The New York Herald Newspaper, August 29, 1851, Page 7

doubted merit, clear and interesting in ite details. Professing to be designed for schools, it seems ex- tremely well written. In it there is the union of precision and practical detail. The general reader will obtain from it clear apprehension of the won- derful chemical laws of the universe of created mat ter, but may verify them for himself at the most trifling expense of time and labor. The members of the Astociation were entertained yesterday evening by Ezra P. Prentice, Esq , at his residence, Mount Hope. The business of the convention is drawing to a close. The delivery of each communication is now timed to a certain number of minutes ; if this were not done they would not get through for another week, although there are nog four sections daily and evening sessions also held in each. There were thirty-six subjects on this morning’s pro- gramme, and forty-seven on the list for the evening sesaions, which commenced at four o’cleck. Many of those were communicated and discussed, but some were adjourned, as the time was growing late. Tho committee have determined that the proceedings shall terminate to-morrow (Saturday) evening. SIXTH DAY —SATURDAY. GENERAL SESSIONS. At the general meeting of the Association this morning, the President, Professor Agassiz, iati- mated that several committees had not made their reports on the subjects referred to them. The committee on the microscope of Mr. Spon- eer reported that they are unanimously of opinion that the lenses of this instrument aro of unrivalled excellence, and had arrived at a perfection which the committee believed had never been hitherto ob tained by any microscope in existence Tae repor concluded by unequivocally exp-essing the opinio of the committee that ‘it was the best in th world.” (Applause,) The President was proceeding to announce other business of the Standiog Committee, when Professor H. D. Rogers rose to a point of order, and calle! for a aa of the report of the committee o telescopes. fie said there were certaia rules and order of proceedings to be observed, which the chair had not the power to dispense with Professor Mrrcue.t. was then called on by the President to read tho report. He came forward and explained that he was the only member of the com- mittee remaining in town, but that they would be ready when called on by the Standing Committee to make their report. The Presipenr then said, that as he had been called to order by the Professor (HD. Rogers), he felt that he was not discharging his duties to the | satisfaction of all present. He, the President, was but a European. He was not inthe habit of pre- | siding over debating meetings, and therefore may | be unacquainted with the .ules aad orders of such | | assemblies. He would therefore beg leave to call to the chair one wao could perform the daties of | chairman perfectly. He would name Professor | Bache to preride. | Professor H. B Rocrrs explained. He was free to admit that the learned President had not only | by bis conduct ia the cheir, bat by his admitted ability, gained the approval ef the society; but he, Protessor R , merely rose to a point of order, which every member was privileged to do. The Presipent (who is a Swiss, but speaks the English language with remarkable clearness and applicability) said, with some emotion, lam but a European, and am not accustomed to presiding over # debating socicty. American gentlemen, who are, as it were, educated to it, can more efficiently form its duties, and I call upon Professor he. Professor Bacusr said that he came forward to | state that this Association was no; going to resolve itself into a debating society, or to stand upon such unctillious and unnecessary points of order The Trcebieat (Professor Agassiz) had always preside 1 with that dignity aud effisieucy which had gained the admiration of the whole suciety, and reudered it | impossible for his plase to be more ably filled. (Long continued meee) The President then said he would endeavor to roceed to their satisfaction, and offered the follow- ing resolution, which was submitted by the Staadiog | Committee :— Resolved, That the president of this aseoctation be Tequested to appoint @ committee of five meme, to pare @ memorial, in the came of this association, to | Pe bddrersed to the Governor and Legislatace of Now Yerk, urgivg the speedy commencement of a geograpat- cal survey of that State, and presenting a matured pro- jeet of the Kind of survey deemed most desirable, with B careful extimate of its cort. ‘The following are the names of the Local Com- mittee for the Cleveland mveting: — William Case, Chairman; Kofus K Winslow, Benjamin Stansard, Dr. J P Rutland, De J Kirtland, John M. Woolsey, T. P. Handy, H_ Kingsley, J. Gellett, Horace Perry, H B. Paine, Dr Ya Rs Newberry, H. P. Weddell, H. L Smith, | H. V. Wilson; Prof. 3. St John, Local Secretary. The President announced the following new | members, who had been elected by the Standing Committee, tor the nrerst of the seeing = Jas. W. Kimball, ‘arren, Mass; Geo. H. Kerr, | Franklin, N. Y.; Chas. A. Seeley, Rochester, N Y.; Geo W L. Smith, Troy, N.Y; Rev. £. T | Baird, Washington College. Tenn.; Rev. Thos. | D. Beird, Baltimore; John Wilson, Esq., Stanton, | Va; John M. Woolsey, T. P. er oe H. C. Kingsley, J. Gellett, Horace Perry, H. B. Paine, H. Fy Weddell, H. L. Smith, H. V.'Wilson, Cleve: land, Ohio; Prof. Sutherland, Montreal; Hon. | Jas. J King, president of Columbia College, N. Y.; Sami Kuggles, Esq; N. Y¥ The meeting then separated into sections. The following is the programme for the forenoon:— SECTION I.—MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. 1. Discussion of the Pendulum Experiments un- til 11 o'clock. 2 Notes on the Tides at Sand Key, near Key | D. Bache, Superintendent West, Florida; by A. U.S. Coast Survey. ley, of Ni r ‘4 On the relation between Erect Vision and the Inverted Image on the Ketina; by Professor W. W. Clark, of Albany 5, On Speciat Avalogies in the Phenomena pre- sented by the two Senses of Sight and Touch; by Professor 8. Alexander, of Princeton 6. A Comparison of the Diurnal Law of the Mean Irregular Fiuctuation of the Magnetical F ents at the tations of Ooservation in North America; | by Capt. Lefroy, of Toronto Observatory. 7. The eflect of Heat on the Perpendicularity of | Bunker Hili Monument; by Professor EL. Hore | ford, of Harttord ‘The occurs of placid water in the midst of laige areas where 28 are constantly bre sking ; by the came 9. An accourt of Longstreth’s Lunar formula ; | by Professor Peirce, of Harqard. SECTION 11. GEOLOGY AND Z00.U0GY. 1. On some New Fossil Plants of the Oolitic Coal of Eastern Virginia; by Profesor W. B f Boston the Boulder Hypo:hesis; by Judge A. Os born, of Albany 3 Cn some Fossils of Northern Ohio; by Pro- feeror J. Biamerd. To ve read by Professor 3. St. Join 4. Remarke upon the Fossil Corals of the genus Favosites, and allied genera Pavistella Asirocertua, and others; by Proteseor Hail 6.