CHAPTER XXXIII.

The Distribution, Condition, and future Prospects of the Human Race.

MORE than 800,000,000 of human beings are scattered over the face of the earth, of all nations and kindreds and tongues, and in all stages of civilization, from a high state of moral and intellectual culture, to savages but little above the animals that contend with them for the dominion of the deserts and forests through which they roam. This vast multitude is divided into nations and tribes, differing in external appearance, character, language, and religion. The manner in which they are distributed, the affinities of structure and language by which they are connected, and the effect that climate, food, and customs may have had in modifying their external forms, or their moral and mental powers, are subjects of much more difficulty than the geographical dispersion of the lower classes of animals, inasmuch as the immortal spirit is the chief agent in all that concerns the human race. The progress of the universal mind in past ages, its present condition, and the future prospects of humanity, rouse the deep sympathies of our nature, for the high but mysterious destiny of the myriads of beings yet to come, who, like ourselves, will be subject for a few brief years to the joys and sorrows of this transient state, and fellow-heirs of eternal life hereafter.

Notwithstanding the extreme diversity, personal and mental, in mankind, anatomists have found that there are no specific differences—that the hideous Esquimaux, the refined and intellectual Caucasian, the thick-lipped Negro, and the fair blue-eyed Scannavian, are mere varieties of the same species. The human race forms five great varieties marked by strong distinctive characters. Many nations are included in each; distinguished from one another by different languages, manners, and mental qualities, yet bearing such a resemblance in general physiognomy and appearance as to justify a classification apparently anomalous.

The Caucasian group of nations, which includes the handsomest and most intellectual portion of mankind, inhabit all Europe, except Lapland, Finland, and Hungary; they occupy North Africa, as far as the 20th parallel of north latitude, Arabia, Asia Minor, Persia, the Himalaya to the Brahmapootra, all India between these mountains and the ocean, and the United States of North America. These nations are remarkable for a beautifully-shaped small head, regular features, fine hair, and symmetrical form. The Greeks, Georgians, and Circassians are models of perfection in form, especially the last, which is assumed as the type of this class of mankind; of which it is evident that colour is not a characteristic, since they are of all shades, from the fair and florid, to the clear dark brown and almost black. This family of nations has always been, and still is, the most civilized portion of the human race. The inhabitants of Hindostan, the Egyptians, Arabians, Greeks, and Romans, were in ancient times what the European nations are now. The cause of this remarkable development of mental power is, no doubt, natural disposition, for the difference in the capabilities of nations seems to be as great as that of individuals. The origin of spontaneous civilization and superiority may generally be traced to the talent of some master-spirit gaining an ascendancy over his countrymen. Natural causes have also combined with mental—mildness of climate, fertility of soil; rivers and inland seas, by affording facility of intercourse, favoured enterprise and commerce; and the double-river systems in Asia brought distant nations together, and softened those hostile antipathies which separate people, multiply languages, and reduce all to barbarism. The genius of this family of nations has led them to profit by these natural advantages; whereas the American Indians are at this day wandering as barbarous hordes in one of the finest countries in the world. An original similarity or even identity of many spoken languages may be adverted to as facilitating communication and mental improvement among the Caucasian variety in very ancient times.

The Mongol-Tartar family forms the second group of nations. They occupy all Asia north of the Persian table-land and of the Himalaya; the whole of Eastern Asia from the Brahmapootra to Behring’s Straits, together with the Arctic regions of America north of Labrador. This family includes the Tourkomans, Mongol and Tartar tribes, the Chinese, Indo-Chinese, Japanese, the Esquimaux, and the Hungarians, now located in the very heart of Europe. These nations are distinguished by broad skulls and high cheek-bones, small black eyes obliquely set, long black hair, and a yellow or sallow olive complexion; some are good-looking, and many are well-made. A portion of this family is capable of high culture, especially the Chinese, the most civilized nation of eastern Asia, although they never have attained the excellence of the Caucasian group, probably from their exclusive social system, which has separated them from the rest of mankind, and kept them stationary for ages; the peculiarity and difficulty of their language have also tended to insulate them. The Kalmuks, who lead a pastoral wandering life on the steppes of central Asia, and the Esquimaux, have wider domains than any other of this set of nations. The Kalmuks are rather a handsome people, and, like all who lead a savage life, have acute senses of seeing and hearing. The inhabitants of Finland and Lapland are nearly allied to the Esquimaux, who are spread over all the high latitudes of both continents—a diminutive race, equally ugly in face and form.

Malayan nations occupy the Indian Archipelago, New Zealand, Chatham Island, the Society group, and several other of the Polynesian islands, together with the Phillipines and Formosa. They are very dark, with lank coarse black hair, flat faces, and obliquely set eyes. Endowed with great activity and ingenuity, they are mild and gentle, and far advanced in the arts of social life, in some places; in others, ferocious and vindictive, daring and predatory; and from their maritime position and skill, they are a migratory race. Several branches of this class of nations had a very early indigenous civilization, with an original literature in peculiar characters of their own.

The Ethiopian nations are widely dispersed; they occupy all Africa south of the Great Desert, half of Madagascar, the continent of Australia, Mindanao, Gilolo, the high lands of Borneo, Sumbawa, Timor, and New Ireland. The distinguishing characters of this group are, a black complexion, black woolly or frizzled hair, thick lips, projecting jaws, high cheek-bones, and large prominent eyes. A great variety, however, exists in this jetty race: some are handsome both in face and figure, especially in Ethiopia; and even in Western Africa, where the Negro tribes live, there are groups in which the distinctive characters are less exaggerated. This great family has not yet attained a high place among nations, though by no means incapable of cultivation; part of Ethiopia appears to have made considerable progress in civilization in very ancient times. But the formidable deserts, so extensive in some parts of the continent, and the unwholesome climate in others, have cut off intercourse with civilized nations; and, unfortunately, the infamous traffic in slaves, to the disgrace of Christianity, has made the nations of tropical Africa more barbarous than they were before: while, on the contrary, the Foulahs and other tribes who were converts to Mahommedanism 400 years ago, have now large commercial towns, cultivated grounds, and schools. The Australians and Papuans, who inhabit the eastern islands mentioned, are the most degraded of this dark race, and indeed of all mankind.

The American race, who occupy the whole of that continent from 62° N. lat. to the Straits of Magellan, are almost all of a reddish brown or copper colour, with long black hair, deep-set black eyes, aquiline nose, and often of handsome slender forms. In North America they live by hunting, are averse to agriculture, slow in acquiring knowledge, but extremely acute, brave, and fond of war, and, though revengeful, are capable of generosity and gratitude. In South America many are half-civilized, but a greater number are still in a state of utter barbarism. In a family so widely scattered great diversity of character prevails, yet throughout the whole there is a similarity of manners and habits which has resisted all the effects of time and climate.

Each of these five groups of nations, spread over vast regions, is accounted one family; and if they are so by physical structure, they are still more so by language, which expresses the universal mind of a people, modified by external circumstances, of which none have a greater influence than the geographical features of the country they inhabit—an influence that is deepest in the early stages of society. The remnants of ancient poetry in the south of Scotland partake of the gentle and pastoral character of the country; while Celtic verse, and even the spoken language of the Highlander, are full of poetical images of war and stern mountain scenery. This is particularly to be observed in the noble strains of Homer, and in the heroic poems of the early Hindus, which reflect the lofty and sublime character of eastern scenery.[188] As civilization advances, and man becomes more intellectual, language keeps pace in the progress. New words and new expressions are added, as new ideas occur and new things are invented, till at last language itself becomes a study, is refined and perfected by the introduction of general terms. The improvement in language and the development of the mind have been the same in all nations which have arrived at any degree of refinement, and shows the identity of human nature in every country and climate. The art of printing perpetuates a tongue, and great authors immortalize it; yet language is ever changing to a certain degree, though it never loses traces of its origin. Chaucer and Spenser have become obscure; Shakespeare requires a glossary for the modern reader; and in the few years that the United States of America have existed as an independent nation, the colloquial language has deviated from the mother-tongue. When a nation degenerates, it is split by jealousy and war into tribes, each of which, in process of time, acquires a peculiar idiom, and thus the number of dialects is increased, though they still retain a similarity; whereas when masses of mankind are united into great political bodies, their languages by degrees assimilate to one common tongue, which retains traces of all to the latest ages. The form of the dialects now spoken by some savage tribes, as the North American Indians, bears the marks of a once higher state of civilization.

More than 2000 languages are spoken, but few are independent; some are connected by words having the same meaning, some by grammatical structure, others by both; indeed the permanency of language is so great, that neither ages of conquest, nor mixing with other nations, have obliterated the native idiom of a people. The French, Spanish, and German retain traces of the common language spoken before the Roman conquest, and the Celtic tongue still exists in the British Islands.

By a comparison of their dialects, nations far apart, and differing in every other respect, are discovered to have sprung from a common, though remote origin. Thus, all the numerous languages spoken by the American Indians, or red men, are similar in grammatical structure: an intimate analogy exists in the languages of the Esquimaux nations who inhabit the arctic regions of both continents. Dialects of one tongue are spoken throughout North Africa, as far south as the oasis of Siwah on the east, and the Canary Islands on the west. Another group of cognate idioms is common to the inhabitants of Equatorial Africa, while all the southern part of the continent is inhabited by people whose languages are connected. The monosyllabic speech of the Chinese and Indo-Chinese shows that they are the same people; and all the insular nations of the Pacific derived their dialects from some tribes on the continent of India and the Indian Archipelago. Cognate tongues are spoken by the Tartars, Mandtchoux, Fins, Laplanders, many of the Siberian nations, and by the Hungarians.

The Persian, Arabic, Greek, Latin, German, and Celtic tongues are connected by grammatical structure, and words expressive of the same objects and feelings, with the Sanscrit, or sacred language of India; consequently, the nations inhabiting that vast extent of country from the mouths of the Ganges to the British Isles, the coast of Scandinavia and Iceland, must have had the same origin. “The words that fall thoughtlessly from our lips in the daily vocations of life are no idle sounds, but magic symbols which preserve for ever the first migrations of the race, and whose antiquity makes Greece and Rome appear but of yesterday.”

The number of languages spoken from the Ganges to Scandinavia, differing so widely from one another, is a proof of the strength of individual character in nations, which can so powerfully impress its peculiarities on the same mother tongue. In fact every nation, as well as every individual, has its own physical, moral, and intellectual organization, which influences its language and its whole existence.

In the Indo-Germanic nations, which have been dominant for ages, civilization has been progressive, though not without interruptions. Providence has endowed these nations with the richest and most ornamental gifts. Imagination has been liberally granted, and embodied in all that is sublime and beautiful in architecture, sculpture, painting, and poetry. In strength of intellect and speculation, in philosophy, science, laws, and the political principles of society, they have been pre-eminent.

The prevailing races of mankind now inhabiting Europe are the Teutonic, Celtic, and Sclavonian. In the greater part of the continent these races are mixed, but the blood is purely Teutonic throughout Iceland, Scandinavia, round the Gulf of Bothnia, in Denmark, Germany, and the east of England from Portsmouth to the Tyne. Pure Celtic blood is confined to the Basque Provinces in Spain, the south and south-west of France, a part of the Grisons and Switzerland, and some part of Great Britain. The Sclavonian blood is widely dispersed in middle Russia, from the Ural Mountains to the west of the Valdai table-land, and from Novogorod to the lower course of the Don. The three races have been much improved by mixture, in appearance, energy, and versatility of mind.

It is extraordinary that nations should lose their vitality without any apparent cause; throughout the Indian Archipelago there is no longer any one great Malayan nation, in Europe pure Celtic blood has been on the decline for twenty centuries, and even the mixed Celtic variety has not increased in proportion to the Teutonic, although for 2000 years they have been exposed to the same external circumstances.

At present the Teutonic race, including the inhabitants of North America and the British colonies, considerably outnumber the Celtic, though its numbers were far inferior in ancient times. The Teutonic variety has subdued and even exterminated the other varieties in its progress towards the west; it is undoubtedly the most vigorous, both in body and mind, of all mankind, and seems destined to conquer and civilize the whole world. It is a singular fact, whatever the cause may be, that the Celts are invariably Catholic, while the Teutonic population is inclined to Protestantism.

Various other races inhabit Europe, much inferior in numbers to those above mentioned, though occasionally mixed with them, as the Turks, Fins, the Samojedes, who live on the shores of the White Sea and in the north-east of Russia, and the Hungarians, the higher class of which are a fine race of men, and on a par with the most civilized of the European nations. There are many mixed Tartar tribes, chiefly in the south and east of the Russian territories; also Jews and Gipsies, who live among all nations, yet mix with none.[189]

The inhabitants of Great Britain are of Celtic and Teutonic origin. The Celtic blood is purest in Cornwall and the Scilly Islands, in Wales, and the Isle of Man: in the highlands of Scotland and the Hebrides it is more mixed than is generally supposed, as plainly appears from the frequency of red hair and blue eyes. In some parts of Ireland there is pure Celtic blood, but throughout the greater part of that country it is mixed, although the Celtic character predominates; but in Ulster, where the earliest colony settled, the blood is purely Teutonic. In Ireland the difference in the organization of the two races is strongly marked: placed under the same circumstances, the Teutonic part of the population has prospered, which, unfortunately, has not been the case with the Celtic.[190]

The dialects spoken in the Celtic districts are closely allied to the Semitic languages of Asia, and to one another. The Cornish is worn out, the Manx is nearly so, and the Gaelic is declining fast in the highlands of Scotland.

The Roman invasion had no effect on the Anglo-Saxon or old English, a language of Teutonic origin, but the Normans in ancient times had altered it considerably, and in modern times the English tongue has unfortunately been corrupted by the introduction of French, Latin, and Latinized words. Scotch spoken throughout the Lowlands of Scotland is a language independent of the English, though of the same stock; it is derived from the low German, the Frisian, Dutch, and Flemish, and differs widely from the Anglo-Saxon.

No circumstance in the natural world is more inexplicable than the diversity of form and colour in the human race. It had already begun in the antediluvian world, for “there were giants in the land in those days.” No direct mention is made of colour at that time, unless the mark set upon Cain, “lest any one finding him should kill him,” may allude to it. Perhaps, also, it may be inferred that black people dwelt in Ethiopia, or the land of Cush, which means black in the Hebrew language. At all events, the difference now existing must have arisen after the flood, consequently all must have originated with Noah, whose wife, or the wives of his sons, may have been of different colours, for aught we know.

Many instances have occurred in modern times, of albinos and red-haired children having been born of black parents, and these have transmitted their peculiarities to their descendants for several generations, but it may be doubted whether pure-blooded white people have had perfectly black offspring. The varieties are much more likely to have arisen from the effects of climate, food, customs, and civilization upon migratory groups of mankind; and of such, a few instances have occurred in historical times, limited, however, to small numbers and particular spots; but the great mass of nations had received their distinctive characters at a very early period. The permanency of type is one of the most striking circumstances, and proves the length of time necessary to produce a change in national structure and colour. A nation of Ethiopians existed 3450 years ago, which emigrated from a remote country and settled near Egypt, and there must have been black people before the age of Solomon, otherwise he would not have alluded to colour, even poetically. The national appearance of the Ethiopians, Persians, and Jews, has not varied for more than 3000 years, as appears from the ancient Egyptian paintings in the tomb of Rhameses the Great, discovered at Thebes by Belzoni, in which the countenance of the modern Ethiopian and Persian can be readily recognized, and the Jewish features and colour are identical with those of the Israelites daily met with in London. Civilization is supposed to have great influence on colour, having a tendency to make the dark shade more general, and it appears that, in the crossing of two shades, the offspring takes the complexion of the darker and the form of the fairer. But as there is no instance of a new variety of mankind having been established as a nation since the Christian era, there must either have been a greater energy in the causes of change before that time, or, brief as the span of man on earth has been, a wrong estimate of time antecedent to the Christian period must have made it shorter.[191]

Darkness of complexion has been attributed to the sun’s power from the age of Solomon to this day—“Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me;” and there can be no doubt that, to a certain degree, the opinion is well founded. The invisible rays in the solar beams, which change vegetable colours, and have been employed with such remarkable effect in the Daguerreotype, act upon every substance on which they fall, producing mysterious and wonderful changes in their molecular state—man not excepted.[192]

Other causes must have been combined to occasion all the varieties we now see, otherwise every nation between the tropics would be of the same hue, whereas the sooty Negro inhabits equatorial Africa, the Red man equinoctial America, and both are mixed with fairer tribes. In Asia, the Rohillas, a fair race of Affghan extraction, inhabit the plains north of the Ganges: the Bengalee and the mountaineers of Nepaul are dark, and the Mahrattas are yellow. The complexion of man varies with height and latitude; some of the inhabitants of the Himalaya and Hindoo Koosh are fair, and even a red-haired race is found on the latter. There are fair-haired people with blue eyes in the Ruddhua mountains in Africa. The Kabyles, that inhabit the country behind Tunis and Algiers, are similar in complexion to the nations in high northern latitudes. This correspondence, however, only maintains with regard to the northern hemisphere, for it is a well-known fact that the varieties of the numerous species in the great southern continents are much more similar in physical characters to the native races of the torrid zone, than any of the aboriginal people of the northern regions. Even supposing that diversity of colour is owing to the sun’s rays only, it is scarcely possible to attribute the thick lips, the woolly hair, and the entire difference of form, extending even to the very bones and skull, to anything but a concurrence of circumstances, not omitting the invisible influence of electricity, which pervades every part of the earth and air—and possibly terrestrial magnetism.

The flexibility of man’s constitution enables him to live in every climate, from the equator to the ever-frozen coasts of Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, and that chiefly by his capability of bearing the most extreme changes of temperature and diet, which are probably the principal causes of the variety in his form. It has already been mentioned that oxygen is inhaled with the atmospheric air, and also taken in by the pores on the skin; part of it combines chemically with the carbon of the food, and is expired in the form of carbonic acid gas and water; that chemical action is the cause of vital force and heat in man and animals. The quantity of food must be in exact proportion to the quantity of oxygen inhaled, otherwise disease and loss of strength would be the consequence. Since cold air is incessantly carrying off warmth from the skin, more exercise is requisite in winter than in summer, in cold climates than in warm; consequently, more carbon is necessary in the former than in the latter, in order to maintain the chemical action that generates heat, and to ward off the destructive effects of the oxygen, which incessantly strives to consume the body. Animal food, wine, and spirits, contain many times more carbon than fruit and vegetables, therefore animal food is much more necessary in a cold than in a hot climate. The esquimaux, who lives by the chace, and eats 10 or 12 pounds weight of meat and fat in 24 hours, finds it not more than enough to keep up his strength and animal heat, while the indolent inhabitant of Bengal is sufficiently supplied with both by his rice diet. Clothing and warmth make the necessity for exercise and food much less, by diminishing the waste of animal heat. Hunger and cold united soon consume the body, because it loses its power of resisting the action of the oxygen, which consumes part of our substance, when food is wanting. Hence, nations inhabiting warm climates have no great merit in being abstemious, nor are those guilty of committing an excess who live more freely in colder countries. The arrangement of Divine Wisdom is to be admired in this as in all other things, for, if man had only been capable of living on vegetable food, he never could have had a permanent residence beyond the latitude where corn ripens. The Esquimaux, and all the inhabitants of the very high latitudes of both continents, live entirely on fish and animal food. What effects the difference of food may have upon the intellect is not known.

A nation or tribe driven by war, or any other cause, from a warm to a cold country, or the contrary, would be forced to change their food both in quality and quantity, which in the lapse of ages might produce an alteration in the external form and internal structure. The probability is still greater, if the entire change that a few years produces in the matter of which the human frame is composed be considered. At every instant during life, with every motion, voluntary and involuntary, with every thought and every exercise of the brain, a portion of our substance becomes dead, separates from the living part, combines with some of the inhaled oxygen, and is removed. By this process it is supposed that the whole body is renewed every 7 years; individuality, therefore, depends on the spirit, which retains its identity during all the changes of its earthly house, and sometimes even acts independently of it. When sleep is restoring exhausted nature, the spirit is often awake and active, crowding the events of years into a few seconds, and, by its unconsciousness of time, anticipates eternity. Every change of food, climate, and mental excitement, must have their influence on the reproduction of the mortal frame; and thus a thousand causes may co-operate to alter whole races of mankind placed under new circumstances, time being granted.

The difference between the effects of manual labour and the efforts of the brain appears in the intellectual countenance of the educated man, compared with that of the peasant, though even he is occasionally stamped with nature’s own nobility. The most savage people are also the ugliest. Their countenance is deformed by violent unsubdued passions, anxiety, and suffering. Deep sensibility gives a beautiful and varied expression, but every strong emotion is unfavourable to perfect regularity of feature; and of that the Greeks were well aware when they gave that calmness of expression and repose to their unrivalled statues. The refining effects of high culture, and, above all, the Christian religion, by subduing the evil passions, and encouraging the good, are more than anything calculated to improve even the external appearance. The countenance, though perhaps of less regular form, becomes expressive of the amiable and benevolent feelings of the heart, the most captivating and lasting of all beauty.[193]

Thus, an infinite assemblage of causes may be assigned as having produced the endless varieties in the human race; but the fact remains an inscrutable mystery. But amidst all the physical vicissitudes man has undergone, the species remains permanent; and let those who think that the difference in the species of animals and vegetables arises from diversity of conditions, consider, that no circumstances whatever can degrade the form of man to that of the monkey—or elevate the monkey to the form of man.

Animals and vegetables, being the sources of man’s sustenance, have had the chief influence on his destiny and location, and have induced him to settle in those parts of the world where he could procure them in greatest abundance. Wherever the chace or the spontaneous productions of the earth supply him with food, he is completely savage, and only a degree further advanced where he plants the palm and the banana; where grain is the principal food, industry and intelligence are most perfectly developed, as in the temperate zone. On that account the centres of civilization have generally been determined, not by a hot, but by a genial climate, fertile soil, by the vicinity of the sea-coast or great rivers, affording the means of fishing and transport, which last has been one of the chief causes of the superiority of Europe and Southern Asia. The mineral treasures of the earth have been the means of assembling great masses of men in Siberia and the table-land of the Andes, and have given rise to many great cities, both in the Old and the New World. Nations inhabiting elevated table-lands and high ungenial latitudes have been driven there by war, or obliged to wander from countries where the population exceeded the means of living—a cause of migration to which both language and tradition bear testimony. The belief in a future state, so universal, shown by respect for the dead, has no doubt been transmitted from nation to nation. The American Indians, driven from their hunting-grounds, still make pilgrimages to the tombs of their fathers; and these tribes alone, of all uncivilized mankind, worship the Great Spirit as the invisible God and Father of all—a degree of abstract refinement which could hardly have sprung up spontaneously among a rude people, and which must have been transmitted from races who held the Jewish faith.

It is probable that America had been peopled from Asia before the separation of the continents by Behring’s Straits, and there is reason to believe that the location of various races of mankind, now insulated, may have taken place before the separation of the lands by mediterranean seas; whilst others, previously insulated, may be now united by the drying up of inland seas, as those which covered the Sahara desert, and the great hollow round the Caspian Sea, of which it and the Black Sea are probably the remnants.

M. Boué has observed that mountain chains running nearly east and west establish much more striking differences among nations than those which extend from north to south—a circumstance confirmed by observation through the history of mankind. The Scandinavian Alps have not prevented the countries on both sides from being occupied by people of a common descent; while the feeble barrier of the Cheviot Hills, between England and Scotland, and the moderate elevation of the Highland mountains, have prevented the amalgamation of the Anglo-Saxons and the Celts, even in a period of high civilization. The Franks and Belgians are distinct, though separated by hills of still less elevation. For the same reason the Spaniards and Italians differ far more from their neighbours on the other side of the eastern and western chains, than the Spaniards do from the Portuguese, or the Piedmontese from the Provençals. A similar distinction prevails throughout Asia; and in America, where all the principal chains run north and south, there is but one copper-coloured race throughout the continent, which stretches over more climates than Europe and Africa, or even than Asia and Australia, united. It is along chains running north and south that the fusion of languages takes place, and not along those of an easterly and westerly direction. From Poland, for instance, there are intermediate insensible gradations through Germany into France; while in crossing from a German district of the Alps to the valleys of Italy, different tribes and different languages are separated by a single mountain. Even wars and conquest have ever been more easy in one direction than in the other. The difference in the fauna and flora on the two sides of the great table-land and mountains of Asia is a striking illustration of the influence which high lands running east and west have on natural productions, and thus, both directly and indirectly, they affect the distribution of mankind.

The circumstances which thus determine the location of nations, and the fusion or separation of their languages, must, conjointly with moral causes, operate powerfully on their character. The minds of mankind, as well as their fate, are influenced by the soil on which they are born and bred. The natives of elevated countries are attached to their mountains; the Dutch are as much attached to their meadows and canals; and the savage, acquainted only with the discomforts of life, is unhappy when brought among civilized man. Early associations never entirely leave us, however much our position in life may alter, and strong attachments are formed to places which generate in us habits differing from those of other countries.

The Baltic and Mediterranean Seas have had no inconsiderable share in civilizing Europe; one combined with a cold and gloomy climate, the other with a warm and glowing sky, have developed dissimilar characters in the temperament and habits of the surrounding nations, originally dissimilar in race. The charms of climate, and the ease with which the necessaries of life are procured, were favourable to the development of imagination in the more southern nations, and to an indolent enjoyment of their advantages. In the north, on the contrary, the task imposed upon man was harder, and perhaps more favourable to strength of character. The Dutch owe their industry and perseverance to their unceasing struggle against the encroachments of the ocean; the British are indebted to their insular position for their maritime disposition, and to the smallness of their country and the richness of their mines, for their manufacturing and colonizing habits; the military propensities of the French, to the necessity of maintaining their independence among the surrounding nations, as well as to ambition and the love of fame.

Thus, external circumstances materially modify the character of nations, but the original propensities of race are never eradicated, and they are nowhere more prominent than in the progress of the social state in France and England. The vivacity and speculative disposition of the Celt appear in the rapid and violent changes of government and in the succession of theoretical experiments in France; while in Britain the deliberate slowness, prudence, and accurate perceptions of the Teuton are manifest in the gradual improvement and steadiness of their political arrangements. “The prevalent political sentiment of Great Britain is undoubtedly _conservative_, in the best sense of the word, with a powerful under-current of _democratic tendencies_. This gives great power and strength to the political and social body of this country, and makes revolutions by physical force almost impossible. It can be said, without assumption or pretension, that the body politic of Britain is in a sounder state of health than any other in Europe; and that those know very little of this country, who, led away by what they see in France, always dream of violent and revolutionary changes in the constitution. Great Britain is the only country in Europe which has had the good fortune to have all her institutions worked out and framed by her in a strictly _organic_ manner—that is, in accordance with _organic wants_, which require different _conditions_ at different and _successive_ stages of national development—and not by _theoretical experiments_, as in many other countries which are still in a state of excitement consequent upon these experiments. The social character of the people of this country, besides the features which they have in common with other nations of Teutonic origin, is, on the whole, domestic, reserved, aristocratic, and exclusive.”[194]

In speculating upon the effects of external circumstances, and on the original dispositions of the different races of mankind, the stationary and unchanged condition is a curious phenomenon in the history of nations. The inhabitants of Hindostan have not advanced within the historical period; neither have the Chinese. The Peruvians and Mexicans had arrived at a considerable degree of civilization, at which they became stationary, never having availed themselves of their fine country and noble rivers; and their conquerors, the Spaniards, degenerated into the same apathy with the conquered. The unaccountable gipsies have for ages maintained their peculiarities in all countries; so have the Jews and Armenians, who by the perseverance with which they have adhered to their language and institutions, have resisted the influence of physical impressions.

The influence of external circumstances on man is not greater than his influence on the material world. He cannot create power, it is true, but he dexterously avails himself of the powers of nature to subdue nature. Air, fire, water, steam, gravitation, his own muscular strength, and that of animals rendered obedient to his will, are the instruments by which he has converted the desert into a garden, drained marshes, cut canals, made roads, turns the course of rivers, cleared away forests in one country, and planted them in another. By these operations he has altered the climate, changed the course of local winds, increased or diminished the quantity of rain, and softened the rigour of the seasons. In the time of Strabo, the cold in France was so intense, that it was thought impossible to ripen grapes north of the Cevennes: the Rhine and the Danube were every winter covered with ice thick enough to bear any weight. Man’s influence on vegetation has been immense, but the most important changes had been effected in the antediluvian ages of the world. Cain was a tiller of the ground. The olive, the vine, and the fig-tree have been cultivated time immemorial: wheat, rice, and barley, have been so long in an artificial state, that their origin is unknown; even maize, which is a Mexican plant, was in use among the American tribes before the Spanish conquest; and tobacco was already used by them to allay the pangs of hunger, to which those who depend upon the chace for food must be exposed. Most of the ordinary culinary vegetables have been known for ages, and it is remarkable that in these days, when our gardens are adorned with innumerable native plants in a cultivated state, few new grains, vegetables, or fruits have been reclaimed; the old have been produced in infinite variety, and many brought from foreign countries: yet there must exist many plants capable of cultivation, as unpromising in their wild state as the turnip or carrot.

Some families of plants are more susceptible of improvement than others, and, like man himself, can bear almost any climate. One kind of wheat grows to 62° N. latitude; rye and barley are hardier, and succeed still farther north; and few countries are absolutely without grass. The cruciform tribe abounds in useful plants, indeed that family, together with the solanum, the papilionaceous and umbelliferous tribes, furnish most of our vegetables. Many plants, like animals, are of one colour only in their wild state, and their blossoms are single. Art has introduced the variety we now see in the same species, and, by changing the anthers of the wild flowers into petals, has produced double blossoms: by art, too, many plants, natives of warm countries, have been naturalized in colder climates. Few useful plants have beautiful blossoms—but if utility were the only object, of what pleasure should we be deprived! Refinement is not wanting in the inmates of a cottage covered with roses and honeysuckle; and the little garden cultivated amidst a life of toil, tells of a peaceful home.

Among the objects which tend to the improvement of our race, the flower-garden and the park adorned with native and foreign trees have no small share: they are the greatest ornaments of the British Islands; and the love of a country life, which is so strong a passion, is chiefly owing to the law of primogeniture, by which the head of a family is secured in the possession and transmission of his undivided estate, and therefore each generation takes pride and pleasure in adorning the home of its forefathers.

Animals yield more readily to man’s influence than vegetables, and certain classes have greater flexibility of disposition and structure than others. Those only are capable of being perfectly reclaimed that have a natural tendency for it, without which man’s endeavours would be unavailing. This predisposition is greatest in animals which are gregarious and follow a leader, as elephants, dogs, horses, and cattle do in their wild state; yet even among these some species are refractory, as the buffalo, which can only be regarded as half-reclaimed. The canine tribe, on the contrary, are capable of the greatest attachment, not the dog only, man’s faithful companion, but even the wolf, and especially the hyæna, generally believed to be so ferocious. After an absence of many months, a hyæna which had been the fellow-passenger of a friend of the author’s in a voyage from India, recognized his voice before he came in sight, and on seeing him it showed the greatest joy, lay down like a dog and licked his hands. He had been kind to it on the voyage, and no animal forgets kindness, which is the surest way of reclaiming them. There cannot be a greater mistake than the harsh and cruel means by which dogs and horses are too commonly trained; but it is long before man learns that his power is mental, and that it is his intellect alone that has given him dominion over the earth and its inhabitants, of which so many far surpass him in physical strength. The useful animals were reclaimed by the early inhabitants of Asia, and it is very remarkable, notwithstanding the enterprise and activity of the present times, that among the multitudes of animals that inhabit America, Central and Southern Africa, Australia and the Indian Archipelago, 4 only have been domesticated, yet many may be capable of becoming useful to man. Of 35 species, of which we possess one or more domestic races, 31 are natives of Asia, Europe, and North Africa; these countries are far from being exhausted, and a complete hemisphere is yet unexplored. An attempt has been made to domesticate the Llama, the Dziggetai, Zebra, and some species of Indian deer, but the success is either doubtful or the attempt has not been followed up. Little has been left for modern nations but the improvement of the species, and in that they have been very successful. The variety of horses, dogs, cattle, and sheep is beyond number. The form, colour, and even the disposition, may be materially altered, and the habits engrafted are transmitted to the offspring, as instinctive properties independent of education. Domestic fowls go in flocks on their native meads when wild. There are, however, instances of solitary birds being tamed to an extraordinary degree, as the raven, one of the most sagacious.

