Table Mountain (Cape Town), its height, 86.
Tangaras, American birds, 406.
Tapir, Indian or Malayan, 419;
American, 414.
Targatabai, volcanic range of, 152.
Tartary, flora of, 321.
Tariyani, tract of, 60.
Taurus mountains, 296.
Taylor, Mr., description of an ice-storm in Canada, 127.
Taylor, John, Esq., on the Cornish mines, 172, _note_.
Tchad, river and lake, 251.
Tea, cultivation and varieties of, 321.
Tehuantepec, isthmus of, 116, 252;
bay, _ib._
Temperature of the ocean, 201;
stratum of constant temperature, 202;
line of maximum temperature, _ib._
Temperature of the earth, 254;
mean at any place, 257;
highest observed, 258.
Terror, Mount, 166.
Teutonic races, 442.
Thean-Tchan, volcanic chain of, 152.
Thian-shan, or Celestial Mountains, 59, _etc._
Thomas, St., island, 269.
Thunder storms, 286;
causes of, 287.
Tiberias, Lake, 247.
Tibet, table-land of (Oriental plateau), its area and altitude, 55;
its form and situation, 58;
its width, 69;
mean height, 134.
Tibet, flora of, 316.
Tides, influence of the sun and moon upon, 191;
spring tides, 192;
neap-tides, _ib._;
frequency of tides, _ib._;
their succession, _ib._;
marginal tide, _ib._;
heights of tides, 193;
variation in, _ib._;
velocity, _ib._;
stream, 194.
Tierra del Fuego, account of, 94, 105;
geology, 113;
flora of, 352.
Tiger, royal, country of, 421.
Tin, diffusion of, 178.
Tinamous, an American bird, 407.
Titicaca, lake of, 97;
area and height, 253.
Toads, 384.
Tobolsk, elevation of, 134.
Tomboro, volcanic eruption of, in 1815, 150.
Toozla Lake, 248.
Tortoises, 391.
Trade-winds, 265.
Tragopons, an East Indian bird, 401.
Trees, growth of, 357;
age of, _ib._
Trigonocephalus, or yellow ape, 387.
Tripe de Roche, 314.
Tristan d’Acunha, island, 282.
Trogon, 401.
Troupials, 406.
Trüb, lake of, 247.
Trionyx, 391.
Tui, a New Zealand bird, 412.
Tnngut, or Chinese Tartary, its geographical position, 60.
Turks, 442.
Turtles, 392.
Tuscany, earthquakes in, 154.
Tussack grass, 353.
U.
Uleaborg, 275.
Ular, lake, 249.
Unau sloth, the, 429.
United States territory, area of, 130.
Ural Mountains, 72; extent, _ib._;
height, _ib._;
mineral riches, _ib._;
geology, 73.
Urmiah Lake, 248.
V.
Valmiki, author of the Ramayana, 439, _note_.
“Valley of Death,” 153.
Vampire-bats, 420.
Van, lake, 57, 248.
Van Dieman’s Land, area of, 138;
mountains, _ib._;
soil, _ib._;
structure, 139;
flora, 337.
Vanessa Cardui, a butterfly, 364.
Vanilla Epidendron, 345.
Variables, the, 265.
Vegetation, mode of, 298;
effects of, on the atmosphere, 299.
Veragua, Cordillera of, its height, 115.
Verneuil, M. de, 67, _note_.
Vermejo river, 349.
Victoria Land, 165; ice cliffs, _ib._;
mountains, _ib._;
its appearance described, _ib._
Vicuña, 430;
its naturalization, _ib._
Vipers, 387.
Vultures, European, 398;
American, 404.
Volcanic eruptions, frequency of, 153.
Volcanic islands, 148.
Volcanos, eruptions of, 20;
active volcanos, 152.
W.
Wales, earthquakes in, 154.
Waves, causes of, 144;
height, 195;
ground-swell, _ib._;
billows, _ib._;
surf, 196;
force of waves, _ib._
Wealden clay, 27.
Weddell, Dr., on Cinchona, 347, _note_;
on breed of alpaca and vicuna, 431.
Werner, law of parallelism of mineral veins, 43.
Western Asia, its table-lands and mountains, 55.
West Indian islands, 116;
Lesser Antillas (group), _ib._;
Greater Antillas, 117;
Bahamas, 118;
structure, _ib._
Whales, 380.
Wheat, varieties and cultivation, 355.
Whirlwinds, 271.
[Wilkes, Capt. C., discovery of Antarctic Continent, 167.]
Winds, theory of, 264;
trade, 265.
Winnipeg Lake, 252.
Wombat, 434.
Wrangel, Admiral, on the climate of Siberia, 76;
his attempt to reach the North Pole, _ib._, _note_.
X.
Xarayos Lake, 252.
Y.
Yablonnoi Khrebet, 66.
Yablonnoi Mountains, 296.
Yakutsk, “the coldest town on the earth,” 77, 260.
Ybera, swamp, its area, 107.
Yenesei, flora of, 316.
Z.
Zambeze, lake, Africa, 250.
Zealand, New, its mountains, 141;
coast, _ib._;
general character, _ib._
Zebra, 424.
Zenes, their breadth, 16.
Zungary, or Mingolia, its situation, 60.
Zurrah, lake, 248.
Footnotes
Footnote 1:
“Cosmos,” by Alexander Von Humboldt, translated under the
superintendence of Colonel E. Sabine, F.R.S. Second Edition. London,
1848.
Footnote 2:
Alexander Keith Johnston’s “Physical Atlas,” 4to., in Monthly Numbers.
Edinburgh, 1849. [Published by Lea & Blanchard, Philadelphia, 1850.]
Footnote 3:
The Solar System:—
Mercury, nearest the Sun, known to the ancients.
Venus, known to the ancients.
The Earth.
Mars, known to the ancients.
Flora, discovered by Mr. Hind in 1847.
Vesta, discovered by Mr. Olbers in 1807.
Iris, discovered by Mr. Hind in 1847.
Metis, discovered by Mr. Graham in 1848.
Hebe, discovered by Mr. Hencke in 1847.
Astræa, discovered by Mr. Hencke in 1845.
Juno, discovered by Mr. Harding in 1804.
Ceres, discovered by M. Piazza in 1801.
Pallas, discovered by Mr. Olbers in 1802.
Jupiter, known to the ancients.
Saturn, known to the ancients.
Uranus, discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781.
Neptune, discovered by M. Le Verrier and Mr. Adams in 1846.
Footnote 4:
The compression of the earth is the flattening at the poles. Its
numerical value is equal to the difference between the equatorial and
polar diameters, expressed in feet or miles. [The amount of
compression, oblateness at the poles, is measured by the ratio of the
difference of the equatorial and polar diameters to the equatorial
diameter, which is technically termed the _oblateness_. The following
are the dimensions of the earth in miles:
Miles. Diameter.
Radius at the equator 3962·6 = 7925·2
Radius at the pole 3949·6 = 7899·2
Difference of equatorial and polar radii 13·0 = 26·0
Mean radius, or at 45° Latitude 3956·1 = 7912·2
Mean length of a degree 69·05 ——
The fourth part of a meridian 6214·2 ——]
Footnote 5:
The theoretical investigation of the figure of the earth, the method
employed for measuring arcs of the meridian, and that of finding the
form of the earth from the oscillations of the pendulum, are given in
the “Connection of the Physical Sciences,” by Mary Somerville, 7th
Section, 7th edition.
Footnote 6:
A pendulum which oscillates 86,400 times in a mean day at the equator,
will do the same at every point of the earth’s surface if its length
be increased progressively to the pole as the square of the sine of
the latitude. The sine of the latitude is a perpendicular line drawn
from any point of a terrestrial meridian to the equatorial radius of
the earth. That line expressed in feet or miles, and multiplied by
itself, is the square of the sine of the latitude. Gravitation
increases from the equator to the poles according to that law, and the
length of the degrees augments very nearly in the same ratio.
Footnote 7:
The compression deduced by M. Bessel from arcs of the meridian is
1/299; that deduced by Colonel Sabine from his experiment with the
pendulum is 1/288·7. Other pendulum experiments have given a
compression of 1/298·2 and 1/266·4. The protuberant matter at the
earth’s equator produces inequalities in the moon’s motions, from
whence the compression of the earth is found to be 1/305·05; and
although the reciprocal action of the moon on the protuberant matter
at the earth’s equator does not actually give the compression, it
proves that it must be between 1/279 and 1/573. Coincidences so near
and so remarkable, arising from such different methods, show how
nearly the irregular figure of the earth has been determined. The
inequalities in the motions of the moon and earth alluded to are
explained in Sections 5 and 11 “Connection of the Physical Sciences.”
Footnote 8:
It is clear that the mean density of the earth may be found from the
attraction of the plumb-line by mountains, or by the irregularity in
the oscillations of the pendulum, but the torsion balance is a much
more sensible instrument than either. The density determined by M.
Reich differs from that found by Mr. Baily by only one twenty-eighth
part.
Footnote 9:
If a line be drawn from the north-eastern coast of North America
within the limit of floating ice, and if it be continued across the
southern half of Ireland and England, and prolonged eastward so as to
strike against the Ural mountains, it will mark the boundary of the
European portion of the Glacial Sea. It submerged part of Russia to
the depth of 1000 feet.—Essay on the British Fauna and Flora, by
Professor E. Forbes, in the “Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great
Britain,” vol. i.
Footnote 10:
Sir James Ross and Captain Wilkes met with icebergs covered with mud
and stones in the antarctic seas, and even in 66° 5ʹ lat. One block
seen by Sir James Ross was estimated to weigh many tons.—Antarctic
Voyages.—[Narrative of United States Exploring Expedition. By Charles
Wilkes, U. S. N.].
Footnote 11:
Account of the Ganges and Brahmapootra, by Major Rennell.—“Phil.
Trans.,” 1781. Sir George Staunton’s Embassy to China. Elie de
Beaumont, Leçons de Géologie, 1 vol., 8vo. The latter work contains a
very elaborate essay on alluvial deposits by rivers, &c.
Footnote 12:
Lieut. Anjou’s Polar Voyage.
Footnote 13:
[See Statistics of Coal. By Richard Cowling Taylor. Philadelphia,
1848.]
Footnote 14:
The author’s geological information rests on the authority of those
distinguished authors whose works are in the hands of every one,
namely, Baron Cuvier, Sir Charles Lyell, Sir Roderick Murchison, Sir
Henry de la Beche, Professor Owen, and the Memoirs of the Geological
Society.
Footnote 15:
The proportions of land to water referred to in the text were
estimated by Mr. Gardner. According to his computation, the extent of
land is about 37,673,000 square British miles, independently of
Victoria Continent [discovered by Charles Wilkes, U. S. N.]; and the
sea occupies 110,849,000. Hence, the land is to the sea as 1 to 4
nearly. The unexplored region within the Arctic Circle is about
7,620,000 square miles.
Footnote 16:
This very general view of the structure of the globe originated
chiefly with the celebrated German geologist Von Buch, and has been
much extended and developed by M. Elie de Beaumont, one of the most
philosophical of modern geologists.
