|
[5] The horizontal lines of the diagram here indicate, as in Fig. 1, the divisions of the several geologic systems; the vertical lines represent the leading divisions and classes of animals, and, as shown by the formations in which their earliest known remains occur, the probable period of their first appearance in creation; while the double line of text below exhibits the complete correspondence which obtains between their occurrence, in nature and the Cuvierian arrangement. The line representative of the Radiata ought perhaps to have been elevated a little higher than either of its two neighbors.
[6] Fig. 14, Neuropteris Loshii. Fig. 15, Neuropteris gigantea. Fig. 16, Neuropteris acuminata. Fig. 17, Sphenopteris affinis. Fig. 18, Pecopteris heterophylla. Fig. 19, Sphenopteris dilitata.
[7] Fig. 21, r a, Rachis, greatly thickened towards its base by numerous aerial roots, shot downwards to the soil, and which closely cover the stem.
[8] Fig. 22, m, Cellular tissue of the centre of rachis; d, similar tissue of the circumference; f, v, darkly-colored woody fibres of great strength, the "internal buttresses" of the illustration; e, the outer cortical portion formed by the bases of the leaves.
[9] Fig. 23, Branching stem, with bark and leaves. Fig. 24. Extremity of branch. Fig. 25, Extremity of another branch, with indication of cone-like receptacle of spores or seed.
[10] No true fossil palms have yet been detected in the great Oolitic and Wealden systems, though they certainly occur in the Carboniferous and Permian rocks, and are comparatively common in the earlier and middle Tertiary formations. Much cannot be founded on merely negative evidence; but it would be certainly a curious circumstance should it be found that this graceful family, first ushered into being some time in the later Palaeozoic periods, was withdrawn from creation during the Middle ages of the earth's history, to be again introduced in greatly more than the earlier proportions during the Tertiary and recent periods.
[11] Leaf of a tree allied to the maple.
[12] Leaf of a tree allied to the elm.
[13] Here, as in the former diagrams (Figs. 1 and 4), the horizontal lines represent the divisions of the great geologic systems; while the vertical lines indicate the sweep of the several orders of fishes across the scale, and the periods, so far as has yet been determined, of their first occurrence in creation.
[14] Some of these dragons of the Secondary ages were of very considerable size. The wings of a Pterodactyle of the Chalk, in the possession of Mr. Bowerbank, must have had a spread of about eighteen feet; those of a recently discovered Pterodactyle of the Greensand, a spread of not less than twenty-seven feet. The Lammer-geyer of the Alps has an extent of wing of but from ten to eleven feet; while that of the great Condor of the Andes, the largest of flying birds, does not exceed twelve feet.
[15] a, Palaeotherium magnum. b, Palaeotherium minus. c, Anoplotherium commune.
[16] It will be seen that there is no attempt made in this lecture to represent the great Palaeozoic division as characterized throughout its entire extent by a luxuriant flora. It is, on the contrary, expressly stated here, that the "plants of its earlier and terminal formations (i.e. those of the Silurian, Old Red, and Permian Systems) were few and small," and that "it was only during the protracted eons of the carboniferous period that they received their amazing development, unequalled in any previous or succeeding time." Being thus express in my limitation, I think I have just cause of complaint against any one who represents me us unfairly laboring, in this very composition, to make it be believed that the whole Palaeozoic period was characterized by a gorgeous flora; and as thus sophistically generalizing in the first instance, in order to make a fallacious use of the generalization in the second, with the intention of misleading non-geologic readers. Such, however, as may be seen from the following extracts from the "Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science at Philadelphia," is the charge preferred against me by a citizen of the United States.
"Mr. William Parker Foulke asked the attention of the Society to a lecture by Mr. Hugh Miller, recently republished in the United States under the title of 'The Two Records, Mosaic and Geological,' and made some remarks upon the importance of maintaining a careful scrutiny of the logic of the natural sciences.... Mr. Miller teaches that, in the attempt to reconcile the two 'records,' there are only three periods to be accounted for by the geologist, viz. 'the period of plants; the period of great sea monsters and creeping things; and the period of cattle and beasts of the earth;' and that the first of these periods is represented by the rocks grouped under the term Palaeozoic, and is distinguished from the Secondary and Tertiary chiefly by its gorgeous flora; and that the geological evidence is so complete as to be patent to all, that the first great period of organized being was, as described in the Mosaic record, peculiarly a period of herbs and trees, yielding seed after their kind. The general reader, not familiar with the details of geological arrangement, could not fail to infer from such a statement, used for such a purpose, that the Palaeozoic rocks are regarded by geologists as forming one group representative of one period, which can properly be said to be distinguished as a whole by its gorgeous flora; and that it is properly so distinguished for the argument in question. It was familiar to the Academy, as well as to Mr. Miller, that from the carboniferous rocks downward (backward in order of time), there have been discriminated a large number of periods, differing from one another in mineral and in organic remains; and that the proportion of the carboniferous era to the whole series is small, whether we regard the thickness of its deposits or its conjectural chronology. It in only of this carboniferous era, the latest of this series, that the author's remarks could be true; and even of this, if taken for the entire surface of the earth, it could not be truly asserted that 'the evidence is so complete as to be patent to all,' that the quantity of its vegetable products distinguishes it from the earth's surface during the era in which we live. To confound by implication all this periods termed Palaeozoic, so as to apply to them as a whole what could be true, if at all, only of the carboniferous period, is a fallacious use of a generalization made for a purpose, and upon a principle not properly available for the writer's argument," &c. So far the "Proceedings" of the Academy.
This, surely, is very much the reverse of fair. I, however, refer the matter, without note or comment (so far at least as it involves the question whether Mr. Foulke has not, in the face of the most express statement on my part, wholly misrepresented me), to the judgment of candid and intelligent readers on both sides of the Atlantic.
I know not that I should recognize Mr. Foulke as entitled, after such a display, to be dealt with simply as the member of a learned society who differs from me on a scientific question; nor does his reference to the "carboniferous era" as "the latest of the" Palaeozoic "series," and his apparent unacquaintance with that Permian period, in reality the terminal one of the division during which the Palaeozoic forms seem to have gradually died away, in order to give place to those of the Secondary division, inspire any very high respect for his acquirements as a geologist. Waiving, however, the legitimacy of his claim, I may be permitted to repeat, for the further information of the non-geological reader, that the carboniferous formations, wherever they have yet been detected, justify, in the amazing abundance of their carbonized vegetable organisms, the name which they bear. Mr. Foulke, in three short sentences, uses the terms "carboniferous era," "carboniferous rocks," "carboniferous period," four several times; and these terms are derived from the predominating amount of carbon (elaborated of old by the plants of the period) which occurs in its several formations. The very language which he has to employ is of itself a confirmation of the statement which he challenges. For so "patent" is this carboniferous character of the system, that it has given to it its universally accepted designation,—the verbal sign by which it is represented wherever it is known. Mr. F. states, that "if taken for the entire surface of the earth," it cannot be truly asserted that the carboniferous flora preponderated over that of the present time, or, at least, that its preponderance could not be regarded as "patent to all," The statement admits of so many different meanings, that I know not whether I shall succeed in replying to the special meaning intended by Mr. Foulke. There are no doubt carboniferous deposits on the earth's surface still unknown to the geologist, the evidence of which on the point must be regarded, in consequence, not as "patent to all," but as nil. They are witnesses absent from court, whose testimony has not yet been tendered. But equally certain it is, I repeat, that wherever carboniferous formations have been discovered and examined, they have been found to bear the unique characteristic to which the system owes its name,—they have been found charged with the carbon, existing usually as great beds of coal, which was elaborated of old by its unrivalled flora from the elements. And as this evidence is certain and positive, no one would be entitled to set off against it, as of equal weight, the merely negative evidence of some one or two deposits of the carboniferous age that did not bear the carboniferous character, even were such known to exist; far less is anyone entitled to set off against it the possibly negative evidence of deposits of the carboniferous age not yet discovered nor examined; for that would be simply to set off against good positive evidence, what is no evidence at all. It would be to set off the possible evidence of the absent witnesses, not yet precognosced in the case, against the express declarations of the witnesses already examined, and strong on the positive side.
