descended from despotism, and it is time the old system, that is yet taught in al! our colleges, were reformed. "A series of Pamphlets, numbering from one to fifteen, more or less, is proposed, and will be issued after the following order, provided the demand for them is sufficient to pay their expense. 1. The Laborer, 6. The Democrat, .The Aristocrat, 8. The Usurer, 9. The Debtor, 10. The Teacher, 11. The Scholar, 12. The Citizen, 13. The Legislator, 14. The State, 15. The Neighborhood. "Progress-Pamphlets are published by Bagley & Freeman, 115 Main street, Cincinnati. Price, ten cents single, or a dollar per dozen. Letters post paid, can be addressed either to Bagley & Freeman, or to L. A. Hine, Cincinnati, Ohio. "No. 3, The Tenant, will be issued the 1st of March." The first two pamphlets have been issued in very neat typographic style, thirty-two pages each. They are very interesting, and I should be pleased to notice them more fully if space and time permitted. ELECTRICITY.-LETTER FROM DR. A. BABCOCK, OF GAINES, N. Y.-"I can illy afford to lose a single number of your valuable journal, I deem it better calculated to advance man in the science of man than all the (falsely so called) scientific journals in this or any other country, with which I have become ac quainted. It teaches the science from an entirely new point, one from which man may be seen in his true position. I wish you entire success in your enterprise, and have endeavored to enlarge your subscription list, but your position is so far in advance of the mass of mind that it is almost impossible tom ake men lelieve that 'tis more than mere speculation. Knowing you to be a lover of all science, I suggest for your consideration an hypothesis to account for matter being aggregated as we see it, into the solid, liquid and aeriform conditions, (z & new atomic theory. It is assumed that electricity is a universal agent pervading all space not occupied by other substances, that there is a natural attraction be tween electricity and all gross matters, and from this cause, they are awILYS found attached together inseparably-that electricity attaches to gross matter according to the shape or form of its atons-if the atoms are perfect spheres the two kinds of electricity will be in equal depths, and densities all around the surface of these atoms. This being true, then all substances, whose atons are spheres, must necessarily become similarly and equally electrified, and conse quently they must repel each other, from a well-established law of electricity, and therefore such substances must exist in the form of air or gas. Now, is not this the reason that gasses are all equal conductors of electricity, and why they resemble each other in so many other respects? Do not these rescrb. unos depend upon their physical constitution. As the atom shall recede from the sphere, the electricity will attach itself to the poles of the long axes, the psitive upon one pole, and the negative upon the other pole, leaving a space at the central or equatorial region, with little or no electricity; this of course mus give weak attraction, not so strong as to prevent atomic motion, and, therefore, substances whose atoms are of this form, would form the various kinds of liquids, the more dense and tenacious as their atoms recede from the perfectly spherical form. Allowing it to be true, much in relation to liquid may le easily accounted for-as the different temperatures at which they evaporate, freeze, etc., etc. Heat is nothing but electricity in obstructed motion; all that is necessary to evaporate any substance is to surround its atoms with a perfectly spherical atmosphere of electricity, the en repell each other, and fly off: now then, the further the atoms recede The spherical form the greater, the amount of electricity it will require t surround it, and consequently the higher must be the temperature. "If the atom have sharp points and angles, the electricity will become attached to its points; the positive to one point or angle, and the negative to anothersubstances of this form will consequently not allow of atomic motion, and therefore must form the different kinds and classes of solids. Now, then, if this be true, and it is believed to be so, it follows, that cohesion is not a property of matter, but is the effect of electricity. There is much to sustain this view; we know that electricity will produce cohesion, and we do not know of any thing else that will do it, and in all cases when it does take place we have good reason to believe it to exist. Again, if electricity is the cause of cohesion, upon breaking up the cohesion of any substances electricity ought to be set free, is it not set free in all cases where cohesion is broken up? in some instances the quantity may not be sufficient to be felt by any of our present instruments, but it is well known that upon breaking many substances electricity is set free, and this particularly the case in the ordinary machine electricity, and also in the galvanic battery. In the first, the rubber, and the amalgam upon the rubber are disintegrated-and in the latter the zinc has its cohesion destroyed. Artificial combustion is another beautiful illustration of this, hence it is so rapidly set free as to produce both heat and light. Then heat and light are but the effects of electricity in motion, or dynamic electricity; I have not the least doubt, that this is the case in all instances, wherever heat and light are known to exist. "My investigatons have led me to believe that electricity is the cause of light, heat, cohesion, gravitation, chemical affinity, and of all motions and sensations; and also that it is the nervo-vital fluid, and consequently the only agent by means of which the mind holds communication with the external world. Should any objections to the atomic theory above suggested occur to your mind, please state them, and let us see if they can not be removed. I think that most, if not all the positions above assumed, can be pretty st ngly sustained, as much so, in fact, as most of the theories upon scientific ects. To account for all we see and know, there is no need of but a single imponderable agent. "Very truly yours," "ALFRED BABCOCK." EFFECTS OF MESMERISM ON A BEAR.