FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[1]March 31, 1845.[2]Professor Nicol of Aberdeen believes the Red Sandstones of the West Highlands are of Devonian age, and the quartzite and limestone of Lower Carboniferous.—See Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, February 1857.—W.S.[3]Sir R. Murchison considers these rocks Silurian. See "Quarterly Journal" of the Geological Society, Anniversary Address.[4]Probably one of the Isastrea of Edwards.[5]See a paper by the Rev. P.B. Brodie, on Lias Corals, "Edinburgh New Philosophic Journal," April, 1857.[6]The verses here referred to are introduced into "My Schools and Schoolmasters," chapter tenth.[7]For a description of this pond see "My Schools and Schoolmasters," chapter tenth.[8]These remarks refer to the poem "On Seeing a Sun-Dial in a Churchyard," which was introduced here when these chapters were first published in the "Witness," but, having been afterwards inserted in the tenth chapter of "My Schools and Schoolmasters," is not here reproduced.[9]Mr. Peach has discovered fossils in the Durness limestone, which rests above the quartzite rock of the west of Scotland, that covers the Red Sandstone long believed to beOld Red. The fossils are very obscure.—W.S.S.[10]This second title hears reference to the extent of the author's geologic excursions in Scotland, during the nine years from 1840 to 1848 inclusive.[11]Since the above was written, I have seen an interesting paper in "Hogg's Weekly Instructor," in which the Rev. Mr. Longmuir of Aberdeen describes a visit to the Lias clay at Blackpots. Mr. Longmuir seems to have given more time to his researches than I found it agreeable, in a very indifferent day to devote to mine; and his list of fossils is considerably longer. Their evidence, however, runs in exactly the same tract with that of the shorter list. He had been told at Banff that the clay contained "petrified tangles;" and the first organism shown him by the workmen, on his arrival at the deposit, were some of the "tangles" in question. "These" he goes on to say, "we found, as may have already been anticipated, to be pieces of Belemnites, well known on the other side of the Frith as 'thunderbolts,' and esteemed of sovereign efficacy in the cure of bewitched cattle." Though still wide of the mark, there is here an evident descent from the supernatural to the physical, from the superstitious to the true. "Satisfied that we had a mass of Lias clay before us, we set vigorously to work, in order either to find additional characteristic fossils, or obtain data on which to form a conjecture as to the history of this out-of-the-way deposit; and our labor was not without its reward. We shall now present a brief account of the specimens we picked up. Observing a number of stones of different sizes, that had been thrown out, as they were struck, by the workman's shovel, we immediately commenced, and, like an inquisitor of old, knocked our victims on the head, that they might reveal their secrets; or, like a Roman haruspex, examined their interior,—not, however, to obtain a knowledge of the future, but only to take a peep into the past. 1. Here, then, we take up, not a regular Lias lime nodule, but what appears to have formed part of one; and the first blow has laid open part of a whorl of an Ammonite, which, when complete, must have measured three or four inches in diameter, and it is perfectly assimilated to the calcareous matrix. 2. Here is a mass of indurated clay; and a gentle blow has exposed part of two Ammonites, smaller than the former, but their shells are white and powdery like chalk. 3. Another fragment is laid open; and there, quite unmistakably, lie the umbo and greater portion of thePlagiostoma concentricum. 4. Another fragment of a granular gritty structure presents a considerable portion of the interior of one of the shells of a Pecten, but whether the attached fragment is part of one of its ears, or of the other valve turned backward, is not so easily determined. 5. Here is a piece of Belemnite in limestone, and the fracture in the fossil presents the usual glistening planes of cleavage. 6. Next we take up a piece of distinctly laminated Lias, with Ammonites as thick as they can lie on the pages of this black book of natural history. 7. Once more we strike, and we have the cast and part of the shell of another bivalve; but the valves have been jerked off each other, and have suffered a severe compound fracture; nevertheless we can have little hesitation in pronouncing it a species ofunio. 8. Here is another piece of limestone, with its small fragment of another shell, of very delicate texture, with finely marked traverse striæ. We are unwilling to decide on such slight evidence, but feel inclined to refer it to some species of Plagiostoma. 9. Here is a piece of pyrites, not quite so large as the first, and so vegetable-like in its markings, that it might be mistaken for part of a branch of a tree. This is also characteristic of the Lias; for when the shales are deeply impregnated with bitumen and pyrites, they undergo a slow combustion when heaped up with faggots and set on fire; and in the cliffs of the Yorkshire coast, after rainy weather, they sometimes spontaneously ignite, and continue to burn for several months. 