Surely an American, before appealing, in a question of this kind, to the bare possibility of the existence somewhere or other of barely negative evidence, ought to have bethought him of the very extraordinary positive evidence furnished by the carboniferous deposits of his own great country. The coal fields of Britain and the European continent had been wrought for ages ere those of North America were known, and for ages more after it had been but ascertained that the New, like the Old World, has its Coal Measures. And during the latter period the argument of Mr. Foulke might have been employed, just as now, and some member of a learned society might have urged that, though the coal fields of Europe bore evidence to the former existence of a singularly luxuriant flora, beyond comparison more vast than the European one of the present day, the same could not be predicated of the American coal fields, whose carbonized remains might be found representative of a flora which had been at least not more largely developed than that existing American flora to which the great western forests belong. Now, however, the time for any such argument has gone by; the American coal fields have been carefully explored; and what is the result? The geologist has come to know, that even the mighty forests of America are inconsiderable, compared with its deposits of coal; nay, that all its forests gathered into one heap would fail to furnish the materials of a single coal seam equal to that of Pittsburg; and that centuries after all its thick woods shall have disappeared before the axe, and it shall have come to present the comparatively bare, unwooded aspect of the long civilized countries of Southern Europe, it will continue to derive the elements of its commercial greatness, and the cheerful blaze of its many millions of domestic hearths, from the unprecedentedly luxurious flora of the old carboniferous ages. Truly, very wonderful are the coal fields of Northern America! If geologists inferred, as they well might, that the extinct flora which had originated the European coal vastly outrivalled in luxuriance that of the existing time, what shall be said of that flora of the same age which originated the coal deposits of Nova Scotia and the United States,—deposits twenty times as great as all those of all Europe put together!
[17] Such is also the view taken by the author of a recently published work, "The Genesis of the Earth and of Man." "Christian philosophers have been compelled to acknowledge," says this writer, "that the Mosaic account of creation is only reconcileable with demonstrated facts, by its being regarded as a record of appearances; and if so, to vindicate the truth of God, we must consider it, so far as the acts are concerned, as the relation of a revelation to the sight, which was sufficient for all its purposes, rather than as one in words; though the words are perfectly true as describing the revelation itself, and the revelation is equally true as showing man the principal phenomena which he would have seen had it been possible for him to be a witness of the events. Further, if we view the narrative as the description of a series of visions, while we find it to be perfectly reconcileable with the statement in other parts of Scripture, that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, we remove, with other difficulties, the only strong objection to the opinion of those who regard the 'six days' as periods of undeflnable duration, and who may even believe that we are now in the 'seventh day,'—the day of rest or of cessation from the work of creation. Certainly, 'the day of God,' and 'the day of the Lord,' and the 'thousand two hundred and threescore days,' of the Revelation of St. John, and the 'seventy weeks' in the Prophecy of Daniel, are not to be understood in their primary and natural senses," &c., &c.
[18] "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."
[19] Forbes and Hanley enumerate one hundred and sixty bivalves, and two hundred and thirty-two univalves,—in all three hundred and ninety-two species, as the only known shell-bearing molluscs of the existing British seas.
[20] Principles of Zoology: touching the Structure, Development, Distribution, and Natural Arrangement of the Races of Animals, living and extinct. With numerous Illustrations. For the Use of Schools and Colleges. Part I., "Comparative Physiology." By Louis Agassiz and Augustus A. Gould. Boston: Gould & Lincoln.
[21] a, Articulating surface of joint. b, Fragment of column, exhibiting laterally the tooth processes, so fitted into each other as to admit of flexure without risk of dislocation. The uppermost joint shows two lateral cavities for the articulation of auxiliary arms.
[22] Perhaps one strengthening principle more might be enumerated as occurring in this curious piece of mechanism. In the layer of the nether plate, the fibres, instead of being laid in parallel lines, like the threads in the moleskin of my illustration, seem to be felted together,—an arrangement which must have added considerably to their coherency and powers of resistance.
[23] Fig. 102, Clymenia Sedwicki; Fig. 103, Gyroceras Eifelensis; Fig. 104, Cirrus Goldfussii.
[24] Berosus, Hieronymus, Mnaseas, Nicolaus, Manetho, Mochus, and Hestaeus.
[25] See Cory's "Ancient Fragments."
[26] As was common in Bible illustrations published in our own country a century and a half ago, the old Greek artist has introduced into his medal two points of time. Two of the figures represent Noe and his wife quitting the ark; while the other two exhibit them as seated within it. An English print of the death of Abel, now before me, which dates a little after the times of the Revolution, shows, on the same principle, the two brothers, represented by four figures,—two of these quietly offering up their respective sacrifices in the background, and the other two grappling in deadly warfare in front.
[27] "In preparing the 'Horae Biblicae Quotidianae,' he [Dr. Chalmers] had beside him, for use and reference, the Concordance, the Pictorial Bible, Poole's Synopsis, Henry's Commentary, and Robertson's Researches in Palestine. These constituted what he called his Biblical Library. 'There,' said he to a friend, pointing, as he spoke, to the above named volumes as they lay together on his library table, with a volume of the 'Quotidianae,' in which he had just been writing, lying open beside them,—'these are the books I use: all that is Biblical is there.'"—Dr. Hanna's Preface to "Daily Scripture Readings."
[28] The raven is said to live for more than a hundred years. I am, however, not prepared to say that it was the same pair of birds that used, year after year, to build on the same rock-shelf among the precipices of Navity, from the times of my great-grandfather's boyhood to those of my own.
[29] The following estimate of the air-breathing vertebrates (that of the "Physical Atlas," second edition, 1856) may be regarded as the latest. It will he seen that it does not include the cetacea or the seals:—
SPECIES. Quadrumana 170 Marsupialia 123 Edentata 28 Pachydermata 39 Terrestrial Carnivora 514 Rodentia 604 Ruminantia 180 —— 1658 Birds 6266 Reptiles 657 Turtles 8} Sea Snakes 7} 15 —— 642
Great as is this number of animals, compared with those known a century ago, there are indications that the list is to be increased rather than diminished. Even by the latest European authorities the reindeer is represented as consisting of but a single species, common to the sub-arctic regions of both the Old and New Worlds; whereas in the "Canadian Naturalist" for 1856 I find it stated, on what seems to be competent authority, that America has its two species of reindeer, and that they both differ from the European species.
[30] If I do not introduce here the argument founded on the great age of certain gigantic trees, such as the Baobab of intertropical Africa, or the Taxodium of South America, it is not because I have any reason to challenge the estimates of Adamson or Candolle. The one tree may have lived its five thousand, the other its six thousand, years; but as the grounds have been disputed on which the calculations respecting their vast age have been founded, and as they cannot be reexamined anew by the reader, I wholly omit the evidence, in the general question, which they have been supposed to furnish.
[31] The following excellent remarks on the economy of miracle, by Chalmers, bear very directly on this subject:—"It is remarkable that God is sparing of miracles, and seems to prefer the ordinary processes of nature, if equally effectual for the accomplishment of his purposes. He might have saved Noah and his family by miracles; but he is not prodigal of these, and so he appointed that an ark should be made to bear up the living cargo which was to be kept alive on the surface of the waters; and not only so, but he respects the laws of the animal physiology, as he did those of hydrostatics, in that he put them by pairs into the ark, male and female, to secure their transmission to after ages, and food was stored up to sustain them during their long confinement. In short, he dispenses with miracles when these are not requisite for the fulfilment of his ends; and he never dispenses with the ordinary means when these are fitted, and at the same time sufficient, for the occasion."—Daily Scripture Readings, vol. i. p. 10.
