THE MAGAZINE 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY 



JANUARY, 1838. 



Art. I. Reflections on the nature of the Vegetables which have co- 

 vered the surface of the Earth, at the different periods of its for- 

 mation. By M. Adolphe Brongniart. (Translated from the 

 Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Seances de l'Academie des 

 Sciences.) Read at the Sitting of the llth Sept. 1837. 



Curiosity is one of the most distinctive faculties of the hu- 

 man mind ; — one of those which establish a marked separation 

 between man and the rest of the animal creation : and for this 

 reason we may affirm, that it is one of man's best faculties, 

 when directed towards an end really worthy of him. 



It is this principle which is continually stimulating us to 

 extend the fields of our knowledge, — to fathom the most hid- 

 den mysteries of nature, — frequently without being able to 

 hope for any other result from our researches, than the plea- 

 sure which is experienced by every intelligent being, in pro- 

 portion as he is enabled to form accurate ideas concerning 

 the nature of the phenomena which surround him. The 

 greater the apparent difficulty attending the study of these 

 phenomena, and the more they are, by their nature or their 

 position, placed out of our immediate reach, the more are we 

 struck with the results, to which profound research has con- 

 ducted those individuals, who have made them the object of 

 their investigation. 



Thus, a strong impression is produced upon our minds, at 

 the perfection to which the telescope has been brought, in 

 placing before us the phenomena of the most distant regions 

 of space ; and the microscope, in revealing to us the existence 

 of myriads of beings, whose minuteness, without its aid, 

 would have concealed them from our examination. 



In these modern times, science had already made such great 



Vol. II.— No. 1. n. s. b 



