1 DоH (being the "governing" note) gives a sense of POWER to the hearer, and of SECURITY to the singer in a greater degree than any other. The singer feels it to be the note to which he can, from any point, most easily return. It is more easy to perceive musical effects, than to find words that will sufficiently represent them; but if names must be given, this note should be called (in reference to its effect in a slow movement) THE STRONG or firm NOTE. Soн has a similar effect to DоH, but is not equal to it in power. It may be distinguished (when sung slowly), as THE GRAND or clear NOTE. ME has a somewhat graver and softer effect than sox. It may be denominated (especially in slow movements), THE STEADY or calm NOTE. Let the learner in the old notation pay no attention to the new marks at the beginning of the staff. They will be explained in their place. They are inserted here for the sake of those who understand music. He has only to look for the place of DOH, indicated by the square note as before.] The way to impress these distinctions on the mind is, after having given the explanation, to sing or play to the pupil various intervals and to direct him to write them down, finding out for himself what the intervals are by listening attentively. We would strongly recommend the frequent repetition of such an exercise as one of the most profitable in which a pupil can be engaged. The teacher, however, must be careful, in singing, not always to use the same words or syllables, so as to give any other clue to the interval [note] than the actual sound [mental effect] belonging to it. [This is the practice of "copying by ear," which we shall recommend to our pupils in its proper place.] As an instance of the facility with which this power may be acquired, we may mention that we once heard a little boy, under six years of age (taught by M. Jeu), name correctly the intervals of every chord we struck on the pianoforte, the boy standing with his back to the instrument. Perhaps it is only the children of musicians-in the habit of hearing musical sounds from the moment of birth-In studying the following examples, let the pupil always strike who would at the same age attain an equal proficiency; but there is practically no difficulty in teaching either children or adults to distinguish by the ear separate intervals played upon a flute or a violin, and this kind of practice is generally as pleasing as it is profitable to the pupil." Let us now simply state our own conclusions in reference to the three principal notes of the scale, asking our pupils to verify or reject them by observation. KEY F. When DOH, ME, and soн, predominate in a tune, they contribute to its general character, if the movement be a quick one, great BOLDNESS and DECISION; and, if the movement be a slow one, they give to it DIGNIFIED SOLEMNITY. Of course, the power of any particular note to give a character to the tune in which it occurs, will depend on the frequency and the emphasis with which it is used, and will be modified, also, by the kind of "measure" and the rhythmical arrangement in which it occurs. the chord of the key-note, and part, at least, of the scale before he begins to sing the phrase; for our assertions in reference to the mental effects of notes are not true, unless the ear is first filled with "a sense" of the scale in which they occur. For "dignified solemnity," notice the power of pOH, ME, and soн, in the following opening phrases from Handel. You wi remark how, in each case, the great artist takes advantage e these bold and grand notes to bring out, by contrast, a very KEY D. The m: Lord is my shepherd, But another striking illustration occurs to us. A minister had heard, and had been greatly moved by Mendelssohn's song"O! rest in the Lord." He preached on the text, and thought much of that repose which comes, not with weariness or sleep, but with living blessedness. Sometime after, thinking on the power, of the notes of the scale, it occurred that Mendelssohn must surely have expressed the idea of rest in God, chiefly by means of the third note of the scale, ME, which we have called the note of serene repose. "If, by any other note," he said to himself, "that peculiar effect was produced on my mind so strongly, then the theory about mental effects must fall to the ground." He at once analysed the song, and found, that the KEY C. m:- rr m: want r: d sha'll very first emphatic note was that which he had expected-that the power of this note was brought out, by placing it in evervarying but most effective positions; and, that even when the key changes, the ear is surprised and pleased by the recurrence again of this same third note in the new scale. Among other studies, in this delightful song, it was pleasant to notice the change in the manner in which the word "Lord" is expressed in the latter part of the song. At first, it is uttered with the firm and sure confidence of the note Dон; but, when