[32] For a brief but masterly view of these ancient cosmogonies, see the Rev. D. Macdonald's "Creation and the Fall." Edinburgh: Constable & Co.
[33]
1. The great surrounding oceans. 2. Caspian Sea. 3. River Phison. 4-4. Points of the Compass. 5. Mediterranean Sea. 6. Red Sea. 7-8. Persian Gulf, with the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. 9. River Gihon.
[34]
1. The sun Occident. 2. The sun orient. 3. The Heavens. 4. Great mountain behind which the sun is hidden when it is night. 5. The Mediterranean Sea. 6. Red Sea. 7. Persian Gulf. 8. Garden of Eden. 9. Great surrounding ocean 10. The Creator looking down upon his work, and seeing that all was good.
[35] The very different terms which Mr. Powell employs in characterizing the anti-geologists, from those which he makes use of in denouncing the men honestly bent on reconciling the enunciations of revelation with the findings of geologic science,—a class which included in the past, divines such as Chalmers, Buckland, and Pye Smith, and comprises divines such as Hitchcock and the Archbishop of Canterbury now,—is worthy of being noted. In two sermons, "Christianity without Judaism," written by this clergyman of the Church of England, to show that all days of the week are alike, and the Christian Sabbath a mere blunder, I find the following passage:—"Some divines have consistently rejected all geology and all science as profane and carnal; and some even, when pretending to call themselves men of science, have stooped to the miserable policy, of tampering with the truth, investing the real facts in false disguises, to cringe to the prejudices of the many, and to pervert science into a seeming accordance with popular prepossessions." I cannot believe that this will be regarded as justifiable language: it seems scarce worthy of a man of science; and will, I fear, only be accepted as good in evidence that the odium theologicum is not restricted to what is termed the orthodox side of the Church.
[36] The gentleman here referred to lectured no later than October, 1853, against the doctrines of the geologists; and modestly chose as the scene of his labors the city of Hutton and Playfair. What he set himself specially to "demonstrate" was, as he said, that the geologic "theories as to antiquity of the earth, successive eras, &c., were not only fallacious and unphilosophical, but rendered nugatory the authority of the sacred Scriptures." Not only, however, did he exert himself in demolishing the geologists as infidel, but he denounced also as unsound the theology of good old Isaac Watts. The lines taught us in our infancy,—
"Let dogs delight to bark and bite, For God hath made them so,"
were, he remarked, decidedly heterodox. They ought to have run instead,—
"Let dogs delight to bark and bite, Satan hath made them so"!!!
[37] "A Brief and Complete Refutation of the Anti-Scriptural Theory of Geologists." By a Clergyman of the Church of England. London: Wertheim & Macintosh. 1853.
[38] Newspaper Report of Meeting of the British Association held at York in September, 1844.
[39] See "Primary and Present State of the Solar System, particularly of our own Planet;" and "Exposure of the Principles of Modern Geology." By P. M'Farlane, Author of the "Primary and Present State of the Solar System." Edinburgh: Thomas Grant.
[40] One of the more brilliant writers of the present day,—a native of the picturesque village in which this anti-geologist resides,—describes in a recent work, with the enthusiasm of the poet, the noble mountains which rise around it. I know not, however, whether my admiration of the passage was not in some degree dashed by a few comic notions suggestive of an "imaginary conversation," in the style of Landor, between this popular author and his anti-geologic townsman, on the merits of hills in general, and in especial on the claims of those which encircle Comrie "as the mountains are round about Jerusalem." The two gentlemen would, I suspect, experience considerable difficulty in laying down, in such a discussion, their common principles.
[41] "Comparative Estimate of the Mineral and Mosaical Geologies." By Granville Penn, Esq. London, 1825.
[42] "Statesman and Record," October 6th, 1846.
[43] Sir Charles Lyell's statement is by no means so express or definite as it is represented to be in this passage, in which I have taken the evidence of his opponents regarding it. What he really says (see his "Principles," second edition, 1832) is what follows:—"If the ratio of recession had never exceeded fifty yards in forty years, it must have required nearly ten thousand years for the excavation of the whole ravine; but no probable conjecture can be offered as to the quantity of time consumed in such an operation, because the retrograde movement may have been much more rapid when the whole current was confined within a space not exceeding a fourth or fifth of that which the Falls now occupy." In the eighth edition of the same work, however, published in 1850, after he had examined the Falls, there occurs the following re-statement of the case:—"After the most careful inquiries I was able to make during my visit to the spot in 1841-42, I came to the conclusion that the average [recession] of one foot a year would be a much more probable conjecture than that of one and a quarter yards. In that case it would have required thirty-five thousand years for the retreat of the Falls from the escarpment of Queenston to their present site. It seems by no means improbable that such a result would be no exaggeration of the truth, although we cannot assume that the retrograde movement has been uniform. At some points it may have receded much faster than at present; but in general its progress was probably slower, because the cataract, when it began to recede, must have been nearly twice its present height."
[44] "Scottish Christian Herald," 1838, vol. iii., p. 766.
[45] The substance of this and the following lecture was originally given in a single paper, before the Geological Section of the British Association, held at Glasgow in September 1855. So considerable have been the additions, however, that the one paper has swelled into two lectures. Most of the added matter was at first thrown into the form of Notes; but it was found, that from their length and frequency, they would have embarrassed the printer, mayhap the reader also; and so most of the larger ones have been introduced into the text within brackets.
[46] A curious set of these, with specimens of the smooth-stemmed fucoid collected by Mr. John Miller of Thurso,—a meritorious laborer in the geologic field,—were exhibited at Glasgow to the Association. The larger stems were thickly traversed in Mr. J. Miller's specimens by diagonal lines, which seemed, however, to be merely lines of rhomboidal fracture in the glassy coal into which the plants were converted, and not one of their original characters.
[47] I must, however, add, that there was found in the neighborhood of Stromness about fifteen years ago, by Dr. John Fleming, a curious nondescript vegetable organism, which, though equivocal in character and appearance, was in all probability a plant of the sea. It consisted of a flattened cylinder, in some of the specimens exceeding a foot in length by an inch in breadth, and traversed on both the upper and under sides by a mesial groove extending to the extremities. It bore no external markings, and the section exhibited but an indistinct fibrous structure, sufficient, however, to indicate its vegetable origin. I have not hitherto succeeded in finding for myself specimens of this organism, which has been named provisionally, by Dr. Fleming, Stroma obscura; but it seems not improbable that certain supposed fragments of wood, detected by Mr. Charles Peach in the Caithness Flagstones, but which do not exhibit the woody structure, may have belonged to it.
[48] I figured this species from an imperfect Cromarty specimen fifteen years ago. (See "Old Red Sandstone," first edition, 1841, Plate VII. Fig. 4). Of the greatly better specimens now figured I owe the larger one (Fig. 120) to Mrs. Mill, Thurso, who detected it in the richly fossiliferous flagstones of the locality in which she resides, and kindly made it over to me; and the specimen of which I have given a magnificent representation (Fig. 12, p. 55) to my friend Mr. Robert Dick. I have, besides, seen several specimens of the same organism, in a better or worse state of keeping, in the interesting collection of the Rev. Charles Clouston, Sandwick, near Stromness.
[49] "Frogspawn is full of eyes [that is, black eye-like points], and every eye is a tadpole."
[50] Mr. Page figures, in his "Advanced Text Book of Geology" (p. 127), a few circular markings from the Forfarshire beds, which he still regards as spawn, probably that of a Crustacean, and which certainly differ greatly in appearance from the markings found enclosed in the apparent spathes.