10. As we passed through the works, on our way to the clay, we observed a sort of reservoir, into which the clay, after being freed from its impurities, had been run in a liquid state; the water had evaporated, and the drying clay had cracked in every direction. Here we find its counterpart in this large mass of stone; only the clay here, mixed with a portion of lime is petrified, and the fissures filled up with carbonate of lime; thus forming the septaria, or cement stone. We have dressed a specimen of it for our guide, who has a friend that will polish it, when the dark Lias will be strikingly contrasted with the white lime, and form rather a pretty piece of natural mosaic. 11. Coming to a simple piece of machinery for removing fragments of shale and stone from the clay, we examined some of the bits so rejected, and found what we had no doubt were fish-scales. 12. We have yet to notice certain long slender bodies, outwardly brown, but inwardly nearly black, resembling whip-cord in size. Are we to regard these as specimens of a fucus, perhaps thefilum, or allied to it, which is known in some places by the appropriate name of sea-laces? 13. Passing on to the office, we were shown a chop of wood that had been found in the clay, and was destined for the Banff Museum. It is about eighteen inches in length, and half as much in breadth; and although evidently water-worn, yet we could count between twenty-five and thirty concentric rings on one of its ends, which not only enabled us to form some conjecture of its age previous to its overthrow, but also justified us in referring it to the coniferæ of thevorwelt, or ancient world."Mr. Longmuir makes the following shrewd remarks, in answering the question, "Whether have we here a mass of Lias clay, as originally deposited, or has it resulted from the breaking up of Lias-shale?" "The former alternative," says Mr. Longmuir, "we have heard, has been maintained; but we are inclined to adopt the latter, and that for the following reasons: 1. This clay, judging from other localities, is notin situ, but has every appearance of having been precipitated into a basin in the gneiss on which it rests, having apparently under it, although it is impossible to say to what extent, a bed of comminuted shells. 2. The fossils are all fragmentary and water-worn. This is especially the case with regard to the Belemnites, the pieces averaging from one to two inches in length, no workman having ever found a complete specimen, such as occurs in the Lias-shale at Cromarty, in which they may be found nine inches in length. 3. But perhaps the most satisfactory proof, and one that in itself may be deemed sufficient, is the frequent occurrence of pieces of Lias-shale, with their embedded Ammonites; which clearly show that the Lias had been broken up, tossed about in some violent agitation of the sea, and churned into clay, just as some denudating process of a similar nature swept away the chalk of Aberdeenshire, leaving on many of its hills and plains the water-worn flints, with the characteristic fossils of the Cretaceous formation."[12]A description of Miss Bond and of her "Letters" here referred to, is given in the fifth chapter of "My Schools and Schoolmasters."[13]The story here referred to is narrated in "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland," chap.xxv.[14]Scaur, Scotice, a precipice of clay. There is no single English word that conveys exactly the same idea.[15]Mr. Dick has since disinterred from out the boulder-clays of the Burn of Freswick,Patella vulgata,Buccinum undatum,Fesus antiquus,Rostellaria,Pes pelicana, aNatica,Lutraria, andBalanus.[16]That similarity of condition in which the hazel and the harder cerealia thrive was noted by our north-country farmers of the old School, long ere it had been recorded by the botanist. Hence such remarks, familiarized into proverbs, as "A goodnutyear's a goodaityear;" or, "As thenutfills theaitfills."[17]For this story, see "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland," chap.xxv.[18]"In the River St. Lawrence," says Sir Charles Lyell, "the loose ice accumulates on the shoals during the winter, at which season the water is low. The separate fragments of ice are readily frozen together in a climate where the temperature is sometimes thirty degrees below zero, and boulders become entangled with them; so that in the spring, when the river rises on the melting of the snow, the rocks are floated off, frequently conveying away the boulders to great distances. A single block of granite, fifteen feet long by ten feet both in width and height, and which could not contain less than fifteen hundred cubic feet of stone, was in this way moved down the river several hundred yards, during the late survey in 1837. Heavy anchors of ships, lying on the shore, have in like manner been closed in and removed. In October 1836, wooden stakes were driven several feet into the ground, at one point on the banks of the St. Lawrence, at high-water mark, and over them were piled many boulders as large as the united force of six men could roll. The year after, all the boulders had disappeared, and others had arrived, and the stakes had been drawn out and carried away by the ice."