—Ono sowe Reptiitan Footmarks of the Lofra- corbonifereus Red Shale of Peunsylvania; by Pru | feseor H. D. Roge 6 On the Pxlwozvic Genera Trematopora Cal- Jopora, and aliied genera of more recent geological 7. Distorted Quartz Vein in Senite; by A.C. ington. at in the Geological Survey of Pennsyivanit, of investigating aud repre —s the Geology; by Pr: « 1. D Rogers ) 1 9. Oa the Origin of Stratification; by U. A. Vols 10 On the Geological Age of the Coal bearing | Rocks of North Carolina; by Professor W. Rogers If Teneks, Trails, &e., in the Shales and Sind stoner of the Clinton Group from Green Bay, with | remarks on the thinomg out aud reappearing of ee of the Clinton Group; by Protecsor Hal | NOTES ON THE TIDES OBSERVED AT SAND KEY, IN THE VICINITY OF KEY WES?, I¥ CONNROTION With THE U S. COAST SURVEY, BY iF. A. D. BACIIB, SUPERINTENDENT Hourly observations of the tides near Key Wost, Florida ed under iusteuctions from me, jut Jona Rodgers, U. S te survey, fo January | results are of great interest jo reference to the general sabject of the tides in the Gulf of Mexico. The observations, ap to June, have been plotted on dingram are in the | course of reduction. To show peculiar fea- tures, | have prevented, in a diagram, the case of tides observed at or vear the maximum of the woon’s declination at syzygy aad quadrataie, and | near the zero of declination and syzygies. Je will be eveu that there are two nigh and two | low water tides daily at Key West, tao successive | tides being nearly equal at or near the time of tho sing ihe equator, and there being one one larger at other periods, makiog rnal inequality a very rematkable feature of 8 j, on exatmicing these in the way done for the tides at Cat Istaud, L ane, that the reealte may be represented by the in erfer ence of & seuri~ diurnal aud diurnal tide wave, the latter bemg | ayproaimacely pice or twenty-one hours in advange | | of maternal conditioas. j Mid might infinitely vary organic forms in siup ion to their dissimilar homes throughout | i periods; byWProfe-sor J. Hall | ar difference in the computed and observed ordingves is less than four-bundredths of a foot. ‘This paper was illustrated by diagrams showing the tidal curves. ON THE PROPER FORM OF THE MOULD BOARD OF THE PLOUGH, BY PROF. C. W. HACKLBY, OF C@LUM- BIA COLLE P H. stated that he had received, some menthssince, a communication from ® committee of we York State Agricultural Society, re- theo ore | him to ascertain, if possible, the true form of the mould board of the plough, 80 that it would offer the least resistance, faa tho: roughly Bao the work; and to include, if it could be done, the modification suitable to produce the pulverization of the soil. ‘heory and experiment show that the angle of inclination of the edge of the share, whish cuts off the furrow slice from the bottom, to the direction ofthe plough’s motion, and that of the coulter, which cuts off’ at the side to the horizon, are mat- ters of little importance. The advantage of in- clining them is, that they may act like a sawto cut off roots. me, ae evecare ber action by Aveo two ions 1 ploug! uniform, an pil amare tothe draught. However, the neral wedge-like form of the plough indicates that the greater its length, (since the breadth is fixed by the required breadth of the furrow) the less the resistance, because the angle of the wedge would thus be rendered more acute. Four feet is the utmost length that would be con- sistant with the convenience of turning at the end of the field The longest Scotch ploughs are not more than 3 feet 9inches, and the American ploughs are much shorter. ‘The shares and mould board form properly one continuous surfice. After the furrow slice is cut off by tho coalter and front edge of the share, (which latter we may suppose aline perpendiculer to the direction of the furrow aad equal to its breaish,) tho furrow slice is to be lifted and turned over, revolving about its edgo ‘The movement of a cross section of the furrow slice, the dimensions of which are 7 inches by 10, is ex- hibited in the diagram. (Professor H. here illustrated on tho black board i, As this effect is to be produced by the mould board in contact with the whole breadth of the fur- row slice, it is evident that tl face of the mould board must be a warped surface, geaerated by a right line moving from the position of the front edge cf the share, parallel to a plane director, which is perpendicular to the direction of the furrow; the generatrix at the same time revolving about its inner extremity describing an angle of 135 deg. or 180 deg., according to the position in which the | furrow slice iste be left, this whole angle being de- scribed when the generatrix has moved the pre- ecribed length of the plough ; 4 feet being the maxi- mum. The only tance to the turning over of the furrow sli fter it is cut off, will be its movement of inertial and weight. The friction occasioned by the weight of the furrow slice will impede the for- ward motion of the plough, but forms no part of the resistance of the furrow slise itself to being turned over. But this friction is trifling, compared with that of the bottom of the plough, (which depends on its weight, and not on the length of the plough or the surface in contact with the Bosna.) and still more trifling in comparison with the resistance which the tolid earth opposes to the cutting of the coulter and the share. ‘The problem will then consist simply in deter- mining the relation of the angular movement of the generatrix to its longitudinal movement, so as to produce a steady and constant pressure of the mculd board upon the furrow slice till it is com- pletely turned over into the required position. These conditions will insure both the least resist- | ance, so fur as the small resistance, arising from the weight and inertia of the furrow slice, is concerned, and the best performanco of the work. For the equation, which expresses the relations of angular motion and time, or, in other words, she apguiar velocity of solid bodies al unger the action of various accel see Pvisson, Traité de Mecanique, ari. edit. of 1833, Professor H. then displayed upon the black board an investigation involving the higher mathe- matical analysis, from which he deduced the law of generation of the surface of the mould board, and explained areal method of constructing a model! from wood, in accordance with his formula, 80 4s to fulfil the conditions prescribed. For the purpose of producing the pulverization of the furrow slice, there must be an elevation of tho ing forces, 395 of the | mould board a+ its undersurface medium line. | This elevation will act to the — advaatage to mt produce the pulverization, i upon the for- ward part of the mould board, where the surface i so much warped. Experiments might be ma: an excreszence of wood, which should be cut until the degree