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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 u 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 



