CORRESPONDENCE. 27 



The peculiar mode of building in France and Germany, 

 that is, of having all their houses in towns and villages, gives 

 the country to a traveller, especially to one accustomed to 

 the residences of New England, the appearance of solitude 

 and desertion. One is often disposed to look round and 

 inquire, where are the people ? This mode of living was 

 adopted, I suppose, when a residence remote from others 

 was insecure, and it is hard to change old customs. Labor- 

 ers must often go miles to cultivate their grounds. I have 

 seen nowhere much country, which you would, I suppose, 

 call primitive ; that is, such a country as is most of New 

 England. I have seen few considerable hills, except on 

 the Rhine, between Mayence and Bonn, and in a part of 

 Belgium. The streams on the Continent, as in England, 

 are universally muddy. I have not seen any running 

 water, clear and transparent, like the brooks and rivers of 

 New England, since I left home. I have nowhere found 

 water that I could drink with a relish ; or, indeed, drink at 

 all. Hence in France, and in some other countries, I have 

 found it necessary, occasionally, for my " stomach's sake," 

 to drink some of the light wines which are abundant and 

 pleasant. Bavarian beer in Germany is a good substitute 

 for their bad water. I have not had or sought opportuni- 

 ties to see many scientific and literary men where I have 

 been. I saw Arago twice in Paris, and might, I suppose, 

 have been introduced to him ; but I saw no use in it. In 

 Berlin, I attended one of the meetings of the Academy, 

 where I saw most of the savans of the city. Professor 

 Rose read a dissertation on the effect of fire on porcelains, 

 which was listened to with attention ; but my knowledge of 

 German was too limited for me to understand well the drift 

 of the piece. I was told, that his object was to explain, how 

 it happens that porcelain, in the burning, contracts in bulk, 

 and still has less specific gravity. Perhaps I err in the 

 statement. There are two professors of the name of Rose, 

 who are, I understand, brothers. The one who read the 



