well, happiness!-farewell, home!-farewell, Alphonso, for ever!" and saying these words, they hastily parted, not to meet again. Next morning, with aching heart, Alphonso left his guardian's mansion, to avoid the pain of witnessing the Count's departure. Musing on his disconsolate situation, his steps unconsciously directed him towards the fountain he had left on the night before: suddenly a heavy hand was laid on his shoulder, and looking up, he encountered the stern gaze of Count Leon. "An unwelcome intruder on your thoughts, young man," sneered the Count. "Too often,' thought Alphonso. "My retinue is ready, and I shall quickly sail for the Brazils, so my words must be brief." Alphonso surveyed his rival's countenance with surprise and anxiety. "You have dared to aspire to the hand of the noble Donna Maria Padilla; and, though you have lost it, your presumption has torn from me my happiness and her repose." Alphonso answered nothing. "Your silence then is the confession of your guilt: we part; but remember your rash wish last night, when you insolently whispered to a bride that was not yours-If your image were left reflected on the fountain's bosom, though the wide ocean divided us, this consolation would make me happy.' Go, then," continued the Count, as he approached the water, "and if it solaces thus, behold there, not the vain shadow, but the reality itself-the wretched Maria Padilla surrendered to the more wretched Alphonso." He ceased: the youth drew near to the water's edge, and there beheld the pale features and lifeless form of the object of his infatuated love. He stepped back with horror-the blood of his throbbing heart ceased to flow: then, swooning, he fell headlong, and the dashing waters closed over his breathless corpse! Beaconsfield. J. A. BODDY. THE SCIENCE OF NATURE. GEOLOGY may well be called the science of nature; for there is, perhaps, no branch of human knowledge which embraces or brings into consideration so many kindred sciences and it may not be deemed uninteresting, if I endeavour briefly to trace the connexion between them; premising, however, that by the term geology, I understand, not the mere study of fossil remains, but the consideration of the structure of the earth, and of the changes, ancient and modern, which have taken place on its surface. It may seem almost superfluous to point out the intimate connexion between geology and mineralogy; if the former is conversant with the grand features of nature, the latter examines the details of her workmanship, and pursues her to the innermost recesses of her vast laboratory. Nor is the aid of chemistry less necessary in unravelling her secrets. It teaches us that, to form that endless variety of phenomena which the geologist meets with in his tours, she has employed less than twenty simple substances, and, in by far the greater proportion, much fewer; and it is even doubted whether some of those hitherto accounted simple, may not, hereafter, be discovered to be compound. So various and yet so simple are the works of nature's God! Hardly less obvious is the connexion of geology with zoology in all its branches. In examining the ancient records of past changes in the surface of the earth, the naturalist at every step meets with the imbedded remains of former inhabitants of our planet, consisting of all the great classes of animals, man excepted. Of these the aquatic tribes are by far the most numerous, as we should naturally expect them to be, in strata evidently formed at the bottom of the seas, lakes, or rivers. The conchologist especially will find most ample employment in studying the immense variety of fossil shells which have been brought to light by the labours of geologists, a number little, if at all, inferior to that of known living species. The reason is obvious; what was the bed of the ocean when these animals lived and died, is now high and dry in air, and accessible to man; whereas the present depths of the sea are necessarily almost wholly unknown to him. The remains, too, of land animals, principally quadrupeds, have been found in considerable abundance in some localities, particularly the neighbourhood of Paris. The bones also of amphibious reptiles, of the lizard kind, but of enormous dimensions, have been found in various parts of our own island, and of the continent of Europe. Of birds and insects indeed, comparatively few fossil remains have been discovered, which we might expect when we consider the frail and slender nature of the harder parts, (which are the only portions ever preserved,) in both these classes. Beautiful specimens of birds have, nevertheless, been found, both in our own country and in France, and of insects in several parts of Europe. So that in every department of natural history there is an extensive field of research laid open to the student, in examining the nature, habits, and characteristics, of generation after generation of living creatures, that were the former tenants of this globe: and he who has most acquaintance with living species will be best qualified to read the history of those which have for ages perished from the face of the earth. In the same way has geology called in the aid of comparative anatomy, to do nature's work, as it were, over again, and to reconstruct the perfect skeleton from the scattered fragments of its bones. It was by the aid of this science that Baron Cuvier succeeded in recruiting the remains which were so abundantly found in the Paris basin, and in placing before our eyes the gigantic monsters of a former world. By comparing the structure of the bones, teeth, &c. of living animals, with their known habits and character, he reasoned from the observed construction of the fossil remains, to the habits of their original owners; and has thus laid open a new page of natural history, hardly less interesting than the contemplation of living species. But it is not my intention to pursue the subject further, but having thus briefly alluded to it, leave it to the reader to follow out a subject so fraught with interest in every branch of science. In pursuing his researches through the various strata, particularly of our own island, the geologist soon finds himself compelled to call in the aid of another department of natural science, namely, botany. The strata of the coal districts, especially, abound in the remains of the vegetable kingdom, in a more or less perfect state of preservation, and the coal itself evidently consists of nothing else; and these, not the flora of the temperate zone, but entirely tropical vegetation. Enormous tree-ferns, gigantic reeds, and other plants, which now are only found on the banks of the Amazon or Ganges, once flourished in the latitude of England, nay, on the now frozen regions of the Arctic ocean, and the mouth of the Mackenzie.