factures, our steamboats, and our railroads. We level the forest in a day, lay down our tracks and startle the old world with the sound of our engines. Our steamers outspeed theirs across the ocean. Our yachts win the royal prize over the ancient ship builders in the sight of the Majesty of England. The Autocrat of Russia employs our engineers to make his railroads; and his steamers are built on our shores.

"Shall we be behind then only in the great matter of Education? Can we not build up Universities too? Shall we apply to the cultivation of Mind a principle of slow progression which we scorn to apply to anything else? Let it not be my countrymen-let it not be. Arouse thy energies young State of Michigan! Giant of the West! holding the great lakes in the hollow of thine hands ; bearing on thy bosom, deep engraven, the memorial of thy glorious deeds; looking with eyes of light upon all thy brothers around thee, and inspiring them with thy majesty and beauty; speak out with thy strong and melodious voice the decree that here a new Athens shall arise with its schools of Philosophy and Art, and its Acropolis crowned with another Parthenon, more glorious that that of old, because illumined with the true light from heaven!"

The Parthenon of our Canadian Acropolis will not, we are satisfied, manifest any of this new-world speed. The work is all before us, and must be done, slowly, patiently, above all, thoroughly. It is easy for a time, to throw dust in the people's eyes with the help of grand names, magnificent talk of Prussian systems,-meant only to end in talk,-grandiloquent novelties of graduation titles; and the substitution of an ad captandum scientific nomenclature to such good old-fashioned school-boy acquisitions as writing and arithmetic : "Sciences of Accounts and Commercial Computations!" the "semiangular system of Penmanship, both practical and ornamental!"’ &c., and—which is quite of a piece with this,-lists of Members of faculties eked out by the help of honorary lecturers and Emeritus Professors! Noah Webster bluntly explains to his countrymen that an Emeritus is one honorably discharged from service. We wonder what the Professor of Commercial Ethics would say to the retention of such on the list of Teachers! We would willingly hope that Canadians are not to be caught by such chaff. Nevertheless, the truth must not be disguised that Canada has yet to learn the just appreciation of a well organised system of education, extending beyond the ordinary requirements of common schooling. The very desire for learning, apart from its mere marketable value as the stepping stone to a profession, has to be created. And on this subject, the following just remarks of Professor Blackie, are not without their application to ourselves:

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To get rid of the uneasy sensation, and the shock to our self-esteem, caus ed by the honest presentation of these facts, I can easily imagine that some stout champion of things as they are, will come blurt out with the old question--Well, if we are not a learned nation, what harm? If the Germans write moun

tains of erudite books, may we not ask, CUI BONO? Is not sense better than learning: and can a man not see what is worth seeing in the world without the spectacles of books? Now, lest any person should be moved by vain talk of this kind, which is not altogether without wisdom, though somewhat of a worldly kind, I hope I have sufficiently taken care, to avoid leaving the impression that I set much value on mere learning. A man may attain wisdom and virtue without books and Universities-God be praised! Still learning performs an important part in the intellectual culture of any educated people; and it may be difficult to name a single point in which the civilized life differs more radically from the savage than in the possession and in the use of books. It is easy to laugh at the remote and unpractical character of the subjects on which many German professors write books; men of a strongly practical turn will always have their joke at the expense of those who indulge in curious, recondite, and apparently useless research; but books are as much the natural expression of a highly-trained intellect in this age, as ballads were in the age of Homer ;—" By their fruits ye shall know them;"—and it remains a fact that every educated man who pens a paragraph for a newspaper, and every possessor of a pulpit who sends forth a pastoral address to his people, makes use of some part of the grand floating capital of knowledge with reference to the past, which is only the results of learned research put into a popular shape. Without learning, therefore, as an educated people, we cannot live; the only question is, whether we shall be content to take this learning at second-hand from the Germans and other learned nations, or whether it would not be more creditable, more safe, and in the long run, perhaps a shorter plan, to create that learning for ourselves at home, by Universities properly organized, and by professors supplied with proper opportunities and endowments, to make the advancement of a first-class academical learning the great object and the sole ambition of their lives."

But indeed we have to begin our work at a much lower stage than that of University organization. Much has indeed been done, and well done under the persevering zeal of Dr. Ryerson. But assuredly the standard of our Common Schools has to be elevated. Our Grammar Schools have to be made-what now they certainly are not-efficient feeders to our Colleges; and the status of our Schoolmasters must be raised. At present the scale of remuneration, and the social rank, awarded to this important class of functionaries, to whom is entrusted the intellectual and moral training of the rising generation, reflects little credit on the province. Setting aside one or two exceptional cases, the average pay of a Grammar School teacher is £175; that of a first class Common School teacher ranges from £80 to a £100; a second class teacher from £60 to £80, and a third class teacher from £45 to £60! Can it be expected that such salaries will engage the talent of the country in the all important work of education, when the highest are not more than a clerk in a store would demand; while, failing such prizes, so far as regards the remainder, a robust man may hope to make more by chopping wood? It ought not to be a matter of indifference to the people of this wealthy pro

vince that those to whom is committed the intellectual culture of their sons and daughters, are struggling with the sordid cares which pecuniary pressure involves, and degraded by a social humiliation which it is impossible to disguise; and until the Common Schools and Grammar Schools are doing their work effectively, and have been so doing for years, it is as vain to expect our Universities and Colleges to flourish, as for our farmers to look for their harvests before they have begun their clearing.

D. W.

SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY NOTES.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY.

THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA.

The London Gazette of January 30th, dated from Buckingham Palace, announces the gratifying intelligence that Her Majesty has seen fit to confer the honor of Knighthood upon WILLIAM EDMOND LOGAN, ESQ., Director of the Geological Survey of Canada; a well earned and justly merited tribute of honor, which will be confirmed by universal acclamation throughout British North America.