Man’s necessities and pleasure have been the cause of great changes in the animal creation—and his destructive propensity of still greater. Animals are intended for our use, and field-sports are advantageous by encouraging a daring and active spirit in young men, but the utter destruction of some races, in order to protect those destined for his pleasure, is too selfish. Animals soon acquire a dread of man, which becomes instinctive and hereditary; in newly-discovered uninhabited countries, birds and beasts are so tame as to allow themselves to be caught; whales scarcely got out of the way of the ships that first navigated the Arctic Ocean, but now they universally have a dread of the common enemy: whales and seals have been extirpated in various places; sea-fowl and birds of passage are not likely to be extinguished, but many land animals and birds are vanishing before the advance of civilization. Drainage, cultivation, cutting down of forests, and even the introduction of new plants and animals, destroy some of the old, and alter the relations between those that remain. The inaccessible cliffs of the Himalaya and Andes will afford a refuge to the eagle and condor, but the time will come when the mighty forests of the Amazons and Orinoco will disappear with the myriads of their joyous inhabitants. The lion, the tiger, and the elephant will be known only by ancient records. Man, the lord of the creation, will extirpate the noble creatures of the earth—but he himself will ever be the slave of the canker-worm and the fly. Cultivation may lessen the scourge of the insect tribe, but God’s great army will ever, from time to time, appear suddenly—no one knows from whence; the grub will take possession of the ground, and the locust will come from the desert and destroy the fairest prospects of the harvest.

Though the unreclaimed portion of the animal creation is falling before the progress of improvement, yet man has been both the voluntary and the involuntary cause of the introduction of new animals and plants into countries in which they were not natives. The Spanish conquerors little thought that the descendants of the few cattle and horses they allowed to run wild, would resume the original character of their species, and roam in hundreds of thousands over the savannahs of South America. Wherever man is, civilized or savage, there also is the dog, but he too has in some places resumed his native state and habits, and hunts in packs. Domestic animals, grain, fruit, vegetables, and the weeds that grow with them, have been conveyed by colonists to all settlements. Birds and insects follow certain plants into countries in which they were never seen before. Even the inhabitants of the waters change their abode in consequence of the influence of man. Fish, natives of the rivers on the coast of the Mexican Gulf, have migrated by the canals to the heart of North America; and the mytilus polymorphus, a shell-fish brought to the London Docks in the timbers of ships from the brackish waters of the Black Sea and its tributary streams, has spread into the interior of England by the Croydon and other canals.

The influence of man on man is a power of the highest order, far surpassing that which he possesses over inanimate or animal nature. It is, however, as a collective body, and not as an individual, that he exercises this influence over his fellow-creatures. The free-will of man, nay, even his most capricious passions, neutralize each other, when large numbers of men are considered. Professor Quetelet has most ably proved, that the greater the number of individuals, the more completely does the will of each, as well as all individual peculiarities, moral or physical, disappear, and allow the series of general facts to predominate, which depend upon the causes by which society exists and is preserved. The uniformity with which the number of marriages in Belgium occurred in 20 years, places the neutralization of the free-will of the individual man beyond a doubt, and is one of many instances of the importance of average quantities in arriving at general laws.

Certainly no event in a man’s life depends more upon his free will than his marriage, yet it appears from the records in Brussels, that nearly the same number of marriages take place every year, in the towns as well as in the country, and, moreover, that the same constancy prevails in each province, though the numbers of the people are so small, that accidental causes might be more likely to affect the general result than when the numbers are larger. In fact the whole affair passes as if the inhabitants of Belgium had agreed to contract nearly the same number of marriages annually, at each stage of life. Young people may possibly be in some degree under the control of parents, but there can be no restraint on the free will of men of 30 and women of 60 years of age, yet the same number of such incongruous marriages do annually take place between men and women at those unsuitable ages—a fact which almost exceeds belief. The day fixed for a wedding is of all things most entirely dependent on the will of the parties, yet even here there is regularity in the annual recurrence. (See Table on next page.)

With regard to crimes also, M. Quetelet observes that the same number of crimes of the same description are committed annually, with remarkable uniformity, even in the case of those crimes which would seem most likely to baffle all attempt at prediction. The same regularity occurs in the sentences passed on criminals: in France, in every hundred trials there were sixty-one convictions regularly, year after year.

Forgetfulness, as well as free-will, is under constant laws: the number of undirected letters put into the post-office in London and in Paris is very nearly the same year after year respectively—in London they amount to 2000: so that even the deviations from free-will proves the generality and the constancy of the laws that govern us.

Scientific discoveries and social combinations, which put in practice great social principles, are not without a decided influence; but these causes of action coming from man, are placed out of the sphere of the free-will of each: so that individual impulse has less to do with the progress of mankind than is generally believed. When society has arrived at a certain point of advancement, certain discoveries will naturally be made; the general mind is directed that way, and if one individual does not hit upon the discovery, another will. Therefore, on the disputes and discussions of different nations for the honour of particular inventions or discoveries, as for example the steam-engine, a narrow view of the subject is taken; they properly belong to the age in which they are made, without derogating from the merits of those benefactors of mankind who have lessened his toil or increased his comfort by the efforts of their genius. The time had come for the invention of printing, and printing was invented; and the same observation is applicable to many objects in the physical, as well as to the moral world. In the present disturbed state of society the time is come for the termination of the feudal system, which will be swept away by the force of public opinion, though individuality merges in these general movements.

_The following Table, which is one of the most curious of statistical documents, was formed by Professor Quetelet from the Register of Marriages at Brussels_:—

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | MARRIAGES IN BELGIUM IN THE YEARS | +---------------------+-----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ | | | 1841 | 1842 | 1843 | 1844 | 1845 | +---------------------+-----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ | {| Women of 30 years of | | | | | | | {| age and under | 12,788 | 12,422 | 12,368 | 13,024 | 13,157 | | Men of 30 years of {| Women from 30 to 45 | 2,630 | 2,626 | 2,406 | 2,375 | 2,438 | | age and under, to {| Women from 45 to 60 | 93 | 121 | 125 | 129 | 102 | | {| Women from 60 upwards | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | {| Women of 30 and under | 6,122 | 5,803 | 5,617 | 4,948 | 5,810 | | Men from 30 to 35 {| Women from 30 to 45 | 5,531 | 5,396 | 5,100 | 5,205 | 4,981 | | inclusive, to {| Women from 45 to 60 | 529 | 542 | 479 | 493 | 532 | | {| Women from 60 upwards | 18 | 12 | 18 | 21 | 21 | | | | | | | | | | {| Women of 30 and under | 376 | 346 | 380 | 355 | 346 | | Men from 45 to 60 {| Women from 30 to 45 | 896 | 879 | 896 | 951 | 993 | | inclusive, to {| Women from 45 to 60 | 461 | 447 | 433 | 462 | 460 | | {| Women from 60 upwards | 23 | 19 | 29 | 36 | 28 | | | | | | | | | | {| Women of 30 and under | 48 | 35 | 45 | 41 | 36 | | Men from 60 and {| Women from 30 to 45 | 139 | 147 | 133 | 119 | 125 | | above, to {| Women from 45 to 60 | 153 | 170 | 137 | 112 | 145 | | {| Women from 60 upwards | 62 | 52 | 48 | 50 | 31 | | | +--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ | Annual Number of Marriages | 29,876 | 29,023 | 28,220 | 29,326 | 29,210 | +---------------------+-----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

Though each individual is accountable to God for his conduct, it is evident that the great laws which regulate mankind are altogether independent of his will, and that liberty of action is perfectly compatible with the general design of Providence. “A more profound study of the social system will have the effect of limiting more and more the sphere in which man’s free-will is exercised, for the Supreme Being could not grant him a power which tends to overthrow the laws impressed on all the parts of creation: He has traced its limits, as He has fixed those of the ocean.”

Man is eminently sociable; he willingly gives up part of his free-will to become a member of a social body; and it is this portion of the individuality of each member of that body, taken in the aggregate, which becomes the directrice of the principal social movements of a nation. It may be greater or less, good or bad, but it determines the customs, wants, and the national spirit of a people; it regulates the sum of their moral statistics; and it is in that manner that the cultivation or savageness, the virtues or the vices, of individuals have their influence. It is thus that private morality becomes the base of public morality.

The more man advances in civilization the greater will be his collective influence, for knowledge is power; and at no time did the mental superiority of the cultivated races produce such changes as they do at present, because they have extended their influence to the uttermost parts of the earth by emigration, colonization, and commerce. In civilized society the number of people in the course of time exceeds the means of sustenance, which compels some to emigrate; others are induced by a spirit of enterprise to go to new countries, some for the love of gain, others to fly from oppression.

The discovery of the New World opened a wide field for emigration. Spain and Portugal, the first to avail themselves of it, acquired dominion over some of the finest parts of South America, which they have maintained till lately a change of times has rendered their colonies independent states. Liberal opinions have spread into the interior of that continent, in proportion to the facility of communication with the cities on the coasts, from whence European ideas are disseminated. Of this Venezuela and Chile are instances, where civilization and prosperity have advanced more rapidly than in the interior parts of South America, where the Andes are higher and the distance from the sea greater. Civilization has been impeded in many of the smaller states by war, and those broils inevitable among people unaccustomed to free institutions. Brazil would have been further advanced but for slavery, that stain on the human race, which corrupts the master as much as it debases the slave.

Some of the native South American tribes have spontaneously made considerably progress in civilization in modern times; others have benefited by the Spanish and Portuguese colonists; and many have been brought into subjection by the Jesuits, who have instructed them in some of the arts of social life. But these Indians are not more religious than their neighbours, and, from the restraint to which they have been subject, have lost vigour of character without improving in intellect; so that now they are either stationary or retrograde. Extensive regions are still the abode of men in the lowest state of barbarism: some of the tribes inhabiting the silvas of the Orinoco, Amazons, and Uruguay are cannibals.

The arrival of the colonists in North America sealed the fate of the red men. The inhabitants of the Union, too late awakened to the just claims of the ancient proprietors of the land, have recently, but vainly, attempted to save the remnant. The white man, like an irresistible torrent, has already reached the centre of the continent; and the native tribes now retreat towards the far west, and will continue to retreat, till the Pacific Ocean arrests them, and the animals on their hunting-grounds are exterminated. The almost universal dislike the Indian has shown for the arts of peace has been one of the principal causes of his decline, although the Cherokee tribe, which has lately migrated to the west of the Mississippi, is a remarkable exception; the greater number of them are industrious planters or mechanics; they have a republican government, and publish a newspaper in their own language, in a character lately invented by one of that nation.

No part of the world has been the scene of greater iniquity than the West Indian islands—and that perpetrated by the most enlightened nations of Europe. The native race has long been swept away by the stranger, and a new people, cruelly torn from their homes, have been made the slaves of hard task-masters. If the odious participation in this guilt has been a stain on the British name, the abolition of slavery by the universal acclamation of the nation will ever form one of the brightest pages in their history, so full of glory: nor will it be the less so, that justice was combined with mercy, by the millions of money granted to indemnify the proprietors. It is deeply to be lamented that our brethren on the other side of the Atlantic have not followed the example of their fatherland; but in limited monarchies the voice of the people is listened to, while republican governments are more apt to become its slave. The Northern States have nobly declared every man free who sets his foot on their territory—and the time will come when the Southern States will sacrifice interest to justice and mercy.

It seems to be the design of Providence to supplant the savage by civilized man in the continent of Australia as well as in North America, though every effort has been made to prevent the extinction of the natives. Most of the tribes in that continent are as low in the scale of mankind as the cannibal Fuegians, whom Captain Fitzroy so generously, but so ineffectually, attempted to reclaim. Some of the New Hollanders are faithful servants for a time, but they almost always find the restraint of civilized life irksome, and return to their former habits, though truly miserable in a country where the means of existence are so scanty. Animals and birds are very scarce, and there is no fruit or vegetable for the sustenance of man.

Slavery has been a greater impediment to the improvement of Africa than even the physical disadvantages of the country—the great arid deserts and unwholesome coasts. A spontaneous civilization has arisen in various parts of Southern and Central Africa, in which there has been considerable progress in agriculture and commerce; but civilized man has been a scourge on the Atlantic coast, which has extended its baneful influence into the heart of the continent, by the encouragement it has given to warfare among the natives for the capture of slaves, and for the introduction of European vices, unredeemed by Christian virtues. Now that France and England have united in the suppression of this odious traffic, some hopes may be entertained that their colonies may be beneficial to the natives, and that other nations may follow their example, in which, however, they have been anticipated by three Mahommedan sovereigns; the Sultan has abolished the slave market in Constantinople, Ibrahim Pasha on his return from France and England gave freedom to his bondsmen in Egypt, and the Bey of Tunis has abolished slavery in his dominions.

The French are zealous in improving the people in Algiers, but the constant warfare in which they have been embroiled ever since their conquest must render their success in civilizing the natives at least remote. The inhabitants of those extensive and magnificent countries in the eastern seas that have long been colonized by the Dutch have made but little progress under their rule.

The British colony at the Cape of Good Hope has had considerable influence on the neighbouring rude nations, who now begin to adopt more civilized habits. When Mr. Somerville visited Litako, the natives for the first time saw a white person and a horse, and were scantily clothed with skins. When Dr. Smith visited them 20 years afterwards, he found the chief men mounted on horseback, wearing hats made of rushes, and an attempt made to imitate European dress.

Colonization has nowhere produced such happy results as among the amiable and cultivated inhabitants of India, who are sensible of the benefits they derive from the impartial administration of just and equal laws, the foundation of schools and colleges, and the wide extension of commerce.

All the causes of emigration have operated by turns on the inhabitants of Britain, and various circumstances have concurred to make their colonies permanent. In North America, that which not many years ago was a British colony has become a great independent nation, occupying a large portion of the continent. The Australian continent and New Zealand will in after ages be peopled by a British race, and will become centres of civilization which will spread its influence to the uttermost islands of the Pacific. These splendid islands, possessing every advantage of climate and soil, with a population in many parts far advanced in the arts of civilized life, industry, and commerce, though in others savage, will in time come in for a share of the general improvement. The success that has attended the noble and unaided efforts of Sir J. Brooke in Borneo, shows how much the influence of an active and benevolent mind can in a short time effect.

The colonies on the continent of India are already centres from which the culture of Europe is spreading over the East.

Commerce has not less influence on mankind than colonization, with which it is intimately connected; and the narrow limits of the British Islands have rendered it necessary for its inhabitants to exert their industry. The riches of our mines in coal and metals, which produce a yearly income of 24,000,000_l._ sterling, is a principal cause of our manufacturing and commercial wealth; but even with these natural advantages, more is due not only to our talents and enterprise, but to our high character for faith and honour.

Every country has its own peculiar productions, and by an unrestrained interchange of the gifts of Providence the condition of all is improved. The exclusive jealousy with which commerce has hitherto been fettered, shows the length of time that is necessary to wear out the effects of those selfish passions which separated nations when they were yet barbarous. It required a high degree of cultivation to break down those barriers consecrated by their antiquity; and the accomplishment of this important change evinces the rate at which the present age is advancing.

A new era in the history of the world began when China was opened to European intercourse; but many years must pass before European influence can penetrate that vast empire, and eradicate those illiberal prejudices by which it has so long been governed.

Two important triumphs yet remain to be achieved over physical difficulties by the science and energy of man, namely, the junction of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans at the Isthmus of Central America, and the union of the Red Sea with the Mediterranean at that of Suez. The first seems to be on the eve of accomplishment, and, in conjunction with the treasures with which the auriferous district of California is said to abound, may bring about a complete revolution in the tide of affairs; and that country, hitherto so completely separated from the rest of the world and so little known, will become a new centre of civilization, whose influence will be diffused over the wide Pacific to the shores of the eastern continent; the expectation of Columbus will then be realized—of a passage to the East Indies by the Atlantic. Should the Mediterranean and Red Sea be united by a water communication, Alexandria, Venice, and the other maritime cities of southern Europe may regain, at least in part, the mercantile position which they lost by the discovery of Vasco da Gama.[195]

The advantages of colonization and commerce to the less civilized part of the world are incalculable, as well as to those at home, not only by furnishing an exchange for manufactures, important as this is, but by the immense accession of knowledge of the earth and its inhabitants, that has been thus attained.

The history of former ages exhibits nothing to be compared with the mental activity of the present. Steam, which annihilates time and space, fills mankind with schemes for advantage or defence: but however mercenary the motives for enterprise may be, it is instrumental in bringing nations together. The facility of communication is rapidly assimilating national character. Society in most of the capitals is formed on the same model; and as the study of modern languages is now considered a part of polite education, and every well-educated person speaks more than one modern tongue, one of the great barriers to the assimilation of character amongst nations will be removed.

Science has never been so extensively and so successfully cultivated as at the present time: the collective wisdom and experience of Europe and the United States of America is now brought to bear on subjects of the highest importance in annual meetings, where the common pursuit of truth is as beneficial to the moral as to the intellectual character, and the noble objects of investigation are no longer confined to a philosophic few, but are becoming widely diffused among all ranks of society, and the most enlightened governments have given their support to measures that could not have been otherwise accomplished.[196] Simultaneous observations are made at numerous places in both hemispheres on electricity, magnetism, on the tides and currents of the air and the ocean, and those mysterious vicissitudes of temperature and moisture, which bless the labours of the husbandman one year, and blight them in another.

The places of the nebulæ and fixed stars, and their motions, are known with unexampled precision, and the most refined analyses embrace the most varied objects. Three new satellites and six new planets have been discovered within four years, and one of these under circumstances the most unprecedented. In the far heavens, from disturbances in the motions of Uranus which could not be accounted for, an unknown and unseen body was declared to be revolving on the utmost verge of the solar system; and it was found in the very region of the heavens pointed out by analysis. On earth, though hundreds of miles apart, that invisible messenger, electricity, instantaneously conveys the thoughts of the invisible spirit of man to man—results of science sublimely transcendental.

Vain would be the attempt to enumerate the improvements in machinery and mechanics, the canals and railroads that have been made, the harbours that have been improved, the land that has been drained, the bridges that have been constructed; and now, although Britain is inferior to none in many things, and superior to all in some, one of our most distinguished engineers declares that we are scarcely beyond the threshold in improvement; to stand still is to retrograde, human ingenuity will always keep pace with the unforeseen, the increasing wants of the age.[197] “Who knows what may yet be in store for our use; what new discovery may again change the tide of human affairs; what hidden treasures may yet be brought to light in the air or in the ocean, of which we know so little; or what virtues there may be in the herbs of the field, and in the treasures of the earth—how far its hidden fires, or stores of ice, may yet become available—ages can never exhaust the treasures of nature or the talent of man.”[198] It would be difficult to follow the rapid course of discovery through the complicated mazes of magnetism and electricity; the action of the electric current on the polarized sun-beam, one of the most beautiful of modern discoveries, leading to relations hitherto unsuspected between that power and the complex assemblage of visible and invisible influences on solar light, by one of which nature has recently been made to paint her own likeness. It is impossible to convey an idea of the rapid succession of the varied and curious results of chemistry, and its application to physiology and agriculture; moreover, distinguished works have lately been published at home and abroad on the science of mind, which has been so successfully cultivated in our own country. Geography has assumed a new character, by that unwearied search for accurate knowledge and truth that marks the present age, and physical geography is altogether a new science.

The spirit of nautical and geographical discovery, begun in the 15th century, by those illustrious navigators who had a new world to discover, is at this day as energetic as ever, though the results are less brilliant. Neither the long gloomy night of a polar winter, nor the dangers of the ice and the storm, deter our gallant seamen from seeking a better acquaintance with “this ball of earth,” even under its most frowning aspect; and that, for honour, which they are as eager to seek even in the cannon’s mouth. Nor have other nations of Europe and America been without their share in these bold adventures. The scorching sun and deadly swamps of the tropics as little prevent the traveller from collecting the animals and plants of the present creation, or the geologist from investigating those of ages long gone by. Man daily indicates his birthright as lord of the creation, and compels every land and sea to contribute to his knowledge.

The most distinguished modern travellers, following the noble example of Baron Humboldt, the patriarch of physical geography, take a more extended view of the subject than the earth and its animal and vegetable inhabitants afford, and include in their researches the past and present condition of man, the origin, manners, and languages of existing nations, and the monuments of those that have been. Geography has had its dark ages, during which the situation of many great cities and spots of celebrity in sacred and profane history had been entirely lost sight of, which are now discovered by the learning and assiduity of the modern traveller. Of this, Italy, Egypt, the Holy Land, Asia Minor, Arabia, and the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris, with the adjacent mountains of Persia, are remarkable instances, not to mention the vast region of the East, and the remote centres of aboriginal civilization in the New World. The interesting discoveries of Mr. Layard, who possessed every acquirement that could render a traveller competent to accomplish so arduous an undertaking, have brought to light the long-hidden treasures of the ancient Nineveh, where its own peculiar style of art had existed anterior to that of Egypt.[199] In many parts of the world the ruins of cities of extraordinary magnitude and architecture show that there are wide regions of whose original inhabitants we know nothing. The Andes of Peru and Mexico have remains of civilized nations before the age of the Incas. Mr. Pentland has found numerous remains of Peruvian monuments in every part of the great valley of the Peru-Bolivian Andes, and many parts of the imperial capital Cusco, little changed from what they were at the downfall of Atahualpa. Mr. Stephens has found in the woods of Central America the ruins of great cities, adorned with sculpture and pictorial writings, vestiges of a people far advanced, who had once cultivated the soil where these entangled forests now grow. Picture-writings have been discovered by Sir Robert Schomburgk on rocks in Guiana, spread over an extent of 350,000 square miles, similar to those found in the United States and in Siberia. Magnificent buildings still exist in good preservation all over eastern Asia, and many in a ruinous state belong to a period far beyond written record.

Ancient literature has furnished a subject of still more interesting research, from which it is evident that the mind of man is essentially the same under very different circumstances: every nation far advanced in civilization has had its age of poetry, the drama, romance, and philosophy, each stamped with the character of the people and times, and still more with their religious belief. Our profound Oriental scholars have made known to Europeans the refined Sanscrit literature of Hindostan, its schools of philosophy and astronomy, its dramatic writings and poetry, which are original and beautiful, and to these the learned in Greece and Italy have contributed.

The riches of Chinese literature, and their valuable geography, were introduced into Europe by the French Jesuits of the last century, and followed up with success by the French and English philosophers of the present: to France we also owe much of our knowledge of the poetry and letters of Persia; and from the time that Dr. Young deciphered the inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian hieroglyphics and picture-writing have been studied by the learned of France, England, and Italy, and we have reason to expect much new information from the more recent researches of Professor Lepsius of Berlin. The Germans, indeed, have left few subjects of ancient literature unexplored, even to the language written at Babylon and Nineveh—the most successful attempt to decipher which is due to a distinguished countryman of our own, Colonel Rawlinson.

The press has overflowed with an unprecedented quantity of literature, some of standard merit, and much more that is ephemeral, suited to all ranks, on every subject, with the aim, in our own country at least, to improve the people, and to advocate the cause of morality and virtue. All this mental energy is but an effect of those laws which regulate human affairs, and include in their generality the various changes that tend to improve the condition of man.

The fine arts do not keep pace with science, though they have not been altogether left behind. Painting, like poetry, must come spontaneously, because a feeling for it depends upon innate sympathies in the human breast. Nothing external could affect us, unless there were corresponding ideas within; poetically constituted minds of the highest organization are most deeply impressed with whatever is excellent. All are not gifted with a strong perception of the beautiful, in the same way as some persons cannot see certain colours, or hear certain sounds. Those elevated sentiments which constitute genius are given to few; yet something akin, though inferior in degree, exists in most men. Consequently, though culture may not inspire genius, it cherishes and calls forth the natural perception of what is good and beautiful, and by that means improves the tone of the national mind, and forms a counterpoise to the all-absorbing useful and commercial.

Historical painting is successfully cultivated both in France and Germany. The Germans have modelled their school on the true style of the ancient masters. They have become their rivals in richness and beauty of colouring, and are not surpassed in vividness of imagination, nor in variety and sublimity of composition, which is poetry of the highest order embodied. Sculpture and architecture are also marked by that elevated and pure taste which distinguish their other works of art.[200] French artists, following in the same steps, have produced historical works of great merit. Pictures of _genre_ and scenes of domestic life have been painted with much expression and beauty by our own artists; and British landscapes, like some painted by German artists, are not mere portraits of nature, but pictures of high poetical feeling, and the excellence of their composition has been acknowledged all over Europe, by the popularity of the engravings which illustrate many of our modern books. The encouragement given to this branch of art at home may be ascribed to the taste for a country life so general in England. Water-colour painting, which is entirely of British growth, has now become a favourite style in every country, and is brought to the highest perfection in our own.

The Italians have had the merit of restoring sculpture to the pure style which it had lost, and that gifted people have produced some of the noblest specimens of modern art. The greatest genius of his time left the snows of the far North to spend his days in Rome, the head-quarters of art; and our own sculptors of eminent talents have established themselves in Rome, where they find a more congenial spirit than in their own country, in which the compositions of Flaxman were not appreciated till they had become the admiration of Europe. Munich can boast of some of the finest specimens of modern sculpture and architecture.

The Opera, one of the most refined of theatrical amusements in every capital city in Europe, displays the excellence and power of Italian melody, which has been transmitted from age to age by a succession of great composers. German music, partaking of the learned character of the nation, is rich in original harmony, which requires a cultivated taste to understand and appreciate.

Italy is the only country that has had two poetical eras of the highest order; and, great as the Latin period was, that of Dante was more original and sublime. The Germans, so eminent in every branch of literature, have also been great as poets; the power of Goethe’s genius will render his poems as permanent as the language in which they are written. France is, as it long has been, the abode of the Comic Muse; and although that nation can claim great poets of a more serious cast, yet the language and the habits of the people are more suited to the gay than the grave style. Though the British may have been inferior to other nations in some branches of the fine arts, yet poetry, immeasurably the greatest and most noble, redeems, and more than redeems us. The nation that produced the poetry of Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton, with all the brilliant train, down nearly to the present time, must ever hold a distinguished place, as an imaginative people. Shakespeare alone would stamp a language with immortality. The British novels stand high among works of imagination, and they have generally had the merit of advancing the cause of morality. Had French novelists attended more to this, their knowledge of the human heart and the brilliancy of their composition would have been more appreciated.

Poetry of the highest stamp has fled before the utilitarian spirit of the age; yet there is as much talent in the world, and imagination too, at the present time, as at any former period, though directed to different and more important objects, because the whole aspect of the moral world is altered. The period is come for one of those important changes in the minds of men which occur from time to time, and form great epochs in the history of the human race. The whole of civilized Europe could not have been roused to the enthusiasm which led them to embark in the Crusades by the preaching of Peter the Hermit, unless the people had been prepared for it: men were ready for the Reformation before the impulse was given by Luther; and Pius IX. merely applied the match to a train already laid. These are the barometric storms of the human mind.

The present state of transition has been imperceptibly in progress, aided by many concurring circumstances, among which the increasing intelligence of the lower orders, and steam-travelling, have been the most efficient. The latter has assisted eminently in the diffusion of knowledge, and has probably accelerated the crisis of public affairs on the Continent, by giving the inhabitants of different countries opportunities of intercourse, and comparing their conditions. No invention that has been made for ages has so levelling a tendency, which accords but too well with the present disposition of the people. The spirit of emancipation, so peculiarly characteristic of this century, appears in all the relations of life, political and social. On the continent of Europe it has shaken the whole fabric of society, subverted law and order, and ruined thousands, in order to throw down the crumbling remains of the feudal system. The same emancipating spirit which has thrown young and old into a state of insubordination and rebellion abroad, has been quietly but gradually altering the relations of social and domestic life at home. Parent and child no longer stand in the same relation to one another; even at an early age boys assume the character and independence of men, which may perhaps fit them sooner for taking their share in the affairs of the world; for it must be acknowledged that, whether from early independence or some other cause, no country has produced more youthful and able statesmen than our own; but, at the same time, it places them on a less amicable and more dangerous position, by depriving them of the advice and experience of the aged, to which the same deference is no longer paid. The working man considers his interest to be at variance with that of the manufacturer, and the attachment of servants to their masters is nearly as extinct in Britain as vassalage. Ambition, to a great extent, pervades the inferior and middle grades of society, and so few are satisfied with the condition in which they were born, that the pressure upwards is enormous. The numerous instances of men rising from an inferior rank to the highest offices in the State encourages the endeavour to rise in society, which is right and natural, if pursued by legitimate means, but the levelling disposition so prevalent abroad is pernicious as it is impracticable. So long as men are endowed with different dispositions and different talents, so long will they differ in condition and fortune, and this is as strongly marked in republics as in any other form of government; for man, with all his attempts to liberate himself from nature’s ordinances, by the establishment of equal laws and civil rights, never can escape from them—inequality of condition is permanent as the human race. Hence, from necessity we must fulfil the duties of the station in which we are placed, bearing in mind that, while Christianity requires the poor to endure their lot with patience, it imposes a heavy responsibility on the rich.

In Britain, respect for the labouring classes, together with active benevolence, form the counterpoise to the evil propensities of this state of transition; a benevolence which is not confined to alms-giving, but which consists in the earnest desire to contribute with energy to the sum of human happiness. In proportion as that disposition is diffused among the higher classes, and the more they can convince the lower orders that they have an ardent desire to afford them every source of happiness and comfort that is in their power, so much sooner will the transient evils pass away, and an improved state of things will commence; kindly and confiding feelings will then take the place of coldness and mistrust.

The continual increase of that disinterested benevolence and liberal sentiment, which in our own country is the most hopeful and consoling feature of the age, manifests itself in the frequency with which plans for ameliorating the condition of the lower classes are brought before Parliament; in the societies formed for their relief; and in the many institutions established for their benefit and comfort.

Three of the most beneficial systems of modern times are due to the benevolence of English ladies—the improvement of prison discipline, savings-banks, and banks for lending small sums to the poor. The success of all has exceeded every expectation, and these admirable institutions are now adopted by several foreign countries. The importance of popular and agricultural education is becoming an object of attention to the more enlightened governments; and one of the greatest improvements in education is, that teachers are now fitted for their duties, by being taught the art of teaching. The gentleness with which instruction is conveyed no longer blights the joyous days of youth, but, on the contrary, encourages self-education, which is the most efficient.

The system of infant-schools, established in many parts of Europe and throughout the United States of America, is rapidly improving the condition of the people. The instruction given in them is suited to the station of the scholars, and the moral lessons taught are often reflected back on the uneducated parents by their children. Moreover, the personal intercourse with the higher orders, and the kindness which the children receive from them, strengthen the bond of reciprocal good feeling. Since the abolition of the feudal system, the separation between the higher and the lower classes of society has been increasing; but the generous exertions of individuals, whose only object is to do good, is now beginning to correct a tendency that, unchecked, might have led to the worst consequences to all ranks. We learn from statistical reports that the pains taken by individuals and associations are not without their effect upon the character of the nation. For example, during the eleven years that preceded 1846, in which the criminal returns indicated the intellectual condition of persons accused, there were 31 counties in England and Wales in which not one educated woman was called before a court of law, in a population of 2,617,653 females.[201]

Crime has generally decreased in proportion to the religious and moral education of the people: the improvement in the morality of the factory-children is immense since Government appointed inspectors to superintend their health and education;[202] and indeed the improvement in the condition of the whole population appears from the bills of mortality, which unquestionably prove that the duration of human life is continually increasing throughout Great Britain.[203]

The voluntary sacrifices that have been made to relieve the necessities of a famishing nation evince the humane disposition of the age. But it is not one particular and extraordinary case, however admirable, that marks the general progress—it is not in the earthquake or the storm, but in the still small voice of consolation heard in the cabin of the wretched, that is the prominent feature of the charities of the present time, when the benevolent of all ranks seek for distress in the abodes of poverty and vice, to aid and to reform. No language can do justice to the merit of those who devote themselves to the reformation of the children who have hitherto wandered neglected in the streets of great cities; in the unpromising task they have laboured with patience, undismayed by difficulties that might have discouraged the most determined—but they have had their reward, they have succeeded.[204] The language of kindness and sympathy, never before heard by these children of crime and wretchedness, is saving multitudes from perdition. But it would require a volume to enumerate the exertions that are making for the accommodation, health, and improvement of the people, and the devotion of high and low to the introduction of new establishments and the amelioration of the old. Noble and liberal sentiments mark the proceedings of public assemblies, whether in the cause of nations or of individuals, and the severity of our penal laws is mitigated by a milder system. Happily this liberal and benevolent spirit is not confined to Britain, it is universal in the States of the American Union, and it is spreading widely through the more civilized countries of Europe.