* It was by the aid of the botanist that this interesting and curious fact was discovered, and the no less curious inference drawn from it, that the climate of this part of the world was once much hotter than at present, and that, whatever were the secondary causes which produced it, a great physical change has taken place in the temperature of this climate; a conclu * See Lyell's Geology, vol. i. chap. viii. 2D. SERIES, NO. 19.-VOL. II. sion strengthened by the tropical character of the animal remains which accompany the vegetable. Cotemporary with this change of species, and probably in some measure the cause of it, there seems to have taken place a great alteration in the physical geography of these regions; for the geologist can prove to demonstration, that the various transition, secondary and tertiary strata, of which our own island is mainly composed, were deposited at the bottom of seas, lakes, or rivers, some under very deep waters, but are now raised into dry land of every elevation, from the level of the sea to the height of three thousand feet. I ap Here then is introduced another kindred science; and the geographer who traces the present outline of terra firma, and mea sures the height of its mountains, may very naturally inquire, "Was this always the state of things? Have no changes taken place in the contour of the continents, or the distribution of land and water? peal to the history of six thousand years, which tells me that at least one great catastrophe has happened in that time, and that local changes, sinall, perhaps, individually, but collectively important, have continually occurred, and are still going on. I appeal to geology, and there I find, in nature's indelible hand-writing, the history of mighty revolutions, which have been carried on through untold ages of past time, for ends and purposes, mysterious indeed to man, and known only to Him at whose bidding the foundations of the world are discovered, and the fountains of the great deep broken up,' who 'looketh upon the earth and it trembleth."" Since, however, he is pleased to make use of secondary agents to work his pur poses, we cannot deem it an unprofitable employment to trace the working of the laws which He has imposed upon nature, investigating the phenomena which are going on before our eyes, and the changes consequent upon them, that we may apply the results to decipher the obscurer indications of former revolutions. And this brings under consideration another and quite distinct science, meteorology, by which is meant, the consideration of all the phenomena connected with our atmosphere, and the changes they are capable of producing. The meteorologist, who has examined into the mutual effects which the land, water, and air, produce on each other, finds the result to be of far more importance than the unthinking or superficial observer is apt to imagine. He finds that a 163.-VOL. XIV, 2 s country covered with forests, or one intersected with lakes or rivers, will have a far different climate from one more cultivated or more hilly, though under the same latitude; that an island has a much more agreeable temperature, and a moister and warmer air, than a large continent under the same parallel. Indeed, if lines representing the limits of equal average heat at different places be drawn round the globe, it will be found that different parts of the same line will vary in latitude as much as 130.* The geologist then takes up the key thus given him, and applies it to unlock some of the hidden records of former changes; and, observing how much alterations of climate affect both the animal and vegetable population of a district, he learns how some at least of those important changes of species which he meets with may have taken place. He sees how the corroding influence of the elements wears down the highest peaks, and leaves their fragments in the plains below; how the billows of the ocean, unceasingly preying upon the land, reduce to pebbles the hardest rocks; and infers whence came the beds of similar ruins which he meets with in exploring the surface of the earth. Nor are the observations of the geologist confined entirely to our own sphere, for after remarking with wonder the effects of volcanic action on the surface of his own planet, he turns the telescope of the astronomer to our attendant satellite, and sees there traces of igneous action far more violent, and destruction far more universal. He sees streams of lava, beside which, those of Iceland or Auvergne appear small and insignificant, and, however he may speculate concerning the actual condition of her surface, he learns at least that some of the causes which affect our own globe, have also been at work on others. Let not, however, the reader imagine that when he enters on the study of this universal science, he is instantly set afloat in the regions of hypothesis and conjecture. The true business of a geologist is, to gather facts, not to frame theories ; to learn, what nature has done, not to tell us what she might have done. Conjectures will, no doubt, force themselves upon his mind as he proceeds; but he should remember that they are but conjectures after all, which may be overthrown in an instant by some more fortunate one, while the facts on which they are founded, however he may may misapply them, are indisputable and certain. * Lyell's Geology, vol. i. chap. vii. It was this disposition to theorize on insufficient