presence alone that renders this a favorable spot, the occur- 

 rence of the deep ravines which are found in every direction, 

 furnish extensive natural sections on every hand. The broad 

 and noble river that flows in front of us, affords an opportuni- 

 ty of studying with unusual advantage one of the great pro- 

 cesses of nature, which apparently trifling, from its constant 

 action, has been shewn to be capable of performing an impor- 

 tant part in the production of thoee changes upon the surface 

 of the earth, that in the earlier stages of geological science 

 tasked the most fervid imaginations to furnish deluges and un- 

 heard of convulsions, to account for- Our streams and canal 

 abound with fish, shells and reptiles ; while the votary of Bo- 

 tany may reap a rich harvest from the luxuriant and varied 

 vegetation of our uncultivated fields. " Meteorology too, one 

 of the most compUcated and difiicult, but at the same time 

 interesting subjects of physical research," may here be culti- 

 vated with every advantage. The developments of his theo- 

 ry, which have recently been made here by Mr. Espy, have, 

 it is to be hoped, excited an interest in the subject, which will 

 not entirely pass away without producing valuable results. 

 As citizens of New- York, too, we should take a greater inte- 

 rest in this science, from the fact that the most extensive and 

 valuable contributions which have of late years been made to 

 it, are due to the enlightened action of the Regents of the 

 University. 



But it is not to the natural and physical sciences alone that 

 you need confine your attention ; setting them entirely aside, 

 the field of research is still ample, and in this country as yet 

 hardly entered upon. The department of Statistics opens a 

 world almost in itself, and promises to its cultivators the rich- 

 est rewards. Nor must you deem it a dry and repulsive study; 

 it is susceptible of being made the most intensely interesting, 

 by exhibiting to us views of order and regularity pervading 

 not merely the works of nature, but even the artificial institu- 

 tions of men, of which we should not otherwise possess the 

 most indistinct conception. Few things are apparently more 

 uncertain than the occurrence of sickness or death, and yet 

 we know that when our observation is carried over a sufficient 