No retrograde movement can now take place in civilization; the diffusion of Christian virtues and of knowledge ensures the progressive advancement of man in those high moral and intellectual qualities that constitute his true dignity. But much yet remains to be done at home, especially in religious instruction and the prevention of crime; and millions of our fellow-creatures in both hemispheres are still in the lowest grade of barbarism. Ages and ages must pass away before they can be civilized; but if there be any analogy between the period of man’s duration on earth and that of the frailest plant or shell-fish of the geological periods, he must still be in his infancy; and let those who doubt of his indefinite improvement compare the first revolution in France with the last, or the state of Europe in the middle ages with what it is at present. For, notwithstanding the disturbed condition of the Continent, and the mistaken means the people employ to improve their position, crime is less frequent and less atrocious than it was in former times, and the universal indignation it now raises is a strong indication of improvement. In our own country, men who seem to have lived before their time were formerly prosecuted and punished for opinions which are now sanctioned by the legislature, and acknowledged by all. The moral disposition of the age appears in the refinement of conversation. Selfishness and evil passions may possibly ever be found in the human breast, but the progress of the race will consist in the increasing power of public opinion, the collective voice of mankind regulated by the Christian principles of morality and justice. The individuality of man modifies his opinions and belief; it is a part of that variety which is a universal law of nature; so that there will probably always be a difference of views as to religious doctrine, which, however, will become more spiritual, and freer from the taint of human infirmity; but the power of the Christian religion will appear in purer conduct, and in the more general practice of mutual forbearance, charity, and love.

APPENDIX.

Table of the Heights above the Sea of some of the Principal Mountain Chains.

EUROPE.

---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- Names of Places, Mountains, &c. | Heights | Countries | Authorities. | in English | in which | | Feet. | situated. | ---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- MONT BLANC | 15,739 |Alps, P.[205]| P. S.[206] Monte Rosa | 15,210 | Alps, L. | P. S. Mont Cervin | 14,836 | Alps, P. | P. S. Finsterärhorn | 14,026 | Alps, B. | Eichman. Jungfrau | 13,672 | Alps, B. | Eichman. Le Géant du M. Blanc | 13,786 | Alps, P. | P. S. Mont Combin | 14,124 | Alps, P. | P. S. Mont Iséran | 13,272 | Alps, G. | P. S. Monte Viso | 13,599 | Alps, C. | P. S. Ortler Spitz | 12,851 | Alps, R. | A. S. Le Grand Rioburent | 11,063 | Alps, M. | P. S. Drey Herrn Spitz | 10,122 | Alps, Car. | A. S. Mont Terglou | 9,386 | Alps, J. | A. S. | | | _Passes of the Alps_:-- | | | | | | Col du Géant | 11,238[207]| Alps, P. | Saussure. Col de St. Theodule | 11,185 | Alps, P. | P. S. Pass of Great St. Bernard | 8,173 | Alps, P. | P. S. Pass of La Furka | 8,714 | Alps, L. | S. S. Pass of Mont Moro | 8,937 | Alps, L. | P. S. Pass of Le Tavernette | 9,827 | Alps, C. | P. S. Pass of Mont Iséran | 9,196 | Alps, G. | P. S. Pass of Col des Fenêtres | 9,581 | Alps, P. | P. S. Pass of the Stelvio | 9,177 | Alps, R. | A. S. Pass of Bernardino | 7,015 | Alps, R. | A. S. Pass of the Splugen | 6,946 | Alps, R. | A. S. Pass of St. Gothard | 6,808 | Alps, R. | S. S. Pass of Mont Cenis | 6,772 | Alps, G. | P. S. Pass of Simplon | 6,578 | Alps, L. | P. S. Pass of Tende | 6,159 | Alps, M. | P. S. Pass of Mont Genèvre | 6,119 | Alps, C. | P. S. Pass of Brenner | 4,659 | Alps, R. | A. S. Pass of Pontebba | 3,625 | Alps, J. | A. S. | | | Malahite Peak | 11,168 | Pyrenees | A. B. L.[208] Mont Perdu Peak | 10,994 | Pyrenees | A. B. L. Maboré, Cylinder of | 10,899 | Pyrenees | A. B. L. Maladetta, Cylinder of | 10,886 | Pyrenees | A. B. L. Vignemale, Cylinder of | 10,820 | Pyrenees | A. B. L. Pic du Midi | 9,540 | Pyrenees | A. B. L. Canigou | 9,137 | Pyrenees | A. B. L. | | | _Passes of the Pyrenees_:-- | | | | | | Pass or Port d’Oo | 9,843 | France | A. B. L. Pass or Port d’Estaube | 8,402 | France | A. B. L. Pass or Port de Gavarnie | 7,654 | France | A. B. L. Pass or Port de Tourmalet | 7,143 | France | A. B. L. | | | Pic de Sancy | 6,188 | France | A. B. L. Plomb du Cantal | 6,093 | France | A. B. L. Mont Mezen | 5,795 | France | A. B. L. Puy de Dôme | 4,806 | France | A. B. L. Ballon des Vosges | 4,688 | France | A. B. L. Mont Ventoux | 6,263 | France | A. B. L. Mulachaçen | 11,483 | Spain | A. B. L. Sierra de Gredos | 10,552 | Spain | Bory. Estrella | 7,526 | Spain | Franzini. Siete Picos | 7,244 | Spain | Bauza. Peña Laza | 8,222 | Spain | Bauza. El Gador | 6,575 | Spain | Rojas. | | | Monte Corno, or Gran Sasso | 9,521 | Italy, | d’Italia | | Apennines | Monte Vellino | 7,851 | Italy, | M. de Prony. | | Apennines | Termenillo Grande | 7,212 | Italy, | Schow. | | Apennines | Monte Amaro di Majella | 9,113 | Italy, | Schow. | | Apennines | Monte Cimone | 6,975 | Italy, | Schow. | | Apennines | Mont Amiata | 5,794 | Tuscany | Schow. St. Oreste or Soracte | 2,140 | Campagna | Schow. | | of Rome. | | | | _Passes of the Appennines_:-- | | | | | | Pass of Noviordi Giovi | 1,550 | | Schow. Pass of La Bochetta | 2,550 | | Schow. Pass of Pietramala | 3,294 | | Schow. | | | _Islands of the Mediterranean_:--| | | | | | Monte Rotondo | 8,767 | Corsica | A. B. L. Monte d’Oro | 8,701 | Corsica | A. B. L. Monte Generargenta | 6,004 | Sardinia | La Marmora. Mount Etna | 10,874 | Sicily | W. H. Smyth. Pizzo di Cane | 6,509 | Sicily | A. B. L. Mount Eryx | 3,894 | Sicily | A. B. L. Stromboli | 2,687 | Lipari Isles| De Borch. | | | _Greece and Morea_:-- | | | | | | Mount Guiona | 8,538 | | Peytier.[209] Parnassus | 8,068 | | Peytier. Taygetus, Mont St. Elias | 7,904 | | Peytier. Mont Olonas | 7,293 | | Peytier. Mont Kelmos | 7,726 | | Peytier. Mont Athos | 6,778 | | De Borch. Mont Helicon | 5,738 | | Peytier. Delphi | 5,725 | | Peytier. Mont Hymettus | 3,378 | | Peytier. | | | _Central Europe_:-- | | | | | | Ruska Joyana | 9,912 | E. Carpaths.| Malte Brun. Budosch, Transylvania | 9,593 | E. Carpaths.| A. B. L. Surrul | 9,593 | | Mount Tatra; highest point | 8,524 | W. Carpaths.| Wahlenberg. Mount Tatra; Csabi Peak | 8,314 | W. Carpaths.| Wahlenberg. Mount Tatra; Lomnitz | 8,861 | W. Carpaths.| A. B. L. Riesenhoppe, in the | | | Riesengeberge | 5,394 | Germany | Horen. Feldberg, in the Schwarzwald | 4,675 | Germany | French | | | Engineers. Belchenberg, in the Schwarzwald| 4,642 | Germany | French | | | Engineers. Kandelberg, in the Schwarzwald | 4,160 | Germany | Bohnenberger. Schneeberg, Geisengebirge | 4,784 | Germany | Kammkoppel, Geisengebirge | 4,265 | Germany | Charpentier. Sonnenwerbel, in the Erzgebirge| 4,124 | Germany | Rachelberg, in the Böhmerwald | 4,561 | Germany | Sternberg. Steinberg, Moravia | 3,511 | Germany | David. Brocken, Hartz | 3,658 | Germany | Zach. Schneeberg, in the | | | Fichtelgebirge | 3,461 | Germany | Goldfuss. Blessberg, in the Thuringerwald| 2,748 | Germany | Zach. Glockner, in the Thuringerwald | 2,231 | Germany | Zach. Gross Feldberg, in the Taunus | | | chain | 2,775 | Germany | Schmidt. Lowenberg, in the Siebengebirge| 2,024 | Germany | Nose. | | | _Norway and Sweden:--_ | | | | | | Skagtöltend Lat. 61° 24ʹ | 8,101 | Scandinavian| Keilhau. | | Mountains | Koldetind | 7,224 | Scandinavian| Keilhau. | | Mountains | Sognefield | 7,182 | Scandinavian| Hagelstam. | | Mountains | Mugnafield Lat. 61° 20ʹ | 7,215 | Scandinavian| Forsell. | | Mountains | Schneehattan Lat. 62 20 | 8,120 | Scandinavian| Eismark. | | Mountains | Pighœttan Lat. 62 2 | 6,788 | Scandinavian| Hagelstam. | | Mountains | Sulitelma Lat. 67 5 | 6,178 | Scandinavian| Wahlenberg. | | Mountains | Langfield Lat. 61 53 | 6,598 | Scandinavian| Hagelstam. | | Mountains | Melderskin Lat. 60 0 | 4,859 | Scandinavian| Von Buch. | | Mountains | Lyngen Mountains Lat. 69 30 | 4,300 | Scandinavian| Von Buch. | | Mountains | | | | _Great Britain:--_ | | | | | | Ben Nevis | 4,380 | Scotland | Jameson. Cairntoul, Aberdeenshire | 4,223 | Scotland | Playfair. Ben Avon, Aberdeenshire | 3,931 | Scotland | Playfair. Ben More, Grampians | 3,819 | Scotland | Playfair. Schehallien, Grampians | 3,514 | Scotland | Playfair. Snowdon | 3,557 | Wales | Roy. Cader Idris | 3,550 | Wales | Roy. Carn Llewellyn | 3,471 | Wales | Roy. Cross Fell, Cumberland | 3,383 | England | Jameson. Helvyllen, Cumberland | 3,313 | England | Jameson. Skiddaw, Cumberland | 3,038 | England | Dr. Young. Schunner Fell, Yorkshire | 2,388 | England | Smith. Coniston Fell, Lancashire | 2,575 | England | Smith. Cheviot Hills | 2,657 | England | Smith. Pentland Hills | 1,878 | Scotland | Playfair. Curran Tual, Kerry | 3,412 | Ireland | Nimmo. Sleib Donnard | 3,146 | Ireland | Nimmo. Nephin, Mayo | 2,644 | Ireland | Jameson. Mourne Mountains, Down | 2,493 | Ireland | Jameson. Ben More, Isle of Mull | 3,100 | Hebrides | Jameson. Hecla, Isle of S. Uist | 3,002 | Hebrides | Boué. Cuchullin, Isle of Skye | 2,995 | Hebrides | M’Culloch. Mount Rona | 3,593 | Shetland | Laing. | | | _Iceland and Feroe:--_ | | | | | | Snœfials, Jokull | 5,115 | Iceland | A. B. L. Hecla | 3,324 | Iceland | A. B. L. Skalingefield, Isle Stromoe | 2,172 | Feroe | Stein.

ASIA.

---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- Names of Places, Mountains, &c. | Heights | Countries | Authorities. | in English | in which | | Feet. | situated. | ---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- | | | _Himalaya Chain:—_ | | | | | | Kunchinginga, W. part | 28,178 | Sikim | Col. Waugh.[210] Kunchinginga, E. Peak | 27,826 | Sikim | Col. Waugh. Dwalagari | 26,862 | Nepaul | Webb. Juwahir | 25,670 | Kumaöon | Herbert. Jumoo | 25,312 | Sikim | Waugh. Jumnautri | 25,500 | Nepaul | Webb. Dhaibun | 24,740 | Nepaul | Webb. Kabroo | 24,005 | Sikim | Waugh. Chamalari | 23,929 | Tibet | Waugh. Powhunry | 23,176 | Sikim | Waugh.[210] Momonangli, or Gurla | 23,500 | Tibet | Strachey.[211] Api Peak | 22,799 | Nepaul | Webb. | | | Peak No. 12 | 23,263 |} Between the| Webb. Peak No. 13 | 22,313 |} Kali and E.| Webb. Peak No. 23 | 22,727 |} branch of | Webb. Peak No. 25 | 22,277 |} the Ganges.| Webb. | | | St. George’s Peak | 22,500 |} Between | Webb. St. Patrick’s Peak | 22,638 |} the Ganges | Webb. Gungoutri Pyramid | 21,219 |} and Sutlej.| Webb. | | | Jownlee Peak (highest) | 21,940 | Kumaöon | Webb. Kailas Peak | 21,000 | Tibet | Strachey. Kohibaba | 17,905 | Hindoo Cush | Burnes. Peak N. of Cabul | 20,232 | Hindoo Cush | Burnes. | | | _Passes of the Himalaya:—_ | | | | | | Karokorum Pass | 18,600 | Tibet | Dr. Thomson[212] Parangla Pass | 18,500 | Tibet | Cunningham. Kronbrung Pass | 18,313 | Tibet | Gerard. Langpya Dhura or Doora | | | Ghaut | 17,750 | Tibet | Strachey. Lipu Lek Pass | 16,884 | Tibet | Manson. Niti Ghaut Pass | 16,814 | Tibet | Gerard. Paralaha Pass | 16,500 | Tibet | Webb. Shatool Pass | 15,500 | Tibet | Webb. | | | Elbrouz | 18,493 | Caucasus | Fuss. Kasbeck | 16,530 | Caucasus | A. C.[213] Demavend | 14,695 | Persia | Thomson. Ararat | 17,112 | Persia | Parrot. Argæus | 13,197 | Asia Minor | A. C. Beloukha | 11,062 | Altai | A. C. Mount Lebanus | 9,517 | Syria | A. B. L. Mount Horeb | 8,593 | Syria | Rüppell. Mount Sinai | 7,498 | Syria | Rüppell. Jebel Serbal | 6,760 | Syria | Rüppell. Kamen Peak | 5,397 | Ural | A. C. Tremel Peak | 5,071 | Ural | A. C.

AFRICA, AND ISLANDS IN THE ATLANTIC.

---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- Names of Places, Mountains, &c. | Heights | Countries | Authorities. | in English | in which | | Feet. | situated. | ---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- | | | Mount Atlas (Miltsin) | 11,400 | Morocco | Washington. Mount Abba Jarrat 13° 10ʹ N | 15,008 | Abyssinia | Rüppell. Mount Buahat 13 12 N | 14,362 | Abyssinia | Rüppell. Kilimandjaro 4 0 S | 20,000 | Abyssinia in| Ans. of Phil. (doubtful.) | | the Mtns. | | | of the | | | Moon. | Table Mountain | 3,816 | Cape of Good| A. B. L. | | Hope. | Pico Ruivo | 6,056 | Madeira | Vidal. Peak of Teyde, Teneriffe | 12,172 | Canaries. | Von Buch. Chahorra, Teneriffe | 9,885 | Canaries. | Von Buch. Pico de Cruz, Palma | 7,730 | Canaries. | Vidal.[214] Los Pexos, Great Canary | 6,400 | Canaries. | Vidal. Alto Garaona, Gomera | 4,400 | Canaries. | Vidal. San Anton, Ferro | 3,907 | Canaries. | Vidal. Asses’ Ears, Fuestaventura | 2,770 | Canaries. | Vidal. Peak of Fogo | 9,154 | Cape Verde | Deville. | | Islands. | Pico, Island of San Antonio | 8,815 | Cape Verde | Capt. King. | | Islands. | Pico, Island of Pico | 7,613 | Azores | Vidal. Pico de Vara, Island of St. | | | Michael’s | 3,570 | Azores | Vidal. Caldeira de Sta. Barbara, | | | Terceira | 3,500 | Azores | Vidal. Pico de San Jorje | 3,498 | Azores | Vidal. Morro Gordo, Flores | 3,087 | Azores | Vidal. Caldeira de Corvo | 2,460 | Azores | Vidal.

AMERICA.

---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- Names of Places, Mountains, &c. | Heights | Countries | Authorities. | in English | in which | | Feet. | situated. | ---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- | | | _North America:—_ | | | | | | Mount St. Elias | 16,775 |N. America | A. B. L. Popocatepetl | 17,717 |Mexico | A. B. L. Orizaba | 17,374 |Mexico | Humboldt. Iztacihuatl | 15,705 |Mexico | Humboldt. Nevado of Toluca | 15,542 |Mexico | A. B. L. Sierra Nevada | 15,170 |Mexico | Humboldt. Perote Mount | 13,413 |Mexico | Humboldt. Fair Weather Mountain | 14,925 |N. America | Jorullo | 4,265 |Mexico | Humboldt. Volcan de Fuego, west peak | 13,160 |Guatemala | Basil Hall. Volcan de Fuego, east peak | 13,050 |Guatemala | Basil Hall. Irasu, or Volcano of Cartago | 11,480 |Guatemala | Phys. Atlas. | | | _West Indies:—_ | | | | | | Blue Mountains | 7,277 |Jamaica | La Souffrière | 5,108 |Guadaloupe | Montagne Pelee | 4,432 |Martinique | Monnier. Mount Garon | 4,370 |St. Vincent’s| Chisholm. | | | _South America:—_ | | | | | | La Silla de Caraccas | 8,600 |Venezuela | Humboldt. Cerro de Duida | 8,280 |Venezuela | Humboldt. Roraima Lat. 5° 30ʹ N. | 7,450 |Guiana | Schomburgk. Mountains of Santa Martha | 19,000? |New Grenada | Plains of Bogota | 8,730 |New Grenada | Humboldt. Volcano of Tolima | 18,020 |Andes of | Humboldt. | | N. Grenada | Volcano of Purace | 17,034 | | Humboldt. | |Andes of | Cumbal | 15,620 |N. Grenada | Bousingault. | |Andes of the | Cayambe | 19,535 | Equator | Humboldt. | |Andes of the | Antisana | 19,137 | Equator | Humboldt. | |Andes of the | Cotopaxi | 18,875 | Equator | Humboldt. | |Andes of the | Pinchincha | 15,924 | Equator | Humboldt. | |Andes of the | Chimborazo | 21,424 | Equator | Humboldt. | |Andes of the | Illinissa | 17,380 | Equator | Bouguer. | |Andes of the | Tunguragua | 16,424 | Equator | Humboldt. | |Andes of the | Sangai | 16,138 | Equator | La Condamine. Vilcañota Mount | 17,525 |Peru | Pentland.[215] Apu-Cunuranu | 17,590 |Peru | Pentland Guaracoota Peak, Snowline | 16,297 |Peru | Pentland Cololo Lat. 14° 58ʹ | 17,930 |Bolivia | Volcano of Arequipa | 20,320 |Peru | Pentland Quenuta Lat. 17° 41ʹ | 18,765 |Peru | Pentland Chipicani | 19,745 |Peru | Pentland Pomarape | 21,700 |Peru | Pentland Parinacota | 22,030 |Peru | Pentland Sahama | 22,350 |Peru | Pentland Gualateiri Lat. 18° 23ʹ | 21,960 |Peru | Pentland Ancohuma, S. Peak | 21,286 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Ancohuma, N. Peak | 21,043 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Chachacomani, N. Peak | 20,355 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Angel Peak Lat. 16° 10ʹ | 20,115 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Supaïwasi, or Huayna Potosi | 20,260 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Cacaca Lat. 16° 25ʹ | 18,210 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | La Mesada, S. Peak | 19,356 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Illimani, S. Peak | 21,140 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Mount de las Litanias | 14,500 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Mount Miriquiri Peak Lat. 17° | 16,100 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Cerro, or Mountain of Potosi | 16,152 |Bolivian | Pentland | |Andes | Cerro, or Mountain of | |Bolivian | Chorolque, near Tupisa | 16,550 |Andes | Redhead. Aconcagua Mountain | 23,910 |Chile[216] | Fitzroy and | | | Beechey Tupungato | 15,000 |Chile | Antuco | 16,000 |Chile | Fitzroy Villarica | 16,000 |Chile | Fitzroy Volcano of Osorno, or | 7,550 |Chile | Fitzroy Llanquihue | | | Yanteles | 8,030 |Chile | Fitzroy Minchinmadava Volcano | 8,000 |Chile | Fitzroy Mount Stokes | 6,400 |Patagonia | Fitzroy Mount Burney | 5,800 |Patagonia | Fitzroy Mount Sarmiento | 6,900 |Tierra del | Fitzroy | | Fuego | Mount Darwin | 6,800 |Tierra del | Fitzroy | | Fuego | | | | _Passes of the Andes:_ | | | | | | Rumihuasi | 16,160 |Peru | Gaye. Altos de Toledo | 15,790 |Peru | Pentland. Pacuani | 15,340 |Bolivia | Pentland. Chullunquiani | 15,160 |Bolivia | Pentland. Vilcañota, or la Raya | 14,520 |Peru | Pentland. Gualillas | 14,750 |Peru | Pentland. Paramo d’Assüay | 15,528 |Equator | Humboldt. Guanacas | 14,708 |Equator | Bouguer. Pass of Quindiu | 11,502 |N. Grenada | Humboldt. Pass of el Almorsadero | 12,850 |N. Grenada | Humboldt. Pass of La Cumbre | 12,450 |Chile | Pentland. Pass of Peuquenes | 13,210 |Chile | Dr. Gillies. Pass of el Portillo | 14,365 |Chile | Humboldt. | | | _Mountains of Brazil:_ | | | | | | Itambe | 5,960 | | Eschwege. Villarica chain, Sierra da | | | Piedade | 5,830 | | Eschwege. Itacolumi | 5,750 | | Eschwege.

ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC, POLYNESIA, AUSTRALASIA, &c.

---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- Names of Places, Mountains, &c. | Heights | Countries | Authorities. | in English | in which | | Feet. | situated. | ---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- | | | Isle of Bourbon, highest point | 8,340 | | Phys. Atlas. Mount Ambotismene | 11,506 |Madagascar | A. B. L. Adam’s Peak | 6,152 |Ceylon | Mount Slamat or Tajal | 11,930 |Java | Junghuhn. Mount Sumbung | 11,030 |Java | Junghuhn. Mount Gounnong Pasama, or Ophir | 13,840 |Sumatra | Raffles. Volcano of Matua | 4,500 |Kurile Is. | Phys. Atlas. Peak of Unimak | 8,593 |Aleutian Is. | Phys. Atlas. Mowna Kea | 13,953 |Sandwich Is. | Wilkes. Mowna Roa | 13,760 |Sandwich Is. | Wilkes. Tobreonou | 12,250 |Otaheite | Phys. Atlas. Mount Wellington, or Kosciusco | 6,500 |New Holland | Strelizki. Mount Lindsay Lat. 28° 20ʹ S. | 5,700 |New Holland | Mitchell. Mount Canobolas Lat. 33 25 | 4,551 |New Holland | Mitchell. Mount Edgecumbe | 9,630 |New Zealand | Bidwell. Mount Egmont | 8,840 |New Zealand | Dieffenbach. Tongariro Mountain | 6,200 |New Zealand | Dieffenbach. Mount Erebus | 12,400 |} Antarctic | Sir J. C. Ross. Mount Terror | 10,880 |} Lands | Sir J. C. Ross.

LAKES AND INLAND SEAS.

---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- Names of Places, Mountains, &c. | Heights | Countries | Authorities. | in English | in which | | Feet. | situated. | ---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- Sirikol, source of the Oxus | 15,630 |Pameo | Wood. Manasarowar and Raikas Thal | 15,250 |Tibet | Strachey. Chumurari Lake | 15,000 |Tibet | Cunningham. Titicaca | 12,847 |Peru-Bolivia | Pentland. Baikal | 1,535 |Asia | A. C. Lake of Van | 566 |Turkey in | A. C. | |Asia | Aral | 36 |Asia | A. C. Caspian Sea, _below_ the level | | | of the Ocean | 82 |Asia | R. Survey. Dead Sea, _below_ the Ocean | 1,312 |Syria |Symond. Lake Superior | 596 |N. America | Lake of Lucerne | 1,407 |Switzerland | Eschman. Lake of Geneva | 1,230 |Switzerland | Eschman.

HEIGHTS OF SOME REMARKABLE INHABITED PLACES.

---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- Names of Places, Mountains, &c. | Heights | Countries | Authorities. | in English | in which | | Feet. | situated. | ---------------------------------+------------+-------------+------------- | | | Rumihuasi, Post Station | 15,542 |Andes of Peru| Gaye. Ayavirini, Post Station | 14,960 |Peru | Gaye. Pati, Post Station 16° 05ʹ | 14,400 |Peru | Pentland. Apo Post Station 16 13S. | 14,376 |Peru | Pentland. Ancochallani, farm 17 35 | 14,683 |Peru | Pentland. Tacora, village 17 47 | 13,690 |Peru | Pentland. Calamarca 16 54 | 13,650 |Bolivia | Pentland. Antisana, farm | 13,454 |Equator | Humboldt. Potosi, city | 13,330 |Bolivia | Pentland. Puno, city | 12,870 |Peru | Pentland. Oruro, city | 12,454 |Bolivia | Pentland. La Paz, city | 12,226 |Bolivia | Pentland. Miquipampa, village | 11,870 |Peru | Humboldt. Cusco, city | 11,384 |Peru | Pentland. Quito, capital of the Equator | 9,543 | | Humboldt. Chuquisaca, capital of Bolivia | 9,343 |Bolivia | Pentland. Bogota, capital of New Grenada | 8,730 |N. Grenada | Humboldt. Mexico | 7,570 |Mexico | Humboldt. Arequipa, city | 7,852 |Peru | Pentland. Highest villages on S. side of | | | the Himalaya | 13,000 |Kumäon | Strachey. Ladak | 9,995 |Tibet | A. C. Niti, village | 11,473 |Kumäon | Webb. Darjeeling, town | 7,165 |Sekim | Waugh. | | Himalaya | Cabool | 6,382 |Afghanistan | Burnes. Kandahar | 5,563 |Afghanistan | Humboldt. Teheran | 4,137 |Persia | A. C. Kashmir, city | 5,818 |Kashmir | Hugel. Hospital of Great St. Bernard | 8,110 | | A. B. L. Hospital of St. Gothard | 6,808 |Alps, P. | A. B. L. St. Veran, village | 6,693 |Alps, C. | A. B. L. Breuil, village | 6,584 |Alps, P. | P. S. Barèges, village | 4,072 |Pyrenees | A. B. L. Briançon, town | 4,285 |Alps, M. | A. B. L. Madrid, city | 1,994 |Spain | A. B. L. Münich, city | 1,764 |Bavaria | A. B. L. Geneva, city | 1,450 |Switzerland | A. B. L. Lima, city | 520 |Peru | Pentland. Vienna, city | 436 |Austria | A. B. L. Milan, city | 420 |Lombardy | A. B. L. Paris, Observatory | 213 |France | A. B. L. Rome, Capitol | 151 |Italy | A. B. L. Berlin | 131 |Prussia | A. B. L.

GLOSSARY.

A´BIES. Lat. A fir-tree. Specific name of a tree.

ABYSSI´NICA. Lat. Abyssinian; belonging or relating to Abyssinia.

ACA´CIA. Gr. _ake_, a point, and _akios_, not subject to worms: a thorny tree. A genus of the family Leguminósæ and order Mimósæ. About 300 species are enumerated; many of them yield gum.

ACA´CIA ARA´BICA. Arabian acacia.

ACA´CIAS. Trees belonging to the genus acacia.

A´CID. A term given by chemists to those compound bodies which unite with salifiable bases to form salts: for example, a compound of sulphur and oxygen, called sulphuric acid, unites with magnesia and forms a salt named sulphate of magnesia, or Epsom salts.

ACI´DULOUS. Sourish; possessing acid properties.

ACROCHO´RDI. Lat.: plural of acrochordus.

ACROCHO´RDUS. From the Greek _akrochordon_, a wart. A genus of non-venemous ophidians, whose bodies are entirely covered by scales resembling warts: these scales, or rather squamous tubercles, are small, numerous, rhomboidal, and surmounted by a small horn or point, more or less sharp.

ADANSO´NIA. A genus of plants named in honor of Michel Adanson, a famous French botanist, born in 1727. _Adanso´nia digita´ta._ Sour gourd. Monkeys’ bread or Baobab tree of Senegal, which is considered the largest or rather the broadest tree in the world. “Several measured by Adanson, were from sixty-eight to seventy-eight feet in circumference, but not extraordinarily high. The trunks were from twelve to fifteen feet high, before they divided into many horizontal branches, which touched the ground at their extremities; these were from forty-five to fifty-five feet long, and were so large that each branch was equal to a monstrous tree; and where the water of a neighboring river had washed away the earth, so as to leave the roots of one of these trees bare and open to the sight, they measured 110 feet long, without including those parts of the roots which remained covered. It yields a fruit which resembles a gourd, and which serves for vessels of various uses; the bark furnishes a coarse thread, which they form into ropes, and into cloth with which the natives cover their middle from the girdle to the knees; the small leaves supply them with food in time of scarcity, while the large ones are used for covering their houses, or, by burning, for the manufacture of good soap. At Sierra Leone this tree does not grow larger than an orchard apple tree.” _Loudon._

A´DIT. Lat. _adeo_, I approach. A horizontal shaft or passage in a mine, either for access, or for carrying off water.

AFRICA´NUS. Lat. African; belonging or relating to Africa.

AGALLO´CHUM. From the Gr. _aggalomai_, to become splendid. A resinous, aromatic wood, burned by the Chinese and Japanese for the sake of its agreeable odour, from the _Excæca´ria aggallo´cha_. Aloes wood.

A´GAMOUS. From the Gr. _a_, privative, and _gamos_, marriage. Having no sex.

A´GATE. A name given to all varieties of quartz which have not a vitreous aspect; are compact, semi-transparent, and whose fracture resembles that of wax. Agates are of various colors and admit of a fine polish. According to Theophrastes and Pliny, the name comes from the river Achates in Sicily, now the Drillo, on the banks of which the first agates were found.

AGLA´IA. From the Gr. _Aglaia_, beauty, elegance. A genus of plants, trees or shrubs, of which there are five or six species in the Island of Java. The _odora´ta_ is one.

A´GUA. Spanish. Water.

AIRA. From the Gr. _aira_, a tare, cockle weed. A genus of the family of Gramíneæ, or grasses, of the tribe of Avenáceæ. Hair-grass. _A. antarctica._ Antarctic hair-grass.

AIR-PLANTS. A name given to certain parasitic plants which were supposed to be nourished by the air alone, without contact with the soil. There are some species which will live many months suspended by a string in a warm apartment.

ALBA, } ALBUS,} Lat. White. ALBUM,}

ALBI´NO. Spanish. From the Lat. _albus_, white. Applied to individuals of the human race, (and extended also to some other animals), who have white hair; the iris, pinkish or very pale; and the eyes unable to bear much light. Albinos are most frequent in the negro race; but it does not seem to be true that there are tribes of Albinos in any part of the world.

AL´BUMEN. From the Lat. _albus_, white. A chemical term, applied to an immediate organic principle, which constitutes the chief part of the white of egg. Animal and vegetable albumen are nearly the same in composition.

AL´CALINE. Having properties of an alkali.

ALCHEMI´LLAS or ALCHEMI´LLA. Arabic. A genus of plants of the family Rosáceæ. The _A. vulgaris_, common ladies’ mantle.

A´LGA. Lat. Sea-weed.

A´LGÆ. Plural of alga. Name of a sub-class of crytógamous plants, which is subdivided into three families: the _Phy´ceæ_, or submerged sea-weeds; the _Lichens_, or emerged sea-weed, and the _Byssa´ceæ_, or amphibious sea-weeds. The algæ or sea-weeds are ágamous plants which live in the air, on the surface or at the bottom of fresh or salt water; they are remarkable for their cellular or filamentous structure into which no vessels enter.

ALHA´GI. Arabic. Genus of plants of the family of Leguminósæ. The _alhagi maurorum_ grows in the deserts of Egypt; a sweet, gummy substance exudes from the bark in form of small yellowish grains, which, it appears, was the manna the Hebrews ate while in the deserts of Arabia Petria.

AL´KALI or AL´CALI. A chemical term formerly applied to potash and soda: it now embraces the oxides of potassium, sodium, lithium, barium, strontium and calcium, metals which decompose water at ordinary temperatures and absorb, that is, combine with its oxygen, giving out heat and flame.

A´LOE. Name of a genus of plants which includes very many species. The inspissated juice of several of these species constitutes the varieties of the medicine called Soccotrine, Barbadoes aloes, &c.

ALLU´VIAL. Of the nature of alluvium.

ALLU´VION,} From the Lat. _alluo_, I wash upon. Gravel, ALLUVIUM, } sand, mud and other transported matter, washed down by rivers and floods upon lands not permanently submerged beneath water. A deposit formed of transported matter.

ALPI´NUM,} Lat. Alpine; belonging or relating to the Alps. ALPI´NUS,}

ALU´MINUM or ALUMI´NIUM. From _alu´men_, alum. The mettaloid which forms the basis of alum; of alumina or pure argil.