—'Elements,' first edition, p. 138.[19]The story of the Lady of Balconie and her keys is narrated in "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland." chap.xi.[20]This mode is described in a traditionary story regarding a gigantic tribe ofFions, narrated in "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland," chap.iv.[21]See "My Schools and Schoolmasters," chapxi.[22]I can entertain no doubt that the angular groups of palatal teeth figured by Agassiz and the Russian geologists as those of a supposed Placoid termed the Ctenodus, are in reality groups of the palatal teeth of Dipterus. In some of my specimens the frontal buckler of Polyphractus is connected with the gill-covers and scales of Dipterus, and bears in its palate what cannot he distinguished from the teeth of Ctenodus. The three genera resolve themselves into one.[23]There is a very admirable remark to this effect in the "Travelling Memorandums" of the late Lord Gardenstone, which, as the work has been long out of print, and is now scarce, may be new to many of my readers: "It is certain, and demonstrated by the experience of ages and nations," says his Lordship, in referring to the old principalities of France, "that the government of petty princes is less favorable to the security and interests of society than the government of monarchs, who possess great and extensive territories. The race of great monarchs cannot possibly preserve a safe and undisturbed state of government, without many delegations of power and office to men of approved abilities and practical knowledge, who are subject to complaint during their administration, and responsible when it is at an end; or yet without an established system of laws and regulations; so that no inconsiderable degree of security and liberty to the subject is almost inseparable from, and essential to, the subsistence and duration of a great monarchy. But it is easy for petty princes to practise an arbitrary and irregular exercise of power, by which their people are reduced to a condition of miserable slavery. Indeed, very few of them, in the course of ages, are capable of conceiving any other means of maintaining the ostentatious state, the luxurious and indolent pride, which they mistake for greatness. I heartily wish that this observation and censure may not, in some instances, be applicable to great landed proprietors in some parts of Britain."—Travelling Memorandums, vol. i. p. 123. 1792.[24]The exciting effects of a poor soil, or climate, or of severe usage, on the productive powers of various vegetable species, have been long and often remarked. Flavel describes, in one of his ingenious emblems, illustrative of the influence of affliction on the Christian, an orchard tree, which had been beaten with sticks and stones, till it presented a sorely stunted and mutilated appearance; but which, while the fairer and more vigorous trees around it were rich in only leaves, was laden with fruit,—a direct consequence, it is shown, of the hard treatment to which it had been subjected. I have heard it told in a northern village, as a curious anecdote, that a large pear tree, which during a vigorous existence of nearly fifty years, had borne scarce a single pear, had, when in a state of decay, and for a few years previous to its death, borne immense crops of from two to three bolls each season. And the skilful gardener not unfrequently avails himself of the principle on which both phenomena seem to have occurred,—that exhibited in the beaten and that in the decaying tree,—in rendering his barren plants fruitful. He has recourse to it even when merely desirous of ascertaining the variety of pear or apple which some thriving sapling, slow in bearing, is yet to produce. Selecting some bough which may be conveniently lopped away without destroying the symmetry of the tree, he draws his knife across the bark, and inflicts on it a wound, from which, though death may not ensue for some two or three twelvemonths, it cannot ultimately recover. Next spring the wounded branch is found to bear its bunches of blossoms; the blossoms set into fruit; and while in the other portions of the plant all is vigorous and barren as before, the dying part of it, as if sobered by the near prospect of dissolution, is found fulfilling the proper end of its existence. Soil and climate, too, exert, it has been often remarked, a similar influence. In the united parishes of Kirkmichael and Culicuden, in the immediate neighborhood of Cromarty, much of the soil is cold and poor, and the exposure ungenial; and "in most parts, where hardwood has been planted," says the Rev. Mr. Sage of Resolis, in his "Statistical Account," "it is stinted in its growth, and bark-bound. Comparatively young trees of ash," he shrewdly adds, "are covered with seed,—an almost infallible sign that their natural growth is checked. The leaves, too, fall off about the beginning of September."