Footnote 17:
M. Boué.
Footnote 18:
The author avails herself with much pleasure of an opportunity of
expressing her admiration of the accuracy, extent, and execution of
Mr. Keith Johnston’s Physical Atlas, and of the valuable information
contained in the letterpress which accompanies it, which has afforded
her the greatest assistance. As Mr. Johnston is publishing a small and
cheap edition of his Atlas, well fitted to illustrate these volumes,
the necessity of inserting in them any similar maps, which was at one
time contemplated, is obviated.
Footnote 19:
“On the Parallel Lines of Simultaneous Elevation in the Weald of Kent
and Sussex,” by —— Hopkins, Esq.
Footnote 20:
M. Boué.
Footnote 21:
By the soundings of Captain Smyth, R. N., the Strait is 960 fathoms
deep between Gibraltar and Ceuta, and varying from 160 to 500 in the
narrowest part.
Footnote 22:
A crater of elevation is a mountain, generally dome-shaped, whose top
has sunk into a crater or hollow, after the internal force which
raised it was withdrawn, but from which no lava has issued.
Dome-shaped mountains owe their form to internal pressure, probably
from lava, but which have not sunk into a crater.
Footnote 23:
Professor Forbes on Glaciers.
Footnote 24:
Dr. Boué.
Footnote 25:
Sir Charles Lyell.
Footnote 26:
Johnston’s Physical Atlas.
Footnote 27:
Sir John Malcolm on Persia, and Mr. Morier’s Travels.
Footnote 28:
Johnston’s Physical Atlas.
Footnote 29:
Ibid.
Footnote 30:
Johnston’s Physical Atlas.
Footnote 31:
Sir Roderick I. Murchison.
Footnote 32:
From the observations of Sir Roderick Murchison, M. Middendorf, M. de
Verneuil, and Count Keyserling, it appears also that the low land of
Siberia has been extended since the existing species of shell-fish
inhabited the northern seas; a circumstance that must have rendered
the Siberian climate still more severe, and materially affected that
of the northern parts of Europe and Asia.
Footnote 33:
In 1820, Admiral (then Lieutenant) Wrangel travelled from the mouth of
the Kolyma to Behring’s Straits on sledges drawn by dogs, and made a
bold but vain attempt to reach the North pole. Lieutenant Anjou, at
the same time, sailed from the mouth of the Jana river, reached 76-1/2
degrees of north latitude, and passed round the group of the New
Siberian Islands.
Footnote 34:
Johnston’s Physical Atlas.
Footnote 35:
From Miss Martineau’s spirited and picturesque account of her journey
to Egypt and Syria.
Footnote 36:
By the trigonometrical measurement of Major Anthony Symonds, confirmed
by French authorities, and adopted by Baron Humboldt, the depression
of the Dead Sea is, as stated in the text, 1300 feet; but MM. Bertou
and Russiger made it out to be 1388 by the barometer. See Lieut.
Molyneux’s paper in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,
1848.
Footnote 37:
[For a very interesting and reliable account of the river Jordan and
its valley, the reader is directed to a “Narrative of the United
States’ Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea, by W. F.
Lynch, U. S. N., Commander of the Expedition.” Philadelphia, 1849.]
Footnote 38:
Estimated from N.E. to S.W., the proportion of the two slopes of the
Abyssinian table-land is as 12·6 to 1.
Footnote 39:
Johnston’s Physical Atlas.
Footnote 40:
The Voyage of Captain King, R. N., Mr. Darwin’s “Journal of a
Naturalist,” Dr. Pœppig’s “Travels in South America,” are the
authorities for the account of Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, and Chile;
Baron Humboldt, Mr. Pentland, Drs. Pœppig and Meyer of Berlin, for
Peru and the Andean Chain to the Isthmus of Panamá.
Footnote 41:
This great height has been deduced, adopting the position of the Peak
as fixed by Captain Fitz Roy, and employing the angles of elevation
observed by Captain Beechey near Valparaiso.
Footnote 42:
Dr. Pœppig’s Travels.
Footnote 43:
The celebrated silver mines of Potosi were formerly worked to the very
summit of that metalliferous mountain, 16,150 feet above the sea
level.
Footnote 44:
Baron Humboldt and Mr. Pentland.
Footnote 45:
The breadth of the table-land, and the two Cordilleras of the Bolivian
Andes given in the text, was measured by Mr. Pentland; he also
determined the heights of Illimani to be 21,150 feet; of Supäíwasi or
Huayna Potosi, 20,260 feet; and of Ancohuma or the Nevado of Sorata,
21,290 feet.
Footnote 46:
Baron Humboldt.
Footnote 47:
Baron Humboldt.
Footnote 48:
It appears by the measurements of Mr. Pentland in the Peru-Bolivian
Andes, that many of their passes are higher than in the equatorial
portion of the chain. The passes of Rumihuasi, on the high road from
Cusco to Arequipa, of Toledo (between Arequipa and Puno), of Gualillas
and Chullunquiani (between Arica and La Paz), all in the Western
Cordillera, attain the respective elevations of 16,160, 15,790,
14,750, and 15,160 feet;—whilst in the Eastern or Bolivian Cordillera
the passes of Challa (between Oruro and Cochabamba), of Pacuani
(between La Paz and Coröico), of Pumapacheta (between the lake of
Titicaca and the affluents to the Amazon), of Vilcañoto (between the
valley of the Collao and that of the river Yucay), rise to heights of
13,600, 15,350, 13,600, and 14,520 English feet.
Footnote 49:
Dr. Pœppig.
Footnote 50:
Baron Humboldt.
Footnote 51:
Baron Humboldt’s Personal Narrative.
Footnote 52:
Captain King, R. N., and Mr. Darwin.
Footnote 53:
Sir Woodbine Parish on Buenos Ayres, and Sir Francis Head’s Journey
over the Pampas.
Footnote 54:
Mr. Pentland found a very perfect volcanic crater, with well-marked
currents of lava issuing from it—a rare occurrence in the higher
craters of the Andes—near to San Pedro de Cacha, in the valley of the
Yucay (lat. 14° 12ʹ, long. 71° 15ʹ W., and at an elevation of 12,000
feet), near to the ruins of the Temple of the Inga Viracocha, a
monument and a locality celebrated in Peruvian legend, the nearest
point of the sea-coast being 175 miles distant. It is probable that
many of the most celebrated mining districts of Alto Peru—Potosi, for
instance, situated in a porphyry—have been upheaved at a very recent
period. Modern volcanic rocks are not wanting in the valley of the
Desaguadero; volcanic conglomerates exist in the deep ravines round
the city of La Paz. lat. 16° 30ʹ; and the mountain of Litanias, which
furnishes the building-stone for that Bolivian city (lat. 16° 42ʹ,
long. 68° 19-1/2ʹ), is composed of a most perfect trachyte, and rises
to a height of 14,500 feet above, and at a distance of 160 miles from
the Pacific.
Footnote 55:
Dr. Pœppig.
Footnote 56:
Mr. Pentland found fossil shells of the Silurian period at a height of
17,500 feet, on the Bolivian Nevado of Antakäua, lat. 16° 21ʹ, and
those of the carboniferous limestone as high as 14,200 in several
parts of Upper Peru.
Footnote 57:
Mr. Darwin’s Journal of Travels in South America.
Footnote 58:
Mr. Darwin’s Journal of Travels in South America.
Footnote 59:
Johnston’s Physical Atlas.
Footnote 60:
Baron Humboldt.
Footnote 61:
[Notes on the North-west, or Valley of the Upper Mississippi. By Wm.
J. A. Bradford. New York, 1846.]
Footnote 62:
Mr. Taylor.
Footnote 63:
Sir Charles Lyell’s Travels in North America.
Footnote 64:
A chain of mountains is assumed to be a three-sided horizontal prism,
whose height is the mean elevation of the chain, and the base the mean
length and breadth of the same, or the area on which the chain stands,
and thus its mass may be computed approximately. It is evident that a
table-land must have a greater effect on the mean height of a
continent than a chain of mountains, for, supposing both to be of the
same base and altitude, one would be exactly double the other; and
even if the mountains be the higher of the two, their upper parts
contain much less solid matter than their lower on account of the
intervals and deep valleys between the peaks.
Footnote 65:
The author is indebted to the “Physical Geography of North America” by
H. D. Rogers, Esq., of the United States, for much valuable
information.
Footnote 66:
Dr. Richardson on the Fauna of the High Latitudes of North America.
Footnote 67:
Sir Charles Lyell.
Footnote 68:
This remarkable analogy between the fossil remains of the Silurian
systems in the Old and New World has been more particularly shown by
the researches of Messrs. de Verneuil and Sharpe.
Footnote 69:
According to M. Charpentier, the area of the base of the Pyrenees is
1720 square English miles. As the mean elevation of the passes gives
the mean height of the mountains, Baron Humboldt estimated from the
height of 23 passes over the Pyrenees that the mean crest of that
chain is 7990 feet high, which is 300 feet higher than the mean height
of the Alps, though the peaks in the Alps have a greater elevation
than those of the Pyrenees in the ratio 1-4/10 to 1.
Footnote 70:
The Russian Academicians MM. Fuss and Bunge, found by barometrical
measurement the mean height of that part of the Eastern Asiatic
table-land lying between Lake Baikal and the Great Wall of China to be
only about 6960 feet. The smallness of this mean is owing to hollows
in the table-land, especially in the desert of the Great Gobi.
Footnote 71:
By the mensuration and computation of Baron Humboldt and Mr. Pentland,
the elevation of the highest peaks, and the mean heights of the
Himalaya, of the equatorial and Bolivian Andes and the Alps, are as
follows:—
Peaks. Mean Height.
Himalaya 25,700 15,670
Andes between 5° N. and 2° S. lat. 21,420 11,380
Eastern Cordillera } Between 18° { 21,200 15,250
Western Cordillera } and 15° S. lat. { 22,300 14,900
Alps 15,666 7,353
However, the Peak of Dhawalaghini is certainly 28,000 feet high.
Captain Gerard gives 18,000 or 19,000 feet as the height of the
snow-line on the mountains in the middle of the Asiatic table-land,
and 30,000 feet as the absolute elevation of the Kuen-lun, but Colonel
Sabine observes that these measures want confirmation.
Footnote 72:
Memoirs of Count Strzelecki.
Footnote 73:
Count Strzelecki.
Footnote 74:
M. Von Buch.
Footnote 75:
—— Mansel, Esq.
Footnote 76:
Mr. Darwin on Coral Reefs.
Footnote 77:
Supplement to the Observations on the Temple of Serapis, by Charles
Babbage, Esq.
Footnote 78:
By Mr. Jukes, Naturalist to the Surveying Voyage of Captain Blackwood,
R. N., in Torres Straits.
Footnote 79:
Another theory relative to the formation of the lagoon islands is,
that the coral circuit is but the edge of a submarine elevation
crater, on which the coral animals have raised their edifice. This
view, which has been adopted by Von Buch and Captain Beechy, to whom
we are indebted more than to any other navigator for positive
information and admirable surveys of the coral islands of the Pacific,
receives corroboration from the perfect conformity in shape between
many of the lagoon islands of the Gambier group and the known
elevation craters, and from the circumstance of a lagoon island having
been seen to rise in 1825, in lat. 30° 14ʹ, accompanied with smoke,
and communicating so high a temperature to the surrounding sea as
rendered it impossible to land.—See Beechy’s Voyages, and Pœppig’s
Reise.