of pulverization leaves tae furrow slice in sufficient form to be turned over aud delivered in its place without too great scat | tering. VIEWS OF THE NATURE OF ORGANIC STRUCTURE, BY LIEWT. C. B. HUST, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S. As Throughout the whole e of organic exist- ence, both animal and vegetable, there is an evi- dent adaptation of species and individuals to the ticular circumstances in which they are foand or is it less true, that all animals and vegetables | exbibit a bioad general adaptation to the great cos- mical and chemical peculiarities of the eartn itself. The conditions indispensable for the exis:ence of | each a aresuch that we'cannot imagine its vital possibility except in its present astronomi- cal habitat Any great change from the earth’s values for gravitation—the atmospheric jare— the average heat ancl light, or greatly increased | variations in these elements of condition would prove fatal to all our present species. Nor could | these species long survive a fundamental change in the atmosphere—the waters—the vapors, or the soils of the present terrestrial system The problem of conditions of existence, has aa astronomical or cosmical p! We can conceive @ planet with platinum, gold, and silica coat nouts, with a@ merourial atmosphero, with cle- ments whose combinations should be a hundred | fold more refractory than ours, and yet with tem- | perature conditions such that its aggregates of | morganic matter should be much the s sme as we now tee. Moreover, we can conceive the existence there of vital organic forms, composed of elements wholly different from those entering organic bodies here, but whore functions should be performed ex- actly io er mre 4 with earthly analogies. How vastly unlike in physical features are this earth, Neptune, and life is, doubtless, actually existent on each. Tae structure of material forms, fitced to perform or- ganic junctions, involves an idea of the highest ge- Mars, yet some kind of organic | nerality, and is mechanically possible in an inflaity | Either the erganic form or the habital being given or predetermined, an intellect sufficiently capacious could determine the other by pure computation. If to this intellect be superacded the power of giving material ‘orm or expiestion to these computed results, aothing more would be neceseary for placing any conceivable organic type in its proper home, or in forming for any | home its) proper organte inhabitant Man'siatellegy quite euficer tg congeive how the Divine orestive de universe. The historic order ia forming li these varieties, the terms of the existing elation between home and inhabitant, has b: seemingly, first to urrange the bom wtruct the inhabitant The spe mn around us, embody the those lar problems furnished by their spe ville phyrieal circumstances. The renge of varia t i these cirewinstances over the earth's sur uted t i tions exbybi ble kingeor Certainly, patural ecienee is falsely #0 called, | when it igt ores the intellectual character of organic forme, © optican who should ae gate (he eye wishuut conceiving ally composed organ, might labor The eit omprehend its by carefully decyphering thove i wed io tts ard composition — [ts one object is vo form distinct ymeges on the retina and all ite with @ strict view to the necomplt ot ot this ob- ject A 0 shoud siad roglyphics, a jexcope, & watch, or a buvk, in a hepative stubborn impere intellectual or would not be we lieetual designing the ear, the ne:ves the ske-evon, the ole organic frame So far from its being wnsei- ihe tu muke a vlear aud positive use in vataral eh. of the intellectual character stamped oa mMpiy selt-toflicted blinduess and deliverat those od thoughts, actually each vital etructure. ‘The menting and design of these structures wre not less rea) than the the cetign end me equally real #ith ite materials Bposing them; just as canoe of @ house are A distinst conception of the int: arrange- their eon- ves & ures, their exterral r cl he physical nature of orgaaie as no otber View can give OTgADIO WasKes ru limited oa , as it meebinery ¢ sfatee, thous Lumen mind, | tteucture cs ; Vew, is an cm bydiment of more subtle intelligence + than ail | studied a » ter and peoleiancr of its design, just as a comparative anato- mist makes out from the bones of an animal all its babits. Any material structure reflects the intellect of its designer, and becomes higher in character with each exaltation of the dosigaing mind. Were man’s intellect to grow towards an infinite stature, where could we draw a limit to his capacity for giving material embodiment to his most advanced ideas? Would not his ever enlarg- ing mind still clothe itself in material forma of pro- permicaste subtlety in structure, function, and de- sign jut map, in erecting material structures, deals only with masses. He has no power to build wy his forms, by using at will, and in succession, single molecules of each chemical element. Were man’s perceptions and capacities so microscropic that h could work with single molecules, and were his in- tellect sufficiently exalted, he might build up, in a vurely mechanical mode, the exact similitude of any existing organic form, even that of his own body. Infinite intellect having wrought out the ideal of man’s body, might thus naturalize that ideal by simple arrangement of molecules, without the least change in any one molecule, or the intro- duction of any bew mechanical element. To such a structure, the forces constitutional in matter would give coherence and stability. What more is required for conceiving the physical character of an oiganism, at a given instant of time? Another step remains to complete our conception of the whole life of organic structures. hat, then, is growth, and how is it to be conceivedor explained ? Che ideal of an organism extends through its en- tire eycle of being. The ideal of anosk is not the mere form of to-day, but that aggregate of for- mal progressions inclnded between the acorn and the decaying oak. !t includes provision for every- thing needed to ensure its normal perpetuity. The history of an te a individual or species must al contain the two great elements of original cons‘itution and circumstantial position. The spe cific ideal is unwrought and formalized in its con- stitution, while physical circumstances mar or exalt the development of this ideal. Unless aa ideal were framed with a foresight of circumstantial influences, i; must soon be frustrated. Now it is very possible to couceive how s:ructures, intelli- seh copes from simple ordinsry molicules, may be made to embody both stalic and dynamie ideals. The forces appertaining to the uitimate units of matter aie quite adequate to work out ideals extending over the changes of alifetime. In all organisms, the normal chauges are Progressive, and exemplify the law of continuity. ‘This conti- nuity extends unbroken through countless genera- tions, always