Retrofpedt of French Literature. —Mifcellanies. 617 
©F thefe immenfe maffes of water and 
their effects, are then alluded to asa fub- 
jeét worthy of attention; and it ts afked, 
If the Nile (comparatively infignificant) 
has been able to form the Delta during the 
lapfe of ages, what will not the volume 
and velocity of Trans-Atlantic rivers be 
able to effeét in the courfe of time? 
“The Miffifippi (fays our author) 
exhibits the moit pregnant inftance of 
this at the prefent moment. It is calcu. 
lated, that between 1720 and 1800, (a 
{pace of 80 years) it has pufhed its en- 
croachments on the fea, to the extent of 
15 miles, or, in other words, 26,000 me- 
tres. Thus, in the courfe of only three 
generations, a new country has been 
created at its mouth, which increafes 
daily, and in which mines of coal are ac- 
cumulatimg for the confumption of future 
generations.” . 
While depiéting the manner in which 
the rivers originally pierced a way among 
the mountains to the fea, he gives a par- 
ticular defcription of one of thefe, wiich 
appears to be the fame mentioned by Mr. 
Jefferfon, in his Notes relative to Virginia. 
We are told, at the fame time, that the 
Prefident never beheld it; he himflf hav- 
ing told Volney in converfation, that he 
borrowed the account from a French en- 
gineer, who ferved in the army of the 
United Srates during the war that ended 
in their independence. 
We next come to the ‘water-falls or 
cafcades, feveral of which are to be met 
with in Europe ; but thefe are, in no re- 
{peét, tv be compared with thofe of Ame- 
rica, in point of fublimity. That of 
Terni; in Italy, is affuredly the highelt as 
yet known, as its elevation has been efti- 
mated at 700 feet; but the volume of wa- 
ter is inconfiderable. The fali of Lauffen 
at Schaffhaufen, where the Rhine precipi- 
tates itlelf from a height of from 70 t» 
So feet, is the only one Volney can com- 
pare to that of the Potomack, the theet of 
jurface of which is calculated at 1200 
feet in breadth. The fall of Montmo- 
rency is 200 fe:t high, and produces the 
mott piéturefque effect, in confequence of 
the white and {nowy appearance exhibiied 
by it in is defcent. The cafcade of the 
Mohawk, and the Falling Spring, at one 
of the branches of James river, are next 
‘ particularized, 
But all thefe catara&s yield, in point of 
grandeur, to that of Niagara, fituate be- 
tween the lakes Erie and Ontario, to 
which the French traveller appears to have 
paid the moft minute attention, while he 
has.deicribed it with no fmall fhare of 
Monraty Mac. Noa. 124, 
precifion. This immenfe cafcade, which 
precipitates itfelf from an enormous maf{s 
of rocks, is calculated at no more than 
200 feetin height; but its breadth fs eftis 
mared at no lefs than 12003; while the 
maflive walls of folid tone, which confine 
it, are crowded with cedars, firs, beeches, 
oaks, and birches. 
It is ufual to contemplate this grand 
fcene from one>t the flanks, where a 
prominent rock commands the abyfs be- 
low. But Volney chofe to defcend by 
means of trunks of trees drove inio the 
precipice, which has aflumed the name of 
Governor Simcoe’s ladder: but the wet 
produced by the fpray, at the diltance of 
300 feet, having penetrated through his 
clothes, he foon after returned, having not 
yet recovered from a malignant fevers 
which he had been affli&ted with at Fort 
Detroit. 
The three prevailing winds on the- 
Trans-Atlaniic continent are, the fouth- 
weit, the no:tn-welt, an 
thefe feem to divide the empire of the air: 
a direst north wind is feldom or ever 
The difeafes confit of catarrhal 
affe€tions, tooth-aches, fluxions of the 
gums, &c. Int-rmittent fevers, alfo, sre. 
of courle, frequent ina country abounding 
with marfhes, quigmires, &c. A whole 
article is occupied with the defeription 
and mode of cure for the yellow fever. 
On the whole, this is an important 
work; and we have therefore been at 
fome pains to furnifh a briefanalyfis of it. 
“ Génefe Philofophiqgue;  piecedée 
d'une Differtation fur les Pierres tombées 
du Ciel.’—The Philofophical Genefis ; 
preceded by a Differtation on the Stones 
which have dropped from the Sky ; by C. 
THILORJER. 
The cofmogony of the world is a 
fubjeét that has engaged the attention of 
the philofophers of all ages, and in mo- 
dern times occupied the conjectures and 
employed the pens of Burnet, Defcartes, 
Diderot, Mailler, Robinet, &c. 
Buffon, one of the boidett theorifts of 
this age, aflerted the earth to have been 
originally a burning mafs, retained in a 
ftate of fufion by the aétion of fire ; and 
Tivilorier here undertakes to prove that 
this muft neceffarily have been the cafe.— 
But this is not all ; for after avery {cien- 
tific theory, we are told, that the primi- 
tive globe, having been ignited to a ccr- 
known. 
tain degree, exploded, and launched co- 
mets on all fides, which will-in their turn 
explode.alio. But this is noc all 5 ¢* tor 
as the earth began by heat and motion, 
fo it wiliend by coki and repyie.” 
4L Acter 
he north-eaft ; 
SS 
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