204 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



this prediction. All that can be said is, that if the 

 causes now in action continue to act, it will prove itself 

 literally true. 



POSTSCRIPT. 



A year or so after I had quitted the United States, 

 a man sixty years of age, while engaged in painting 

 one of the bridges which connect Goat Island with the 

 Three Sisters, slipped through the rails of the bridge 

 into the rapids, and was carried impetuously towards 

 the Horseshoe Fall. He was urged against a rock 

 which rose above the water, and with the grasp of 

 desperation he clung to it. The population of the 

 village of Niagara Falls was soon upon the island, and 

 ropes Avere brought, but there was none to use them. 

 In the midst of the excitement, a tall powerful young 

 fellow was observed making his way silently through 

 the crowd. He reached a rope; selected from the by- 

 standers a number of men, and placed one end of the 

 rope in their hands. The other end he fastened round 

 himself, and choosing a point considerably above that 

 to which the man clung, he plunged into the rapids. 

 He Avas carried violently doAvmvards, but he caught 

 the rock, secured the old painter and saved him. NCAVS- 

 papers from all parts of the Union poured in upon 

 me, describing this gallant act of my guide Conroy. 



