
It seeks to write their histories ; hut oftenest
Writes its own, yet knows it not.
8*

178 THE SILK-WORM.
Abundant provision is also made to gratify the dif
ferent tastes of mankind. The Bese da tuteola, Log
wood, Indigofera, Anchusa tmctoria, supply the ma*
terials for coloring and enriching the plain fabric
which the cotton plant and mdberry leaf enable
animal ingenuity to construct. We refer to the pecu
liar properties of the mulberry, not forgetting the fact
that man, with all his boasted superiority, is a depen
dant on the worm, too frequently crushed beneath his
feet, for much of all that is elegant in his apparel.
The silk-worm cannot accomplish the object of its
creation without the mdberry leaf — the substance
on which it feeds— and God, as if to ensure the con
tinuation of this usefd species, has so ordained it,
that no other insect will partake of the same food,
thus ensuring a certain supply for the little spinster.
This appears to be a small matter, yet it as clearly
exhibits design and goodness in the creating Powee,
as the laws which hold the bodies of our astral and
stellar systems together.
Other vegetables furnish gemus the means of per
petuating the features of the departed, and of trans
ferring to canvas all that is sublime and beautifd in
natural scenery. To these beautiful provisions for
supplying our wants, and securing our happiness, a
great variety of fruits has been added, which if not
necessary, appears almost indispensable. Numerous

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 179
as are the tastes and desires of the human family,
they are an supplied . from nature's inexhaustible
storehouse. All around us minister in some way or
other to our good. Every noble sentiment of the
heart finds something without to purify and increase
it. Thus all our longings for the undefined and
invisible are insensibly fixed on the future, and the
higher faculties of the sod thus gradually fitted for
the enjoyment of the unknown treasures of the
Infinite and Eternd.
We have seen the relation the vegetable kingdom
sustains to man, in supplying his wants and gratify
ing his desires ; we now turn to view the adaptation
of the various families to their locality; and the
general and very important offices which they per
form in the economy of nature. And first their
adaptation. Plants indigenous to mountains and dry
wastes have gutters in their leaf streams, by which
the moisture they collect on their leaves is conveyed
to thdr roots. They have a power, also, by which
they attract water from the vapor in the air more
speedily than other plants. The parietaria possesses
this power in a remarkable degree. We are assured
by travellers that there is a tree in the mountains of
Ferro, which furnishes the inhabitants with large
quantities of water by distilling it from the clouds
which it attracts, and depositing it in reservoirs

180 COROLLA OF FLOWERS.
around the tree ; from which it is drawn by the in
habitants. Many of the plants of low grounds have
their first leaves in the form of furrows or little
spoons ; such as the violet, and many of the grasses
and grains. In the spring, these tufts of young
leaves raise themselves up towards heaven like paws,
to catch the falling drops. Most of these leaves lose
their gutter form as they grow older. It is permanent
in mountain plants only, and there it-is always neces
sary. In these it remains to conduct the rain-water
into the tree. The branch, by its obliquity, conveys
it to the trunk ; from thence it descends to the roots.
The bark is adapted also to this important office ; as
it always is cleft lengthwise, and never across.
The corolla of flowers is adapted to the heat of the
sun ; and their duration depends on the quantity of heat
which they collect. Some of them are protected by their
form from the rays of the sun ; while others sustain
the full -effulgence of his rays without injury. Some
are provided with dusky reflectors ; others have the
power of closing as occasion may require ; and others
are provided with parasols, by which they protect
themselves, like the crown imperial, whose flowers
are shaded by a plume of green leaves. Some
have curves, by which they collect the heat at the
centre ; while in others the curves are so arranged
that they are able to dissipate the heat. Thus, not

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 181
withstanding the large size and whiteness of the cup
of the lily, the more it expands the more it disperses
the heat. In midsummer, at noon-day, when all
other flowers seem exhausted, it lifts its head above
its drooping associates, and triumphantly disperses
the rays of the hottest sun. Other flowers have pro
visions to protect them from the cold ; while another
family is adapted to bloom on the surface of the
water ; such as the ugurphoea, which floats on the mar
gin of lakes, and accommodates itself to the motion
of the waves, without having its centre wet by them.
The valesneria are remarkable examples of this class.
They grow abundantly on the Ehine, and would be
exposed to frequent inundations by the sudden over
flows of that river, had they not been provided with
stems formed like cork-screws, which easily stretch
out to the length of three or four feet, and when the
water subsides, settle back again like an elastic
spring : in this way they keep their blossoms always
on the surface of the water.
But the provisions for protection are not confined
to external objects ; many buds are protected from
their own stems. While very small and tender, they
are wrapped in a tough integument, called calks;
and the more rough and branching the plant, the
thicker the calix. This calix is sometimes in the form
of a cap, armed with bristles, as may be seen in the

182 PROTECTION OF THE HOLLY.
rose. These protections are never found on flowers
that grow on stems without branches. - The hdly is
provided with means to defend itself from external
violence. The edges of the leaves are armed with
long sharp spines, up as high as cattle can reach ;
but as they are safe above that point, and the protect
ing spines are no longer necessary, they are found to
be perfectly smooth. Southey says :
" Below, a circling fence, its leaves are seen,
Wrinkled and keen ;
No grazing cattle through their prickly round
Can reach to wound ;
But as they grow where nothing is to fear,
Smooth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear."
" Oftentimes we see some herb whiqh has flowered
in the midst of a thorny shrub," says Mr. Lyell,
" when all the other individuals of the same species,
in the open fields around, are eaten down, and cannot
bring their seed to maturity. In this case, the shrub
has lent his armor of spines and prickles to protest
the defenceless herb agdnst the mouths of the cattle ;
and thus a few individuals which ooeupied, perhaps,
the most unfavorable station in regard to exposure,
soil, and other circumstances, may, nevertheless, by
the aid of an ally, become the principal source
whereby the winds are supplied with seeds which
perpetuate the species throughout the surrounding

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 183
tract. Thus, in the New Forest in Hampshire, the
young oaks which are not consumed by the deer, or
uprooted by the swine, are indebted to the holly for
their escape."
Thus, we see how plants are protected from them
selves, the different parts from each other ^ and how
they are armed with defensive spines to protect their
parts from animals, and to shield each other. We
might show, dso, how they are protected from the
intrusion of each other by insects; and how these
insects become the means of preserving the balance
in the vegetable kingdom ; how they stay the pro
gress, or perhaps entirely destroy one to encourage
and protect another ; there is scarcely a beast that
will touch the nettle ; yet many insects are fed by it.
They live on different parts of it, and greatly cheek
its growth. Were it not for this fact, it would en
tirely root out and destroy many valuable plants. By
such means the mighty balance in the variable and
conflicting elements is maintained, and the harmony
of the creation secured. A most striking evidence of
a universd arrangement and adaptation -, and of that
dependence which the Almighty Creator has
thought it best to write upon all his subjects.

184 differences. HI.
DEFERENCES TN THE TWO KINGDOMS.
Having thus briefly noticed the distinctions in the
vegetable kingdom, we will now invite the reader's
attention to those which exist between the two king
doms. And first as to the phenomena of life itself^
which will be found to be different in every particdar.
Vegetables have the power merely of supporting
themselves, and of reproducing their kind ; while
animals have the faculty of determinate motion, and of
receiving and percdving external impressions. Am-
nials are endowed with a greater number of faculties',
and are therefore necessarily supplied with more
complicated organs. But the differences are not
confined to the organs ; the structure of the tissue is
very dissimilar. The tissues of vegetables are com
posed of cells or utricles, furnished with walls, hollow
in the centre. In animals, the tissues are composed
of filaments or laminae, which intercross each other,
forming membranes more or less spongy ; but these
are not always divided into cells as in vegetables.
These cells are sometimes found in animals ; but it is
somewhat doubtfd whether they are natural and
permanent. We prefer to adhere to the opinion

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 185
generally entertained, before the investigations of
Professor Schwann. His conclusions have not re
ceived the unqualified approbation of our most
distinguished physiologists. Professor Agassiz Speaks
of the resdts of Professor Schwann's investigations
approvingly, but thinks they will be somewhat modi
fied. Previous, and we may add with equd truth,
subsequent investigations are against the professor.
He has not been able to explain the pecdiar stages
of development in animal tissues by the cell theory.
The chemied composition of these cells is peculiar in
each of these kingdoms, and also in each of the
grand divisions of the kingdoms. Cellulose^ com
posed of nearly equd parts of carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen, forms the principal part of the cdldar mass
in plants ; while gelatine, composed of unequal parts
of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, is the
primary materid in animals. To this rule Professor
Mdder says no exception has ever been discovered.
The skeletons of vegetable tissues are composed of
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen only ; while azote or
nitrogen is united with them in the tissues of animals.
Azotized matter is sometimes found in vegetables, but
it does not appear to be necessary or natural to them.
These differences are easily detected when the mem
branes are decomposed either by age, or by some
artificial process, which does "not destroy or recom-

186 RESPTRATORY DD3FERENCE&
bine the constituent elements in the act of decom
position. These kingdoms present the greatest distinction in
their growth. Vegetables absorb inorganic particles
by the extremity of their roots ; while animals feed
upon organic particles, and absorb their nutriment by
the ramifications of the nervous and lymphatic vessels
m the intestinal tube. The food of animals, is pre
viously prepared by digestion, which is accomplished
by organs peculiar to that, kingdom. In this process
of digestion, the animal destroys the organic sub
stances and then throws off by respiration, excretions,
&c, the rude substances on which vegetables
subsist. Again, their respiration is entirely different.
Animal respiration is performed without intermission
during life ; while light is indispensably necessary
to the respiration of plants, If this faet, had received
the attention to which it is entitled, much of the diffi
culty attending the examination of the fovttla chara,
and other plants, which appeared to exhibit signs of
animal Ufe, wodd have been avoided, and the
boundary between the two kingdoms settled much
earlier. The gmall movable chemical compound
found in these vegetables, resembles the infusorial
wnimalcula, and it was believed for a long time that
they constituted the connecting link between the two

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 187
kingdoms, and were in fact of both vegetable and
animal character, and possessed the functions of both.
More recently, however, it has been ascertained that
their action or motion is regulated by light, and is
wholly dependent on it, and that when it is with
drawn they become stationary, thus resuming their
vegetable character. This motion appears to be the
act merely of germination, effected under the influ
ence of light, as the germs never exhibit the phe
nomena the seeond time.
This phenomena is explained by Professor Henry,
in a very satisfactory manner, and we will give his
views in his own language. " In certain parts, pro
bably, of all plants, are found peculiar spiral fila
ments, having a striking resemblance to the sperma
tozoa of animals. They have been long known in the
organs called the antheridia of mosses, hepaticas, and
chafacae, and have more recently been discovered in
pecdiar cells on the germinal frond of ferns, and on
the very young leaves of the buds of phanerogamia.
They are found in peculiar cells, and when these are
placed in water they are torn by the filament, which
commences an active spiral motion. The signification
of these organs is at present quite unknown ; they
appear, from the researches of Nageli, to resemble
the cell mucilage, or proto-plasma, in composition,
and are developed from it, Schleiden regards them

188 THE RESPIRATORY NERVES.
as mere mucilaginous deposits, similar to those con
nected with the circulation in cells, and he contends
that the movement of these bodies in water is analo
gous to. the molecular motion of small particles of
organic and inorganic substances, and depends on
mechanical causes."
But leaving1 this vexed question, we pass to the
respiratory organ, which we find is different in each
of the divisions of the vegetable kingdom, and also in
the different grades of animal life. We will also find
that each one of these organs is admirably adapted to
the organism in which it is found. In man it is so
constructed^ that besides ministering to the oxygena
tion of the blood, its primary office in the economy of
life, it becomes the instrument of voice and expres
sion, two properties which have relation to his intel
lectual nature. The apparatus required for adapting
the organ of breathing to these superadded endow
ments, is altogether different from that which is
found in the lower animals, where the organ is sub
servient only to the purification of the blood. As a
correspondence must exist between the structure of
the different moving parts of the frame, and the
nervous system which regulates the action of the
body, the change in the construction of the organ is
accompanied with a change in the arrangement of
the nerves. Accordingly, a distinct class of nerves

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 189
is appropriated in the human frame to the organ of
respiration, called the respiratory nerves.
Sir Charles Bell made a very careful examination
of the nerves arising from the medulla oblongata, and
found that they were dl distributed to those parts,
which, together, form the organ of respiration. The
portio dura is sent to the nostrils and mouth, and to
the exterior orifices of the tube which leads to the
lungs. The glosso-pharyngeol goes to the posterior
openings of the nostrils, and to the upper part of the
windpipe. The superior and inferior laryngeal
nerves, branches of the par vagum, supply the
larynx, which is the organ of voice. The par vagum
then descends into the chest, and is distributed
chiefly to the windpipe and lungs ; but branches of
it extend to the heart. The spind accessory nerve is
sent to the muscles of the shoulders and neck, which
combine with those of the chest in dilating the lungs.
This mechanism is very different from that found in
lower animals; and the reason is obvious. In the
lower orders of ammals the organ is limited to one
function, that of oxygenating the blood, while in
man it becomes the organ of voice and the instru
ment of articulate language.
To regdate the action of the superadded mechan
ism, a new and distinct class of nerves becomes neces
sary. Something certaidy, which must have been

190 RESPIRATORY ORGANS.
provided and adapted to their office by a wisdom
which foresaw the necessity of the various parts.
On an examination it Was found, that the new and
distinct nerves were necessary and indispensable to
man ; but that they were not so in the organization
of the lower animals. In the higher organization, the
first essential thing is, that the air for oxygenating
the blood be received into a closed cavity, communi
cating with the external atmosphere by a single tube ;
the second is, that this cavity be "capable of contract
ing on the volume of air within, so as to expel it
along the tube with sufficient force to produce sound.
This formation is never found in animalB. No traces
of a true chest and windpipe are found below the
Class vertebrata. In the lower animals there is nei
ther circulating system nor distinct respiratory organ.
The first or lowest animal respiratory organ is merely
a few prolongations of the integument of the animd
in the shape of tufts or fringes, which float in the
water, and thus expose the blood to the oxygen con
tained in that element. The Polype is an example
of this class. The next formation of this organ
is in the shape of small sacs within the animal in
which the integument is folded inward upon itself.
The apparatus in many insects is a modification of
this structure. Eanged regularly along the sides of
their bodies, there is a succession of holes, which are

