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479 



BER 



Bemier's gand and limestone, containing many shells, all as re- 

 lsla " d - gularly shaped as if formed of hewn mason work. 

 *"" ""V~~ Most of the shells encrusted in them are univalves, 

 and chiefly belong to the genus notice of Lamarck : 

 and they bear much resemblance to those of the same 

 kind still found alive at the foot of the rocks in the 

 sea. From their intimate adhesion to the masses in- 

 volving them, and from being found at 150 feet above 

 the present level of the sea, naturalists conclude that 

 they have existed in a state of petrifaction during 

 ages. Strata of a sort of calcareous breccia, suscep- 

 tible of a sufficient polish, and of pleasing coloured 

 shades, are seen in other parts of the island. The 

 whole surface of the island is covered with a bed 

 of quartzose sand, mixed with calcareous remains 

 also, which having been originally lijjht and move- 

 able by the winds, forms a circle of sand-hills all 

 around the shores between sixty and eighty feet high. 

 But to prevent the disorders that would ensue from 

 the perpetual change of these heaps, nature, amidst 

 the low and languishing vegetation of the island, 

 here produces a species of cyperus, whose long roots, 

 universally interlarded throughout the ground, form 

 an immense reticulation, which restrains them in their 

 position, and binds the loose soil together. A fari- 

 naceous grain, somewhat resembling wheat, crowns 

 the summit of this plant, in ears as large as the fist : 

 but owing to the aridity of the soil, perhaps, it had 

 not come to maturity, and each of the ears scarcely 

 afforded two or three seeds. The French conceived 

 that it might be profitably naturalised in the sandy 

 districts of France and Spain, and there prevent the 

 light soils from shifting with the wind. A singular 

 spinifex growing in the most arid places, and compo- 

 sed of an innumerable quantity of leaves, extremely 

 slender, in great mossy tufts, and a mimosa rising two 

 or three feet from the ground, but spreading fifteen or 

 twenty around, form the more remarkable of the few 

 plants growing in the island. A beautiful quadru- 

 ped, thejasciated kangaroo, inhabits this island in 

 numbers, though it is not to be seen on the continent, 

 nor on any other islands excepting two in the neigh- 

 bourhood. It is excessively timorous ; the slightest 

 noise alarms it, and sometimes a breath of wind will 

 put it to flight. Yet this little animal, though timid 

 in self-defence, boldly resists the injury which is of- 

 fered to its young. The females, like others of 

 their genus, are provided with an external pouch, 

 whither the young retire on the approach of danger ; 

 when wounded and feeble with the loss of blood, she 

 could carry it no longer in flight, the mother assisted 

 her offspring to get out of the bag, that it might at- 

 tempt its own escape : or, when forcibly separated, 

 on regaining a place of safety, she would call to it 

 by a peculiar sound, and after affectionately caressing 

 it, as if to dissipate its alarm, cause it to enter its 

 wonted place of shelter. Even when these animals get 

 a mortal wound, their care was diverted from exer- 

 tions for their own safety, and directed solely to 

 the preservation of their young. Several young 

 kangaroos were taken on Bernier's Island, but only 

 one of the whole survived : it became very tame, and 



fed readily on bread, besides which it greatly relished Bernoulli, 

 sugar and water. Owing to an accident, it perished Jame8, . 

 in the course of the voyage to which we have aliu- -"""V"" 

 ded ; nevertheless, the species might possibly be na- 

 turalized in Europe. In this island neither birds 

 nor reptiles are numerous, being principally cormo- 

 rants, sea-eagles, and three lizards, one of which is 

 between four and five feet long. The seas, which 

 wash the shores of the island, abound with mollusca, 

 and fishes from whales down to microscopic polypi: 

 and testacea, together with zoophytes, are found on 

 the rocks, or deep in the waters. There is an edible 

 oyster of very uncommon figure and delicious taste, 

 solidly adhering to the former, and beautiful uni- 

 valves are dragged up from the mud wherein they 

 lie concealed. The mytUus effitlgens, the finest hi- 

 therto discovered, is among them, of a shining co^ 

 lour, and reflecting all the prismatic colours. (c) 



BERNOULLI, James, a celebrated methemati- . 

 cian, was the fifth son of Nicholas Bernoulli, mem- 

 ber of the grand council and of the chamber of fi- 

 nances of Basle in Switzerland, and was born at 

 Basle on the 27th December 1054. James Ber- 

 noulli, the grandfather of the subject of this article, 

 came originally from Antwerp, and established him- 

 self at Basle in 1622. He left behind him three 

 children, the eldest of whom was Nicholas, who waa 

 born in 1623, and died in 1708 ; leaving a family of 

 eleven children, among whom were James and John, 

 two of the most illustrious mathematicians of the 

 loth century. 



James Bernoulli was originally intended for the 

 church, and, after baring taken his degrees iu the 

 university of Basle, he entered upon the study of 

 divinity. His attachment to mathematics, however, 

 gradually withdrew his attention from the study of 

 theology. His favourite pursuit engrossed the whole 

 of his time ; and without the aid of a master, and 

 even without the assistance of books, which his fa- 

 ther carefully concealed, he made such rapid advances 

 in the science of geometry,* that before he was 18 

 years old, he resolved the problem of finding the Ju- 

 lian period, when the year of the solar cycle, the 

 golden number, and the indiction, are given. 



He began his travels in the year 1676 ; and when 

 he passed through Geneva, he found out a method, 

 different from that proposed by Cardan, of teaching 

 a blind person to write, which he tried with great 

 success upon a young girl, who had been blind from 

 the age of two months. At Bourdeaux he compu- 

 ted universal tables for dialling, but they have never 

 been given to the world. The attention of astrono- 

 mers was at this time occupied with the famous co- 

 met of 1680 ; and such was the enthusiasm with 

 which Bernoulli was inspired, that, on his return to 

 Basle, he published a treatise on the subject, entitled, 

 Neu crfundene Auleitung ivie man den lauffi der Co- 

 meten, fyc. Bas. 4to, 1681. In this first production 

 Bernoulli adopted the vortical system of Descartes, 

 and maintained, that comets were the satellites of a 

 large and invisible planet, which revolved round the 

 sun in 4 years and 157 days, at the distance of 2583 



In reference to this restraint upon his inclination, he took for his device Phaeton driving the chariot of the sun, with the 

 motto of Invito patre sidcra verso, " Against ray father's will I traverse the heavens." 



