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language to convey an adequate notion of the spirit with which the day was celebrated.

We are under the necessity of passing over a great deal of curious information respecting the climate of New York, and some of the peculiar annual customs which are observed by the inhabitants. The most interesting part, however, of the public duties required to be performed by the American people, is comprised in its system of elections. It must be remembered, that this word is not understood on the other side of the Atlantic, as being exclusively limited to the choice of members of Congress every public servant in that prudent community, is selected by the people. But this is a subject too interesting to be explained at second-hand; we must therefore allow the author himself to give the description:

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Candidates, if such term is applicable to men, who neither announce themselves as being desirous of office, nor submit to the degradation of a personal canvass, are proposed at preliminary meetings of each political party; and the names of the individuals thus approved, are afterwards printed on small slips of paper called tickets, the backs of which are endorsed with the designation of the offices about to be filled, and to which they relate, as Senators, Congress, State Assembly, Governor, &c.

Every citizen, desirous of exerting the elective privilege, procures a set of tickets from the committee of the parties for whom he intends to vote; and at the appointed time he proceeds to the house of election in the particular ward or district of the city in which he resides.

Here the voter gives his name and residence to the returning officers, who, if they entertain any doubts as to identity or qualification, dispute his claim until satisfactory proofs are exhibited that no fraud is intended.

The name and residence of the voter being entered on the books, he deposits the tickets, which are closely folded, in the ballot box, and quits the room.

The period allowed for receiving votes is three days; and at the election, I witnessed during our residence in New York, although upwards of 25,000 citizens polled at each, there was no confusion or riotous behaviour in the streets, no bribery or "free drink," nor parading with colours and ribands, nor exhibitions of the childish mummery called chairing; and notwithstanding party spirit ran high, and some boisterous oratory might be heard in those political forums, the ward houses, a stranger, who had not perused the newspapers of the day, or noticed the placards or ruses de guerre on the walls, would not have been aware that any event of importance was taking place. Extensive as the recent measure of reform in Great Britain undoubtedly is, and glorious as has been the achievement of popular opinion over an insolent faction; still, a closer approximation to the American system, both in respect to the extension of suffrage and mode of election, will be found necessary to render the members of the elective branch of the legislature, what they ought to be, the representatives of the whole people.

Justice, then, demands that labour as well as property should form a part of the basis of the constituency. Reason and policy require election by ballot; without which safeguard, bribery and undue influence will most

assuredly prevail: and with whatever suspicion the doctrine may at present be viewed, events will too soon prove the necessity of its adoption; and the period is probably not far distant, when election by ballot will be regarded in England, as it is in America, like trial by jury, the palladium of liberty.'-pp. 346-348.

From the observations which the author has made on the foreign. trade of America, we discover that a lucrative commerce is carried on very successfully, by its merchants, with China. The Americans send not only their own goods to that empire, but also considerable shipments of the manufactures of Great Britain, which are actually put on board their vessels at Liverpool. These vessels bring back from China, tea, silks, nankeens, shawls, japanned cabinet goods, china, coloured blinds, screens, papers, ivory, mother of pearl trinkets, fancy stationery, drawings, fire-works, &c. &c. The subject of the Chinese trade, as it affects Great Britain and America, will be found treated in this volume with considerable knowledge of the subject.

The author next leaves New York for Canada, his adventures in which region he fully describes. But so many illustrations of that region, of its productions and inhabitants, have been of late poured in upon us, that we feel no desire to accompany our guide to so cold a climate at the present season. We have already experienced a considerable degree of pleasure in the trip which we have in spirit executed under his auspices. We admire the motives which have dictated the plan of his work; and we admire still more his industry, and the indefatigable exertions which he appears to have employed for the purpose of preparing a substantial defence for the Americans, who still smart under the effects of the calumnious shafts levelled against them from England. These weapons come armed with the peculiar venom which the hatred of estranged kindred alone is competent to distil, and it is a part of the duty of those who are convinced that the Americans deserve better at our hands, to leave no stone unturned until the measure of justice to which they are entitled is duly meted to their race.

ART. IX.-The Travels and Researches of ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT: being a condensed Narrative of his Journeys in the Equinoctial Regions of America, and in Asiatic Russia; together with Analyses of his more important Investigations. By W. MAGGILLIVRAY, A. M. 1 Vol. 8vo. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, Tweeddale Court; and Simpkin and Marshall, London.