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 191
the openings of a series of small tubes extending
through their interior, by which means the air com
municates with the blood. Tlie next organization is
that of the branchid or gills, found in fishes. Here
we first find the mouth connected with the respiratory
organ. This connection requires a new organization
to expand and compress the chest, that the air may
be received into and expelled from the chest. As we
advance in the scale of animal existence, we find a
new apparatus of singdar importance. This is a
partition between the abdominal and thoracic cavi
ties, which stretches aeross from the lower border of
the ribs on one side to the other ; and is known as
the diaphragm. It circumscribes the space which
contains the lungs, and thereby gives greater force to
the expansion and contraction of those organs ; and
acts as a powerful muscle of respiration in dilating
the area of the chest. This organ is not found below
the class mammalia ; nor is it needed in the lower
classes. It acts with the most perfect harmony in
connection with the superadded nerves found in man ;
and it is by their combined and. harmonious action
that he is enabled to produce vocal sounds and arti
culate language. The respiratory mechanism of man
corresponds with his superior endowments, and sup
plies him with 'an organ adapted to the great pur
poses of commumcating thought and evolving the

192 man's distinction.
powers of his mind ; the attribute by whieh he holds
his exalted position in creation.
According to Plato, in his " Protagoras," the igno
rance of Epimetheus would have left man " naked
and unshod, unbedded and unarmed," had it not
been for the kindness of Prometheus, who stole the
artificial wisdom of Yulcan and Minerva for him,
which, together with fire, gave him a divine condi
tion, and enabled him to protect himself from the
severity of the seasons and the ferocity of beasts.
But he was not entirely superior until he had learned
to articulate sounds and words, and received the gifts
of " Shame and Justice " from Hermes, the author
ized agent of Jupiter. In physicd power he cannot
compare with the animal that bears his burthen or
does his bidding. In these particulars the ox is his
equal, and the ass his superior. Without these intel
lectual attributes he would be the weakest of all
animals, and exposed to the attacks of the whole cata
logue of carnivora ; but with it his weakness becomes
strength ; and the fiercest and wildest animals are
subjugated, and all that are really necessary are forced
into his service.
Having been led in our remarks on the respiratory
organs to notice the adaptation of the nerves, we will
now invite attention to that subject in a more general
"way. The circulating system is effected also, by the

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 193
superadded mechanism of the higher animals. As
the respiratory organ approaches the perfection which
it attains in man, the blood-vessels are divided into
two distinct systems ; the one for purifying the blood,
and the other for distributing it over the body.
Some of the moat beautiful adaptations in the human
system are connected with the circdation of the
Wood. As the act of respiration momentarily ob
structs the flow of blood info the veins, if it be
strong, regurgitation may be the result. It is obvious
from this, that the veins may become congested, and
be in great danger of serious injury. The veins of
the head leading to the brain and eyes, are protected
from these dangers by an arrangement of the
muscles of the neck, which cover and protect them.
These muscles combine, in sympathy with the move
ments of the chest, so as to compress Ufe veins where
there is a tendency to regurgitation, and to remove
the pressure when the chest is expanded. The orbic
ularis, which covers the eye, is a part of the same
provision. It compresses the eye-ball when the chest
is vidently contracted ; by which means the veins at
the back of the orbit are -dosed, preventing ingorge-
ment of the fine branches which ramify on the deli
cate coats within. This is a distinct provision to pro*
tect the eye from the danger of engorgement by
violent respiration ;... for this muscle is, not found ia
9

194 ADAPTATION OF THE ORGANS.
animals, where the respiratory organ acts feebly.
There is a second beautiful arrangement to protect
this delicate organ from engorgement or violent cir
culation, to which we must allude. The veinB which
ramify in the interior of the organ, between the deli-
cafe membranes that support the retina, make a cir
cular sweep previous to entering the principal vein.
This admirable structure breaks the force of a retro
grade current of blood, and gradually diffuses it over
the membrane.
We have given a few ody of the many striking
adaptations in the animal kingdom, which prove the
intelligent action of the creating Power. We cannot
avoid alluding to another evidence of this character,
partly on account of its peculiar force, and partly
because it has been referred to for the same purpose
by the distinguished professors, Owen and Whewell.
In the case of the kangaroo, the young animal is
removed while very small from the womb to the
pouch in which the teats are, where it is placed with
its lips against one of the nipples. The young ani
mal, however, is not so large as the nipple, and there
fore cannot suckle in the usual manner. This difficulty
is overcome by an appropriate contrivance, which
clearly proves original design. The nipple is pro
vided with a powerful extrusory muscle, by which
tiie mother can inject the milk into the month of her

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 195
offspring. This muscle is not found in any other
animal.- To support or give attachment to this
muscle, a new bone is necessarily introduced. Ano
ther difficdty, however, presents itself. What is
there to prevent suffocation, when the milk is in
jected into the mouth of the young animd, without
any muscdar action on its own part ? This difficulty
is avoided by another singular but appropriate con
trivance. There is a funnel in the back of the throat
by which the air-passage is completely separated
from the passage for nutriment, and the injected
milk passes in a divided stream on each side of the
larynx to the oesophagus; this prevents suffocation
until the young ammal is large enough to get along
without it, and then it disappears.
But, not ody by these appropriate contrivances
and beautiful adaptations, are we taught the error
of these theorists, but by evidences of the impossi
bility of any transmutation of species. In the animal
creation, as in the vegetable, there are distinctions
between the various departments and classes, which
forbids the idea of any connection. To take an obvi
ous instance, there is no middle class or department
between the vertebral and the invertebral animals.
In the vertebral the mass of the nervous system is
included in a long cavity extending from the head
down the hollow of the spine, while the bony parts

196 DISTINGUISHING FEATURES.
are internal. In the invertebral, the nervous cords
run along the abdomen, and under the viscera ; not
above, as in vertebrals ; while the hard parts are ex
ternal. But it is useless to point out distinctions ;
there are in fact few, if any, parallel points. Each
class and order is distinct from every other. So
true is this, that the genus, and frequently the par
ticular species of a fish, may be told from the
examination of a single scale. A bone, taken, from
any part of a skeleton, is generally sufficient to
enable a skilful osteologist to distinguish the genus
of the animal. Indeed, a single tooth will enable the
son of science to distinguish the division of the mam
mal to ¦flrhich it belonged.
Such marked distinctions, extending as they do,
into the minutest parts of the animal, are incompatible
with the theory of development, or the idea of trans
mutation. They, are wholly irreconcilable with it;
because many, of the distinctions are not indispen
sably necessary to the particular form in which they
are found, and because they codd not have resulted
from any desire of the animal, or any disposition to
accommodate itself to the surrounding circumstances.
But we return to the differences in the respiration
of the two kingdoms, which exist not only in the
formation of the respiratory organs, but also in the
resdt of their respiration. Animals are constantly

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY, 197
throwing off carbonic acid, which is necessary to
vegetable growth, while the vegetable kingdom sup
plies ammds with oxygen, which is equally import
ant to their existence. They are thus reciprocal in
their offices of kindness, and by their mutud ex
changes contribute to the life and growth of each
other. Decomposed animal matter aids the growth
of plants ; and these in their turn support animal life.
By vegetable modd the wasting action of running
water is compensated in some degree, while the
valleys are enriched, and the rentB and chasms are
filled up by their deposit.
Finally, in concluding our remarks on this subject,
we may add, that there appears little or no analogy
between the two kingdoms of animate nature in the
actions of nutrition and respiration ; and certainly
none can be found in the organic apparatus which
performs these functions. As none exists between
the two kingdoms, or any of their members, so the
members of each are distinct and independent in
their organization. As we have just seen, the differ
ent products of their labor enable them to make con
tinual exchanges with each other, by which means
they secure a counterbalance, and maintain an ad
mirable equilibrium in the midst of the disorder
which seems inevitable, but which is never permitted
to take place in the harmonious action of nature.

198 THE LAW OF RECIPROCITY.
Eeciprocity, mutual exchange between the various'
members of this mighty family of organisms, is one
ofthe first laws of life, written on matter by the stern
hand of necessity. And in its operation we find all
that is beautifd to the eye and dear to the heart.
This connecting link, running as it does, through the
whole of created matter, binding each separate body,
and all the primordial elements in relations of depen-
ency, is not ody the triple tie of nature, but
the beginning and source of innumerable blessings.
Through this law, strength becomes the protection of
weakness ; age of infancy ; and wisdom and purity
are driven to the rescue of ignorance and corruption.
The beautiful and tender relations of the domestic
circle ; of husband and wife ; of parent and child ;
in which the noblest affections of our nature are
engaged, and our chief enjoyments are found, and all
the ties and obligations of society, depend on and
resdt from this law. In nature or the inanimate
world, this law is equally important. Mountains are
forced up by the igneous agencies within our globe ;
and rearing their lofty peaks into the colder regions
above, carry up the floating vapors of the atmosphere,
where they aire condensed into rain and snow, which
are precipitated on the valleys beneath them. These
waters wash away portions of the soil, and wodd, if

COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 199
alone in their action, speedily change the surface of
our globe ; but their influence is counterbalanced by
the igneous agencies and the vegetable deposit, and
thus dl serious changes are avoided. The distant
portions of the earth are forced into exchange by the
diversity of climate ; and the ocean, by which they are
separated, has been adapted to facilitate communica
tion between them, and made the means of knitting
them together by the ties ofcommercialreciprocity.
Thus, although the various organisms do not
spring from each other, they are bound to each
other in the most intimate relations, by an unalter
able law, which is not only the means of their con
tinued existence, but the foundation of their happi
ness. He ody who is unable to discover the gran
deur and beauty of the relation, and the wisdom of
the great Primary Cause, is without the mighty
circle which is cheered by the presence and warmed
by the goodness of the Creator, and is not likely to
share its dtimate blessings.
" Happy is he who lives to understand —
Not human nature only, but explores
All natures — to the end that he may find
The law that governs each ; and where begins J
The union, the partition where, that makes
Kind and degree, among all visible beings;
The constitutions, powers, and faculties,
Which they inherit— cannot step beyond

200

UNIVERSAL LAW

And cannot fall beneath ; that do assign
To every class its station and its office,
Through all the mighty Commonwealth of things;
Up from the creeping plant to sovereign man.1

PAET V.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

Within a short period of time, many of the
important questions whieh perplexed the savan, and
alarmed the theologian, have been settled. Phe
nomena profound and mysterious, extending from
the microscopic world of wonders to the more aston
ishing revelations of the telescope, have yielded to the
successive steps of knowledge. New and interesting
territories have been brought within the dominion of
mind by the increase of instrumental power; and
scenes of grandeur and beauty spread out before us,
tending to elevate and ennoble our conceptions of
the great and beneficent Architect, which is the
natural and inevitable result of all faithfd, scientific
inquiry. If we except Astronomy, no branch of knowledge
9*

202
has been more rapidly advanced within the last
quarter of a century, than that connected with the,
physical geography of the globe we inhabit. In the
apparently irregular figures and careless distribution
of the continents, in which Paley codd discover no
evidences of original design, science has detected a
systematic arrangement, sustaining a most intimate
relation with all terrestrial phenomena, and highly
important in the diffusion and development of vege
table and animal life.
Independently of the relations our planet sustains
to the celestial bodies in the economy of the solar
system, it is significantly marked with the evidences
of harmony and design. And it matters not whether
we contemplate the figures, division, and distribution
of its continents : the position and adaptation of its
fertile valleys ; the character and arrangement of its
mountain chains ; the number and chemical affinities
of its constituent elements ; its atmosphere, orbit,
axis, or rotary motion *; upon all the same impressive
lessons have been written.
The earth is an oblate spheroid, varying in its
equatorial and polar diameters about one three-hun
dredth part of its greater diameter, or a little more
than twenty-six miles. Whether this is the figure a
fldd mass wodd naturally assume when revolving
around a centre, is a question not necessarily con-

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 203
nected with our subject. This difference in the
equatorid and polar diameters, the existence of
which has been demonstrated by various methods, is
comparatively small, but is, notwithstanding, a very
important element in the economy of our globe. By
it the solar rays are unequally distributed, and the
temperature of the greater zones of the astronomical
climate secured. Thus, in the earliest period of the
world's existence, in the morning of its creation,
according to the prevailing opinions and theories, we
see the evidence of an intelligent and desigdng
primary Cause written out on its spheroidal figure.
And it is not important, so far as the inquiry itself is
concerned, whether the centrifugal force of the re
volving fluid mass was the agent employed to secure
it, which appears most probable, or whether it was
effected by abrasion and deposit, or by internal up
heaving forces, it is necesary in the economy of the
world, and must have been designed to perform its
part, and adapted to the physical relations it sustains.
The spheroidal figure of the earth is connected
with its diurnal revolution. The reciprocal attraction
of the component- particles of a fluid mass at rest,
wodd produce a sphere / but. the earth is not an
exact sphere, therefore, it is not at rest. This is not
the ovljr and perhaps not the most satisfactory evi
dence of its motion. " It is," says Sir John Herschel,

204 ZONES OF TEMPERATURE.
" in accordance with all the phenomena of the appa
rently diurnd motion of the heavens ; and, as they are
explained by the supposition of the earth's rotary
motion, it has been adopted." To this motion of the
earth we are indebted for an alternation of light and
darkness, of labor and rest, corresponding with our
physical necessities. It is also an indispensable ele
ment in the complex machinery by whieh the solar
heat is measured out in due proportions to the various
sections of our globe. This motion, and the effects
of it, are more particularly described in the preced
ing section on " Astronomy," to which the reader is
referred. The surface of this elliptical planet of ours is differ
ently affected by, as it is unequally exposed to, the
solar rays, and therefore it has been divided for con
venience, into various zones of temperature. These
wodd be uniform, were it not for the modifying" in
fluences in nature, such as the contour and geogra
phical distribution of the continental masses, and the
terrestrial elevations or reliefs ; which, in connection
with the oceanic and aerial envelopes, secure, through
the instrumentality of the infinitely multiplied physi
cal laws, those important modifications of temperature
upon which the beauty and usefulness of so many
sections of our globe depend.
"The temperature," says Baron von Humboldt,