that spirit of confidence has risen to a somewhat triumphant feeling, then it must use the "clear" and " grand" note SOH. See the conquering He ΤΟ comes; Sound m:-.fs:- dr.m:f.sf: mr-m.f:s.ls: s d': s:-m.r.d.r mrd:the trumpets, beat the drums. The chorus in Judas Maccabæus, "Lead on! Lead on!" | in which the "trumpet note" son is chiefly used. The EL begins thus,-KEY D. : 8 d' s d' s d' s d'. The ing are some of the phrases in which the call to arms a the call to arms in the same oratorio makes the most emphatic most bold and decided. use of these notes. The most inspiring call is evidently that Again, in "Let the bright Seraphim" you have the follow- | have been given to the words by any other note of the ing bold phrase at the opening. Could this bold character scale KEY D. The peculiar character of the note ME in connexion with a rather quick movement is strikingly illustrated by the opening | of the song, in the Messiah, "He was despised," in which the singer does not, for the moment, express sympathy with the despised one, but rather seems passingly to personate the despiser. As you sing lessen the accent to DOн, and throw a fuller force of voice on ME, KEY Eb. M. 52. Quickly. d': an gel trum |_ We remarked in the last lesson, the striking change in mental effect of a note produced by rapidity of movement, observed that, though seemingly opposed, these double effects do hold a real relation to each other. We sp LAH passing (by change of movement) from the “abandera of sorrow to the "abandonment" of joy. We have now the mental effect of DOн, MP, and son passing from the"-** fied and solemn" to the "bold and decisive," and, by tak yet quicker movement still, we may find these same never, mark you, passing into that emotional character belongs to TE, RAY, FAH, and LAH, but-expressing the hearty laughter holding both its sides" of which X wrote, and Handel sung. The laughter having thus commenced with the last phrase, which is repeated in the other "parts" also, next changes to another key (that of the subdominant), but still keeping DOH, SOH, ME, as its accented notes. It afterwards falls into laughter of a different style, which is more musical, perhaps, but not so open and hearty. Enough of the example is given to show the character of DOH, ME, and soн in rapid movements. We trust that our pupils will study all these examples with great care, and practise them well. They could not have better exercises for voice or ear. An earnest endeavour to study the mental effect of notes will very greatly increase the power of singing those notes with accuracy. LESSONS IN BOTANY.-No. VIII. CLASS IX.-ENNEANDRIA. THE only plant found wild in England that belongs to this class, is the flowering rush. It is often called the watergladiole. The old writers named it "grassie rush." One of them is exceedingly laudatory of this plant. He states that, It is of all others the fairest and most pleasant to behold, and serveth very well for the decking and triming-up of houses, because of the beautie and braverie thereof." The flowering rush grows in ditches, pools, slow rivers, and lakes in England and Ireland, and flowers in June and July. It has a round smooth stalk, which, according to its situation, rises from one to six feet in height. At the top of it is an umbel or head of flowers of a delicate rose-colour, tinged with purple. So sharp are the edges of the leaves, that they often wound the mouths of cattle. This plant, so stately from its height, and so beautiful from its cluster of flowers, is so hardy as not to be injured by a very severe frost, and might be made very ornamental to pieces of CLASS X.-DECANDRIA. water. Plants bearing flowers with Ten Stamens. ORDER I. MONOGYNIA. One Pistil. The arbutus, or strawberry-tree, is a beautiful shrub, bearing branches of white flowers of the present year, while the red berries of the last season, remain pendant upon it. It grows without culture in the West of Ireland, near the Lake of Kil. larney, on barren limestone rocks, to which it is a very delightful ornament. It has a very small cup, an egg-shaped corolla of one petal, with small segments, a woody stem, leaves smooth and toothed at the edges, and small seeds of a bony hardness. It flowers in September. It is a native of the South of Europe; it bears fruit of a fleshy substance like a strawberry. It is edible, and in Spain, both a sugar and a spirit are extracted from it. Scotland. The black bear-berry is so called from the colour of its berry; but its flowers, which appear in May and June, are white. It is a small shrub, which grows on dry, mountainous heaths in The red bear-berry is a small shrub, growing abundantly on dry heaths. Its flowers are pale rose-coloured, or white, and grow in short, drooping clusters. The berry is bright red, mealy, and harsh, but often eaten in the Highlands. The leaves of this plant are used as an astringent and tonic in medicine. DIGYNIA. There are twenty-one