[1]March 31, 1845.

[2]Professor Nicol of Aberdeen believes the Red Sandstones of the West Highlands are of Devonian age, and the quartzite and limestone of Lower Carboniferous.—See Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, February 1857.—W.S.

[3]Sir R. Murchison considers these rocks Silurian. See "Quarterly Journal" of the Geological Society, Anniversary Address.

[4]Probably one of the Isastrea of Edwards.

[5]See a paper by the Rev. P.B. Brodie, on Lias Corals, "Edinburgh New Philosophic Journal," April, 1857.

[6]The verses here referred to are introduced into "My Schools and Schoolmasters," chapter tenth.

[7]For a description of this pond see "My Schools and Schoolmasters," chapter tenth.

[8]These remarks refer to the poem "On Seeing a Sun-Dial in a Churchyard," which was introduced here when these chapters were first published in the "Witness," but, having been afterwards inserted in the tenth chapter of "My Schools and Schoolmasters," is not here reproduced.

[9]Mr. Peach has discovered fossils in the Durness limestone, which rests above the quartzite rock of the west of Scotland, that covers the Red Sandstone long believed to beOld Red. The fossils are very obscure.—W.S.S.

[10]This second title hears reference to the extent of the author's geologic excursions in Scotland, during the nine years from 1840 to 1848 inclusive.

[11]Since the above was written, I have seen an interesting paper in "Hogg's Weekly Instructor," in which the Rev. Mr. Longmuir of Aberdeen describes a visit to the Lias clay at Blackpots. Mr. Longmuir seems to have given more time to his researches than I found it agreeable, in a very indifferent day to devote to mine; and his list of fossils is considerably longer. Their evidence, however, runs in exactly the same tract with that of the shorter list. He had been told at Banff that the clay contained "petrified tangles;" and the first organism shown him by the workmen, on his arrival at the deposit, were some of the "tangles" in question. "These" he goes on to say, "we found, as may have already been anticipated, to be pieces of Belemnites, well known on the other side of the Frith as 'thunderbolts,' and esteemed of sovereign efficacy in the cure of bewitched cattle." Though still wide of the mark, there is here an evident descent from the supernatural to the physical, from the superstitious to the true. "Satisfied that we had a mass of Lias clay before us, we set vigorously to work, in order either to find additional characteristic fossils, or obtain data on which to form a conjecture as to the history of this out-of-the-way deposit; and our labor was not without its reward. We shall now present a brief account of the specimens we picked up. Observing a number of stones of different sizes, that had been thrown out, as they were struck, by the workman's shovel, we immediately commenced, and, like an inquisitor of old, knocked our victims on the head, that they might reveal their secrets; or, like a Roman haruspex, examined their interior,—not, however, to obtain a knowledge of the future, but only to take a peep into the past. 1. Here, then, we take up, not a regular Lias lime nodule, but what appears to have formed part of one; and the first blow has laid open part of a whorl of an Ammonite, which, when complete, must have measured three or four inches in diameter, and it is perfectly assimilated to the calcareous matrix. 2. Here is a mass of indurated clay; and a gentle blow has exposed part of two Ammonites, smaller than the former, but their shells are white and powdery like chalk. 3. Another fragment is laid open; and there, quite unmistakably, lie the umbo and greater portion of thePlagiostoma concentricum. 4. Another fragment of a granular gritty structure presents a considerable portion of the interior of one of the shells of a Pecten, but whether the attached fragment is part of one of its ears, or of the other valve turned backward, is not so easily determined. 5. Here is a piece of Belemnite in limestone, and the fracture in the fossil presents the usual glistening planes of cleavage. 6. Next we take up a piece of distinctly laminated Lias, with Ammonites as thick as they can lie on the pages of this black book of natural history. 7. Once more we strike, and we have the cast and part of the shell of another bivalve; but the valves have been jerked off each other, and have suffered a severe compound fracture; nevertheless we can have little hesitation in pronouncing it a species ofunio. 8. Here is another piece of limestone, with its small fragment of another shell, of very delicate texture, with finely marked traverse striæ. We are unwilling to decide on such slight evidence, but feel inclined to refer it to some species of Plagiostoma. 9. Here is a piece of pyrites, not quite so large as the first, and so vegetable-like in its markings, that it might be mistaken for part of a branch of a tree. This is also characteristic of the Lias; for when the shales are deeply impregnated with bitumen and pyrites, they undergo a slow combustion when heaped up with faggots and set on fire; and in the cliffs of the Yorkshire coast, after rainy weather, they sometimes spontaneously ignite, and continue to burn for several months. 10. As we passed through the works, on our way to the clay, we observed a sort of reservoir, into which the clay, after being freed from its impurities, had been run in a liquid state; the water had evaporated, and the drying clay had cracked in every direction. Here we find its counterpart in this large mass of stone; only the clay here, mixed with a portion of lime is petrified, and the fissures filled up with carbonate of lime; thus forming the septaria, or cement stone. We have dressed a specimen of it for our guide, who has a friend that will polish it, when the dark Lias will be strikingly contrasted with the white lime, and form rather a pretty piece of natural mosaic. 11. Coming to a simple piece of machinery for removing fragments of shale and stone from the clay, we examined some of the bits so rejected, and found what we had no doubt were fish-scales. 12. We have yet to notice certain long slender bodies, outwardly brown, but inwardly nearly black, resembling whip-cord in size. Are we to regard these as specimens of a fucus, perhaps thefilum, or allied to it, which is known in some places by the appropriate name of sea-laces? 13. Passing on to the office, we were shown a chop of wood that had been found in the clay, and was destined for the Banff Museum. It is about eighteen inches in length, and half as much in breadth; and although evidently water-worn, yet we could count between twenty-five and thirty concentric rings on one of its ends, which not only enabled us to form some conjecture of its age previous to its overthrow, but also justified us in referring it to the coniferæ of thevorwelt, or ancient world."Mr. Longmuir makes the following shrewd remarks, in answering the question, "Whether have we here a mass of Lias clay, as originally deposited, or has it resulted from the breaking up of Lias-shale?" "The former alternative," says Mr. Longmuir, "we have heard, has been maintained; but we are inclined to adopt the latter, and that for the following reasons: 1. This clay, judging from other localities, is notin situ, but has every appearance of having been precipitated into a basin in the gneiss on which it rests, having apparently under it, although it is impossible to say to what extent, a bed of comminuted shells. 2. The fossils are all fragmentary and water-worn. This is especially the case with regard to the Belemnites, the pieces averaging from one to two inches in length, no workman having ever found a complete specimen, such as occurs in the Lias-shale at Cromarty, in which they may be found nine inches in length. 3. But perhaps the most satisfactory proof, and one that in itself may be deemed sufficient, is the frequent occurrence of pieces of Lias-shale, with their embedded Ammonites; which clearly show that the Lias had been broken up, tossed about in some violent agitation of the sea, and churned into clay, just as some denudating process of a similar nature swept away the chalk of Aberdeenshire, leaving on many of its hills and plains the water-worn flints, with the characteristic fossils of the Cretaceous formation."