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 205
" is raised by the proximity of a western coast, in the
temperate zones ; by the divided configuration of a
continent into pemnsdas, with deeply-indented bays
and idand seas; the prevalence of southerly or
westerly winds : chdns of mountains acting as pro
tecting walls against winds coming from colder
regions ; the vicimty of the oceanic current, and the
serenity of the sky in summer ; and that it is lowered
by elevation above the seas, when not forming part
of an extended plain ; the compact configuration of a
continent having no littoral curvatures or bays ; the
vicinity of isolated peaks ; mountain chains, whose
mural form and direction impede the access of warm
winds ; and a cloudy, summer sky, which weakens
the effect of the solar rays." With a knowledge of
these interesting and important facts (for which
science is chiefly indebted to that most extraordinary
man, to whose inherent love of knowledge, and philo
sophical observations, the secret chambers of nature
seem to have been opened), we proceed to trace the
distribution of these modifying agents. In them we
shall be able to discover more perfectly and distinctly,
the origind design of the Infinite Author.
By casting your eye over a correctly-marked globe,
you will discover that a large proportion of the conti
nental element lies north of the equator, and that the
oeeamc element greatly predominates on the southern

206 PROPORTION OF LAND AND WATER.

*

side. Humboldt says the area of the solid is to that
of the fluid parts of our globe, as one to two and four
fifths. In round numbers, there are thirty-eight mil
lions of square miles of land ; two thirds of which
lie north of the equator.; -. . From the fortieth degree
south latitude, to the Antarctic Pole, the earth is
almost entirely covered with water. " The fldd
element predominates in like manner between the
eastern shores of the old and the western shores of
the new continent. The southern and western hemi
spheres are, therefore, more rich in water than any
other region of the whole earth." Here we see the
proportion and distribution of the two elements ; but
there is a third as important as either of these ; the
atmosphere, " an elastic fluid," by which both of the
former elements are surrounded. Through its agency
the reciprocal action of the land and sea is effected.
It constitutes the connecting link between them, by
conveying the vapor of the one to the mountain
chains and isolated peaks of the other, where it is
collected and forced down their declivities, or con
densed and precipitated on their, slopes and inter
vening valleys, in the form of rain and snow. - The
climate of a country, therefore, is not the result solely
of its geographical location, but depends on the rela
tive extension of the solid and fldd parts of our globe,
and their action upon each other, which is variously

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 207
affected by the terrestrial reliefs and local compen
sations. Leaving these for the present to trace the distribu
tion and configuration of the continents, we find
that the eastern hemisphere has a much larger area
of elevated land than the western, and that it has its
greatest expansion from east to west, while the new
continent has its greatest length from north to south.
But notwithstanding the difference in the position of
their major axis, there is a remarkable regdarity in the
general figures of the continents, and in the arrange
ment of their reliefs, which seem to have been thrown
up by some determinate power. We are indebted to
the German physidsts for much of all that is known
of the analogies which exist between the continents ;
or, at least, for calling attention to them; and parti
cularly are we indebted to Baron von Humboldt and
Professor Guyot. The latter, by pointing #ut the
remarkable adaptations in the relative expansion of
land and water, and in the distribution, figures, and
reliefs of the former, has converted " Science into a
Christian teacher."
It has been remarked that the continents are
arranged in pairs, lying north and south of each
other, and united together by a narrow isthmus.
Although this is not strictly true, there is sufficient
evidence to justify the remark. North and South

208 CONNECTING ffiLANDS.
America sustain this relation to each other, but in
the continents of the old world, Europe and Africa
only are connected in this way, Asia and Australia
have a chain of islands between them, which may be
considered as the elevated "points of the connecting
isthmus, the remainder being submerged. The next
analogy presented in the different continental masses
is the group of islands found east of their most south
ern points. " America has the Falkland Islands ;
Africa has Madagascar and the Volcanic Islands,
which surround it ; Asia has Ceylon, and Australia
has the the two great islands of New Zealand." A
third analogy is marked by a deep inward curve of
their western coasts.. In America this inflection
takes place along the coast of Bolivia ; the Gulf of
Gdnea represents it in Africa; in Asia the Gdf of
Cambaye and the Indo-Persian Sea ; and in Austra
lia it is seen in the Gdf of Nuyts. However forced
these analogies may appear at first view, it will be
found on examination that they nevertheless do really
exist. There are, then, three pairs of continents ; two in
the old, and one in the new world ; and these are
divided into northern and southern members. Those
of the south resemble each other, and the same may
be said of the northern members ; but the northern
differ very materially ' from the southern. These

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
differences or diversities are of the greatest import*
ance. As the physicd distinctions and varieties ex
isting between the oceanic and continental elements,
by acting and reacting on each other, secure not only
many important compensations in nature, but by
giving life and vigor to each other, make one entire
and perfect whole ; so the great variety of soil and
dimate enables the continents not only to relieve the
poverty, but to increase the resources of each other,
by a mutud exchange of products. The northern
continents are uniformly wider than the southern,
and attain their greatest expansion in the Arctic
circle, becoming more and more narrow as they
approach their southern associate. The southern
continents, following a similar law, are widest at the
north, and continuing to narrow as they approach the
southern pole, finally terminate in high and rocky
points. Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Cor*
morin, and the Austrdian Cape, south of Yan
Dieman's Land, are instances of their southern termi
nations. To this general arrangement of the conti
nental forms there is no exception.
The northern continents contain nearly two thirds
of the continental area ; according to Professor
Guyot, they contain twenty-two and a half millions
of square miles, while the southern contain sixteen
and a third millions ody. In tracing the charac-

210 CONTINENTAL PECULIARITIES.
teristics of each, we find the northern more indented,
more articulated, and their contours, therefore, more
varied. They are also enriched by inland seas and
gulfs. The southern are more compact, have fewer
indentations, and no inland seas. The northern conr
tinents, therefore, are more maritime, more cQmmer-:
cial, and infinitely better adapted to the development
of the physical and intellectual powers, and social
character of man. They are also nearer to each,
other, which encourages and secures a constant com
munication between them. The southern are smaller,
and are widely separated from each other, and ap
pear designed to act a less important part than the
larger and more highly-favored continental masses
with which they are connected. The northern con
tinents are almost entirely in the temperate zones,.
while the southern are confined to the tropical and
warm temperate zones. To these peculiarities of
form, location, and relief, their characters must be
ascribed ; not to any particular one of them. Their
mutual action is- as indispensably necessary , in the.
operation of the vast machinery, which may be called
the economy of the intellectual and moral develop
ment of man, as the concurrent action of land and.
water, and heat and cold, is to the constitution of a
healthy and invigorating atmosphere.
Their mountains are symmetrically arranged, and

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 211
by their direction, height, and escarpments, mate
rially influence the temperature of lie continental
climates. The principal chains of the old world
follow the direction of the parallels ; while those of the
new world take the direction of the meridian. The
law, as in the case of the major axis, seems to be
entirely different in the eastern and western con
tinents ; but in other matters the same economy is
observed. The highest elevations of the continental
masses, following the direction of the mountain
chains, are uniformly located on the sides of the con
tinents, and not, as might be expected, at the centre.
The mountains descend gradually towards the Atlan
tic and Frozen Oceans ; while their slopes are rapid
and precipitous towards the Pacific and Indian
Oceans. " If this order were reversed," says Professor
Guyot, " and the elevation of the lands went on
increasing toward the north, the most civilized half
of the globe at the present, wodd be a frozen and
uninhabitable desert." This disposition of the slopes
is most uniform and remarkable. There is nothing
in the formation of the continental masses better
adapted to impress the mind with the idea of original
design. Admit that the upheaving force resides
within our globe ; that the irregdar but ever active
motion of tbe disturbed molten element at the centre,

212 THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS.
acting directly on the surface, produced these eleva
tions ; yet how came this power to act so uniformly
and regdarly ? How came the slopes and greatest
elevations to be so perfectly adapted to the form and
configuration of the continents, and to thdr various
climatic relations ? The highest elevations are found
near the tropics; as the Himdaya in the twenty-
seventh degree north latitude ; and Nevado de So-
rato, in the sixteenth degree south latitude. The
question naturally arises : Why are the greatest ele
vations on each side of the equator, and their dis
tances from it, so nearly corresponding ^to each other?
There is no physical law by which this question can
be answered ; but herein we notice a most remark
able fact. It will be seen hereafter in our remarks
on the oceanic element, that the greatest proportion
of salt in the Pacific is in the pardlels of nearly the
same latitudes ; and that the saline principle increases
gradually from the Poles to those points. These
arrangements must have a connection with the
climate, and must have been so ordered to lower the
temperature thereof; for such is the effect of both.
The continental masses, however, rise, as indicated
by their slopes, gradually from the north and south,
to the equator. The mean elevations of the northern
and southern divisions most clearly establish this
fact. Owing to the difference in the density of the

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 21S
atmosphere at different altitudes, on which its capa
city for heat, and its radiating power depends, the
temperature of the lower strata is always higher
than the upper. This atmospheric law has been ob
served in the devation of the southern continents.
By this means the extreme heat of the equatorial
regions is greatly modified. But this is not the only
element made use of in effecting that important
object. Baron Von Humboldt estimates the mean
relief of Europe at six hundred and seventy-one feet ;
that of Asia, at one thousand one hundred and fifty-
one ; that of North America at seven hundred and
forty-eight ; that of South America at one thousand
one hundred and thirty-two ; and that of Africa still
higher. But the mean elevation of Europe depends
in a great measure on the vast plains of Eussia and
Poland, the massive plateau of Spain, and the Alpine
chain. That of Asia is greatly increased by the ele
vation of her southern table-lands. Those of Thibet,
which commence with an elevation of four thousand
feet, and rise as they approach the south to the height
of nearly twelve thousand feet ; and those of the
Deccan, which, commencing with an elevation about
equal to the northern portion of Thibet, run into, and
are connected with the southern termination of the
peninsula, which has an elevation of more than seven
thousand feet above the level of the sea. -

214 LOCAL COMPENSATIONS.
These elevations and slopes are not only adapted
to the astronomical climate, and the distribution of
the fluid element, which clearly indicate an intelli
gent arrangement by the Creative Power ; but where
their general disposition wodd produce an effect dif
ferent from the one we nOw see, and which- appears
adapted to the best interests of our race, its influence
is controlled by special and local compensations.
Thus, in-the case of North America, the effect of the
long northern slope, by which we are exposed to the
polar currents of wind, and the influence of the Eocky
Mountains, which turn these currents back upon the
Mississippi Valley, is .controlled in a great measure
by the action of the immense chain of lakes on the
north, over which these currents must pass, and the
Gulf of Mexico on the south. This , deep cut, as
observed by Professor Guyot, opens the southern
portion of our continent to the wet winds of the
tropics. The return trade winds, coming directly
from the sea, water the Atlantic coast, the western
slope of the Alleganies, and the Valley of the Mis
sissippi. Owing, therefore, to this " broad gate," we
are more highly favored with rains than codd be ex
pected from our situation and continental reliefs. A
different disposition of the Eocky Mountains would
change the character of our climate and country. The
Eocky Mountains and Gdf of Mexico act and react

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 215
on each others and are equally necessary in making
up our continental character.
The longest slope of the Andes — which is one thou
sand eight hundred miles long, is eastward in its
direction, and is abundantly watered by the trade
winds of the Atlantic. The shortest, which is only
seventy miles long, is to the west, and embraces the
desert of Atacama. " Deprived of the vapors of the
Atlantic by the Andes, these countries, (embracing
the coast of the Pacific from Peruta Parina and
Amatope to far beyond the tropics, from the equator
to Chili,) behold the vapors of the Pacific flitting
away with the trade wind, and no accidental breeze
to bring them back." Brazil and Gdana are indebted
to their secondary chdns for their irrigation ; while
Peru and New Granada are saved from the condition
of Atacama by a depression of the Cordilleras. A
similar depression, acting in conjunction with the
continental form, secures a sufficient irrigation to Chili,
by deflecting the trade winds. Thus we see the effect
of mountain chains, with their depressions and
curves; and how general laws are influenced and
controlled by local arrangements ; by which territo
ries, which otherwise wodd be useless, are fertilized
and redeemed for the use of man.
Western Europe is indebted for the uniform tem
perate dimate, which dintinguishes it from all other

216 CLIMATE OF EUROPE.
countries in corresponding latitudes, to its numerous
seas and inland bays and lakes, its mountain chains,
and its location on the western side of the great con
tinent. The Alps, Pyrenees, Appennines, Carpa
thians, and Ural chain ; and the mountains of Swe
den and Norway are so arranged as to protect the
interior, while they contribute to keep the atmosphere
humid and mild, by condensing the vapor so bounti
fully supplied by the ocean, Mediterranean, Blaek,
Baltic, Adriatic, and North Seas. The water on the
north, free from ice, modifies the cold winds from
that direction ; while its configuration opens its west
ern coast to the elevated temperature of the Gulf-
stream. Its atmospheric temperature is dso elevated
by the heated currents of air rushing in from the
tropical regions of Africa. This combination of in
fluences, to which western Europe is largely indebted,
change its astronomical climate, and give it . one
which, notwithstanding its humidity, is almost un
rivalled. Sweden is a striking illustration of the influence of
k terrestrial reliefs. It lies between the fifty-fifth and
seventieth degrees north latitude ; but it is protected
from the northern currents of wind by its mountain-
chains ; while its atmospheric temperature is greatly
elevated by the waters or evaporation of the Baltic
Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia on the south. It is owing

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 217
wholly to these facts, that they are enabled to culti
vate the cereals so far to the north. It will be seen,
from what has been said concerning the influence of
the fluid element, that it tends to lower the mean
annual temperature between the tropics, and to raise
it in the higher latitudes ; which will be explained
hereafter. The climate of the two worlds, the old
and new, and of each continent, is the result of all
the general features of configuration and relief;
which, we have seen, are adapted to the continental
masses and their astronomicd climate.
The northern continents, except Asia, have a com
paratively low, mean elevation, although embracing
immense elevated plateaux and mountain chains ;
the first of which, together with the continental
masses themselves, rise as they approach the south ;
while the southern divisions, including Asia, have a
high mean elevation. The necessity of this difference
arises from their astronomical climate, and the atmo
spheric law of temperature to which we have alluded.
But there is no physical cause for it. It is not con
nected with the elliptical figure of the earth ; nor did
it resdt from the same cause. If so, the southern
continents would present slopes corresponding with
those of the northern. It may be possible that these
differences were caused by forces similar to those
now acting on the coasts of Sweden and Finland ;
10