exhibiting strict conformity to me- chanical requisitions. The wheel of specific life rolls steadily on, while its points deseribe the eycloids of individual life A present structure may be so composed that the molecular forces; acting between its constituent- molecules, will of themselves work out a long train of pre determined changes. No matter how complicated the system of molecules may be, the determination of the orbit and movements of each molecule is a strect problem in mathematical mechanics, exactly the same in principle as that of planetar: jectile motion. e vast intellectual di the discussion does not affect its prin would it obstruct afull predictive insight of sufficient grasp. Those differential worlds, whose integral is seen in organic masses, move on, planet like, in the round of their mechanically de- termined orbits. That intellect which was large enough to idealize man, was, doubtless, large enough so to construc’ his body that the constituent forces of its compo- bent matter should operate the observed renovation aod progression of its parts. In framing the ideal of which man is the embodiment, not only is it conceivable that the designiog intelligence in- wrought every mechanical essential for the physical functions of # full grown man, but that a definite physical provision for all the changes in the whole cycle of his being was incorporated in the struc- ture of his body. The individual cycle of growth, and the physical history of our race, from its begia- ning far into the unenacted future, may have been structurally embodied in the frames of our created progenitors and in the circumstancet of existence surrounding them and their Papen 4 ‘Thus, too, by direct design, may the body have been made the structural depository of all those harmonies which alone can fit 1t to become the physical home of the spirit which inhabits it. This mode of viewing organisms furnishes a hint as to instinct. A divine ideal would contain pro- vision for all stages in the developement of the indi- vidual. ‘hy activity of animal faculties is closely onnected with, and mainly controlled by, physical tructure, which, in all stages of developement, must embody the necessary conditions for continued xistence. In designing and framing an animal tructure, the means for stimulating all the fasul- ties requi at each stage of its existence would be introduced in its bodily constitution. Thus the opera:ions, usually called instinctive, would reau t rom @ pre-determined structure, specially designed to stimulate the particular faculties exercised The materialized ideals would determine which faculties would be most active at each stage of growth aad in each species of avimals. The views now presented are based entirely on the conceptions of matter ani its constitutional forces, which inorganic masses constrain us to adopt. It cannot too bane stated that every mechanical idea is outrage: oy common conceptions of a peculiar “vital force” or “organic force” The term “force” has @ definite meaning when used in mechanics, bat no one can define @ vital force. It is too mysterious, fickle, evasive, and illegitimate to permit a clear conception or definition When an organic process is not understood, a vital force is usually sammoned to remove our ignorance out of sight. Never was anything more purely bypothetical. lcs parent is ignorance, smothering truth and investigation its office. Until some shadow of evidence resented, that cial unmecbanical force, peculiar to or- rs ies realty exists, we are in duty bound to abjure tbis convenient, this elastic fgurant of a vital force, which, “having no law, is # law unto itself.” Though the complication of organic struc ture may forever prevent a strict mechanical ana- Jy sis of organiems, we are not thus authorized to hy pothecate a uew forse for conven ignorance So as we know, no molecule is moved, edcept by a real mechanical forse, nor inceed be, on account of its inertia. Though ove in ubedience to nervous impulses, doubtless wholly paysical ous, Where the e Lerves centraiin tion between the spiritual and man. This glancing into the depths of organic struc- ture is uo transcendental flight beyoud the actual. peal isonty to wvelligence actually ex- hibited in formanzing the masses which compose conceptions but extend this intelligence, to the intimate cvo- stiiuven of each organi; mas, and we shall flad a new light thrown on the who of organic lt is true that sm, ob this & ery 0 ud cau boast But he must ure quite iu Vain, who bas Lot seen compulsory evidence that the organ architect is eed great ON THK PMERY ASIA MINOK} BY AND ASSOCIATED MINERALS OF yR J. LAWKENCK Sait. ‘This commun wn is meant simpy for the PWPere of WiecUCNg & series Of specrmens de- monetrating the geviogy 0! that importeut mi- nermiemery Ibe muss of obrervations made by | me i Asia Minor, buve aleady been made public, bo that only euch sadiionat observation &s has been made is here given he constant ovcu rence of corendum, emery, atd its wssocimtes in the old eryttalne limestone, Have since been observed im (bie mineral coming tom Siberia, Sout Amerion, And eli parts of the Lotted States, and with it has been tound more or less of there minerals, | bad stated, would be, in al probability, after the ob- servations im Aria Minor. brom Liberia, coruadum bas been obtained, ax sovia td wish tow maine and emerylive, aud dvubt- | ese, coud observations be made ou tbe spot! mauy, M het all the minerais that | call associate minerals of emery, would be found Jn toe Laited States there has been found emery lite, hydrargitite, puolerte, utauiterous iroo, aud toUrmeHLe aseocmted With corundum ‘Lhe process of tue formation of corundum, daring the comelidation of the iiine stone, on Walch it Is tour, bas been als» observed ia this country, ser gibening the observation made in Asis vunwr ‘Lhe process of segiation is seen beautifully in the corundum of New Jectey, where segreg sted masses of byorated aiumiue 1s fouad i the ceacre of warel ie veen crystal of corundum As yet, in nove of the corundum localities 0 this country bave | been able to had emery, whieh is & curious fact Hoe easuy edplaines, Copeeisily as Woe seine thing ts trae with | ce to localities of the corundum of otoer es THE GROLOGICAL Likud. M AGENCY oF THE WINDS, F. MAURY, U SN ny won be space it woul tooeupy, it t were nd it to you imful. He o je Suula direott pre of Atrwa, yes oat th Palestine, and then sweepe a) last crease of the quantity of water thus put and in circulation by the winds, would b » followed bya ange of metrical conditions, which wo draw after it permanent changes of climate. Permanent changes of climate would in- yolve the ultimate well-being of myriads of organ- isms, both in the vegetable and ms. | The quantity of moisture that the atmosphere keeps in circulation, is, no doubt, just that quantity which is best suited to the well-being, and for the proper developement of the v