Part 1

THE

EDINBURGH NEW

PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL,

EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE

PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS

IN THE

SCIENCES AND THE ARTS.

CONDUCTED BY

ROBERT JAMESON,

REGIUS PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY, LECTURER ON MINERALOGY, AND KEEPER OF THE MUSEUM IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH;

Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh; Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy; of the Royal Society of Sciences of Denmark; of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin; of the Royal Academy of Naples; of the Geological Society of France; Honorary Member of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta; Fellow of the Royal Linnean, and of the Geological Societies of London; of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, and of the Cambridge Philosophical Society; of the Antiquarian, Wernerian Natural History, Royal Medical, Royal Physical, and Horticultural Societies of Edinburgh; of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland; of the Antiquarian and Literary Society of Perth; of the Statistical Society of Glasgow; of the Royal Dublin Society; of the York, Bristol, Cambrian, Whitby, Northern, and Cork Institutions; of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle; of the Imperial Pharmaceutical Society of Petersburgh; of the Natural History Society of Wetterau; of the Mineralogical Society of Jena; of the Royal Mineralogical Society of Dresden; of the Natural History Society of Paris; of the Philomathic Society of Paris; of the Natural History Society of Calvados; of the Senkenberg Society of Natural History; of the Society of Natural Sciences and Medicine of Heidelberg; Honorary Member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York; of the New York Historical Society; of the American Antiquarian Society; of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia; of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York; of the Natural History Society of Montreal; of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanical Arts; of the Geological Society of Pennsylvania; of the Boston Society of Natural History of the United States; of the South African Institution of the Cape of Good Hope; Honorary Member of the Statistical Society of France; Member of the Entomological Society of Stettin, &c. &c. &c.

APRIL 1850 ... OCTOBER 1850.

VOL. XLIX.

_TO BE CONTINUED QUARTERLY._

EDINBURGH: ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, LONDON.

1850.

EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, OLD FISHMARKET.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

ART. I. Geographical Distribution of Animals. By Professor LOUIS AGASSIZ:--

Different Views on the Subject.--Results of Geological Observations.--Facts and Suppositions.--Natural Limits for Animals.--Limitations and Adaptations.--Influence of Heights and Depths.--Distribution of Mammalia.--Creations on each Continent.--Zoological Provinces.--General Conclusion, 1-25

Additional Illustrations of the Geographical Distribution of Animals:--

1. Geographical Distribution of Sturgeons, 25

2. Fishes of Lake Superior compared with those of the other great Canadian Lakes, 27

3. General Observations; all Fresh-water Fishes of North America different from those of Europe--Lake Superior and the Lakes north of it constitute a distinct Zoological District--These Fishes have been created where they now live--Deductions from this fact, 30

II. On the Geography and Geology of the Peninsula of Mount Sinai, and the adjacent Countries. By JOHN HOGG, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S.; Honorary Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, &c. (With a coloured Geological Map.) Communicated by the Author. (Continued from Vol. xlviii., p. 219), 33

III. Synopsis of Meteorological Observations made at the Observatory, Whitehaven, Cumberland, in the year 1849. By JOHN FLETCHER MILLER, Esq., F.R.S., F.R.A.S., &c. Communicated by the Author, 53

IV. The Completed Coral Island. By JAMES D. DANA, Geologist to the American Exploratory Expedition, &c., &c., 65

V. Biographical Notice of Leopold Pilla, the Geologist. By H. COQUAND. Communicated by the Author, 68

VI. On the Chronological Exposition of the Periods of Vegetation, and the different Floras which have succeeded each other on the Earth's surface. According to the views of M. BRONGNIART. (Concluded from Vol. xlviii., p. 330):--

Fossil Plants of the Permian Period.--Vosgian Period.--Jurassic Period.--Tertiary Period, 72-97

VII. Glacial Theory of the Erratics and Drift of the New and Old Worlds. By Professor AGASSIZ:--

Glacialists and Antiglacialists.--Erratic basins of Switzerland.--Similar phenomena observed in other parts of Europe.--Points necessary to be settled; first, the relation in time and character between the Northern and the Alpine erratics.--Traced in North America.---Not yet settled whether any local centres of distribution in America; but the general cause must have acted in all parts simultaneously. This action ceased at 35° north latitude; this incompatible with the notion of currents.--In both hemispheres a direct reference to the Polar Regions. Difficulty as to so extensive formation of Ice, removed; difficulties on the theory of Currents, the effects contrary to experience of Water-Action.--Erratic phenomena of Lake Superior.--The Iceberg theory.--Description of appearances at Lake Superior.--Drift: contains mud, and is without fossils.--Example of juxtaposition of stratified and unstratified Drift, at Cambridge.--Date of these phenomena not fully determined, but doubtless simultaneous all over the Globe.--The various periods and kinds of Drift distinguished.--Accompanied by change of level in the Continent, 97-98

VIII. Description of the Marine Telescope. By JOHN ADIE, F.R.S.E., F.R.S.S.A. Communicated by the Author, 117

IX. Experimental Investigations to Discover the Cause of the Change which takes place in the Standard Points of Thermometers. By JOHN ADIE, F.R.S.E., F.R.S.S.A. Communicated by the Author, 122