218 IMPORTANCE OF THE AERA>J SEMENT,
but if this be true, their uniformity and importance,
teach us that the agent thus employed, was obedient
to some intelligent power to whom the concurrent
influence of the various physical laws was foreknown.
Sir Charles Lydl has most satisfactorily shown that
continents and islands, having the same shape and
relative dimensions as thoge, now existing, might be
placed so as to occupy either the equatorial or polar
regions ; and it is equally clear that there is no phy
sical cause for their present arrangement. But the
necessity of the arrangement seems to be written
upon every spear of grass, and opening flower, and
breathing animal. Not a single island codd be
removed from the wide expanse of the ocean, without
affecting the atmosphere, and no great continental
change could take place, without writing its history in
a change of vegetable and animal life. The elements
would herald any change in the continental relations,
with telegraphic -speed, to the uttermost parts of the
earth ; and sad indeed wodd the records of that
change be. Tet, according to the best interpre-
tion of geological phenomena, many of these changes
have taken place in the preceding ages of our planet,
the only history of which is written in the hiero
glyphics of the generations sacrificed by the changes,
and buried in the strata to which they belonged.
All the way up from the depths of the earth, these

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 219
evidences are found ; thus constituting a history writ
ten by the worm, the insect, and the fish, melancholy,
indeed, yet more ancient and truthful, than any ever
written by man. But their interpretation is due to
his superior mental endowments, by which he is
enabled to collect the scattered leaves of these dumb
historians, and weave them into a mighty and myste
rious volume.
This uniform elevation in the torrid zones, and de
pression of the surface at ether localities, redeems
large territories from the astronomical climate. In
the torrid zones, where, without it, the earth would be
a parched or dreary waste, a richness and variety of
vegetable life is found, to which we are strangers.
" Thus," says Humboldt, " it is given to man in
those regions to behold, without quitting his native
land, all the forms of vegetation dispersed over the
globe, and all the shining worlds ^which stud the hea-
vedy vault from pole to pole." But he adds most
appropriately, " In the frigid north, in the midst of
the barren heath, the solitary student can appropri
ate mentally all that has been discovered in the most
distant regions, and can create within himself a world
as free and imperishable as the spirit by which it is
conceived," No one knows or has felt these truths
more deeply than himself. He who envies the sons
of the luxuriant South, may turn with pleasure to this

220 EFFECT OF ELEVATION.
glorious compensation, and thankfully enjoy that
which Providence has provided.
The great Mexican plateau, although under a tro
pical sun, is blessed with a climate equal almost to
that of Western Europe. A dngle day's journey
from Vera Cruz, whichis situated in the Tiera CaU-
enta, enables you to reach the regions of perpetual
spring. The same arrangement is observable in the
plains of Colombia in South America. " The con
trast," says Arnott, " is very striking, after sailing a
thousand miles up the level river Magdalena, in a
heat scarcely equalled in the plains of India, all at
once to climb to the table-land above, where Santa Fe
de Bogota, the capital of the republic, is seen smiling
over interminable plains that wear the livery of the
fairest fields of Europe."
Our first glance at the terrestrial surface, revealed
the two great divisions of land and water, and their
unequal distribution. Our next, the forms and rela
tions of the continents ; and our last, the effect of the
elevations and local compensations. The necessity
of each of these will more fully appear as we trace
the phenomena with which they are connected. But
the cause of these important divisions, forms, reliefs,
and connections, is inferentid ody; and must be
learned, if learned at all, from their importance in the
economy of nature, and their mutual and reciprocd

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 221
agencies, which so harmoniously work out the great
objects of their creation and arrangement. The ellip
tical figure of the earth is explained by its rotary
motion ; but not so its continental divisions and
contours. " All that we know regarding this subject," says
Von Humboldt, " resolves itself into this one point,
that the active cause is subterranean — that the conti
nents did not rise at once in the form they now pre
sent, but were, as we have already observed, increased
by degrees, by means of numerous oscillatory eleva
tions and depressions, of the soil, or were formed by ¦
the fusion of separate smaller continental masses."
The geological formation of the earth's crust — the
wide diffusion and elevated position of fossil shells,
fishes and marine plants, and the present active forces
exhibited on the coasts of Sweden and Finland, induce
the belief that the process of elevation was gradual.
And the existence of fossil plants and animals in
northern portions of our globe, whose nature required
a much warmer climate than the one in which they
were found, favors the opinion that these upheavels
have been sufficiently great to change the character of
the continental climate.
- But when were these mighty changes effected ?'
For more than two thousand years the earth's surface
and size have not materially changed. If the whole

222 SPRINGS OF ANTIQUITY.
mass were growing less by the gradual escape of in
ternal heat, and consequent shrinking of the bulk, or
from any other cause, the time occupied in making a
revolution on its axis would also change; but this
has not been the case. La Place, who contributed as
much to the annds of science as any one since New
ton's time, and whose only rivd, as remarked by
Professor Playfair, was the genius of the human race,
concluded from the comparisons made during the
period in which history has kept record of these mat
ters, that the sidereal day has not changed as much
as one three hundredth of a second since the time of
Hipparchus. And notwithstanding all the violent
shocks of earthquakes to which Greece has been sub
jected, and all the changes, if any, which the internal
forces have produced, the springs of Hellenic anti
quity are still found at the same places. Erasinos,
south of Argos, still refreshes the weary traveller;
Saint Nicholas flows on beneath the temple of Apollo,
as of dd ; the crystal waters of Castalia still murmur
in the shades of Phaedriadae ; and the hot springs of
^Edipsus, in which Sdla bathed, and those of Ther
mopylae, at the foot of OEta, are used now as they
were then. No change has disturbed the fountain
from which they are supplied. Other localities, how
ever, have experienced great changes. . Elvers have
been swallowed up, and mountains and volcanoes

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 223
have arisen in a single night, showing the power of
the uneasy element within our planet. One instance
of this character, which excited much attention at the
time it occurred, is assodated with one of the most
mdancholy histories of the age ; in which, as it is too
frequently the case, the innocent and lovely suffered
more intensely and deeply than the unfortunate,
though guilty relative, by whose crime they were
buried in inconsolable grief. Like the islanfl, the
historian of Sabrina is no more. Like it, he rose
above the surrounding elements, and, after attracting
the attention, and enjoying the respect of the learned
and great, like it he sank amid the tempests and bil
lows, into the ocean below. The island of Sabrina,
near St. Michael, which was about one mile in cir
cumference, rose above the sea in a short time, to the
height of three hundred feet, but sunk back again
after enjoying the solar rays for a few weeks. Thank
Heaven, its surface blushed not at the morning sun
as it took its sad farewell ; nor did it leave fond and
loving kindred to mourn its untimely end. Nature
is free from these sad partings ; man makes them for
himself. Sir Charles Lyell has attempted to relieve us from
the . difficulties these questions present, by showing
the high probability of vast but gradual changes in
the continental . masses, by which the climate of par-

224 NECESSARY ARRANGEMENT.
ticdar regions have been wholly changed. All this
may be, and most likely is true ; yet it does not affect
the grand question involved. The - uniformity of
the continental arrangements, and the general and
specid adaptations of form and relief, together with
the various physical laws, which we have thus far
pointed out, as strongly persuade the mind that these
beautifully adapted and necessary dispositions of land
and water, of valley and' mountain, did not result
from the irregular and accidental force of indeter
minate powers. And when we connect them with the
form of the earth, its axis and rotary motion, and its
relation to and dependence on the sun, we discover a
vast plan of mutually adapted elements, which, how
ever accidental in appearance, act in perfect harmony
with the innumerable and profound phenomena of
nature. This, if it were the only evidence, wodd be
sufficient to convince the reflecting, that the con
tinents took their places, forms, and reliefs, obedient
to the mandate of a power without and above the
physical agents, which are employed to do the be
hests of the Creator. The earth may be molten at
its centre, and the continents and terrestrial reliefs
may have been thrown up by the agency of those
internal fires. It is as easy for the Infinite Creator
to operate in one way as another. Everything, how
ever, appears to, and does in fact, contribute to prove

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 225
the subordinate and determinate action of the various
physical agents, in their great work of preparing the
world for the habitation of man.

n.

THE GREAT CENTRAL SOURCE OF HEAT.
The Sun is the great central source of heat, as wdl
as gravity. The vast and mysterious power it exerts
in holding the distant planets in their orbits, is not
more wonderful than the influence of its rays on the
complex machinery by which the atmospheric tem
perature is regulated, and the uniform action of the
laws of vegetable and animal life maintained. By it
the winds are produced, and the heavens kindled
with those electric displays, which are fearfdly beau
tiful, but, like all other natural agents, are indis
pensably necessary in performing their mysterious
offices in the economy of the system. By the vivify
ing action of the sun, vegetable life is sustained, and
upon it animal life depends. Under its influence the
sea circulates in the form of vapor, supplying water
to the continental element. The temperature of the
various parts of the earth's surface is governed mainly
by the exposure of those parts to the solar rays ; that
is, the time they are thus exposed, and the manner
10*

226" The sun's powers.
in whieh the rays are received ; whether vertically or
obliquely. If the sun remain longer above the hori
zon of any place than below it, its temperature will
increase ; and so also will the temperature decrease
if it remain longest below the horizon. We are
nearer the sun during the winter than we are during
the summer ; the difference in the temperature of the
seasons does not, therefore, depend on our variable
distance from that luminary, but on the time the
terrestrial surface is exposed to its rays, and the man
ner in which the rays are received. But this subject
is fully explained in our chapter on Astronomy, to
which we refer. These laws of adaptation are merely
ministerial and, secondary. The sun is the great
agent ; its vivifying power touches the universe, and
gladdened nature with its thousand varied tones of
deep, yet mild rejoicing; and its sweetly blending
hues of varied beauty, fills the wide spread canopy
with gratefd and harmonious response.
" There is the sun's pavilion, whence arising,
Like a proud bridegroom, in his splendor drest,
And with glad light the dewy earth surprising,
A giant glad, he speeds him to the west.
His going forth is from the orient heaven,
And round he hies again to reach the goal ;
The lowest earth feels his glad heat like leaven,
Working mysterious ends from pole to pole."

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 227
In connection with these laws, it will be found that
the proportion and distribution of the solid and fluid
parts of our globe also contribute to the general re-
sdt. Professor Dove has shown that the mean tem
perature of the earth's surface is considerably greater
in June than it is in December. The line of the sun
during its perihelion passes over land less than one
sixth part of its course ; the remainder it passes over
water. This arrangement has a very material effect
on the mean heat, as shown by the professor. Land
radiates the solar heat into the atmosphere much
more rapidly than water. Water absorbs most of all
it receives, while the land radiates it back into space.
If this arrangement had been reversed, the propor
tion of land being the greatest under the sun's line
during its perihelion, the whole climate must have
been different.
Nearly the whole of the one sixth of land thus ex
posed, lies in Africa. The streams of warm air
generated by the sun when passing over this part,
have at some points ody a short space to pass over
the Mediterranean ; and where this sea is broadest,
it weakens the heating power of the south winds so
little, that they are felt as a hot sirocco through all
Italy, up to the Tyrolese Alps. The westerly parts of
Asia to the middle degree of latitude, are warmed in

228 INFLUENCE OF RADIATION.
the same way, and especially the East Indian pen
insula. The mild climate of Western Europe, as we have
seen, is largely indebted to the same cause. From
the immense influence of this one sixth of land, we
can calcdate with a degree of certainty, how indis
pensably necessary is the^present distribution of land
and water. Here under the burning '"climate of the
equator, water , has ta cooling :effect ;"it absorbs the
heat, and thus secures the 'atmosphere "from that
excess, which the land,' if it predominated, would
produce by radiation. The evaporation of the water
also contributes to lessen the power of the sun's rays
by the mists and clouds which it produces. In the
operation of these laws, we cannot fail to discover the
intimate relation and mutual dependence of the vari
ous agents in nature. No one can be<changed with
out affecting the whole. The atmospheric tempera
ture and the local climates, so essential to the growth
of the different vegetables and plants, and to the full
development of man himself, depend on the harmo
nious action and reaction of the various complex
physical laws ; on the elliptical form of the earth ;
its axis, and diurnal and annual motion ; the depth,
pressure, and expansive power of the atmosphere ;
division, distribution, and configuration of the conti
nents; the terrestrial reliefs, and the properties of the

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 229
oceanic element. The ocean supplies the vapor by
which the continents are watered ; but were it not for
the tendency of its saline contents, the amount of
vapor given off would be much greater than it is ; suf
ficiently great, perhaps, to change the character of the
whole atmosphere ; and hence the laws of life. The
saline contents diminish the tendency to throw off
vapor, and dso lower the point of congelation, and
therefore tend to keep the seas liqdd. Experiments
were made by Bladh, Kirwan, and Doctor Traill, on
the specific gravity of the water in different places in
the ocean, by which it appears that the saline contents
increased gradually from the Poles towards the equa
tor. It has been ascertained, however, that the
greatest proportion of sdt'is foundsinfthle parallels of
the twenty-second, degree north ;l&titude, and tthe
seventeenth degree south latitude. %Ih this, as before
observed,- there is a singdar agreement with: the
highest terrestrial elevations. Here is an agent
almost conceded, but noteless important than/those
stupendous continental reliefs which act so'powerfully
on the imagination and feelings of man.
The ocean supplies the vapors, the winds bear
them over the continents, and the mountain chains
forcing them up into the higher and colder regions,
act as condensers. But in these changes the sun is
the great primary agent; by it the winds are

230 OCEANIC ELEMENTS.
created, and the vapors distilled from the waters of
the ocean, which after performing various important
offices to the vegetable and animal kingdoms, is again
returned to the ocean to commence anew its unceas
ing circulation.
The oceanic element is much more constant in its
temperature than the continental, and by communi
cating with the atmosphere above it, greatly modifies
the climate of the latter. Water is not affected either
by heat or cold, to the same degree with the solid
portion of the globe. In the first place it is a less
susceptible conductor; secondly, the evaporation,
which increases in proportion to the intensity of the
solar rays, has a cooling effect on the surface ; and
thirdly, the unceasing motion and exchange which is
kept up between the upper and lower strata, by
which the heat or cold, as it may be, is communicated
to its whole mass, causes a more gradual change of
temperature, while its depth prevents extremes of
any kind. The daily illumination of the sun warms
the ground to a very limited depth ; while the same
quantity of heat will penetrate, though with a de
creasing intensity, many fathoms of water ; thus the
line of invariable temperature under the equator, is
seven thousand two hundred feet below the surface.
In the former instance the heat is condensed ; in the
latter it is diffused through the whole mass. It has