Footnote 80:
Few books have more interest than Mr. Darwin’s on Coral Reefs and
Volcanic Islands, to which the author is much indebted. Consult also
Captain Beechy’s Voyages, and his beautiful charts of the Coral
Islands in the Pacific.
Footnote 81:
By the Nautical Survey in 1848.
Footnote 82:
Sir Stamford Raffles on Java.
Footnote 83:
Mr. Darwin on Volcanic Islands.
Footnote 84:
Mr. Douglas’s Voyage to the Sandwich Islands in 1833-4.—Journal of the
Royal Geographical Society of London.
Footnote 85:
Letter from Alex. Loudon, Esq., in the Journal of the Geographical
Society of London.
Footnote 86:
Mitchell on the Causes of Earthquakes, in Philosophical Transactions
for 1760.
Footnote 87:
Captain Graah’s Survey in 1823-4, and Dr. Pingel, 1830-2.
Footnote 88:
Lyell’s Principles of Geology, in 8vo. See also Mr. Darwin’s
observations on the same subject, in the voyage of the Adventure and
Beagle.
Footnote 89:
Remarks on the Antarctic Continent and Southern Islands, by Robert
MacCormick, Esq., Surgeon of H.M.S. Erebus.
Footnote 90:
Captain Cook discovered Sandwich Land in 1772-5.—Captain Smith, of the
brig William, discovered New South Shetland in 1819.—Captain
Billingshausen discovered Peter’s Island, and the coast of Alexander
the First.—Captain Weddel discovered the Southern Orcades.—Captain
Bisco discovered Enderby’s Land and Graham’s Land in 1832, Admiral
d’Urville La Terre d’Adelie in 1841; and Sir James Ross Victoria Land
in the same year.
Footnote 91:
The author owes much information on British mines to two publications
on the Mining District of the North of England, by J. Sopwith, Esq.,
Civil Engineer, and Mr. Leithart, Mine Agent. On the Cornish mines she
has derived much information from the writings of John Taylor, Esq.,
and Sir Charles Lemon, Bart.; from a store of valuable materials
contained in the “Progress of the Nation,” by G. R. Porter, Esq.; from
the Statistical Journal; and on the general distribution of minerals
over the globe, from the “Penny Cyclopædia,” and various other
sources.
Footnote 92:
The metals are gold, silver, platinum, copper, lead, tin, iron, zinc,
arsenic, bismuth, antimony, nickel, quicksilver, manganese, cadmium,
cerium, cobalt, iridium, uranium, chrome, lantanium, molybdenum,
columbium, osmium, palladium, pelapium, tantalum, tellurium, rhodium,
titanium, vanadium, tungsten, dydynium, ferbium, erbium. The three
last are little known.
Sir Humphry Davy discovered that lime, magnesia, alumine, and other
similar substances, are metals combined with oxygen. There are
thirteen of these metalloids, namely—calcium, magnesium, aluminum,
glucinum, thorium, yttrium, zirconium, strontium, barium, lithium,
natrium, potassium, and silicium.
Footnote 93:
This subject is ably discussed by Mr. Leithart in his work, already
mentioned, on the formation and filling of metallic veins. Mr.
Leithart is an instance of the intelligence that prevails among
miners, notwithstanding the scanty opportunities of acquiring that
knowledge which they are generally so eager to obtain. He was a
working miner, whose only education was at a Sunday-school.
Footnote 94:
Mineral veins are generally richer near the surface than at great
depths: this is particularly the case in the mines of the precious
metals in America, where the greatest quantities of ore have been
found near the surface—a fact that may be explained by supposing the
mineral substances brought by sublimation from the interior of the
earth, and deposited where the temperature was lowest at or near the
surface in the rocks among which they are situated.
Footnote 95:
Rotation alone produces electrical currents in the earth.—“Connection
of the Physical Sciences,” page 364, 7th edition.
Footnote 96:
J. Taylor, Esq., on Cornish mines.
Footnote 97:
The total amount of steam-power in Great Britain in 1833 was equal to
that of 2,000,000 of men.—J. Taylor, Esq., on Cornish Mines.
Footnote 98:
The splendid discovery of Sir Humphry Davy, that flame does not pass
through fine wire-gauze, prevents the fatal explosion of inflammable
air in the mines, by which thousands of lives have been lost. By means
of a light enclosed in a wire-gauze lantern, a miner now works with
safety surrounded by fire-damp. To the honour of the illustrious
author of this discovery, be it observed that it was not, like that of
gunpowder and others, the unforeseen result of chance by new
combinations of matter, but the solution of a question based on
scientific experiment and induction, which it required the genius of a
philosophic mind like his to arrive at.
Footnote 99:
Supposing the barometer to be 30 inches on the level of the sea.
Footnote 100:
Note to the English translation of Kosmos, by Colonel Sabine, on the
depths below the surface of the earth attained by man.
Footnote 101:
Dr. Pœppig’s “Travels in Chile and Peru.”
Footnote 102:
Dr. Pœppig.
Footnote 103:
Constructed under the direction of Thomas Sopwith, Esq.
Footnote 104:
Sir Charles Lemon, Bart.
Footnote 105:
M. Erman’s “Travels in Siberia.”
Footnote 106:
In 1841 there were 196,921 persons employed in the mines of Great
Britain and Ireland.
Footnote 107:
In the year 1829 the value of the mineral produce of Europe, including
Asiatic Russia, but exclusive of manganese, amounted to—
Gold and Silver £1,943,000
Other metals 28,519,000
Salts 7,640,000
Combustibles 18,050,000
----------
Total £56,148,000
England contributed more than half this amount, namely,—
Silver £ 28,500
Copper 1,369,000
Iron 11,292,000
Lead 760,000
Tin 536,000
Salts 756,250
Vitriol 33,600
Alum 33,000
Coal 13,000,000
----------
Total £28,716,750
—nearly £29,000,000 sterling.—John Taylor, Esq., on the Cornish Mines.
At present there are 34,000,000 of tons of coals consumed in Great
Britain annually, besides the quantity exported to our colonies and to
foreign countries, amounting to nearly 2,000,000 of tons. 8,000,000 of
tons are consumed in our iron-foundries alone. Between 500,000 and
600,000 tons are used in making gas.
The iron made in Britain in 1844 amounted to 1,400,000 tons. Iron is
now applied to many uses instead of timber, especially in
ship-building: between the years 1830 and 1847, 150 iron vessels were
launched in Britain. 25 of the steamships of the East India Company
are of iron.
The produce of our copper-mines has increased threefold within the
last 60 years. The quantity of tin has also increased from our own
mines, and also from the extensive importation of that metal from
Banca, where the country yielding stream-tin extends from 7° N. lat.
to 3° S. lat. The yearly produce amounts to 300 tons of pure metal.—
“Progress of the Nation, in its Social and Commercial Relations, since
the beginning of the Nineteenth Century,” by G. R. Porter, Esq., 2d
edition.
In France there are 62 coal-mines, which yielded 3,410,200 tons in
1841, and in 1838 the 12 iron districts in that country yielded to the
value of 4,975,424_l._
The British coal and metal imported into France amounted to
1,222,228_l._—Progress of the Nation.
Belgium is next to Britain as a European coal country. In Britain the
coalfields occupy one-twentieth part of the area of the country—in
Belgium one twenty-second part—in France one two hundred and tenth
part of its area.
The quantity of coal raised in one year is, according to “The
Statistics of Germany,” by R. Valpy, Esq.—
In Britain 347,000,000 tons
Belgium 4,000,000
France 3,783,000
Germany 3,000,000
[The following table exhibits the quantity and value of coal produced,
in the six principal coal countries in the world, in the year 1845:—
+-------+-----------------+-------------+------------+----------+-----------------------------+
| | | | Tons of | | Official estimated value at |
| Order | | Square | Fuel | Relative | the places of production. |
| in | COUNTRIES. | miles of | raised in | parts of +----------------+------------+
| 1845. | | Coal | the year | 1000. | United States | English |
| | | formations. | 1845. | | Dollars. | Sterling. |
+-------+-----------------+-------------+------------+----------+-----------------------------+
| 1 | Great Britain | 11,859 | 31,500,000 | 642 | $45,738,000 | £9,450,000 |
| 2 | Belgium | 518 | 4,960,077 | 101 | 7,689,900 | 1,660,000 |
| 3 | United States | 133,132 | 4,400,000 | 89 | 6,650,000 | 1,373,963 |
| 4 | France | 1,719 | 4,141,617 | 84 | 7,663,000 | 1,603,106 |
| 5 | Prussian States | Not defined | 3,500,000 | 70 | 4,122,945 | 856,370 |
| 6 | Austrian States | Not defined | 659,340 | 14 | 800,000 | 165,290 |
+-------+-----------------+-------------+------------+----------+-----------------------------+
| | Total | | 49,161,034 | 1000 | 72,663,845 | 15,108,729 |
+-------+-----------------+-------------+------------+----------+-----------------------------+
The coal trade appears to be increasing in all parts of the world.
There are no authentic data from which the increasing production of
bituminous coal in the United States can be exactly deduced, but what
we have show that it is very rapid. The production of _anthracite_ may
be said to be entirely confined to the State of Pennsylvania, which
possesses a numerous and interesting group of coal basins, of various
sizes and characters.
In the year 1820, the anthracite coal trade commenced with 365 tons;
in 1827 it reached 48,047 tons; in 1837, 881,026 tons, and advanced to
3,000,000 tons in 1847.
The following table exhibits the production of smelted or manufactured
iron in different countries in the year 1845:—
1. Great Britain 2,200,000
2. United States 502,000
3. France 448,000
4. Russia 400,000
5. Zollverein, or Prussian States 300,000
6. Austria 190,000
7. Belgium 150,000
8. Sweden 145,000
9. Spain (in 1841) 26,000
10. All other European countries 50,000
---------
4,411,000
The rapid increase in the number of railroads and locomotive engines,
and the number of steam vessels employed in commerce, augments the
demand, proportionally, for iron and fuel.
At the commencement of 1847, the length of railroad completed and
partly finished in the principal countries of Europe and America was
20,000 miles, only a few thousand miles less than the entire
circumference of the globe.][108]
Footnote 108:
“Statistics of Coal.” By Richard Cowling Taylor, Philadelphia, 1848.
Footnote 109:
Sir Charles Lyell’s “Travels in the United States of North America.”
Footnote 110:
For the reason of this secular variation in the Moon’s distance, see
page 42 of “The Connection of the Physical Sciences.”
Footnote 111:
Every undulating motion consists of two distinct things—an advancing
form and a molecular movement. The motion of each particle is in an
ellipse lying wholly in a vertical plane, so that, after the momentary
disturbance during the passage of the wave, they return to their
places again.—“Theory of Waves,” by J. Scott Russell, Esq.