1832.

No literary project which even the present time, so fertile in inventions, has produced, comes recommended to us with more claims on our attention than the brief but deeply interesting compilation which is now before us. VOL. I. (1833) No. 1.

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exalted place which Baron Humboldt has earned for himself in the ranks of science, has been long conceded to him by the unanimous voice of all who are acquainted with his vast labours. But it cannot be forgotten, that those who answer to this description; those who are conversant with the invaluable fruits of the genius and industry of this celebrated traveller, by no means constitute the greater proportion of the reading community. The truth is, that the various publications of the Baron were constructed on a scale of such magnitude, such elaborate decoration, as to render it impossible for many amongst the most intelligent and inquisitive of the students of science, to become possessed of his works. The prohibition which thus excluded the general body of the public from the treasures contained in his numerous volumes, has been both felt and expressed in this country; and it is only surprising, that no attempt had been hitherto made to remove the cause of complaint. However, the judicious plan, and the accurate execution which are so obvious in the work before us, are amply sufficient to compensate for any loss that may have resulted from delay; and we are quite sure, that the able compiler will find that he has just lighted on the moment for publication, when the public mind is so far advanced in the knowledge of nature, as to be able to appreciate to its fullest extent the value of his production.

Frederick Henry Alexander Von Humboldt, was born at Berlin, on the 14th of September, 1769. He studied at Gottengen, and afterwards at Freyberg, where he was induced to take up his residence, in order to take advantage of the instructions of Werner, the great founder of geology. Before he had attained his twenty-first year, Humboldt published the results of some researches on mineralogy, which at once displayed the extent and the direction of his genius; and such confidence in his knowledge of this science did he inspire in the government of his country, that he was appointed director general of the mines in Franconia. This office, however, he surrendered in 1795, having resolved to visit Italy, where Galvani had made his famous discoveries. But the breaking out of a war prevented Humboldt from carrying his determination into effect, and he proceeded to Vienna, and subsequently to Paris, in which city he first met with Aimé Bonpland, who afterwards became the companion of his travels.

Humboldt always manifested a passionate desire to pass into distant countries, and having proposed the gratification of his disposition as the proper employment of his life, he commenced at an early period to prepare his mind for the chosen occupation. The most interesting portions of Europe, therefore, were inspected by him with the view of having some standard of comparison by which he could ultimately proceed in his scientific observations elsewhere. Humboldt was disappointed on three occasions by uncontrollable circumstances from embarking on expeditions to which he looked forward with enthusiasm. One of these was a journey to Upper Egypt, which was prevented by political events; the other a voyage of discovery to the southern hemisphere, projected by the French government, which was suspended in consequence of the breaking out of a war in Germany and Italy, and the last was the proposed journey of a Swedish consul to Algiers. Humboldt went as far as Marseilles to wait for the consul's ship; but the vessel was damaged at sea, and the voyage was delayed, the ardent traveller resolving to spend some time in Spain. Here he effected some important surveys and measurements which proved to be very important to the king of Spain. Humboldt was introduced to

his Majesty to whom he explained his wishes, and the motives which prompted him to visit the new continent of Spanish America; he concluded by soliciting the king's permission and protection in his undertaking. His suit having been powerfully supported, he obtained leave to explore without impediment or restriction, the whole of the Spanish territories in America.

In June 1799, Humboldt, with Aimé Bonpland for his companion, sailed on board the corvette Pizarro, which was bound from Corunna to Havannah and Mexico. When the vessel arrived between the tropics, the parties had their attention directed to the force of a particular current which flowed in a direction contrary to that of the earths rotations. This has been called by Humboldt the equinoctial current: it flows with a mean rapidity of from ten to twelve miles in twenty-four hours. The course and effects of this current in conjunction with others of a similar nature, and produced by the same cause, are traced in Humboldt's works in a manner that has very signally contributed to the improvement of navigation. In the early part of the voyage, when the vessel was passing between the islands of Allegranza and Montana Clara, a marine production was brought up from a considerable depth by the lead. It was a vegetable consisting of light green leaves, and afforded to Humboldt the opportunity of giving in his works a very interesting disquisition respecting the colour of plants:

This seaweed, growing at the bottom of the ocean at a depth of 205 feet, had its vine-shaped leaves as green as those of our gramineæ. According to Bouguer's experiments, light is weakened after a passage of 192 feet, in the proportion of 1 to 1477-8. At the depth of 205, this fucus could only have had light equal to half of that supplied by a candle seen at the distance of a foot. The germs of several of the liliacea, the embryo of the mallows and other families, the branches of some subterranean plants, and vegetables transported into mines in which the air contains hydrogen or a great quantity of azote, become green without light. From these facts one might be induced to think that the existence of carburet of iron, which gives the green colour to the parenchmay of plants, is not dependent upon the presence of the solar rays only. Turner and many other botanists are of opinion that most of the seaweeds which we find floating on the ocean, and which in certain parts of the Atlantic present the appearance of a vast inundated meadow, grow originally at the bottom of the sea, and are torn off by the waves. If this opinion be correct, the family of marine algæ presents great difficulties to those physiologists who persist in thinking that, in all cases, the absence of light must produce blanching.'

The vessel sailed to the Canary Islands, the natural curiosities of which are strikingly described in these pages. The account of the island of Teneriffe, its ancient and present inhabitants, its climate, geological structure, productions, &c. includes a series of descriptions which are calculated to excite the highest degree of interest. From Teneriffe the travellers made the passage to Cumana, a distance of 3,106 miles, in twenty days. Beyond latitude 22o, they found the ocean covered with flying fish: some of these sprung into the air to a height of eighteen feet. The extraordinary power of these animals to sustain themselves in the air, is owing to the extent of their pectoral fins, and especially to the swimming

bladder, which is sometimes two thirds the length of their bodies. A contagious fever soon made its appearance on board and carried off several of the crew. The mortality must in some degree be attributed to the ignorance of the surgeon on board, who not only was unable to stop the disease, but contributed not a little by his treatment to aggravate its influence. Amongst the victims on board, was a young Asturian about nineteen years of age, who had left his native land with great reluctance, with the intention of seeking in Cuba some employment that might support himself and his mother in independence.

"We were assembled on the deck," writes Humboldt in a strain of feeling eloquence, "absorbed in melancholy reflections. It was no longer doubtful that the fever which prevailed on board had of late assumed a fatal character. Our eyes were fixed on a mountainous and desert coast, on which the moon shone at intervals through the clouds. The sea, gently agitated, glowed with a feeble phosphoric light. No sound came on the ear save the monotonous cry of some large sea-birds that seemed to be seeking the shore. A deep calm reigned in these solitary places; but this calm of external nature accorded ill with the painful feelings which agitated us. About eight the death-bell was slowly tolled. At this doleful signal the sailors ceased from their work, and threw themselves on their knees to offer up a short prayer; an affecting ceremony, which, while it recalls the times when the primitive Christians considered themselves as members of the same family, seems to unite men by the feeling of a common evil. In the course of the night the body of the Asturian was brought upon deck, and the priest prevailed upon them not to throw it into the sea until after sunrise, in order that he might render to it the last rites, in conformity to the practice of the Romish church. There was not an individual on board who did not feel for the fate of this young man, whom we had seen a few days before full of cheerfulness and health."'

Having reached Cumana, the capital of New Andalusia, where they were hospitably received, the travellers commenced their pedestrian excursions into the unexplored wastes, which extended in every direction from the city. At a village called Arenas, they encountered an individual named Francisco Lozano, who had a very strange history to tell. His wife having fallen ill during the time that she was nursing a child, the father (Francisco) took it one day, and just to quiet it, pressed the child to his breast. Milk flowed, and the child was fed by it. The testimony which existed to this fact was undoubted; and when M. Bonpland examined the breast, he found it wrinkled like those of women who have nursed. At the convent of Arragonese Capuchins, at Caripe, some distance from Cumana, the travellers were hospitably received; and though the inmates knew that the visitors differed from them essentially on religious points, still the disposition to accommodate them was not the less manifested by the monks. In the neighbourhood of the convent they visited a cavern, which is the habitation of nocturnal birds, constituting one of the greatest curiosities in the district in which it is situated. The name of the bird which frequented this place was guacharo, of the size of our domestic fowl, with somewhat of the appearance of a vulture, and having a mouth like that of a goatsueker. At midsummer the Indians, armed with poles, enter the cavern and destroy the greater part of the nests, killing the young birds, and taking

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