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 231
been estimated, that the difference between the heat
thus communicated, is as one to one hundred. And
it is owing to these laws, together with the greater
transparency of the continental atmosphere, and the
inequalities of the terrestrial surface, by which radia
tion is increased, that the land cools more rapidly
than the water.
These differently heated surfaces nave a propor
tionate effect on the atmosphere above them. Water
gives out but little heat by radiation, while the land
radiates the heat it receives freely into the surround
ing atmosphere. The difference in the heat thus
radiated, is in the proportion of thirty to one ; that is,
there are thirty times less heat radiated by the water
than there is by the surrounding land. It is to this
diurnal atmospheric disturbance, that we are indebted
for our local winds and pleasant sea breezes. But
the evaporation of the water acts more freely on the
temperature of the air than its radiation does. And
it is chiefly by this means that the oceanic element
moderates both the heat and cold of the adjoining
land, and contributes generally to equalize the atmo- -
Bpheric temperature.
These two elements, although intimately related to
each other, are unequally distributed, and come in
contact at their margins only. Another element is
therefore required to effect the exchange between

232

THE ATMOSPHERE,

them. The atmosphere is the medium and the winds
which resdt from the disturbance of its equilibrium,
are the agents employed for this purpose. The heated
portions of air being lighter, rise, while the colder
and heavier currents rush in to take their place, pre
cisely as in the case of differently-heated particles of
water in the ocean. This motion produces the winds,
which are more or less violent in proportion to the
amount of atmospheric disturbance. This law is
most beautifully illustrated by partially opening the
door of a heated apartment commumcating with a
cold space, and holding a burning taper to the creviee
or opening. If held at the top, the outward direction
of the flame will indicate the presence of a current
of air passing from the apartment into the cooler
atmosphere. If you move the taper down, the flame
will become more and more upright, until, at the
middle of the crevice, it will cease to be affected by
either current. If now you continue to move it
downward, the flame will be driven inward, thus
showing that the heated air rises and flows out of the
top, while the colder air enters at the bottom.
This exchange is carried on between the tropical^
temperate, and polar regions. The temperature of
the tropics is always higher than that of any other
portion of the globe ; hence the air is constantly
ascending, while the heavier and colder particles of

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 233
the north rush along the surface of the earth to restore
the equilibrium of the atmosphere. By this means,
a constant interchange of air is kept up between the
unequally heated sections of the earth's surface.
Our locd and irregdar winds result from these
atmospheric laws of temperature ; but the permanent
and regdar currents, however, dependent on the
disturbance of the equuibrium, are governed in their
direction by the rotary motion of the earth and the
difference in the velocity of the polar nnd equatorial
parts. This difference resdts from the elliptical
figure of the earth. The trade-winds and monsoons
are governed by this motion. They, like all other
winds, result from atmospheric disturbance ; but in
their case the disturbances are regular, as they
depend on the action of the sun on the unequally ex
posed portions of the earth's surface. Here we again
discover the importance of the elliptical form of our
planet. These winds, so important to the commercial
interests of the world, are not only created by the un-
equd exposure of the surface to the sun, which it
causes, but their direction is determined by the dif
ferent velocities which result from it. If the polar
and equatorial velocities were equal, these currents
wodd be simply north and south winds; but the
unequal velocity changes them into a northwest and
southwest direction. The equatorial portion of the

DHHECTION OF THE WINDS.
earth's surface has a much greater velocity of rota
tion than the polar ; the polar currents are, therefore,
unable to keep tip with the equatorial motion. Thus
the direction of the north polar current is changed to
the southwest, and that of the south pole to the
northwest. The same cause changes the direction
of the upper or equatorial currents to the northeast
and southeast. They arrive at the north and south
with a greater velocity than the earth's suriace has at
those points, and are, therefore, in advance of its
motion. To this fact we are indebted for the wes
terly winds of the North Atlantic.
The beneficial influences of these regular currents,
and of the winds generally, cannot be estimated.
Gratuitous accounts of the imaginary and wonderful,
such as Dr. Thompson has interwoven with his more
serious labors, are wholly unnecessary to excite a
proper degree of interest in them. While such
accounts amuse, and perhaps interest the general
reader, they in some degree retard the progress of
scientific inqdry. The winds restore the equilibrium
of the. atmosphere, upon the disturbance of which
they depend ; distribute the vapor of the ocean ; pro
tect the tropics from the intense heat to which thOse
regions are exposed, and by conveying the heated air
and vapor north, greatly modify the climate there.
In factj they are the principal agents in effecting all

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 235
important atmospheric exchanges, and in carrying
out the various compensations on the surface of the
globe. By them the burning climate of Africa, south
of the equator, is relieved in December, January, and
February, when under the verticd rays of the sun.
During these months, cold currents from the Indies
and upper Asia rush in to relieve these regions, while
the reverse takes place when India and Asia are
heated by the burning sun of the northern summer,
and Africa is cooled by the southern winter. And so
the winds of the west and south-west, which prevail
in the middle latitudes, soften the temperature of the
western coasts of Europe and America.
The trade winds, sweeping over the surface of the
ocean from the Antarctic regions, first strike the
coast of Chili in the parallels of thirty-five degrees
60uth latitude, and advance along the coasts of Peru
as far north as Cape Parina, when they turn suddenly
westward, lowering the temperature of the regions
through which they pass. Thus, as remarked by
Baron VonHumbddt, in his " Aspects of Nature," the
temperature of the Pacific on the coast near Lima is
sixty degrees two minutes Fahrenheit, while in the same
latitude, out of the current, it is seventy-nine degrees
two minutes. Thus, it is found that this, current low
ers the temperature of the atmosphere through which
it passes nineteen degrees Fahrenheit. Such a cur-

236 ATMOSPHERIC CURRENTS.
rent must have a considerable effect on the climate of
an entire continent. In the equatorial regions, where
the course of the temperature and' winds is regular,
that of the rains is equally so ; and instead of seasons
of temperature, which are there unknown, the inhab
itants draw the distingmshing line between the dry
and rainy seasons. " Whenever the trade-wind
blows with its wonted regdarity, the sky preserves a
constant serenity .and a deep azure blue, especially
when the sun is in the opposite hemisphere ; the air
is dry and the atmosphere cloudless. .But in propor
tion as the sun approaches the zenith the trade-wind
grows irregular, the sky assumes a whitish tint ; it
becomes overcast ; clouds appear, and sudden show
ers, accompanied with fierce storms, ensue."
In these phenomena we cannot fail to recognise a
most important arrangement. And, although the ef
fect of these inundating rains, in engendering the
fevers of those countries, is most injurious, and, to
many, fatal, the greater number protected by their
influence will more than compensate the loss. When
we recollect the immense influence of an interposing
vapor in weakening the intensity of the solar rays, we
may with propriety inqmre, whether the thiek vapor
in which the inhabitants are enveloped, at the time
when the solar influence i6 greatest, does not protect

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 237
them from dangers infinitdy more to be dreaded than
the endemical fevers, however fatd they may be.
These rains and winds are dso indispensable to the
vegetation of those regions. The quantity of vapor in
the atmosphere depends on the intensity of the solar
rays; it is therefore always more abundant in the
tropicd atmosphere. This is one of the causes of the
luxuriance of the tropical vegetation. But were it
not for the almost inexhaustible supply of water de
posited in the rivers and lagoons of those regions, by
the annual rains, the moisture in the atmosphere
would be insufficient to supply the vegetable king
dom. A failure of rain in the temperate climates for
a few weeks ody*will cause the greatest injury. Who
has not often seen the parched and withered vegeta
tion of our own country, in seasons of drought, with
indescribable feelings of sadness, and watched the
gathering cloud with thankfdness of heart % Thus
we see the importance of the winds in effecting an
exchange of temperature between the equatorial and
polar regions, and in modifying the various climates
of the earth. But if the capacity of the air were
greater than it is, its temperature would be less easily
affected by the solar rays, and this circdation, so es
sential to both hemispheres, partially if not entirely
destroyed ; while, if the capacity of the heat were
less, the pleasant and refreshing winds, so important

238 MUTUAL EXCHANGE.
in knitting together the various nations of the earth
by the bonds of reciprocal beneficence, would become
the most fearful agents of destruction. There is in
deed a most intimate connection between the mdti-
plied pbysicd laws with which man has made himself
acquainted ; a perfect and unbroken chain, extending
through and around the wide domain of the infinite
Creator ; and not a link in all this vast chain can be
withdrawn or broken without a fearful disturbance of
the whole.
The winds keep up the circdation in the atmos
phere, and restore its equilibrium, and the oceanic
currents, which in some degree depend on them,
perform the same office for that element. By these
currents the exchange of warm and cold water from
the differently heated regions is effected. It is not
our object to attempt to trace these or any other phe
nomena to their primary cause, further than it becomes
necessary to connect them together, and show the
mutual adaptation and concurrent action of the whole ;
much less do we desire to enter on controverted terri
tory for the purpose of disputation ; but with all due
respect for authority, we suggest the possibility that
too much importance has been given to the unequd
temperatures of the tropical and polar seas, in ex
plaining the oceanic currents. Much, undoubtedly,
is due to the general tendency of Adds to maintain

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 239
an equilibrium, but we do not consider this " the more
profound and irresistible cause."
If the rapidity of these deep currents cannot be
explained by the motion of the winds, they must re
sult from some cause more powerful than that by
which the winds are produced. It is true the sun has
a most powerful influence in warming the oceans.
Under the equator, the line of constant temperature is
seven thousand two hundred feet below the surface.
The Gulf Stream maintains its elevated temperature
for more than one thousand feet below the surface.
But the atmosphere is more elastic, is easier affected
by the solar rays, receives heat, not only from the
rays as they pass through it, but by radiation from
the earth. The water loses part of the heat it receives
by evaporation and radiation, while the depth of the
ocean prevents the solar rays from penetrating to
the bottom. Thus the line of constant temperature is
at variable depths. At fifty-five degrees eighteen
minutes, south latitude, longitude one hundred and
forty-nine degrees twenty minutes west, Sir J. C. Boss
found it at six hundred fathoms ; at forty-nine de
grees seventeen minutes, south latitude, longitude one
hundred and seventy-two degrees eighteen minutes
west, it sinks to nine hundred fathoms ; while at the
equator the same distinguished explorer found it at
the depth of twelve hundred fathoms. . From these

240 AUTHORITY DOUBTED.
examinations he arrived at the conclusion, that there
is a belt or circle around the earth where the mean
temperature of the sea obtains throughout its entire
depth, which is about fifty-six degrees fourteen min
utes south latitude. This, as he observes, constitutes a
neutral ground. That portion which is heated by the
solar rays imparts heat to the underlayers by an ex
change of particles. The sun, therefore, cannot act
so powerfully and promptly on the oceanic element
as on the atmospheric. If then these phenomena re
sult from the same cause (*. e. a disturbance of the
equilibrium of the two elements),, the oceanic currents
would not be greater, more powerfd, or rapid, than
the atmospheric currents. But they are, and there
fore must have "a more profound and irresistible
cause" than the mere tendency to restore the equilib
rium. Fpr these reasons, we adopt the opimon of
Baron Von Humboldt ; that the oceanic currents de
pend conjointly upon various causes ; on the tides ;
the duration and intensity of prevailing winds ; the
modifications of density and specific gravity which the
particles of water undergo, in consequence of the dif
ferences in the temperature, and in the relative quan
tity of sdine contents at different latitudes and depths ;
and lastly, the horary variations of the atmospheric
pressure successively propagated from east to west,
and occurring with such regularity in the tropics.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 241
These currents have a great influence on the conti
nental dimates. The climates of Chili and Peru are,
as we have observed, considerably cooled by the ant
arctic polar current of wind ; but the entire effect is
the joint result of the atmospheric and oceanic cur
rents, which rush in from the same point. A branch
of the equatorid current, after passing round Guiana
and the Caribbean Sea, forces itself between Cape
Catoche and Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico, and after
making the circuit of the Gulf, passes out between
Florida and Cuba, and continues its course, under a
new name, along our coast as far as Newfoundland,
elevating the temperature of the whole coast. This
current is deflected from that point to the eastward,
and finally reaches the coast of Africa. A portion of
its warm waters is carried to western Europe by the
prevailing winds, and contributes to soften the cli
mate there. These currents are ever active, and con
trast strongly with the disturbed *waters through
which they pass. Gdded by some irresistible power,
they pursue their course through the agitated ele
ment which surrounds them, unmindful of the
storms that impede their progress, but cannot defeat
their end.
By retracing our steps we will find that the
various zones of the astronomical climate are caused
by the dlipticd figure of the earth, by reason of
11

242 ALL THINGS OBEDIENT.
which the surface is unequally exposed to the solar
rays, other elements of course contributing to the
result; and that the isothermal, isocheminal and
isotherd lines, would be uniformly parallel to each
other over the whole terrestrid surface, were it not
for the division, distribution, and contour, of the Con
tinents, their mountains or reliefs, and the unequal
absorbing and radiating powers of the surface. But
as the beauty and fertility of large sections of the
globe depend on the special provisions for the
advantages which their location otherwise would
have denied them, we find they have been pro
vided inthe arrangement and adaptations of the fluid
and solid portions of the earth. The grand object
contemplated by the Infinite Mind is stamped inde
libly on every part of the universe, and all the par
ticles, however affected by the laws of matter, contri
bute to the final resdt. If a plateau is necessary to
water the valleyj it rises at the bidding of the Eternal.
If the geographical form and position of a continent
require a mountain chain to condense the passing
vapor, it rises also at the same Almighty bidding.
If a gulf is needed to modify the climate of a conti
nent, and counteract the influence of the terrestrial
reliefs, the hills are rolled back and the gdf appears.
Can it be said that all these local and important
agents, acting so harmoniously with the mysterious