Footnote 112:
J. Scott Russell, Esq., on Waves.
Footnote 113:
Beechy’s Voyage to the Pacific.
Footnote 114:
By Captain Albrecht’s soundings.
Footnote 115:
By the measurement of M. Lepère in the French expedition to Egypt.—
“Annales du Bureau de Longitude,” 1836.
Footnote 116:
Proceedings of the Royal Geological Society, vol. ii., p. 210.
Footnote 117:
Baron Humboldt’s Personal Narrative.
Footnote 118:
Leonardo da Vinci was appointed Director of Hydraulic Operations in
Lombardy by the Duke of Milan, and during the time he was painting the
“Last Supper” he completed the Canal of Martesana, extending from the
Adda to Milan, and improved the course of the latter river from where
it emerges from the Lake of Como to the Po. By means of the Naviglio
Grande, the Martesana canal establishes a water communication between
the Adda and the Ticino, the Lakes of Como and Maggiore.
Footnote 119:
Dr. Beke on the Nile and its affluents.
Footnote 120:
Captain W. Allen, R. N.
Footnote 121:
It is in the space comprised between two of the eastern tributaries of
the Tigris, the Khaus and the Great Zab, or Abou Selman of the Arabs,
that the extensive ruins of Koyunjik, Khorsabad, and especially of
Nimroud, are situated, the last of which have been so satisfactorily
identified with the capital of Assyria—the ancient Nineveh—by our
enterprising and talented countryman Mr. Layard, to whose exertions,
under circumstances of peculiar difficulty, surrounded by every
privation, our national Museum is indebted for that magnificent
collection of Assyrian monuments which at this moment forms the
admiration of the British public. It is to be hoped that our
Government will follow up the researches commenced by Mr. Layard, and
that several of the gigantic sculptures removed by him, with such
perseverance and labour, to Bussorah, will ere long be added to the
riches of the British Museum.
See Mr. Layard’s work on “Nineveh and its Remains,” 2 vols. 8vo., and
his illustrated work in folio—the former one of the most interesting
narratives ever published on the antiquities of Central Asia.
Footnote 122:
M. Erman.
Footnote 123:
[Lieutenant W. F. Lynch, of the United States Navy, has recently
published an interesting and valuable narrative of an expedition to
the Dead Sea and River Jordan. According to his measurements and
surveys, the level of the Dead Sea is 1,316·7 feet below that of the
Mediterranean. The city of Jerusalem is 2,610·5 feet above the latter,
and 3,927·24 feet above the former sea. The greatest depth of the Dead
Sea is 1308 feet. Lieutenant Lynch states the density of the water of
the Dead Sea to be 1·13, that of distilled water being 1.]
Footnote 124:
The water of Lake Eltonsk contains chloride of calcium.
Footnote 125:
The water of the Dead Sea, according to Lieutenant Lynch, contains
26·42 per cent. of saline ingredients, one of which is chloride of
magnesium.
Footnote 126:
Professor Schoenbein of Basle attributes the peculiar smell, when
bodies are struck by lightning, to a principle existing in the
atmosphere, which he calls ozone, liberated by the decomposing action
of electricity, and possessing the same electrical characters as
bromine, chlorine, and iodine. He ascribes the luminous appearance of
the ocean to the action of that principle on the animal matter it
contains.
Footnote 127:
Annales des Sciences Géologiques, par M. Rivière, 1842.
Footnote 128:
The mean of any number of unequal quantities is equal to their sum
divided by their number: thus the mean temperature of the air at any
place during a year is equal to the sum of the mean temperature of
each month divided by 12. This method, however, will only give an
approximate value; therefore, to ascertain the mean annual temperature
at any place accurately, the mean of a number of years must be taken.
Footnote 129:
Lines drawn on a map or globe through all places where the mean annual
temperature is the same are isothermal lines.
Footnote 130:
For example, Professor Dove has found that the mean temperature of
December, January, and February, at Toronto in Canada, added to the
mean temperature of the same months at Hobart Town in Van Diemen’s
Land, exceeds the sum of the mean temperature of June, July, and
August, at the same places, added together, by 22°·7 of Fahrenheit.
Similar results, though varying in amount, were obtained for many
corresponding places in the two hemispheres, which establishes the law
given in the text.
Footnote 131:
In the same manner as isothermal lines are supposed to pass through
all parts of the globe where the mean temperature of the air is the
same, so the isogeothermal lines are supposed to pass through all
places where the mean heat of the ground is the same: the isotherial
lines are supposed to be drawn through all places having the same mean
summer temperature; and the isochimenal lines pass through all places
where the mean winter temperature is the same. The practice of
representing to the eye these lines on a map or terrestrial globe is
of the greatest use in following and understanding the complicated
phenomena of temperature and magnetism.
Footnote 132:
If the heights above the earth increase by equal quantities, as a foot
or a mile, the densities of the strata of air, or the heights of the
barometer which are proportional to them, will decrease in geometrical
progression: for example, if the height of the barometer at the level
of the sea be 29·922 inches, it will be 14·961 inches at the height of
18,000 feet, or one-half as great; it will be one-fourth as great at
the height of 36,000 feet, one-eighth at the height of 54,000 feet,
and so on.
Footnote 133:
A very ingenious little instrument, called the Aneroid Barometer, has
been lately invented in France; which, at the same time that it forms
an exact and very portable _weather_-glass, in the common acceptation
of that term, may be employed with considerable accuracy in
ascertaining differences of level. Although not to be compared, as an
instrument of precision, with the ordinary mercurial barometer, it is
infinitely more portable, and gives with promptitude and accuracy
small differences of level.
A friend of the author’s has recently tested it in the latter respect
on some of our railways, and found that observations made with it
carefully will give, on a line of 200 miles in extent, the relative
levels of the different stations within a few feet. The observations
can be made in a couple of minutes. The gentleman in question writes
to us, that he considers the Aneroid Barometer will prove a very
useful instrument to the geological and the botanical traveller.
See, for a description of this instrument, a pamphlet recently
published at 84, Strand, by Mr. E. J. Dent, on the Construction and
Uses of the Aneroid Barometer. London, 1849.
Footnote 134:
The moon’s orbit is very much elongated, so that her distance from the
earth varies considerably, and consequently her attractive force.
Moreover, her attraction varies with the rotation of the earth, which
brings her twice in 24 hours in the meridian of any place, once in the
superior and once in the inferior meridian; but her action on the
atmosphere is much inferior to that of the heat of the sun.
Footnote 135:
Mr. Pentland has, however, found in the Peru-Bolivian Andes, at
elevations between 11,000 and 14,000 feet, the horary oscillations of
the barometer as regular, and nearly as extensive, as on the level of
the sea in the same latitude.
Footnote 136:
Lieutenant Maury, of the United States Navy, is led to believe that
there is a region within the limit of the N.E. trade-winds, in the
Atlantic, in which the prevailing winds are from the south and west:
this region is somewhat in the shape of a wedge, with its base towards
the coast of Africa, between the equator and 10° N. lat., and between
the meridians of 10° and 25° W. long. In this space, in which the law
of the trade-winds is reversed, there are great atmospheric
disturbances, violent squalls, sudden gusts of wind, thunder, storms,
heavy rains, baffling airs, and calms.
Footnote 137:
In the northern hemisphere, a north wind sets out with a less rotatory
motion than the places have at which it successively arrives,
consequently it veers through all the points of the compass from N. to
N.E. and E. If a south wind should now spring up, it would gradually
veer from S. to S.W. and W., because its rotatory velocity would be
greater than that of the places it successively comes to. The
combination of the two would cause a vane to veer from E. to S.E. and
S.; but the rotation of the earth would now cause the south wind to
veer round from S. to S.W. and W.; and should a north wind now arise,
its combination with the west wind would bring the vane round from W.
to N.W. and N. again. At the Greenwich Observatory the wind makes five
gyrations in that direction in the course of a year. In Europe it is
the contention of the N.E. and S.W. winds which causes the rotation of
the wind, and the principal changes of weather, the S.W. being warm
and moist, the N.E. cold and dry, except where it comes over the
German Ocean.
Footnote 138:
In all hurricanes hitherto observed, the sinking of the mercury, and
the increase of the wind, have been more or less regularly progressive
till within three or four hours’ sail of the centre of the storm; and
in one class they have continued so even to the centre; while in
another class, and by far the most terrible, the depression of the
mercury has been sudden and excessive when within that distance of the
centre, and the violence of the tempest far beyond the average. When a
ship is within 50 or 60 miles of the centre, the storm has the
mastery, and seamanship is of little avail. Rules for avoiding this
calamity, and for managing a ship when involved in a hurricane, are
fully explained in the “Sailor’s Horn-Book for the Laws of Storms,” by
H. Piddington, Esq., President of the Marine Courts of Inquiry at
Calcutta. The following approximate table is given by him, to serve as
a guide till better data shall be obtained:—
Average fall of the Distance of a ship from the
barometer per hour. centre of the storm, in miles.
From 0·020 to 0·060 From 250 to 150
From 0·060 to 0·080 From 150 to 100
From 0·080 to 0·120 From 100 to 80
From 0·120 to 0·150 From 80 to 50
The rate of fall per hour doubles after the storm has lasted six
hours, and within three hours of the centre of the hurricane the
mercury will fall four times as fast, if it be of the violent class.
Colonel James Capper discovered the rotatory motions of storms, and W.
C. Redfield, Esq., of New York, was the first who determined their
laws. Colonel Reid, Governor of Barbadoes, and Dr. Thom, of the 86th
regiment, have also written on the subject.
Footnote 139:
The four subordinate forms of clouds are the cirro-stratus, composed
of little bands of filaments, more compact than the cirrus, forming
horizontal strata, which seem to be numerous thin clouds when in the
zenith, and at the horizon a long narrow band. The cumulo-stratus
consists of the summer-cloud, like snowy mountains heaped on one
another, which at sunrise have a black or bluish tint at the horizon,
and pass into the nimbus, or rain-cloud, which has a uniform grey
tint, fringed at the edges; and the fourth is the cirro-cumulus, a
combination of filaments and heaped-up cumuli or summer-clouds.
Footnote 140:
The reader is referred to the chart of the distribution of rain in the
Physical Atlas of Alexander Keith Johnston, Esq., where the value of
the practice referred to in note p. 27 is shown.
Footnote 141:
The reader is referred to the “Connection of the Physical Sciences”
for an account of Dr. Dalton’s theory of definite proportions, and the
relative weight of atoms.
Footnote 142:
The reader is referred to the 18th section of the “Physical Sciences”
for reflection, refraction, and absorption of light, and to the 19th
section for the constitution of the solar light and colours.
Footnote 143:
For the cause of mirage, see the “Connection of the Physical
Sciences.”
Footnote 144:
For phenomena and theory of polarized light, see section 21,
“Connection of the Physical Sciences.”
Footnote 145:
Every substance, whether solid or fluid, has its own polarizing angle.
Footnote 146:
The reader is referred to a plate in “Johnston’s Physical Atlas”
showing the phenomena of the polarization of the atmosphere.