[51] Since these sentences were written I have seen a description of both the plants of the Upper Old Red to which they refer, in an interesting sketch of the geology of Roxburgshire by the Rev. James Duncan, which forms part of a recent publication devoted to the history and antiquities of the shire. "In the red quarry of Denholm Hill there occurs," says Mr. Duncan, "a stratum of soft yellowish sandstone, which contains impressions of an apparent fucoid in considerable quantity. One or several linear stems diverge from a point, and throw off at acute angles, as they grow upwards, branches or leaves very similar to the stem, which are in turn subdivided into others. The width of the stalks is generally about a quarter of an inch, the length often a foot. The color is brown, blackish-brown, or grayish. The same plant also occurs in the whitestone quarry [an overlying bed] in the form of Carbonaceous impressions. There can be little doubt that it is a fucoid. The general mode of growth greatly resembles that of certain seaweeds; and in some specimens we have seen the branches dilated a little at the extremities, like those of such of the living fuci as expand in order to afford space for the fructification. It is deserving of remark, that the plant is seldom observed lying horizontally on the rock in a direction parallel to its stratification, but rising up through the layers, so as only to be seen when the stone is broken across; as if it had been standing erect, or kept buoyant in water, while the stony matter to which it owes its preservation was deposited around it." Mr. Duncan, after next referring to the remains of what he deems a land plant, derived from the same deposit, and which, though sadly mutilated, presents not a little of the appearance of the naked framework of a frond of Cyclopterus Hibernicus divested of the leaflets, goes on to describe the apparent calamite of the formation. "The best preserved vegetable remain yet found in Denholm Hill quarry," he says, "is the radical portion of what we cannot hesitate to call a species of calamite. The lower part is regularly and beautifully rounded, bulging and prominent, nearly four inches in diameter. About an inch from the bottom it contracts somewhat suddenly in two separate stages, and, from the uppermost sends up a stem about an inch in diameter, and nearly of the same length, where it is broken across. At the origin of this stem the small longitudinal ridges are distinctly marked; and the whole outline of the figure, though converted into stone, is as well defined as it could have been in the living plant." Mr. Duncan accompanies his description with a figure of the organism described, which, however, rather resembles the bulb of a liliaceous plant than the root of a calamite, which in all the better preserved, specimens contracts, instead of expanding, as it descends. The apparent expansion, however, in the Old Red specimen may be simply a result of compression in its upper part: the under part certainly much resembles, in the dome-like symmetry of its outline, the radical termination of a solitary calamite.
[52] "Though the coal of Sabero is apparently included in Devonian rocks," says Sir Roderick Murchison, "M. Casiano de Prado thinks that this appearance may be do to inverted folds of the strata." On the other hand, M. Alcide D'Orbigny regards it us decidedly Old Red; and certainly its Sphenopteris and Lepidodendron bent much more the aspect of Devonian than of Carboniferous plants.
[53] Now, alas! no more. In Mr. Gourlay the energy and shrewd business habits of the accomplished merchant were added to an enlightened zeal for general science, and no inconsiderable knowledge in both the geologic and botanic provinces. The marked success, in several respects, of the brilliant meeting of the British Association which held in Glasgow in September 1855, was owing in no small measure to the indefatigable exertions and well calculated arrangements of Mr. Gourlay.
[54] Trees must have been very abundant in what is now Scotland in these Secondary ages. Trunks of the common Scotch fir are of scarce more frequent occurrence in our mosses than the trunks of somewhat resembling trees among the shales of the Lower Oolite of Helmsdale. On examining in that neighborhood, about ten years since, a huge heap of materials which had been collected along the sea shore for burning into lime in a temporary kiln, I found that more than three fourths of the whole consisted of fragments of coniferous wood washed out of the shale beds by the surf, and the remainder of a massive Isastrea. And only two years ago, after many kilnfuls had been gathered and burnt, his grace the Duke of Argyll found that fossil wood could still he collected by cartloads along the shore of Helmsdale. The same woods also occur at Port Gower, Kintradwell, Shandwick, and Eathie. In the Island of Eigg, too, in an Oolite deposit, locked up in trap, and whose stratigraphical relations cannot in consequence be exactly traced, great fragments of Pinites Eiggensis are so abundant, that, armed with a mattock, I have dug out of the rock, in a few minutes, specimens enough to supply a dozen of museums. In short, judging from its fossiliferous remains, it seems not improbable that old Oolitic Scotland was as densely covered with coniferous trees as the Scotland of Roman times, when the great Caledonian forest stretched northwards from the wall of Antoninus to the furthest Thule.
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By Prof. C. TH. VON SIEBOLD and H. STANNIUS. Translated, with Notes, Additions, &c., By WALDO J. BURNETT, M.D. One vol., octavo, cloth, $3.00.
This is unquestionably the best and most complete work of its class ever yet published.
WORKS BY HUGH MILLER.
THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE CREATOR; or, The Asterolepis of Stromness. With Illustrations. Memoir of the Author by LOUIS AGASSIZ. 12mo. cloth, $1.00.
MY SCHOOLS and SCHOOLMASTERS; or, The Story of my Education. With an elegant Likeness. 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.
THE OLD RED SANDSTONE; Or, New With Walks in an Old Field. Illustrated with Plates and Geological Sections. 12 mo, cloth, $1.00.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLAND AND ITS PEOPLE. With a fine Engraving of the Author. 12mo, cl., $1.00.
A thrillingly interesting and very instructive book of travels; presenting the most perfectly life-like views of England and its people, to be found in the language.
DR. BUCKLAND said, "He would give his left hand to possess such powers of description as this man."
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES.
Its Typical Forms and Primeval Distribution. By CHARLES HAMILTON SMITH, With an Introduction, containing an Abstract of the Views of Blumenbach, Prichard, Bachman, Agassiz, and other writers of repute. By SAMUEL KNEELAND, Jr., M.D. With elegant Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
It is a book of learning, and full of interest, and may be regarded as among the comparatively few real contributions to science—[Christian Witness.]
THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES.
So classified and arranged as to facilitate the expression of ideas, and assist in literary composition. By PETER MARK ROGET. Revised and Edited, with a List of Foreign Words Defined in English, and other additions, by BARNAS SEARS, D.D., President of Brown University. A New American, from the late stereotype London edition, with ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 12mo, cloth, $1.50.
This edition contains Important additions of words and phrases NOT IN THE ENGLISH EDITION, making it in all respects MORE FULL AND PERFECT THAN THE AUTHOR'S EDITION. The work has already become one of standard authority, both in this country and in Great Britain.
THE ELEMENTS OF GEOLOGY.
Adapted to Schools and Colleges. With numerous Illustrations. By J.R. LOOMIS. Lewisburg University, Pa. 12mo, cloth, 75 cts.
It is surpassed by no work before the American public. We hope that every teacher among our readers will examine the work and put the justness of our remarks to the test of his judgment and experience.—M.B. ANDERSON, LL. D.—[Pres. of Rochester University, N.Y.]
This is just such a work as is needed for all our schools. It should take its place as a text-book in all the schools of the land.—[N.Y. Observer.]
THE EARTH AND MAN.
By Prof. ARNOLD GUYOT. With Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
INFLUENCE OF THE HISTORY OT SCIENCE UPON INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION.
By WILLIAM WHEWELL, D.D. 16mo, cloth, 25 cents.
PRINCIPLES OF ZOOLOGY.
With illustrations. By LOUIS AGASSIZ and AUGUSTUS A. GOULD. 12mo, cloth, $1.
This work places us in possession of information half a century in advance of all our elementary works on this subject.—PROF. JAMES HALL.
A work emanating from so high a source hardly requires commendation to give it currency. Simple and elementary in its style, full in its illustrations, comprehensive in its range.—[Silliman's Journal.]
The best book of the kind in our language.—[Christian Examiner.]