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 243
forces that pervade the universe, are the offspring of
chance? That the terrestrial reliefs, acting so va
riously on the local climates, on which so much of
life and beauty depend, are the accidental results of
indeterminate internal powers ?
The mind is not so much affected by the grandeur
of any single phenomenon, however important, as it
is by the harmonious action of different and appa
rently conflicting elements. It is this intimate and
indispensable relation which exists between the
greatest and the smallest of created beings, — between
the animate and inanimate worlds ; this action and
reaction upon each other, by which the end is accom
plished; and the special provisions, modifying or
wholly defeating the action of general laws, where
the interests of our species require it, that tend most
strongly to direct the inquiring mind upward to the
Infinite and Eternal, for a revelation of the hidden
cause. But if we look at the general resdt of the division
of the earth's surface into zones of temperature, we
will find a most favorable condition. The torrid
zone stretches from the equator to the tropics, embrac
ing an area of seventy-seven millions seven hundred
thousand square miles. The temperate zones, extend
ing from the tropics to the polar circles, embrace fifty
millions square miles in each hemisphere, making

244 LOCAL COMPENSATIONS.
together one hundred millions. This area embraces
at least three fourths of the continental element.
The polar or frozen zones contain only eight millions
square miles each ; and even this small and unfavored
circle is inhabitable. Owing to the compensations
in Sweden, the cereals are cultivated beyond the
polar circle. Less, therefore, than one eleventh part
of the earth's surface is beyond the vivifying influ
ence of the solar rays. And we have seen how small
a portion of the continental mass is exposed to the
vertical rays of the sun when at its highest point, and
how that portion is partially protected by the inter
posing mists and clouds, caused by a rapid evapora
tion ; by the isolated mountain peaks, from which
the cold air rushes down ; the general elevation, and
the luxuriant vegetation, which keeps the atmosphere
more humid, and cools the surface of the earth by
its moisture and shade.
Such is the general result of the terrestrial divisions,
modified by atmospheric laws and continental reliefs.
But by what power were these divisions and arrange
ments made,, if not by an intelligent Creator. We
have seen that the continental arrangement into
pairs, and these agdn into particular forms, marked
by similar curves and relieved by elevated plateaux
and mountain chains ; by gulfs and inland seas, are
indispensably necessary to the existence of the varied

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 245
life which abounds on our planet, and that all these
elements are adapted to each other ; and last, and
perhaps not least important, are also adapted to the
astronomical and locd climates in which they are
found. The question of Power naturally presents
itself; what authoritative power presided over the
internal forces of the earth, when the dry lands were
forced up out of the surrounding sea, to their present
position ? There is no physical law by which they
can be explained. No natural cause for the particu
lar division and arrangement of the continental ele
ment, to be found in the wide range of human know
ledge. For aught we know, or aught that appears to
man, the continents might have been gathered around
the poles, or collected under the equator. They
might have been thrown up in one solid mass ; or
scattered over the surface of the ocean, in small and
insignificant islands. The great mountain chains
might have been forced up in the north temperate
zones, and the equatorial regions sunk down to the
level of the ocean. Vet any of these conditions
would have changed the relations of the continental
masses, and more or less affected the' entire climate,
as well as the vegetable and animal life of the globe.
Not a single change could now be made without
planting the seeds of disease and death in some por
tion of animate creation.

246 ACTION OF THE INTERNAL FORCES,
This great controlling power appears to have acted
uniformly and intelligibly in every instance. The
local reliefs are thrown up only where they are re-
qdred to fit the territory or continent for the great
ends contemplated. The astronomical climate is
modified, Wherever a modification secures some im
portant object, and there only. The elements and
atmospheric laws depend upon the division and
arrangement of the Adds and solids of our globe ; yet
they act in. harmony with each other, however widely
separated they may be. Through the laws of expan
sion and contraction, of heat and cold, the sea cools
the climate of the torrid zone, and warms it in the
cold, temperate, and frigid zones; and according to
these laws the continents, have been arranged. The
continents are narrow and greatly elevated, in the
equatorial regions ; and low and divided, with deep
bays and inland seas in the higher latitudes. The
various climates of the earth, on which the great
variety of vegetable and animal life depends, result
from the concurrent action of these natural agents.
All are important, and all are intimately connected
with the division, distribution, contours, and reliefs of
the continents. One irregular or convulsive move
ment of the mighty/upheaving, internal power, by
which it is supposed the terrestrial reliefs and conti
nental elevations have been produced, would unsettle

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 247
the physical relations which exist, and more or less
disturb the harmonious action of the varied forces of
nature. Thus, the very confusion and irregdarity of
the continental masses, scattered apparently without
any object over the surface of our planet, may be
resolved into an intelligible narrative of their own
creation.

m.
THE ATMOSPHERE.
We have repeatedly alluded to the atmosphere,
but we have nowhere given it the consideration to
which it is entitled in a work of this character. It is,
as we have seen, intimately connected with the most
important telluric phenomena. Out of it the carbon,
indispensable to the vegetable kingdom, is elabo
rated, and from it animals, by the operation of their
lungs, abstract the oxygen, by which then blood is
purified. And in this, as in everything else, there is
a mutual exchange between the two kingdoms. There
is" a constant exchange of gases going on between
them ; but the solar light is necessary to effect the
exchange.' A fdl exchange could not be effected
without it. Plants cease their labor at night, and
may be said to sleep as well as animals ; at this time

248 IMPORTANCE OF THE ATMOSPHERE.
no exchange can take place, for the action of vegeta
bles is not sufficient to throw off the gas required
by animals. The solar light, therefore, is a necessary
element in this exchange. But there are exceptions
in the vegetable kingdom ; some plants are most
active during the night, choosing its silence and
gloom for the opening of their flowers, and sending up
their fragrance rather to the midnight stars, than to
the noonday busy world of sentient beingSi
The atmosphere is the medium through which
sound is transmitted, and on its reflective and dis
persive properties the solar light depends. Without
it objects codd be seen only in the direct rays.
" Every shadow of a passing cloud would be pitchy
darkness; the stars wodd be visible all day, and
every apartment into which the sun had not direct
admission wodd be involved in nocturnal obscurity."
These powers of the atmosphere are increased by the
action of the solar rays, which produce an irregu
larity in the temperature of the different masses of
air. Thus, the atmosphere is necessary to diffuse the
solar light in an agreeable manner, and to mitigate
its intensity. Without it we shodd have nothing but
the glare of intense sunshine, or the most impene
trable darkness. It is not only necessary in these
important offices, but also to the more exalted facul
ties of man. Supposing we codd live in its absence,

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 249
wbjch is impossible, we should possess our organs of
speech and hearing in vain, no matter how perfect
they miglit be. " Voice we'might have, but no word
codd we utter ; listeners we might be, but no sound
codd we hear. The earth would present itself to our
imaginations as a soundless desert."
It retains and diffuses heat, whether from the sun
above or from internd sources. By these means, the
temperature of the seasons is regulated, and the seas
kept liquid. In this, however, its pressure is an im
portant element. Were it not for the atmospheric
pressure, our globe would be surrounded with a thick
vapor. This pressure is necessary also to all organized
bodies composed of solids and fluids. At great
heights, where it is less, difficulties are always expe
rienced by the adventurous traveller. Nearly all the
young Americans who attempted to ascend Popo
catepetl, which has an elevation of seventeen thou
sand seven hundred and twenty feet above the sea,
were compelled to return long before they reached
the highest point. They experienced great difficulty
in breathing, and in a few instances the blood oozed
out of their lips. This resulted from the want of at
mospheric pressure, which at that great height was
not sufficient to regulate the elasticity or expansive
power of the fluid portion of the body. The atmos
pheric pressure is so small, says Humboldt, in hia
11*

250 ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE.
Aspects of Nature, at an elevation of thirteen thou
sand four hundred and twenty-three feet, on the pla
teau of Antisana, that the cattle, when hunted with
dogs, Meed from the nose and mouth. Herr Von
Tschudi, referred to by Humboldt in the work just
mentioned, thinks- 4he death of the dogs and cats, in
the elevated town of Cerro de Pasco, is the conse
quence of the absence of sufficient atmospheric pres
sure. " Innumerable attempts have been made to
keep cats in this town, which is fourteen thousand
and one hundred feet above the level of the sea, but
such attempts have always failed ; both cats and dogs
die at the end of a few days, in fits. The cats are
taken at first with convulsive movements, when they
try to climb, but soon fall back, exhausted and mo
tionless, and die."
The atmospheric pressure is necessary also to the
vegetable kingdom. Plants depend on the atmos
phere, as well as animals ; and are therefore provided
with porous openings in their leaves. They have a
kind of respiratory system connected with ~ their ex
ternal and internal coverings, which is quite as im
portant to them in the evaporation, inhalation, and
exhalation of their fluids, as these functions are to
animals ; for the elasticity of their fluids depends as
much upon the atmospheric pressure as that of ani
mal fluids. It is owing to' this fact, that the Alpine

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 251
plants are adapted, by their more abundant pores, to
their elevated position, and cannot be successfully
cultivated in the low grounds. The increased pres
sure disturbs these vital functions, and, sooner or
later, destroys their action. This pressure, then, is as
essentid to life as the gases on which it depends. In
the physicd, as well as in our moral nature, certain
restraints are necessary. When the first are removed,
or, when we are placed above the restraining pres
sure, the fluids of the body burst the delicate vessels,
which are no longer able to restrain their elasticity ;
and also, when the " interior power gives up its au
thority, the animd and the sensual take the place of
the human and the spiritud."
The tops of our highest mountains are covered
prepetually with snow ; thus proving the fact, that
the solar rays wodd not be sufficient without the aid
of the atmosphere, to prevent a universal destruc
tion of life. Without the atmosphere, the earth would
be as barren and lifeless as the moon appears to be ;
yet it is not essential to any of the great mechanical
functions of our planet in the economy of the solar
system. The earth would perform its regular revolu
tions, maintain its axis, and discharge all its various
offices in the system of which it is a member, without
this envelope, but it would be an arid waste ; vol
canoes it might have, but no cities for destruction;

252 COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE.
.mountains and valleys might diversify its surface,
but they wodd be unenlivened by the murmur of
streams, or the music of animate nature. If there
was no physical necessity for it, these facts most
clearly show that it must have been designed to per
form the important offices to which we have alluded.
The atmosphere is also important in connecting
remote climates, and. effecting mutual exchanges
between them, by which their extremes are greatly
modified. This important appendage or envelope is depen
dent on a thousand agents for its elementary parts.
Each thing acts upon everything else, and all are
bound together by relations and dependencies which
pervade the universe. Volcanoes and warm springs ;
decomposing rocks, and decaying vegetable and ani
mal matter; the respiration of animals and the com
bustion of the various articles of fuel, keep up the
supply of carbon, so important to the vegetable king
dom ; while the respiration of .plants and various
other natural agents, mdntain the proportion of oxy
gen, upon which animal life depends. The alkalies
are found in all felspathic and other rocks of igneous
origin ; from which they are disengaged by the action
of the atmosphere and water. Had they been de
posited in the earth, or in any easily soluble form,
they would have been washed away in a short time.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 253
But, deposited as they are, the action of the elements
is just sufficient to keep up the necessary supply.
In the new edition of Professor Daubeny's Work on
Volcanoes, recently published, he says: "Potash,
soda, certain earthy phosphates, lime and magnesia,
must be present wherever a healthy vegetation pro
ceeds. Now, some of these bodies are naturally inso
luble in water, while others are dissolved with such
readiness, that any conceivable supply of them, in
their isolated condition, wodd be speedily carried off
and find its way into the ocean. The first, therefore,
must be rendered more soluble, the latter less so, than
they are by themselves. Now, the manner in which
nature has availed herself of the instrumentality of
volcanoes to effect both these opposite purposes, is
equdly beautifd and simple. She has, in the first
place, brought to the surface, in the form of lava and
trachyte, vast masses of matter containing the alka
lies, lime and magnesia, in what I have termed a dor
mant condition; that is, so united by the force of
cohesion and of chemical affinity as not to be readily
disengaged and carried off by the water. . . . She
has also provided, in the carbonic acid, which is so
copiously evolved from volcanoes, and which conse
quently impregnates the springs, in these very coun
tries, more particularly where volcanic products are
found, an agent capable, as completely as muriatic

254. ALKALIES AND PHOSPHATES.
acid, though more slowly, of acting upon these rocks,
of separating the alkalies and alkaline earths, and of
presenting them to the vessels of plants in a condition
in which they can be assimilated.- Thus every volca
nic as well as every granitic rock contains a store
house of alkali for the future exigencies of the vegeta
ble world ; while the former is also charged with
these principles which are often wanting in granite,
but which are no less essential to many plants. I
mean lime and magnesia. Had the alkalies been
present in the ground in beds or isolated masses, they
would have been speedily washed away, and the vege
tables that require them wodd by this time have
been restricted to the . immediate vicinity of the
ocean." But, notwithstanding this beautifd provi
sion, large quantities of the alkalies and phosphates
are annually carried into tbe ocean, where they are
held in solution. These are collected, by another ar
rangement, which though more humble in its char
acter, is not less beautiful. It is done through the
agency of the algm, or sea-weeds, which occupy the
lowest place in the vegetable kingdom ; but yet, are
used in an important office in the economy of nature.
These weeds are seen clinging to the rocks, or floating
along the coasts, as idle vagrants of the deep, but
they are not idle, or useless. The alkalies and phos
phates held in solution by the salt water, are collected

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 255
by them and deposited on the coasts, where they be
come usefd, and, in many places, as in the- north of
Scotland, indispensably necessary. By the manure
supplied by the decaying algse the peaty and waste
soils are made productive, and potatoes are raised in
large quantities, where without it nothing could be
produced. It is, indeed, a strange and melancholy
sight, to see the thousands of poor people hurrying
and driving along the coast at low tide, contending
for these tangled weeds, upon which their very exist
ence depends, with the fierceness of petty politicians,
and not unfrequently their meanness.
The dgse are most beautifully adapted to the office
they perform. Other vegetables are stationary, and
derive their nourishment from the soil in which they
are rooted and the atmosphere surrounding them;
but the dgae have no roots. They have simple pro
cesses, or hooks only, with which they ding to the
rocks. They derive their nourishment from the alka
lies and phosphates held in solution in the salt water ;
and not from the soil, for with this they have no con
nection. The plant is kept up, and the branches and
leaves expanded by means of air-bags, which are pe
culiar to this family. By these air-bags the specific
gravity of the plant is lessened ; and thus, it is kept
floating around the ocean, and brought in contact
with the alkalies and phosphates which it collects.

