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 exictly 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. 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 summits 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 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 aa aa 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 come too weak to withstand such an onset. The result is that the cone itself becomes cracked and fissured, and the burning lava flows out from the middle of the cone, or at the bottom of the hill, as is represented in fig. 10. 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 craier 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. 11, represents a crater of elevation. AA are rocks which the original were originally horizontal, but which have been tilted up and lines. 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 Doz. 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 rocks, as is represented by the dotted LESSONS IN GERMAN.-No. VI. SECTION XIV. NOUNS of the New Declension form their genitive by adding n or en to the nominative. Ex.: Nom. Der Mensch, the man, the human being; der Herr, the Lord, or Mr.; der Fürst, the prince; der Elephant, the elephant, &c. Gen. Des Menschen, des Herrn, des Fürsten, des Elephanten, ic. Nouns of this Declension retain the form of the genitive in the dative and accusative. Nearly all masculine nouns that end in e belong to the New Declension. NEW DECLENSION OF THE NOUN, N. Der gute Knabe, the good boy; EXERCISE 14. An'strengend, fatiguing, Grieche, m. Greek; toilsome; man; Hauptmann, m. cap tain; Heiter, brisk, lively; Freiheit, f. liberty, Nachbar, m. neigh bour; Neffe, m. nephew ; Nichte, f. niece; Der tapf'ere Ungar ist der Feind des Russen. Das duftende Veilchen ist ein schönes Erzeugniß des Frühlings. Berdien'tes Brod ist süß. Ein gutes Gewiss'en ist ein fanftes Kissen. Mancher flei'ßige Mann ist arm. Noth ist der verdien'te Lohn der Faulheit. der Ochse, the ox; des Ochsen, of the ox; dem Ochsen, to the ox; den Ochsen, the ox. Soldat', m. soldier; Un'sicher, unsafe, un- a good conscience. their genitive? 2. Can you repeat some examples in the nomiQUESTIONS. 1. How do nouns of the New Declension form native and genitive? 3. What three cases are alike? 4. To what declension belong nearly all masculine nouns ending in e? SECTION XV. When mein, bein, sein, x. (§ 58) are not followed by an adjective, or a noun, they are called absolute possessives; and are declined, as are also fein and ein, like an adjective of the Old Declension. Ex.: wine ; Gut-es Weines, of Gut-em Weine, to, good wine; for good wine; Gut-en Wein, good wine. Feminine. gut-e Seite, good silk; gut-er Seite, of good silk; gut-er Seide, to, for, good silk; gut-e Seite, good silk. Neuter. gut-es Wasser, good water; gut-es (§ 28) Waffers, of good water; gut-em Waffer, to, for good water; gut-es Wasser, good water. The fragrant violet is a beauti-Sie etwas? have you anything? 3ch habe etwas, I have something. II. Etwas isto be rendered "something," "anything." Ex.: Saben 1. Hat der Franzose den Wein des Deutschen? 2. Ja, und der Deutsche hat das Tuch des Franzosen. 3. Was hat der Russe? 4. Er hat das Land des Polen. 5. Dieser Grieche ist kein Freund des Türken. 6 Wer hat das scharfe Meffer dieses Knaben? 7. Der Freund dieses Griechen hat et. 8. Haben Sie den Schreibtisch Ihres Neffen ? 9. Nein, ich habe den Schreibtisch meines Vaters. 10. Haben Sie das Buch dieses Knaben, over das Papier seines Neffen? 11. Ich habe das Buch des Knaben, und meine Nichte hat das Papier des Neffen. 12. Ist unser Freund, der Hauptmann, ein Franzose, over ein Grieche? 13. Er ist ein Franzose und ein großer Feind des Russen. 14. Ist dieses Kind ein Sohn unsers Nachbarn, des Kaufmanues? 15. Nein, es ist der Sohn eines Juden, und sein Vater ist der Nachbar eines Christen. 16. Ein heiteres Gesicht ist nicht immer das Zeichen eines ruhigen Gewissens. 17. Haben Sie das Buch des Grafen? 18. Nein, sondern der Prinz hat das Buch. 19. Das Leben eines Soldaten ift auftrengend und unsicher. 20. Haben Sie eine Monarchie ober einen Freistaat? 21. Amerika hat keinen Fürsten, sondern Freiheit. 22. Ich Habe eine goldene Uhr, und Sie haben einen filbernen Bleistift. IV. When an adjective is used with „etwas" or „nichts", it follows Sie sprechen von etwas Neuem, you speak of something new. imperfect tenses, withe at an auxiliary, like the English verbs V. German verbs are conjugated negatively in the present and "have" and "be." Ex.: Ich habe nicht, I have not; Er siehe nicht, b; sees not (he does not see); Ich sah nicht, I saw not (I did not see); Sie sind nicht, 'ou are not; Sie hört nicht, she hears not (she does not hear). Es war nicht, it was not; Sauer, sour; Sie liebten nicht, hey loved not (they did not love). Ander, other; Seife, f. soap; Stimme, f. voice; Süß, sweet; Weizen, m. wheat; Wenig, little, few; Das Meer'wasser hat einen salz'igen Geschmack'. Dieser Schneidergeselle ist ein ge- die Kaße ist ein schlaues Thier. Sie haben etwas Schönes, und ich The sea-water has a salt taste. skiltul workman. The dog is a faithful animal, and the cat is a sly animal. You have something fine and I have something good. habe etwas Gutes. The eagle is a bird of prey. Der Adler ist ein Raub'vogel. 