Mr. Longmuir makes the following shrewd remarks, in answering the question, "Whether have we here a mass of Lias clay, as originally deposited, or has it resulted from the breaking up of Lias-shale?" "The former alternative," says Mr. Longmuir, "we have heard, has been maintained; but we are inclined to adopt the latter, and that for the following reasons: 1. This clay, judging from other localities, is notin situ, but has every appearance of having been precipitated into a basin in the gneiss on which it rests, having apparently under it, although it is impossible to say to what extent, a bed of comminuted shells. 2. The fossils are all fragmentary and water-worn. This is especially the case with regard to the Belemnites, the pieces averaging from one to two inches in length, no workman having ever found a complete specimen, such as occurs in the Lias-shale at Cromarty, in which they may be found nine inches in length. 3. But perhaps the most satisfactory proof, and one that in itself may be deemed sufficient, is the frequent occurrence of pieces of Lias-shale, with their embedded Ammonites; which clearly show that the Lias had been broken up, tossed about in some violent agitation of the sea, and churned into clay, just as some denudating process of a similar nature swept away the chalk of Aberdeenshire, leaving on many of its hills and plains the water-worn flints, with the characteristic fossils of the Cretaceous formation."

[12]A description of Miss Bond and of her "Letters" here referred to, is given in the fifth chapter of "My Schools and Schoolmasters."

[13]The story here referred to is narrated in "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland," chap.xxv.

[14]Scaur, Scotice, a precipice of clay. There is no single English word that conveys exactly the same idea.

[15]Mr. Dick has since disinterred from out the boulder-clays of the Burn of Freswick,Patella vulgata,Buccinum undatum,Fesus antiquus,Rostellaria,Pes pelicana, aNatica,Lutraria, andBalanus.

[16]That similarity of condition in which the hazel and the harder cerealia thrive was noted by our north-country farmers of the old School, long ere it had been recorded by the botanist. Hence such remarks, familiarized into proverbs, as "A goodnutyear's a goodaityear;" or, "As thenutfills theaitfills."

[17]For this story, see "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland," chap.xxv.