X. Observations on the Discovery, by Professor Lepsius, of Sculptured Marks on Rocks in the Nile Valley in Nubia; indicating that, within the historical period, the river had flowed at a higher level than has been known in Modern Times. By LEONARD HORNER, Esq., F.R.S.S. L. & E., F.G.S., &c. Communicated by the Author. With a Plate, 126

XI. On the Salmon Tribe (Salmonidæ); their Classification, Geographical Distribution, &c., 144

XII. Results of Observations made by the Rev. F. FALLOWS, at the Cape of Good Hope, in the years 1849-30-31. Produced under the superintendence of G. B. Airy, Esq., Astronomer Royal, 148

XIII. Discovery of the Great Lake "Ngami" of South Africa, 150

XIV. DR DAVY'S Brief Sketch of the Geology of the West Indies. Communicated for the Philosophical Journal, 158

XV. On the Differences between Progressive, Embryonic, and Prophetic Types in the Succession of Organized Beings through the whole range of Geological times, 160

XVI. On a New Analogy in the Periods of Rotation of the Primary Planets discovered by DANIEL KIRKWOOD of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, 165

XVII. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE:--

METEOROLOGY.

1. Use of Coloured Glasses to assist the View in Fogs. 2. Ozone, 170-171

HYDROGRAPHY.

3. On the Phenomena of the Rise and Fall of the Waters of the Northern Lakes of America. 4. Water Thermometer. 5. On the Falls of Niagara. 6. On the Existence of Manganese in Water. 7. Arsenic in Chalybeate Springs, 172-175

GEOLOGY.

8. The Coal Formation of America. 9. River Terraces of the Connecticut Valley, 175-177

ZOOLOGY.

10. Fossil Crinoids of the United States. 11. Discovery of Coral Animals on the Coast of Massachusetts. 12. On the Circulation and Digestion of the Lower Animals. 13. Distribution of the Testaceous Mollusca of Jamaica. 14. Metamorphoses of the Lepidoptera. 15. On the Zoological Character of Young Mammalia. 16. The Manatus or Sea Cow, the Embryonic Type of the Pachydermata. 17. Fossil Elephant and Mastodon from Africa. 18. Cauterization in the case of Poisonous Bites. 19. Dental Parasites, 177-184

ARTS.

20. The Steamboat New World. 21. Use of Parachutes in Mines. 22. Adulterations of Drugs. 23. To restore Decayed Ivory. 24. Ivory as an Article of Manufacture. 25. Flexible Ivory. 26. Air-Whistle. 27. Curious Electrical Phenomenon, 184-188

XVIII. List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d March to 22d June 1850, 189

* * * * *

_Memorandum._--New Publications will be noticed in our next Number.

MEMORANDUM.

Owing to the large space occupied by the Proceedings of the British Association for the Promotion of Science, held at Edinburgh in the month of August, 1850, various interesting communications are delayed until the next number of the Philosophical Journal.

THE

EDINBURGH NEW

PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.

_Geographical Distribution of Animals._ By Professor LOUIS AGASSIZ.

The greatest obstacles in the way of investigating the laws of the distribution of organized beings over the surface of our globe, are to be traced to the views generally entertained about their origin. There is a prevailing opinion, which ascribes to all living beings upon earth one common centre of origin, from which it is supposed they, in the course of time, spread over wider and wider areas, till they finally came into their present state of distribution; and what gives this view a higher recommendation, in the opinion of most men, is the circumstance, that such a method of distribution is considered as revealed in our sacred writings. We hope, however, to be able to shew that there is no such statement in the Book of Genesis; that this doctrine of a unique centre of origin, and successive distribution of all animals is of very modern invention; and that it can be traced back for scarcely more than a century in the records of our science.

There is another view to which, more recently, naturalists have seemed to incline; viz., the assuming several centres of origin, from which organized beings were afterwards diffused over wider areas, in the same manner as according to the first theory, the difference being only in the assumption of several centres of dispersion instead of a single one.

We have recently been led to take a very different view of the subject, and shall presently illustrate the facts upon which the view rests. But before we undertake to introduce more directly this subject, there is another point which requires preliminary investigation, which seems to have been entirely lost sight of by all those, without exception, who have studied the geographical distribution of animals, and which seems to us to be the keystone of the whole edifice, whenever we undertake to reconstruct the primitive plan of the geographical distribution of animals and plants. The distribution of organized beings over the surface of our globe in its present condition cannot be considered in itself; and without an investigation, at the same time, of the geographical distribution of those organized beings which have existed in former geological periods, and had become extinct before those of the present creation were called into being. For it is well ascertained now that there is a natural succession in the plan of creation--an intimate connection between all the types of the different periods of the creation from its beginning up to this day; so much so, that the present distribution of animals and plants is the continuation of an order of things which prevailed for a time at an earlier period, but which came to an end before the existing arrangement of things was introduced.