wild species of the true saxifrage. They are distinguished by a calyx divided into five parts, a corolla of five expanding petals, narrow towards the base; a capsule or seed-vessel of one cell, terminating with two beaks or sharp points, in which are lodged many minute seeds. The golden saxifrage is much esteemed in some places as a salad, and is remarkable for its medicinal virtues. It blooms by the side of rivers, in the month of May. The white saxifrage is often found, in the same month, in meadows and on hedgebanks. It has a larger flower than some other kinds, and is remarkable for a bearded root, composed of a number of little bulbs, connected together in clusters by the fibres. Of a bright red colour, they resemble strings of coral beads. The stem is hairy, a little branched, and grows about a foot high, the leaves next the root are kidney-shaped, and placed on long foot-stalks. The flowers, in small bunches, terminate the stalk, and are white, streaked with yellow. No one of these plants is so well known as "London pride." It has been supposed that its name is derived from its growing on the little soil which borders the paved yards of the city, unharmed by its smoke and fog. Frequently, however, it adorns the cottage border. It requires a microscope to show all its beauty, and on examination of it by such means, justifies its old name of "Queen Anne's needlework," resembling as it does, an exquisite embroidery. The people of Ireland call it, strangely. enough, St. Patrick's cabbage. In the same order appear the rich carnation, with its aromatic odour, the whole tribe of pinks, and the modest sweetwilliam. If we trace some of them, in the true spirit of botanists to the fields, we shall find the pinks agree in having a cup formed like a cylinder, toothed at the mouth, and having four scales encompassing the base. The corolla has five petals, with claws of the length of the cup, and a capsule of one cell, opening with four teeth. The Deptford pink grows in pastures and hedges, and flowers in July and August. The proliferous pink grows in sandy pastures and flowers in July. The clove pink, naturalised on old walls, in various parts of England, flowers in June and July. The maiden pink grows in dry hilly banks and pastures, and flowers from July to October. and flowers in July. The sweetwilliam has its flowers incorThe mountain pink grows on Chedder rocks, Somersetshire, porated, or one head formed of many single flowers. TRIGYNIA. There are many kinds of catch-fly, which are distinguished by the honey-cup, composed of two little teeth at the neck of each petal, forming a kind of crown at the mouth of the tube. They grow in various places, as in cultivated fields, in sandy corn-fields, in pastures, and among rubbish. One species grows on the sea-shore above water-mark, another on rocks and walls, and on hilly pastures, and another in dense tufts and patches towards the summits of the Highland mountains, as well as on those of Wales. They generally flower in June and July. Of stitchworts there are also several kinds. One of them grows most beautifully on loamy soils. It used to be called all-bones, or white-flowered grass. It is a very delicate and tender plant. So brittle is it that, in attempting to pull up the root, it breaks just above the fibre; and has often been said, in consequence, to have no root. The flower, white as the driven snow, and not much smaller than the primrose, is very common in most parts of England, and richly adorns our hedges in "the merry month of May.' PENTAGYNIA. As this word has not occurred before, we apprise the reader that it means five pistils. Many are the plants thus distinguished; of which we can notice only the stonecrops and the woodsorrel. There are several kinds of the former plant, some having red and others white flowers. They are very similar in nature and habit; except the live-long, or orpine, which grows in the borders of fields, in hedges, and among rubbish, and flowers in August. It has a spotted stem; but, unlike the other stonecrops, has broad leaves, which are sometimes boiled and eaten. A large white kind of stonecrop adorns the rocks on the Highlands, with its white flowers and its thick green leaves; it is called English stonecrop. The biting stonecrop is often called wall-pepper, from its pungent taste. Some of the stonecrops have purplish flowers, but the greater number have yellow blossoms. All have very fleshy, juicy stems and foliage; hence they are enabled to retain a quantity of moisture during drought, and in places so dry, that little is yielded by the soil to their roots. This fact led to the lesson: There from his rocky pulpit, I heard cry The stonecrop: See how loose to earth I grow, From God's celestial sphere Draw life's unearthly food-catch Heaven's undying glow. Most of the stonecrops bloom during the months of June and July. The purple orpine flowers two months later. When the spring is forward, we