ble and animal | gdome ; and that quantity is udent sped the | arrangement that we see in nature b tween the land | and the water; between mountain and desert, river and sea. If the seas and evaporating surfaces were | changed, and removed from the places they oooupys to other places, the places of procigiianion: probably would also be changed ; whole families of plants would wither and die for the want of cloud and | sunsnine, dry and wet, in proper proportions. And with the blight of plants, whole tribes of animals would also perish; and, under such a chance arrangement, man would no longer be able to rely upon the early or the latter rain, or to count with certaint; ue the rains being sent in due season for « time and harvest. And that | the rain will be sent in duo season, we are assured; | and when we recollect who it is that ‘“‘sendeth” | it, we feel the conviction strong within us, that | He that sendeth the rain, has the winds for his — messengers; and that they may do His bidding. the land and the sea were arranged both as to position and proportion, where they are and as they are. It should be borne in mind, that the soutneast trade winds, after they rise up at the equator, have to overleap the northeast traie winds. Consequently, | they do not touch the earth until near the tropic of Cancer, more frequently to the north than to the south of it. But, for a part of every year, the place where these vaulting southeast trades first strike the earth, er leaving the other hemisphere, is very near this tropic. On the equatorial side of it, be itremembered, the northeast trade winds blow. | Onthe polar side, what was the soutreast trades, and what is now the prevailing southwesterly winds of our hemisphere, prevail. Now, take a map of the eastern hemisphere, and it will be seen taat the upper half of the Red Sea is north of the tropic of Cancer; the lower half to the south of it. That the latter is within the northeast trade wind region; the former in the region where the southwest pas- tage winds are the prevailing winds. The river Tigris is probably evaporated from the upper half of this sea by these winds, while the northeast trade winds take up from the lower half those va- pors which feed the Nile with rain, and which the clouds deliver to the cold demands of the Moun- tains of the Moon. Thus there are two “wind roads” crossing this sea:—to the windward of it, each wind path is through a rainless region; to the leeward, in each case is @ river to cross. The Persian Gulf lies, for the most, in the track of the southwest winds—to the windward of the Persian Gulf is a desert—to the leeward, the river Indus. This is the way in which theory would require the vapor from the Red Sea and Persian Gulf to be conveyed; and this is the way in which we find indicatious that it is conveyed For to lee- | ward do we find, ia each case, a river, telling to us by signs not to be taken, that it receives more water from the clouds thanit gives back to the winds. Is it not a curious sircuinstance, that the ich travel the road suggested, from the southern hemisphere, should, when they touch the earth on the po'ar side of the northern tropic, be so thirety—more thirsty, much more, than those which travel on either side of their path, and which are suppored to have come from southern seas, not from southern lands? The Mediterranean has to | give those winds three times as much vapor as it | receives from them. The Ked Sea gives them as much as they will take, and receives nothing back in return. The Persian Gulf, doubtless, gives more | than it receives. What becomes of the rest? | Doubile: ven to the winds, that they may | bear it to tant regions, and make fruitful lands that but for these sources of supply would be | almost rainless, if not entirely arid, waste, and barren. These seas and arms of the ocean now present themselves to the mind, as couaterpoises in | the great hygrometrical machinery of the earth. As sheets of water, placed where they are, to balance the land in the trade wind regioa of South | and Soath Africa, they now present them- | When the foundations of the earth were e know who it was that ‘‘ measured the sin tho hollow of bis hand, and meted out vens with @ span, and comprebended the earth ina mei nd weighed th: ins ine scale, and tl in a balance.” mor + | Here then we see harmony in the winds,design inthe wountaing, order in the se 1,arrangement in the dust, Here are signs of beauty and works of grandsur; may now fancy that in this exquisite system tations and compensations, we can almost in the Red and Mediterrancans sea, the very waters that were held in the hollow of the Almighty band, when He weighed the Andes and balanced tbe hills in Africa. In thac great inland barin of Aria, which holds the Caspiaa Sea, and em- | braces ap area of one million and @ half of geogra- bical equare miles of land, we see the water sur- a duce, and have produced, stratification Eq tensi' aried, 1 think, g _ sp ag Hh iene, observat a the process the soil was worked upon a filter, for a considerable number of days, in some cases for a period as ona ns two weeks, and was dried at a temperature } Fabr. The residue of the soil, left uy the filter, consisting chiefly of silica and ali was found, after ay ing. every instance, to be more or less stratified, and that, too,by divisional , in some cases not at all coincident with —— of the materials, although this is apt to place. The strata so pated were, in some instances, ex ly per- fect and beautiful, not altogother ontal, but oy. curved, and in some degree con- ini shape ofthe funnel. The action of lam was observed, especially by the cleavage of the strata, produced into delicate, thin, arallel plates, when moistened with water. here nts, it is evident, were not caused bs erence be ao ited, or ange quality o Hele deposited, bat from two other causes entirely distinet, and whieh I conceive to be these :—First, from a tendency in earthy matter, subjected to the filtering, soaking and washing of water, for a con- siderable period, to arrange itself according to its degree of fineness, and thus form strata; and, se- condly, from a tendency in earthy matter, consoli- dated both by water and subsequent exsication, to divide, independently of the fineness or quality of its component re icles into strate and lamiow. The tendency of the earthy matter is generally to divide along the lines formed by the arrangement of the particles, according to their nature or quali- ty. ‘This is not, however, always the case, a3 was roved by the observations noted, and which is also conclusively shown by the examination of almost any stratified rocks. In the valley of the Connecticut, where the sandstone remain to any great degree by heat or dislocation, the stratification pro- duced by the several 8 may beclearly seenand studied. On the western edge of this deposit, we have rocks composed of strata, which would at once be referred