data, perhaps on no data at all, which formerly brought geology into disrepute with many serious and well-meaning persons, who, mistaking the abuse of it for its natural tendency, decried the science altogether, as leading to free-thinking and infidelity : and now, when philosophers have begun to leave off making theories, and to rest satisfied with accumulating facts, they find themselves obliged, at every step, to combat objections which were only just when applied to their predecessors, in the very infancy of the science. Nor let the reader suppose, that because this science includes within its pale so many others, it is therefore necessary to acquire a thorough knowledge of the latter, before he enters upon the study of the former; it would not be desirable, were it possible, for every individual to aim at a general acquaintance with them all: but geology draws them, as it were, after it, and renders some information on the different branches of knowledge, not only useful, but highly interesting; and is calculated to induce the study of them, when all other attractions fail; probably for this reason, that by this means we see the application of the science before we are disheartened by its difficulties, and learn the practical and experimental part before the theoretical. I would hope, therefore, that so far from any one being discouraged from this study by the numerous collateral sciences which it includes, this circumstance may rather form an inducement than otherwise to the consideration of it, as a science which, above all others, is calculated to direct the well-disposed mind to look beyond its more immediate object, to Him "whose hand hath made all these things;" and to lead him in admiration to exclaim, "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches." LONG VITALITY OF SEEDS. THIS was shown in trenching for a plantation in a part of Bushy Park, which had probably been undisturbed by a spade or plough since, and perhaps long before, the reign of Charles I. The ground was turned up in the winter, and in the following summer it was covered with a profusion of the tree-mignionette, pansies, and the wild raspberry, plants which are nowhere found in a wild state in the neighbourhood; and in a plantation recently made in Richmond Park, a great quantity of the foxglove came up after some deep trenching. BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 323 I observed, a few years ago, the same occurrence in a plantation in Devonshire, the surface of which was covered with the dark blue columbine, a flower produced in our gardens by cultivation, but I believe not known in this country in its wild state. A field also, which had previously little or no Dutch clover upon it, was covered with it after it had been trampled upon, and fed down by horses; and it is stated, from good authority, that if a pine forest in America were to be cut down, and the ground cultivated, and afterwards allowed to return to a state of nature, it would produce plants quite different from those by which it had been previously occupied. So completely indeed is the ground impregnated with seeds, that if earth is brought to the surface, from the lowest depth at which it is found, some vegetable matter will spring from it. I have always considered this fact as one of many of the surprising instances of the power and bounty of Almighty God, who has thus literally filled the earth with his goodness, by storing up a deposit of useful seeds in its depths, where they must have lain through a succession of ages, only requiring the energies of man to bring them into action. In boring for water lately, at a spot near Kingston-upon-Thames, some earth was brought up from a depth of 360 feet; this earth was carefully covered with a handglass, to prevent the possibility of any other seeds being deposited upon it; yet, in a short time, plants vegetated from it. If quick lime be put upon land which from time immemorial has produced nothing but heather, the heather will be killed, and white clover will spring up in its place. A curious fact was communicated to me, respecting some land which surrounds an old castle formerly belonging to the Regent Murray, near Moffat. On removing the peat, which is about six or eight inches in thickness, a stratum of soil appears, which is supposed to have been a cultivated garden in the time of the Regent, and from which a variety of flowers and plants sprung, some of them little known even at this time in Scotland.-Jesse's Gleanings in Natural History. E. G. B. BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE- NO. V. (Continued from p. 272.) THE business of this morning commenced with Mr. Scoresby giving a lengthened detail of his magnetical researches, which he had begun on the preceding evening. His chief design was, to establish, by experiments, the possibility of discovering the thickness of subterraneous dikes, walls, &c. by means of a magnetical apparatus; and this he did very satisfactorily. From his account, the accuracy of his theory was established in different instances, by calculations arising from the magnetic apparatus coinciding within the decimal part of an inch with admeasurements made by the rule. The theory is inductive. He takes it for granted, that the magnetic influence of any body is in proportion to its bulk, and that the needle is acted upon in the same ratio. That in proportion as the thickness or bulk of any body decreases when measured longitudinally, so the magnetic influence de. creases in the same ratio. Upon this principle he has constructed a formula, by which he calculates algebraically, and obtains his accurate results. It ought to be mentioned here, that Mr. Scoresby, in the month of December 1819, communicated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the "Description of a Magnetimeter, being a new instrument for measuring magnetic attractions, and finding the dip of the needle; with an account of experiments made with it."