PRESERVATION OF ORGANIC REMAINS.

The causes which mainly influence the preservation of organic bodies in the fossil state, are the following

1. The habitat of the plant or animal.

2. The conditions prevailing at the spot to which its remains may be brought, or at which it meets its death.

3. The inherent power of these remains to resist mechanical disintegration. 4. Their powers of resistance to chemical decomposition.

5. The nature of the rock-matters in which they may be enclosed; and the after conditions to which these matters may be subjected.

With regard to the first condition, it is abundantly evident, that aquatic types are far more favorably circumstanced for preservation, than purely terrestrial forms; and littoral species, again, more so than pelagic tribes. But, allowing the body of the dead fish or floating cephalopod to be cast, uninjured, by winds and currents, on the shore; or the drowned mammal swept down to the river estuary; the co-operation of various conditions is required to ensure its preservation. Briefly— there may be no sediments under process of distribution at the spot; or the sediments may not be thrown down with sufficient rapidity to arrest decomposition; or the shore may be rocky and exposed, and mechanical destruction follow. Finally, if entombed forthwith, its calcareous parts may be readily dissolved to constitute a cementing material for the surrounding mass; or subsequent metamorphic agencies may obliterate all traces of its form.

The more an organised substance approaches inorganic matter in its composition, the greater, of course, will be its capability of resisting the usual process of decay.

In this light, the following Table, drawn up chiefly from the researches of M. HUGARD, of the Geological Society of France, will be found to exhibit some interesting relations:

Approximate amounts of inorganic matter in animal bodies which occur more frequently in the fossil state:

Inorganic matter, 99 or more per cent :-Shells of Ostreæ and of some other acephalous mollusks.

Inorganic matter, 95 to 98 per cent :-Most corals; shells of most bivalves and gasteropods.

Inorganic matter, 90 to 95 per cent :-Shells of ordinary cephalopods.

Inorganic matter, 60 to 70 per cent :-Teeth of mammals, reptiles, and many fishes.

Inorganic matter, 50 to 66 per cent :-Bones of mammals, birds, and reptiles; scales of fishes; carapace, &c., of chelonians?; shells of crustaceans.

Inorganic matter, 40 to 50 per cent :-Elytra of certain insects (?).

Inorganic matter under 5 or 6 per cent :-Scales of reptiles; cartilage and hair of mammals; feathers of birds, &c.

A glance at this table will explain the cause, (as pointed out by M. D'ORBIGNY,*) of the rare occurrence of reptilian scales in the fossil state, whilst the scales of fishes are so abundant.-E. J. C.

PURPLE COPPER PYRITES.

Purple Copper Ore-the Buntkupfererz of the Germans; Erubescite: Danain pseudomorphs, after chalkopyrite, the common yellow pyrites, does not appear to have been hitherto recognised. Pseudomorphs of this kind occur, however, and seemingly in abundance, amongst the copper ores of Lake Huron. Their usual form is that of the ordinary dimetric tetrahedron, belonging to chalkopyrite. When broken across, a nucleus of this latter mineral is frequently seen within them. The purple ore may be readily distinguished from tarnished or variegated specimens of chalkopyrite, by its higher specific gravity. A portion of a crystal (G-4.77) contained 63.19 per cent. of copper; and two other specimens (in which, however, the copper was alone determined, and by a less satisfactory process,) shewed a still larger amount. In the first determination, the copper was separated from the iron by sulphuretted hydrogen, and weighed in the usual way as oxide. An analysis of 16.52 grs., thus furnished-sulphur, 3.97; copper, 10.44; iron, 1.96; or, in percentage values-sulphur, 24.03; copper, 63.19; iron, 11.86. The composition of purple copper is known to vary greatly, and its true formula is yet unsettled. Two formulæ have been proposed for it. The one adopted by Berzelius, 2Cu2S+ FeS., requires S. 23.7, Cu. 62.5, Fe. 13.8. The other. assumed by Rammelsberg, 3Cu2S+Fe2S3., gives S. 28.1., Cu. 55.5., Fe. 16.4.; but in the analyses hitherto published, the copper is always in excess of 55.5, and generally over 60.† At the same time, it is difficult not to admit that a higher degree of sulphurization than R S must be present in the mineral. Rammelsberg attributes the excess in question to an admixture with copper glance, Cu2S: a compound which also occurs amongst the Lake Huron ores, and which is known furthermore to occur occasionally in other localities as a product of alteration from copper pyrites.-E. J. CHAPMAN. *"Cours de Paléontologie et de Géologie Stratigraphiques."

See the results of nineteen separate analyses in the 4th edition of Dana's "Mineralogy," II., 38.

PHYSIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY.

To the Editor of the CANADIAN JOURNAL:

PERTH, 19th February, 1856.

SIR,―There is a variety of deer frequently killed in this vicinity, which I have never been able to find described, and should like to know if any of the members of the Institute can give any information respecting it. It is popularly known as the "Spike Horn Buck," and I adjoin the following short description.

The Spike Horn Buck has much shorter legs than the ordinary deer, but is also heavier bodied. The forehead is wider, and the horns, which are set very high on the head, are almost six inches in length, smooth and straight without any disposition to branch. As this animal is killed of all ages I think it is evidently a distinct variety from the common deer. I have had a head preserved which I shall send to the museum of the Institute as soon as an opportunity offers.

In the proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, for December 25th, Dr. LeConte has published a descriptive catalogue of the Ranide of the United States.

He remarks upon the difficulty of accurately describing those animals, and the confusion which has arisen in the synonymy, principally arising from the circumstance of the colors and markings being so extremely variable. Descriptions to be accurate must be made from living specimens, and from a number of individuals. Dr. LeConte has had an opportunity of examining the following: