252 



NORTH AMERICA NORTHCOTE. 



part of our task, than by presenting the reader the 

 recent observations of Mr Maclure, published in the 

 twentieth volume of the American Journal of Science 

 and Arts. " From the great range of the Andes 

 spring all the subordinate mountains, forming large 

 plains or valleys, either near their summit, or on the 

 planes of their descent, on either side, on which 

 planes, below the level of the principal range, when 

 not covered by the volcanic formations, the greatest 

 part of the primitive crosses out to day. On the 

 tops, both of the great range and the subordinate 

 heights, appears to be placed the seat of the mines, 

 principally in transition, though some are thought to 

 be in primitive schist, or marble ; from which it 

 would appear that the summits of the mountains are 

 principally transition. This supposition is counte- 

 nanced by the small quantity of well-defined primi- 

 tive found in the vicinity, and by its appearing at a 

 lower level on both sides, which seems to indicate 

 that the primitive is the formation of the whole 

 range." Mr Maclure adds a very ingenious theory 

 to explain the origin of mineral veins. He remarked 

 that the veinstones, in a majority of instances, were 

 secondary, proving that the veins must have been 

 filled from the surface ; for it is difficult to conceive 

 how, in a primitive range, like the Andes, the secon- 

 dary could be ejected from below. "It has been 

 considered," he remarks, " as a geological fact, that 

 metallic veins can have no dependence or connexion 

 with volcanoes , yet our total ignorance of many 

 original natural methods of operation ought to make 

 us cautious in restricting nature to any exclusive 

 mode of action. The primitive mountains in the 

 north have iron in abundance, but the precious 

 metals have as yet been rarely found ; nor are there 

 any modern volcanic rocks. The same may be 

 observed in the north of Europe. Sweden and the 

 north of Germany have rarely silver and gold, and 

 no modern volcanic rocks ; and, on the southern 

 continent of America, there seems to be a proportion 

 between the gigantic volcanic formation and the 

 abundance of the precious metals. If we suppose the 

 convulsions and earthquakes that might precede the 

 eruption of lava to the surface to have rent and 

 cracked the shell, so as to give space to the forma- 

 tion of these veins, and the precious metals, con- 

 verted into vapour, to penetrate through chinks that 

 would not permit lava to pass, this vapour, meeting 

 with the secondary, that was filling the vein from the 

 surface, might form a mixture such as we find in 

 most of the veinstones." 



The foregoing sketch furnishes, among others, the 

 following general facts and inferences : 1. The 

 North Amercian resembles the European continent 

 in the highly primitive character of its northern ex- 

 tremities ; while it differs from it in the superior 

 degree of continuity possessed by its great forma- 

 tions, as well as in the absence leaving Mexico out 

 of the question of volcanic action, except such as is 

 afforded by the partial deposits of secondary trap 

 rocks. 2. The great ocean from which were pre- 

 cipitated the secondary sand stones, gypsum, and coal 

 of the immense basin lying between the Alleghanies 

 and the Rocky mountains, appears to have found 

 its outlet by the St Lawrence and Mississippi rivers. 

 3. The upper secondary and tertiary formations for- 

 merly have probably been more extensive upon the 

 Atlantic coast, and once connected the islands now 

 forming its northern boundary with each other and 

 the main land. 4. After the deposition of the 

 secondary and tertiary formations, the land has been 

 broken up by the action of sudden and violent cur- 

 rents, which have strewed its surface everywhere 

 with boulders or rolled masses, and given to the coast 

 its present insular and peninsular form. 5. The strata 



embrace all those metalliferous and earthy com- 

 pounds existing in them in other quarters of the 

 globe, and exhibit throughout the same general 

 relations elsewhere observed, and, consequently, 

 must have resulted from the operation of those great 

 lasvs, under the control of which the solid mass of 

 the earth has been formed. 



NORTHAMPTON. Thecounty town of Northamp- 

 tonshire is situated on the northern bank of the river 

 Nen, near the centre of the county, sixty-six miles 

 N.VV. by N. from London. It is noted for the manu- 

 facture of boots and shoes, which is carried on upon 

 a very extensive scale ; currying and dressing of 

 leather, lace-making, and the manufacture of brass 

 and iron-work are also largely prosecuted here. A 

 considerable share of trade likewise arises from the 

 constant passage of travellers by stage-coaches, from 

 London to Liverpool, Manchester, &c.; and from 

 the facilities afforded for the transfer of goods in con- 

 sequence of the communication made between the 

 river Nen and the Grand Junction Canal in 1815. 

 Population in 1831, 15,351. 



NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, an inland county of 

 England, being nearly in the centre of the kingdom. 

 Its length from N.E. to S.W. is about sixty-five miles, 

 and its breadth about twenty-four miles. When the 

 Romans invaded Britain, this part of the island was 

 inhabited by a tribe of people called Coritani or Coi- 

 tanni, and at a subsequent period it was included in 

 the Roman province styled Flavia Caesariensis. Un- 

 der the heptarchy it belonged to the kingdom of 

 Mercia. This county has been the scene of some 

 remarkable events. In 1460 a battle took place 

 near Northampton, between the partisans of the 

 houses of Lancaster and York, in which the former 

 were defeated, and Henry VI., who was present, was 

 taken prisoner. At Fotheringay castle, near Oun- 

 dle, Mary, queen of Scots, was executed, in 1586. 

 And at Naseby, on the north-western border of the 

 county, the army of Charles I. was totally routed by 

 Fairfax and Cromwell, in 1645. 



Northamptonshire is proverbially reckoned a fine 

 and pleasant county, which opinion derives confirma- 

 tion from the number of noblemen's and gentlemen's 

 seats contained in it. Formerly a large portion of its 

 surface was occupied by the forests of Rockingham, 

 Salcey, and Whittlewood ; and though a great part 

 of the wood-land has been appropriated to the pur- 

 poses of tillage or pasture, these forests are still 

 included among the crown lands, consisting at pre- 

 sent of about 18,000 acres. The chief towns in this 

 county are, besides Northampton, the city of Peter- 

 borough, and the market-towns of Daventry, Well- 

 ingborough, Kettering, Thrapston, and Oundle. Po- 

 pulation in 1831, 179,276. 



NORTH CAROLINA. See Carolina. 



NORTH CAROLINA UNIVERSITY. See 

 Chapel Hill. 



NORTHCOTE, JAMES ; born in Plymouth, in 

 1746, where his father was a watchmaker, who 

 designed him for his own business; but young 

 Northcote, having a taste for the fine arts, and being 

 flattered by praises bestowed on his early productions, 

 pursued the practice of drawing and painting with so 

 much assiduity, that doctor Mudge, a physician of 

 that town, recommended him as a scholar to Sir 

 Joshua Reynolds. He went to London in 1771, and 

 became domesticated with that great artist. In 1776, 

 he quitted him, and commenced business on his own 

 account, with the full concurrence of his preceptor, 

 and was eminently successful, his portraits having 

 procured him both wealth and reputation. He wrote 

 various papers in a work called the Artist. He also 

 published Memoirs of Sir- Joshua Reynolds, com- 

 prising Anecdotes of his Contemporaries (1813), and 