-A gentleman residing at Oxford had in his possession a young Syrian bear, from Mount Lebanus, about a year old. One morning the This bear was generally good-humored, playful and tractable. bear, from the attention of some visitors, became savage and irritable; and the owner, in despair, tied him him up in his usual abode, and went away to attend to his guests. in a few mintes he was hastily recalled to see his bear. He found him rolling about on his haunches, faintly moving his paws, and gradually Above him stood a gentleman sinking into a state of quiescence, and repose. well known in the mesmeric world, making the usual passes with his hands. The poor bear, though evidently unwilling to yield to this new influence, gradually sunk to the ground, closed his eyes, became motionless, and insensible to all means used to rouse him. He remained in this state for some minutes, when he awoke, as it were, from a deep sleep, shook himself, and tottered about the court, as though laboring under the effects of a strong narcotic. He exhibited evident signs of drowsiness for some hours afterwards. This interesting scene took place in the presence of many distinguished members of the British Association when last held in the University at Oxford.-F. T. Buckland. REPLY TO A SOUTHERN LADY.-The suggestion of my fair friend (in the December number), that the constructive or inventive faculty is the true creative power by which genius is distinguished, deserves a special and distinct notice. In the new phrenological system, the error of degrading the inventive power to the rank of a mere propensity for building or making has been entirely avoided. Invention is recognised as an intellectual power, not as an animal impulse. Yet the whole inventore lateral region of the forehead is creative power does not belong to the locality denominated Invention. T concerned in giving the power of comme ideas, and calling up new combinations of thought which impress us wa sunlovelty and force of genius. -ideal region, from Calenlatim and In what particular portion of the com Dreaming, to Spirituality and Imagination, the highest intellectual power (most nearly resembling genius), may be located, might be a matter of debate, as all of the organs of that region, when large and powerful, produce some of the characteristics of genius. I have been accustomed, however, to regard the upper portion of the ideal region, as more intimately connected with genius than the lower. The genius of the lower portion, however it may shine in verse. in art, or in science, has not the depth, the forecast and wisdom of that wich belongs to the upper organ. These organs of the ideal region co-operate directly with a range of interior intuitive organs on the internal aspect of the front lobe. which are the source of our greatest powers of insight, and probably the seat of the highest inspiration of genius. But the high intellectual power of the intrtive region, however it may guide us in action, cannot display itself in literature and art with success, without the agency of the lateral combining CIALIS of the front lobe. These organs vigorously acting with their intuitive associates produce the highest and most delicate intellectual excitement. The bichwrought language in which their operation is described by Mr. Willis may be justified by science. The idea that the most highly-gifted and poetic are carried away by the workings of their own interior power which they enjoy, but scarcely comprehend or control, is in consonance with the character of that region of the brain. The intuitive faculty is one that leaps to its conclusions in a mallet that we cannot comprehend, and with a suddenness that defies conscious bservation. The ideal faculties which belong to the dreaming region, act in a manner still more independent of our own distinct consciousness. In dreams, the operations of our minds are unaccountable, and it often seems as though we were addressed by other persons, although the ideas expressed are but the products of our own minds, under the influence of the dreaming or somnambule region. Somnambulists often carry on a series of acts which manifest an inteliest superior to their ordinary condition, but of which they are entirely oblivious when the somnolent organ ceases to control them. The somnolent and intuitiv he ions are regions of great impressibility, urder the influence of which the weerful sympathies of mesmerism are developed, and the mind is open to the influx of all the subtlest influence of the universe. We may therefore regard the lofty and mysterious inspiration of genius as lelonging to the region of ideality, in close proximity with which we find the mechanical, mathematical, and musical organs. WATER-GAS IN FRANCE.-(From the Correspondence of the New York Journal of Commerce.)—Paris, 18th December, 1850.