AMARY´LLIS. From the Gr. _amarusso_, to be resplendent. A nymph in ancient mythology. Name of a genus of plants, forming the type of the family of Amaryllídeæ, composed of about sixty species. Generally they are bulbous plants, remarkable for the size and beauty of their flowers.

AMBLYRHI´NCHUS. From the Gr. _amblus_, obtuse, and _rugchos_, snout. Name of a genus of iguanian reptiles.

A´METHYST. From the Gr. _amithustos_, not drunk. The ancients gave this name to a stone in which the wine red colour was tempered with violet. A violet variety of hyaline quartz.

AMMO´NIA. A colourlous gas of a peculiar, pungent odour. It causes death when respired; and its strong alcaline reaction distinguishes it from all other elastic fluids. It is liberated from all its chemical combinations by the alkalis. Spirits of hartshorn is a solution of this gas.

AMMONI´ACAL. Of the nature of ammonia.

AM´MONITE. From the Lat. _Ammon_, a name of Jupiter. A fossil so called from a supposed resemblance to the horns engraven on the heads of Jupiter Ammon. In certain parts of England called _snake-stones_. Ammonites are fossil shells, rolled upon the same plane, consisting of a series of separate chambers, like the nautilus.

AMOR´PHOUS. From the Gr. _a_, privative, and _morphe_, form. Without definite or regular shape.

AMPE´LIDÆ. Lat. (_ampelis_), name of a family of birds in the tribe of dentiróstres.

AMPELI´DEÆ. From the Gr. _ampelos_, a vine. Name of the family of Phanerógamous plants, which includes the vine.

AMPHI´BIOUS. From the Gr. _amphibios_, two-lived. Having the faculty of living in two elements.

AMPHIU´MA. From the Gr. _amphi_, both, on all sides, and _uma_, that which has been moistened. A genus of Batrachians in which lungs but no bronchiæ exist through life. _Amphiu´ma menop´oma._ A kind of Batrachian which resembles the Salamander. It is found in Louisiana.

A´MPLITUDE. In astronomy denotes the angular distance of a celestial body, at the time it rises or sets, from the east or west points of the horizon. It is sometimes used to designate the horizontal distance a projectile reaches when thrown from a gun.

AMY´RIS. From the Gr. _amuros_, not perfumed. A genus of phanerógamous plants, which is the type of the family of Amyri´deæ which is allied to the family of turpentines. _Amy´ris gileade´nsis._ The Balm of Gilead. _Amy´ris kataf._ The myrrh tree. _Amy´ris opoba´lsamum._ The opobalsam, or balsam of Mecca.

ANA´NAS. Portuguese. Pine-apple. Genus of the family Bromeliáceæ, and type of the tribe Ananáceæ.

ANDRO´MEDA. Mythological name of a constellation. Genus of the family Ericáceæ, and type of the tribe Andromédeæ or Andromedas.

ANGE´LICA ARCHENGE´LICA. Garden Angelica. Root and seeds used in medicine as an aromatic stimulant.

ANGUI´NUS. Lat. Of the nature of a snake; belonging or relating to a snake.

ANE´ROID BARO´METER. Consists of a cylinder of copper with a very thin and corrugated end, partially exhausted of air and hermetically sealed. The effect of the varying pressure of the atmosphere on the thin end is magnified by a system of levers, so as to affect the index of a dial like that of a watch or clock. This is a French invention, but was patented in England, in the year 1844. See Barómeter.

ANIMA´LCULA. Lat. Animalcule.

ANIMA´LCULÆ. Lat. plural of Animálcula.

ANIMA´LCULE. A diminutive animal. A term used to designate animals so small that they cannot be seen by the unassisted eye.

ANISA´TUM. LAT. Belonging or relating to aniseed. Specific name of the tree which produces star-aniseed.

ANO´LIS. A kind of Saurian, called _anoli_ in the Antilles. Also called, _long-toed lizard_, or _dactyloa_.

AN´NUAL. From the Lat. _annus_, a year. Yearly. A plant which rises from the seed, reaches perfection, and perishes within a year, is termed an annual.

ANTA´RCTICA. Lat. Antarctic.

ANTELOPE MONTA´NA. Mountain Antelope. _A. rupicapra._ Chamois. _A. cervicapra._ Common antelope. _A. dorcas._ Gazelle. _A. gazella._ Algazel. _A. mhorr._ Mhorr.

A´NTHER. From the Gr. _anthera_, a flowery herb. In botany: the essential part of the stamen. The small yellowish body, compared to a diminutive leaf folded on itself, which crowns the stamen, and in which the pollen is formed.

ANTIQUO´RUM. Lat. Of the ancients.

A´PHIS. Gr. A plant-louse; a vine-fretter.

A´PHIDES. Plural of aphis.

APOCY´NEÆ. From the Gr. _apo_, far from, and _knon_, dog. Having the virtue of driving away dogs, the plant which kills dogs. Botanical name of a family of plants of which the genus _apo´cynum_ is the type.

A´PTENODY´TES. From the Gr. _apten_, without wings, and _dutes_, diver. A genus of birds. _A´ptenody´tes patagonica._ A species of Penguin.

A´PTERYX. From the Gr. _apteros_, without wings. Name of a genus of birds.

AQUEOUS ROCKS. Are those formed by deposits from water.

AQUILA. Lat. An eagle. _Aquila albicilla._ The fishing eagle.

ARAUCA´RIA. From _Arauco_. Name of a department or district of Chile where the first species was seen. Name of a genus of the family of conifers. _Arauca´ria excelsa._ The Norfolk Island pine.

ARBU´TUS. Lat. A shrub. A genus of plants.

ARCTOCE´PHALUS. From the Gr. _arktos_, a bear, _kephale_, head. Name of a genus of mammals.

ARDE´A. Lat. A Heron. Name of a genus of birds. _Arde´a helias._ The Sun Bird.

A´REA OF SUBSIDENCE. A geological expression used to designate a space which has settled.

ARE´CA. Cabbage-tree. A genus of plants of the family of Palmæ. _Are´ca catechu._ The medicinal or betel-nut palm.

ARENA´CEOUS. From the Lat. _arena_, sand. Sandy; of the nature of sand.

ARGEN´TEUM. Lat. Silvery; relating to silver.

ARGENTI´FEROUS. From the Lat. _argentum_, silver, and _fero_, I bear. Containing silver.

ARGILLA´CEOUS. From the Lat. _argilla_, clay or argil. Of the nature of clay.

ARGONAU´TA. Lat. From the Gr. _argo_, name of a vessel, and _nautes_, a navigator. Name of a genus of cephalopódous mollusks.

ARMADI´LLO. Spanish. Diminutive of _armado_, armed. Name of a mammal of the family of edentáta or edentates.

AROMA´TICUS. Lat. Aromatic; spicy.

AR´SENIC. A metal of a shining, steel gray colour. Heated in contact with atmospheric air, it rapidly absorbs oxygen, and forms _arsenious acid_, which is the poison commonly called arsenic, or _rat’s bane_. Arsenic is found in its metallic state, in the form oxide or arsenious acid, or white arsenic; and combined with sulphur, forming orpiment, and realgar.

ARTEME´SIÆ. } A tribe of plants, of which the genus Artemésia ARTEMESIAS. } is the type. Many of them are used in medicine.

ARTE´SIAN. From _Artois_, name of a province of France where especial attention has been given to a means of obtaining water, which consists in boring vertical perforations of small diameter in the exterior crust of the earth, frequently of great depth. These are termed Artesian wells.

ARTICULA´TA. Lat. From _articulus_, a joint or articulation. Having joints or articulations.

ASCLE´PIAS. A name of Esculapius. A genus of phanerógamous plants. _Ascle´pias giga´ntea._ Mudar of the Hindoos. The milky juice is very caustic; the bark of the root as well as the juice are used in medicine by the Asiatics.

ASPHALT. } From the Gr. _a_, privative, and _sphalto_, ASPHALTUM. } I slip, or _asphaltos_, bitumen. Used anciently as a cement. A black brittle bitumen, found on the surface and banks of the Dead Sea, hence called the Asphaltic lake.

ASPHODE´LEÆ. Name of a family of phanerógamous plants.

ASSI´MILATE. From the Lat. _ad_, and _similare_, to render similar. Assimilation is the act by which living bodies appropriate and transform into their own substance, matters with which they may be placed in contact. In man, assimilation is a function of nutrition.

ASPLE´NIIFO´LIA. Compound of _asplenium_, a genus of ferns, and _folia_, leaves. Having leaves resembling those of the asplénium.

A´STER. From the Gr. _aster_, a star. A name given to the plant by the Greeks in allusion to the radiate form of the flowers. Name of a genus of plants which forms the type of the _asteroides_ or asters— literally, _star-flowers_.

ASTRA´GALI. Lat. plural of Astragalus.

ASTRA´GALUS. Lat. Name of a genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of leguminósæ.

ATOLL. A chaplet or ring of coral, enclosing a lagoon or portion of the ocean in its centre.

AUCU´BA. } A genus of plants of the family of Rhamnoides. There AUKU´BA. } is but one species, which grows in Japan. _Aucuba Japonica._

AUCHE´NIA. From the Gr. _auchenios_, belonging to the head or neck. Lat. name of a genus of mammals, the Llama. Also, a genus of coleópterous insects.

AURI´CULA. Lat. Little ear. A genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of Primuláceæ.

AURI´FEROUS. From the Lat. _aurum_, gold, and _fero_, I bear. Gold-bearing containing gold.

AUROCHS. An alteration of the German _Auerochs_, wild-bull. Their race is now almost extinct; a few individuals are found in the forests of Lithuania, &c.

AUSTRA´LE. } Lat. Belonging or relating to the south. AUSTRA´LIS. }

AZA´LÆA. From the Gr. _azalea_, burned. A genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of Ericáceæ.

AZE´DARACH. From the Arab. _Azadaracht_, a name given by Avicenna to a plant.

AZOTE. } From the Gr. _a_, privative and _zo´on_, AZOTIC GAS. } life. The name given by chemists to a gas, now also called nitrogen, which will support neither respiration nor combustion. It constitutes seventy-nine per cent. of the atmosphere, and enters into the composition of all animal matter, except fatty substances, and into a certain number of proximate vegetable principles.

BACCIFE´RUM. Lat. Compound of _bacca_, a berry, and _fero_, I bear. Berry-bearing. Specific name of a plant.

BALANCE OF TORSION, or TORSION BALANCE. A machine invented by Coulomb for measuring the intensities of electric or magnetic forces, by establishing an equilibrium between them and the force of torsion.

BALÆ´NA. Lat. A whale. Name of a genus of mammals, belonging to the order Cetácea. _Balæ´na mystece´tus._ The common whale. _Balæ´nu gibbosa._ A kind of whale which has five or six protuberances on its back.

BAN´KSIA. A genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of Proteáceæ.

BAO´BAB. See Adansonia.

BA´RIUM. From the Gr. _barus_, heavy. A metal obtained from barytes by Sir H. Davy.

BAROMETER. From the Gr. _baros_, weight, and _metron_, a measure. An instrument for measuring the weight of atmospheric air.

BAROMETRIC. } Belonging, or relating to the barometer. BAROMETRICAL. }

BARRINGTO´NIA. A genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of Myrtáceæ, and the type of the tribe of Barringtóniæ.

BA´SALT. An Ethiopian word. A black or bluish gray rock, harder than glass, very tenacious, and consequently difficult to break: it is homogenous in appearance although essentially composed of pyroxene and feldspar, with a large proportion of oxide of iron or titanium. Basalt is considered by all geologists to be a product of igneous formation.

BASA´LTIC. Belonging or relating to basalt.

BATRA´HCIAN. From the Gr. _batrachos_, a frog. The name given by naturalists to those reptiles which resemble frogs in their organization. Batrahcians form the fourth order in the class of Reptiles.

BEAUFO´RTIA. Name of a genus of the family of Myrtáceæ, named in honor of Mary, the Duchess of Beaufort, who encouraged the study of Botany.

BELEM´NITES. From the Gr. _belemnon_, a dart. A genus of fossil dibranchiate cephalopods, the shells of which are chambered and perforated by a siphon, but internal. They are long, straight and conical; and commonly called “thunder stones.”

BENJAMI´NA. Lat. Benjamin. A genus of plants; also the specific name of a plant.

BERNI´CLA. Generic name of a kind of goose, having a short beak. _Berni´cla cyana´ptera._ The goose of Shoa.

BER´YL. A mineral allied to the emerald. It is transparent, of a pale green colour, and in Brazil it is sometimes sold under the name of emerald.

BETE´L. The leaf of the betel or Siriboa pepper.

BE´TULA. Lat. Birch. Name of a genus of plants. _Be´tula nana_. Dwarf birch.

BETULÖIDES. From _betula_, a birch-tree, the Gr. _eidos_, resemblance. Specific name of a plant.

BIGNO´NIA. A genus of plants named in honor of the Abbey Bignon, the Librarian of Louis XIV.

BIS´MUTH. From the Germ. _Wismuth._ A brittle, yellowish white metal.

BI´TUMEN. A combustible mineral, composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

BIXA ORLEANA. A plant which produces a colouring matter, called _annotto_.

BOA. Name of a genus of non-venemous reptiles.

BOHEA. Specific name of a tea-plant.

BOMBAX. From _bombux_, one of the Greek names of cotton. A genus of plants of the family Malváceæ. _Bombax heptaphyllum._ A kind of cotton-tree. _Bombax ceiba._ The cotton-wood tree, much valued for making canoes.

BONDUC. A synonym of the _Guilandina_. Specific name of a plant.

BORA´CIC ACID. An acid obtained from borax, consisting of boron and oxygen.

BORA´SSUS. From the Gr. _borassos_, a date. A genus of the family of Palms. _Borassus flabelliformus._ The fan-leaved palm.

BO´RATE. The salt resulting from a combination of boracic acid and a salifiable base, as the borate of soda.

BO´RAX. Tinkal. A natural compound of soda and boracic acid.

BORON. A simple or undecomposable substance, the basis of boracic acid and borax.

BORI´CHTHYS. From the Fr. _borgne_, one-eyed or blind, and the Gr. _ichthus_, a fish.

BORRAGI´NIÆ. Name given by Jussieu to a group of plants.

BORRER´IA. From Borrera, name of a man. A genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of Rubiáceæ.

BOSWE´LLIA. A genus named in honor of Dr. John Boswell. _Boswellia serrata._ The olibanum tree.

BOTANY. From the Gr. _botane_, plant. The branch of natural history which embraces the knowledge and study of plants.

BOTANIC. Belonging or relating to botany.

BOS. Lat. An ox. A genus of ruminating mammals, embracing several species. _Bos aurus._ The Urus. _Bos caffer._ Cape buffalo. _Bos bubalus._ Common buffalo. _Bos Americanus._ The Bison. _Bos moschatus._ The Musk ox. _Bos gruniens._ The Yak.

BOULDERS, or BOWLDERS. Rounded masses of stone lying upon the surface or loosely imbedded in the soil.

BOULDER FORMATION, or Erratic block formation. A geological term applied to a part of the diluvial drift. See Ruschenberger’s Natural History.

BRAC´TEÆ. Lat. Bracts. Floral leaves, different in colour from other leaves.

BRAS´SICA. Lat. Cabbage.

BRECCIA. Italian. A rock composed of an agglutination of angular fragments. When the fragments are rolled pebbles, it constitutes a conglomerate rock, called _pudding stone_.

BREVISE´TUM. Lat. _Brevis_, short, and _setum_, a bristle. A specific name.

BREXIA. From the Gr. _brexis_, rain: in allusion to the protection from rain afforded by its ample foliage. A genus of plants of the family of Brexiáceæ.

BUBO. Lat. An owl. A specific as well as generic name. _Bubo maximus._ A kind of owl.

BU´FO. Lat. A toad. _Bufo Agua._ A Brazilian toad.

BUPHA´GA. Lat. From the Gr. _bous_, an ox, and _phago_, I eat. A genus of birds, which includes the African beef-eater.

BURSA. Lat. A sack, a purse or pouch.

BU´TEA. A genus of the family of Papillionáceæ, named in honor of John, Count of Bute, a cultivator of botanic science. _Butea frondosa_ yields a gum (_butea_) which has been confounded with Kino.

CAC´TI. Lat. Plural of cactus.

CAC´TUS. From the Gr. _kaktos_, spiny plant. Name of a genus of the family of Cactáceæ. _Cactus coccine´llifer._ The cochineal cactus. _Cactus opuntia._ Indian fig.

CACA´LIA. Name of a genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of Compósitæ. Several species are useful as condiments.

CACHALOT, or CACHELOT. Fr. Name of the spermaceti whale. Used to designate a variety of the order of cetáceans, which has teeth in both jaws.

COCCINE´LLIFER. From _coccinella_ (the diminutive of the Lat. _coccinus_, crimson,) a genus of coleopterous insects, and _fero_, I bear. A specific name.

CAD´MIUM. A white metal, much like tin. Its ores are associated with those of zinc. Discovered in 1818.

CA´DUCOUS. From the Lat. _cado_, I fall. In Botany when a part is temporary, and soon disappears or falls off, it is said to be caducous.

CÆCI´LIÆ. From the Lat. _cæcus_, blind. A tribe of Batrachians.

CÆESPITO´SA. Lat. From _cæspes_, turf or sod. Belonging or relating to turf.

CAFEINE. Fr. In chemistry the name of the proximate principle of coffee.

CAJAPUTE, } A Malay name for a greenish, volatile oil used as CAJAPUTA, } a remedy in rheumatism, &c.

CA´LAMUS. A genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of Palms. _Ca´lamus draco._ An East Indian plant which yields an astringent substance called Dragon’s blood. _Ca´lamus rotan_ The rattan plant.

CALCA´REOUS. From the Lat. _calx_, _calcis_, lime. Belonging to or relating to lime. Calcareous rocks are those of which lime forms a principal part.

CALCEOLA´RIA. From the Lat. _calceolus_, a little shoe. A remarkable genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of Scrophulariáceæ.

CAL´CIUM. From the Lat. _calx_, _calcis_, lime. A metal discovered by Sir H. Davy in 1807, which united with oxygen forms oxide of calcium or lime.

CALLITRI´CHE. From the Gr. _kallithrix_, having luxuriant hair. A genus of aquatic plants. Also the name of a genus of American monkeys.

CALO´RIC. From the Lat. _caleo_, I am warm. The term used by chemists to designate _the matter of heat_.

CALORI´FIC. Belonging or relating to caloric.

CALYCA´NTHUS. From the Gr. _kalux_, a calyx, and _anthos_, flower. A genus of the family of Calycantháceæ.

CALYP´TOMENE. From the Gr. _kaluptos_, concealed, and _meno_, I remain. Name of a genus of birds.

CAM´BRIAN SYSTEM. From Cambria in Wales. A name given by geologists to the lowest sedimentary rocks, characterized by fossil remains of animals, lowest in the scale of organization, such as corallines, &c. It is also called the Schistose system, on account of its slaty nature.

CAMEL´LIA. A genus of the family of Aurantiáceæ, named in honor of Kamel, a botanist. It contains the tea plants. _Came´llia sasanqua._ Lady Bank’s Camellia. _Came´llia odorifera._ Sweet smelling Camellia.

CAMPA´NULA. From the Lat. _campana_, a bell, from the shape of its corolla. A genus of phanerógamous plants of the family of Campanuláceæ, of which it is the type. 182 species are described.

CAMPHORÓSMA. From the Lat. _camphora_, camphor, and the Gr. _osme_, odour. A genus of plants of the family of Chenopodáceæ.

CAMPHO´RA. Lat. Camphor. Belonging or relating to camphor.

CANARIE´NSIS. Lat. Belonging or relating to the Canary islands.

CANDELA´BRUM. Lat. A candlestick.

CA´NINE. From the Lat. _canis_, a dog. Teeth which resemble those of a dog are so called; the canine teeth of the upper jaw in man are commonly called the eye-teeth.

CAOU´TCHOUC. Gum elastic; India-rubber, a substance obtained from the _Jatropha elastica_, the _Ficus indica_ and the _Urceola elastica_.

CAPE´NSIS. Lat. Belonging or relating to the Cape of Good Hope.

CARAGA´NA. A genus of plants of the family of Papilionáceæ.

CAR´BON. From the Lat. _carbo_, charcoal. A chemical element or undecomposed body. The diamond is pure carbon. It is the basis of anthracite, and of all the varieties of mineral coal, and is one of the principal constituents of all organic bodies.

CARBO´NIC ACID. A compound of carbon and oxygen.

CAR´BONATE. Any compound of carbonic acid and a salifiable base, as _carbonate of lime_, _carbonate of soda_.

CARBONI´FEROUS. From the Lat. _carbo_, coal, _fero_, I bear, coal-bearing; containing carbon. In geology the term is applied to those strata which contain coal, and to the period when the coal measures were formed.

CARDAMINE. Gr. Name of a plant. A genus of the family of crucíferæ. Lady’s smock. _Cardamine hirsuta._ Hairy Cardamine.

CARDUI. Lat. Genitive case of _carduus_, a thistle. Specific name of a butterfly.

CARNI´VORA. From the Lat. _caro_, _carnis_, flesh, and _voro_, I eat. Name of a family of Mammals.

CARTILA´GINOUS FISHES. A term used to designate that division of the class of fishes which includes only those having cartilaginous instead of bony skeletons.

CARYO´PHYLLUS. Lat. A garden pink. A genus of plants of the family of caryophy´lleæ. _Caryo´phyllus aroma´ticus._ The clove-tree.

CARYO´TA. A genus of Palms of equatorial Asia. The _caryota urens_ derives its specific name from a burning sensation its fruit imparts when eaten.

CA´SPIA. Lat. Belonging or relating to the Caspian Sea.

CAS´SIA. From the Gr. _kassia_, cinnamon. A genus of plants of the family of Papilionáceæ. The genus contains more than 300 species.

CA´STANOSPE´RRNUM. From the Gr. _kastanon_, chestnut, and _sperma_, fruit. A genus of the family of Papilionáceæ.

CASUARI´NÆ. A family of plants separated from that of the cónifers. The _casuari´næ_ are found in New Holland, and in India, and are remarkable for the absence of leaves.

CATA´LPA. A genus of plants of the family of the Bignoniáceæ.

CAT´ECHU. An astringent extract, used in medicine.

CAT’S EYE. A beautiful silicious mineral, penetrated by fibres of asbestos, which, when polished, reflects an effulgent, pearly light, much resembling the mutable reflections from the eye of a cat.

CAULE´RPA. From the Gr. _kaulos_, a stem, and _erpo_, I creep. A genus of algæ of the family of Zoosper´meæ. There are about 35 species of caulérpa, which inhabit equatorial seas. The _caule´rpa proli´fera_ belongs to the Mediterranean.

CA´VIA. Genus of mammals of the family of rodents, including the guinea-pig.

CE´BUS. Lat. Name of a genus of monkeys; the marmoset.

CECRO´PIS. A genus of birds.

CEDRE´LA. Genus of plants of the family of Cedreláceæ.

CEI´BA. Synonym of _Bombax_, cotton. Specific name of a kind of cotton.

CENTA´UREA. A genus of plants of the family of Synanthéreæ Cyanáreæ and type of the tribe of Centaúrieæ.

CERATI´TES. From the Gr. _keratetes_, horned. A generic name of certain insects.

CERATO´DES. From the Gr. _keratodes_, formed of horns. A genus of mollusks.

CER´EAL. From the Lat. _Ceres_, corn. Applied to grasses which produce the bread corns; as wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, &c.

CEREA´LIA. Lat. Name of a tribe of grasses.

CEREO´PSIS. From the Gr. _keros_, wax, and _opsis_, aspect. A genus of birds of the order of palmípedes and family of lamelliróstres. It is marked by a wax-like membrane on the beak. _Cereopsis striata._ A kind of goose.

CE´RIUM. Named after the planet Ceres. A white brittle metal discovered in 1803, by Hisinger and Berzelius.

CER´THIA. Latin. Name of a genus of passerine birds, commonly called creepers.

CER´VUS. Latin. A stag. A genus of mammals.

CETA´CEA. From the Gr. _ketos_, a whale. A genus of pisciform mammals that have fins in place of feet, and inhabit the sea. Name of an order of aquatic mammals.

CHALK. Earthy carbonate of lime.

CHAMBERED SHELLS. A term used to designate those shells of mollusks which are divided internally into cells or chambers by partitions.

CHAM´ÆROPS. From the Gr. _chamai_, on the ground, and _rops_, a brush. Name of a genus of palms. _Chamærops humilis._ The dwarf fan palm.

CHEIRO´PTERA. From the Gr. _cheir_, hand, and _pteron_, a wing; signifying the hand has become a wing. Name of a family of mammals, including the bats.

CHEIROS´TEMON. From the Gr. _cheir_, hand, and _stemon_, filament. A genus of plants of the family of Sterculiáceæ, and tribe of bombáceæ.

CHELO´NIAN. From the Gr. _chelone_, a tortoise. Applied to reptiles resembling tortoises.

CHEL´YDÆ. From the Gr. _chelus_, a tortoise. A tribe of reptiles of the family Emy´des.

CHLAM´YPHORE. From the Gr. _chlamus_, a cloak, and _phero_, I bear. A genus of mammals of the tribe of armadillos.

CHLENA´CEÆ. From the Gr. _chlaina_, a cloak. A tribe of plants, native in Madagascar.

CHLOA´NTHES. From the Gr. _chloros_, greenish yellow, and _anthos_, flower. A genus of plants of the family of chloantháceæ.

CHLORI´TIC. From the Gr. _chloros_, green. Belonging or relating to chlorite, an earthy mineral found in the cavities of slate rocks.

CHROME, CHRO´MIUM. From the Gr. _chroma_, colour. A whitish brittle metal, discovered by Vauquelin in 1797. In union with oxygen it forms chromic acid.

CICHORA´CEÆ. From the Gr. kichore, chichory. A tribe of plants of the family of Compósitæ.

CI´RRI. Plural of _cirrus_.

CI´RRO-CUMULUS. A sondercloud; a kind of cloud. The cirro-cumulus is intermediate between the cirrus and cumulus, and is composed of small well defined masses closely arranged.

CI´RRO-STRATUS. A wanecloud. The cirro-stratus, intermediate between the cirrus and stratus, consists of horizontal masses separated into groups, with which the sky is sometimes so mottled as to suggest the idea of resemblance to the back of a mackerel.

CI´RRUS. Lat. A tendril. A kind of cloud. Applied to certain appendages of animals; as the beard from the end and sides of the mouth of certain fishes. The cirrus cloud consists of fibres or curling streaks which diverge in all directions. It occupies the highest region, and is frequently the first cloud which is seen after a continuance of clear weather.

CI´STUS. A genus of plants of the family of cistáceæ.

CLA´RKIA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the tribe of epilóbiæ.

CLAY-SLATE. A rock which resembles clay or shale, but is generally distinguished by its structure; the particles having been re-arranged, and exhibiting what is called slaty cleavage. It is one of the metamorphic rocks.

CLAYTO´NIA. A genus of plants of the family of Portuláceæ-calandríneæ.

CLEAVAGE. The mechanical division, the laminæ of rocks and minerals, to show the constant direction in which they may be separated.

CLERODE´NDRON. From the Gr. _kleros_, accident, and _dendron_, tree. In allusion to its accidental effects in medicine. A genus of plants of the family of Verbenáceæ-Lantáneæ.

COAL MEASURES. The geological formation in which coal is found.

CO´BALT. From the Germ. _kobold_, a devil, A brittle metal of a reddish gray colour. Its ores are always associated with arsenic.

COBRA CAPELLO. Portu. _cobra_, snake, and _capello_, a cawl or hood. Hood snake, a venomous serpent.

COCA. Quechua or aboriginal Peruvian word. Specific name of the genus Erythróxylum.

COCCINE´LLA. From the Gr. _kokkinos_, scarlet. A genus of coleopt´erous insects: commonly called Lady birds.

COC´CUS. From the Gr. _kokkos_, a seed which dyes scarlet. A genus of insects of the order Hemíp´tera. _Coccus lacca._ A species of cochineal insect. _Coccus ilicus._ Green oak cochineal.

CO´COS. Gr. A genus of palms; the cocoanut. _Cocos olera´cia._ The oil cocoanut.

CODI´UM. From the Gr. _kodion_, a fleece. A genus of plants of the tribe siphóneæ. _Codium bursa_ and _Codium flabelliforme_ are species.

COLO´BUS. From the Gr. _kolobos_, mutilated. A genus of monkeys which belong to the old world. _Colobus comosus._ A hairy monkey.

COLU´BRIFORM. From the Lat. _coluber_, a serpent, an adder, and _forma_, shape. Adder-shape.

COLUM´BA. Lat. A pigeon. A genus of birds. _Columba migrato´ria._ Wild pigeon.

COLUM´BIUM. A metal discovered in a mineral found in Massachusetts by Mr. Hachett, in 1801.

COLU´MNAR. In the form of columns.

COMBU´STION. The combination of two bodies accompanied by the extrication of heat and light. When a body rapidly combines with oxygen, for example, with a disengagement of heat and light, it is said to undergo combustion.

COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. The comparative study of the various parts of the bodies of different animals.

COMPO´SITE. A family of monopetalous plants.

CONDUCTOR. Those substances which possess the property of transferring caloric or heat, and electricity, are termed conductors of heat or caloric, and conductors of electricity.

CONFE´RVÆ. Tribe of plants of the family of Zóospérmeæ. It includes many sea-weeds.

CON´GENER. From the Lat. _con_, with, and _genus_, race. Species belonging to the same genus, are termed congeners.

CONGLO´MERATE. From the Lat. _conglomero_, I heap together. Any rock composed of pebbles cemented together by another mineral substance, either calcareous, silicious or argillaceous.

CO´NIFER. From the Lat. _conus_, a cone, and _fero_, I bear. A tree or plant which bears cones, such as pines, fir-trees, &c.

CONI´FERÆ. A family of plants which includes the conifers.

CO´RAL. From the Gr. _koreo_, I ornament, and _als_, the sea. The hard calcareous support formed by certain polypi.

CORA´LLINE. Belonging or relating to coral.

CORALLI´NEÆ. The corallines, a tribe of calciferous polypi.

COREO´PSIS. From the Gr. _koris_, a bug, and _opsis_, aspect. A genus of plants.

COR´DIA. A genus of plants of the family of Cordiáceæ. It contains about 150 species.

CORIA´CEOUS. From the Lat. _corium_, the hide of a beast. Leathery.

CORO´NA. Lat. A crown. A genus of plants.

CORO´NÆ. Plural of corona.

CORU´NDUM. A crystallized or massive mineral of extreme hardness, almost opaque, and of a reddish colour. It is allied to the sapphire, and is composed of nearly pure alúmina.

COT´TUS. A genus of fishes.

COTY´LEDON. From the Gr. _katuledon_, a seed-lobe.

COTYLE´DONOUS. Belonging or relating to a cotyledon or seed lobe.

CRA´TER. Lat. A great cup or bowl. The mouth of a volcano.

CRATE´RIFORM. In form of a crater.

CRATERI´FEROUS. Containing craters.

CRETA´CEOUS. From the Lat. _creta_, chalk. Of the nature of chalk, relating to chalk.

CRINOI´DEÆ. From the Gr. _krinon_, a lily, and _eidos_, resemblance. A family of radiate animals.

CROP OUT. When a rock, in place, emerges on the surface of the earth, it is said to crop out.

CRO´TON. A genus of plants of the family of Euphorbiáceæ.

CRUCIFE´RÆ. From the Lat. _crux_, _crucis_, a cross, and _fero_, I bear. A family of plants which have flowers in form of a Maltese cross.

CRU´CIFORM. In shape of a cross.

CRUSTA´CEA. From the Lat. _crusta_, a crust. A class of articulated animals.

CRUSTA´CEAN. An animal of the class of crustacea; a crab.

CRYPTOGA´MIA. From the Gr. _kruptos_, concealed, and _gamos_, marriage. A class of plants, which are propagated without apparent seeds.

CRYTO´GAMOUS. Belonging or relating to crytogámia.

CRYPTO´NYX. From the Gr. _kruptos_, concealed, and _onux_, a nail. A genus of birds; also, a genus of insects.

CRYST´AL. From the Gr. _krustallos_, ice. This term was originally applied to those beautiful transparent varieties of silica or quartz known under the name of _rock-crystal._ When substances pass from the fluid to the solid state, they frequently assume those regular forms which are generally termed crystals. A crystal is any inorganic solid of homogeneous structure, bounded by natural planes and right lines, symmetrically arranged.

CRYS´TALLINE. Relating to, or resembling crystals.

CRYSTALLIZA´TION. The process by which crystals are formed.

CUCIFE´RA THEBAI´CA. A palm of Egypt which grows to the height of 20 feet. Also known as the genus _Hyphæne_, from the Gr. _Huphaino_, I entwine. A fan-leaf palm of the tribe of Borassíneæ.

