carboniferous or mountain limestone formation, below the coal measures. I have had small specimens of it for several years, and suppose, from its appearance, it will prove one of the most durable as it is one of the most beautiful of limestones, for building purposes; for, though it is not so hard as our blue limestone, it may yet stand the weather as well, and the capability of limestone to stand what is called weathering, depends in a great measure on the absence of all extraneous matter, all metalic oxydes, &c., and its being composed of pure carbonate of lime, which this rock appears to be.

Dr. Owen, in his report to the Legislature of Indiana, in 1839, says: "The series of oolitic limestones, a section of which may be seen in the bluff behind Leavenworth, Crawford county Indiana, extends from Oil Creek to near Indian Creek, and has a total thickness of over 150 feet." He calls the series the subcarboniferous group; only some of its beds are oolitic.

The annexed table will give us some idea of the geological position of the oolitic rock of Leavenworth, also of the oolitie formation of England, beginning with our own blue limestone, and ascending up to the chalk formation :

9. The chalk formation.

8. The oolite formation of Europe, not found in America. 7, Lias.

6. New red sandstone formation.

5. The coal measures.

4. The old red sandstone, or Devonian formation.

3. The carboniferous, or mountain limestone formation, including the oolitic rocks of Indiana, &c.

2. The cliff limestone.

1. The blue limestone of Cincinnati, &c.

The name oolite is composed of two Greek words,—oon, an egg; and lithos, a stone. The small round particles of which the rock is composed have nothing organic in them; they are perfectly round, except when a little compressed. Many of them are hollow, so that when the stone is polished, those particles that are cut in two look like little rings-they appear to have been formed mechanically by some peculiar rotatory or boiling motion, in an ocean charged with carbonate of lime, perhaps something like the manner in which pisolite is now being formed in some hot or boiling springs.

The only fossils I have observed are small fragments of bivalve shells, and small stems of crinoidea, with some pieces of coral-all of them belonging to the carboniferous formation.

COPPER.-One million three hundred and sixty-two thousand pounds of copper, have been shipped during the present season from Lake Superior.

The shipment of copper this season by the Cliff Mining Co. (Lake Superior,) will yield at least $246,000, and will enable the company, after discharging its old debts and paying for its land, to divide to its stockholders $180,000.

TEA, COFFEE AND TOBACCO.-Professor W. Parker, of the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, at a recent clinical lecture, examined a man who was troubled with palpitation of the heart. The report states no physical signs of organic disease of the heart could be detected; and hence we may conclude, says Prof. C. "with much certainty, that all the cardiac disturbance is purely functional, depending on derangement of the digestive organs-and this organ depending on the free use of tobacco, tea and coffee, and confinement within doors." What, then, are the indications of treatment? Shall we give physic in such a case? Will physic cure bad habits? Not a bit of it. Let the patient simply throw away his tobacco, his tea and coffee; adopt a plain, wholesome diet, and take regular exercise in the open air, and he will soon be well; in a word, remove the causes of derangement and the effects will

cease.

PRESERVING FRUIT.-The following, though late for this season, is valuable, and should be remembered by all who have fruit to preserve:

In the first number of the Transactions of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, there is an account of the new mode of preserving apples and pears. The inventor of the mode, M. Paquet, of Paris, has received from the Royal Society of Horticulture a medal. He presented, on the 12th of June, one hundred pears and apples, which, it is stated, not only preserved their beauty, freshness and flavor, but even their perfume. His fruit-house is described as a circular building, with an outer and inner wall-the size of the building being whatever is convenient. The distance between the outer and and inner wall is about three feet six

inches. There are windows in both walls, a diffused light being preferred to darkness. The inner room, which is the depository of the fruit, is kept at a constant temperature of 50 degrees (Fahrenheit;) as low as 39 would not be injurious, but 66 to 73 destructive. Boxes are made with drawers of oak; that wood being easier to be cleaned from the remains of fruit which might decay, "In these drawers," says the account, "the fruits are placed, with small intervals between each, on a slight bed, one-sixth of an inch thick, of saw-dust, (not pine, which would communicate an unpleasant flavor,) highly dried in an oven, eight parts, and one part of very dry pulverised charcoal; and with this mixture the interstices between the fruits are filled to about two-thirds of their height, leaving one-third exposed." This mode is deemed greatly preferable to keeping fruits in moss, cotton, paper, or other sub

stances.