The animal kingdom, as we know it in our days, is therefore engrafted upon its condition in earlier periods; and it is to the distribution of animals in these earlier periods that we must look, if we would trace the plan of the Creator from its commencement to its more advanced development in our own time.

If there is any truth in the view that animals and plants originated from a common centre, it must be at the same time shewn that such an intimate connection between the animals existed at all periods; or, at least, we should, before assuming such a view for the animals living in our days, discover a sufficient reason for ascribing to them another mode of dispersion than to the animals and plants of former periods. But there is such a wonderful harmony in all the great processes of nature, that, at the outset, we should be carefully on our guard against assuming different modes of distribution for the organized beings of former periods, and for those which at present cover the globe. Should it be plain that the animals and plants did not originate from a common centre at the beginning of the creation, and during the different successive geological periods, we have at once a strong indication that neither has such been the case with the animals of the present day; and, on the other hand, if there were satisfactory evidence that the animals and plants now living originated from a common centre, we should consider the matter carefully before trusting to the views derived from geological facts. Let us, therefore, examine first the value of the evidence on both sides.

We have already expressed, and we repeat here, our earnest belief that the view of a unique centre of origin and distribution rests chiefly upon the supposed authority of the Mosaic record; and is in no way sustained by evidence derived from investigations in natural history. On the contrary, wherever we trace the animals in their present distributions, we find them scattered over the surface of our globe in such a manner, according to such laws, and under such special adaptations, that it would baffle the most fanciful imagination to conceive such an arrangement as the mere results of migrations, or of the influence of physical causes over the dispersion of both animals and plants. For we find that all animals and plants of the arctic zones agree in certain respects and are uniform over the three continents which verge towards the northern pole, whilst those of the temperate zone agree also in certain respects, but differ somewhat from each other within definite limits, in the respective continents. And the differences grow more and more prominent as we approach the tropical zone, which has its peculiar Fauna and Flora in each continent; so much so, that it is impossible for us to conceive such a normal arrangement, unless it be the result of a premeditated plan, carried out voluntarily according to predetermined laws.

The opinion which is considered as the Biblical view of the case, and according to which all animals have originated in a common centre, would leave us at a loss for any cause by which to account for the special dispersion of animals and plants beyond the mere necessity of removing from the crowded ground to assume wider limits, as their increased number made it constantly more and more necessary and imperative. According to this view, the animals of the arctic zone as well as those of the tropics,--those of America as well as those of New Holland,--have been first created upon the high lands of Iran, and have taken their course in all directions, to settle where they are now found to be strictly limited. It does not appear how such migrations of polar animals could have taken place over the warmer tracts of land which they had to cross, and in which they cannot even be kept alive, in our days, with the utmost precautions: nor how the terrestrial animals of New Holland, which have no analogies in the main continents, could have reached that large island, nor why they should have all moved thither. And, indeed, it is impossible, with such a theory, to account, either for the special adaptation of types to particular districts of the earth's surface, or for the limited distribution of so many species which are found only over narrow districts in their present arrangement. It is inconsistent with the structure, habits, and natural instincts of most animals, even to suppose that they could have migrated over any great distances. It is in complete contradiction with the laws of nature, and all we know of the changes our globe has undergone, to imagine that the animals have actually adapted themselves to their various circumstances during their migration, as this would be ascribing to physical influences as much power as to the Creator himself.

And, again, the regular distribution, requiring precise laws, as we find it does, cannot be attributed either to the voluntary migration of animals, or to the influence of physical causes, when we see so plainly that this distribution is in accordance with the geographical distribution of animals and plants in former geological periods. But about this presently. We will only add, that we cannot discover in the Mosaic account anything to sustain such a view, nor even hints leading to such a construction. What is said of animals and plants in the first chapter of Genesis, what is mentioned of the preservation of these animals and plants at the time of the deluge, relates chiefly to organized beings placed about Adam and Eve, and those which their progeny had domesticated, and which lived with them in closer connection.

Let us now look at the results of geological investigations respecting the origin of earlier races of animals and plants. It is satisfactorily ascertained at present, that there have been many distinct successive periods, during each of which large numbers of animals and plants have been introduced upon the surface of our globe, to live and multiply for a time, then to disappear and be replaced by other kinds. Of such distinct periods, such successive creations, we now know at least about a dozen, and there are ample indications that the inhabitants of our globe have been successively changed at more epochs than are yet fully ascertained. But whether the number of these distinct successive creations be twelve or twenty, the fact stands in full light and evidence, that animals and plants which lived during the first period disappeared, either gradually or successively, to make room for others, and this at often-repeated intervals; and that the existence of animals and plants which live now is of but recent origin, is equally well ascertained.

There is another series of phenomena, not less satisfactorily established, which go to shew that the extent of dry land rising above the surface of the ocean has neither been equally extensive at all times, nor has it had the same outline at all periods. On the contrary, we know that, early in the history of our globe, there has been a period, when but few low groups of islands existed above the surface of the ocean, which, through successive elevation and depression, have gradually enlarged and modified the extent and form of the mainland.