CU´CULUS. Lat. A cuckoo. A genus of passerine birds.

CU´LEX. Lat. A gnat. A genus of insects of the family of Dip´tera, and type of the tribe of Culícides: _culex pipiens_, the common gnat.

CU´MULI. Plural of cumulus.

CU´MULO-STRA´TUS. Twain cloud: it partakes of the appearance of the cumulus and stratus.

CU´MULUS. A form of cloud. A convex aggregate of watery particles, increasing upwards from a horizontal base, and assuming more or less of a conical figure.

CUR´VIDENS. Lat. _Curvus_, bent, and _dens_, tooth. Having a bent tooth.

CUSPA´RIA. A genus of plants, named after the tree which yields the Angustura bark.

CYANAP´TERA. From the Gr. _kuanos_, blue, and _pteron_, wing. A specific name.

CYANEROI´DES. From the Gr. _kuanos_, blue, and _eidos_, resemblance. A family of medusæ.

CY´CAS. A genus of plants, the type of the family cycádeæ. _Cycas revoluta._ Narrow-leaved cycas.

CYCA´DEÆ. A family of plants allied to the cónifers.

CYCADA´CEOUS. Belonging or relating to the cycádeæ.

CY´CLAS. From the Gr. _kuklos_, a circle. A genus of gasteropods.

CYGNUS. Lat. A swan. A genus of birds. _Cygnus musicus._ The whistling swan.

CYNOCE´PHALUS. From the Gr. _kuon_, a dog, and _kephale_, head. A genus of mammals. Dog headed monkey or baboon.

CYPERA´CEÆ. Name of a family of herbaceous plants.

CYP´RÆA. From the Gr. _kupris_, Venus. A cowry. A genus of mollusks. _Cypræa moneta._ The money cowry.

CYPRI´NIDÆ. From the Gr. _kuprinos_, a carp. Name of a family of fishes.

CYSTOSEI´RIÆ. From the Gr. _kustis_, a vesicle, and _seira_, a chain. A tribe of sea-weeds.

DAC´TYLIS. From the Gr. _daktulos_, a finger. A genus of the family of Gramíneæ. _Dactylis cæspitosa._ Tussock grass.

DAHLIA. After Dahl, a Swedish botanist. Genus of plants of the family of Compósitæ.

DALBE´RGIA. After Dalberg, a Swedish botanist. A genus of plants of the family of Papilionáceæ, and of the tribe of Dalbergiæ.

DAMAN. Alteration of the Arabic word _Ghannem_, the name of an animal. Specific name of a mammal.

DANAIS. Genus of plants of the family of Rubiáceæ.

DAPH´NE. A genus of plants of the family Daphnáceæ.

DARWI´NII. The name of Darwin latinized. Belonging or relating to Darwin.

DASY´URIDÆ. From the Gr. _dasus_, thick, hairy, and _oura_, tail. A family of mammals.

DEBRIS. Fr. Wreck, ruins, remains. In geology the term is applied to large fragments, to distinguish them from _detritus_, or those which are pulverized.

DECI´DUOUS. From the Lat. _decido_, I fall off. Applied to plants whose leaves fall off in autumn, to distinguish them from evergreens.

DEC´LINATION of any celestial body, is the angular distance of the body, north or south, from the equator.

DEINOTHE´RIUM. From the Gr. _deinos_, terrible, and _thereion_, wild beast. A genus of fossil pachyderms.

DELESSE´RIÆ. Proper name. Tribe of plants of the family of Flori´deæ.

DELPHI´NUS. Lat. Dolphin. A genus of aquatic mammals.

DEL´TA. The Gr. letter Δ. The triangular deposits, shoals or islands, at the mouths of rivers are called deltas.

DEL´TOID. From the Gr. letter Δ and _eidos_, resemblance. Resembling the letter delta.

DENUDA´TION. From the Lat. _denudo_, I strip. A removal of a part of the land, so as to lay bare the inferior strata.

DEODA´R. A kind of pine tree.

DE´POSITION. From the Lat. _depono_, I let fall. In geology the falling to the bottom of matters suspended or dissolved in water.

DEVONIAN SYSTEM. So called because it is largely developed in Devonshire, England. It is synonymous with the old red sand formation. It is composed at first of pudding stone, and then passes into sandstone, with which it alternates at different places.

DE´TINENS. Lat. Detaining; that which has the power to detain.

DE´TRITUS. A geological term applied to deposits composed of various substances which have been comminuted by attrition. The larger fragments are usually termed _debris_; those which are pulverized, as it were, constitute _detritus_. Sand is the detritus of silicious rocks.

DIAMAGNETIC. If a bar of iron be suspended between the poles of an electro-magnet, it will be attracted by both poles on the line of force. But if a bar of bismuth be suspended in the same manner, it will be repelled by both poles, and rest at right angles to the line of force. Substances which are attracted by both poles of an electro-magnet are said to be _magnetic_, and those which are repelled by both poles are termed _diamagnetic_.

DICHOTO´MA, } From the Gr. _dicha_, divided, and _tomos_, DICHOTO´MU, } section. In zoology this term is applied to a species DICHOTO´MUS, } of the genus Iris, the body of which is bifurcate. In botany it is applied to the stem, branches, peduncles, leaves, hairs, styles, &c., when they are bifurcated in form.

DICOTY´LEDON. From the Gr. _dis_, two, and _kotuledon_, seed lobe. A double seed lobe.

DICOTYLE´DONOUS. Relating to dicotyledon; having a double seed lobe.

DIDEL´PHOUS. From the Gr. _dis_, double, and _delphus_, womb. Applied to opossums and other marsupial mammals.

DIDEL´PHIS. A genus of marsupial mammals.

DIDEL´PHIDÆ. A tribe of marsupial mammals.

DIGITA´TA. Lat. Digitate; spread out like the fingers.

DINO´RNIS. From the Gr. _deinos_, great, terrible, and _ornis_, a bird. A genus of fossil, or extinct birds.

DIO´TIS. From the Gr. _diôtos_, having two ears: referring to the flower. A genus of plants of the family of heliantháceæ.

DISLOCATION. Displacement. In geology where strata or veins have been displaced from the position where first deposited or formed, they are said to be dislocated.

DI´SA. A genus of plants of the family of Orchi´deæ. _Di´sa grandiflora._ Large-flowered Disa.

DIO´SMA. From the Gr. _dios_, divine, and _osme_, smell. A genus of plants of the family of Dios´meæ.

DILLENIA´CEÆ. Proper name. A family of plants.

DIONÆ´A. One of the names of Venus. A genus of plants of the family of Droserácea. _Dionæa musci´pula._ Venus’ Fly-trap.

DIP´TERYX. From the Gr. _dis_, double, and _pterux_, a wing, in allusion to the two appendages of the calyx. Tonquin Bean. A genus of plants of the family of Leguminósæ. _Dip´teryx odora´ta._ Sweet-scented Tonquin Bean.

DIC´TYOTA. From the Gr. _dictuon_, a net. A genus of plants of the family of Phy´ceæ, and tribe of dictyóteæ.

DICTYO´NEMA. From the Gr. _dictuon_, a net, and _nema_, a filament. A genus of plants of the family of Phy´ceæ.

DIP. In geology direction of the inclination of strata. “To take a dip,” is to measure the degree that a stratum inclines or dips from a horizontal line.

DIS´INTEGRATE. From the Lat. _de_, privative, and _integer_, a whole. To separate or break up an aggregate into parts.

DO´LOMITE. Magnesian marble, or granular magnesian carbonate of lime. Named after Dolomieu.

DOMBE´YA. In honor of Joseph Dombey. A genus of plants of the family of Byttneriácea: it is found in Madagascar and the Isle of Bourbon.

DORSIGE´RA. Lat. From _dorsum_, the back, a ridge, and _gero_, I carry or wear. A specific name.

DORYA´NTHES. From the Gr. _doru_, _doratos_, a lance, and _anthesis_, a flowering. A genus of plants of the family of Amaryllidáceæ.

DRABA. A genus of plants of the family of Cruciferæ.

DRACÆNA. Lat. A genus of Saurians.

DRACÆNÆ. Plural of Dracæna.

DRYOBA´LANOPS. From the Gr. _drus_, _os_, an oak, _balanos_, an acorn, and _ops_, aspect. A genus of plants of the family of Dip´terocárpeæ. _Dryobalanos camphora._ The camphor tree of Sumatra.

DYNA´MIC. From the Gr. _dunamis_, power, force. Belonging or relating to dynamics.

DYNAMICS. The doctrine of forces as exhibited in moving bodies which are at liberty to obey the impulses communicated to them. The motions of celestial bodies in their orbits, or of a stone falling freely through the air, are embraced in the study of dynamics.

DI´DYMIUM. A metal discovered recently by Mosander.

EARTHS. Formerly chemists, believing them to be simple bodies, included the following substances under the name of earths: Baryta, Strontia, Lime, Magnesia, Alumina or clay, Silica, Glucina, Zirconia, and Yttria. Research has shown that all have metallic or metalloid bases.

ECHID´NA. Greek name of a monster, supposed to have the body of a beautiful woman, and the tail of a serpent. A genus of mammals of the family of Monotrema.

E´CHIMYS. From the Gr. _echinos_, spiny, and _mus_, a rat. A genus of mammals; a sort of rat found in South America.

ECLIPTIC. In Astronomy the great circle of the heavens which the sun appears to describe in his annual revolution.

EDENTA´TA. From the Lat. _e_, without, and _dens_, tooth: without teeth. An order of mammals which are destitute of teeth.

E´DULIS. Lat. Eatable; that which may be eaten.

EFFLORE´SCENCE. The pulverulent covering formed on the surface of saline substances from which the atmosphere has removed the water of crystallization. When saline substances give up their water of crystalization to the air, they are said to effloresce.

ELAIS. } From the Gr. _elaia_, the olive. A genus of plants ELÆIS. } of the family of Palms. The _Elais Guinea´ensis_ yields the Palm oil.

ELAPS. Gr. Name of a serpent. A genus of ophidians.

ELECTRICITY. From the Gr. _elektron_, amber, the substance in which it was first observed. The property acquired by glass and resin from friction to attract light substances. Electricity exists in all bodies, and becomes manifest, at least partially, whenever the natural state of equilibrium of their molecules is disturbed by any cause.

ELECTRO-MAGNETISM. The phenomena produced when a current of electricity is traversing any substance, or when electricity is in motion, magnetism is at the same time developed.

ELECTRO-MAGNET. An apparatus for exhibiting the phenomena of electro-magnetism.

ELEC´TRICUS. Lat. Electric. Belonging to, or relating to electricity.

ELLIP´TICA. Lat. Elliptic.

E´LEPHAS. Lat. Gr. name of the elephant. A genus of mammals of the order of pachydemus.

ELEPHANTI´NA. Lat. Belonging or relating to an elephant; elephantine.

EM´BRYO. From the Gr. _embruon_, from, _bruô_ I bud forth. A germ at the early stages of development.

E´MERALD. A mineral of a beautiful green colour, much valued for ornamental jewelry. It consists of silica, alumina, glucina, oxide of chromium, which is the colouring matter, and a trace of lime.

E´MYS. Lat. From the Gr. _emus_, a water tortoise. A genus of reptiles of the family of emydians.

EMY´DIANS. A family of reptiles of the order of Chelónia.

ENCRI´NITES. From the Gr. _krinon_, a lily. A genus of fossil _Echinoderms_. The skeleton of this animal is said to consist of not less than 26,000 separate pieces.

E´OCE´NE. From the Gr. _eôs_, dawn, and _kainos_, recent. In geology a name for the older tertiary formation, in which the first dawn, as it were, of existing species, appear.

EPACRI´DEÆ. From the Gr. _epi_, upon, and _akros_, an elevated place, a hill. A family of plants.

EP´IPHYTE. From the Gr. _epi_, upon, and _phutos_, a plant. Applied to plants which grow upon other plants.

EQUINOCTIA´LIS. Lat. Equinoctial.

EQUISE´TUM. From the Lat _equus_, a horse, and _seta_, hair. A genus of plants of the family of equisitáceæ.

EQUUS. Lat. A horse. A genus of mammals.

ER´BIUM. A metal, recently discovered.

ERICA. A genus of plants of which there are 429 species.

ERI´OCAULON. From the Gr. _erion_, wool, and _kaulon_, stem or stalk. A genus of plants of the family of eriocaulóneæ.

ERYTHRI´NA. From the Gr. _eruthros_, red. A genus of plants of the family of Papilionáceæ.

ERYTHROX´YLON. From the Gr. _eruthros_, red, and _xulon_, wood. A genus of plants.

ESCARPMENT. From the Ital. _scarpa_, sharp, formed from the Lat. _carpere_, to cut. The steep face often presented by the abrupt termination of strata where subjacent beds crop out from beneath them.

ESCULENTA. Lat. Esculent.

EUCALY´PTI. Lat. Plural of eucalyptus.

EUCALY´PTUS. From the Gr. _eu_, well, and _kaluptos_, covered. A genus of plants of the family of Myrtáceæ.

EUPHO´RBIA. Gr. Name of a plant. A genus of plants of which there are 300 species.

EXCE´LSA. Lat. Noble, tall, stately.

EXCO´RTICA. Lat. Without bark.

EX´OGENOUS. From the Gr. _ex_, from, and _geinomai_, I grow. Applied to plants which grow by successive external additions to their wood.

EXTENSILE. Having the power to extend itself.

EXU´VIÆ. Lat. The sloughs or cast skins, or cast shells of animals.

FA´GUS. Lat. Beech. A genus of plants of the family of Amentáceæ.

FALCO. Lat. Falcon. A genus of birds. _Falco islandicus._ The Gerfalcon.

FAMILY. In natural history the term is applied to an assemblage of several genera which resemble each other in many respects.

FAR´INA. Lat. Meal.

FAR´INHA. Portu. Meal, flour.

FARINO´SA. Lat. Meally; belonging or relating to meal.

FAUNA. All animals of all kinds peculiar to a country constitute the _fauna_ of that country.

FELIS. Lat, A cat. A genus of mammals of the family of carnivóra. _Felis irbis._ The panther.

FENESTRA´LIS. Lat. Belonging or relating to a window or opening.

FER´BIUM. A recently discovered metal.

FERNS. The filices; an order of cryptogámic plants.

FI´CUS. Lat. A fig. A genus of plants of the family of Moræ´ceæ.

FICOIDE. A genus of plants of the family of _Mesembrya´nthe´meæ_, of which there are about 200 species.

FICOIDES. } The family of Mesembryánthémeæ. _Ficoides_ FICOIDEÆ. } is applied as a specific name.

FLACOUR´TIA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Flacourtiáceæ.

FLABEL´LIFORME. From the Lat. _flabellum_, a fan, and _forma_, form. Fan-shaped.

FLORA. Lat. Name of the Goddess of Flowers. All the plants of all kinds belonging to a country constitute the _flora_ of that country.

FLO´RIDA. Belonging or relating to flowers; or relating to the State of Florida.

FOCI. Lat. Plural of focus.

FOCUS. Lat. A hearth. In optics the term describes the point or space where the rays of light are concentrated by a lens. The apex of a cone of rays of light, or of heat, formed by a lens, or concave mirror.

FOLIA´CEOUS. From the Lat. _folium_, a leaf. Leafy. Having the form of leaves.

FOOTSTALKS. In botany the stalks of flowers, or of leaves.

FOSSIL. From the Lat. _fodio_, I dig. Any organic body, or the traces of any organic body, whether animal or vegetable, which has been buried in the earth by natural causes.

FOSSILI´FEROUS. Contain fossils.

FORMI´CIDÆ. From the Lat. _formica_, an ant, and the Gr. _eidos_, resemblance. A family of insects of the family of Hymenóptera.

FROND. Also, _frons_. A name applied to the leaves of palms, and of cryptógamous plants.

FRONDO´SA. Lat. Full of green leaves.

FRA´GRANS. Lat. Fragrant; odorous.

FRA´GILIS. Lat. Fragile; easily broken.

FRINGI´LLÆ. Lat. _fringilla_, a chafinch. A family of birds, the most numerous of the group of conirostres, or thick billed birds.

FUCCA. Name of a genus of aquatic plants.

FUCI. Lat. Plural of fucus.

FUCUS. Lat. Sea-weed. A genus of aquatic plants.

FUCHSIA. After Leonard Fuchs, a physician of the 16th century. A genus of plants.

FUNCTION. From the Lat. _fungor_, I act. The action of an organ, or system of organs.

FUNGI. Lat. Plural of fungus.

FUNGUS. Lat. A mushroom.

FUNE´REUS. Lat. Funeral: belonging to a dead body.

GA´DUS. Lat. A codfish.

GALLINA´CEOUS. From the Lat. _galle´na_, a hen. Relating to birds of the order of Gallináceæ.

GALE´NA. From the Gr. _galene_, lead ore. A mineral composed of sulphur and lead: a natural sulphuret of lead.

GAL´VANISM. From _Galvani_, a distinguished Italian philosopher. That branch of electrical science in which electricity is made manifest by the mediate contact of different metals. Also, the phenomena exhibited by living animal matter when placed between the poles or extremities of an apparatus for showing electricity by the mediate contact of different metals.

GALVA´NIC. Belonging or relating to galvanism.

GANGEA´TICUS. Lat. Gangeatic; belonging or relating to the river Ganges.

GARDE´NIA. After a proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Rubiáceæ; it contains some forty species. The _Gardenia grandiflora_ is the Cape Jasmin.

GAR´NET. A mineral consisting of silicates of alumina, lime, iron, and manganese. It occurs imbedded in mica-slate, granite, and gneiss, and occasionally in limestone, chlorite-slate, serpentine, and lava. There are several varieties of garnet.

GAS. From the Germ. _geist_, spirit. The name given to all permanently elastic fluids, or airs, different from the atmospheric air.

GASEOUS. Of the nature of gas.

GENRE. Fr. Genus, kind, manner, style. In painting it is applied to signify the representation of certain kinds of objects, as landscapes, views, animals, plants, flowers, scenes in common life. Pictures of _genre_, then, are pictures of a genus or kind as to subject; as landscapes, marine views, flower pieces, still-life, &c.

GE´NERA. Lat. Plural of genus.

GENUS. Lat. A kindred, breed, race or family.

GE´OLOGY. From the Gr. _ge_, the earth, and _logos_, discourse. That branch of natural history which treats of the structure of the terrestrial globe. It is divided into _descriptive_ geology; _dynamic_ geology, which treats of the forces by which the surface of the earth has been modified; _practical_ and _economic_ geology, embracing the application of geological science to mining, road-making, architecture, and agriculture.

GEOTHER´MAL. From the Gr. _ge_, the earth, and _thermos_, heat, temperature. Relating to the temperature of the earth.

GERA´RDIA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Scrophulárieæ.

GERMINA´TION. The process of the development of the seed, and the embryo which it contains.

GEY´SERS. From an Icelandic word, signifying raging or roaring. Celebrated spouting fountains of boiling water in Iceland.

GIBBOSA. Lat. Gibbous; having protuberances or bunches.

GIBRALTA´RICA. Lat. Belonging or relating to Gibraltar.

GIGAN´TEA. } Lat. Gigantic, huge. GIGAN´TEUS. }

GILEADE´NSIS. Lat. Belonging or relating to Gilead.

GLA´CIAL. Belonging or relating to ice.

GLA´CIERS. Fr. Masses or beds of ice formed in high mountains, derived from the snows or lakes frozen by the continued cold of those regions.

GLADIO´LUS. A genus of plants of the family of Iri´deæ.

GLAND. An organ formed for the purpose of secreting a peculiar fluid.

GLAU´COUS. From the Gr. _glaukos_, blue. Applied to the bluish and pulverulent aspect which certain plants present, such as the leaves of cabbages, &c. Also used to signify the bloom of the color of cabbage leaves, sometimes observed on polished bodies.

GLEDI´TSCHIA. A genus of plants of the family of Leguminósæ, named in honor of J. G. Gleditsch, a German botanist. It includes the Honey and Swamp locust trees among its species.

GLOBBA´RIA. From the Lat. _globum_, a ball. A genus of insects: also a specific name.

GLUCI´NUM. A metal discovered in glucina in 1798 by Vauquelin.

GLU´TEN. Lat. The viscid elastic substance which remains when wheat flour is wrapped in a coarse cloth, and washed under a stream of water, so as to carry off the starch and soluble matters. It exists in many plants and in animals. It is the basis of glue.

GLYCE´RIA. A genus of plants of the family of grami´neæ, and the tribe Festucáceæ.

GLY´CINE. From the Gr. _glukus_, sweet. A genus of plants of the family of Papilionáceæ.

GNAPHA´LIUM. From the Gr. _gnaphalion_, the cotton tree. A genus of plants of the family of Compositæ.

GNEISS. Germ. A rock resembling granite. It is composed chiefly of feldspar and mica, and is more or less slaty in its structure. Gneiss is used for building and flagging.

GOLD. The most valuable and longest known of the metals.

GOODE´NIA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Goodeniáceæ.

GORDO´NIA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Gordonieæ.

GRANDIFLORA. Lat. Large-flowered.

GRAMI´NEÆ. Lat. Grasses. A family of monocotylédonous plants, containing about 3000 species.

GRANIVOROUS. } Applied to animals which feed upon grains, GRANIVORA. } especially to passerine birds.

GRÆCA. Lat. Greek.

GRA´NULAR. Composed of grains.

GRANITE. A rock which is a crystaline aggregate of quartz, feldspar, and mica.

GRANITIC. Of the nature of granite.

GREENSTONE. A rough variety of trap-rock, consisting chiefly of hornblende.

GRIT. A coarse-grained sandstone.

GUILANDI´NA. A proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Leguminósæ. _Guilandina Bonduc_, the oval-leaved Nicker-tree.

GUINEAEN´SIS. Lat. Belonging or relating to Guinea.

GUM. A vegetable product, which is tasteless and inodorous, and is distinguished by being soluble in water, and insoluble in alcohol. Gum arabic, for example.

GYMNO´TUS. From the Gr. _gumnos_, naked, and _nôtos_, back. A genus of fishes.

GYPSUM. Native sulphate of lime. It is converted into plaster of Paris by heat.

GYRO´PHORA. From the Gr. _guros_, a circle, and _pherô_, I give. A genus of cryptógamous plants.

HABITAT. Lat. He inhabits. Used to designate the place in which animals and plants are naturally found.

HALIO´TIS. From the Gr. _als_, the sea, and _ous_, the ear. A genus of mollusks.

HA´LCYON. From the Gr. _alkuo´n_, a king-fisher. A genus of birds.

HELIA´NTHUS. From the Gr. _elios_, the sun, and _anthos_, flower; sunflower.

HELI´ACAL. From the Gr. _elios_, the sun. Relating to the sun. When a star rises so as to be visible in morning twilight before the appearance of the sun, it is said to rise _heliacally_.

HEP´TAPHYLLUM. From the Gr. _epta_, seven, and _phulon_, a leaf. Seven-leaved. A specific name.

HERBA´CEOUS. In botany, Herb-like; that perishes every year. An annual stem. Not woody.

HERBIVO´RA. Lat. Herbivorous.

HERBIVO´ROUS. From the Lat. _herba_, a plant, and _vorare_, to eat. Plant eating. Applied to animals which feed chiefly or exclusively on plants or herbs.

HERITIE´RA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Sterculiáceæ.

HIBERNATE. From the Lat. _hibernare_, to winter. Animals which retire and sleep throughout the winter, are said to hibernate.

HIBI´SCUS. A genus of plants of the family of Malváceæ.

HIEROCH´LOA. From the Gr. _ieros_, sacred, and _chloa_, herb. A genus of plants of the family of Grami´neæ.

HIPPOPO´TAMUS. From the Gr. _ippos_, a horse, and _potamos_, river. River Horse. A genus of mammals.

HIRSU´TA. Lat. Hirsute; covered with soft hairs.

HOL´CUS. A genus of plants of the family Grami´neæ.

HOPEA, or HOPPEA. Proper name. A genus of plants.

HO´RRIDA. Lat. Horrid; spiny.

HO´RARY. From the Lat. _hora_, an hour. The motion of a celestial body, or the space it moves through in an hour, is termed its _horary motion_.

HORSE-SHOE MAGNET. A magnet in form of a horse-shoe.

HUMI´RIA. A genus of plants of the family of humoriáceæ. They inhabit tropical America.

HYDRAN´GEA. From the Gr. _udôr_, water, and _aggos_, a vessel. A genus of plants of the family of Saxifragáceæ, and tribe of Hydrangéeæ.

HYDRAU´LIC. From the Gr. _udôr_, water, and _aulos_, a pipe. Relating to liquids in motion. Hydraulics is that branch of natural philosophy or physics which treats of the force of water and other liquids in motion.

HYDROSTA´TIC. From the Gr. _udôr_, water, and _staô_, I stand. Relating to water in a state of rest. Hydrostatics is the science which treats of the equilibrium and pressure of water and other liquids.

HY´DROGEN. From the Gr. _udôr_, water, and _gennaein_, to generate. A colorless, tasteless, inodorous gas, one part of which, by weight, combined with eight parts of oxygen forms water;—combined with sulphur it constitutes _sulphuretted_ Hydrogen;—and with carbon, carburetted Hydrogen, the gas used for illumination.

HYDROGETON. A synonym of _Ouviraudra_. A genus of aquatic plants.

HYLA. From the Gr. _ule_, wood, a tree. A tree frog.

HYMENÆ´A. A genus of plants of the family of Papilionáceæ. A resinous tree of tropical America.

HYMENO´PTERA. From the Gr. _umen_, a membrane, and _pteron_, wing. Systematic name of a class of insects, characterized by membranous wings.

HY´RAX. From the Gr. _urax_, a shrew mouse. A genus of mammals.

IANTHINA. See Janthina.

I´BEX. Lat. A wild goat. A genus of mammals.

I´BIS. A genus of birds.

IGNEOUS ROCKS. Are those rocks whose structure is attributable to the influence of heat, such as granite and basalt. They are distinct from stratified rocks, or those formed by deposits from water.

I´GUANA. A reptile of the lizard tribe.

IGUA´NIAN. Applied to Saurians which resemble the iguana.

IGUA´NODON. From _iguana_, and the Gr. _odous_, tooth. A genus of extinct or fossil reptiles of gigantic size discovered in the south of England.

I´LEX. Lat. The Holly.

ILI´CIS. Lat. Of the Holly; belonging or relating to the holly.

ILLI´CIUM. From _illicio_ to attract; from its agreeable perfume. The aniseed tree. A genus of plants of the family of Magnoliáceæ.

IM´BRICATE. Laid one over another like tiles.

INCONSPICUUS. Lat. Not conspicuous or remarkable.

INCISOR. From the Lat. _incido_ I cut. Applied to those teeth which occupy the anterior or centre of the upper and lower jaws, because they are used for cutting the food.

INCA. Designation of the aboriginal Peruvian princes; used as a specific name. Also, a genus of insects.

INDICA—INDICUS. Lat. Indian: Belonging or relating to India.

INDICA´TOR. Lat. Indicator; one who points out. A genus of birds.

INFUSO´RIA. Animals of infusions; microscopic animalcules.

INFUSO´RIAL. Belonging or relating to the Infusoria.

INORGANIC. Without organs or organization.

INSECT. From the Lat. _in_, into, _seco_, I cut. Applied to animals whose bodies are cut, as it were, into three parts—head, thorax, and abdomen.

IRID´EÆ. A family of monocotylédonous plants.

IRIDIUM. From the Lat. _iris_, the rainbow. A grey, brittle, very infusible metal, which is found associated with the ores of platinum.

ISATIS. From the Gr. _isazô_, I render equal. Woad. A genus of plants of the family of Cruciferæ. Also the name of a species of dog.

ISLA´NDICUS. Lat. Belonging or relating to Iceland.

ISO´GEO´THERMAL. From the Gr. _isos_, equal, _ge_, the earth, and _thermos_, heat. Applied to lines which are supposed to pass through all parts of the earth’s structure on the surface where the mean heat is the same.

ISOTHE´RMAL. From the Gr. _isos_, equal, and _thermos_, heat. Isothermal lines are supposed to pass through all places where the mean temperature of the air is the same.

ISOTHERIAL. From the Gr. _isos_, equal, and _thereios_, having the heat of summer. Isotherial lines are supposed to be drawn through all places having the same mean summer temperature.

ISOCHI´MENAL. From the Gr. _isos_, equal, and _cheima_, winter. Isochimenal lines pass through all places where the mean winter temperature is the same.

IXIA. A genus of plants of the family of Irideæ.

JANTHI´NA. From the Gr. _ianthinos_, violet. A genus of mollusks.

JAPO´NICA—JAPO´NICUS. Belonging or relating to Japan.

JASPER. A silicious mineral of various colors; sometimes spotted, banded or variegated. It takes a fine polish.

JERBO´A. A genus of mammals of the family of Rodents, or gnawers.

JURA´SSIC. Belonging or relating to the Jura mountains. Applied to a system of rocks of the middle secondary geological period. Also termed oolitic.

KA´LMIA. A genus of plants of the family of Ericáceæ.

KER´RIA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Rosáceæ.

KE´URVA. Synonym of Pandanus.

KING´IA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Joncáceæ, found in New Holland. _Kingia australis_; the grass tree.

LABIA´TÆ. From the Lat. _labium_, lip; in allusion to the form of the corolla. A family of dicotylédonous plants.

LAGO´PUS. From the Gr. _lagôs_, a hare, and _pous_, foot: hare-footed. A genus of birds of the order Gallináceæ.

LAM´ANTIN. The manatus. A genus of mammals of the order of Cetácea.

LAMINA´RIA. A genus of aquatic plants of the family of Phy´ceæ.

LAMPRATO´RNIS. A genus of birds. _Lampratornis superba._ A kind of raven.

LANA´TA. Lat. Woolly.

LANCEOLA´TUS. Lat. Lanceolate; lance-shaped.

LANDSLIP, or LANDSLIDE. In geology, the removal of a portion of land down an inclined surface, from its attachment being loosened by the action of water beneath, or by an earthquake.

LANTA´NIUM. A metal discovered in 1840 by Mosander.

LAPIS LAZULI. A mineral belonging to the aluminous silicates, of an azure blue colour.

LAUREO´LA. Specific name of a plant.

LAURI´NEÆ. } From _laurus_, laurel, one of the genera. LAUREA´CEÆ. } A family of plants.

LATENT HEAT. Heat not indicated by the thermometer, upon which the liquid and aëriform conditions of bodies depend, and which becomes _sensible_ during the conversion of vapour into liquids, and of liquids into solids.

LA´RVA. Lat. A mask. The first state of an insect after leaving the egg.

LA´RVÆ. Lat. Plural of larva.

LA´VA. In geology, substances which flow in a melted state from a volcano. Lavas vary in consistence and texture.

LEGUMINO´SÆ. From the Lat. _legumen_, a bean. A family of plants.

LEGU´MINOUS. Belonging or relating to the Leguminoseæ.

LEONI´NA. Belonging or relating to a lion.

LEPORI´NA. Lat. Belonging or relating to a hare.

LEPIDO´PTERA. From the Gr. _lepis_, a scale, and _pteron_, a wing, scaly wings. An order of insects characterized by scaly wings.

LESSO´NIA. Proper name. A genus of plants; also a genus of birds.

LEUCADE´NDRON. From the Gr. _leukos_, white, and _dendron_, tree. A genus of plants of the family of Proteáceæ.

LIAS. Provincial corruption of the word _layers_. In geology, a division of the secondary formation. It is also called the Liassic, Jurassic, and Oolitic system of rocks.

LI´CHENS. An order of cryptógamous plants. They include various mosses.

LILIA´CEOUS. Belonging or relating to the lily.

LILIA´CEÆ. A family of plants.

LLANOS. Span. Planes.

LIMO´NIA. A genus of plants of the family of Aurantiáceæ.

LIMB. In botany, the spreading part or border of a leaf or petal. In astronomy, the outermost edge of the sun or moon.

LI´RIODE´NDRON. From the Gr. _leirion_, a lily, and _dendron_, a tree. The tulip tree. A genus of plants of the family of Magnoliáceæ.

LI´THIUM. A metal.

LO´ASA. A genus of plants of the family of Loasáceæ.

LOBE. A term applied in botany to the more or less profound divisions of a leaf, corolla, or other part of a plant.

LOBELIA´CEÆ. In honor of Lobel, a botanist. A family of dicotylédonous plants.

LONGIFRONS. Lat. Having a long front or forehead.

LOPHOBRA´NCHES. From the Gr. _lophos_, a tuft, or crest, and _branchia_, gills. An order of fishes.

LOPHOPHO´RUS. From the Gr. _lophos_, a tuft, and _phoros_, bearer. A genus of birds of the order Gallináceæ.

LORA´NTHUS. From the Gr. _lôron_, a leather strap, and _anthos_, flower. Loranth. A genus of plants of the family of Lorantháceæ.

