STEAM NAVIGATION. 



75 



acquainted wil.h the position and alternation of 

 its strata, and with the different fossils which 

 may be expected to abound in any particular 

 district. Although these researches were un 

 dertaken chiefly with a view to ascertain the 

 changes which have happened in the structure 

 of our globe, and to support certain theories of 

 the earth yet they may frequently be of use to 

 landed proprietors, to engineers, and to specula 

 tors in mining operations, so as to direct them in 

 their investigations, and prevent them from em 

 barking in schemes that may ultimately blast their 

 expectations, exhaust their resources, and lead to 

 irretrievable ruin. The ruinous effects some 

 times produced by ignorance of this subject 

 are strikingly illustrated by the following fact : 



&quot; It is not many years since an attempt was 

 made to establish a colliery at Bexhill, in Sussex. 

 The appearance of thin seams and sheets of 

 fossil wood, and wood-coal, with some other in 

 dications similar to what occur in the neighbour 

 hood of the great coal beds in the north of Eng 

 land, having led to the sinking of a shaft, and 

 the erection of machinery, on a scale of vast ex 

 tent, not less than eight thousand pounds are 

 said to have been laid out on this project, which, 

 it is almost needless to add, proved completely 

 abortive, as every geologist would have at once 

 declared it must, the whole assemblage of geo 

 logical facts being adverse to the existence of a 

 regular coal bed in the Hastings sand; while 

 this on which Bexhill is situated, is separated 

 from the coal strata by a series of interposed 

 beds of such enormous thickness as to render all 

 idea of penetrating through them absurd. The 

 history of mining speculations is full of similar 

 cases, where a very moderate acquaintance 

 with the usual order of nature, to say nothing of 

 theoretical views, would have saved many a 

 sanguine adventurer from utter ruin.&quot;* 



The study of the various branches of Natural 

 History might also be rendered productive of 

 utility in different departments of the arts. It 

 is quite evident that a scientific knowledge of 

 Botany must be highly useful to gardeners and 

 their labourers, and to all who take an interest 

 in horticultural and rural operations. Not only 

 a knowledge of the classification and arrange 

 ment of plants, but also of their physiological 

 structure and functions, of their medicinal quali 

 ties, and of the chymical properties of soils and 

 the different manures, will be found of conside 

 rable utility to such individuals. Zoology and 

 Comparative Anatomy, which describe the pe 

 culiar structure and habits of animals, both 

 foreign and domestic, will convey various por 

 tions of interesting information to shepherds, 

 cattle-dealers, and agriculturists of every de 

 scription. An acquaintance with Mineralogy, 

 which treats of the solid and inanimate mate- 



Herschel s Discount, &c. 



rials of our globe, the earthy, saline, inflam 

 mable, and metallic substances of which it 13 

 composed, must be interesting to lapidaries, 

 jewellers, iron-founders, and all who are em 

 ployed in working various metals. To know 

 the nature of those substances on which they 

 are operating, the materials with which they ara 

 united in their native ores, their combination 

 with phosphorus, sulphur, and carbon, the 

 changes produced upon them by oxygen and the 

 different acids, their relations to heat, and the 

 liquids with which they may come in contact, 

 and the various compounds into which they may 

 be formed, will have a direct tendency not only 

 to increase their stock of general knowledge, but 

 to render them more skilful and intelligent in 

 their respective professions. Meteorology, which 

 treats of the weather and the variable pheno 

 mena of the atmosphere, will, in many instances, 

 be found a useful study to mariners, fishermen, 

 travellers, and farmers, by which they may fre 

 quently be directed in their movements, and 

 avoid many inconveniences and dangers. By 

 carefully attending to the motions of the barome 

 ter and thermometer, and comparing them with 

 the electrical state of the atmosphere, the direc 

 tion of the winds, and the appearances of the 

 clouds, the farmer may be warned of the con 

 tinuance of rain or drought, and direct his ope 

 rations accordingly, so as to protect his produce 

 from danger. 



There is no application of science to the arts 

 of more importance, and more extensive in its 

 effects, than that of the employment of Steam 

 for driving all kinds of machinery, and for pro 

 pelling vessels along rivers and across the 

 ocean. &quot; It has armed,&quot; says Mr. Jeffrey, &quot; the 

 feeble hand of man with a power to which no 

 limits can be assigned completed the dominion 

 of mind over the most refractory qualities of 

 matter, and laid a sure foundation for all those 

 future miracles of mechanic power, which are 

 to aid and reward the labours of after genera 

 tions.&quot; The first person who appears to have 

 entertained the idea of employing steam for pro 

 pelling vessels, was Mr. J. Hulls, in the year 

 1736. But it was not till 1807, when Mr. Ful 

 ton launched, at New- York, the first steam-boat 

 he had constructed, that navigation by steam 

 was introduced to general practice, which may 

 therefore be considered as the epoch of the in 

 vention. In a few years every river and bay 

 in the United States became the scene of steam 

 navigation. In 1822 there were more than 350 

 steam vessels connected with these States, 

 some of them of eight and nine hundred tons 

 burden, and by this time, doubtless, they are 

 more than doubled. In 1819 an expedition left 

 Pittsburg, descended the Ohio in steam-boats 

 for 1100 miles, and then ascending the rapid 

 Missouri, proceeded to the distance of no less 

 than two thousand five hundred miles. They 