The fruit should be gathered with the greatest care, and not in the least bruised; the fairest and finest specimens selected. It should be gathered ten days before it is ripe. After it is gathered, it is directed to leave it in an open, airy situation, for about fifteen days, to sweat, and on no account to be wiped previous to being deposited in the fruit-house.

CREAM. If cream, well wrapped in a cloth, is put into a hole in damp earth, and left there for about twenty-four hours, it will become clarified and turn into a substance neither butter nor cream, but which combines the qualities of both, and has very delicate and agreeable taste, provided the cream used is sweet and good.

MARRIAGE AND HEALTH.-In comparing the ages of the married and single, the ages of the single were computed from the age of twenty-two years; that of the married, from the age of sixteen in the female, and seventeen in male, the lowest age at which any married person died. The calculations give as the mean age at death of the married.. .57, 54 years, .42, 18 years,

66

66

single..

showing a difference in favor of the married to the extent of about fifteen years.

The difference was still greater between the mean ages of the married and single males-being for the married males 56, 69 years, and for the single males, only 38, 22 years.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

CONSIDERATIONS UPON THE NATURE AND TENDENCY OF FREE By FREDERICK GRIMKE: Cincinnati, O.

INSTITUTIONS.

THIS is a large octavo volume of 544 pages, neatly printed and divided into four books, of from six to eight chapters each.

The world is in need of new books on this subject. There are many truths in relation to Government that have not yet found their way into works on this subject. The author before us has given the more popular view of free institutions than we find in European works, having written his work under the guidance of the Democratic spirit. He commenced the work in 1840 and closed it in 1846, about eighteen months before its publication. It was not, therefore, very hastily written, although many a work of less size has employed its author for a longer period.

Without pausing to notice the many excellencies of this book at present, we will proceed to briefly point out some of its errors.

On the seventh page of the chapter on the general views and difficulties in the science of government, we read:-" The general tendency, at the present day, is to substitute moral power in the place of physical force; not because it is more convenient, but because it is more efficacious." We submit, if this is a good orthodox reason for the change: is it not rather because moral power is the only true governing power for human beings, and because physical force is simply the Right of Might?

On page eight, we read :-" There can be but one form of government, although there may be ever so many varieties." We believe there can be more than one legitimate form of government—that is, a legitimate form which is adapted to the spirit and condition of the people. Strictly speaking, there can be but one true form for true men; but as long as men are not true, untrue forms are perfectly legitimate. The people are qualified for different forms, as they are qualified for different branches of learning; it is a work of progress, and one form adapted to any stage of progress is equally legitimate with another.

Again, in the next line, we read :—" If I ventured to make a classification, it would be into the natural and artificial forms, considering a Representative Republic as the only example of the first, and every other species as coming under the second division." What right has the author to consider a Representative Republic the only natural form? Because the Governments of the United States are the best under the sun is no evidence that they are the only natural forms of governIf we understand the matter aright, the only natural form is a pure Democracy-that is the only true form for true men ;—but as men are not yet true, they must institute some form that will accommodate an untrue state of society. If that is a natural form which is best adapted to the condition of the people, then are all forms natural when supported by a popular spirit in harmony with its tone.

ment.

Chapter second treats of the foundation of government and the right of the majority to rule; chapter third, of the character and operation of elective governments; chapter fourth is concerning the principle of equality--to what extent it can be carried. On page forty-four of this chapter we read:

66

Knowledge is the instrument by which the interests of men are managed; but it is not itself, at least in the highest degree, one of those interests." This is placing the physical above the mental in point of importance. Man is, or should be, more of a spirit than an animal; and consequently, knowledge being the highest interest of the soul, is the highest