256 SUPPLY OF GASES.
Turning again to the subject of volcanoes ; we find
that they also supply nitrogen and carbon ; the first
in ammonia, and the last in carbonic acid. By this
carbonic acid the rocks are decomposed and their fer
tilizing materials liberated ; it also produces new
limestone rocks, which compensate for those converted
into silicates by volcanic heat in the interior, and aids
in purifying the atmosphere, through its decomposi
tion, by the respiration of plants. It is thus that
these mighty agents of destruction, which seem the
red antagonists of life, are in fact the appointed
means for supplying the materials out of which all
organized bodies are fashioned. Warm and mineral
springs also contribute to the proportion of the gases,
without which life could not continue. These various
agents are connected with the interior of our globe ;
and as they supply the gases which nature is most
constantly demanding, it may be inferred that the
earth contains within itself a sufficiency for all future
periods. These gases have an intimate connection
with animal and vegetable life, and depend in some
degree on the relative proportion of the two king
doms. Their unequal distribution is corrected by the
circulation of the winds ; by which the excess of Oxy
gen is carried from the tropical regions to the higher
latitudes, and the surplus carbonic acid is conveyed
from the higher latitudes to the tropical forests.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 257
Thus throughout the whole universe, we find an
uninterrupted chain of relations and dependencies.
We live not for ourselves, but for every one — for
everything else. There is no independence in the
economy of God ; — all are ministers of His manifold
designs, and fellow-laborers in accomplishing the ob
jects for which they were created. Between the office
performed by the algae and the necessities of man
there exists, as we have seen, an important and highly
interesting relation. Not less so is that which we
maintain with the worm beneath our feet. The one
gathers up the materials which are scattered through
the vast ocean, and deposits them on the shore, where
they fertilize and enrich the soil ; while the other pu
rifies that soil by extracting all injurious substances.
And all this is done for man, for whom everything
seems to have been created. To supply his wants and
gratify his desires a teeming world empties . its rich
profusion at his feet. To soften and ennoble his
character, the music of a thousand spheres exhausts its
melody, " If the heart, too confidently raised,
Perchance too lightly occupied, or lulled
Too easily, despise or overlook
The vassalage that binds her to the earth,
Her sad dependence upon time, and all
The trepidations of mortality,

258 LAW OF EXPANSION.
What place so destitute and void — but there
The little flower her vanity shall check
The trailing worm reprove her thoughtless pride ?"
- « '.
All the natural laws, whether connected with the
force of attraction, the size, axis, and revolution of the
earth ; the proportion of land and water ; mountain
and valley ; the composition of the earth, or the at
mosphere that surrounds it ; or of heat and cold-, more
or less affect the physical, intellectual, and moral
character of man. This intimate relation, this brother
hood of agencies, imposes certain restraints upon
each one, and corresponding penalties for their viola
tion. In our simplest exertions a hundred laws are
involved, like so many wheels in a machine, and • the
most perfect harmony in their action is essential to
success. If it were not for the laws of gravitation
and repulsion we could not walk, yet these depend on
the relative magnitude of the earth and our bodies.
The depth of the atmosphere determines the con
dition of our fluids, and the resistance of our blood
vessels ; while our respiration and exhalation are re
gulated by its weight, moisture and temperature.
There is one more general law to which we desire
to call attention; we allude to that by which the ex
pansive power of all fluids, and most of the solid
bodies of our globe, is regulated. Heated atmos
phere rises as water does, when the latter is converted

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 259
into steam. By this law" we are relieved from the
carbonic acid gas thrown off in respiration, which
would prove injurious if re-inhaled. It is heated, and
therefore lighter, and as soon as it is respired or
thrown off, it rises in obedience to this law, while a
purer atmosphere is forced down by its weight, to be
inhded. If it were not for this law, and others which
contribute to produce the constant action which is go
ing on in the atmosphere, serious difficulties might take
place from the respiration of a stagnant and poisonous
air. To this law, we are also indebted for our rains,
with the innumerable blessings which they secure.
But there are limits to this, as there are to all natural
laws ; and in this case, the limitation is as important
as the law itself. Water is evaporated by heat, and
the vapor ascends; hence the phenomena of clouds; it
is also condensed by cold, hence our rains and snow ;
but it is condensed by cold to a certain point only,
after which it is expanded. It has been ascertained
by experiment that forty degrees is the mean point,
and that water expands when above or below that
degree. The necessity of these laws is most striking, and
the result of their action, a most convincing evidence,
not only of the prescience, but of the wisdom and
goodness of the great Creating Power. If ice were
heavier than water, it wodd sink as fast as formed on

260 OUR LAKES AND RIVERS.
the surface, and unless it was thawed as rapidly as it
was formed, the sinking layers would soon fill up our
lakes and rivers with solid bodies of ice. This, it
is almost unnecessary to add, would soon destroy all
animate matter in them. It is therefore as important
that water should expand when frozen, as it is that
vapor and heated atmosphere should rise; If the
vapor did not rise we would have no rain or snow, —
no springs and rivers, and as a consequence, no vege
tation. If water did not expand when frozen, we
would have no lakes and rivers, though we might
have rains and snows ; it is true they might exist for
a short seasOn, but for all the great purposes of life
they wodd fail. Thus we see the importance of this
general law, and the no less important limit to its
action, by the specially adapted law of expansion in
the case of ice.
Thus far we have grouped together, in one general
view, a few of the most interesting phenomena:
showing or attempting to show the relation they sus
tain to each other, and how the phenomenon of life
itself depends on the continued and harmonious
action of the multiplied physical forces, which keeps
the various parts of the vast machinery in motion.-
In this view many of the most mysterious agents have
not been referred to, because their connection and
nature could not be explained in a work of this cha-

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 261
racter. We have not noticed that mighty network
of electricity and magnetism which constitutes the
nervous system of our planet ; an invisible and irre
sistible agent which pervades all nature ; " which cir
culates through all the organs of plants and animals,
and acting on the nerves, promotes the circulation of
the organie jmces 5 which flashes from the thunder
cloud ; illumines the wide canopy ; draws iron to
iron and directs the silent recurring march of the
guiding needle ;" lights the north with the changing
and varied colors of the aurora ; keeps the different
particles of the earth's surface in an unceasing action
by the exchange of properties ; " sustains a manifest
relation to all phenomena of the distribution of heat,
of the pressure of the atmosphere, and its disturb
ances ;" which is now the defence of the South Ameri
can eel, and now the fearful presiding spirit of the
approaching storm. We know, however, that the
agency of this mysterious element is important and
indispensable ; and that it also must have been adapted
to, and created for, the performance- ofthese various
offices in the system.
Truly, all the elements and laws in nature, sustain
an intimate relation to each other ; all have appro
priate duties to perform ; and it is doubtful whether
the action of the least and apparently the most useless
agent in the vast domain of God, can be dispensed

262
with. The venomous insect beneath our feet, and the
noblest and best of our domestic animals ; the terrible
forces of the earth, the tornado and volcano; the
gently murmuring spring, and the boisterous ocean ;
the forest monarch and the pale forget-me-not within
its shade, are all witnesses of creative Power, and
ministers of good. Man, to whom the distinguishing
characteristics of reason and free-will have been
given, is the only unfaithful servant. Everything
else performs a part, and performs it well. He only
fails to perform the high mission to which he has
been appointed by the great Creator. The grand
forces of nature have been committed to his care.
To him, the sea has been . given as a pathway for
commercial intercourse ; and the elements made obe
dient to his will. At his touch the heavens are
kindled with electric fire ; and then, again, the same
fierce element is sent a qdet messenger to do his
bidding. But these powers have been given to him
for the noblest purposes and best interests of his
species ; that he may best relieve the poor, comfort
the sorrowing, aid the distressed, teach-the ignorant,
and, reform the vicious. And thus,, dthough his
endowments are incalcdably great, they are not
more than commensurate to his important duties.
They are, however, sufficient for all the purposes of
life ; and if properly observed . and wrought, they

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 263
will brighten his pathway as he approaches the con
fines of this, and safely light him into the far-off silent
land whither he goes,
" Into the silent land !
To you, ye boundless regions
Of all perfection ! Tender morning visions
Of beauteous souls ! The future's pledge and band
Who in life's battle firm doth stand
ShaU bear hope's tender blossoms
Into the silent land !"
In these remarks on the Physical Geography of
our planet we have repeatedly referred the existence
of phenomena to an invisible but all-powerfd cause,
without and above the various physical agents which
we have noticed. The division and distribution of
the continental and oceanic elements ; the analogous
forms and arrangements of the continents and their
reliefs ; the harmonious action of the multiplied
forces and agents of nature ; the importance of the
atmosphere, and the laws which make it the medium
of exchange between the solid and fluid parts of our
planet, and the local and highly important compen
sations by which the tendency of general laws is
limited or controlled, cannot be explained by any
proximate cause. The importance of these arrange
ments and the adaptation of the different agents to

264 CONTINENTAL ANALOGD3S.
each other, and the harmony of the ever-acting and
reacting forces, which constitute the life of our planet,
point us to some ulterior cause for the explanation we
seek. If the existing continental forms were less
intimately connected with the laws by which the
other elements are controlled, and less essential in the
economy of life, the evidence of original design
which they furnish would fail to convince the mind,
however analogous they might be in themselves.
Certain analogies might exist between continents
thrown up to their position by the same indeterminate
force; but that these analogies should exist just
where they are required, and that contrasts should be
found wherever location or climate makes them
essential, could not be expected without the agency
of some designing intelligence. If a single note of
discord could be heard, or an irregdar movement
detected in the vast domain of nature, then in some
degree would we be excusable for seeking the pri
mary cause of all these forces and forms, in a power
less perfect than the Onmipotent and Omnipresent
Creator. But we are not thus left to grope our way
through discordant and conflicting elements; there
are no exceptions to these general laws, whidi are
not as important as the laws themselves ; no discords
in the great song of creation, all is grand, and full,
and harmonious. The " sensitive and reverent ear"

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 265
of nature's votary, is ever cheered with the perpetual
music of her countless encouraging voices.
The unequally woven carpet of flowers and plants
with which the earth is covered as with a garment,
minister alike to the wants of animal life, and the
exquisite sensibilities of the refined and intellectual ;
while every department and recess of nature teems
with ammal existence, which is equally important,
and infinitely more interesting. Far down ih the
bowels of the earth, where light can scarcely pene
trate, and high above the region of perpetual snow,
the chosen abode of the giant condor, the almost
ceaseless hum of busy life may be heard, and its
various changes distinctly traced. From the little
animalcda with its existence of a moment, up through
the mdtiplied grades and forms of life, to the intel-
lectud sovereign, whose spiritual part, at least, is
inseparably interwoven with things eternal.
Each step we take in this mighty temple of varied
orgamsms, at the head of which, and as the crowning
piece, man, the noblest of created beings, has been
placed, suggests new inquiries, which, unanswered,
turn back upon the startled imagination, arousing
the dormant facdties of the sod to contemplations of
a higher order. But these things only invite the
faltering footsteps onward in the vast field of inquiry.
However much there may be to startle the timid, and

.266 QUESTIONS UNANSWERED.
discourage the indolent, there is nothing which is
calcdated to cool the ardor or limit the desire of the
anxious student; although the poin,t to which he
vainly aspires is constantly receding before him.
" The strain of music from the lyre of science flows
on, rich and sweet, full and harmodous, but never
reaches a dose ; no cadence is heard with which the
intellectual ear can feel satisfied. . . ¦ The idea
of some closing strain, seems to lurk among our own
thoughts, waiting to be articulated in the notes
which flow from the knowledge of external- nature.
The idea of something ultimate in our philosophical
researches, something in which the mind can acqui
esce, and which will leave us no further questions to
ask oi whence, and why, and by what power, seems as
if it belonged to us ; as if we could not have it with
held from us by any imperfection or incompleteness
in the actual performance of science. What is the
meaning of this conviction? What is the reality
thus anticipated % Whither does the development of
this idea conduct us?"!
This conviction is one of the highest to which we
can attain, and seems to belong to that part of us
which reaches out into the unknown future whither it
conduct us, and the reality of which it dimly reflects,
as light from behind! the distant hill-tops, into the
valley of life. Of these deeply interesting matters,

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 267
much is dready known from the phenomena which
we have described ; but the most interesting and
perhaps the most important questions are yet unan
swered ; many of which will not, cannot be known to
finite beings. Beyond the horizon that binds our
vision, and there ody, will such questions be satisfac
torily answered. Thither with anxious eyes and
trembling steps ; with deeper interest and increasing
humility and reverence, let us advance. There surely,
if not before, these mysterious questions will be ex
plained, and a more perfect revelation of the glories
which are seen now through an obscured and imper
fect vision only, will be made when the material veil
is removed from the grand, still mirror of etermty.