LO´TUS. A genus of plants of the family of Leguminósæ.

LOXIA. A genus of birds.

LU´TEUM. Lat. Yellow; dirty; made of clay. A specific name.

MACROCE´PHALUS. From the Gr. _makros_, large, and _kephale_, head. A genus of insects. The specific name of a mammal.

MACROCY´STIS. From the Gr. _makros_, large, and _kustis_, bladder. A genus of aquatic plants of the family of Phyceæ. Gigantic sea-weeds found in the southern hemisphere.

MACROU´ROUS. From the Gr. _makros_, great, and _oura_, tail. Having a long or large tail.

MAGNET. Loadstone is the natural magnet, which has the property of attracting iron. Artificial magnets are prepared so as to possess the peculiar attractive properties of the loadstone.

MAG´NETISM. The science which investigates the phenomena presented by natural and artificial magnets, and the laws by which they are connected.

MAGNE´SIUM. A silvery white metal obtained from magnesia.

MAGNE´SIAN. Containing magnesia.

MAGNO´LIA. Name of Magnol, a French botanist. A genus of plants of the family of Magnoliáceæ.

MA´LACHITE. A mineral; native green carbonate of copper.

MAL´LOTUS. A genus of fishes of the family of Salmones. A genus of plants of the family of Euphorbiáceæ. A synonyme of the genus _Rottlera_.

MALU´RUS. A genus of passerine birds.

MAM´MAL. Any animal that suckles its young.

MAMMA´LIA. From the Lat. _mamma_, a breast. The name of the class of mammals or animals which suckle their young.

MAMMI´FERÆ. Same as mammalia.

MANA´TI. Lat. Plural of manatus.

MANA´TUS. A genus of mammals. The Lamantin.

MANGANE´SE. A metal.

MARITI´MA. Lat. Maritime; relating to the sea.

MARL. Argillaceous carbonate of lime. There are several varieties of marl.

MARSU´PIAL. From the Lat. _marsupium_, a pouch. Any animal having a peculiar pouch in front or on the abdomen.

MAS´TODON. From the Gr. _mastos_, a nipple, and _odous_, a tooth. A genus of extinct mammals allied to the elephant.

MA´TRIX. In geology, the stony substance or bed in which metallic ores and crystaline minerals are embedded. The _gangue_.

MAURI´TIA. Lat. Belonging to the island of Maritius.

MAURO´RUM. Lat. Of the Moors.

MAXIMUS. } MAXIMA. } Lat. The greatest. MAXIMUM. }

MEDU´SA. A genus of marine animals of the class Acalepha.

MEGATHE´RIUM. From the Gr. _megas_, great, and _therion_, beast. Name of a fossil quadruped.

MELALEU´CA. From the Gr. _melas_, black, and _leukos_, white. A genus of plants of the family of Myrtáceæ.

MELA´STOMA. From the Gr. _melas_, black, and _stoma_, opening. A genus of plants of the family of Melastomáceæ.

MEL´IA. A genus of plants of the family of Meliáceæ.

MELOFO´RMIS. From the Lat. _melo_, a melon, and _forma_, shape. Melon-shaped.

MENOPOMA. From the Gr. _menos_, strong, and _poma_, cover. A genus of reptiles of the family of Salamanders. Specific name of a batrachian.

MENURA. A genus of passerine birds. The _Menura superba_, the lyre-bird.

MERCURY. Quicksilver. A metal which is liquid at the ordinary temperature.

MESE´MERYAN´THEMUM. From the Gr. _mesembria_, the mid-day, and _anthemum_, flowering, because the flowers usually expand at that time. The fig marygold. A genus of plants of the family of Ficoides.

ME´SA. Span. A table.

MESPILUS. From the Gr. _mesos_, half, and _pilé_, bullet, the fruit resembling a half ball. The medlar. A genus of plants of the family of Rosáceæ.

MET´ALLOID. Literally, resembling metal. The metals obtained from the alkalis and earths are called metalloids.

METALLI´FEROUS. Containing metal, or metals.

METAMOR´PHIC. From the Gr. _meta_, indicating change, and _morphe_, form. Metamorphic rocks are those which are evidently of mechanical origin, but owing to the presumed action of heat, have undergone change. Altered rocks.

METROSI´DEROS. From the Gr. _metra_, heart of a tree, and _sideron_, iron, in allusion to the hardness of its wood. A genus of plants of the family of Myrtáceæ.

METUR. A species of wild corn which grows in Iceland.

MIA´SMA. } From the Gr. _miainô_, I contaminate. Applied MIA´SMATA. } to any emanation from animal or vegetable substances, or from the earth, which may prejudicially influence the health of those persons who may be exposed to it.

MI´CA. From the Lat. _mico_, I shine. A mineral, generally found in thin elastic laminæ, soft, smooth, and of various colors and degrees of transparency. It is one of the constituents of granite.

MICA-SCHIST. Germ. (Gr. _schistos_, slaty, easily split.) Mica-slate. A lamellar rock composed of quartz, ordinarily grayish, and a great quantity of brilliant lamellæ of mica arranged in scales, or extended leaves.

MI´DAS. Name of a genus of monkeys; also, of a genus of reptiles.

MIGRATO´RIA. Lat. Migrating.

MILLINGTO´NIA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Bignoniáceæ.

MILLEPO´RA. From _mil_, a thousand, and _pori_, holes. A genus of stony polyps, or corallines.

MIMO´SA. From the Lat. _mimus_, a comedian, in allusion to its numerous varieties. A genus, and a tribe of plants.

MI´OCENE. From the Gr. _meiôn_, less, and _kainos_, recent. In geology a name of a group of rocks of the tertiary period.

MI´NIMUM. Lat. The least.

MIRA´GE. Fr. A kind of natural optical illusion, arising from the unequal refraction of the lower strata of the atmosphere. The illusive appearance of water in deserts is explained in this manner.

MISODENDRON. A genus of plants of the family of Lorantháceæ.

MITE´LLA. A genus of plants of the family of Saxafragáceæ.

MOLLUSK. From the Lat. _mollis_, soft. Applied to certain soft animals which inhabit shells, as oysters.

MOLLU´SCA. A branch of the animal kingdom.

MOLLU´SCOUS. Belonging or relating to mollusks.

MOLYB´DENUM. A white, brittle metal.

MONOCOTYLE´DON. From the Gr. _monos_, single, and _kotuledon_, seed-lobe. A single seed-lobe.

MONOCOTYLE´DONOUS. Relating to monocotyledon.

MONO´CEROS. From the Gr. _monos_, single, and _keras_, horn. Having one horn.

MO´NODON. From the Gr. _monos_, single, and _odous_, tooth. Name of a genus of aquatic mammals. The Narwhal.

MONE´TA. Lat. Belonging or relating to money.

MONI´LIFORM. From the Lat. _monile_, a necklace. In form of a string of beads, necklace-like.

MO´NITOR. A genus of Saurian reptiles.

MONOSPE´RMA. From the Gr. _monos_, single, _sperma_, seed. One-seeded. A specific name.

MON´TIA. A genus of plants of the family of Portuláceæ.

MORI´NDA. A genus of plants of the family of Rubiáceæ.

MORAINES. Longitudinal deposits of stony detritus found at the bases, and along the edges of all the great glaciers.

MO´RUS. Mulberry. A genus of plants of the family of Urti´ceæ.

MOSASAU´RUS. From _Meuse_, name of a river, and the Gr. _sauros_, a lizard. A genus of fossil reptiles.

MOS´CHUS. From the Gr, _moschos_, musk. A genus of mammals.

MOSCHI´FERUS. Lat. Musk bearing; containing musk.

MOSSES. Crytógamous parasites of the family of Lycopodeácæ.

MU´CILAGE. A mixture of gum and water.

MURAL. Belonging or relating to a wall.

MUSA. The banana. A genus of plants of the family of Musáceæ.

MUSCHELKALK. German. Shell limestone.

MUSCI´PULA. Lat. A fly trap or mouse trap.

MUSICUS. Lat. Relating to music; musical.

MYCETUS. Name of a genus of monkeys.

MYOPO´TAMUS. From the Gr. _mus_, a rat, and _potamos_, a river. A genus of gnawing mammals.

MYRI´STICA. A genus of plants of the family of Myrista´ceæ; _Mystri´tica moschata_, the nutmeg tree.

MYRTUS. Myrtle. A genus of plants of the family of Myrta´ceæ.

NANA. From the Gr. _nanos_, a dwarf. A specific name.

NA´PTHA. A limpid bitumen.

NARCI´SSUS. A genus of plants of the family of Amarylli´deæ.

NA´TRIUM. A metal.

NATRON. A subcarbonate of soda.

NECTARY. That part of a flower which produces honey.

NELUM´BIUM. A genus of plants of the family of Nymphæ´ceæ. Sacred Bean.

NESTOR. An extinct bird.

NEURO´PTERA. From the Gr. _neuron_, a nerve, and _pteron_, wing. An order of insects.

NEW RED SANDSTONE. In geology, a system of rocks of the secondary formation.

NICKEL. A white metal. It is the basis of “German Silver.”

NIGRA. Lat. Black.

NIMBUS. A rain cloud.

NI´TIDA. Lat. Neat, clean, bright.

NITROGEN. A simple, permanently elastic fluid or gas, which constitutes four-fifths of the atmosphere, and is the basis of nitric acid.

NIVA´LIS. Lat. Snowy.

NON-CONDUCTOR. Applied to substances which do not possess the property of transmitting electricity, or heat.

NOTACANTHUS. From the Gr. _nôtos_, back, and _akantha_, a spine. A genus of fishes.

NOTOTHERIUM. A fossil genus of marsupial mammals.

NOTORNIS. An extinct bird.

NUMMULA´RIA. From the Latin _nummus_, a coin. A family of Mollusks. Nummulites.

NYMPHÆ´A. A genus of plants of the family of Nymphæa´ceæ.

NYSSA. From the Gr. _nussô_, I prick. A genus of plants.

OBSI´DIAN. A glassy lava. Volcanic glass.

OCEAN´ICA. Lat. Relating to the ocean.

OENO´THERA. From the Gr. _oinos_, wine, and _therô_, I hunt. A genus of plants of the family of Oenothera´ceæ. Synonym of onagrariæ.

ODORA´TA. Lat. Odorous.

ODORATISSI´MA. Lat. Very, or most odorous.

ODORI´FERA. Lat. Odoriferous.

O´LEA. Lat. Olive. A genus of plants of the family of Olea´ceæ.

OLD RED SANDSTONE. A system of rocks of the secondary formation.

O´OLITE. From the Greek _ôon_, an egg, and _lithos_, stone. A granular variety of carbonate of lime, frequently called _roestone_.

O´PAL. A brittle mineral, characterized by its iridescent reflection of light. It consists of _silica_ with about ten per cent. of water.

O´PALES´CENT. Resembling opal.

OPHI´DIAN. From the Gr. _ophis_, a serpent; applied to reptiles of the order of Ophidia.

OPHICE´PHALUS. From the Gr. _ophis_, serpent, and _kephale_, head. Serpent-head. A genus of acánthoptery´gian, or bony-finned fishes.

OR´CHIS. A genus of plants of the family of Orchid´eæ, named from most of the species being marked by two tubercles.

ORCHID´EOUS. Relating to the genus orchis.

ORGAN. From the Gr. _organon_, an instrument. Part of an organized being, destined to exercise some particular function; for example, the ears are the organs of hearing, the muscles are the organs of motion.

ORGA´NIC. Relating to an organ. _Organic remains_, are the fossil remains of organized beings.

ORGANIZA´TION. The mode or manner of structure of an organized being.

ORGANIZED. Composed of organs; having a mode of structure.

ORIENTA´LIS. } Lat. Eastern. Belonging to the East. ORIENTA´LE. }

ORNITHORYN´CHUS. From the Gr. _ornis_, _ornithos_, a bird, and _rugchos_, a beak. A genus of mammals, having the beak of a duck.

OR´TYGIS. From the Gr. _ortux_, a quail. A genus of birds.

OS´MIUM. From the Gr. _osme_, odour. A metal discovered in 1803, by Tennant.

OSCILLA´TION. The act of moving backwards and forwards like a pendulum.

OTA´RIA. From the Gr. _ôtarion_, a small ear. A genus of amphibious mammals, of the tribe of seals.

OUT CROP. In geology, the emergence of a rock in place, at the surface.

O´VARY. In botany, that part of a flower in which the young seeds are contained.

OXA´LIS. A genus of plants of the family of Oxalideæ.

OXLE´YA. A genus of plants of the family of Cedrela´ceæ.

OXYGEN. The vivifying gas which constitutes about one-fifth of the atmosphere, the presence of which is essential to life.

OZO´NE. From the Gr. _ozô_, I smell of something. The odorous matter perceived when electricity passes from pointed bodies into the air.

PACHYDER´MATA. From the Gr. _pachus_, thick, and _derma_, skin. An order of mammals—Pachyderms.

PADI´NA. Same as Zonária, a beautiful marine plant. _Padina pavonia_, or _Zona´ria pavonia_. Turkey feather.

PALAP´TERYX. From the Gr. _palaios_, ancient, and _apteryx_, formed from the Gr. _a_, privative, and _pteron_, wing, wingless. Name of a genus of fossil birds, discovered recently in New Zealand.

PALÆOTHE´RIUM. From the Gr. _palaios_, ancient, and _therion_, beast. A fossil genus of pachyder´matous mammals.

PALÆONTO´LOGY. From the Gr. palaios, ancient, and _on_, a being or creature, and _logos_, discourse. That branch of zoological science which treats of fossil organic remains.

PALÆ´OZOIC. From the Gr. _palaios_, ancient, and _zoe_, life. Relating to ancient life; belonging or relating to fossils.

PALMA REA´L. Spanish. Royal Palm.

PALLA´DIUM. A white, hard, very maleable and ductile metal, which is susceptible of a fine polish. It is more difficult to melt than gold.

PALMEL´LA. A genus of plants of the family of Conferváceæ. _Palmella nivalis_, a plant of the snowy regions, which gives color to the snow amidst which it grows. _Protococcus_ is the red snow plant.

PANDA´NUS. From the Malay name of the tree, _pandang_. Screw-pine. A genus of plants, of the family of Pandancæ. _Pandanus candelabrum._ Candlestick screw-pine.

PANDA´NA. Relating to, or resembling the Screw-pines.

PA´NICUM. Panic-grass. A genus of plants of the family of Gramineæ. _Panicum miliaceum_, millet, a grain used for feeding poultry in England.

PAPA. Spanish. Pope. Specific name of a vulture.

PAPY´RUS. A genus of plants of the family of Cypera´ceæ. The _Papyrus antiquorum_ yields the substance used as paper by the ancient Ægyptians.

PAPYRI´FERA. From _papyrus_, a sort of paper, and _fero_, I bear. Paper-bearing.

PARHELIA. Plural of parhelion.

PARHELION. From the Gr. _para_, for, _elios_, the sun, A mock sun. A meteor which consists in the simultaneous appearance of several suns, “fantastic images of the true one.”

PARADISA´ICA. Lat. Belonging or relating to Paradise. A specific name.

PARNA´SSUS. A genus of lepidopterous insects of the tribe of Parna´ssidæ.

PASS´ERINES. } From the Lat. _Passer_, a sparrow, name PASS´ERES. } of a varied and extensive order of birds, not PASSERINE BIRDS. } easily characterized.

PASSIFLORA. Abbreviation of _flos_, flower, and _passionis_, of the passion. Passion-flower, so called from a supposed resemblance between its floral organs, and the instruments of the Passion of our Saviour. An extensive and beautiful genus of plants.

PATAGO´NICA. Lat. Relating to Patagonia. Specific name of a penguin.

PAVO´NIA. Formed from the Latin, _pavo_, a peacock. A specific name.

PEAT. The natural accumulation of vegetable matter on the surface of lands not in a state of cultivation; always moist to a greater or less degree, varying, according to the kind of plants to the decay of which the formation of peat is due.

PELO´PIUM. A metal discovered by Prof. H. Rose.

PELARGO´NIUM. From the Gr. _pelargos_, a stork. Stork’s bill. A genus of plants of the family of Geraniáceæ.

PELA´SGIC. After a mythological name of Jupiter.

PEN´DULUM. From the Lat. _pendo_, I hang. A weight suspended at the end of a rod, so that it may vibrate from side to side in a plane, is called a pendulum.

PENNISE´TUM. From the Lat. _penna_, a feather or pen, and _seta_, a bristle. A genus of plants of the family of Grami´neæ.

PEP´LIS. Gr. Water-purslane. A genus of plants of the family of Salicáriæ.

PER´MIAN. After the ancient kingdom of Permia. A name applied by Mr. Murchison to a system of rocks, consisting of an extensive group of fossiliferous strata, intermediate, in their geological position, between the Carboniferous and Triassic systems, the latter being the upper portion of the New Red Sandstone formation.

PERTURBATION. In astronomy, the deviation of a celestial body from the elliptic orbit which it would describe, if acted upon by no other attractive force than that of the sun, or central body about which it revolves.

PE´TAL. From the Gr. _petalon_, a leaf. A part of the corolla of a flower analogous to a leaf.

PETRO´LEUM. From the Gr. _petros_, a rock, and the Lat. _oleum_, oil. Rock-oil, often called _Barbadoes tar_. A brown, liquid bitumen, found in the West Indies, Europe, &c.

PHACO´CHÆ´RE. Fr. } From the Gr. _phake_, a wart, and PHACO´CHÆ´RUS. Lat. } _choiros_, a hog. Agenus of mammals of the order of pachydermata; allied to the hogs.

PHALA´NGER. From the Gr. _phalagx_, a phalanx. A genus of marsupial or pouch-bearing mammals.

PHANEROGA´MIA. From the Gr. _phaneros_, evident, and _gamos_, marriage. Phanerógamous plants. Applied to plants having distinct flowers.

PHI´LEDON. } Name of a genus of birds. PHI´LEMON. }

PHLE´UM. Cat’s tail grass. A genus of plants of the family of Grami´neæ.

PHLOX. Gr. Flame. A genus of beautiful plants of the family of Polemoniáceæ.

PHO´CÆ. Lat. Plural of phoca.

PHO´CA. Lat. A seal. A genus of aquatic mammals, embracing the common seal or _Phoca vitulina_; the Harp seal or _P. oceanica_; the Hare-tailed seal or _P. lagura_; the sea-lion; sea-wolf; sea-elephant; sea-cow; &c., &c.

PHO´NOLITE. From the Gr. _phoneó_, I resound, and _lithos_, a stone. Clinkstone. A kind of compact basalt which is sonorous when struck.

PHOR´MIUM. From the Gr. _phormos_, a basket. Flax-lilly. A genus of plants of the family of Asphodéleæ. _Phormium tenax_, Iris-leaved flax-lilly of New Zealand.

PHOS´PHORUS. From the Gr. _phos_, light, and _pherô_, I bear. A simple substance which is highly inflammable.

PHOSPHO´RIC ACID. A compound of phosphorus and oxygen, having the properties of acids.

PHOS´PHATES. Compounds of phosphoric acid with salifiable bases, as soda, are termed phosphates; Phosphate of soda, for example.

PHOSPHORE´SCENCE. Emission of light from substances at common temperatures, or below a red heat.

PHOSPHORESCENT. Having the property of emitting light without sensible heat.

PHYSA´LIA. } From the Gr. _phuse_, a vesicle. A genus of PHYSA´LIS. } animals of the family of Acalepha. The Portuguese man-of-war belongs to this genus.

PHYSA´LIS. A genus of plants of the family of Solanáceæ. _Physalis edulis_, the Cape gooseberry.

PHYSE´TER. A blower. Name of a genus of mammals of the family of Ceta´cea.

PIME´NTO. Allspice; Jamaica pepper.

PINNATE. From the Lat. _pinnatus_, feathered. Having leaflets arranged along each side of a common petiole, like the feather of a quill.

PINNATI´FIDA. Lat. Pinnatifid. A leaf is so called when it is divided into lobes from the margin nearly to the midrif.

PINUS. Lat. A pine-tree. A genus of plants of the family of Coniferæ. _Pinus abies._ The Norway Spruce. _Pinus canariensis._ The Canary pine. _Pinus cembra._ The Riga balsam tree; the Cembran or Siberian pine. _Pinus excelsa._ The lofty or Nepal pine. _Pinus maritima._ The maritime pine. _Pinus pinea._ The Stone pine.

PIPIENS. Lat. Peeping like a chicken.

PIPA. A genus of batrachian reptiles. A kind of toad.

PLAT´INA. } The diminutive of the Spanish _plata_, silver. PLAT´INUM. } A metal of a steel gray colour, approaching to the white colour of silver, to which resemblance it owes its name. It was found in Choco, one of the provinces of Columbia, and brought to Europe in 1741, by Don Antonio de Ulloa.

PLEI´OCENE. } From the Gr. _pleion_, more, and _kainos_, PLI´OCENE. } recent. A term applied by geologists to the newer tertiary formation, because there is found fossilized in it a greater number of existing than of extinct species.

PLUMB-LINE. } From the Lat. _plumbum_, lead. An instrument, PLUMMET. } consisting of a string with a weight, usually of lead, attached to a straight staff, for the purpose of ascertaining the direction of gravitation, or the perpendicular to the horizon.

PLUTO´NIC ROCKS. Unstratified crystaline rocks, probably formed at great depths beneath the surface by igneous fusion. _Volcanic rocks_ are formed near the surface.

PODOCA´RPUS. From the Gr. _pous_, _podos_, the foot, and _karpos_, fruit. A genus of plants of the family of Coniferæ.

POLARIZED LIGHT. Light so modified as to possess poles, or sides, having opposite properties.

POLARIZA´TION. Light, by reflexion, by passing through crystals possessing the power of double refraction, becomes modified, so that it does not present the same phenomena of transmission and reflection, as light which had not been polarized.

POLYG´ONUM. From the Gr. _polus_, many, and _gonu_, a knee or joint. A genus of plants of the family of Polygona´ceæ. _Polygonum viriparum_, Alpine Bistort.

POLYMO´RPHA. Lat. From the Gr. _polus_, many, and _morphe_, form. Many-shaped. A specific name.

PO´LYPI. Lat. Plural of polypus.

POLYPLE´CTRON. Name of a genus of birds.

POL´YPUS. From the Gr. _polus_, many, and _pous_, foot. A genus of radiate animals.

PON´TICA. From _pontus_, the sea. Belonging or relating to the sea.

PONTOP´PIDA´NA. Synonym of Couroupita. A genus of plants of the family of Myrtáceæ, Lecythideæ. A large tree of Guiana.

PONTO´PHIDAN. From the Lat. _pontus_, the sea, and the Gr. _ophis_, a serpent. The sea serpent.

PORTULACA´RIA. A genus of plants of the family of Portula´ceæ. The Purslane-tree. _Portulaca´ria afra._ The African purslane-tree.

PORPHYRI´TIC. Of the nature of porphyry.

PORPHYRY. From the Gr. _porphura_, purple. Originally applied to a _red rock_ found in Egypt. A compact feldspathic rock containing disseminated crystals of feldspar, the latter when polished forming small angular spots, of a light color, thickly sprinkled over the surface. The rock is of various colors, dark green, red, blue, black, &c.

PORTLAND BED. A name given by geologists to the superior division of the upper óolite or lias system. The “Portland stone” is a kind of limestone found in the south of England, and more particularly in the Isle of Portland. In this series of strata is a silicious sand known as the “Portland Sand.”

POTAS´SIUM. A metal discovered in potash by Sir H. Davy in 1807.

POTENTI´LLA. A genus of plants of the family of Rosáceæ. Cinquefoil. _Potentilla tridenta´ta._ Trifid-leaved cinquefoil.

PRE´HENSILE. From the Lat. _prehendere_, to lay hold of. Having the faculty to lay hold of. Applied to the tails of those monkeys, for example, which have the power to suspend themselves by the tail.

PREDA´CEOUS. Living on prey.

PRIMARY FORMATION. A term applied by geologists to designate the different rocks which were formed prior to the creation of plants and animals.

PRIMIGENIUS. Lat. Original; first of its kind.

PRI´MUM MO´BILE. That which first imparts motion.

PRIM´ULA. Lat. A primrose. A genus of plants of the family of primuláceæ. _Primula farino´sa_, the Bird’s-eye primrose.

PRISM. A solid bounded by three planes, two of which are equal.

PRISMATIC. Belonging or relating to a prism.

PROBOSCI´DIAN. From the Gr. _proboskis_, a proboscis or trunk. Applied to mammals of the family which includes the elephant.

PROCELLA´RIA. From the Lat. _procella_, a tempest at sea. A genus of birds of the family of Palmipedes.

PROLI´FERA. Formed from _proles_, a race or stock, and _fero_, I bear. Prolific.

PRO´TEA. A genus of plants of the family of Proteáceæ. _Protea cyaneroides_, Artichoke-flowered protea.

PRO´TEUS. A genus of reptiles.

PTEROCA´RPUS. From the Gr. _pteron_, a wing, and _karpos_, fruit. The pods have membranous wings. A genus of plants of the family of Leguminósæ. _Pterocarpus santalinus._ The red saunders tree.

PTE´RIS. Gr. Name of Fern. A genus of cryptógamous plants. Brake. _Pteris esculenta._ Edible fern.

PTEROPUS. From the Gr. _pteron_, wing, and pous, foot. A genus of mammals of the tribe of bats, termed Roussettes.

PU´MA. A name of the couguar or American Lion.

PYROGE´NOUS. From the Gr. _pur_, fire, and _geinomai_, I beget. Applied to rocks which owe their origin to the action of fire, as granite.

PY´RUS. A genus of plants of the family Rosáceæ. A pear-tree.

PYRI´FERA. Lat. From _pyrus_, a pear, and _fero_, I bear.

PYTHON. A genus of reptiles.

QUADRUMA´NA. Formed from the Lat. _quatuor_, four, and _manus_, hand. An order of mammals characterized by having four hands.

QUA´RTZ. Germ. Rock crystal.

QUARTZOSE. Of the nature of quartz.

QUICKSILVER. A metal which is fluid at ordinary temperatures. Also called mercury.

RADIA´TA. Lat. Radiate; the name of a class of zóophytes.

RA´DIATE. From the Lat. _radius_, a ray. Furnished with rays; having rays.

RADIA´TION. The emission of the rays of light, or of heat, from a luminous or a heated body.

RAFFLE´SIA. After Sir T. Raffles. A genus of plants of the family of Rafflesiáceæ, which are parasites, growing on the roots of dicotyledonous plants. The flowers of some of them are enormously large; the Rafflesia arnoldi are said to be three feet in diameter.

RAINE´TTE. Fr. A tree-frog.

RANUN´CULUS. From the Lat. _rana_, a frog, because the species inhabit humid places. Crow-foot. A genus of plants of the family of Ranunculáceæ.

RANUN´CULI. Lat. Plural of ranunculus.

RA´NA. Lat. A frog. A genus of reptiles.

REFRA´CTION. From the Lat. _refractus_, broken. The deviation of a ray of light from its rectilinear course, caused by passing through a transparent substance. The degree of refraction depends upon the density of the medium through which the ray of light passes.

REFU´LGENS. Lat. Shining brightly; refulgent.

RE´PTILE. From the Lat. _repere_, to crawl. A term applied to any animal that moves naturally upon its belly, or on very short legs, as serpents, &c.

REPTI´LIA. The class of reptiles: it comprises those vertebrate animals which have cold blood, an aërial respiration, and an incomplete circulation.

RESENIFE´RA. Lat. Containing resin.

REVOLU´TA. Lat. Turned back; tumbled.

RHEA. Synonyme of _Struthio_, an ostrich.

RHO´DIUM. From the Gr. _rodon_, a rose, on account of the rose red color of some of its salts. A metal discovered in the year 1803 by Wollaston.

RHODODE´NDRON. From the Gr. _rodon_, a rose, and _dendron_, a tree. A genus of plants of the family of Ericáceæ.

RHODOME´LIA. From the Gr. _rodon_, a rose, and _melas_, black. A genus of plants of the family of Phy´ceæ.

RHUS. A genus of plants of the family of Terebintáceæ. _Rhus vernix._ The varnish Sumach.

RHYNCHOPS. From the Gr. _rugchops_, a beak. A genus of birds: the skimmers or scissor-bills.

ROCK-SALT. Common salt found in masses or beds in the new red sandstone.

ROD´ENTIA. From the Lat. _rodere_, to gnaw. An order of mammals.

RODENTS. Animals of the order Rodentia.

ROR´QUAL. A kind of whalebone whale.

RO´SA. A genus of plants of the family of Rosáceæ. _Rosa sinensis._ The Chinese rose.

RU´BER. Lat. Red.

RUBIA´CEÆ. A family of plants.

RU´BY. A crystalized gem of various shades of red.

RUFIMA´NUS. Lat. Red-handed.

RU´MINANT. An animal that chews the cud.

RUMINA´NTIA. An order of mammals which are characterized by chewing the cud.

RU´MINATI. To chew the cud.

SA´LINES. Natural deposits of salt; salt springs.

SA´LIX. Lat. Willow. A genus of plants of the family of Salici´neæ _Sa´lix lana´ta._ Woolly willow.

SALT. A combination of an acid with one or more bases.

SAMO´LUS. From the Celtic, _san_, salutary, and _mos_, pig. Salutary to pigs. Brook-weed. A genus of plants of the family of Primuláceæ. _Samo´lus valera´ndi._ Common brook-weed.

SANDARA´CH. A name given by the Arabs to an odorous resin.

SANDALI´NUS. Lat. Sandal-like.

SANDSTONE. Any rock consisting of aggregated grains of sand.

SAPA´JOU. Fr. A genus of monkeys.

SAPI´NDUS. Abbreviation of _sapo_, soap, and _indicus_, Indian soap. Soap-berry. A genus of plants of the family of Sapindáceæ. _Sapi´ndus sapona´ria._ Common soap-berry.

SAPONA´RIA. Lat. Soapy.

SAPOTA´CEÆ. A family of plants.

SA´PPHIRE. A very hard gem consisting essentially of crystalized alu´mina. It is of various colors; the _blue_ variety being usually called sapphire; the _red_, the oriental ruby; the _yellow_, the oriental topaz.

SA´QUIS. } A genus of monkeys. SAKIS. }

SARGA´SUM. From the Span. _sarga´zo_, sea-lentils. A genus of plants of the family of Phy´ceæ.

SARRACE´NIA. After Dr. Sarrazin. The side-saddle flower, or pitcher plant. A genus of plants of the family of Sarracénieæ.

SAU´RIAN. From the Gr. _sauros_, a lizard. Applied to animals of the lizard tribe.

SAUROID. From the Gr. _sauros_, a lizard, and _eidos_, resemblance. Resembling a lizard.

SCA´NDENS. Lat. Climbing.

SCHIST. From the Gr. _schistos_, split. Slate.

SCHISTO´SE. Slaty.

SCHOT´IA. After Schott, a Dutch gardener. A genus of plants of the family of Leguminósæ. _Schotia speciosa._ Small-leaved Schotia.

SCI´TAME´NEÆ. A family of plants.

SCIE´RIA. From the Gr. _skleros_, hard. A genus of plants of the family of Cyperáceæ.

SCO´LOPAX. A genus of birds: a heron.

SCOPA´RIA. From _scopa_, a broom. A genus of plants of the family of Scrophulari´neæ.

SCO´RIÆ. Volcanic cinders. Cinders and slags of basaltic lavas of a reddish brown and black color.

SCORIA´CEOUS. Of the nature of scoriæ.

SCO´RIFORM. In form of scoriæ.

SCY´THROPS. From the Gr. _skuthrops_, sad. A genus of birds of the order of climbers. A cuckoo.

SEAMS. Thin layers or strata interposed between others.

SECONDARY FORMATION. In geology the formation which is next in order to the transition formation.

SE´CULAR. From the Lat. _seculum_, a century. _Secular elevations_ are those which take place gradually and imperceptibly, through a long period of time. _Secular tides_ are those which are dependent upon the secular variation of the moon’s mean distance from the earth.

SE´DIMENT. From the Lat. _sedeo_, I sit. That which subsides or settles to the bottom of any liquid.

SEDIME´NTARY. Belonging or relating to sediment.

SEBIFE´RA. Lat. Containing tallow.

SEED-LOBE. The envelope in which the seed in plants is formed.

SELE´NITE. A variety of gypsum, or sulphate of lime.

SE´MITIC. Applied to the languages of the descendants of _Sem_, or the Orientals.

SE´PAL. That part of the calyx of a flower which resembles a leaf.

SE´PIA. A kind of paint prepared from the cuttle fish. A genus of mollusks.

SER´PENTINE. A magnesian rock of various colors, and often speckled like a serpent’s back. It is generally dark green.

SE´PTENTRIONA´LIS. Lat. Northern.

SER´RATE. From the Lat. _serra_, a saw. Toothed like a saw.

SERRA´TA. Lat. Serrate.