[18]"In the River St. Lawrence," says Sir Charles Lyell, "the loose ice accumulates on the shoals during the winter, at which season the water is low. The separate fragments of ice are readily frozen together in a climate where the temperature is sometimes thirty degrees below zero, and boulders become entangled with them; so that in the spring, when the river rises on the melting of the snow, the rocks are floated off, frequently conveying away the boulders to great distances. A single block of granite, fifteen feet long by ten feet both in width and height, and which could not contain less than fifteen hundred cubic feet of stone, was in this way moved down the river several hundred yards, during the late survey in 1837. Heavy anchors of ships, lying on the shore, have in like manner been closed in and removed. In October 1836, wooden stakes were driven several feet into the ground, at one point on the banks of the St. Lawrence, at high-water mark, and over them were piled many boulders as large as the united force of six men could roll. The year after, all the boulders had disappeared, and others had arrived, and the stakes had been drawn out and carried away by the ice."—'Elements,' first edition, p. 138.

[19]The story of the Lady of Balconie and her keys is narrated in "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland." chap.xi.

[20]This mode is described in a traditionary story regarding a gigantic tribe ofFions, narrated in "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland," chap.iv.

[21]See "My Schools and Schoolmasters," chapxi.

[22]I can entertain no doubt that the angular groups of palatal teeth figured by Agassiz and the Russian geologists as those of a supposed Placoid termed the Ctenodus, are in reality groups of the palatal teeth of Dipterus. In some of my specimens the frontal buckler of Polyphractus is connected with the gill-covers and scales of Dipterus, and bears in its palate what cannot he distinguished from the teeth of Ctenodus. The three genera resolve themselves into one.

[23]There is a very admirable remark to this effect in the "Travelling Memorandums" of the late Lord Gardenstone, which, as the work has been long out of print, and is now scarce, may be new to many of my readers: "It is certain, and demonstrated by the experience of ages and nations," says his Lordship, in referring to the old principalities of France, "that the government of petty princes is less favorable to the security and interests of society than the government of monarchs, who possess great and extensive territories. The race of great monarchs cannot possibly preserve a safe and undisturbed state of government, without many delegations of power and office to men of approved abilities and practical knowledge, who are subject to complaint during their administration, and responsible when it is at an end; or yet without an established system of laws and regulations; so that no inconsiderable degree of security and liberty to the subject is almost inseparable from, and essential to, the subsistence and duration of a great monarchy. But it is easy for petty princes to practise an arbitrary and irregular exercise of power, by which their people are reduced to a condition of miserable slavery. Indeed, very few of them, in the course of ages, are capable of conceiving any other means of maintaining the ostentatious state, the luxurious and indolent pride, which they mistake for greatness. I heartily wish that this observation and censure may not, in some instances, be applicable to great landed proprietors in some parts of Britain."—Travelling Memorandums, vol. i. p. 123. 1792.

[24]The exciting effects of a poor soil, or climate, or of severe usage, on the productive powers of various vegetable species, have been long and often remarked. Flavel describes, in one of his ingenious emblems, illustrative of the influence of affliction on the Christian, an orchard tree, which had been beaten with sticks and stones, till it presented a sorely stunted and mutilated appearance; but which, while the fairer and more vigorous trees around it were rich in only leaves, was laden with fruit,—a direct consequence, it is shown, of the hard treatment to which it had been subjected. I have heard it told in a northern village, as a curious anecdote, that a large pear tree, which during a vigorous existence of nearly fifty years, had borne scarce a single pear, had, when in a state of decay, and for a few years previous to its death, borne immense crops of from two to three bolls each season. And the skilful gardener not unfrequently avails himself of the principle on which both phenomena seem to have occurred,—that exhibited in the beaten and that in the decaying tree,—in rendering his barren plants fruitful. He has recourse to it even when merely desirous of ascertaining the variety of pear or apple which some thriving sapling, slow in bearing, is yet to produce. Selecting some bough which may be conveniently lopped away without destroying the symmetry of the tree, he draws his knife across the bark, and inflicts on it a wound, from which, though death may not ensue for some two or three twelvemonths, it cannot ultimately recover. Next spring the wounded branch is found to bear its bunches of blossoms; the blossoms set into fruit; and while in the other portions of the plant all is vigorous and barren as before, the dying part of it, as if sobered by the near prospect of dissolution, is found fulfilling the proper end of its existence. Soil and climate, too, exert, it has been often remarked, a similar influence. In the united parishes of Kirkmichael and Culicuden, in the immediate neighborhood of Cromarty, much of the soil is cold and poor, and the exposure ungenial; and "in most parts, where hardwood has been planted," says the Rev. Mr. Sage of Resolis, in his "Statistical Account," "it is stinted in its growth, and bark-bound. Comparatively young trees of ash," he shrewdly adds, "are covered with seed,—an almost infallible sign that their natural growth is checked. The leaves, too, fall off about the beginning of September."