Footnote 147:
See sections 28 and 29 of the “Connection of the Physical Sciences:”
on Electricity.
Footnote 148:
Sound travels at the rate of 1120 feet in a second in air at the
temperature of 62° of Fahrenheit; so if that number be multiplied by
the seconds elapsed between the flash of lightning and the thunder,
the result will be the distance in feet at which the stroke took
place.
Footnote 149:
Colonel Sabine’s Notes to “Kosmos.”
Footnote 150:
The foci are all of different intensities; that in the South Atlantic,
discovered by M. Erman, has the least intensity of the four, and the
other in the southern hemisphere, discovered by Sir James Ross, has
the greatest; taking 1 as the unit at the magnetic equator in Peru,
their intensities are as 2·071 and 0·706. In the northern hemisphere
the American focus is more intense than that in Siberia, which is
moving from west to east, while the minor focus in the southern
hemisphere is moving from east to west.
Footnote 151:
The author is indebted to the admirable and profound investigations of
Colonel Sabine for almost all she knows on the subject of terrestrial
magnetism. In these, and in his notes on the English translation of
“Kosmos,” the reader will find all that is most interesting on the
subject. In his own works there are plates of the course of the
different magnetic lines mentioned in the text.
Footnote 152:
At St. Helena, the north end of the needle reaches its eastern extreme
in May, June, July, and August, and nearly at the same hours it
reaches its western extreme in November, December, January, and
February. The passage from one to the other takes place at, or soon
after, the equinoxes in March and April, September and October.—
Colonel Sabine’s Notes to “Kosmos.”
Footnote 153:
The sporules or seeds of the fungi are so minute that M. Freis counted
above ten millions in a single plant of the recticularia maxima: they
were so subtile that they were like smoke.
Footnote 154:
The solar spectrum, or coloured image of the sun, formed by passing a
sunbeam through a prism, is composed of a variety of invisible as well
as visible rays. The chemical rays are most abundant beyond the violet
end of the spectrum, and decrease through the violet, blue, and green,
to the yellow, where they cease. The rays of heat are in excess a
little beyond the red end, and gradually decrease towards the violet
end. Besides these there are two insulated spots at a considerable
distance from the red, where the heat is a maximum. Were the rays of
heat visible, they would exhibit differences as distinct as the
coloured rays, so varied are their properties according to their
position in the spectrum. There are also peculiar rays which produce
phosphorescence, others whose properties are not quite made out, and
probably many undiscovered influences; for time has not yet fully
revealed the sublimity of that creation, when God said, “Let there be
light—and there was light.”
Footnote 155:
Professor Quetelet is desirous that the periodical phenomena of
vegetation should be observed at a number of places, in order to
establish a comparison between the periods at which they take place;
and for that purpose he gives a list of the commonest plants, as
lilac, laburnum, elder, birch, oak, horse-chestnut, peach, pear,
crocus, daisy, &c., which he himself observes annually at Brussels.
Footnote 156:
Dandelion opens at five or six in the morning, and shuts at nine in
the evening; the goat’s-beard wakes at three in the morning, and shuts
at five or six in the afternoon. The orange-coloured Escholtzia is so
sensitive that it closes during the passage of a cloud. “The marigold
that goes to bed wi’ the sun, and with him rises weeping,” with many
more, are instances of the sleep of plants.
Footnote 157:
M. de Candolle established 20 botanical regions, and Professor Schow
the same number; but Professor Martius, of Munich, has divided the
vegetation of the globe into 51 provinces, namely, 5 in Europe, 11 in
Africa, 13 in Asia, 3 in New Holland, 4 in North and 8 in South
America, besides Central America, the Antillas, the Antarctic Lands,
New Zealand, Van Diemen’s Land, New Guinea, and Polynesia. To these,
other divisions might be added, as the Galapagos, which is so strongly
defined.
Baron Humboldt gives the following concise view of the distribution of
plants, both as to height and latitude:—
The equatorial zone is the region of palms and bananas.
The tropical zone is the region of tree-ferns and figs.
The subtropical zone, that of myrtles and laurels.
The warm temperate zone, that of evergreen trees.
The cold temperate zone, that of European or deciduous trees.
The subarctic zone, that of pines.
The arctic zone, that of rhododendrons.
The polar zone, that of alpine plants.
_Upper Limit of Trees on Mountains._—The upper limit of trees is
distinguished by the Escalloniæ, on the Andes of Quito, at the height
of 11,500 feet above the level of the sea.
In tropical Mexico, the upper limit of trees, at the height of 12,789
feet, is distinguished by the Pinus occidentalis.
In the temperate zone the limit of trees is marked by the Quercus
Semicarpifolia, at 11,500 feet, on the south side of the Himalaya, and
by the Betula Alba, on the north side, at the height of 14,000 feet:
the same birch forms the limit on the Caucasus, at the elevation of
6394 feet. On the Pyrenees and Alps the limit is marked by the
Coniferæ or pine tribe: on the Pyrenees by the Pinus uncinata, at the
height of 10,870 feet; on the south side of the Alps by the larch, at
the elevation of 6700 feet; and by the Pinus abies, at 5883 feet, on
the north.
In Lapland, the Betula Alba forms the upper limit of trees, at the
height of only 1918 feet.
_The upper Limit of Shrubs._—In the Andes of Quito the Bejarias are
the shrubs that attain the greatest height, and terminate at 13,420
feet above the sea-level.
The juniper, Salix, and Ribes, or currant tribe, form the upper limit
of Shrubs on the south side of the Himalaya, at the height of 11,500
feet. The tama, or Genista versicolor, a species of broom, flourishes
at the height of 17,000 feet on the north side, and vegetation is
prolonged to nearly 18,000 feet.
The Rhododendron forms the upper limit of shrubs on the Caucasus, at
8825 feet; in the Pyrenees it grows to 8312 feet; in the Alps to 7480
feet; and in Lapland it forms the upper limit of shrubs at an
elevation of 3000 above the Arctic Ocean.
Footnote 158:
The British flora contains at least 3000 species.
Footnote 159:
The plants with which the Chinese give flavour to tea are the Olea
fragrans, Chloranthus inconspicuus, Gardenia florida, Aglaia odorata,
Mogorium sambac, Vitex spicata, Camellia sasanqua, Camellia odorifera,
Illicium anisatum, Magnolia yulan, Rosa indica odoratissima, turmeric,
oil of Bixa orellana, and the root of the Florentine iris.
The principles of caffeine and theine are, in all respects, identical.
Footnote 160:
Davis on China.
Footnote 161:
Dr. Mantel.
Footnote 162:
Dr. J. D. Hooker.
Footnote 163:
The Euphorbia and Borreria are the distinguishing features of the low
grounds in the Galapagos islands; while the Scleria, croton, and
Cordia mark the high grounds. Compositæ and Campanulaceæ distinguish
St. Helena and Juan Fernandez. The prevailing plants in the Sandwich
group are the Goodeniaceæ and Lobeliaceæ; and in New Zealand ferns and
club-mosses prevail, almost to the exclusion of the grasses.—Dr. J. D.
Hooker.
Footnote 164:
Of 2891 species of flower-bearing plants in the United States of North
America, there are 385 found also in northern and temperate Europe.
Footnote 165:
In the basin of Titicaca in Peru-Bolivia, Mr. Pentland has seen a
variety of maize ripen as high as 12,800 feet.
Footnote 166:
Dr. Weddell, a very distinguished botanist, who has recently returned
from an exploration of the districts of the Andes which furnish the
Peruvian bark of commerce, has discovered several new species of
Cinchona, the total number of which, according to his beautiful
monography, now amounts to 21.
Footnote 167:
Professor Martius, of Munich, in his great work on Palms, has
described 500, accompanied with excellent coloured plates. It is
supposed that the number of species throughout the world amounts to
1000.
Footnote 168:
There are innumerable points of analogy between the vegetation of the
Brazils, equinoctial Africa, and India: but the number of species
common to these three continents is very small.
Footnote 169:
Dr. J. D. Hooker.
Footnote 170:
The cosmopolite ulvæ are the Enteromorpha, Codium, &c.
Footnote 171:
Dr. J. D. Hooker has divided the marine vegetation into ten
provinces:—the Northern Ocean, from the pole to the 60th parallel of
north latitude;—the North Atlantic, between the 60th and 40th
parallels, which is the province of the delessariæ and fucus proper;—
the Mediterranean, which is a sub-region of the warmer temperate zone
of the Atlantic, lying between the 40th and 23d northern parallels;—
the tropical Atlantic, in which sargassum, rhodomelia, corallinia, and
siphinea abound;—the antarctic American region, from Chile to Cape
Horn, the Falkland Islands, and the whole circumpolar ocean south of
the 50th southern parallel;—the Australian and New Zealand province,
which is very peculiar, being characterized, among other generic
forms, by cystoseiriæ and fuceæ;—the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea;—and
the last, which comprises the Japan and China Seas. There are several
undetermined botanical marine provinces in the Pacific and elsewhere.
Footnote 172:
The British flowering sea-weeds are the Zostera and Zanichellia.
Footnote 173:
The vegetation at different depths in the Egean Sea is as distinctly
marked as that at different heights on the declivity of a mountain.
The coast plants are the Padina pavonia and Dictyota dichotoma. A
greater depth is characterized by the vividly green and elegant fronds
of the Caulerpa prolifera, probably the prasium of the ancients;
associated with it are the curious sponge-like Codium Bursa, and four
or five others. The Codium flabelliforme, and the rare and curious
vegetable net called Microdictyon umbilicatum, characterize depths of
30 fathoms. The Dictyomenia, with stiff purple corkscrew-like fronds,
and some others, go as low as 50 fathoms, beyond which no flexible
sea-weeds have been found. The coral-like Millepora polymorpha take
their place, and range to the depth of 100 fathoms, beyond which there
is no trace of vegetable life, unless some of the minute and
microscopic infusorial bodies living there be regarded as plants.—
“Travels in Lycia,” by Lieutenant Spratt, R. N., and Professor E.
Forbes.
Footnote 174:
The notocanthus and macrourus are the deep-water fish in the arctic
regions; they also inhabit the seas of New Zealand. The Pacific fish
that enter the Atlantic are some of the mackerel tribe, sharks, and
lophobranches. The genera most prevalent in the southern hemisphere
are the notothemia, borichthys, and harpagifer. The same species of
these genera are found in the seas of the Falkland Islands, Cape Horn,
the Auckland Islands, and Kerguelen’s Land.—Dr. Richardson.
Footnote 175:
The Chinese fresh-water fish are cyprinidæ, ophicephali, and siluridæ—
genera which agree closely with those in India, though the species are
different.
Footnote 176:
The carnivorous Cetacea, with two remarkable exceptions, inhabit the
ocean—the Delphinus Inca, of the Amazons and its affluents; and the D.
Gangeticus, of the Ganges.
Footnote 177:
Captain Scoresby’s “Arctic Voyages.”