to the action of tides or inunda- tions, by the most inexperienced observer. The strata here vary from a tenth of an inch to an inch in thickness; they are also covered with mud-cracks, and the various markings which are usually foun upon a shore or beach. In other portions of the valley, we have strata-divisions, occasioned by the lines which separate material differences eicher in quality or nature, as in the separation of the shales rom the sandstones, the coarse conglomerates from the fine sandstones, or the highly bituminous shales from those less bituminous. And then uponthe ex- treme eastern edge of this sandstone deposit, we find strata, the leaves of which measure one, two, and even three feet in thickness, each embracing in itself matter ranging from & coarse conglomerate to the finest sandstone; and yet none of these, with- in the limits of the particular strata leaf in which they are included, exhibit the slightest tendency to break or divide in any one direction more ‘than another. The observations here stated, | am happy to find, have been noticed to sume other extent 4 others conversant with the subject of stratification. Sawdust, subjected to the filtering action of water, has been observed by Prof. Agassiz, to assume a regular stratified og pose The same has also been noticed by Dr. Hayes, in the vats into which clay, used for the manufacture of alum, is washed. l have also noticed regular stratification in the dried deposit of a puddle in the streets, where no appa- rent change in the character of the materials a posited could be noticed, and where there was, cer- tainly, no interruption of deposition. If these di- f stratification which I have pointed out, itted, it is not improbable that many cases of now considered disturbed or tilted strata, may be their normal condition. ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALIA, GIRARD, OF WASHINGTON. (Two diagrams were exhibited, one showing the ideal gradation of the various groups constituting that class, and another illustrating its chronology or past history during geological ages.) In the proposed revision of the classification of the chief groups remain circumscribed the same limits as they now stand ia our systewatic works on zoology. The few modili- cations introduced may ag mentioned : first, the removal of the sea-elephant from amonget the seals and their association with pachyderms, near the manati or sea cows. The dental system of that group evidently indicates a herbivorous diet, as Prot. T. Wyman has already shown— whilst seals are true carnivora: second, the subdi- vision of the order pachydermata into two fuada- mental groups, the proboscidianspachyderms, tae lowest type ot which: will be the manati and the extinet dinotherium, and the nonproboscidians be- ginning with the sea elephant (trichechus) followed y the hippopotamus and the numerous extinct genera of the BY CHARLES ippopotamoid and tapiroid pachy- be mouotremata (the water mole of settlers, andthe porcupine anteater) Seema considered as marsupiata, (kungaroe) would also be removed from that order and united with edentata. Now, as to the organic tion of the orders and families, I am satisfied it cannot be represented by an ascending and upright scale, tturting from a most grade to an uppermost one, nor ean the al orders and families constitute, by them- telves, independent and parallel series without ce Fo exquisitely adjusted, that itis just sufficient to return to the atmosphere as vapor, etly as much moisture as the atmosphere lends in rain to the rivers of that basin. Thus we may regard the Medit ean, the Ked Sea and Persian Gulf as re ays, dit uted along the route of these thirsty winds from the continents of the otvuer hemix phere, to supply them with vapor, or to them that which they have leit behind to sources of the Amazon, the Niger, and the Congo. The hopotbesis that th ds from South Africa and America do take the course through Europe d Asia, which | bave marked out for thom, is fupported by #0 many coircidences, to say the least, that we are entitled to regard it, as probably correct, until a train of coincidences as striking can be addu-ed to show that such is not the case. Re | turning cnce more to @ conrideration of the geo- | logical agency of t accounting for | the depression of the Dead Se: now see the fact most strikingly brought ou; before us, that if the Straits of Gibraltar were to bo barred up, water could pass through them, we thould @ & great depression of water level in the Mediterranean Three times as much water in cloaking | | from it is probably rained down and ave | cresting Cummunteation Was made | Ie was very lovg, bat would | wer, L give you | is evaporated fram that sea as is resurned to it through the rivers A portion of wate through the rivers But, supposing it is barred up, as the demand upon it for vapor would exseed the supply by rains and rivers, it would commence to dry up as it sinks down, the erea exposed for ovapo- | ration would decrease, thy pplies to the rivers | would dimipisb; until, finally, there would be hed betwecn the evaporation and precipita- juilibrium, asin the Dead and the Caspian put, for aught «e know, the water level the Mediterra Were obtained of the Lead The lake Tadjura is now ia the act of a ach an equilibrium. There | fre conrected wit © remaiué of w channel by | whieb the water ran into the sea. Its surface is | now 500 fret below the sea level, and it is saltin up. Ifnot in the Dead Sea, do we not, in the val- | y of this Ike, find gut-cropping, some reason | for the question—what hate the winds hod to do with the phesomena before ust The winds, in this geological agents of great powe ble but that woe may affy means comparing directly logical ev which bed taken place in our phere vith geo logien! events iv anether The topa wer at the bottom of the sea oldest mation, that of the Dead “oa or tae Ardes! [1 the former be the older, thea the climate tf the Led Sea must have been bygrome | triealiy very a@iffprent from what it ne “s iv rema@Qing the winds as geological ageuts, we can ih ee them as the type of instabi- lity Wo Sather behold them im the lighs of an- cent end faitbfal ebronielers, whi righily consulred, will reveal to tature bar written upon their wings in characters os legible ond as endurin: as ehe ever eugraved the pgeal ev upon the tablet of the + Kogers has sugges of the rea is washed inte it hy the are end rivers from the | The waters of Lake Titieaen, which receives the drainage of the great inlend basin of the andes, ate only brackish, nut j salt Hence we may infer that this Lake has not been standirg long enough to become brine, like the | waters of t Ixad Sea; consequently it belongs to a more reernt period On tne other hand, it will alvo be interesting to hear that my friend, Cap- tein Lyreb, informs me that in tie exploration of the Lead Sea, be saw what be took to be the dry bed of @ river that ovee flowed