shall find an abundance of the pretty flowers of the woodsorrel in the month of April, Its delicate light green tripled leaf with its blossom so beautifully pencilled, adorns the woodlands; and in the thickest part of them these plants are generally the most plentiful, especially round the trunks of decayed trees. It is, in truth, though not in name, a sensitive plant; shrinking from the touch, closing its foliage and drooping at the approach of evening, and even when the rain is coming. Children like the sorrels for their acid flavour; but, though harmless in small quantities, they are not so when eaten more freely. The expressed juice of this plant is used to remove spots and ironmoulds from linen. Gerarde, the old herbalist, says, "Apothecaries and herbalists call the woodsorrel alleluya and cuckowe's meat; either because the cuckowe feedeth thereon, or by reason when it springeth forth the cuckowe singeth most; at which time also alleluya has wont to be sung in our churches." LESSONS IN GEOLOGY.-No. V. You have learnt how the earth's crust has been formed by cooling, and how sedimentary rocks deposited by water have been dislocated by eruptive rocks. You will now enter on a course in which, as was intimated in the last lesson, the various causes of subsequent changes in the earth's crust will be considered. We begin with volcanoes. CHAPTER I. ON THE CHANGES PRODUCED IN THE EARTH'S CRUST BY THE ACTION OF VOLCANOES. SECTION I. ON THE CRATERS OF VOLCANOES. A volcano is a fissure, or perpendicular tunnel, in the earth's crust, through which heated matter from below is thrown up to the surface. This fissure goes under various names among geologists: it is called the vent, the chimney, the chasm of the volcano. The matter, which is thrown up, may be in the form of lava, scoriæ, or ashes. It is the upper part of this vent, or chimney, that is called the crater. It is always in the form of an inverted cone, or in the shape of a funnel or tunning dish, with the broadest part upward. The structure of these craters exhibits manifold phenomena, according to which geologists give them different names; such as craters of Eruption, and craters of Elevation. There are, also, instances in which both kinds of craters are found in one mountain. i. Craters of Eruption. You have seen how the action of fire, however deeply seated in the earth's crust, may produce a fissure through its entire thickness. You can easily imagine that, as the deep fires below are sending up boiling streams of lava, emitting floods of hot mud called tuf, or hurling up showers of ashes and cinders, all these would gather or fall around the mouth of the vent. In proportion to the continuance and the repetitions of such eruptions, successive beds of volcanic products would accumu to the stick in your hand, so that the opening at the top shall be wider than the vent at the bottom, and you have exactly a crater of eruption. When the fresh matter erupted from a volcano comes down in a new shower, or cools down as a fresh overflow of lava, it forms regular beds around the whole of the commenced cone; and these new beds incline regularly towards the sides of the original cone, and have what geologists call a quaquaversal dip. This word means that the new beds or coatings dip equally all around the cone, just as when you put six saucers placed on the top of each other, and all upside down, the upper five have a quaquaversal dip around the bottom saucer. Or, if you imagine that in our molehill, the earth pushed up by the mole was, in each push, of a different colour, the different coloured soils would fall round the vent with a quaquaversal dip. The height and the steepness of these cones, and the extent and the depth of these craters vary exceedingly in different volcanoes. The conical hill in which the vent exists, is formed, in most instances of the volcanic ashes and cinders which have been thrown up, and of streams of lava which have subsequently flowed over the ash accumulation. Fig. 8 represents a crater of eruption. A is the fissure or Fig. 9. A conical hill formed by successive eruptions from a volcano. late around the mouth, and form themselves into the shape of a sugar-loaf or cone. Look at a molehill. Put your stick through it from the top of it to the hole from which it was thrown up. Give a twirl vent produced by deepseated heat. BB is a portion of the earth's crust through which it has penetrated. cc is a mass of cinders and ashes which has settled on the surface of the rock BB. D is the funnel-shaped crater of the volcano. E, a stream of lava which has flowed over the cinders, and has cooled upon it as a covering of the whole. This stream of lava is represented in the woodcut as flowing on one side only of the cone; but in reality it may boil up to the sum mits of cc, and then flow over the whole edge of the crater, all around, just as water is made to boil over the edges of a round vessel when steam has