-A description of the magnetimeter may be seen in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. iv. and an account of the Experiments, in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. ix. He Mr. Phillips then read a Memoir, by Dr. Brewster, "On the Structure of the Crystalline lens in the Eyes of Fishes." The author illustrated the subject, first by models, afterwards by diagrams. shewed that the eye of the fish is nearly in the form of a hemisphere, the plane part being directed forward, and the convex backward that the flatness of the anterior part is compensated by the spherical form of the crystalline lens: that the lens in the eye of a fish is more dense than that in the eye of a land animal: that it projects through the pupil, and leaves little room for the aqueous humour. It may be mentioned here, that Dr. Monro, in his work on the Structure and Physiology of Fishes, found the crystalline lens of an ox to be 1104, while that of a cod was 1165, water being reckoned at 1000. Dr. Brewster pointed out to the audience, that by the great convexity of the crystalline lens in the eye of the fish, it was enabled to take in a wide field of vision, and to perceive its enemies and food from all points. R. J. Murchison, Esq., President of the 324 BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. Geological Society, next gave an account of some extensive deposits of Marine Shells on the Lancashire coast, and near Preston in Lancashire. Specimens of the shells were produced by Mr. Gilbertson, the original observer of the deposits. Mr. Murchison illustrated the position of the said deposits by etchings upon a large scale. There were occasional breaks in the stratum, for which Mr. M. did not satisfactorily account. He was inclined to think that the pressure of some superincumbent strata had been the cause. This gave rise to some interesting remarks from Mr. Phillips and Mr. Greenough. The former thought, that the different deposits of marine shells had been made by some sudden eruptions of water which had mixed marine and terrene bodies and animals together. He also. thought that marine shells being found upon the summits of mountains was a presumptive proof that these mountains had once been inundated with sea-water. Mr. Greenough objected to this theory, and said, it was not improbable that seafowls might have carried most of the shells which have been found upon the tops of mountains near the sea, to eat the meat which was in them; and endeavoured to sanction his opinion by a fact which he related : Some years ago he and a few friends being in one of the southern counties of England, they ascended a considerable hill upon the sea-coast. When at the summit, they found a considerable quantity of marine shells. A discussion arose among them about their age, and the manner how they had got there; some of the shells settled the dispute, by beginning to move. All came to the conclusion, that they had not been many days out of the water; and that they had in all probability been conveyed thither by sea-fowls. Perhaps, at the next scientific meeting, Mr. Greenough will be prepared to inform the audience, why some sea-fowls have been so squeamish in their choice of mountains, as to fix upon some, more than a hundred miles from the sea; and whether they used their bills or their webbed feet, in digging some half score of yards below the surface, to deposit their pilfered shells. The next subject was upon Hot Springs, by Dr. Daubeny; or rather, on the "Phenomena of Hot Springs." The doctor observed, that most of the hot springs which he had visited were situated at the heads of valleys, in the neighbourhood of which were generally minerals, and sometimes volcanoes. Yet he does not suppose that any of these produce the heat in the water. His opinion is, that the heat is caused by some chemical process carried on within the bowels of the earth. This opinion was combated by some of the sçavans present, who thought that mineral substances in a state of ignition, or volcanic matter, produced the high temperature in the water. The last opinion is evidently sanctioned by the hot springs in Iceland, rising from the neighbourhood of Mount Hecla; by streains of hot water sometimes issuing from Mount Ætna; and by the hot springs of Furnas in the Island of St. Michael, issuing from the precincts of a crater. See the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vols. ii. and vi. In the afternoon, the Archbishop of York entertained a numerous party of gentlemen, including the scientific visitors, at dinner. In consequence of this, the lectures did not commence till nine o'clock. The theatre of the Museum was crowded with a brilliant assemblage of fashionables, ladies having been admitted in the evening. Mr. R. Potter, jun. commenced by reading a paper on the Aurora Borealis, and attempted to account for it upon the principles of electricity. He also made some experiments on electricity in vacuo; but a small glass tube breaking, his apparatus became imperfect, and he desisted from any further attempts. Though Mr. Potter's short lecture was interesting, yet he did not establish his theory so plausibly as St. Pierre did another, by ascribing the Aurora Borealis to the effects of the sun's rays being reflected from fields of ice. Dr. Warwick next delivered an interesting lecture on Electro-Magnetism. His experiments were on a large scale, by a costly apparatus, which was so powerfully magnetic as to suspend some stones' weight. He made a beautiful experiment by covering a magnet with thick paper, and scattering steel-filings upon it. And after attempting to blow them off, some were removed, but all those directly over the magnet remained firm, and presented the appearance of a horse-shoe. The doctor would have given some experiments upon a larger scale, but his apparatus was unfit for them. Dr. Daubeny followed, in making some neat experiments on capillary attraction, and satisfactorily accounted for the manner in which moisture is conveyed through the roots, stems, branches of vegetables, trees, &c. The business of the day was concluded by Mr. Phillips, who read the report of Mr. Osburne, on the formation of Graham Island on the coast of Sicily. As an account of this newly-formed island has |