from it. And thag we Pave two more stow links, avd strong, wo add to | the ebain of ciroumetantial evidence going to sus- | tain the testimony of this strange and fickle wit- tees, #bich | have called ap from the sea, to tes tify in thie presence concerping the works of nature, and o teli os which be the older, the Andes, warch- | 1g the stars with thei hoary hevds, or the Dead ben, tlecping upon its cubic seds of eryetal salt. ORSERVATIONS ON THE ORIGIN OF STRATIFICATION, BY DAVID A. WELLS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS, eoing tbe orig reseed in m the wei rtrala, of tly ter, have bee ft by en imerre Of deposition nm the queiny of the 1 wes is well titastrated by the deposition of ! weiter by tides ov ie Watione. ite eutee rae nt er J subaauon, and ® reve sed deposisivn on the plage of or caure ‘Olvgreal text of geotogi atled 4 ya uatenal deponted. copmection with each otber. There are inferior greups and superior groups; there exist an as- cending tendency ested in the class, as a class, as a unit emanating from the creating mind. The on must, therefore, be the expres- sion of acerial manifestation of that mind, who has conceived and called into existence the at the bottom of the class, and me level, we place two orders, upiata. They are the proto- types of the class, and synthetise the following groups:—cetacea, (whales and dolphins); sireaidia, (manvati, the mermaids of our ancestors); hyder- mata, (hippopotamus, hog, horse andelephant); ru- minantia (oxens, deers, &e ); rodentia, (hares, equirrels, &c.); insectivora, piauipedia, ( aud carnivora, (bears, dogs, cats) These are thi pormal groupes of t xhibiting its fallest develope went into as many as are syntheti- ined and fore: din two orders tata and mareup iB tho cetaceans, olin and on . ry. grarigrada, lonyx, &o.); the pete re he rodentia are foreshadowed ous marsupiata, the insectivora again by the insectivorous marsupiata, (in con- junction with insectivoras edentata); and finally, the carnivora are foreshadowed by the carnivorous marevupiata. ‘The normal groups are followed by a few others which appear to us as outgrown bian of the mammic tree, as deviations of the typical plan, as caricatures; thus the bats flying sjuirrels, and equirrels generally—the slothes aud monkeys; the bats issuing from the insectivorous the from the rodential stem—the slothes, ¢ rumininantial stem, and the monkeys, the carnivorous stem. All these groups have cency of becommg monkey like; all of them propensity to quit the ground and rise above or in the atmosphere. The her- giving rise to the group which feed roots and fruite—the carnivorous and in- rcctiverous stems becoming partly frugivorous— the ober part remaining carnivorous aad insecti » which we have thus attempted to illustrace, but the more we shall light, the better we to write the episodes of the his- Investigate shall be p tory of my As to the chronology of the order of succession of the various group: of mammalia in time, we al- ready bave data of great importanse. Toe maren- iota eprear first dung secvadary epoch, and wre the only keown mem which shave existed Tertiary era. With the latter pear, some du- yocene periods, es? groups be- w representatives which are succes « in number as we approach our b they disp ay their greatest diversi- ups however have reached their great- terior to the creation wil the pachy dermata, both ot whieh are on their decreare. The special b we porters on the genealogy of edenta- ta are far trom being complete in my opimon; that group Would exbibit « singular exception to the ge- veral law of organic developement of the animal kis gdom im general, aud of the class of mammalia in particular Aduwitting the general law, | have deen lead tothe bypothe is tnat edentata have appeored on tae rurface of our globe some time Ouring the eesondary epoch | therefore ivite pa Jeon tologists to be watebtul and prepared for the Gireovery of those yet unknown edevtata, in stu- dying cf the orteclogy of the existiog genera of thet order, marsopiata and edestata, (ihe latter preruncd to be) being the firet to make their ap- pearance on certh are the lowest groaps of the clues, We have alluded to pachydermata as bo lor g ng chiefly to past ages, and as being on their ceerense in our days. ‘This fact appears to me of high importan se ithe ideal grada ion and orga- nie cevelepement of the orders and families. Pachy- cermate beiong to the herbivorous ster of eden tata. The plum of structure of edeotata is the want of cawines and jochore, but new in the aon Pre boreiaian pacbyderme during the perio? of choir prentert diversity, thetr vi al activity reaching ise mexinom, brings aheut the full set of teoth. the | pean Gh SR MENAY VA OY Ulede. Abed He warty speaking. Moavtremava, the lowest amon, et pw Ny Australian dentace per and <= 8 South American, and the main bull ‘of marsupiate again Austrahen On the Atlantic long the al southern margin of the Asiatic continen:. oy f~ western coast of South America these animals are not known to exist, except towards the Cape and the Isthmus, where the three-toed sloth live. PR ause the organic gradation of m+mmatia would give us the sic eae of the continents; illustra- ting a saigebiy the intimate relacione which exist between the planet and its inbabitents. The inha- bitants were made tor the planet, and made accord- ing to its physical wants Andso, during the suc- cession of geological eras, the faunas and floras have been created or made to suit the physical wants of the planet at that peculiar time. ANALYSIS OF DEAD SEA WATER—BY J. H. SALI BURY, M. D. The number of analysis which have already been made by ¢thers of this water would seem to indicate J aoe to add another to the list would be almost, Af not quite superfluous. But, since the results, which have with great care been recently obtained, ditler somewhat,'in several respects, from those previously given, they thought to be of sufficient interest to deserve a notice. For the portion of water from which the subjoine: results were obtained, | am indebted to the ness of Dr. Howard Townsend. Appearance of water, as obtained, trausparent, with a reddish floculent sediment, consisting of organic matter, and a traee of iron. ‘laste, saline, pungent, bitter, nauseating. One mn contained, of solid matter, 43.323 ts of water ef Dead Sea contain :— 76.058 rr... 0.965. 0.081 0 104 0.063 Seaium . 