'440 KANSAS CITY /REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



the gulf stream flowing around the submarine elevation of the buried island, it is 

 said the British Islands would scarcely be habitable. 



Thus the authentication of Plato's story opens up a wide field for new 

 thoughts in the scientific realm as well as that of secular and sacred history, and 

 we may grow into the belief that as once " All roads led to Rome," now all lines 

 lead to Atlantis ! ! 



BURIED CITIES. 



All that tread 

 The globe are but a handful to the tribes 

 That slumber in its bosom. 



So wrote the pensive Bryant, and every year since has but emphasized the 

 saying. Of the numbers of the human race in past ages we can form but 

 little idea, even from estimates, and it is almost equally difficult to conjecture the 

 number, size and importance of the buried cities which exist in every part of the 

 earth. Even in this country, where everything seems so new and fresh, cities 

 are built upon the ruins of their predecessors, these having been buried so long 

 as to leave not the least indication by which their inhabitants can be identified, 

 and we are, therefore, left in utter ignorance who they were, whence they came 

 and what became of them. In this part of the continent their cemeteries remain 

 so extensive as to indicate a vast population, and in the valley of the Ohio and 

 its tributaries their fortifications of comprehensive plan and vast extent are still 

 to be seen, but that is all. In Mexico buried cities are found in such numbers 

 as to give a most exalted idea of the wealth, numbers and character of popula- 

 tion that could crowd into the country; while in Central America and Yucatan, 

 it has been said that buried cities are more numerous than living inhabitants. 

 This is probably an exaggeration, but the explorer may well be excused for a 

 liveliness of imagination when he finds it almost impossible to penetrate the jungle 

 a mile in any direction without coming upon the ruins of a little fortified town, a 

 palace or a temple. In Peru and along the west coast of South America, buried 

 cities are far in the majority over the cities of the present day. The difference 

 between these buried cities of the American Continent and those of the Old 

 World is found in the fact that the latter have a history while the former have 

 none. If we could trace the history of the cities of our own continent back to 

 the date of their founding, and recall the names of the now unknown heroes 

 whose exploits made themselves and their cities alike famous, we would natur- 

 ally feel a pride in the ruins of America such as is now felt by an intelligent 

 Greek in the ruins of his own country. But this is not only at present impossi- 

 ble, but there is little likelihood of its ever being done in the future. The Amer- 

 ican races were not remarkable for their records, and we have, therefore, small 

 prospect of the recovery of much, if any more of the annals of ages which pre- 

 ceded our own. 