Zoology is an interesting science, and is here treated with a masterly hand.—[Scientific American.]
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 the original manuscript. By JOHN WINGATE THORNTON. Octavo, Cloth, $1.50.
GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE UNITED STATES AND BRITISH PROVINCES.
With an Explanatory Text, Geological Sections, and Plates of the Fossils which characterize the Formations. By JULES MARCOU. Two volumes. Octavo, cloth, $3.00.
—> The Map is elegantly colored, and done up with linen cloth back, and folded in octavo form, with thick cloth covers.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
A view of the Productive Forces of Modern Society, and the Results of Labor, Capital and Skill. By CHARLES KNIGHT. With numerous Illustrations. American edition. Revised, with Additions, by DAVID A. WELLS, editor of the "Annual of Scientific Discovery." 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
CYCLOPAEDIA OF ANECDOTES OF LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
A choice selection of Anecdotes of the various forms of Literature, of the Arts, of Architecture, Engravings, Music, Poetry, Painting and Sculpture, and of the most celebrated Literary Characters and Artists of different Countries and Ages, &c. By KAZLITT ARVINE, A.M. With numerous Illustrations. 725 pages, octavo, cloth, $3.00.
This is unquestionably the choicest collection of ANECDOTES ever published. It contains THREE THOUSAND AND FORTY ANECDOTES, and more than ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS. It is admirably adapted to literary and scientific men, to artists, mechanics, and others, as a DICTIONARY FOR REFERENCE, in relation to facts on the numberless subjects and characters introduced.
KITTO'S POPULAR CYCLOPAEDIA OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE.
Condensed from the larger work, by the author, JOHN KITTO, D.D. Assisted by JAMES TAYLOR, D.D. With over 500 Illustrations. Octavo, 812 pp., cloth, $3.00.
This work answers the purpose of a commentary, while at the same time it furnishes a complete DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, embodying the products of the best and most recent researches in biblical literature, in which the scholars of Europe and America have been engaged. It is not only intended for ministers and theological students, but is also particularly adapted to parents, Sabbath-school teachers, and the great body of the religious public.
HISTORY OF PALESTINE.
With the Geography and Natural History of the Country, the Customs and Institutions of the Hebrews, etc. By JOHN KITTO, D.D. With upwards of 200 Illustrations. 12mo, cloth. $1.25.
Beyond all dispute this is the best historical compendium of the Holy Land, from the days of Abraham, to those of the late Pasha of Egypt, Mehemet Ali.—[Edinburgh Review.]
—> In the numerous notices and reviews, the work has been strongly recommended, as not only admirably adapted to the FAMILY, but also as a text-book for SABBATH and WEEK DAY SCHOOLS.
CHAMBERS'S CYCLOPAEDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.
Two large imperial octavo volumes of 1400 pages; with upwards of 300 elegant Illustrations. By ROBERT CHAMBERS. Embossed cloth, $5.00.
This work embraces about ONE THOUSAND AUTHORS, chronologically arranged and classed as Poets, Historians, Dramatists, Philosophers, Metaphysicians, Divines, etc., with choice selections from their writings, connected by a Biographical, Historical, and Critical Narrative; thus presenting a complete view of English literature from the earliest to the present time. Let the reader open where he will, he cannot fail to find matter for profit and delight. The selections are gems—infinite riches in a little room; in the language of another, "A WHOLE ENGLISH LIBRARY FUSED DOWN INTO ONE CHEAP BOOK!"
CHAMBERS'S MISCELLANY OF USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE.
By WILLIAM CHAMBERS. With Illustrations. Ten vols., 16mo, cloth, $7.00.
CHAMBERS'S HOME BOOK AND POCKET MISCELLANY.
A choice Selection of Interesting and Instructive Reading for the Old and the Young. Six vols. 16mo, cloth, $3.00.
This work is fully equal, if not superior, to either of the Chamber's other works in interest, containing a vast fund of valuable information, furnishing ample variety for every class of readers.
CHAMBERS'S REPOSITORY OF INSTRUCTIVE AND AMUSING PAPERS.
With Illustrations. 16mo, cloth, bound. 4 vols. in two, $1.75; and 4 vols. in one, $1.50.
THE CRUISE OF THE NORTH STAR;
A Narrative of the Excursion of Mr. Vanderbilt's Party, in her Voyage to England, Russia, Denmark, France, Spain, Italy, Malta, Turkey, Madeira, etc. By Rev. JOHN OVERTON CHOULES, D.D. With elegant Illustrations, etc. 12mo, cloth, gilt back and sides, $1.50.
VISITS TO EUROPEAN CELEBRITIES.
By the Rev. WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D.D. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
A series of graphic and life-like Personal Sketches of many of the most distinguished men and women of Europe, with whom the author became acquainted in the course of several European tours, where he saw them in their own homes and under the most advantageous circumstances. "It was my uniform custom, after every such interview, to take copious memoranda of the converation, including an account of the individual's appearance and manners; in short, defining as well as I could, the whole impression which his physical, intellectual, and moral man had made upon me." From the memoranda thus made, the material for the present instructive and exceedingly interesting volume is derived. Besides these "pen and ink" sketches, the work contains the novel attraction of a FAC SIMILE OF THE SIGNATURE of each of the persons introduced.
PILGRIMAGE TO EGYPT; EXPLORATIONS OF THE NILE.
With Observations, illustrative of the Manners, Customs, etc. By Hon. J.V.C. SMITH, M.D. With numerous elegant Engravings, 12mo; cloth, $1.25.
THE STORY OF THE CAMPAIGN.
A complete Narrative of the War in Southern Russia. Written in a Tent in the Crimea. By Major E. BRUCE HAMLEY, author of "Lady Lee's Widowhood." With a new and complete Map of the Seat of War. 12mo. paper covers, 37-1/2 cts.
POETICAL WORKS.
MILTON'S POETICAL WORKS. With Life and Elegant Illustrations. 16mo, cloth, $1.00; fine cloth, gilt, $1.25.
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COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM COWPER. With a Life, and Critical Notices of his Writings. With new and elegant Illustrations on Steel. 16mo. cloth, $1.00; fine cloth, gilt, $1.25.
—> The 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; thus rendering them, in connection with the exceedingly LOW PRICE at which they are offered, the cheapest and most desirable of any of the numerous editions of these author's works now in the market.
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN FOSTER.
Edited by J.E. RYLAND, with Notices of Mr. Foster as a Preacher and a Companion. By JOHN SHEPPARD. Two volumes in one, 700 pages. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
In simplicity of language, in majesty of conception, in the eloquence of that conciseness which conveys in a short sentence more meaning than the mind dares at once admit,—his writings are unmatched.—[North British Review.]
GUIDO AND JULIUS.
Tho Doctrine of Sin and the Propitiator; or, the True Consecration of the Doubter. Exhibited in the Correspondence of two Friends. By FREDERICK AUGUSTUS O. THOLUCH, D.D. Translated by JONATHAN EDWARDS RYLAND. With an Introduction by JOHN PYE SMITH, D.D. 16mo, cloth, 60 cents.
NEW AND COMPLETE CONDENSED CONCORDANCE
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VALUABLE WORKS
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THE CHRISTIAN'S DAILY TREASURY.
A Religious Exercise for Every Day in the Year. By E. TEMPLE. A new and improved edition. 12mo. cloth, $1.00.
A work for every Christian. It is indeed a "Treasury" of good things.
THE SCHOOL OF CHRIST;
Or, Christianity Viewed in its Leading Aspects. By the Rev. A.L.R. FOOTE, author of "Incidents in the Life of our Saviour," etc. 16mo, cloth, 50 cents.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
Social and Individual. By PETER BAYNE, M.A. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
The demand for this extraordinary work, commencing before its publication, is still eager and constant. There is but one voice respecting it; men of all denominations agree in pronouncing it one of the most admirable works of the age.