Footnote 178:
One of the most celebrated species of this division is the crocodile
of the Nile, which probably is to be met with in the western branch of
that river, the Bahr-el-Abiad, as high as 4000 feet. Immense numbers
of this species, of every size and age, are found embalmed in the
catacombs of the ancient Egyptians, which are perfectly identical with
the existing species, and offering another proof of the important fact
first announced by Cuvier, from his examination of the mummies of the
ibis, that no animal, in its wild state, had presented the least
change, within the longest historical periods.
Footnote 179:
Mr. Pentland informs me that crocodiles are found in some of the
rivers of Bolivia at a much greater elevation.
Footnote 180:
Animals of a gigantic size, and allied to the lizard family, formerly
inhabited the latitudes of Britain. A monster (the Mosasaurus) much
surpassing the largest living crocodile is found in our Sussex
chalk-beds; and an animal allied to the Iguana, the iguanodon of
Mantell, is of frequent occurrence in the strata upon which the chalk
reposes in the weald of Sussex, the Isle of Wight, &c. Some bones of
the iguanodon would indicate an animal more than 50 feet long.
Footnote 181:
Petrel, from St. Peter.
Footnote 182:
In some parts of the earth the same conditions which regulated the
distribution of the ancient fauna and flora still prevail. The flora
of the carbonaceous epoch is perfectly similar to that of New Zealand,
where ferns and club-mosses are so abundant; and the fauna of that
ancient period had been representative of that which recently
prevailed in these islands, since foot-prints of colossal birds have
been discovered in the red sandstone of Connecticut.
The age of reptiles of the Wealden and other secondary periods is
representative of the fauna of the Galapagos islands, which chiefly
consists of tortoises and creatures of the lizard or crocodile family;
and the cycadaceous plants and marsupial animals of the oolite are
representative of the flora and fauna of Australia.
The colossal birds which prevailed in New Zealand, almost to the
entire exclusion of reptiles and quadrupeds, lasted to a very late
period; they differed in the structure of the beak and skull from
every class of birds, recent or fossil.
Footnote 183:
Perhaps no quadruped in the wild state will be found to have so wide a
vertical range of habitat as this animal. It is found in the plains of
Tartary, in the valley of the Tigris, at a very few feet above the
sea-level, and in the most elevated plains of the Himalaya, at
elevations exceeding 15,300 feet.
Footnote 184:
It is by no means certain that the wild Ass of the three countries
mentioned in the text belongs to the same species. The Kiang of Tibet
appears to be the same as the Dziggetai (Equus Hemonus) of Pallas,
which is met with throughout central Asia; but the species found in
the Run of Cutch is of a different colour and form: whilst the one
neighs like a horse, the other brays like an ass; in one the striped
colour of the zebra family exists in the young, and not in the second.
Footnote 185:
The attention of the scientific world in France has been recently
directed to the advantages that might arise from the naturalization of
the Llama tribe in Europe, and especially of its two most useful
species, the Llama and the Alpaca. M. J. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, a
zoologist of some note, but rather carried away by theoretical views
in a branch of science where observation, and observation alone, ought
to be our guide, and ignorant perhaps of what had been done in England
on the same subject, where the experiment had long since been tried,
and with very inadequate success, has presented lately some papers to
the Academy of Sciences on this subject. We cannot imagine, even if
the naturalization of the Llama on a large scale was possible, what
benefit could arise from it to our agriculturists. The wool of the
llama is coarse, and so infinitely inferior to the commonest qualities
of sheep’s wool, that in its native country it is seldom used for any
other purpose than the manufacture of ropes, of a rough carpeting and
packing-cloth, and for the coarsest apparel of the poor Indian. As to
its use as a beast of burden, whilst the llama eats as much as the
ass, it does not carry more than one half what he can, and can
scarcely travel one half of the same daily distance; besides, the
female llama is useless in this respect. The flesh of the llama, as
above stated, is greatly below that of all our domestic animals, even
of the Italian buffalo.
As to the Alpaca, it is very doubtful if, living as it does in an
extremely dry, elevated, equable, and clear atmosphere, it would ever
become accustomed to the damp and variable climate of our northern
latitudes, or to that of the great European chains of mountains, the
Alps and the Pyrenees, and if it did, that its wool would not be
greatly deteriorated. As to the vicuña, it is purely a wild species,
and has hitherto resisted all the efforts of the aborigines, the most
patient and docile of the human race, to render it prolific in its own
climate and in domesticity.
It appears, therefore, that the domestication of the several species
of Auchenia in Europe would be a costly and useless experiment, on the
large scale on which it is proposed to try it; indeed, this will
appear evident when it is known that in the Peru-Bolivian Andes the
llama and alpaca are daily disappearing to make room for the more
useful and profitable breed of the common European sheep, whilst, as a
beast of burden, the ass is everywhere taking its place.
Connected with this subject, a very singular fact, and, if well
established, a very curious one, has been announced by M. Geoffroy St.
Hilaire, on the authority of one of our countrymen, Dr. Weddel,
recently returned from South America, that a cross-breed between the
Alpaca and the Vicuña had been obtained, and that the mules from this
cross-breed were capable of reproducing this newly-created species,
the wool of which is represented to be of a valuable quality. Now, if
there exists in zoological science a fact clearly established, it is
this: that within historical periods no new species of vertebrate
animal has been created—in fact, the great law of the immutability of
species. The remains of the several wild animals which have been
buried for more than 30 centuries in the catacombs of Egypt, and in
the ruins of Nineveh, are perfectly identical with those now existing
in the most minute details of their anatomical structure. We have
examined, in the case referred to, the evidence adduced by M. Geoffroy
St. Hilaire in support of his favourite doctrine, and we do not by any
means consider it sufficient to shake the conclusions arrived at by
all the great zoologists of past and present times—by the Cuviers, the
Humboldts, and the Owens of our own period—on the impossibility of the
production of a new species of animals, or the immutability of species
in the animal creation. Contradictions to this law we know have been
brought forward by writers of the theoretical school of naturalists,
to support favourite theories of their authors; but we believe such
dangerous doctrines are founded on the vagaries of a school which have
ever placed in natural history observation in the back, and the dreams
of imagination in the foreground.
Footnote 186:
There are 8 families, 14 genera, and 123 species of marsupial animals,
amounting to about one-twelfth of all the mammalia. The opossum is
American; the seven other families are inhabitants of Australia and
the Indian Archipelago.
Of the Didelphidæ or opossum family there are 21 species, all
inhabitants of America; the Virginian opossum is about the size of a
cat, the other species are not larger than rats or mice. A pretty kind
in Surinam, the D. dorsigera, is so named because it carries its young
on its back, which hold on by their prehensile tails twisted round
that of the mother: another species is aquatic, and in its habits
resembles the otter.
The Dasyuridæ and Phalangers are nocturnal: the Dasyuridæ and wombats
burrow.
Footnote 187:
Sir Charles Lyell estimates the number of existing species of animals
and vegetables, independent of the infusoria, to be between one and
two millions, which must surely be under the mark, considering the
enormous quantity of animal life in the ocean, to the amount of which
we have not even an approximation. If the microscopic and infusorial
existence be taken into the account, the surface of the globe may be
viewed as one mass of animal life—perpetually dying—perpetually
renewed. A drop of stagnant water is a world within itself, an epitome
of the earth and its successive geological races. A variety of
microscopic creatures appear, and die; in a few days a new set
succeeds; these vanish and give place to a third set, of different
kinds from the preceding; and the débris of all remain at the bottom
of the glass. The extinction of these creatures takes place without
any apparent cause, unless a greater degree of putrescence of the
water be to them what the mighty geological catastrophes were to
beings of higher organization—the introduction of the new is not more
mysterious in one case than in the other.
Footnote 188:
Valmiki, the Hindu poet, is supposed to have been contemporary with
Homer, if not his predecessor: his great work is the “Ramayana,” an
heroic poem of the highest order, four cantos of which have been
translated by Gaspare Gorresco, an Italian. According to Dr.
Pritchard, the four great dynasties of languages in the old continent
are—the Indo-European or Indo-Germanic, now called the Arian or
Iranian languages; the Turanian or Ugro-Tartarian, the language of
high Asia; the Chinese and Indo-Chinese, or Monosyllabic; and the
Syro-Arabian or Semitic languages. The three first are common to
Europe and Asia; the fourth, common to Africa and some parts of Asia
near Africa. The Arians are the ancient Medes and Persian; the Ugrians
are the Fins, Laplanders, Hungarians, and many Siberian nations.
Footnote 189:
EUROPEAN POPULATION.
_Pure blood._
Teutonic 52,000,000
Sclavonian 50,000,000
Celtic 12,000,000
Magyar 9,000,000
Fins and Samojedes 3,000,000
Tartar 2,000,000
Jews 2,000,000
-----------
Total European population of pure blood 130,000,000
_Mixed blood in Europe._
Teutonic Celtic 22,000,000
Teutonic Sclavonian 6,000,000
Teutonic mixed with Walloons in Belgium 1,200,000
Teutonic Northmen in Normandy 1,500,000
Celtic in its different crosses 56,000,000
Sclavonian 6,000,000
Lettons 2,000,000
Turks 4,000,000
Turco-Tatar-Sclavonic in centre, south-east,
and east of Russia 2,600,000
Kalmuk, between the rivers Volga and Ural 300,000
-----------
The number of people of mixed blood in Europe 101,600,000
The total population of Europe, pure and mixed, amounts to about 232
millions, including 600,000 Gipsies. The Teutonic population in the
United States of North America and in the British colonies amounts to
20 millions; so that the total number of people of Teutonic blood is
rather more than 100 millions.—Notes accompanying the Ethnographic Map
of Europe, by Dr. Gustaf Kombst: “Phys. Atlas.”
Footnote 190:
POPULATION OR GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
_On an average the pure-blooded population amounts to_
Teutonic in England, Scotland, and in the east and
north-east of Ireland 10,000,000
Celtic in Cornwall, Wales, the Scottish Highlands,
and Ireland. 6,000,000
----------
The pure-blooded inhabitants amounts to 16,000,000
_Mixed blood._
Mixture in which the Teutonic blood predominates 6,000,000
Mixture in which the Celtic blood predominates 4,000,000
----------
10,000,000
In all 26,000,000 of inhabitants.
Notes accompanying the Ethnographic Map of Great Britain and Ireland,
by Gustaf Kombst: “Phys. Atlas.”
The fear that Britain may be ruined by over population may be allayed
by considering that we are ignorant of the immense treasures and
inexhaustible resources of the natural world—that the ingenuity of man
is infinite, and will continually discover new powers and innumerable
combinations that will furnish sources of wealth and happiness to
millions.
Footnote 191:
From the discrepancies in the chronological systems it is evident that
the actual period of man’s creation is not accurately known. The
Chevalier Bunsen has ascertained, from monumental inscriptions, that
the successive Egyptian dynasties may be traced back to Meres, 3640
years before the Christian era, and from the high state of
civilization during the reign of that prince, proved by the
magnificence of the works thus executed, he infers that the Egyptians
must have existed 500 years previous to their consolidation into one
empire by him, which goes back to the renewed period of man’s
creation. Compared with geological periods, man is of very recent
creation, as appears from the vast extent of uninhabited land, but
which would require ages and ages to people, even if the increase of
population were as rapid as in the United States of North America.
