REVIEW. 



and ho a nmnufiicturer. It was to furnish him with unwrought material, while the sounds 

 of Ills inipli'monts actinj^ upon it were to swell till thoir rovcrbcratioiis rolled over the 

 globe. The materials are placed in so accessil)le a manner tiiat they are, all ready for 

 use. Iron and copper arc not made in large mountains, or if they are he can scarcely 

 use thcra, witness the masses of the latter on Lake Superior which it has required all his 

 ingenuity and contrivance to remove, whereas in the form of ores as most generally 

 found throughout the world, they are within the means given him to work. If all the 

 rich materials so lavishly scattered everywhere, the most u.-icful the most abundant, if 

 they are indispensable to him and yet useless till manipulated, it must needs follow that 

 the earth was designed for a Factory. If it were wholly vegetable, it would be a F irm ; 

 if its products were objects ready for use, a Bazaar. But almost the whole is mineral 

 — inert, unshapen, and unwrought, while even animal and vegetable substances require 

 elaboration. 



In the pursuit of truths to enforce his argument, Mr. f^wbank is sometimes extremely 

 happy and generally perfectly lucid, but the theory which he is working out with such 

 enthusiasm, occasionally leads him beyond his subject into the realms of abstruse specula- 

 tion, where however, it is not unpleasant to follow. Geology is considered with reference 

 to the production of materials for the wants of man ; the chapter on " the arrangement 

 of the earth's materials in strata" will arrest the reader ; that on fire is new and curious; 

 the adaptations of things in the matter of lire, with a view to keep it in human hands, 

 small as they seem, have a bearing on the general economy of the world ; the conditions 

 necessary to the evolution of a spark by friction and to nourish it into flame, are such as 

 to prevent any serious results from natural abraisicns. Had the necessary amount or 

 intensity of friction been double what it is, man had made but little use of fire, perhaps, 

 to this day. Had it been less than it is, we might scarcely have known wood as a fuel, 

 since nature might then have acted the part of an incendiary, and fired it as fast as it grew, 

 The verge of danger is approached nearer in hot than in cold climates, and yet we find 

 that whee vegetation is parched like stubble, the air glowing as in an oven, resins 

 oozing out of some trees, and heat and inflammability impressed on all, the violent col- 

 lision of trees with trees, and stems with stems, inflames neither the reed swamps of 

 India, nor the corn brakes of America, the pitch pines of the North, nor the unctuous 

 boles of equinoctial regions, so nice are the adjustments that prevent in such cases 

 ignition. If it ivere not for these the world wc uld be in constant danger ; the tread of 

 an elephant or buffalo's foot on dry reeds and grass, or the rushing of their bodies 

 through jungles, would fire them. Were the amount '^f friction required to produce fire 

 less than it is, great care would be indispensable in threshing and stacking grain and even 

 in working it. Indeed, as things are, the line between artificial attrition that produces fire 

 and natural attrition that does not, is so fine as to excite wonder that a barrier so frail 

 should be so po verful in preventing conflagrations. But the adaptations and adjust- 

 ments of everything in this wonderful workshop to the work, are everywhere, and abound 

 where least suspected. 



As in the case of metals, timber is provided in manageable masses. The size of trees 

 is adapted for human, not Cyclopean artisans. Had they generally approached the 

 Gigantic Sequoia what could have been do e with them— -with logs, one of which 

 laid along the pavement of some streets, would fill them to the roofs of three-story houses ! 

 The difficulty of felling, transporting, handling, and slitting such into beams or into 

 boards, would have been seriously embarrassing, whereas the most u.seful trees are never 

 large for easy control, rarely exceeding four feet in diameter, and a fair average 