GOD REVEALED IN THE PROCESS OF CREATION.
And by the Manifestation of Jesus Christ. Including an Examination of the Development Theory contained in the "Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation," By JAMES B. WALKER, author of "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation." 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION.
By an AMERICAN CITIZEN. An Introductory Essay, by CALVIN E. STOWE, D.D. New improved edition, with a SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 12mo, cloth, 75 cts.
This book is generally admitted to be one of the best in the English language. The work has been translated into several different languages in Europe. A capital book to circulate among young men.
A WREATH AROUND THE CROSS;
Or, Scripture Truths Illustrated. By A. MORTON BROWN, D.D. Recommendatory Preface, by JOHN ANGELL JAMES. Beautiful Frontispiece. 16mo, cloth, 60 cents.
THE BETTER LAND;
Or, The Believer's Journey and Future Home. By REV. A.C. THOMPSON. 12mo, cloth, 85 cents.
A most charming and instructive book for all now journeying to the "Better Land," and especially for those who have friends already entered upon its never-ending joys.
THE MISSION OF THE COMFORTER.
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DR. WAYLAND'S UNIVERSITY SERMON
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THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD.
And their Relations to Christianity. By FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE, A.M., Professor of Divinity, King's College, London. 16mo, cloth, 60 cts.
SACRED RHETORIC;
Or, Composition and Delivery of Sermons. By HENRY. J. RIPLEY, Professor in Newton Theological Institution, Including Professor Ware's Hints on Extemporaneous Preaching. 12mo, 75 cts.
THE PREACHER AND THE KING;
Or, Bourdalone in the Court of Louis XIV. An Account of that distinguished Era, Translated from the French of L.F. BUNGENER. With an Introduction by the Rev. GEORGE POTTS, D.D. New edition, with a fine Likeness, and a Sketch of the Author's Life. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
It combines substantial history with the highest charm of romance. Its attractions are so various that it can hardly fail to find readers of almost every description.—[Puritan Recorder.]
THE PRIEST AND THE HUGUENOT;
Or, Persecution in the Age of Louis XV. Translated from the French of L.F. BUNGENER. 2 vols., 12mo, cloth, $2.25.
—> This is truly a masterly production, full of interest, and may be set down as one of the greatest Protestant works of the age.
FOOTSTEPS OF OUR FOREFATHERS.
What they Suffered and what they Sought. Describing Localities and portraying Personages and Events conspicuous in the Struggles for Religious Liberty. By JAMES G. MIALL. Thirty-six fine Illustrations. 12mo, $1.00.
An exceedingly entertaining work. The reader soon becomes so deeply entertained that he finds it difficult to lay aside the book till finished,—[Ch. Parlor Mag.]
A work absorbingly interesting, and very instructive.—[Western Lit. Magazine.]
MEMORIALS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY.
Presenting, in a graphic, compact, and popular form, Memorable Events of Early Ecclesiastical History, etc. By JAMES G. MIALL. With numerous elegant Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
—> This, like the "Footsteps of our Forefathers," will be found a work of uncommon interest.
WORKS BY JOHN HARRIS, D.D.
THE PRE-ADAMITE EARTH. Contributions to Theological Science. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
MAN PRIMEVAL; or, the Constitution and Primitive Condition of the Human Being. With a fine Portrait of the Author. 12mo. cloth, $1.25
PATRIARCHY; or, THE FAMILY. Its Constitution and Probation; being the third volume of "Contributions to Theological Science." $1.25.
THE GREAT TEACHER; or, Characteristics of our Lord's Ministry. With an Introductory Essay. By H. HUMPHREY, D.D. 12mo, cloth, 85 cts.
THE GREAT COMMISSION; or, the Christian Church constituted and charged to convey the Gospel to the World. Introductory Essay by W.R. WILLIAMS, D.D. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
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PHILIP DODDRIDGE.
His Life and Labors. By JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D., with beautiful Illuminated Title-page and Frontispiece, 16mo, cloth, 60 cents.
THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
As exhibited in the writings of its apologists, down to Augustine. By W.J. BOLTON, of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. 12mo. cloth, 80 cents.
WORKS BY DR. TWEEDIE.
GLAD TIDINGS; or, The Gospel of Peace. A series of Daily Meditations for Christian Disciples. By Rev. W.K. TWEEDIE, D.D. With elegant Illustrated Title-page. 16mo, cloth, 63 cts.
THE MORN OF LIFE; or, Examples of Female Excellence. A Book for Young Ladies. 16mo, cloth. In press.
A LAMP TO THE PATH; or, the Bible in the Heart, the Home, and the Market Place. With an elegant Illustrated Title-page. 16mo, cloth. 63 cts.
SEED TIME AND HARVEST; or, Sow Well and Reap Well. A Book for the Young. With an elegant Illustrated Title-page. 16mo, cloth, 63 cts.
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WORKS BY JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
THE CHURCH MEMBER'S GUIDE; Edited by J.O. CHOULES, D.D. New edition. With an Introductory Essay by Rev. HUBBARD WINSLOW. Cloth, 33c.
CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. A Sequel to the Anxious Inquirer. 18mo, cloth, 31c.
—> One of the best and most useful works of this popular author.
THE CHURCH IN EARNEST. Seventh thousand. 18mo, cloth, 40 cents
MOTHERS OF THE WISE AND GOOD.
By JABEZ BURNS, D.D. 16mo, cloth, 75 cents.
We wish it were in every family, and read by every mother in the land.—[Lutheran Observer.]
MY MOTHER;
Or, Recollections of Maternal Influence. By a New England Clergyman, With a beautiful Frontispiece. 12mo, cloth, 75 cents.
This is one of the most charming books that have issued from the press for a long period. "It is," says a distinguished author, "one of those rare pictures painted from life with the exquisite skill of one of the 'Old Masters,' which no seldom present themselves to the amateur."
THE EXCELLENT WOMAN.
With an Introduction by Rev. W.B. SPRAGUE, D.D. Containing twenty-four splendid Illustrations. 12mo. cloth, $1.00; cloth, gilt, $1.75; extra Turkey, $2.50.
—> This elegant volume is an appropriate and valuable "gift book" for the husband to present the wife, or the child the mother.
MEMORIES OF A GRANDMOTHER. By a Lady of Massachusetts. l6mo, cloth, 50 cents.
THE MARRIAGE RING;
Or, How to make Home Happy. By JOHN ANGELL JAMES. Beautiful illustrated edition 16mo, cloth, gilt, 75 cents.
A beautiful volume, and a very suitable present to a newly-married couple.—[N.V. Christian Intelligencer]
WORKS BY WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS, D.D.
RELIGIOUS PROGRESS; Discourses on the Development of the Christian Character. 12mo, cloth, 85 cts.
This work is from the pen of one of the brightest lights of the American pulpit. We scarcely know of any living writer who has a finer command of powerful thought and glowing, impressive language than he.—[DR. SPRAGUE, Alb. Atl.]
LECTURES ON THE LORD'S PRAYER Third edition. 12mo, cloth, 85 cts.
Their breadth of view, strength of logic, and stirring eloquence place them among the very best homilitical efforts of the age. Every page is full of suggestions as well as eloquence.—Ch. Parlor Mag.
MISCELLANIES. New improved edition. Price reduced. 12mo, $1.25.
VALUABLE WORKS.
THE HALLIG; OR, THE SHEEPFOLD IN THE WATERS. A Tale of Humble Life on the Coast of Schleswig. Translated from the German of Biernatzski, by Mrs. GEORGE P. MARSH. With a Biographical Sketch of the Author. 12mo. cloth. $1.00.