SHAFT. A cylindrical hollow space, or pit, in mines, made for the purpose of extracting ores, &c.

SHALE. An indurated slaty clay, or clay-slate.

SHINGLE. Loose, water-worn gravel and pebbles.

SHORE´A. Synonym of _Vatica_. A genus of plants of the family of Diptérocárpeæ.

SIERRA. Span. A mountain chain.

SI´LEX. From the Gr. _chalis_, a pebble. The principal constituent of quartz, rock-crystal, and other _silicious_ minerals.

SI´LICA. Silicious earth: the oxide of _silicon_ (the elementary basis of Silica,) constituting almost the whole of _silex_ or flint. It combines with many of the metallic oxides, and is for this reason sometimes called _sili´cic_ acid.

SI´LICATE. A compound of silicic acid and a base. _Plate-glass_ and _window-glass_ are silicates of soda and potassa; and _flint-glass_ is a similar compound with a large addition of silicate of lead.

SILI´CIOUS. Containing silica.

SILI´CIFIED. Petrified or mineralized by silicious earth.

SILT. The name given to the sand, clay, and earth, which accumulate in running waters.

SILI´CIUM. The metalloid which forms the basis of silica.

SILURIAN SYSTEM. Series of rocks formerly known as the _greywacke series_. So called after the _Silures_ or _Siluri_, the ancient Britons who inhabited the region where these strata are most distinctly developed. They are entirely of marine origin.

SILU´RUS. A genus of fishes of the family of Silurida.

SILVA. A forest, or woods.

SIMU´LIUM. From the Lat. _simulo_, I feign. A genus of insects of the order of Diptera.

SINE´NSIS. Lat. Chinese; belonging or relating to China.

SIN´TER. Germ. A scale. _Calcareous sinter_ is a variety of carbonate of lime composed of successive concentric layers. _Silicious sinter_ is a variety of common opal.

SIPHO´NIA. A genus of plants of the family of Euphorbiáceæ.

SLATE. A well known rock which is divisible into thin plates or layers.

SMYNTHUS, or SMINTHUS. From the Gr. _sminthos_, rat. A genus of rodent mammals.

SMYRNE´NSIS. Lat. Belonging, or relating to Smyrna.

SOLAR SPE´CTRUM. Lat. _Spectrum_, an image. In optics the name given to an elongated image of the sun formed on a wall or screen by a beam of undecomposed light, received through a small hole, and refracted by a prism.

SOLFATA´RA. Italian. A volcanic vent emitting sulphur and sulphurous compounds.

SOLIDA´GO. Golden-rod. A genus of plants of the family of Compósitæ.

SO´MATE´RIA. Synonym with _platypus_. A genus of birds.

SOPHO´RA. A genus of plants of the family Leguminósæ.

SPAR. (Germ. _Spath_.) Applied to certain crystalized mineral substances, which easily break into cubic, prismatic, or other forms.

SPAR´RY. Of the nature of spar.

SPE´CIES. A kind; a subdivision of genus. Extinct species is a term applied to those kinds of organized beings, whether plants or animals, which are not found living upon the face of the earth.

SPECI´FIC. Relating to species.

SPECIFIC WEIGHT, or SPECIFIC GRAVITY. The relative weight of one body with that of another of equal volume.

SPECIO´SA. } SPECIO´SUS. } Lat. Handsome. A word used as a specific name. SPECIO´SUM. }

SPE´CULAR IRON. A kind of iron ore of granular structure, and metallic lustre, sometimes shining.

SPECTA´BILIS. Lat. Visible, remarkable, noteable.

SPICA´TA. Lat. Having spikes; eared like corn.

SPINE´LLE, or SPINE´L. French. A sub-species of ruby.

SPIRÆ´A. A genus of plants of the family of Rosáceæ.

SPORES. The seeds of lichens, and crytógamous plants.

SPORU´LES. The diminutive of spores.

SPUMA´CEOUS. From the Lat. _spuma_, foam. Foamy.

STAGMA´RIA. From the Gr. _stagma_, a drop. A genus of plants of the family of Anacardiáceæ. _Stagma´ria verniciflua_, a tree of Sumatra, from the bark of which exudes an extremely acrid juice. This juice quickly dries in the air, becomes black, and is sold at a high price; it is employed in the preparation of a varnish. The Sumatrans consider it dangerous to sit or sleep in the shade of this tree.

STA´MEN. Lat. The male apparatus of a flower.

STAPE´LIA. Proper name. A genus of plants of the family of Asclepiádeæ.

STARCH. A vegetable substance which exists in many tuberous roots, the stalks of palms, and in the seeds of the cereal grasses.

STEP´PE. Fr., from the Lat. _stipes_, a landmark. A term applied to the Savanahs of Tartary, of the Crimea, &c., and salt deserts of Northern Asia.

STI´GMA. The superior, terminating part of the pistil of a flower.

STILLIN´GIA. After Dr. Stillingfleet. A genus of plants of the family of Euphorbiáceæ. _Stillingia sebifera._ The tallow tree of China.

STRA´TA. Lat. Plural of _stratum_, a layer, a bed.

STRATIFICA´TION. An arrangement in beds or layers.

STRA´TIFIED. Arranged in strata.

STRA´TUS. A kind of cloud: it consists of horizontal layers, and includes fogs and mists; its under surface usually rests upon the land or sea, and it is therefore the lowest of the clouds.

STRELIT´ZIA. After Queen Charlotte, of the family of Mecklenburgh Strelitz. A genus of plants of the family of Musáceæ.

STRI´Æ. Lat. Diminutive channels or creases.

STRIA´TA. Lat. Striated; marked with striæ.

STRON´TIUM. A metalloid found in the earth called strontia.

STRU´THIO. Lat. An ostrich. A genus of birds.

STRU´THEOUS. Of the nature of an ostrich.

STRYCH´NOS. A genus of plants of the family of Apocy´neæ. _Strych´nos toxica´ria._ The poison strychnos.

STYLE´DIUM. From the Gr. _stulos_, a column. A genus of plants of the family of Stylideæ, found in New Holland.

SUBLIMA´TION. The process by which volatile substances are raised by heat, and again condensed into the solid form. The substances so obtained are called _sublimates_.

SUB SOIL. An under soil.

SUB STRA´TA. Lat. Plural of _substratum_, an under layer or bed.

SUL´PHURET. A compound of sulphur with another solid, as with iron, forming _sulphuret of iron_.

SUL´PHURETTED. Containing sulphur; as hydrogen, containing sulphur, is called sulphuretted hydrogen.

SUPE´RBA. Lat. Superb, elegant.

SURIA´NA. A genus of plants of the family of Suriáneæ; it was formerly of the Rosáceæ.

SYCOMO´RUS. Lat. The Sycamore; applied also as a specific name.

SY´ENITE and SI´ENITE. A granite rock from _Syene_ or _Siena_ in Egypt. It consists of quartz, feldspar, and hornblende. It is tougher than granite.

SYL´VIA. Name of a genus of birds.

SYNGENE´SIA. From the Gr. _sun_, together, and _geinomai_, to grow. Linnean name of a class of plants.

TAC´CA. Malay. A genus of plants of the family of Aroïdeæ. _Tac´ca pinnatifida._ The Salep tree.

TANG´HINIA. From the Madagascar name, _Tanghing_. A genus of plants of the family of Apocy´neæ. _Tang´hinia vene´niflua_ yields an active poison which is used to cause death, under judicial sentence, by the natives of Madagascar.

TANTA´LIUM. A metal, remarkable for its insolubility in acids.

TAN´TALUS. A genus of birds of the family of Herons.

TATA´RICA. Lat. Belonging or relating to Tartary.

TELESCO´PIC. Relating to the telescope; telescopic objects are those which may be seen by the aid of a telescope.

TELLU´RIUM. A rare metal, found in the gold mines of Transylvania.

TEMPERA´TURE. A definite degree of sensible heat.

TEMPORA´RIA. Lat. Temporary; relating to time.

TE´NAX. Lat. Tenacious.

TER´MES. A genus of insects of the order of Neuroptera, and family of Termitidæ. White ants.

TERRA JAPO´NICA. An astringent medicinal gum, obtained from the Acácia catechu.

TERTIARY FORMATION. A series of sedimentary rocks which are superior to the primary and secondary, and distinguished by the fossil remains found in them.

TESTA´CEÆ. From _testa_, a shell. Testáceans; animals provided with an external shelly cover, composed chiefly of carbonate of lime.

TESTA´CEOUS. Consisting of carbonate of lime and animal matter.

TESTU´DO. Lat. Tortoise. A genus of reptiles of the order of Chelonians.

TETRACE´RA. From the Gr. _tettaras_, four, and _keras_, a horn. A genus of plants of the family of Dillenáceæ.

TE´TRAGO´NA. From the Gr. _tetra_, four, and _gonos_, angle. Having four angles; applied as a specific name. A genus of plants of the family of Portuláceæ.

THE´A. A genus of plants of the tribe of Camelleæ. _The´a bohea_, Bohea tea; _Thea viridis_, Green tea.

THE´INE. The proximate principle of tea.

THER´MAL. From the Gr. _thermos_, heat. Warm; belonging or relating to heat.

THO´RIUM. A metal obtained from Thorina, an earthy substance.

THU´IA, also THU´JA. A genus of plants of the family of Coni´feræ. _Thuia articulata._ Jointed arbor vitæ. _T. orientalis_; Chinese arbor vitæ. _T. sandarach_, Shittim wood.

TIDAL. Relating to tides. _Tidal wave_ is the elevation of the water of the ocean, produced by the attraction of the moon.

TILLAND´SIA. A genus of plants of the family of Bromeliáceæ.

TITA´NIUM. A metal discovered in 1781, by W. Gregor, in a ferruginous sand.

TO´DUS. A genus of birds of the order of Passerinæ.

TO´PAZ. A crystalized mineral, harder than quartz, of a yellow wine color.

TORSION BALANCE. See, BALANCE.

TOU´RMALINE. A mineral substance consisting of a Boro-silicate of alumine, harder than quartz, but not as hard as topaz.

TOURNFO´RTIA. After Tournefort. A genus of plants of the family of Borragi´neæ.

TRA´CHYTE. From the Gr. _trachus_, rough. A variety of lava. A feldspathic rock, which often contains glassy feldspar and hornblende. When the feldspar crystals are thickly and uniformly disseminated, it is called _trachytic porphyry_.

TRAP. From the Swedish _trappa_, a flight of stairs, because _trap rocks_ frequently occur in large tabular masses rising one above another like the successive steps of a stair-case. Applied to certain igneous rocks composed of feldspar, angite, and hornblende.

TRA´PPEAN. Belonging to trap rocks.

TREMA´NDRA. A genus of plants of the family of Tremándrea.

TRIAS. From the Lat. _tres_, three. Synonym of the triássic system of rocks, consisting of the _Bunter sandstein_, the _Muschelkalk_, and _Keuper_, a group of sandy marls of variegated colors.

TRICHO´MANES. From the Gr. _trichos_, hair, and _mania_, madness, excess. A genus of plants of the class of Crytoga´mia. _Tricho´manes brevise´tum._ Short-styled trichómanes.

TRICY´RTIS. From the Gr. _treis_, three, and _kurtis_, a sack or pouch. A genus of plants of the family of Melantháceæ.

TRIDENTA´TA. Lat. Three-toothed; having three teeth.

TRI´GONOCE´PHALUS. From the Gr. _treis_, three, _gonos_, an angle, and _kephale_, head. A genus of very venemous serpents. _Tri´gonoce´phalus lanceola´tus._ Lance-head viper.

TRI´LOBITE. From the Lat. _tres_, three, and _lobus_, lobe. A genus of fossil crustáceans.

TRIO´NYX. From the Gr. _treis_, three, and _onux_, a nail. A genus of Chelonians.

TRIO´STEUM. From the Gr. _treis_, three, and _osteon_, a bone, a nut. A genus of plants of the family of Caprifoliáceæ.

TU´FA. Italian. A volcanic rock, composed of an agglutination of fragmented scoriæ.

TUNG´STEN. Swedish. _Heavy stone._ A metal which is hard, white, brittle, and difficult to fuse.

TU´RQUOISE. A blue mineral found in Persia; its color depends on the presence of oxide of copper.

UM´BEL. A form of inflorescence, in which several peduncles expand so as to produce a flower somewhat resembling a parasol when open.

UMBELLI´FERÆ. From _umbel_, screen, and _fero_, I bear. Name of a family of plants.

UMBELLI´FEROUS. Belonging or relating to Umbelliferæ.

UNCINA´TA. Lat. From _uncus_, a hook. Hooked; having hooks.

UPHEAVAL. The elevation of land by earthquakes.

URA´NIUM. A metal discovered by Klaproth, in 1789.

URSI´NUS. Lat. Belonging or relating to bears.

U´SNEOIDES. From _u´sne_, a kind of lichen, and the Gr. _eidos_, resemblance. Resembling the _u´sne_.

U´RENS. Lat. Burning.

VA´CUUM. From the Lat. _vacuus_, empty. A portion of space void of matter.

VAGINA´LIS. Lat. From _vagina_, a sheath. A genus of birds.

VANA´DIUM. A silvery white metal, discovered originally by Del Rio, in 1801, but not admitted until 1830.

VANE´SSA. A genus of butterflies. _Vanessa cardui_, the painted lady butterfly.

VERO´NICA. A genus of plants of the family of Scropularínæ.

VE´RTEBRA. From the Lat. _vertere_, to turn. A joint or bone of the spine. _Vertebral column_, is the spine or back bone.

VER´TEBRATE. Having vertebræ, or a spine.

VERTICOSE. Whorl-like.

VENE´NIFLUA. Lat. Flowing with poison.

VERNI´CIFLUA. Lat. Flowing with varnish.

VER´NIX. Lat. Varnish.

VILLO´SUS. Lat. Velvety.

VI´RIDIS. Lat. Green.

VI´TEX. Chaste-tree. A genus of plants of the family of Verbenáceæ.

VIT´RIFIED. From the Lat. _vitrea_, glass. Converted into glass.

VITULI´NA. From the Lat. _vitulus_, a sea calf. Belonging or relating to seals.

VIVIPA´RUM. Lat. Viviparous.

VOLCA´NIC. Belonging or relating to volcanoes.

VOLTA´IC. Applied to electricity produced after the manner of Volta, an Italian philosopher.

VULTUR PAPA. The king of vultures.

WATERSHED. The general declivity of the face of a country which determines the direction of the flowing of water.

WEALD. Name of a part of Kent and Surrey in England. The _Wealden clay_ and _Wealden deposit_ are found in this part of England.

XANTHOX´YLUM. From the Gr. _xanthos_, yellow, _xulon_, wood. Tooth-ache tree. A genus of plants of the family of Rutáceæ.

XERA´NTHEMUM. From the Gr. _xeros_, dry, and _anthos_, flower. A genus of plants of the family of Compo´sitæ.

YERBA MATE. Spanish name of the Ilex paraguensis.

YTT´RIUM. A metal discovered by Wöhler, in 1828; it is of a dark gray color and brittle.

YUC´CA. Adam’s needle. A genus of plants of the family of Liliáceæ. It yields an esculent root.

ZA´MIA. A genus of plants of the family of Cycádeæ.

ZANNICHE´LLIA. After Zannichella, a Venetian apothecary. Pond weed. A genus of plants of the family of Naiades.

ZIRCO´NIUM. A metal found in _zirconia_, an earth, discovered by Klaproth in 1789.

ZI´ZYPHUS. A genus of plants of the family of Rhamni. _Z. jujuba_, yields the jujube fruit.

ZOSTE´RA. From the Gr. _zoster_, a riband. Sea-wrack grass. A genus of plants of the family of Fluviales.

ZO´OLOGY. From the Gr. _zo´on_, an animal, and _logos_, a discourse. That branch of Natural History which treats of animals.

ZO´OPHYTE. From the Gr. _zo´on_, an animal, and _phuton_, a plant. An animal without vertebræ, or extremities, that attaches itself to solid bodies, and seems to live and vegetate like a plant.

INDEX.

A.

Abyssinia, 89; dimensions of, _ib._; table-land, _ib._; mountains, _ib._; geological structure, _ib._

Acidulous springs, 153.

Admiralty, its encouragement of science, 463.

Afghanistan, flora of, 320.

Africa, extent and area, 85; height of table-land, _ib._; interior of continent, 86; width at the Cape of Good Hope, _ib._; western mountains, 87; the koroos, _ib._; western coast, _ib._; fertile tract across the continent, 89, 90; deserts, 90, 91; analogy of Southern Africa to the Deccan, 92; earthquake, 154.

Africa, rivers of, 218-224; the Gariep, or Orange River, 218; the Zambesi, 219; the Haines, _ib._; the Hawash, _ib._; the Zaire, _ib._; the Nile, _ib._-223; the White Nile, 220; its affluents, _ib._; the Blue Nile, _ib._; its tributaries, _ib._; the Takkazie, _ib._; Abyssinian rivers, 221; course of the Nile, _ib._; its basin, 222; velocity, _ib._; inundations, _ib._; ancient renown of, _ib._; the Niger, 223; barbarous state of its nations, _ib._; its sources and course, 223; its affluents, _ib._; its branches, _ib._; inundations, 224; the Gambia, _ib._; the Senegal, _ib._

Africa, flora of, 330; quadrupeds of, 423; birds of, 402.

Agassiz, M., on a former glacier in Chamouni, 53.

Agouti, 432.

Aconcagua, volcano of, 95.

Ai, species of sloth, 429.

Airy, Mr., 16; 462.

Alector, genus of birds, 407.

Alleghanies, chain of, 128, 129; area, _ib._; scenery, _ib._; branches, 129; vegetation on, 342.

Alligators, 389.

Alpaca or Paco, 431; on naturalization of, in Europe, _ib._

Alpine vegetation, 318.

Alps, the, 49; higher Alps, their extent, _ib._; elevation of central ridge of, _ib._; width of the chain, 50; ice in, 52; flora of, 313.

Altai Mountains, 65; length and breadth of the chain, _ib._; form, _ib._; geology of, 66.

Alluvial deposits by rivers, 33.

Amblyrhinchus, genus of reptiles, 391.

Amboyna, its vegetation, 325.

America, length and form of the continent, 93; its natural divisions, _ib._; climate, _ib._; mountains, _ib._; mean height of, 135.

America, rivers of, 234-244; the St. Lawrence, 235; Arctic streams, _ib._; the Mississippi, 235, 236; its sources, 235; its tributaries, _ib._; the Missouri, _ib._; the Arkansas, _ib._; the Red River, _ib._; the Ohio, 236; length of the Mississippi, _ib._; floods, 237; rivers of the Alleghany chain, _ib._; of the Rocky Mountains, _ib._; Mexican rivers, _ib._; rivers of the Andes, 238; the Orinoco, its rise and course, 239; tributaries, _ib._; area of its basin, 240; floods, _ib._; the Amazons, its rise and course, _ib._; its basin, _ib._; tributaries, 241; floods, _ib._; branches, _ib._; colour of American rivers, 242; the Rio de la Plata, its rise, _ib._; tributaries, _ib._; length, _ib._; floods and inundations, 243; the Colorado, 243; the Rio Negro, _ib._; the Essequibo, _ib._; navigation of South American rivers, _ib._; the Parà, 244; the San Francisco, _ib._

America, continental islands of, 139.

American quadrupeds, 426; birds, 404, 405; races of man, 438.

America peopled from Asia, 448.

America, Central, its dimensions, 114; mountains, _ib._; climate and vegetation, 116; volcanos, _ib._; geology, 118.

America, Central, flora of, 344.

America, North, its dimensions and structure, 119; mountains, 119-123, 128-129; plains, 123, 130; progressive extinction of aborigines, 131; geological notice, 131-133; volcanic action, 131; fossil mammalia, _ib._; analogy of the geology of North America with that of Europe, 132-133; mean height of the continent, 135; coalfields, 184, 185; flora of, 341.

America, South, length and width, 93; its mountains, 94-105; low lands, 105-114; their extent and area, 105; geology, 109-114; volcanic remains, 109, _note_; upheavings and subsidences, 112; mean height of the continent, 134; earthquakes, 154; tropical flora of, 346.

Ammonia, its use in vegetation, 301.

Amphiuma, 386.

Amucu, lake, 104.

Anatolia, table-land and mountains of, 56.

Andes, chain of, 93-103; Patagonian Andes, 94; Chilian Andes, 95; Peruvian Andes, 96; fertility and populousness of, _ib._; ancient civilization, _ib._; Bolivian Andes, _ib._, 97; three ranges of the chain, 98; Andes of Cundinamarca and Merida, 100; passes of the Andes, elevations of, 101; climate and temperature, 102; development of volcanic force in the Andes, 109, 110; geology of, 111, 113; coal found in, 111; volcanic products, 112; sea-shells in, _ib._; alternate elevation and depression of, 112, 113; volcanos in eruption in 1835, 112; Andes of Central America, 114, 115.

Aneroid barometer, 261.

Angara, a Siberian river, 250.

Angora goat, 418.

Animated beings, new races of, accompany great geological changes in the strata, 34; their ancient geographical distribution, 35.

Anjou, Lieutenant, his voyage, 76, _note_.

Anoa, the, 422.

Anolis, genus of reptiles, 390.

Antarctic lands, 165-167.

Ant-eaters, 420.

Antelopes of Asia, 420; of Africa, 424.

Antelope Saiga, 419.

Antelope, Prongbuck, or American, 427.

Anti-Libanus, height of, 83.

Ants, 367.

Ants, white, their ravages, _ib._

Antuco, vegetation at, 350.

Apennines, their extent, 51.

Aptenodytes, southern penguin, 408.

Apteryx, anomalous bird, 410.

Arabia, peninsula of, 81, 82; elevation of table-land, 81; mountains, 82.

Arabia Felix, 82.

Arabia Petrea, 83.

Arabia, flora of, 329.

Arabians, 437.

Arago, M., on polarized light, 284.

Aral, lake of, 248, 249.

Ararat, Mount, 56, 418.

Araucari, a bird, 407.

Araucaria, genus of plants, 349.

Arctic lands, 159-167.

Ardea helias, 408.

Areca tree and nut, 324.

Argali sheep, 418.

Armadilloes, 429.

Armenia, plains of, 56.

Arrow-root, 347.

Artesian wells, 152, 210.

Asia, mean height of, 134; volcanos of, 152; earthquakes in, 153.

Asia, rivers of, 224, 234; system of the Euphrates and Tigris, area of its basin, 224; rise and course of the Euphrates, 225; of the Tigris, _ib._; their junction, _ib._; ancient and present state of their banks, _ib._; the Indus, its sources, 226; its tributaries, _ib._; its navigation, 227; its delta, _ib._; length and area, _ib._; the Ganges and Brahmapootra, sources of, 228; their tributaries, _ib._; length, 228, 229; inundations, 229; branches, _ib._; drainage, _ib._; the Irawady, 230; the Menam, _ib._; the Cambodja, _ib._; the Saüng, 231; the Hoang-Ho, _ib._; the Yang-tse-Kiang, _ib._; the Hong-Kiang, 232; the White River, _ib._; the Amur, _ib._; the Lena, _ib._; the Yenessei, 233; the Oby and Irtish, _ib._; great difference in the inhabitants of the basins of Asiatic rivers, 234.

Asia, flora of, 319; quadrupeds of, 417; birds of, 400.

Asp, Egyptian, a snake, 387.

Ass, wild, or onagra, 418.

Assal, lake of, 250.

Assam, Upper, its mountains, 64.

Assam, tea-plant in, 322.

Assyrian wilderness, 84.

Atlantic Ocean, volcanic islands of, 140; its size, 189.

Atlantic Plain, 130.

Atlantic Slope, 130.

Atlas mountains, 46.

Atmosphere influential in modifying the distribution of light and heat, 15.

Atolls, 142-145; description of, 143; diameter, 144; atolls of the Pacific, _ib._; of the China Sea, _ib._; of the Indian Ocean, 145; great extent of atolls, 148.

Auchenia, genus of llamas, 430.

Auckland Islands, flora of, 353.

Aurochs, or wild ox, 416. Aurora, the, 290; form and height of, 291; effect on the magnetic needle, _ib._

Australia, continent of, 136-139.

Australia, rivers of, their insignificance, 244; the Murray, _ib._; the Macquarrie, _ib._; Swan River, _ib._

Australia, flora of, 336; quadrupeds of, 344; birds of, 309; human races, 438.

Axolotl, a Mexican reptile, 386.

Azerbijan, 418.

B.

Babbage, Mr., on age of peat-mosses, 358.

Babiroussa hog, 421.

Back, Sir George, 463.

Bahama Islands, 118.

Bahr-el-Abiad, or White Nile, 251. _See_ Nile.

Bahr-el-Azrek, or Blue Nile. _See_ Nile.

Baikal mountains, 99.

Baily, Mr., 19; and _note_.

Balkan, 50.

Baltic Sea, its area, 207; basin, _ib._; depth, _ib._; climate, _ib._; influence on European civilization, 449.

Baratra, the, 403.

Barbican, a genus of birds, 403.

Baring, Sir Francis, 463.

Barley, origin and cultivation of, 356.

Barometer, use in determining heights, 261; how affected by storms, 269; horary visitations of, 262; aneroid, 261, _note_.

Barren Ground, the, of North America, 129.

Barrier-reefs, 145; notice of a reef off the north-east coast of Australia, 146.

Batrachians, an order of reptiles, 384; their distribution, 385.

Bear, 417, 419.

Bear, the grizzly, 427.

Beaufort, Admiral Sir Francis, 463.

Beaumont, M. Elie de, extension of Von Buch’s views, 39, _note_; parallelism of contemporary chains, 43.

Beechey, Captain, his measurement of the height of the Nevado of Aconcagua, 95.

Bees, distribution of, 366.

Beke, Dr., travels in Africa, 89.

Beloot Tagh, or Cloudy Mountains, 59.

Benguela, 88.

Ben Nevis, its elevation, 71.

Besborough, Earl of, 463.

Bessel, M., his measurement of the earth’s radii, 16; his results compared with those of Mr. Airy, 17; with Colonel Sabine’s, 17, _note_.

Birds, classification of, 392; geographical distribution of, 393; migration of, _ib._; gregarious, 397; British, 398; European, 394; Asiatic, 400; African, 402; North American, 404; South American, 405; Australian, 409; of New Zealand, 410; fossil from New Zealand, 410.

Bison, the, a species of ox, 427.

Black Sea, its area, 207; basin, _ib._; depth, _ib._

Blue Mountains, 117.

Boa, a genus of serpents, 388.

Boar, wild, 416.

Bombon, plain, its height, 98.

Borax, lakes of, in Tibet, 250.

Borneo, general features, products, and climate of, 143; population of, 438.

Boué, M., his deductions from a comparison of different parts of the land, 42; nature’s fundamental types few, 43; interruptions in continents and mountain-chains, 45; Scandinavian mountain system, 70.

——, Dr., on the influence of chains of mountains on the difference of nations, 448.

Brazil, table-land, its form, 104; boundaries, _ib._; soil, 105; flora of, 348.

Brienz, lake of, 247.

Britain, flora of, 317.

British mountains, geology of, 71.

British population, 443.

Brooke, Sir J., at Borneo, 460.

Buch, Von, the structure of the globe, 39, _note_; notice of mountains in Germany, 44; classification of islands, 139; boundary of the Australian continent, 141.

Bunsen, Chevalier, on the antiquity of the Egyptian dynasties, 444, _note_.

Buphaga, a genus of birds, 403.

C.

Caama antelope, 424.

Cabiai, or myopotamus, 433.

Cachalot, or spermaceti whale, 379.

Calbongos, 88.

Camel, Bactrian, 420; Arabian, or dromedary, _ib._

Camellia, country of, 321.

Campbell’s Island, 354.

Campos Parecis, desert of, 105.

Canadas, the, products, 127; ice-storms 128; waste-land, _ib._

Cape Negro, 87.

Cape pigeons, or pintadoes, 393.

Cariama, a gallinaceous bird, 407.

Caribbean Sea, 209.

Caroline Archipelago, 144.

Carpathian mountains, 49.

Carnivorous quadrupeds, 414.

Cashmere, flora of, 310.

Cashmere, goat, 419.

Casius, Mount, height of, 83.

Caspian Sea, its depression, 73.

Caspian Sea, 248.

Cassican, genus of birds, 401.

Cassowary, 402.

Caucasus, the, 55.

Caucasian race of mankind, 436; its distribution, _ib._

Cavendish, Mr., 19.

Cebus, an American monkey, 429.

Celtic races of man, 441.

Cerealia, geographical distribution of, 355.

Cereopsis, a New Holland bird, 410.

Cerro Duida, height of, 104.

Cetacea, division of, 377.

Ceylon, island of, 80; flora of, 329.

Chameleons, 390.

Chamois, 417, 419.

Charpentier, M., his measurement of the base of the Pyrenees, 134, _note_.

Cheiroptera, or bats, 414.

Chelonians, or turtles, 392.

Chelydæ, 391.

Cherokee Indians, 458.

Chile, its climate, 95; group of volcanic vents, 110; rise of the coast, 113; vegetation of, 349.

Chimpanzee, 422, 425.

China, great productiveness of, 78; area of its alluvial plain, _ib._; extent of great canal of, _ib._; climate, _ib._; fire-hills and fire-springs of, 152; flora of, 321.

Chinchilla, 432.

Chinese empire, extent of mountains in, 59.

Chinese population, 437.

Chionis, an antarctic bird, 409.

Chious, 410.

Chiquisaca, 97.

Chitta, the hunting leopard, 421.

Chlamyphores, 429.

Choco, chain of, 100.

Cinchona, or Peruvian-bark tree, 311; 347.

Circassians, 436.

Civilization, effects of, 439; greatest in the vicinity of the sea, 457.

Climate during the Eocene period, 29; excessive cold of the Pleiocene period, 31.

Climate altered by cultivation, 451.

Clouds, formation and height of, 274; different names given to, _ib._

Coal, diffusion of, 181-186; quantity consumed and exported annually by Great Britain, 184, _note_; quantity produced in France in 1841, _ib._; quantity raised in one year, _ib._, _note_; annual value of coal, 184.

Coalfields, great extent of, 36.

Coasts, extent and form of, 40; comparative extent of, in the four quarters of the globe, 41.

Cobra capello, or hooded snake, 387.

Coca (Erythroxylon), 350.

Coccineal insect, 366.

Cæciliæ, genus of reptiles, 386.

Coffee-plant, and history of, 330.

Cold, regions where greatest, 258.

Colima, volcanic cone, 121.

Colobus, genus of Lemuridæ, 425.

Colombian Archipelago. _See_ West Indian Islands.

Condor, the, 406.

Coniferæ, family of plants, 362.

Continent, the great, form of, 45; its high lands, 46, 69; European portion of its mountains, 47; extent and breadth of high lands between the Mediterranean and the Pacific, 55; area of its high land, 73; southern low lands, 77; great extent of desert, 92; continental islands of, 140.

Continents, forces that raised them, their mode of action, 37; area of the great continent, 38; relative extent of continents and islands, _ib._; elevation of continents, 41; interruptions in, 45; mean height of, 133; height of their centres of gravity, 135.

Continental islands described, 139.

Copper, diffusion of, 178.

Coral formations, four kinds of, 143.

Coral reefs, 146.

Cotopaxi, height of, 99.

Coucals, genus of birds, 401.

Coucou, 407.

Couroucou, species of bird, 401.

Crater of elevation, definition of, 48, _note_.

Crax alector, 407.

Crime, decrease of, by education, 471.

Crocodiles in general, 389; of the Nile, _ib._; of the Ganges, _ib._

Cryptogamia, 306.

Cuba, area and coast-line, 118; height of its mountains, _ib._

Culture, its influence on the human form, 447.

Currents, causes of, 197; direction and velocity, _ib._; great oceanic currents, 198; Gulf-stream, 199; breadth of currents, _ib._; counter-currents, 200; periodical currents, _ib._; effect of currents on voyages, 201.

Cusco, city, 98; reliques of the Incas, _ib._

Cush, or land of Ethiopia, 443.

Cutch, river of, 81.

Cuvier, Baron, 30, 32, 463.

Cuyo, a province of South America, 430.

D.

Daman, or Hyrax, 425.

Dangerous Archipelago, 144.

Daouria mountains, 66.

Daouria, flora of, 316.

Darwin, Mr., his speculations on perfect animals found buried in Siberia, 32; his ‘Travels in South America’ quoted, 112; on red water on the coast of Chile, 370; on reptiles of Galapagos, 391; on Aconcagua Peak, 272.

Dasyurus, a genus of carnivora, 434.

Da Vinci, Leonardo, his hydraulic operations, 217, _note_.

Davy, Sir Humphry, his discovery of metalloids, 168; his safety-lamp, 173, _note_.

Day and night, unequal duration of, 15.

Dead Sea, depression of, 84, _note_.

Dead Sea, 247.

de Candolle, M., on botanical regions, _note_, 308; on growth of trees, 358.