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THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES; Its Typical Forms and Primeval Distribution. ByCharles Hamilton Smith, With an Introduction containing an Abstract of the views of Blumenbach, Prichard, Bachman, Agassiz, and other writers of repute. BySamuel Kneeland, Jr., M.D. With elegant Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.

"The marks of practical good sense, careful observation, and deep research, are displayed in every page. The introductory essay of some seventy or eighty pages forms a valuable addition to the work. It comprises an abstract of the opinions advocated by the most eminent writers on this subject. The statements are made with strict impartiality, and, without a comment, left to the judgment of the reader."—Sartain's Magazine.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. A View of the Productive Forces of Modern Society, and the Results of Labor, Capital, and Skill. ByCharles Knight. With numerous Illustrations. American Edition. Revised, with Additions, byDavid A. Wells, Editor of the "Annual of Scientific Discovery." 12mo, cloth, $1.25.

fingerThis is emphatically a bookfor the people. It contains an immense amount of important information, which everybody ought to be in possession of; and the volume should be placed in every family, and in every School and Public Library in the land. The facts and illustrations are drawn from almost every branch of skilful industry, and it is a work which the mechanic and artisan of every description will be sure to read with aRELISH.

IMPORTANT WORKS.

A TREATISE ON THE COMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. By Profs.C. TH. Von SieboldandH. Stannius. Translated from the German, with Notes, Additions, &c. ByWaldo I. Burnett, M.D., Boston. One elegant octavo volume, cloth, $3.00.

This is believed to be incomparably the best and most complete work on the subject extant; and its appearance in an English dress, with the additions of the American Translator, is everywhere welcomed by men of science in this country.

UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION; during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, underCharles Wilkes, U.S.N. Vol. XII.

Mollusca and Shells. ByAugustus A. Gould, M.D. Elegant quarto volume, cloth, $6.00.

THE LANDING AT CAPE ANNE; or,The Charter of the First Permanent Colony on the Territory of the Massachusetts Company. Now discovered, and first published from theORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT, with an inquiry into its authority, and aHistory of the Colony, 1624–1628, Roger Conant, Governor. ByJ. Wingate Thornton. 8vo, cloth, $1.50.

finger"A rare contribution to the early history of New England."—Mercantile Journal.

LAKE SUPERIOR; Its Physical Character, Vegetation, and Animals. ByL. Agassizand others. One volume octavo, elegantly Illustrated, cloth, $3.50.

THE HALLIG;or, the Sheepfold in the Waters. A Tale of Humble Life on the Coast of Schleswig. Translated from the German ofBiernatski, by Mrs.George P. Marsh. With a Biographical Sketch of the Author. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.

As a revelation of an entire new phase in human society, this work strongly reminds the reader of Miss Bremer's tales. In originality and brilliancy of imagination, it is not inferior to those:—its aim is far higher.

THE CRUISE OF THE NORTH STAR; A Narrative of the Excursion made by Mr. Vanderbilt's Party in the Steam Yacht, in her Voyage to England, Russia, Denmark, France, Spain, Italy, Malta, Turkey, Madeira, &c. By Rev.John Overton Choules, D.D. With elegant Illustrations, &c. 12mo, cloth, gilt backs and sides, $1.50; cloth, gilt, $2.00; Turkey, gilt, $3.00.

PILGRIMAGE TO EGYPT; embracing a Diary of Explorations on the Nile, with Observations Illustrative of the Manners, Customs, and Institutions of the People, and of the present condition of the Antiquities and Ruins. By Hon.J.V.C. Smith, late Mayor of the City of Boston. With numerous elegant Engravings. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.

POETICAL WORKS.

COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM COWPER; with a Life and Critical Notices of his Writings. Elegant Illustrations. 16mo, cloth, $1.00.

POETICAL WORKS OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. Life and Illustrations. 16mo, cloth, $1.00.

MILTON'S POETICAL WORKS. With a Life and elegant Illustrations. 16mo, cloth, $1.00.

fingerThe above Poetical Works, by standard authors, are all of uniform size and style, printed on fine paper from clear, distinct type, with new and elegant illustrations, richly bound in full gilt, and plain.

WORKS OF HUGH MILLER.

