ON THE PROGEESS OF SCIENCE. 19 



words of the Report, " a/ter having obtained the immediate results of 

 observation, with the utmost completeness and exactitude, we are ab- 

 solutely stopped from making further progress by the total absence of 

 even empirical theory." At the same time, the system and extent of 

 the observations continue unaltered. For the three magnetic elements, 

 and for the barometer and the dry and wet thermometers, eye observa- 

 tions are made three or four times daily ; and these serve as zeros 

 both in time and in measure for the curves formed by continuous self- 

 registration on the photographic sheets. Thus, whenever any extended 

 view of the cosmical causes or laws of magnetism and meteorology 

 shall render an accurate discussion of these phenomena practicable, 

 those made at Greenwich will be found to present such materials for 

 the investigation as can scarcely be obtained at any other Observatory. 



The ozone observations which were started some time since in 

 Great Britain, and which have been accurately kept by numerous ob- 

 servers in all parts of the kingdom, have not led to any deductions of 

 value to science ; it is curious, however, to discover that in large 

 towns, such as London and Manchester, no ozone is developed, even 

 when it is found to exist abundantly in the neighboring country, and 

 especially so in proximity to the sea. 



It is well-known that great doubt has hitherto been cast upon the 

 narrative published some years since, by M. Caille of France, describ- 

 ing his travels in Africa, and visit to the city of Timbuctoo. The ex- 

 perience of Dr. Barth, the African traveler, however, leave no doubt 

 that M. Caille was truthful in all essential particulars. It was in April, 

 1828, that Caille arrived at the African city, his starting-place having 

 been Sierra Leone ; and he endured frightful privations and sufferings 

 on the way. He is said to have been the first European who ever 

 penetrated the mysterious Timbuctoo, and his stay in it only lasted 

 fourteen days. Hardships, combined with the bad effects of the 

 awful climate, produced disease, and he returned to France in a dying 

 state, and died shortly after. He was only thirty-nine years of age 

 when he was cut off. 



A letter has been recently published in the JV. Y.. Tribune, from the 

 Abbe Bourbourg, a Catholic priest in Central America, in which he 

 claims to have discovered in Guatemala the remains of various antique 

 cities of great magnitude and solidity; also, some most precious mon- 

 uments of the language and history of the aboriginal people, long an- 

 terior to the arrival of the Spaniards. "What will be the most surpris- 

 ing to scholars, and will doubtless be received with some incredulity, 

 is the assertion of M. de Bourbourg that these languages contain un- 

 deniable relics of various Scandinavian and Teutonic tongues. Danish, 

 Swedish, English, and even some Oriental words, are said to be found 

 in great distinctness and purity mingled in the early dialects of the 