CONCLUSION.
In the arrangement of the phenomena to which we
have referred, we have endeavored to show the con
nection which exists between them, and their mutual
dependence on each other ; as well as the harmony
which appears through, and in, every part of the vast
machinery. Each part is linked with and bound to
every other part; and the mighty whole depends
alike upon the greatest and the least of its constituent
elements. The falling feather attracts the earth in
proportion to its weight, and the sound of a single
word may vibrate through the universe.
This well-ordered connection and consequent har
mony between the various physical agents, and the
general adaptation of animate and inanimate, of
vegetable and animal matter, clearly prove the action
of an Intelligent Creator, who not only foreknew
the necessity of each part, but created that necessity,
and established the laws by which the action of each

CONCLUSION. 269
member is to be directed and controlled. There was
no accident in all this — no fortuitous beginning,
either of animate or inanimate matter, and therefore
there can be no fortuitous ending. The same Infinite
Hand stays the tides, and binds the oceans to their
beds — directs each distant orb in all its movements,
and holds the varied systems in harmony together.
The planets were destined to pursue certain fixed
pathways in the fields of space, and therefore, if de-,
fleeted by some collateral power, that power is coun
teracted by some other potency, by which the wan
dering planet is. swung back into its appointed orbit.
If the earth is drawn into a dangerous proximity to
the sun during its revolution, the heat of that body
is avoided by the inclination of the earth's axis, and
by the law of gravity, which increases its motion as
it approaches the great central luminary of our system.
Without some compensation, the equatorial parts
of the earth's surface wodd be barren and uninhabit
able wastes ; but they are redeemed from this con
dition by the arrangement of the continental and
oceanic elements, the atmospheric laws, and their
own elevation, — conditions which we have seen are
indispensable to the present character of our climates.
The solar rays might distil vapor out of the ocean,
and the winds might bear it over the continents ; but,

GRAVITATIOtf.
without the present constitution of the atmosphere,
by which it is lighter arid colder in the upper strata,
and the elevation of mountains' and mCUntairi-chairis,
by which it is forced up into the colder regions1,
where it is condensed into rain, and then precipitated
upon the continental element, the grand ends effected
by it, and for which it was ordained, would not be
accomplished. Thus our rains, which appear so
simple and natural, are the resdt of many concurring
phenomena, ahd depend upon the constitution of the
atmosphere, and the oceanic eleriient, the influence
of the solar rays,- and the irregular elevation -Of the
earth's surface.-
But this inclination of the earth's axis— -this ar-"
rangement of the : two elements under the1 equator,
and the elevation of the continental part; and these
mountains' ahd mountain-chains, are wholly arbitrary.
There is rio necessity in their owri: organization ; for
the donations : which' they observe. They might; have
been differ'eritj frohl1 any natural law known to iriaril
Nor is there any physical cause' for' the particular
formation of the' continent's^ or their arrangement in'
pairs, or' their elevation a£ they approach the south ;
yet We have' seen that these 'conditions' are important^
if not indispensable in the economy' of our globe.
Gravitation Explains' the varied riiovements — the
revolutions aiid' inclinations of the planetary bodies,

CONCLUSION. 271
and secures the stability of the system ; but there is
nothing of that kind to act upon or control innumer
able important agencies more immediately connected
with the development of animate matter on the
planet we inhabit.
The atmosphere is adapted to the diffusion of light
and heat, and on its action all living beings depend ;
while the laws connected with it, keep the aerial
envelope of our globe in a constant motion, by which
many beautifd and necessary compensations are
secured to local climates. Yet, there is no necessity
for this envelope in any of the motions of our globe,
or in any of the relations it sustains in the solar sys
tem ; nor has the searching eye of science been able
to detect its origin or cause. It is also connected with
the various changes of the earth's surface. By it the
vapors which supply the running streams with water
are carried from the oceans to the interior, and through
them many of the changes on the earth's surface are
effected. It also contains the elements out of which
all vegetables are fashioned, and thus supplies the
means for restoring the wasted soil. In this way, the
waste of the external elements is compensated by the
internal agencies, and the demands of the organiains
without are supplied from the unfathomable depths
within. We have seen how the solar light acts upon the

272 RESTRAINTS AND LIMITATIONS.
vegetable kingdom, and how ifs different rays are
adapted to their seasons of growth and maturity.
And also, how the division and arrangement of the
continental mass harmonize with the atmospheric
laws, and how the action and reaction of the two ele
ments contribute to that necessary bdance, in which
not ody the prosperity, but the happiness of man is
involved. Without any further enumeration of these
special adaptations, it must appear to all, that each
agent in nature is connected more or less intimately
with every other agent ; and that the present relation
and condition of things depend on the concurrent
action of all. Nothing is wanting, nor can anything
be dispensed with. There is no confusion or antagon
ism to be found among these various agents and ele
ments. Harmony is the law by which they are
governed, and umversal good the object of all their
actions. These limitations and balances are not confined
to the physicd forces alone. They extend through
the vegetable and animal kingdoms also. Vege
tables limit the growth of each other, and animals
restrain the growth of the entire kingdom. But
if insects and animals were not limited by the de
stroying propensities of each other, the vegetable
kingdom wodd be swept away in a season. Every
plant has its particular insect, which preys upon it j

CONCLUSION. 273
and thus retards its growth and limits its multiplica
tion. Grasses have their phalcena grammis to check
their growth. The fir-cone has its phalcena strobilella,
which would prove ruinous to the whole species,
were it not for the cunning ichnumon sProbileUa,
which destroys them by depositing its eggs in the
young caterpillar, with its long tail. Animals also
feed upon' each other, by which means a dangerous
increase is avoided ; and the insect creation is kept
within the limits of safety. Were they permitted to
increase for a single season without restraint, the
whole earth wodd fall before the insect army. By
laying the earth waste, and leaving it barren and
uninhabitable, they would prove themselves migh
tier than Xerxes with all his armed men ; and more
successfd iri destroying than Alexander or Napoleon !
The busy fly, which appears so useless in its constant
activity, is all the time performing some important
mission; and insects which are unable to do any
positive good, prevent others from doing injury.
This mighty mechanism of innumerable parts could
not be sustained for a single moment, without the su
pervision of the presiding Intelligence which resolved
its plan and adapted its various members to each
other. Influences and laws may exist, and existing
by the appointment of the supreme Architect, they
may perform the offices for which they were originally
12*

274 LIMIT TO HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.
designed, but they are means only du the hands of the
Infinite Creator; and as such, they require His con
stant supervision. He who created all things seems
to have reserved to himself an invisible part of each
separate creation. The smallest and the greatest con
tain something which cannot be comprehended by
man. There is a limit to all human knowledge, be
yond which all is involved in mystery. This is true of
all parts, whether distant from us or near to us. The
distant stars, so remote that it requires centuries for
their light to travel to our planet, are almost as well
understood as the sphere we inhabit. The planets
have been measured, and their weight determined ;
and the geography of the moon has been written out
with as much accuracy as that of any of our conti
nents. The invisible power which binds. the innu
merable systems together as one mighty family and
forces them into reciprocal action, has been de
tected, and made the key to explain the mysterious
movements of the heavenly bodies. The winds have
been interrogated, and their origin, object, and des
tiny ascertained ; and the invisible electric agent has
been reduced to servitude, and made the means of
communicating thought over vast territories and dis
tant lands. The physical forms of organised beings
have been traced into their minutest parts, and fol
lowed down to their earliest stages ; and their resem-

conclusion. 275
blances and distinctions fully registered. But we
find, great as these achievements are, and worthy too
of the distinction which man so proudly bears above
the creation around him, that they are limited. In
each case there is something beyond the reach of hu
man intelligence. The dim outlines of knowledge
have been gradually extended by the labors of the
few great minds, which have successively marked the
epochs of learning and science; but there is a depth
of mystery without chat circle, which they have not
been able to fathom.
Enough, however, has been made known to man,
through the grandeur of the natural agencies, and
their harmonious and beneficial action, to inspire a
faith in the infinite power and goodness of the Great
Creator. Against these manifestations, the atheist
has exhausted his energy without effecting a single
breach in the battlements. Each stroke of his ham
mer brought out the fire of some latent truth ; and
every step he advanced into the unexplored territory,
introduced him to additional witnesses. This revolv
ing planet, moving on its pathway with a remarkable
and fearful rapidity, and the distant planets, beaming
down upon ns with their bright and cheerful faces, and
the mysterious potencies which work out the behests
of the Creator, all seem, in their silent grandeur^ to
mock at his presumption. The lightnings of heaven

276 ¦, THE SACRED RECORD.
reprimand him, while the ocean thunders back his
falsehood!. •. .
The apparent contradictions between the Mosaic
Cosmogony and the natural record resulted, as we
have seeri, from imperfect data, arid hasty generali
zations. As soon as genius succeeded in arhxing the
astronomer with instruments of greater space-pene
trating power, and time and labor had more per
fectly unfolded the fossil records of the earth, the
contradictions disappeared. The true philosopher
was . then enabled to show the intimate relation be
tween every part of nature's varied elements, and
their perfect agreement with the inspired history.
Then, and not until that time, were the sons of science
able to indicate the true pathway, and point the trav
eller up through the clouds and darkness of preceding
errors, to the great source of all life and all beauty.
Truths bardy alluded to in the sacred pages, have
been demonstrated by science. We are taught in
the inspired history, that the Almighty Creator
caused the waters under the heaven to be gathered
together unto one place, and made the dry land
appear ; arid geology also teaches us that there was a
time when the waters covered portions of the earth
which are now dry, and that changes have been
effected by the spirit' moving over the face of the
waters. We are taught. also, that at the Divine

CONCLUSION. 277
Mandate. the earth brought forth grass and herbs
yielding seed, and frdt trees1 yielding fruit after their
kind. And that God saw that all these were good,
and then set up the firmament of the heavens with
lights to . rde the day and the night ; and made the
signs for the seasons, and for days and years. That
after the fourth period of time, He bid the waters
bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that
have life, and fowls to fly above the earth in the open
firmament of heaven. It is written that God then
created whdes and other living creatures which the
waters brought forth. The fifth grand epoch was then
dosed ; and the sixth commenced with the creation
of cattle, and the creeping things and beasts of the
earth, which were made after their kind, and were
good in the sight of their Creator. After these God
created man in His own image, to whom He gave
the domimon over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the
earth, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon
the earth. And He blessed male and female, and
bid them be fruitful and multiply, and replenish, the
earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over all
things. These are the successive steps in the crea
tion, attested not only by the word of revelation, but
by nature's widespread record,
To man, the Great Creator gave the domimon of

278" 'TRUTH OF THE SCRIPTURES.
all things; and we find him gradually asserting his
power. The^existence of the electric' fluid was known
to the sacred writers. They spoke of it as pervading
all space and all bodies, and" as kindling the heavens
with fire, by which the' Almighty traced his pathway
in the thunder, and regulated the course of the tem
pests. It is but recently, however, that man has
asserted his control' over this element, and made it
do his biddirigl Solomon' said^ " that God gave to
the air its weight;" arid to' the waters their just mea
sure ;" yet it was not until recently that science
proved the air to" be a ponderable body, arid learned
the just measure of the waters. Job first announced
the existence of a central fire in the earth; and
science Droves it by the natural phenomena dis
covered. When Herschd said," "that all human discoveries
seem to' be made Only for the purpose of confirming
more strongly the truths contained in the sacred writ
ings," he fully recognized the relation which exists
between the tr'uths'of revelation and the discoveries
of science. What was then uttered by a bold mind
with timidity, is now known to every intelligent
reader. The book of revelation ahd tne book' of
nature, were written by the' same Infinite and Unerr
ing Hand ; and each day adds some new proof oi(
their Divine origin. As' science inferpre'ts the sacred

CONCLUSION. ' 279
record, its truths are better understood,, and their in
fluence more deeply felt. The two voices; the one
from above, the other from beneath and around us,
seem to unite ; but, notwithstanding dl space and all
matter are full of their eloquence, man has been slow
to understand their language, and reluctant to ac
knowledge the truths which they unitedly teach.
From the worm of the dust, the simple flower of
the field, and the timid songster of the forest, to the
globe we inhabit, and up throUgh the innumerable
worlds that shine above our heads, reflecting the image
of each other in the grand, still mirror of infinity,
traces of the same all-pervading, eternal wisdom are
seen. Man himself, more mysterious than all else —
grander than the star-bespangled firmament — highest
of all created matter; whose eternal part is connected
with all ages, and enables him to grasp the whole,
and will live in the freshness of its youth when all
else shall have passed away ; seems to have been the
last and the greatest act of creative energy. To him
has been given the power to unlock the mysterious
recesses of the world and read their secret records —
to survey the extent and wonders of the universe, and
dso to appredate its varied beauties. And it is
these distinguishing characteristics, which finally lead
his inquiring mind to the true and ody source of all

280 THE ARGUMENT.
things — that makes 'the philosopher, and converts his
labors into a ministry of good.
Thus, we have arrived at conclusions directly op
posed to those of the advocates of Transmutation and
development. It is true, they profess to believe in
the existence of an All-wise Deity, but they deny
that He exerts any immediate influence in uphold
ing the universe, or in perpetuating the multitudinous
parts. These important offices they assign to general
Laws, which were stamped upon all things in the be
griming. To these laws, they contend, the destiny of
matter has been committed. Through their agency
all organisms are built up, and also destroyed. They
rule and regulate the infinitely complex machinery
without the supervision of any Superior Power.
Man, according to this theory, need not hope for
any exemption from the established laws, — he need
not struggle to improve himself or his species ; -'
through a certain stage of existence he must pass,
subject to certain rdes, and without any sympathy
from a mercifd Creator, to whom he has been
directed to offer his morning and evening orisons.
No overruling Providence notes his grovellings in the
dust, or smiles with approbation on his nobler aspira
tions. To these theorists, the story of the. pillar of fire by
night and cloud by day, is all a fable; and the his-

CONCLUSION. 281
tory of Calvary, the offspring of the imagination.
They, however, encourage us with the hope that a
faith may be drawn from fheir theory, sufficient to
sustain us in all the difficdties and 'trials of life.
But they forget that this fdth must be found, if at
all, in a theory which denies all the attributes of the
Superior Being, — that contradicts the eternal truths
from which the hopes of life issue, as well as that
far-reaching faith that extends beyond the difficdties
of this "sphere of being, into the bright realities of an
infinitely higher and purer one. A theory which de
mes the parental care of an ever watchful and mer
ciful Creator, whose unalterable covenant is written
on the firmament, and without whose notice not a
hair of the head is permitted to fall,- — at whose bid
ding water burst from the rock, manna fell from
heaven, and the sea rolled back her tide, until the
devoted host had left their native land, then heaved
an ocean on their march below. A theory that denies
all accountability, by degrading mankind to the cha
racter of advanced reptiles, and regulates morals by
law — that destroys every hope held out by the sacred
record — that blasts all the frdts of faith, but offers
nothing consoling in their stead. Upon what place
are we to rest? Where are we to find the elements of
a sufficient fdth ? — where the consolations which are

282 A SUEFICIENT EAITH.
to" keep up the sinking heart ?— ^and where the lessons
of warning to the oppressor ?
None of these important elements can be found
within their theory. They hear no voice to encourage
them in the trials of life — have no parental heart to
yearn over them, sympathising with them in their
sorrow, and comforting them in their distress. Lost
'mid the grandeur of natural phenomena, and trem
bling before their potencies, these theorists find but
little to encourage them in their struggle here, and
nothing to support and bless them, when that struggle
ceases. It is more agreeable to our feelings to look up to
God as a kind and mercifd Creator, who loves, pities,
and protects us. This view of the Infinite and the
Eternal does furnish a faith sufficient to sustain us
in all the difficulties of life — a faith that cannot be
annihilated— one which has survived the buffetings
of ignorance — the persecutions of malice— the prison,
the scaffold — the cross, and the grave ; with it we are
content, and shall wait the end with patience, and be
of good cheer.

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