ascended Mima, a mountain of Ionia. High and holy thoughts have been naturally fostered in the cool and serene air above the grossness of earthly passions.

Let us ascend with them above this dim, dull spot, whose atmosphere has so much pollution mingled with it. Here let us contemplate the streams in their origin, in the midst of ice and frost above the clouds. In these apparently deso

late realms of winter, it is, that a beneficent nature invisibly prepares the verdure of spring, and fills the horn of plenty. It will elevate and enlarge our spirits, from the height of these summits to look abroad upon nature and divine the grand scheme of Providence. The soul, disengaged from the miserable and perturbing passions of earth, here drinks in sublime sentiments, as if, in approaching heaven, man divested himself of his terrestrial ideas, and resumed the consciousness of his native grandeur.

It would belong to this sketch of the formation of snows and ices upon mountain-tops, to describe an avalanche. From the height of a cliff, you contemplate one of the deep valleys among the Alps. The cattle are seen ruminating in their pastures, and the smokes stream aloft from the peaceful domestic hearths. You behold heaped above you, hills upon hills, the accumulated snows and ices of ages glittering in mid air in the sun-beams. Overcharged by their own weight, or undermined by a new-formed mountain-torrent, a fearful noise, announcing in advance the doom of the vale below, gives warning that an avalanche has broken from its deep foundations. The rocks, the ancient battlements of the mountains, the soil with its trees, are borne along in one sweeping and irresistible ruin. The villagers in the fields have only time to fly to the embrace of their wives and children before all is whelmed in the common destruction! The fair valley, lately the abode of peace and love, is buried a hundred fathoms deep with snows and rocks and ruins.

21

LECTURE XL.

THE NATURE OF WATER.

I HAVE already spoken of many gases, the invisible instruments of nature in creation. At present I dwell a moment upon the nature and agency of hydrogen, so called, from a Greek compound, importing that it is the parent of water. Its most remarkable property is, that it is extremely inflammable, and that when fired with oxygen gas, water is the result of the combustion. This gas often arises from church-yards, burning fountains and deep marshes. It shows itself in these cases, in the form of blue or red flames, and has caused a thousand superstitious terrors.

To effect the decomposition of water, Lavoisier took a porcelain tube, into which he put iron filings, exposed it to the action of fire, and passed water over it in the form of steam. The water was decomposed; that is to say, its oxygen having more attraction for the iron than its own hydrogen, combined with the filings, and the disengaged hydrogen passed into a glass retort. The most beautiful part of the experiment is, that the increase of the weight of the filings, added to the weight of the hydrogen gas, precisely equalled the weight of the water employed.

These gases, when accumulated in great quantities, possess a terrific power of explosion. That of gunpowder bears no adequate analogy. We must seek for a comparison in the power of detonating gold and silver. Great caution must be used in firing the minutest quantity in a glass globe; otherwise the glass will be shivered by the explosion. A certain philosopher has imagined, that the Creator formed the waters of the ocean and the earth, by uniting the oxygen and hydrogen of space, and igniting the gases in union by a thunderbolt! Inflammable air, or hy

drogen gas, plays a great part in the phenomena of nature. Its extraordinary lightness causes it to ascend high in the air. From these elevated regions, it presents spectacles the most brilliant, and sometimes the most terrible. When At

the electric spark kindles it, we have thunder showers.

other times, it is the origin of those luminous meteors that stream along the sky, filling the inhabitants , they pass, with awe and terror.

over whom Hydrogen is a considerable component in certain well known and much used vegetable products. For example, sugar can be formed with carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.

Although this gas is of such specific levity, Gay Lussac, having submitted to analysis, air taken from a great height in the atmosphere, has proved, that, in the highest strata of the air, there is no hydrogen. It appears, beside, from the experiments of Dalton, that gases, which differ most widely in specific gravity, mix rapidly, and become combined in the atmosphere. We must not imagine, that these phenomena of the decomposition and recomposition of air have been mere useless experiments. A thousand beneficial discoveries in medicine, chemistry and the arts have already resulted from them. The gas in question is so prepared as to yield a cheap and most brilliant light, which is already employed in various ways to illumine churches, theatres, public buildings, light houses, and whole cities. It is gaining general adoption in American cities, as the cheapest and most brilliant light with which they can be lighted.