The author of this work was the grandson of an exiled Polish nobleman. His own portrait is understood to be drawn in one of the characters of the Tale, and indeed the whole work has a substantial foundation in fact. In Germany it has passed through several editions, and is there regarded as the chef-d'oeuvre of the author. As a revelation of an entire new phase of human society, it will strongly remind the reader of Miss Bremer's tales. In originality and brilliancy of imagination, it is not inferior those;—its aim is far higher. The elegance of Mrs. Marsh's translation will at once arrest the attention of every competent judge.
HON. ROBERT C. WINTHROP. "I have read it with deep interest. Mrs. Marsh has given us an admirable version of a most striking and powerful work."
FROM PROF. F.D. HUNTINGTON, D.D., IN THE RELIGIOUS MAGAZINE. "Wherever the work goes it fascinates the cultivated and the illiterate, the young and the old, the devout and the careless. Our own copy is in brisk circulation. The vivid and eloquent description of the strange scenery, the thrilling accounts of the mysterious action of the waters and vapors of the Schleswig coast, &c., all form a story of uncommon attractions and unmingled excellence."
DR. SPRAGUE IN ALBANY SPECTATOR. "A rare and beautiful work. It is an interesting contribution to the physical geography of a part of Europe lying quite beyond the reach of ordinary observation, and as a genial and faithful sketch of human life under conditions which are hardly paralleled elsewhere."
The tale is a novel one, containing thrilling scenes, as well as religious teachings.—PRESBYTERIAN.
A beautiful and exquisite natural tale. In novelty of life and customs, as well as in nicely drawn shades of local and personal character the Hallig, is equalled by very few works of fiction.—BOSTON ATLAS.
The story, which is deeply thrilling, is exclusively religious.—CH. SECRETARY.
Here we have another such book as makes the reading of it a luxury, even in hot summer weather. It takes us to an island home, in the chill regions of the North Sea, and introduces us to pastoral scenes as lively and as edifying as those of Oberlin, in the Ban de la Roche.—SOUTHERN BAP.
THE CAMEL: His Organization, Habits and Uses, considered with reference to his Introduction into the United States. BY GEORGE P. MARSH, late U. S. Minister at Constantinople. 16mo, cloth. 75 cents.
This book treats of a subject of great interest, especially at the present time. It furnishes the only complete and reliable account of the Camel in the language. It is the result of extensive research and personal observation, and it has been prepared with special reference to the experiment now being made by our Government, of domesticating the Camel in this country.
A repository of interesting information respecting the Camel. The author collected the principal materials for his work during his residence and travels for some years in the East. He describes the species, size, color, temper, longevity, useful products, diet, powers, training and speed of the Camel, and treats of his introduction into the United States.—PHIL. CHRISTIAN OBSERVER.
This is a most interesting book, on several accounts. The subject is full of romance and information; the treatment is able and thorough.—TEXAS CH. ADVOCATE.
Our Government have taken measures for introducing the Camel into this country, and an appropriation of $30,000 has been made by Congress. It becomes a matter of practical importance, therefore, to obtain the fullest and most reliable information possible respecting the animal and his adaptation to this country. His advent among us will stimulate general curiosity, and raise a thousand questions respecting his character and habits of life, his powers of endurance, his food, his speed, his length of life, his fecundity, the methods of managing and using him, the cost of keeping him, the value of his carcass after death, &c. This work furnishes, in a small compass, all the desired information.—BOSTON ATLAS.
A complete sketch of the habits and nature of the Camel is given, which has great interest. The value of the camel as a beast of burden is abundantly confirmed.—N.Y. EVANGELIST.
IMPORTANT WORKS.
ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES; or, The Bible presented under Distinct and Classified Heads or Topics. By JOHN EADIE, D.D., LL. D., Author of "Biblical Cyclopaedia," "Dictionary of the Bible," &c., &c. One volume, royal octavo, 836 pp. Cloth. $3.00; sheep, $3.50. Just published.
The publishers would call the special attention of clergymen and others to some of the peculiar features of this great work.
1. It is a concordance of subjects, not of words. In this it differs from the common concordance, which, of course, it does not supersede. Both are necessary to the Biblical student.
2. It embraces all the topics, both secular and religious, which are naturally suggested by the entire contents of the Bible. In this it differs from Scripture Manuals and Topical Text-books, which are confined to religious or doctrinal topics.
3. It contains the whole of the Bible without abridgment, differing in no respect from the Bible in common use, except in the classification of its contents.
4. It contains a synopsis, separate from the concordance, presenting within the compass of a few pages a bird's-eye view of the whole contents.
5. It contains a table of contents, embracing nearly two thousand heads, arranged in alphabetical order.
6. It is much superior to the only other work in the language prepared on the same general plan, and is offered to the public at much less cost.
The purchaser gets not only a Concordance, but also a Bible, in this volume. The superior convenience arising out of this fact,—saving, as it does, the necessity of having two books at hand and of making two references, instead of one,—will be readily apparent.
The general subjects (under each of which there are a vast number of sub-divisions) are arranged as follows, viz.:
Agriculture, Animals, Architecture, Army, Arms, Body, Canaan, Covenant, Diet and Dress, Disease and Death, Earth, Family, Genealogy, God, Heaven, Idolatry, Idols, Jesus Christ, Jews, Laws, Magistrates, Man, Marriage, Metals and Minerals, Ministers of Religion, Miracles, Occupations, Ordinances, Parables and Emblems, Persecution, Praise and Prayer, Prophecy, Providence, Redemption, Sabbaths and Holy Days, Sacrifice, Scriptures, Speech, Spirits, Tabernacle and Temple, Vineyard and Orchard, Visions and Dreams, War, Water.
That such a work as this is of exceeding great convenience is matter of obvious remark. But it is much more than that; it is also an instructive work. It is adapted not only to assist the student in prosecuting the investigation of preconceived ideas, but also to impart ideas which the most careful reading of the Bible in its ordinary arrangement might not suggest. Let him take up any one of the subjects—"Agriculture," for example—and see if such be not the case. This feature places the work in a higher grade than that of the common Concordance. It shows it to be, so to speak, a work of more mind.
No Biblical student would willingly dispense with this Concordance when once possessed. It is adapted to the necessities of all classes,—clergymen and theological students; Sabbath-school superintendents and teachers; authors engaged in the composition of religious and even secular works; and, in fine, common readers of the Bible, intent only on their own improvement.
A COMMENTARY ON THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. By HORATIO B. HACKETT, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Interpretation, in the Newton Theological Institution. —> A new, revised, and enlarged edition. In Press.
—> This most important and very popular work, has been thoroughly revised (some parts being entirely rewritten), and considerably enlarged by the introduction of important new matter, the result of the Author's continued, laborious investigations since the publication of the first edition, aided by the more recent published criticisms on this portion of the Divine Word, by other distinguished Biblical Scholars, in this country and in Europe.
AMOS LAWRENCE.
DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THE LATE AMOS LAWRENCE; with a brief account of some Incidents in his Life. Edited by his son, WILLIAM R. LAWRENCE, M.D. With fine steel Portraits of AMOS and ABBOTT LAWRENCE, an Engraving of their Birth-place, a Fac-simile page of Mr. Lawrence's Hand-writing, and a copious Index. Octavo edition, cloth, $1.50. Royal duodecimo edition, $1.00.
This work was first published in an elegant octavo volume, and sold at the unusually low price of $1.50. At the solicitation of numerous benevolent individuals who were desirous of circulating the work—so remarkably adapted to do good, especially to young men—gratuitously, and of giving those of moderate means, of every class, an opportunity of possessing it, the royal duodecimo, or "cheap edition," was issued, varying from the other edition, only in a reduction in the size (allowing less margin), and the thickness of the paper.