0.024 i 0.050 Chlorine Phosphoric aci Beoomine . Sulphuric acid.... 0.147 Peroxide o1 0028 Whole amount of solid matter. ‘Specific gravity, 1.1877 It is by no mews singular that this water should contain ro great a proportion of solid matter, when ’ it 18 considered that 1t has no outlet to carry a! its non volatiie bodys, and taat hills of fossil are situated on its southwest coast, from which are constantly running into it swell streams saturated with their saline materials. At its south end is @ bed of an indurated uitrous character. Springs of petrolium occur along its burders. Large q ities * of indurated bituminous matter invests tne stenes a6 its bottom, and along its shores. One gatlon cf pure water weighs ut 60deg. Fab. ‘10 Ibe. ‘ dead sea water ba +» W877 One cubic foot of pure water ‘ v.62 82 « dead sea water “ + TMLATS THE PENDULUM AT BUNKER BILL MONUMENT, BYY PROF E. N. HOKSEURD, OF HARVAKD. The tollowing is but a brief abstract:—This perdulum was two hundred tet in height. The motion of the monument created # dithealty which had to be overcome. There was also iw dis- turbance which created a» oscillation in the swing oi the pendulum, which he b td bad to examine before arriving at the result reached by Foucault. Each oscillation required eight and one sixteen+h seconds. ‘The Professor then read the tabular results of his numerous observations of the oscillations of the pendulum. He also stated the results of several experiments which had been made to test some popular notions relative to the oscillation of bodies ma state of suspension. ON SOME REPTILIAN FOOTMARKS OF THE INFRA-C AR BKONIFEROUS RED SHALE OF PENNSYLVANIA, B- PROF. H. D ROGERS. Professor Henry D Rooers exhibited to the logical section of the Association, specimens of im- picssions on the vesperune, or uufra-carbonite red sandstone, of the anthracite region of Pennsy! vania, and submitted a description of their forms. He showed their analogies to the footprints of rep- tilian animals, but did not pretend w indicate to what subdivision ‘These marks are of at least three species, they are all of them aes audio double rows, With an opposite sy mmetry, as if ma te by right and left feet, while they likewise display the alter- nation of forefoot aud hind-foot la ovher words they are evidently quadrupedal One species, the largest discovered, presents a diameter for each footprint of about two inches, shows the fore and hina ‘ect to be nearly equal in dunensions, displays a length of stride of about nine ine’ aad & breadib between the right and left treads of nearly four inches, and it shows the hind feet very little ia tbe rear ct the fore feet. This disposition of the foot-steps, and other features described, were deemed vy Proteseor Rogers to ally the animal which made them rather to the saurian reptiles than to the batracians or chelonians, but he wirhed to speak doubtingly of@ point go difficult of decision in the pregent stute of our infurmauoa Auother series o smaller impressions displays also the quadrapedal indications, there being the sume alternation of fore and hind, and of right wad teft feet ; bus the inter- vals between the jore and hind feet are about equidistant. In this species tbe width between the right and left feet is more than balf the leagth of each stride, Associated with tuese foot-marks are all the evidences a sub-assial exposure of the sur- faces on which they are impressed, as sup cracks, rain-spotting, and the efgns of the trickhngs of @ wet sandy beach, they seem with 4 uewly vered family cf plants, which we inferred from their struc- ture to bave grown in shallow water by the sea side. All these associations coufirm the inference from the form of the ig, oe Lbemsel ves, that: the animals imprinting them belssged to air- breathing, and not to aquatic races Professor AGassiz was disposed to combat the views advanced that these were the foot of some tribe of reptilian animals, and be ventured to conjecture that they might more probdal have been made by articulated animals, expec: cer- tuin tribes of herons He even indicated how cer- tain families of fishes imprint the wet sand over which they swim, leaving marks somewhat resem- bling reptilian footsteps. His arguments were, however, dissented from by otaer mombers. albinous quadrupedal ar:angement of the Pennsyl- yania foot-prints was again adduced by Professor Rogers, in evidence thav these, at least, could not have beenleft by worms, nor even by fishes. ON THE PASSAGE OF ANTICLINAL AXES INTO FAULTS. BY PROF W. B. koGERS At the beginning of this communication, Prof. Ki. referred to the peculiar structural featares of the great southeastern Appalachian belt, which has its continuation in the district of New York east of the Hudson, and in Western Vermout Tne series ot folded axes or plications of tue strate in chis pro- was first recognized and reduced to & by Profs H. uv aud W B Rogers, th time the, the wat icliual and syn- re made the subject of examination. owed, by a series of figures on che black uccessive features of an autichoal, just #ben it forms a normal arch, ‘teepening more and more ouits western side, il it becomes @& folded axes. He then pointed out the from this latter, into a fault, by the tracture of the and the folding down and enguitiag of some of the recks beloagivg to the western half of the anticlical. lo this way the rocks of the eastern side of the mountain are, in certain cases, made to override and lie upon the edges of the never trata In other cases, as shown by the Protessor, the ditlocat joined to subsequent denudation has given the appearance of an anconformaoie de; ten of the newer upon the oleer rocks. Prof. R. ed to various marked instances in the Appala- it, in which an antichnal axes, whentraced lorgitudivaily, passes by the gradations just infla- enced into a fwult. In some cases, the tault thus produced ts continued for a long distance, as in the creat lines of distogation which pass from svath- western Virginia into Tennessee, and are tous pro longed for several hundred miles. In other ease, the line of fault, by a reverse order, passes again into an onticlinal axes Similar phenomena were described in rey to synolinal axes, But in this case, the east side of the axes or trough became <a Prof K stated it ae the law that, in the Appalachian antichnal axes, the fracture occurs always on the west side of the axes plane. In synclinal, it occurs o@ she east: side In conclusion, Prof. R. enforced the great im- portance of attending to these phenomena of dislo- cation, and pointed out the fact that extensive lines ity in the best and elsewhere, in are clearly due to the ovement betore described, are liable das lines of original waeconforma- and bave been so regarded by other ob- ‘Thus along the base of the -umberland meuntain, in southwestern Virginia and eastern ‘Tennessee, the coal rocks are butting ag sinet the steep dipping lower Appalachian rocks, as if osiied aiter the disturbance of the latter. Vet Prof K. bas actualy, traced these features into @ auticlinal axis. . to bility, rervers ANALYSIS OF CELERY APIUM GROOCOL! Hi. SALISOURY, M.D, (CHEMISE TO NRW YORK SC(TR 4GHICULTURAL SOCIBFY. We have, in this case, an interesti able instavee of the influence ~ ou the # ze, tenderness, and flavor of # in its wild state, is rank, coarse, tough, and unfit to ivaed, 18 sweet, orispy ble favor, and is then. esteemed as @eolid, and as & seasonitig ty &e | dae Radipee Muanyare wad matey ip, SUCCRIEDS, ~~