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applied scientifically to this wonderful treasure of the giant West. A 
similar illustration exists in the case of our mineral coal. Let travellers 
look at the mountains of it, piled up on the levee at New Orleans, or on 
the banks of tributary rivers thousands of miles in the interior. Let 
them look at the same on the Schuylkill and Delaware, on the Potomac 
and Hudson, and all the busy waterfalls, where thousands of manufac- 
tories start up, not only to turn the spindle for the finer fabrics of cotton 
and wool, but draw out the solid iron into threads, or wire almost as mi- 
nute, or mould it into anchors and cables so massive. Let them look at 
the coal in all our Atlantic cities, heaped up even on the busy wharves 
of Bangor, though thence exporting so much wood and lumber, and re- 
flect that, whenever the spurs of the Alleghanies have been undermined 
for these dark treasures, or the bowels of the earth penetrated hundreds 
of feet, as on James River, to obtain the means for light and heat over 
every navigable portion of the Union, it has been aided by the various 
applications of science, and the enterprize started by some mechanic, or 
planter, or lawyer, rather than by powerful governments. 
The great increase in the manufacture of iron among us, now com- 
puted to exceed in quantity either Russia or Sweden, and extending from 
the coarsest ore in the mine to the most delicate surgical instrument, 
furnishes in many of its operations still other illustrations of our rapid pro- 
gress in the use of science, under the strong impulses of private interest. 
So have we beheld agriculture, waking from her sleep of ages, by 
means of chemistry and geology, applied to enrich one worn out field by 
mere gravel — and another by mere clay — one fertilized by lime, which 
was before waste — one drained into warmth from the coldest swamp — • 
another irrigated to abundance, which was before an arid sand bank, and 
crops and renovations witnessed, by new composts and chemical com- 
pounds, never before dreamed of. The springs in motion, to make so 
many waste places blossom like the rose, have been started by science, 
and her private votaries, rather than governments, by Danas and Jacksons 
here, as well as Davys and Leibigs abroad, and are revolutionizing the 
whole system for the better, under the practical experiments of such real 
benefactors to agriculture — as the Buels, Phineys, and Ruffens, among 
the people at large. 
Advert a moment to another consideration connected with the increased 
use of science here, in cooperation with some of the fine arts. Who can 
compute the amount of labor and talent engaged in this country, no less 
than abroad, in devising and executing ornamental figures for cotton and 