Footnote 192:
Dark-coloured substances absorb more of the sun’s heat than
light-coloured ones; therefore, the black skins of the natives of
tropical climates absorb more heat than fair skins, but, from some
unknown cause, the black skin is protected from a degree of heat that
would blister a fair one.
Footnote 193:
The countenances of the Fuegians brought to England in 1830 by Captain
Fitzroy improved greatly in expression by their intercourse with
civilized men, but they had not returned to their savage brethren more
than a year before their whole appearance was completely changed; the
look of intelligence they had acquired was gone; and when compared
with likenesses that had been taken of them when in England, they were
not to be recognized as the same persons.
Footnote 194:
Johnston’s “Physical Atlas.”
The average age of a nation, or the mean duration of life, has a
considerable influence on the character of a people. The average age
of the population of England and Wales is 26 years 7 months. By the
census, the average age of the population of the United States of
North America is 22 years 2 months. In England there are 1365 persons
in every 10,000, who have attained 50 years of age, and consequently
of experience; while, in the United States, only 830 in each 10,000
have arrived at that age: hence, in the United States, the moral
predominance of the young and passionate is greatest. In Ireland there
are 1050 persons in every 10,000 of the population, above 50 years of
age, to exercise the influence of their age and experience upon the
community—an influence that will diminish with the progress of
emancipation.
Footnote 195:
It is singular that the British should, for years, have possessed such
extensive territories in Asia without having explored their mineral
wealth. Perhaps the quantity of gold recently discovered in California
and Africa may call the attention of the East India Company to the
subject. Some of the richest mining districts are in countries where
primary formations have been crossed or disturbed by volcanic action;
and as that is eminently the case along the eastern coast of the Bay
of Bengal, from Aracan to the peninsula of Malacca, mines of the
precious metals will most likely be found on that frontier, possibly
in Siam and the Birman empire. The interior of the Deccan has also
been greatly disturbed by ancient volcanos; and as that country is
said to bear a strong analogy in structure to South Africa, it may
also resemble it in the production of gold. The auriferous territory
in California appears to be at least 400 miles long and 100 broad.
Footnote 196:
In bringing to a close a work which may in some measure be considered
a kind of Résumé of Natural knowledge, it may not be either out of
place or irrelevant to our subject to allude more particularly to the
encouragement of late years granted to scientific investigation by our
own Government.
It must be confessed that Great Britain for a long time remained
behind the nations of the continent in fostering scientific enterprise
and research; and if England has rivalled in most branches of natural
knowledge, and surpassed in some, every other people, it has arisen
more from individual exertion, and that spirit of association which
forms so happy a characteristic of our race, and which has in our
political institutions so mainly contributed to our national greatness
and prosperity, than from any direct encouragement from our rulers.
Whilst France and other continental nations were endowing the votaries
of science, were lavishing money on scientific expeditions, and
founding institutions which will hand down the names of their
sovereigns to posterity as the benefactors of mankind, England had
done little in the same track beyond fitting out those memorable
expeditions of Cook, and, subsequently, those of Vancouver and
Flinders, and the support granted to our great national Observatory,
which, under the direction of Bradley, Maskelyne, Pond, and Airy, has
attained a degree of celebrity and utility unequalled by any
astronomical foundation in ancient or modern times.
The conclusion of a long war, in opening the scientific repositories
of the continent to our countrymen, showed us how much our great
institutions, with the above solitary exception, were behindhand, not
only in extent and utility, but in the liberality with which they were
conducted. Possessing as we did the most ample means, from our immense
colonial possessions and our widely-extended commerce, to add to the
stock of our knowledge in natural history, our collections were
infinitely behind those of the great states of the continent, and
scarcely on a par with those of the sovereigns of a second and even
third rate importance. A better system was loudly called for, and a
better system has been adopted. Our great national collection of the
British Museum—and I here refer more particularly to its scientific
and antiquarian department, for there is still much room for
improvement in the literary—has in a few years, thanks to the
liberality of Parliament and the exertions of its trustees and
officers, become equal in every respect, and superior in many, to any
similar institution on the continent. Two establishments have been
created within the last dozen of years which reflect the greatest
honour on the statesmen, Sir F. Baring, then Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and the late Earl of Besborough, as chief Commissioner of
the Woods and Forests, who fostered them in their infancy, and on the
talented individuals who had been selected to carry out the
enlightened views of the Government—the Museum of Practical Geology, a
designation that conveys a very inadequate idea of the extent of its
attributes or of its utility, and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. To
the first the public is already indebted for such a geological survey
and map of the empire as never had been planned or executed in any
other country—only a small instalment, however, of great services
which the nation and geological science are likely to derive from the
labours of Sir H. Delabeche and his collaborators. The Royal Gardens
at Kew, under the direction of Sir W. J. Hooker, lose nothing when
compared with the most celebrated establishments of the kind, ancient
or modern: never was public money better bestowed, or in a way to
convey more useful instruction and gratification to the great mass of
the community. Whilst every German university had its Museum of
Comparative Anatomy, when the government of revolutionary France had
placed at the disposal of Cuvier ample means to lay the basis of that
science of which he was to be considered the founder, an eminent
surgeon, John Hunter, animated by the love of science alone, and
unaided by his Government, was rendering a similar service to Great
Britain, in laying the foundation of that Museum which so justly bears
his honoured name. Thanks to the liberality of the Government, and to
the well-judged appreciation of the Royal College of Surgeons, the
Hunterian Collection has become the property of the nation, and has
received such additions and ameliorations as not to be behind any of
those of the continent; whilst in point of arrangement, facilities
granted for study, and real practical utility, it infinitely surpasses
them all. To it we principally are indebted for the introduction of
the study of comparative anatomy into this country, and for the
possession of one of its greatest modern expositors, Professor Owen.
It may appear invidious, at a time when every department of our
Government is showing itself so desirous of promoting the cause of
science, to point to any in particular: still we cannot refrain from
making special mention of one to which science in general, and more
particularly that branch of it which forms the principal object of
this work, and our best national interests, owe a deep and lasting
debt of gratitude—the Hydrographic department of the Admiralty; which,
under its present able chief, Sir Francis Beaufort, has attained a
degree of eminence unequalled by that of any other maritime country.
The Admiralty has profited of a long peace to extend our knowledge
over almost every region of the globe, conferring thereby an immense
service on geographical science, and placing in the hands of our
national and commercial marine a collection of charts and nautical
instructions unparalleled in the history of navigation for their
extent and exactitude. Another branch of inquiry, closely connected
with Hydrography and Navigation, which it required the encouragement
of a government to institute, the investigation of the laws of
terrestrial magnetism and meteorology, has been very liberally
provided for by Parliament, and most ably carried out, under the
direction of Colonel Sabine, by the establishment of special
observatories in our widely extended colonies, and by the publication
and distribution of their results.
The several maritime expeditions undertaken since the peace in a
purely scientific view reflect the highest credit on the departments
of the Government with which they have originated, as they do on the
eminent individuals, many of whom still live to enjoy their
well-merited fame, who have carried out their country’s wishes. The
names of Parry, Franklin, Back, James C. Ross, and Richardson, will be
preserved in the memory of posterity long after the ephemeral glory of
their professional career will have been forgotten.
Although it is to the projectors of such an altered state of things,
and to the statesmen who encouraged and brought it about, that our
first acknowledgement is due, our thanks must be also expressed to
that branch of the legislature which, holding, as it rightly does, the
public purse, has so liberally come forward upon every occasion, when
solicited, in granting the means to promote scientific enterprise. The
votary of science therefore owes to the House of Commons the
expression of his unmingled gratitude.
But, in paying that just tribute to the ministers of the Crown and to
Parliament, we must not pass over in silence the encouragement which
science has in every department met with from the East India Company.
Lords of an immense territory, the Court of Directors, and its
representatives in India, have always shown themselves ready to
contribute in a most liberal spirit to the extension of our knowledge
of their widely extended empire. The trigonometrical surveys of India,
the establishment of observatories, the endowment of colleges and of
scientific societies, the formation of collections of natural history
at great expense, and which it distributes to all those who are likely
to make good use of them, the publication of works on physical
researches, on natural history, of astronomical observations, bestowed
with so liberal a hand to men of science, the formation of such a map
of its extended dominions and of charts of its coasts as would do
honour to any government, must place the East India Company in the
first rank of those mighty potentates of the earth to whom science
will both now and in after ages feel placed under the most lasting
obligations.
Connected with our Oriental empire, it is due to some of the native
sovereigns of India to state that they have not been behindhand in
imitating the liberal example of their powerful protectors. Two native
princes, the Rajah of Travancore and the King of Oude, have at very
great expense established astronomical observatories in their
territories, furnished with European instruments of the most delicate
construction, and placed under the direction of European officers
amply endowed and provided for. The peninsula of India at the present
moment possesses four astronomical observatories little behind those
of Europe as regards the means of observation; until very lately there
did not exist one public observatory in the whole extent of the United
States of America.
[A national observatory was established at Washington in the year
1843.]
Footnote 197:
Sir John Rennie.
Footnote 198:
Charles Babbage, Esq.
Footnote 199:
We learn, on closing the present volume, that this distinguished
traveller, through the liberality of Her Majesty’s Government, is
again about to proceed to the former field of his exertions.
Footnote 200:
The works of Cornelius and Kaulbach bear testimony to the justice of
the observations in the text. In drawing, nothing can be more
beautiful—in composition, nothing can be more varied or sublime. The
“Destruction of Jerusalem,” by Kaulbach, in which a powerful genius
has combined the truth of the historian with the imagination of the
poet, and executed with the hand of a master, might bear comparison
even with the Italian school for colouring.
Footnote 201:
Twenty of these counties were in England and 11 in Wales, and so few
crimes took place among educated women in the other counties during
the 11 years mentioned, that the annual proportion of accusations
against educated females was only 1 in 1,349,059. During the year 1846
only 48 educated persons were convicted of crimes out of the whole
population of England and Wales, and none were sentenced to death. And
during the years 1845 and 1846 there were 15 counties in England and
11 in Wales in which no well-educated person was convicted of any
crime. The number of accusations among educated persons in Scotland is
greater, because education is more general, and because the quantity
of ardent spirits used in Scotland is five times greater than in
England. Crime is very much below the average in the mining districts,
and it is still less frequent in Wales and in the mountainous country
in the North of England. The accomplishments of a _well_-educated
person in these statistical records consist merely in being able to
read and write fluently.—“London Statistical Journal.”
Footnote 202:
Every factory-child is limited to 48 hours of labour in the week, and
the children must by law attend school at least two hours a-day for
six days out of the seven, besides a Sunday-school—one penny being
deducted out of each shilling of wages for education. The inspectors
have the power of establishing schools where wanted, and of dismissing
incompetent teachers. The engagement of factory-children in Britain
lasts till they are 13, in the United States it ends at 15 years of
age.—“Statistical Journal.”