THE OLD RED SANDSTONE; or, New Walks in an Old Field. Illustrated with Plates and Geological Sections.New Edition, Revised and much Enlarged, by the addition of new matter and new Illustrations, etc. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.

This edition contains overone hundred pages of entirely new matter, from the pen of Hugh Miller. It contains, also, several additional new plates and cuts, the old plates re-engraved and improved, and an Appendix of new Notes."It is withal one of the most beautiful specimens of English composition to be found, conveying information on a most difficult and profound science, in a style at once novel, pleasing, and elegant."—Dr. Sprague—Albany Spectator.

"It is withal one of the most beautiful specimens of English composition to be found, conveying information on a most difficult and profound science, in a style at once novel, pleasing, and elegant."—Dr. Sprague—Albany Spectator.

THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE CREATOR; or, the Asterolepsis of Stromness, with numerous Illustrations. With a Memoir of the Author, byLouis Agassiz. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.

Dr. Bucklandsaid he would give his left hand to possess such power of description as this man.

TESTIMONY OF THE ROCKS; or, Geology in its Bearings on the two Theologies, Natural and Revealed. "Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field."—Job.With numerous elegant Illustrations. One volume, royal 12mo, cloth, $1.25.

This is the largest and most comprehensive Geological Work that the distinguished author has yet published. It exhibits the profound learning, the felicitous style, and the scientific perception, which characterize his former works, while it embraces the latest results of geological discovery. But the great charm of the book lies in those passages of glowing eloquence, in which, having spread out his facts, the author proceeds to make deductions from them of the most striking and exciting character. The work is profusely illustrated by engravings executed at Paris, in the highest style of French art.

THE CRUISE OF THE BETSEY; or, a Summer Ramble among the Fossiliferous Deposits of the Hebrides. With Rambles of a Geologist; or, Ten Thousand Miles over the Fossiliferous Deposits of Scotland. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.

Nothing need be said of it save that it possesses the same fascination for the reader that characterizes the author's other works.

MY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS; or, the Story of my Education.An Autobiography.With a full-length Portrait of the Author. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.

This is a personal narrative, of a deeply interesting and instructive character, concerning one of the most remarkable men of the age.

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLAND AND ITS PEOPLE. With a fine Engraving of the author. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.

fingerA very instructive book of travels, presenting the most perfectly life-like views of England and its people to be found in any language.fingerThe above six volumes are furnished in sets, printed and bound in uniform style: viz.,

fingerA very instructive book of travels, presenting the most perfectly life-like views of England and its people to be found in any language.

fingerThe above six volumes are furnished in sets, printed and bound in uniform style: viz.,

HUGH MILLER'S WORKS, Six Volumes. Elegant embossed cloth, $7.00, library sheep, $8.00; half calf, $12.00; antique, $12.00.

MACAULAY ON SCOTLAND. A Critique, from the "Witness." 16mo, flexible cloth, 25 cts.

GOULD AND LINCOLN,

59 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON.

Would call particular attention to the following valuable works described in their Catalogue of Publications, viz.:

Hugh Miller's Works.Bayne's Works. Walker's Works. Miall's Works. Bungener's Work.Annual of Scientific Discovery. Knight's Knowledge is Power.Krummacher's Suffering Saviour.Banvard's American Histories. The Aimwell Stories.Newcomb's Works. Tweedie's Works. Chambers's Works. Harris' Works.Kitto's Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature.Mrs. Knight's Life of Montgomery. Kitto's History of Palestin.Wheewell's Work. Wayland's Works. Agassiz's Works.

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William's Works. Guyot's Works.Thompson's Better Land. Kimball's Heaven. Valuable Works on Missions.Haven's Mental Philosophy. Buchanan's Modern Atheism.Cruden's Condensed Concordance. Eadie's Analytical Concordance.The Psalmist: A Collection of Hymns.Valuable School Books. Works for Sabbath Schools.Memoir of Amos Lawrence.Poetical Works of Milton, Cowpar, Scott. Elegant Miniature Volumes.Arvine's Cyolopædia of Anecdotes.Ripley's Notes on Gospels, Acts, and Romans.Sprague's European Celebrities. Marsh's Camel and the Hallig.Roget's Thesaurus of English Words.Hackett's Notes on Acts. M'Whorter's Yahveh Christ.Siebold and Stannius's Comparative Anatomy. Marco's Geological Map, U.S.Religious and Miscellaneous Works.Works in the various Departments of Literature, Science and Art.

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