382 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
the balance of trade cannot be considered as established proof of an increase of 
wealth of a country. 
The increase of population and wealth throughout the whole world has been 
so rapid that no increase in the production of precious metals can be thought of 
which would be large enough to influence seriously the value of those metals. 
The immense production of silver by the Nevada mines has not shown a marked 
influence on the value of the silver. If really mountains of precious metals were 
to be discovered, the industry and the speculation would very soon find the right 
way to make the right use of them. 
There lies much money on the road which only needs a keen eye to pick it 
up, says a German proverb; and I think the wonderful ice industry first discov- 
ered in Massachussetts is an evidence of the truth of this proverb. The deep 
impression made on my mind by a story told to me by the late Prof. L. Agassiz. 
may excuse my repeating it here, though probably known to every person pres- 
ent. When the captain ordered to take the first ship with ice to Bombay returned,, 
and reported that just enough ice had been left to invite the officers in Bombay 
to an iced bowl, ,a thing never seen there before, Mr. Tudor tapped gently on the 
shoulder of the captain, wilh the words, " You have made my fortune." The 
captain, believing he would be dismissed for incompetency, stood somewhat be- 
wildered, when Mr. Tudor said, "You have shown the possibiHty of carrying 
ice to India; the next time we will arrange things better." And this was done. 
The sources of wealth originate not in the money, but, besides, in our brains 
and in our industry — only in the productive powers of nature. As the successful 
use of these powers can only be based upon the intimate knowledge of them, 
political economy grants freely the first rank to the sciences of natural history as 
the real corner-stone of wealth. — Boston Transcript. 
PERSEPOLIS. 
FRANCIS L, MACE. 
Here is the royalty of ruin : naught 
Of later pomp the desert stillness mars ; 
Alone these columns face the fiery sun, 
Alone they watch beneath the midnight stars. 
Forests have sprung to life in colder climes, 
Grown stalwart, nourished many a savage brood, 
Ripened to green age, fallen to decay, 
Since this gray grove of marble voiceless stoon. 
Not voiceless once, when, like a rainbow woof 
Veiling the azure of the Persian sky. 
Curtains of crimson, violet, and gold 
In folds of priceless texture hung on high ! 