Footnote 203:
The average duration of the life of sovereigns is greater in modern
than in ancient times, but it is still lower than any other class of
mankind. The most favourable average for them is 70·05 years; for the
English aristocracy it is 71·69; for the English gentry, 74·00; for
the learned professions, 73·62; for English literary and scientific
men it is 72·10; for the army and navy, 71·99; and for the professions
of the fine arts, 71·15.—“London Statistical Journal.”
Footnote 204:
There are 62 Ragged Schools in London, and Government undertakes to
send annually to the colonies 150 of such of the scholars as choose to
go.—“London Statistical Journal.”
Footnote 205:
The letters affixed indicate the parts of the Alps to which each
locality belongs—M., Maritime; C., Cottian; G., Grecian; P., Pennine;
L., Lepontine; B., Bernese, or Helvetian; R., Rhetian; J., Julian;
Car., Carniac.
Footnote 206:
The authorities on which these heights are given are—the Piedmontese
Surveys (P. S.), as published in 1845, in the Work entitled “Le Alpi
che cingono l’Italia,” 1 vol. 8vo.; the Austrian Survey (A. S.), as
given in the splendid Maps, published by the Austrian Government, of
the Regno Lombardo-Veneto, in 84 sheets; and the Swiss Trigonometrical
Survey, by Eichman, 1 vol. 4to., 1846.
Footnote 207:
The first eight passes are only fit for foot-passengers, and in
certain seasons for mules; the remaining eleven offer carriage-roads,
and are generally open at all seasons of the year, with the exception
of the Stelvio.
Footnote 208:
Heights taken from the list published in the French “Annuaire du
Bureau des Longitudes,” converted from metres into English feet.
Footnote 209:
Heights determined by the French expedition under Captains Peytier and
Boblaye, and published in the “Connaissance des Temps” for 1839.
Footnote 210:
The heights in the Sikim Himalaya are the results of the observations
of Colonel Waugh, Director of the Trigonometrical Survey of India.
_See_ “Journal of As. Soc. of Bengal,” Nov. 1848.
Footnote 211:
For Lieut. Strachey’s observations during his very interesting journey
to the Sacred Lakes of Manasarowar, &c., _see_ “Journal of As. Soc. of
Bengal,” Aug. 1848.
Footnote 212:
_See_ Hooker’s “Journal of Botany,” May, 1849.
Footnote 213:
The heights followed by the letters A. C. have been taken from
Humboldt’s “Asie Centrale.”
Footnote 214:
The heights given on Captain Vidal’s authority are taken from the
elaborate Admiralty Surveys of Madeira, the Canaries, and Azores,
partly executed under his direction; the latter not yet published.
Footnote 215:
The heights given in this table on Mr. Pentland’s authority have been
taken from his Map of “The Laguna of Titicaca, and of the Valleys of
Yucay, Collao, and Desaguadero,” published in 1848.
Footnote 216:
As stated in the text, vol. i., p. 155. The height here assigned to
the Peak of Aconcagua differs 700 feet from that given by Captain
Fitzroy. A re-calculation, however, of his elements has led us to
adopt a much greater elevation for the giant of the Chilian Andes than
given by that talented officer.
Captain Fitzroy’s observations place the summit of the Peak of
Aconcagua, which on his chart is incorrectly designated as a volcano,
in lat. 32° 38ʹ 30ʺ, long. 70° 00ʹ 30ʺ W., or 23ʹ 23ʺ N., and 100ʹ 45ʺ
E. of Valparaiso, or its nearest distance about 88 9-10 geographical
miles. From a station near Captain Fitzroy’s, at Valparaiso, Captain
Beechy found the angle of elevation of Aconcagua, by several very
careful observations, to be 1° 55ʹ 45ʺ, the distance from this station
to the Peak being 88·74 geographical miles. From a discussion of all
these data, the compiler of this table has deduced for the height of
Aconcagua 23,910 feet above the sea.
Transcriber’s Note
This book uses inconsistent spelling and hyphenation, which were
retained in the ebook version. Some corrections have been made to the
text, including normalizing punctuation and capitilization, replacing
ditto marks with the text they represent, and correcting the spelling of
Index entries to match the spelling in the main text. Where incorrect
page number references were found in the Index, these were corrected.
Several instances of Antartic or antartic were changed to Antarctic or
antarctic. Further corrections are noted below:
p. 8: Maratime Chain -> Maritime Chain
p. 15: William Herschell -> William Herschel
Footnote 7: earth’s equaor -> earth’s equator
Footnote 7: The inequalties -> The inequalities
Footnote 7: Connection of Physical Sciences -> Connection of the
Physical Sciences
p. 23: from the strata were they abound -> from the strata where they
abound
p. 26: mosily of extinct genera -> mostly of extinct genera
p. 29: horizonial position -> horizontal position
Footnote 9: mark the boundery -> mark the boundary
p. 32: specificially the same -> specifically the same
p. 38: perpetural fire -> perpetual fire
p. 45: Immediately counected -> Immediately connected
p. 47: mountains of this foam -> mountains of this form
p. 51: The chains terminates -> The chains terminates
p. 52: have been permament -> have been permanent
p. 52: tranverse valleys -> transverse valleys
p. 53: in the giaciers of the Andes -> in the glaciers of the Andes
p. 62: Hindo Coosh -> Hindoo Coosh
p. 66: that rocks and pillars rises -> that rocks and pillars rise
p. 69: wondering Kirghi -> wandering Kirghi
p. 73: greographical miles -> geographical miles
p. 77: remains of animals that no longer exists -> remains of animals
that no longer exist
p. 80: most nothern part -> most northern part
p. 88: sinks abrubtly -> sinks abruptly
p. 89: tops of the monntains -> tops of the mountains
p. 92: suceptible of cultivation -> susceptible of cultivation
p. 93: are connnected by -> are connected by
p. 99: once equal to Chimboroza in height -> once equal to Chimborazo in
height
p. 104: which is situate -> which is situated
p. 120: thoughout its length -> throughout its length
p. 121: Mexico and it lake -> Mexico and its lake
p. 123: Culf of California -> Gulf of California
p. 127: the forests consists of -> the forests consist of
p. 131: a considerable intervals -> a considerable interval
p. 132: over wide area -> over wide areas
p. 132: they cccupy a tract -> they occupy a tract
p. 136: idea can be formad -> idea can be formed
p. 136: Tropic of Capricon -> Tropic of Capricorn
p. 136: frem New Holland -> from New Holland
p. 140: along the the whole coast -> along the whole coast
p. 142: nothern shores -> northern shores
p. 143: it seldem rises -> it seldom rises
p. 147: of the the crust -> of the crust
p. 153: Hot spings -> Hot springs
p. 154: fall of the barometer, frogs, and unusual sultriness -> all of
the barometer, fogs, and unusual sultriness
p. 156: are continned after -> are continued after
p. 158: on which they moor their boots -> on which they moor their boats
p. 168: of these mettalloids -> of these metalloids
Footnote 98: the unforseen result -> the unforeseen result
Footnote 99: Suppposing -> Supposing
p. 175: Rio de Janeira -> Rio de Janeiro
Footnote 112: J. Scott Russel -> J. Scott Russell
p. 195: the waves becomes higher -> the waves become higher
p. 197: where it not so -> were it not so
p. 199: closing quote position assumed ... to summer heat;”
p. 206: the Alantic virtually enters -> the Atlantic virtually enters
p. 219: the Nile recieves -> the Nile receives
p. 226: a greater volumne of water -> a greater volume of water
p. 228: covored with snow -> covered with snow
p. 234: insersected with rivers -> intersected with rivers
p. 242: branches as its mouth -> branches at its mouth
p. 251: cannot br crossed -> cannot be crossed
p. 267: Carribean islands -> Caribbean islands
p. 273: whereas the the cold -> whereas the cold
p. 281: only resolve bodies -> only resolves bodies
p. 285: polarization of the atmosphese -> polarization of the atmosphere
p. 286: positive elctricty increases -> positive electricity increases
p. 296: two upheavels makes -> two upheavals makes
p. 298: combination witht he oxygen -> combination with the oxygen
p. 315: North Amerian -> North American
p. 315: which are Amercian -> which are American
p. 316: The themometer sometimes rises -> The thermometer sometimes
rises
p. 322: Rosa indica odoratissima, tumeric, oil of Bixa orellana -> Rosa
indica odoratissima, turmeric, oil of Bixa orellana
p. 337: crimson blosssom -> crimson blossom
p. 344: in the Guatimala forest -> in the Guatemala forest
p. 344: logwood, mohogony, and many other -> logwood, mahogony, and many
other
p. 349: which cones the -> with cones the
p. 352: of the cyptogamous kinds -> of the cryptogamous kinds
p. 352: aborescent vegetation -> arborescent vegetation
p. 358: tranverse incision -> transverse incision
p. 362: and alse in vast fields -> and also in vast fields
p. 371: their are eight distinct regions -> there are eight distinct
regions
p. 374: of the mackarel tribe -> of the mackerel tribe
p. 383: Emydians or tortoises, and turtle -> Emydians or tortoises, and
turtles
p. 384: and and form a link -> and form a link
p. 386: from Bazil to Carolina -> from Brazil to Carolina
p. 390: at an elevavation of -> at an elevation of
p. 391: Testuno Græca -> Testudo Græca
p. 392: the Indian Arcipelago -> the Indian Archipelago
p. 395: More than three-fourth of the species -> More than three fourths
of the species
p. 395: Aquilla albicilla -> Aquila albicilla
p. 396: catching moluscas and small fish -> catching mollusca and small
fish
p. 399: allied to to the grouse family -> allied to the grouse family
p. 401: Oriols of vivid colours -> Orioles of vivid colours
p. 407: Straits of Magellen -> Straits of Magellan
p. 410: unexplored regions of the inferior -> unexplored regions of the
interior
p. 413: the restlessness of carniverous animal -> the restlessness of
carniverous animals
p. 420: also of the Crimera -> also of the Crimea
p. 422: which serves as a parchute -> which serves as a parachute
p. 425: a new speeies of -> a new species of
p. 427: known as the prarie-dog -> known as the prairie dog
p. 434: a characteristeric of many -> a characteristic of many
Footnote 186: wombats bnrrow -> wombats burrow
p. 452: are absoutely without grass -> are absolutely without grass
p. 457: knowlege is power -> knowledge is power
p. 457: ides are disseminated -> ideas are disseminated
p. 458: stationary or retrogade -> stationary or retrograde
p. 466: ancient Ninevah -> ancient Nineveh
p. 472: years that preceeded -> years taht preceded
p. 473: particlar and extraordinary -> particular and extraordinary
Footnote 208: Annuaire du Bureau des Laugitutdes -> Annuaire du Bureau
des Longitudes
p. 500: opposums and other marsupial -> opossums and other marsupial
p. 506: soluble in alchol -> soluble in alcohol
p. 507: The anniseed tree -> The aniseed tree
p. 508: Synonyne of Pandanus -> Synonym of Pandanus
p. 518: Erom the Gr. -> From the Gr.
p. 519: Fram the Gr. -> From the Gr.
p. 520: a genu of mollusks -> a genus of mollusks
p. 520: Smybne´nsis -> Smyrne´nsis
p. 524: Grom the Gr. -> From the Gr.