-Having been present, by invita tion, at an exhibition to attest the merits of a recent remarkable invention. I was so much interested that I determined to give you some account of it. There were present quite a number of Americans, among others, the Serretary of the Legation; and I believe, they all expressed themselves higy gratified. The process of making pure gas from water has been discovered. The prob lem is solved. We saw proofs in abundance, that a most brilliant white light, and intense heat, can be produced from it with perfect ease, and the greatest economy. Not to annoy your readers with technical details, it is sufficicat to say that by the decomposition of water, by a simple and cheap process, pure by regen gas is produced, which can be conveyed in pipes, and employed in precisely the same way as ordinary gas. Upon turning a stop-cock, and applying a match, it burnt instantly with a blueish flame, not unlike alcohol. This is its natural state, and I believe Mr. Paine, of whose failures we have heard, succeeded thus far. The flame is changed to a white color, by means so simple that it appears fabulous-it is in fact, the crowning point of the invention. Imagine a thin filigree hoop of platina, shaped like the wick of a mechanica: of solar lamp, about three quarters of an inch high, to be fitted to an ordinary gas burner. When this is in place, its whole surface is dazzling white, and gives a light it is estimated, equal to fifteen candles. The height of this netted the cannot be increased, but its diameter can be enlarged to any extent, and the light of course in the same proportie not the smallest odor. It does not an immense advantage over coal before our eyes, burning blue with upon contact with it. You can t convenience. There is no sensible flame-no smoker, and in all these particulars possesses here is no humbug about it. It was atina apparatus-changing to rest on or off-use little or much, at your BUCHANAN'S JOURNAL OF MAN. VOL. II, NO. 8-FEBRUARY, 1851. ART. I.-RELATIONS OF MATTER AND MIND. A LECTURE DELIVERED BY DR. J. R. BUCHANAN, ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 22, 1851. We are called upon, at this time, to examine, by the various lights of modern science, a fundamental and momentous question. We are conscious that we live. We are called upon to determine the true nature of our life, and the probability of its future duration. To determine the great question, whether the life of man is one of the evanescent phenomena of matter, rich in its nature and beautiful to behold-but a phenomenon only, ceasing with the peculiar organization of matter by which it was caused, and possessing no substantial permanent substra tum. Is Beautiful, indeed, is the world we live in-grand and far-reaching are the thoughts of man-but in the midst of our enjoyment, when climbing from height to height in the lofty paths of science, and obtaining in each successive hour a broader and grander view the question arises, is all this glorious life in which we revel now but a brief gush of vital melody which dies away like distant music, and ceases then forever? the light of life which glows in the eyes of the friend whom love but the transient phosphorescence of organized cerebral matter, or does it come from some more permanent source? Does it resemble the beauty of a sunlit cloud which ceases when the particles of oxygen and hydrogen have assumed a new arrangement, or does it resemble the light of a star which comes from a substantial and lasting source? We are conscious that we have bodies and that we have VOL. II.-O. minds, and that our true life is in the mind or spirit, whatever we may call the conscious principle. We are called upon to determine what is the essential nature of this conscious principle or power within us. Whether it is a mere phenomenon, a mere consequence of the organization of matter, or whether it is itself possessed of a substantial existence, and capable of maintaining that existence when the organized matter of the body is dissolved into its chemical elements, and diffused through the earth, the air, and the sea. I know that many will say there is no need for any scientific research upon this question-that it has been settled by the establishment of the Christian religion, and that no rational man can possibly doubt his own spiritual and immortal nature. But I affirm the voice of science is needed upon this subject. The voice of Christianity has not settled this question in the minds of all men. Christianity has established firinly in the minds of millions the spirituality and immortality of man; but there are millions of those who profess to believe, and millions of others who wish to believe, but have no definite understanding of the subject, in whose minds the spiritual nature of man stands as a mere dogma which they do not understand, but which they dare not dispute. There are millions who do not realize this doctrine with sufficient force to have any effect upon their own lives, and there are millions still who, in their inmost thoughts, sincerely disbelieve the existence of any thing in man which can survive the destruction of his body. If, like them, we come to the conclusion that all the powers of man are the mere effects or phenomena of organized matter, we render the science of man nothing more than the highest department of chemistry-and we dissipate at once all theology, for it becomes nothing more than a mass of poetical superstitions, like the fables of Grecian and Roman mythology. But if, on the other hand, we conclude that man has a permanent, substantial, spiritual entity within him, capable of sur viving the destruction of his body, we are compelled to go farther, and to inquire what becomes of that spiritual nature when the body has been laid aside? We are compelled to ask the question, whether, after we lay aside the body we may still possess the same faculties in a more expanded and powerful, or in a more restricted manner? We are compelled to ask whether we may continue to look back, after death, upon the scenes of this life, and to take an interest in its progresswhether we may or may not be conscious of the thoughts of those whom we have left behind, and whether we may or may not be able to commune with them to act upon their minds-to make them conscious of our presence, and to give them the higher knowledge which belongs to spiritual life. I can see no intermediate ground between these two positions. |