Nature seems to take pleasure in encouraging discoveries of this kind; for she has created sources of carbonated hydrogen in many places in the earth, in sufficient abundance to light whole cities. Beside many well known places in the old world, where fountains of hydrogen gas are discovered, there are numerous and abundant reservoirs in Western New York. One of the villages on the line of the grand canal is already lighted with hydrogen gas, conveyed in pipes from the fountain, whence it flows, to the lanterns of the streets. Most magnificent fire works might thus be exhibited, by conducting the gas to the highest dome or

eminence of the town. These spouts of flame might be thrown out in alphabetical or other forms, so as to convey telegraphic information to a whole country.

By means of this gas confined in a large silken globe, so varnished as to retain it, the aeronaut ascends into the air, and soars with the eagle above the clouds. These daring

experiments have been made at different times by various intrepid individuals, who have ascended to the regions of perpetual congelation, and traversed distances of many leagues in the air. Among these adventurers, not a few have been females. The names of no aeronauts are more distinguished, than those of Montgolfier, Pilatre de Rozier, and Blanchard. In the United States different individuals have ascended in balloons from New York and New Orleans.

It is, perhaps, not too much to hope, from the astonishing progress of modern chemistry, our more perfect acquaintance with the components of the air, especially those of the higher strata of the atmosphere, the more extended application of steam, as a propelling power, and the use of gum elastic in forming the body of balloons, that the art of guiding them in the air will at some future period be carried to some practical and useful degree of perfection, possibly to the extent of using them as vehicles of conveyance, especially in time of war. We do not consider it visionary to hope that, in the generations to come, the aeronaut will be able to guide his balloon through the air, as the mariner steers his vessel over the seas, casting his anchor in space, or hoisting sail, and emulating the course of the eagle in mid air.

I am less sanguine, however, than some have been, that our aeronaut will ever be able to sail to the moon. I fear, that his balloon, when it has ascended to the very rare atmosphere in the upper regions of the sky, will remain in equilibrium. Could he ascend to the centre of gravity between the earth and the moon, it may be apprehended, that he would remain suspended forever, after the supposed predicament of the coffin of Mahomet. Could the voyage be

accomplished, it would be a consummation devoutly to be wished. What agreeable descriptions the first voyager would give us of the mountains, valleys, volcanoes, ladies and fashions, that change every month! There, too, would be found, with many other things not dreamed of in our philosophy, nor descried by our astronomers, the inspiration of many of our poets, schemers, politicians, inventors of perpetual motion, love philters, and the elixir of life.

LECTURE XLI.

HYDRO-VEGETABLE HARMONIES.

- If we find water indispensable to the life of turfs, flowers, plants and trees, these in their turn exert a powerful influence upon the waters of the atmosphere, and the earth. We shall find, that districts, covered with forests, attract clouds, turn aside destructive winds, arrest electric meteors, and thus shelter and preserve the humble dwellers in cottages. Who is so destitute of taste, and admiration of the works of the Creator, as not to love beautiful trees? Who, that has one touch of poetry and the love of nature in his heart, cannot remember the hours of pleasant meditation, which he has passed under the greenwood shade, feeling the delicious coolness, imbibing the spirit of repose, admiring the ten thousand forms of the rustling leaves, and listening to the soothing hum of the insects, seeking their nectar on the foliage and in the flower bells! Who, but a barbarian, would unnecessarily apply the axe to these beautiful ornaments of the fields? Who, in cities, to subserve at once the purposes of shade, health, and beauty, would not put forth sufficient public spirit to unite his efforts with those, who would procure the streets, squares, and public walks to be lined with trees?

Cut down the forests of a country, and you change its