1. Hat dieser Tuchhändler gutes Tuch? 2. Ja, er hat gutes Tuch und dieser Gerber hat gutes Leder. 3. Was hat der Varbier? 4. Er hat gute Seife. 5. Wer hat gutes Heu? 6. Dieser Bauer hat gutes Heu. 7. Was hat der Schmied? 8. Er hat gutes Eisen, und sein Bruder ver Papierhändler hat gutes Papier, rothes, blaues, und weißes. 9. Haben Sie rothen oder weißen Wein? 10. Ich have weder rothen, noch weißen. 11. Ihr Wein ist süß, aber dieser hier ift sauer. 12. Ihr rother Wein ist stark, und der weiße Wein meines Nachbarn ist schwach. 13. Hat diefer Müller gutes Mehl? 14. Ja, und dieser Bauer hat gutes Korn, guten Hafer, und gute Gerste. 15. Dieses Mädchen hat eine schöne Stimme. 16. Mein Bruder hat etwas Schönes und ich habe nichts Häßliches. 17. Dieser Mann hat nur ein wenig Geld, und der andere hat gar keins. schwarzes 1. Has my brother the tailor black or red cloth? 2. The meines blaues des einen and although they were familiar with the use of the astrolabe The call to arms against the infidels, in the various crusades friend of my brother has good paper, red, blue, and white. 3. feinen or a salt taste? It has not a salt taste, but a sweet taste. LESSONS IN GEOGRAPHY.-No. V. The celebrated travels of Marco Polo took place towards the They made known the centre and the eastern extremity of Asia, Japan, part of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago and of the continent of Africa, and the large island of Madagascar. Among the descriptions of the illustrious Venetian, that of China was the most curious and important; it was a complete disclosure of that empire, which had been hitherto almost an enigma to Europe. After long and continued suspicions of exaggeration in is narrative, the assertions of Marco Polo have been, after careful examination, acknowledged to be correct and agreeable to fact. It is with justice, therefore, that this traveller has been styled the founder of the modern geography of Asia. A very considerable time elapsed before any addition was made to the brilliant discoveries of the Venetian; but he was not without travellers to confirm his original statements. Oderic, of Portenau, visited India and China from 1320 to 1330; Schiltberger, of Munich, accompanied Tamerlane in his expeditions, and thus travelled over central Asia; in 1335, an Italian merchant Balducci Pegoletti went to Pekin by the central Asiatic route; and in 1403, Clavijo was sent as an ambassador by About the end of the the court of Spain to Samarcand. fourteenth century the brothers Zeni rediscovered Greenland, and announced the existence of a large island, which they called Frisland. Modern geographers have not yet arrived at the satisfactory solution of the problem,-to what country or island does this name apply. THE Arabians, by a series of brilliant conquests under the successors of one of the greatest impostors the world ever saw, had reached a state of comparative ease and power, and had devoted themselves during the dark ages of Christianity to the study of the exact sciences, in as far as they had escaped the Africa had almost become unknown, when the Portuguese ravages of one of their own princes, who destroyed the library began to explore the western part of this continent. This of Alexandria, which contained the treasures of the remotest nation, animated by a zeal for making voyages and discoveries, ages. Geography, in connexion with astronomy, was one of the most interesting subjects of their investigation. But their undertook to rectify the errors of geographers, and to contracosmological system was scarcely less absurd than that of the dict the dreams of Greek and Roman antiquity, as well as the reveries of the middle ages, by experimentally proving the ancients. They divided the world into seven climates, and fact that the zone of the globe hitherto deemed uninhabitable each climate into a certain number of regions. Although some was as accessible to man as the temperate regions. Previous of the Arabs had made long voyages, and one of their geo-to the year 1411, the Portuguese had never ventured beyond graphers had actually explored Africa as far as Djoliba (the Niger), and the region in which is situated the famous Tim- Cape Nun, which they considered as an impassable limit. An expedition was then fitted and sent out, which proved com. buctoo, still their knowledge of this continent was very incompletely successful; it not only doubled this redoubtable cape, plete. They always made the Indian Ocean an inland sea; • Translate first" something" and then “taken.” but extended its researches as far as Cape Bojador. Then commenced that series of successful enterprises which have gained for this people their lasting reputation as early discoverers of unknown lands. Under the direction of a noble and zealous prince, in 1432, Henry of Portugal, exploring squadrons from Lisbon doubled Cape Bojador, discovered the river Senegal, reconnoitred the coast of Africa from Cape Blanco to Cape Verde, landed on the islands which take their name from the latter cape, and took possession of the Azores, situated about nine hundred miles from the African continent. Some years later, the Portuguesse crossed the equinoctial line or equator, and established the fact, hitherto problematical, that the torrid zone was not only habitable, but also very populous and fertile. No longer did the black statues of the Canary Islands appeal to the fears of the traveller and forbid him to go a step beyond that limit. Suddenly also was the Sea of Darkness illumined by the rays of the tropical sun, and soon were its waves opened up as a public highway to enterprising navigators. After new exploring expeditions to the kingdoms of Benin and Congo, the Portuguese, under Bartholomew Diaz, in 1493, reached the illustrious Genoese met with in the execution of his project, and of all the obstacles which ignorance, indifference, and jealousy raised up against him is well known; but the facts of the discovery must be remembered. The three vessels charged with this great exploring expedition set sail on the 3rd of August, 1492, and after a short rest at the Canary Islands, was refitted on the 6th of September following. From that moment the crew of the little fleet, alarmed at the immensity of he ocean, and destitute of the hope of success to sustain their courage, cherished & thousand apprehensions which almost led them to despair. Despondency gave place to anger, and anger produced revolt. The energy of the great leader of the enterprise calmed these extravagant fears and warded off the dangers with which even his life was threatened. Yet keen anguish continued to agitate his noble heart during those long and dreary nights when the land, indicated by certain customary signs, seemed to fly from his presence. At last, at 10 o'clock on the night of the 11th of October, 1492, Columbus Cape of Good Hope, which was then called by him the Cape of Tempests, on account of the stormy aspect which it presented to them on its first appearance. In 1497, however, under the auspices of Emanuel of Portugal, Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and reached India, after having rounded the whole western and southern coast of Africa. distinctly perceived a light. Some hours afterwards, the rising sun showed him in the distance the land which he sought. America was discovered! The first land seen by Columbus, was the Island of Guanahani, which was called San Salvador. The Spaniards discovered, in succession, the Island of Conception, the Isles of Ferdinand Whilst the Portuguese were thus striking out a new route and Isabella, Cuba and Hayti, which received the name of to the East Indies, the Spaniards were opening up America to Hispaniola. It has been said that Amérigo Vespucci, visited, Europe. The latter years of the fifteenth century made this a year before Columbus, the coasts of Guiana and Terra Firma. double present to Christendom. The erroneous representations But this is mere conjecture. Two years later, however, this which the maps of the world presented at this period, and learned Florentine carefully reconnoitred this maritime zone of which according to the authority of Ptolemy and the travels of the world. In the space of a few years, constant accessions were Marco Polo, gave an exaggerated extent to Asia on the male to these discoveries. Yanez Pinzon, in 1500, reached east, led Christopher Columbus to imagine that by sailing con- Brazil, and three months after him, Alvarez Cabral landed on tinually westward, it was possible to reach the continent of the same coast, which he transferred to the sovereignty of Asia and the East Indies. There was besides, a vague but Portugal; while Gaspard Corteréal discovered Labrador, in the common belief that there existed towards the west a great un-north-east of the same continent. Ponce de Leon, in 1512, was known land. The history of all the difficulties which the the first who landed in Florida. Three years later, the Rio de |