been generated at the bottom by heat. When the cone and the crater of fig. 8 have been formed, you will see that every fresh eruption from A, will add new ma terials to cover what has already gathered. It is known that according to the expansive power of the gases entangled below, it will hurl large quantities of lava high up in the air. The mass hurled up separates into fragments of a spongy texture 1 or, a part of it may become fine and impalpable powder. When the materials, thus hurled up, return in showers, you will see, by referring to fig. 8, that they will fall around the mouth of the vent. As these successive showers fall, they form additional layers, coverings or envelopes of scoriæ or dust all around, and dipping on all sides from the central orifice, as represented in fig. 9. It is not unfrequently the case that the struggle of the entangled gases, in the melted matter, is so great as to wear away Fig. 10. Barren Island, Bay of Bengal. snapped asunder by the force of melted matter at B. The melted matter is not sufficient in quantity to flow over the edges of the crater CD; or, the expansive power of the entangled gases below B, is not of sufficient intensity to throw it up in the air. It therefore boils in the crater. As it boils, the atmosphere cools its surface, and covers it with a thin crust, which will continue to thicken and accumulate as volcanic materials may escape at the minor vents a aaaa. The theory of craters of elevation supposes that deeplyseated volcanic matter is in a state of fusion, expanding and swelling up until it reaches the concave roof of the earth's crust, penetrates the crust, and pushes against the sedimentary beds on the surface, with a force that heaves them up. As the upheaving continues, the solid beds at last give way and are broken asunder so as to produce a chasm, which, as represented in fig. 11, forms the mouth of the crater. This enlarged mouth is kept open partly by the melted matter wearing away the sides of the crater, and partly by the continued passage upward of steam and of other gaseous fluids. iii. Craters of Eruption and Elevation combined. In the crater of eruption represented in fig. 11, the surface of the boiling lava cools and forms a thin film or crust. Imagine the minor vents a aaaa to be closed, and the power of vent to become so intense as to keep a fissure open to the surface; then, with every new eruption, a fresh film or crust would be formed, until it reached the edges of the crater c D. The elastic gases and vapours, now having a free passage upwards by one vent, would pile up successive heaps or layers of ashes, cinders, and lava, in a curved or Fig. 12. the sides of the vent or chimney, till the sides of the cone be- conical form, until eventually it formed a cone far higher ii. Craters of Elevation. In most instances, craters are formed by the rupture of horizontal strata previously existing on the crust of the earth. By this rupture the beds are tilted up, and thrown into highly inclined planes, on each side of the fissure, and of the melted matter which flows between the cliffs. In this case also, a cone is produced, with a central vent or chasm, between the dislocated rocks. On the declivities, on each side the gulf, the volcanic materials, thrown up by different eruptions, settle down so as nearly, or completely, to cover the original rocks through which the fissure was made. Craters of this kind are called craters of elevation, because they are formed by elevating the horizontal strata in which they are formed, until the beds snap, and rest in inclined planes about the mouth of the fissure. This name was first given to them by the Prussian geologist. L. von Buch. A crater of Eruption formea on a crater of Elevation. than the original edges of the crater of elevation. In this case you would have in one mountain a crater of eruption formed upon a crater of elevation, as represented in the above woodcut. Fig. 12, represents a crater of eruption, formed upon one of elevation. The horizontal strata A B are sedimentary rocks heaved up till they burst by the force of igneous action at c. Through the fracture between the dislocated rocks, gases and elastic vapours have free vents towards the surface, as represented in a a aa a, fig. 11. As the igneous force from below acquires intensity sufficient to form one great vent, and continues to throw up lava, cinders, or ashes, it will pile up these products in beds or layers of conical form as represented by the black lines in fig. 12, within the chasm Dcz. After filling up this chasm between D E, it will, according to the continuance, and the repetition of eruptions, throw up heated materials, which will scatter themselves on all sides FG, until they entirely envelop and cover up Fig. 11, represents a crater of elevation. AA are rocks which the original rocks, as is represented by the dotted were originally horizontal, but which have been tilted up and lines. |