Within six months after the first publication of this work, twenty-two thousand copies had been sold. This extraordinary sale is to be accounted for by the character of the man and the merits of the book. It is the memoir of a Boston merchant, who became distinguished for his great wealth, but more distinguished for the manner in which he used it. It is the memoir of a man, who, commencing business with only $20, gave away in public and private charities, during his lifetime more, probably, than any other person in America. It is substantially an autobiography, containing a full account of Mr. Lawrence's career as a merchant, of his various multiplied charities, and of his domestic life.
"We have by us another work, the 'Life of Amos Lawrence.' We heard it once said in the pulpit, 'There is no work of art like a noble life,' and for that reason he who has achieved one, takes rank with the great artists and becomes the world's property. WE ARE PROUD OF THIS BOOK. WE ARE WILLING TO LET IT GO FORTH TO OTHER LANDS AS A SPECIMEN OF WHAT AMERICA CAN PRODUCE. In the old world, reviewers have called Barnum THE characteristic American man. We are willing enough to admit that he is a characteristic American man; he is ONE fruit of our soil, but Amos Lawrence is another. Let our country have credit for him also. THE GOOD EFFECT WHICH THIS LIFE MAY HAVE IN DETERMINING THE COURSE OF YOUNG MEN TO HONOR AND VIRTUE IS INCALCULABLE."—MRS. STOWE, IN N.Y. INDEPENDENT.
"We are glad to know that our large business houses are purchasing copies of this work for each of their numerous clerks. Its influence on young men cannot be otherwise than highly salutary. As a business man, Mr. Lawrence was a pattern for the young clerk."—BOSTON TRAVELLER.
"We are thankful for the volume before us. It carries us back to the farm-house of Mr. Lawrence's birth, and the village store of his first apprenticeship. It exhibits a charity noble and active, while the young merchant was still poor. And above all, it reveals to us a beautiful cluster of sister graces, a keen sense of honor, integrity which never knew the shadow of suspicion, candor in the estimate of character, filial piety, rigid fidelity in every domestic relation, and all these connected with and flowing from steadfast religious principle, profound sentiments of devotion, and a vivid realization of spiritual truth."—NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.
"We are glad that American Biography has been enriched by such a contribution to its treasures. In all that composes the career of 'the good man,' and the practical Christian, we have read few memoirs more full of instruction, or richer in lessons of wisdom and virtue. We cordially unite in the opinion that the publication of this memoir was a duty owed to Society."—NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE.
"With the intention of placing it within the reach of a large number, the mere cost price is charged, and a more beautifully printed volume, or one calculated to do more good, has not been issued from the press of late years."—EVENING GAZETTE.
"This book, besides being of a different class from most biographies, has another peculiar charm. It shows the inside life of the man. You have, as it were, a peep behind the curtain, and see Mr. Lawrence as he went in and out among business men, as he appeared on change, as he received his friends, as he poured out, 'with liberal hand and generous heart,' his wealth for the benefit of others, as he received the greetings and salutations of children, and as he appeared in the bosom of his family at his own hearth stone."—BRUNSWICK TELEGRAPH.
"It is printed on new type, the best paper, and is illustrated by four beautiful plates. How it can be sold for the price named is a marvel."—NORFOLK CO. JOURNAL.
"It was first privately printed, and a limited number of copies were distributed among the relatives and near friends of the deceased. This volume was read with the deepest interest by those who were so favored as to obtain a copy, and it passed from friend to friend as rapidly as it could be read. Dr. Lawrence has yielded to the general wish, and made public the volume. It will now be widely circulated, will certainly prove a standard work, and be read over and over again."—BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER.
MODERN ATHEISM.
MODERN ATHEISM, under its Forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws. By JAMES BUCHANAN, D.D., LL. D. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
The Author of this work is the successor of Dr. Chalmers in the Chair of Divinity in the New College, Edinburgh, and the intellectual leader of the Scottish Free Church.
FROM HUGH MILLER, AUTHOR OF "OLD RED SANDSTONE," &c., &c.,—The work before us is one of at once the most readable and solid which we have ever perused.
FROM THE "NEWS OF THE CHURCHES."—It is a work of which nothing less can be said, than that, both in spirit and substance, style and argument, it fixes irreversibly the name of the author as a leading classic in the Christian literature of Britain.
FROM HOWARD MALCOM, D.D., PRESIDENT OF LEWISBURG UNIVERSITY.—No work has come into my hands, for a long time, so helpful to me as a teacher of metaphysics and morals. I know of nothing which will answer for a substitute. The public specially needs such a book at this time, when the covert atheism of Fichte, Wolfe, Hegel, Kant, Schelling, D'Holbach, Comte, Crousse, Atkinson, Martineau, Leroux, Mackay, Holyoake, and others, is being spread abroad with all earnestness, supported, at least in some places, both by church influence and university honors. I cannot but hope that a work so timely, scholarly, and complete, will do much good.
It is one of the most solid and remarkable books in its department of literature; one of the most scholarly and profound inductions of modern Christian literature.—WORCESTER TRANSCRIPT.
Dr. Buchanan has earned a high and well-deserved reputation as a classical writer and close logical reasoner. He deals heavy, deadly blows on atheism in all its various forms; and wherever the work is read it cannot fail to do good.—CHRISTIAN SECRETARY.
It is a work which places its author at once in the highest rank of modern religious authors. His analyses of the doctrines held by the various schools of modern atheism are admirable, and his criticism original and profound; while his arguments in defence of the Christian Faith are powerful and convincing. It is an attractive as well as a solid book; and he who peruses a few of its pages is, as it were, irresistibly drawn on to a thorough reading of the book.—BOSTON PORTFOLIO.
The style is very felicitous, and the reasoning clear and cogent. The opposing theories are fairly stated and combated with remarkable case and skill. Even when the argument falls within the range of science, it is so happily stated that no intelligent reader can fail to understand it. Such a profound, dispassionate work is particularly called for at the present time.—BOSTON JOURNAL.
It is justly described as "a great argument," "magnificent in its strength, order, and beauty," in defence of truth, and against the variant theories of atheism. It reviews the doctrines of the different schools of modern Atheism, gives a fair statement of their theories, answers and refutes them, never evading, but meeting and crushing their arguments.—PHILA. CHRISTIAN OBSERVER.
Dr. Buchanan is candid and impartial, too, as a strong a man can afford to be, evades no argument, undertakes no opposing view, but meets his antagonists with the quiet and unswerving confidence of a locomotive on iron tracks, pretty sure to crush them.—CHRISTIAN REGISTER.
We hail this production of a master mind as a lucid, vigorous, discriminating, and satisfactory refutation of the various false philosophies which have appeared in modern times to allure ingenuous youth to their destruction. Dr. Buchanan has studied them thoroughly, weighed them dispassionately, and exposed their falsity and emptiness. His refutation is a clear stream of light from beginning to end.—PHILA. PRESBYTERIAN.
We recommend "Modern Atheism" as a book for the times, and as having special claims on theological students.—UNIVERSALIST QUARTERLY.
It is remarkable for the clearness with which it apprehends and the fairness with which it states, not less than for the ability with which it replies to, the schemes of unbelief in its various modern forms. It will be found easy to read—though not light reading—and very quickening to thought, while it clears away, one by one, the mists which the Devil has conjured around the great doctrines of our Faith, by the help of some of his ingenious modern coadjutors, and leaves the truth of God standing in its serene and pristine majesty, as if the breath of hatred never had been breathed forth against it.—CONGREGATIONALIST.
Dr. Buchanan has here gone into the enemy's camp, and defeated him on his own ground. The work is a masterly defence of faith against dogmatic unbelief on the one hand, and that universal skepticism on the other, which neither affirms nor denies, on the ground of an assumed deficiency of evidence as to the reality of God and religion.—N.Y. CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE.
It is a clearly and vigorously written book. It is particularly valuable for its clear statement and masterly refutation of the Pantheism of Spinoza and his School.—CHRISTIAN HERALD.
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