S30 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 6 



number of other plants which appertain to famiiiea 

 now limited to the more torrid regions, seem to 

 indicate that at this epoch central Europe enjoyed 

 a temperature more elevated than at present ; 

 which, besides, accords very well with what we 

 may deduce from the presence, in the same forma- 

 tions, and the same countries, of elephants, rhino- 

 ceroses and hippopotami, animals which are now 

 rarely found to range beyond the Iropicks. 



What an astonishing contrast between the as- 

 pect of nature during modern geological periods, 

 and that which she offered when the primitive ve- 

 getation covered the surface of the globe ! 



Indeed, at the periods in question of the geo- 

 logical history of the world, the earth had already 

 assumed, in great part, at least, the form which it 

 presents at the present day ; continents very ex- 

 tended, and mountains greatly elevated, fixed 

 and determined varied climates, and thus favored 

 diversity of beings. In this way, in countries of 

 little extent, the vegetable kingdom offered us 

 plants equally as diversified, one from another, as 

 those found growing at the present daj'. 



To the conifera?, with their narrow durable 

 leaves of sombre green, were joined birches, pop- 

 lars, walnuts, and maples, with broad leaves of a 

 more lively tint ; and in the shade of these trees, 

 on the borders of waters or upon their surface flou- 

 rished herbaceous plants analogous to those which 

 at present embellish our fieids'bythe diversity of 

 their forms and colours, and the variety of which 

 renders them suitable to satisf>' the different tastes 

 of an infinity of animals, of all classes. 



The forests of the ancient world, like those of 

 our epoch, served, indeed, as a refuge for a vast 

 number of animals, more or less analogous to 

 those which still inhabit our globe. Thus ele- 

 phants, rhinoceroses, wild boars, bears, lions and 

 etags, of all forms and of all statures, have suc- 

 cessively mhabited them ; while birds, reptiles, 

 and numerous insects, complete this map of na- 

 ture, as she presented herself, upon such parts of 

 the earth as were elevated above the level of the 

 oceans ; the whole forming a scene equally beau- 

 tiful and equally varied as that which is still wit- 

 nessed upon the emerged portions of our globe. 



On the contrary, at the dawn of the creation of 

 organized beings, the terrestrial surface, divided, 

 without doubt, into an infinity of islands, low. 

 and with a climate almost uniform, was. it is 

 true, covered with immen?e vegetables ; but these 

 trees, differing little from each other in their aspect, 

 and the tint of their foliage ; deprived of flowers 

 and those fruits with brilliant colors which so 

 "highly adorn many of our large trees, must have 

 imprinted, upon that vegetation, a monotony not 

 interrupted even by those small herbaceous plants 

 that, by the elegance of their flowers, constitute 

 the ornament of our groves. 



Add to this, that neither mammifer, or bird, nor 

 any animal, in short, was present to enliven these 

 dense forests, and we may be able to form a very 

 just idea of this primitive" nature ; sombre, cheer- 

 less and silent, but at the same time so imposing 

 by its grandeur, and by the space which it hal 

 been called to fill in the history of the globe. 



Such, gentlemen, is a rude outline of the great 

 revolutions of terrestrial vegetation, as the research- 

 es made upon this subject, within the last thirty 

 years, have enabled us to trace them. Each day 

 will doubtless add new traits to these details ; but 



recent discoveries, by confirming the results at 

 which we had previously arrived, seem to assure us 

 that this general delineation will not experience 

 great changes when, thanks to the materials that 

 are being collected on all sides for this object, we 

 shall be enabled to transform this rough draught 

 into a picture more finished and complete. 



SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 

 AND DIRECTORS OF THE PORTSMOUTH AND 

 ROANOKE RAILROAD. 



In submitting to the stockholders of the Ports- 

 mouth and Roanoke railroad a report of the pro- 

 gress, business and prospects of the company du- 

 ring the past year, respectfully represent : 



That the subscription of ^50,000, authorized 

 by law and accepted by your last general meet- 

 ing, was made and the money paid by the board 

 of public works, in August last, which sum, it 

 was believed, would enable this board, besides sa- 

 tisfying all pressing demands, to have completed 

 the warehouse and wharf which had been com- 

 menced in Portsmouth ; this would have been ef- 

 fected, but for the melancholy accident which 

 happened about this period, A train carrying a 

 number of persons residing along the line of the 

 road, who had for recreation merely visited the 

 towns, on their return were met by a train bring- 

 ing a load of lumber, a short distance beyond 

 Suffolk, at the onl}' point on the road where a 

 meeting would have been considered dangerous. 

 As both were descending, and not perceived by 

 either until too late to arrest their progress, a col- 

 lision ensued most disastrous in its consequences. 

 Demands for payment increased : these and the 

 expense in replacing the coaches destroyed, ab- 

 sorbed all our funds, and for some time the reve- 

 nue was insufficient to meet the current expenses. 

 When business revived, and the Weldon bridge 

 was nearly prepared for use, two additional en- 

 gines were procured, which unfortunately proved 

 too heavy for our road, a portion of which was 

 discovered to be decaying. Another accident not 

 less fatal in its consequences than the former, oc- 

 curred a few days after we had succeeded in 

 crossing the Roanoke, when our prospects seemed 

 most promising. This was occasioned by the ele- 

 vation of the end of an iron rail perceived too late to 

 be prevented. By doubling it threw the engine 

 off" the track, which suddenly checking the pro- 

 gress of the train, caused a dreadful crush of all 

 the coaches which were next the engine. Until 

 that fatal event, this position was believed the 

 least liable to injury, in case of accident, as cars in 

 the rear had several times run off, without injury 

 to the coaches in front of them. The practice of 

 placing the coaches in rear of the burthen cars 

 has from that day been adopted by us, and, we are 

 informed, other roads have made the same change 

 after hearing of" our misfortune. 



This second dreadful calamity, added to the 

 state of dilapidation in which that portion of the 

 road between Portsmouth and Suffolk was found 

 to be, threatened a total suspension of all the bu- 

 siness of the road. But by increased exertion 

 such repairs have been effected, and by improve- 

 ments in the condition and management of the 

 engines, and regularity in the running, confidence 