Deccan, table-land of, 79; its height and composition, 80; structure, _ib._; soil, _ib._

Deer, Asiatic, 421.

De la Beche, Sir Henry, on metalliferous deposits, 170, 463.

Dembia lake, 251.

Deodora pine, 320.

Desaguadero, table-land or valley of, its dimensions, 96; its area, 97.

Dinornis, a fossil bird, 410.

Dip of the horizon, 17.

Distance estimated from known height of an object, 17.

Dodo, an extinct bird, 410.

Dogs, American, 427.

Dolphins, 378.

Domestic animals, number of species, 452.

Donny, M., his experiments with boiling water, 163.

Douglas, Mr., his account of an eruption of the volcano of Kirawah in 1834, 151.

Dove, Professor, on mean temperatures, 259.

Dragon lizard, 390.

Dry River, 86.

Dugong, the, 377.

Dzeran goat, 419.

Dziggetai, the, 418, _note_.

E.

Earth, the, its insignificance in space, 13; instability of its shell, 14; its internal fires, _ib._; changes which have brought about its present state, _ib._; its future destruction, _ib._; its distance from the sun, 15; its annual and diurnal revolutions, _ib._; its position in the solar system, _ib._; inclination of the axis, _ib._; its relative magnitude, _ib._; its oblateness, _note_, _ib._; its figure and density deduced from the perturbations in the motions of the moon, _ib._; its curvature, 16; modes of determining its form and size, _ib._; its radii, _ib._; its circumference and diameter, _ib._; experiment to ascertain the value of its mass, 18; its mean density, 19; increase in density towards the centre, _ib._; constitution of its surface, _ib._; an idea of its structure obtained from mining, _ib._; its antiquity, 34; unequal arrangement of land and water, 37, 38; ancient internal action, 135.

Earthquakes, 153-157; causes of, 154; propagation of the shocks _ib._; effect on the sea, 155; elevation of the ground, _ib._; sound of the explosion, rate of progression of, _ib._; velocity of the great oceanic wave, 156; comparative destructiveness of earthquakes, 157; frequency of small shocks, _ib._; extent of undulations, _ib._; rapidity of destruction, _ib._; partial shocks, _ib._; effects of earthquakes on the configuration of the country, 158.

Eagles, 395.

East India Company, its encouragement of science, 463.

Echidna, 435.

Edentata, 414; South American, 429.

Egede, M., on sea-serpents, 381.

Ehrenberg, M., microscopic shells discovered by, 35.

Eider duck, the, 407.

Eocene period, the globe and its inhabitants during, 29.

Elburz, elevation of, 56.

Electricity in general, 285; of the atmosphere, 286.

Elephants, fossil, multitudes of, in Siberia, 36.

Elephants, Asiatic, 421; African, 424.

Elk, the, 416.

Elliot, Mr. Alexander, his expedition to the sources of the Ganges, 228.

El-Teh, desert of, 82.

Eltonsk, lake of, 248.

Emigration, its effects in Great Britain, 459.

Emu, Australian cassowary, 410.

Emys, fresh-water tortoise, 391.

Encircling reefs, 145.

England, earthquakes in, 154; its coalfields, 182.

Equator, protuberant matter at, influences and is influenced by the moon’s motion, 17, _note_.

Erebus, Mount, 166.

Erie, lake, 251.

Erman, M., on evaporation, 273.

Espenhaço, chain of, 105.

Esquimaux, 437.

Ethiopian races, 438.

Etna, manner of its explosions, 153.

Europe, mean height and area of, 134.

European mountains, frequency of deep lakes in, 50; geological notice, 53.

Evaporation in different regions, 272.

F.

Factory labour, 412, _note_.

Falkland Islands, vegetation of, 352.

Famel, 425.

Faraday, Dr., on auroras, 291; on magnetic properties of matter, 296.

Feroe Islands, 70.

Fichtelberge, area of, 48.

Finns, the, 442.

Fire, subterranean lakes of liquid, 14; volcanic, its agency in the formation of rocks, 20.

Firefly, the, 366.

Fishes, geographical distribution, 373; migration of, 375; fresh-water, _ib._

Fitzroy, Captain, 447; _note_, 459.

Floras of different countries, 312.

Fogs, how produced, 273.

Fonseca Bay, 252.

Forbes, Professor E., on British fauna and flora, 31, _note_; on glaciers, 53; on primary floras, 310; on Egean fuci, 360; on the influence of depth on marine animals, 370; on the Mediterranean, 371.

Formosa, population of, 438.

Fossil remains, immense quantity of, 35.

Foulahs, an African nation, 438.

Fourier’s theory of central heat, 256.

Fox, the, 416.

Fox, Mr., on metalliferous deposits, 170.

France, its high lands, 48; mean height of its flat provinces, 73; mean elevation of, 134.

Franklin, Sir John, 464.

Fringillæ, genus of birds, 398.

Frogs, 384.

Fuci, or sea-weeds, 361.

Fuegians, 392.

Fuego, volcano del, 115.

Future state, a universal belief in, 448.

G.

Galago, genus of Lemuridæ, 426.

Galapagos islands, flora of, 341; birds of, 408; mollusca of, 372.

Ganges, valley of the, 79; soil, _ib._; flatness, _ib._

Gardner, Mr., his computation of the extent of dry land, 38, _note_.

Gecko, a species of lizard, 390.

Gems, diffusion of, 186.

Geneva, lake of, 247.

Geography, Physical, definition of, 13; effects of the intellectual superiority of man among its most important subjects, _ib._; connection between it and geological structure of countries, 42.

Geology, outline of, 19-36.

Georgian race, 436.

Gerard, Captain, his estimate of the mean height of the Himalaya, 61; notices of its vegetation, 63; snow-line, _ib._; height of the snow-line on mountains of Middle Asia, 135, _note_.

Gerboa, or Jerboa, 419.

Geysers, 162; Great Geyser, 163; Strokr, _ib._

Giant petrel, 408.

Gibbon, a genus of monkeys, 422.

Gibraltar, Strait, depth of, 46.

Gipsies, number of, 442.

Giraffe, 423.

Glaciers, 52; their rate of motion in the Alps, _ib._; their composition, _ib._; their enormous pressure, _ib._

Glutton, 417.

Goatsuckers, 398.

Gobi, Great, area and elevation of, 69; climate, _ib._; mean height, 134.

Gobi, desert of, 250.

Gold, diffusion of, 174.

Gonung-Api, volcanic island of, 149.

Gothard, St., pass of, 50.

Guasacalco river, 252.

Gough’s Islands, 282.

Grampian hills, 71.

Grampus, 379.

Gran Chaco, desert of, 107.

Gran Sasso d’Italia, height of, 51.

Gravitation, variations in its intensity, 18.

Great Central Plain of North America, _see_ Mississippi, valley of.

Great Northern Plain, 73; its soil, _ib._; geology, 77.

Grecian mountains, 51.

Greeks, 436.

Greenland, 159; flora of, 341.

Greenwich Observatory, 462.

Guachero, the, 406.

Guan, a gallinaceous bird, 407.

Guanáco, 431.

Guatemala, table-land of, 115; fertility, _ib._; elevation, _ib._; volcanos, _ib._

Guinea, flora of, 348.

Guinea, North, 88.

Guinea, New, its size, 141; height of its mountains, 142.

Gulf of Mexico, 209.

Gurla, mountain of, 249.

H.

Hail, how formed, 280.

Haiti (San Domingo), dimensions, 117; its mountains, _ib._

Halos, 283.

Haudramaut, depth of loose sand in, 82; tradition concerning, _ib._

Hebrides, 71.

Heckla, mount, 161.

Heights of places, table of, 475.

Helena, St., 295.

Hermit Island, 352.

Herschel, Sir John, on cause of revolving storms, 264.

Himalaya, chain, general structure, 60; mean height, _ib._; height of its peaks, _ib._; passes of, 62; climate, 63; range of vegetation, _ib._; geology of, 64.

Hindoo Coosh, 60, 296; passes of, 62.

Hindostan, plains of, their extent, 79; peninsula, _ib._

Hippelaphus of Aristotle, 422.

Hippopotamus, 424.

Holland, depression of, 73.

Holland, New, length and breadth, 136; climate, _ib._; coasts, _ib._; mountain-chain, 137; length and average height of mountains, _ib._; rivers, 138. _See_ Australia, rivers of.

Hooker, Sir William J., 463, _note_.

Hooker, Dr. J. D., on marine plants, 359, _note_; on Antarctic Algæ, 362.

Hopkins, Mr., his theory of fissures, 44.

Horizon, its dip, 17.

Horse, 421; varieties of, _ib._, 427.

Houtias, a gnawing animal, 433.

Human races, 436; permanency of type, 444; discrepancy of their colour, 445.

Human constitution, its flexibility, 445.

Humboldt, Baron, his ‘Cosmos,’ 5; on the inclination of the Peak of Teneriffe, 42; estimate of the mean height of the Himalaya, 61; on the silvas of the Amazons, 107; on the influence of table-lands and mountains on the mean height of continents, 133; estimate of height of mean crest of the Pyrenees, 134, _note_; measurements of highest peaks and mean heights of several mountain-chains, 135, _note_; notice of an earthquake at Riobamba in 1797, 157; his statement of the quantity of the precious metals brought to Europe from America, 176; on river-floods, 215.

Humming birds, 406.

Hunter, John, 463.

Huron, lake, 250.

Hurricanes, 267.

Hydraulic systems of Europe, 216; divisions, _ib._; system of the Volga, _ib._; Danube, _ib._; origin of the application of hydraulics to rivers, 217; system of Britain, 218.

Hydrogen, influence on vegetation, 301.

Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, 463.

Hyæna, Asiatic species, 431; African species, 425.

Hyla, or tree-frog, 385.

Hyrax, or Daman, 425.

Hyrcanian mountains, 48.

I.

Ibex, or wild goat, 417.

Ibis, the red, 408.

Ice, quantity in the Alps, 52; rivers of, _ib._

Ice, polar, 203; area of, in the Arctic Ocean, _ib._; north polar ice, _ib._; packed ice, 204; icebergs, _ib._; colours of ice, 205.

Ice mountains, 67.

Iceland, 166; ice mountains, 161; glaciers, _ib._; desert, _ib._; volcanos, _ib._; eruptions, _ib._; geysers, 163; fiords, 164; products, _ib._; climate, _ib._; storms, _ib._

Ichneumon, a carnivorous quadruped, 417.

India, flora of, 320.

Indian Archipelago, islands of, 141; their importance, 142; surveys of their coasts, _ib._; flora of, 326.

Indian desert, 81.

Indo-Chinese peninsula, 78; its population, 437.

Insects, geographical distribution of, 363; number of, _ib._; migration of, 367.

Iran, plateau of, _see_ Persia.

Ireland, its scenery, 71; coal districts, 183.

Iron, diffusion of, 182; quantity manufactured in Britain in 1844, 183, _note_; uses, 184, _note_; value of, in France, in 1838, _ib._, _note_.

Isatis fox, 427.

Islands, their relative extent to that of the continents, 38; classification of, 139.

Isothermal lines, 258.

Itambe, mountain, height of, 105.

J.

Jackal, 425.

Jaguar, or American tiger, 428.

Jamaica, its area, 117; mountains, _ib._; extent of coast, 118; temperature, _ib._

Jan Mayen’s Land, 164.

Japan, flora of, 321.

Japanese, 437.

Java, volcanos of, 149; height of volcanic mountains, _ib._; destruction of a mountain in 1772, _ib._; character of the coast, _ib._; “Valley of Death,” 153.

Jebel Houra, 82.

Jebel Okkdar, height of, 82.

Jewish population of Europe, 442.

Johnston, Mr. Keith, his Physical Atlas, 5; 43, _note_.

Jordan, valley of, its fertility, 84; its depression, _ib._

Jordan, river, 247.

Jorullo, volcanic cone, its sudden appearance, 121.

Jukes, Mr., his description of the rolling of the billows along the great Australian barrier-reef, 146.

Jura, elevation of, 50.

K.

Kailas Peak, 249.

Kalmuks, 437.

Kamichi, a gallinaceous bird, 407.

Kamtchatka, flora of, 315.

Kangaroo, 434.

Kangaroo rat, 434.

Kelat, elevation of, 58.

Kerguelen’s Land, vegetation of, 355.

Keyserling, Count, 67, _note_.

Khing-han mountains, 59.

Kiang, wild ass of Tibet, 419.

Kingfishers, 398.

Kinkajou, the, 428.

Kirawah, volcano of, 151; eruption in 1834, _ib._

Kirghiz, steppes of, 75.

Koko-nor lake, 250.

Kombst’s ethnographic map, 443, _note_.

Kosciusko, mount, height of, 137.

Kourdistan mountains, 56.

Kuen-lun (or Chinese) mountains, 59.

Kurile Islands, volcanic vents of, 151.

L.

Laccadive Archipelago, 145.

Ladak, 317.

Ladoga, lake of, 246.

Lagoons and Lagoon Islands, 143; described, 146; theories of their formation, _ib._; and _note_, 147.

Land, dry, its area, 37; its proportion to the ocean, 38, _note_; relative quantity in the northern and southern hemispheres, 38; and in the various quarters of the globe, _ib._; unexplored, _ib._; polar lands, _ib._; tendency of land to assume a peninsular form, 39; outline of the land, _ib._; changes in its level, 158.

Languages varying, 440; number of, _ib._; derivation and comparison of, _ib._; spoken in Britain, 443.

La Paz, city, 97.

Lapland, flora of, 315.

Lasistán mountains, 57.

Latitude, sine of, 17, _note_.

Layard, Mr., his antiquarian researches, 225, _note_.

Lead, diffusion of, 176.

Lebanon, mountains of, 83.

Leithart, Mr., 169, _note_.

Lemurs, 422, 426.

Leon or Managua, lake of, 252.

Leopard, 421.

Life, duration of, in different classes of society, 450, _note_.

Light, composed of different rays, 280; its properties, 281; absorbed by the atmosphere, 282; polarized, 284; influence on vegetation, 301.

Lightning, 288.

Lion, the, 425.

Litako, in South Africa, 459.

Lizards, 390.

Llama, 430; on its naturalization in Europe, 431, _note_.

Llanos of the Orinoco and Venezuela, 108; area of, _ib._; character, _ib._; climate, _ib._; floods and conflagrations, 109; temperature, _ib._

Locusts, flights of, 367.

Locks on canals, early use of, 217; their application by Leonardo da Vinci, _ib._

Lophophorus, a bird, 401.

Lop lake, 250.

Loudon, Alex., Esq., account of the “Valley of Death,” in Java, 153.

Lourie, a genus of parrots, 402.

Loxa, mountain-knot of, 98.

Lucerne, lake of, 247.

Lyell, Sir Charles, his theory of the formation of rocks, 20; division of tertiary strata, 28; on the Alleghany mountains, 128; on the fossiliferous rocks of northern Europe and America, 132; on the coal fields of North America, 185; on mollusca in the temperate zones, 372; on the number of existing species of animals, 381.

Lynch, Lieut., relative height of Dead Sea and Jerusalem; analysis of Dead Sea, 248, _note_.

Lynch, Lieut., expedition to the Dead Sea, 84, _note_.

Lynx, the, 416.

M.

MacCormick, Robert, Esq., his description of the first view of Victoria Land, 165.

Mace plant, 325.

Madagascar, 87; fauna of, 426; inhabitants of, 438.

Mageroe Island, 279.

Maggiore lake, 247.

Magnetism, 291.

Magnetic poles of the earth, 292.

Magnetic intensity, force of, 293.

Magnetic needle, hourly variation of, _ib._

Magnetic variation or declination, 294.

Magnetic storms, 295.

Magnetic force, lines of equal, 296.

Magnolias, region of, 343.

Maize, or Indian corn, origin and culture of, 345.

Malabar, extent and height of its mountains, 80.

Malayan races of man, 438.

Maldive Archipelago, its dimensions, 145; size of its atolls, _ib._

Malurus Africanus, 403.

Mammalia, division into groups, 413; geographical distribution, 414; migration of, 415; instinct of, _ib._

Man, division into races, 436; his influence on the material world, 450.

Manasa, or Manasarowar, lake of, 67; height of, 418.

Manatus, or lamantin, 377.

Mandshur, its aspect, 78.

Mandshuria, 321.

Manfredi on the rate of rise in the bed of the ocean, 34.

Mango, a fruit, 327.

Manis, 421, 425.

Mankind, numbers of, 436.

Marabous crane or stork, 404.

Marine animals in general, 370.

Marine mammalia, classification of, 376.

Marine vegetation, 358.

Marriage, average number of, annually, 455.

Marsupial, or pouched quadrupeds, 434.

Martineau, Miss, her ‘Journey to Egypt and Syria’ quoted, 152.

Mediterranean Sea, volcanos of, 152; its area, 207; sources of supply, _ib._; depth, _ib._; tides and currents, 208; bed, _ib._; coasts, _ib._; its influence on European civilization, 449.

Miocene period, the globe and its inhabitants during, 29.

Mekram, desert of, 81.

Menopoma, genus of reptiles, 386.

Menura, or lyre-bird, 409.

Meridian, terrestrial, 16; area of, measured by M. Bessel, _ib._; length of a degree of, _ib._; measurement of an arc at Quito, 99.

Metals, list of, 168, _note_; diffusion of, 174.

Metalliferous Deposits, 169, &c.; direction of, 170; peculiar to particular rocks, 171.

Metalloids, list of, 168, _note_.

Mexico, table-land and mountains, 120; dimensions, _ib._; city of, _ib._; volcanos, 121; Barancas, 122; vegetation, _ib._; flora, 344.

Midas Leonina, a genus of monkeys, 429.

Middendorf, M., 67, _note_.

Millet, its cultivation, 356.

Mindanao, population of, 438.

Mines, mode of opening, 172; drainage, _ib._; ventilation, 173; access, _ib._; depth, _ib._

Mineral produce of Europe, value of, in 1829, 183, _note_; proportion furnished by England, _ib._, _note_.

Mineral veins, parallelism of, 43; filling of, 169; richest near the surface, 170, _note_.

Mirage, 282.

Mississippi, valley of the, its area, 123; table-land, _ib._; general character, 124; southern desert, _ib._; marshes, _ib._; the Grand Saline, _ib._; prairies, _ib._; forests, 125; [Upper Valley of the, 126, 177;] new states, 125; principal lakes, _ib._

Mitchell, Mr., on the causes of earthquakes, quoted, 155.

Mongol Tartar races, 437.

Mongolia, its situation, 60; little known, 69.

Monitor, genus of reptiles, 389; fossil, 390.

Monkeys, American, 428; African, 425.

Monocotyledonous plants, 306.

Monsoons, 266.

Mont Blanc, its height, 49; quantity of ice on, 52.

Moon, the, its influence on, and distance from the earth, 15; its perturbations show the compression at the poles, _ib._; inequality in its motions produced by matter at the earth’s equator, 17, _note_.

Moon, the, mountains of, 88.

Moorcroft, Mr., elevation of the sacred lake Manasa, 67.

Moose-deer, or elk, 425.

Moraines, 52.

Mosasaurus, 390, _note_.

Moscow, height of, 73.

Mosquito, the, 365.

Mountains, forms of, 41; their declivity, 42; contemporaneous upheaval of parallel mountain-chains, 43; interruptions in, 45; table of the heights of the principal mountains of the globe, 475.

Mountain-chains, assumed form of, 129, _note_; a barrier to insects, 364.

Mouflon, 416.

Mowna Roa mountain, 269.

M’Quhae, Capt., 382.

Murchison, Sir Roderick J., on the geology of the Altai chain, 66; observations on Siberia, 67, _note_; researches in the Ural mountains, 72; on the geology of Northern Europe, 77.

Museum, British, improved state of, 462.

Museum, of Practical Geology, 463.

Museum, Hunterian, 463.

Musk-deer, Moschus, 420.

Musk-ox, 427.

Musk-rat, or musquash, 427.

Mycetus, or Beelzebub monkey, 429.

Mysore, table-land of, height, 80; soil, _ib._

Myvatr, 365.

N.

Narwhals, or Monoceros, 379.

Negro tribes, 438.

Nejed, province of Arabia, 420.

Newfoundland, population of, 130; distance from Ireland, _ib._

New Ireland, people of, 438.

New Siberian Islands, 165.

New Zealand, flora, 338; fauna 411; birds, 410; inhabitants, 438.

Nevado of Aconcagua, height of, 95.

Nevado of Cayambè, height of, 99.

Niagara, lake and fall of, 251.

Nicaragua, plain and lake, area of, 115; lake and isthmus, 252.

Nile, valley of, 91; river, 219.

Nilgherry mountains, height of, 80.

Niti or Netee Pass, 62.

Nitrogen contained in the air, 300; in plants, _ib._

Nitrùn, valley of, its convents, 91.

Norway, character of its coast, 70.

Notornis, fossil bird, 411.

Nova Zembla, flora of, 314.

Nutmeg, the plant, 325.

N’yassi, lake, 86.

O.

Ocean, the proportion it bears to the land, 37; mean depth of, 135; its bed, 188; size, _ib._; sandbanks, 189; pressure, 190; colour, _ib._; saltness, 191; tides, _ib._; waves, 192; currents, 197; temperature, 201; polar ice, 203; inland seas, 206; agency of the ocean in changing the surface of the earth, 209.

Oitz, lake of, 250.

Okhotsk, sea of, 263.

Oman, height of its mountains, 81.

Onega, lake, 246.

Ontario, lake of, 251.

Opossum, 428, 429.

Orange River, 85.

Orang-outang, 422.

Oriental plateau. _See_ Tibet.

Orinoco, river, 103; its cataracts, _ib._; region of Upper Orinoco, its fertility, 104.

Ornithorhynchus, 435.

Oscillations of the Pendulum. _See_ Pendulum.

Ostrich, the African, 404; the American, 410.

Otaheite, 145.

Otter, the, 417.

Owen, Professor, his discoveries as a geologist, 30; on sea-serpent, 382; on British fossil quadrupeds, 417, 463.

Owhyhee, its volcanos, 151.

Owls, 398.

Ox, varieties of, 420.

Oxygen, its influence on vegetation, 301.

P.

Paca, 433.

Pacayo, Volcano de, 115.

Pachydermata, 413.

Pacific Ocean, islands of, 140; volcanic islands in, 148; great volcanic zone in, 149; areas of elevation and subsidence in its bed, _ib._; its size, 189.

Palapteryx, fossil bird, 411.

Palms, distribution of, 333.

Palte, lake of, 249.

Pamer, table-land, 420.

Pampas of Buenos Ayres, 106; their elevation, _ib._; floods, 107; conflagrations, _ib._; geology, 113.

Pampéros hurricanes, 271.

Panama, plains of, extent, 115.

Pandanus, genus of plants, 144.

Pangolin, or manis, 421.

Panicum, genus of Cerealia, 356.

Panthers, 421.

Paradise, birds of, 402.

Parima, mountain system of, 103; Sierra del Parima, _ib._; musical rock in, _ib._

Parry, Sir Edward, 464.

Parry’s Mountains, 166.

Passages across the Atlantic, 267.

Patagonia, desert of, 106; climate, _ib._; geology, 113.

Peccari, or South American hog, 428.

Pelasgic Islands, description of, 140.

Peltier’s experiments on the heat of the earth, 255.

Pendulum, 17; its oscillations influenced by gravitation, _ib._; variations in, 18; experiments with, for ascertaining compression at the poles, 17; affected by volcanic islands, _ib._

Penguins, southern (Aptenodytes), 408.

Peninsulas, their southward tendency, 40; form, _ib._

Pentland, Mr. his measurements of Cordilleras and mountains of the Andes, 97, _note_; and of their passes, 101, _note_; his discovery of a volcanic crater in the valley of the Yucay, 109, _note_; and of fossil shells in Bolivia and Peru, 112, _note_; on measurement of highest peaks and mean heights of several mountain-chains, 135, _note_; on horary variation of the barometer, 265; on fishes of Lake of Titicaca, 375; on the naturalization of the Llama tribe, 431.

Pepper-tree, 325.

Perfume of flowers, cause of, 304.

Persia, table-land of (Plateau of Iran), area and elevation of, 55; extent of Persian mountains, 57; great salt desert, 58; flora, 319.

Petra, appearance of its site, 83.

Petrel, stormy, the, 397.

Petrel, genus, or Procellariæ, 397, 408.

Phacochœre, or African hog, 425.

Phalanger, 434.

Pheasants, different species of, 401.

Philedon, genus of birds, 401.

Phocæ, or seals, 377.

Physalia, 376.

Physeters, or cachalots, 379.

Pichincha, height of, 100.

Planets, their magnitude relative to that of the earth, 15; their influence on the earth’s motion, _ib._

Plants, division of, 306; propagation of, 305; sleep of, _ib._; nourishment of, 300; elements of, 301; geographical distribution of, 306.

Pleiocene period, the earth and its inhabitants during, 30; changes during, 31; discoveries of perfect animals buried in this period, 32.

Pœppig, Dr., his ‘Travels’ quoted, 94, 176; on red water of the ocean, 370.

Pole, North, reasons for the existence of sea at, 203.

Poles, compression at, ascertained by perturbations in the moon’s motions, 15; by oscillations of the pendulum, 17.

Polynesia, flora of, 401.

Polyplectron, genus of birds, 407.

Pontoppidan, or sea-serpent, 381.

Popocatepetl, mountain, 121.

Porcupine, 417.

Porpoise, genus of, 379.

Porter, G. R., Esq., his ‘Progress of the Nation’ quoted, 184, _note_.

Porto Rico, dimensions and climate, 117.

Portugal, flora of, 319.

Potato, country of, 350.

Potosi, the height of, 97, _note_; city of, its elevation, 97; its mines, 175.

Prairies, N. American, 127, _note_.

Prairie-dog, a marmot, 427.

Prairie wolf, 427.

Prongbuck antelope, 427.

Prongos, 315.

Proteus anguinus, 386.

Puma, or American lion, 428.

Punjab, 80.

Pyrenees, flora of, 318.

Python, genus of snakes, 388.

Q.

Quadrumana, or monkeys, 413.

Quadrupeds, European, 416; Asiatic, 417; African, 423; American, 426; Australian, 433.

Quagga, species of horse, 424.

Quebec, summer of, 260.

Quicksilver, diffusion of, 178.

Quito, valley of, 99; dimensions, _ib._; city of Quito, 100; monuments of the Incas, _ib._

Quotlamba mountains, 87.

R.

Races of mankind, 436; inhabiting Europe, 441.

Racoon, 427.

Radii of the earth measured by M. Bessel, 16.

Rakastal lake, 249.

Rain, cause of, and distribution, 275.

Rains, periodical, 275; countries without, 278.

Rainbows, 283.

Rattle-snakes, 387.

Realejo Bay, 252.

Redfield, W. C., on storms, 270, _note_.

Reich, M., mean density of the earth as ascertained by the torsion balance, 19, _note_.

Reid, Colonel, on storms, 270.

Rein-deer Lake, 252.

Reptiles, classification of, 383; geographical distribution of, 385.

Rhinoceros of Asia, 422; of Java, _ib._; of Africa, 424.

Rhyncops, or scissor-bill bird, 408.

Rice, cultivation of, 356.

Richardson, Dr. Sir J., his account of the fauna of North America quoted, 131, 464.

Rivers, origin of, 212; course of, _ib._; velocity, 213; junction of rivers, _ib._; influence of wind and frost, 214; deltas, _ib._; tides, _ib._; floods, _ib._; inundations, 215; heads of rivers, _ib._

Rocks, their division into four classes, 19; plutonic rocks, _ib._; volcanic rocks, 20; metamorphic rocks, _ib._; aqueous rocks, 21; pierced by lava, _ib._; Sir Charles Lyell’s theory concerning, 20; forms of, 42; height of calcareous rocks in the Alps, 53.

Rocky Mountains, 122.

Rodentia, or gnawers, 414; American, 432.

Rogers, H. D., Esq., his ‘Physical Geography of North America’ quoted, 130.

Rorqual, a species of whale, 381.

Ross, Sir James, his account of a gale, 205, 464.

Ruminating animals, 413.

Russell, J. Scott, Esq., his ‘Theory of Waves’ quoted, 195, _note_.

Rye, cultivation of, 356.

S.

Sabine, Colonel, experiments with the pendulum, 18, and _note_; mean height of the Himalaya, 61; on terrestrial magnetism, 294, 464.

Saquis, bush-tailed monkeys, 429.

Sahama, trachytic dome of, its height, 111.

Sahara desert, 90.

Salamanders, 386.

Salt, diffusion of, 186.

Samojedes, 442.

Sanders-wood, 327.

Sandwich Land, vegetation, 351.

Santa Martha, group of, 100.

Saratov, 248.

Saurians, order of, 389.

Saussure, Necker, on direction of stratified masses, 295.

Solimaun chain, 59.

Scandinavian mountain system, 69; extent and elevation, 70; part of the same system as those of Feroe, Britain, Ireland, and northeastern Ireland, _ib._

Schomburgk, Sir Robert, on water-communication in South America, 243.

Schools, ragged, 473.

Sclavonian races, 441.

Scorpions, 366.

Scotland, its mountains, 71; direction of, _ib._; table-land, height of, _ib._; lakes, _ib._; earthquakes, 154; coal-measures, 183.

Scythrops, genus of birds, 409.

Sea, its mean depth, 17; rise and fall of, after an earthquake, 155.

Sea, Alps of North America, 122.

Sea serpents, pretended, 282.

Sea snakes, 387.

Secretary-bird, the, 402.

Sedgwick, Mr., mountains of Westmoreland, 44.

Seed, mode of development, 300.

Serpents, or ophidians, 386; venomous, _ib._; innocuous, 388; tree, _ib._

Shahee Lake, 248.

Siberia, its area, 75; mineral riches, _ib._; soil, _ib._; climate, _ib._; flora, 314.

Sicily, plants of, 319.

Sierra do Mar, 104.

Sierra dos Vertentes, 105.

Sierra Madre, 122.

Silk-worms, 366.

Silvas of the Amazons, 107; dense vegetation, _ib._; area of woodland, _ib._; Humboldt’s description of, _ib._; geology of, 114.

Silver, diffusion of, 175.

Simayang, a species of ape, 422.

Sinai, Mount (Jebel Houra), its height, 82; group of Sinai, _ib._

Sine of the latitude, 17, _note_.

Sir-i-Kol, lake of, 249.

Skaptar Jokull, eruption of, in 1783, 161.

Skink, a species of lizard, 390.

Skua gull, 396.

Slave-lake, 252.

Slave-trade, its evil effects, 459.

Sleet, nature of, 283.

Smyth, Captain, R. N., report of soundings, 46, _note_.

Snae Braen, area of, 70.

Snow, how produced, 278; form of its crystals, 279.

Snow-line, its height on mountains in different latitudes, 279.

Solar system, 15, _note_.

Soudan, 251.

South magnetic pole, its situation, 166.

Senegambia, 89.

South Shetland, vegetation, 352.

South Wales, New character of the country, 137; structure, 139.

Spain, its mountains, 47; table-land, area of, _ib._; plants of, 319.

Spiders, numbers of, 367.

Spitzbergen, 160.

Springs, their origin, 209; intermittent, 210; temperature, 211; hot springs, _ib._; medicinal springs, _ib._; saline springs, _ib._

Squalls, arched, 271.

Squirrels, flying, 422.

Steam-power, amount of, in Great Britain in 1833, 172, _note_.

St. Elias, Mount, height of, 123.

Stelvio, pass of, its height, 50.

Steppes of Eastern Europe, 74; great extent of, _ib._; climate, _ib._; soil, _ib._; atmosphere, 75.

St. Lawrence, river, 12.

Stonefield slate, 26.

Storms, rotatory, 268; waves, 270.

Strata, primary fossiliferous, 21; Cambrian, 21; lower Silurian, _ib._; upper Silurian, 22; secondary fossiliferous, _ib._; Devonian, _ib._; carboniferous, 23; mountain limestone, _ib._; magnesian limestone, 24; new red sandstone, 25; oolite, _ib._; cretaceous strata, 27; tertiary strata, divided by Sir Charles Lyell into Eocene, Miocene, and Pleiocene, 28; boulder formation, 32; parallel direction of contemporary strata, 43.

Strata, tertiary, of the Alps, height of, 53.

Strachey, Lieut., journeys, 17.

Sudetes, the, 48.

Suez, projected canal of, 461.

Sulphur, diffusion of, 186.

Sumatra, character of the island, 150.

Sumbawa, population of, 438.

Summa Paz, Sierra de la, 100.

Sun, his mass, 15.

Superior, Lake, 251.

Symonds, Major A., on the depression of the Dead Sea, 84, _note_.

Syren, genus of reptiles, 386.

Syria, its soil, 84; deterioration of the country, _ib._; shrinking of the strata, _ib._

Swamps, area of, in Denmark, 74.

T.

Table-lands, their soil and climate, 45.

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.