nels, have caused a sensible elevation of the mean annual temperature. But after all M. Arago looks to America for the data necessary to settle this point definitely. "Ancient France," he remarks, "contrasted with what France now is, presented an incomparably greater extent of forests; mountains almost entirely covered with wood, lakes and ponds, and morasses, without number; rivers without any artificial embankment to prevent their overflow, and immense districts, which the hands of the husbandman had never touched. Accordingly, the clearing away of the vast forests, and the opening of extensive glades in those that remain; the nearly complete removal of all stagnant waters, and the cultivation of extensive plains, which thus are made to resemble the steppes of Asia and America-these are among the principal modifications to which the fair face of France has been subjected, in an interval of some hundreds of years. But there is another country which is undergoing these same modifications at the present day. They are there progressing under the observation of an enlightened population; they are advancing with astonishing rapidity; and they ought, in some degree, suddenly to produce the meteorological alterations which many ages have scarcely rendered apparent in our old continent. This country is North America. Let us see, then, how clearing the country affects the climate there. The results may evidently be applied to the ancient condition of our own countries, and we shall find that we may thus dispense with à priori considerations, which, in a subject so complicated, would probably have misled us." As much importance has been attached by some to those classic records which go to prove that the climate of Europe two thousand years ago was much more rigorous than now, our author has been at considerable pains to collect historical facts bearing upon this question up to the present time. He arrives at the following conclusion: "In regard to the opinion generally entertained, that the climate of Europe has been very much meliorated since the days of Julius Cæsar, it is then clearly apparent, from the foregoing facts, that it is far from being sustained by evidence sufficient to enforce conviction." In viewing the contradictory statements made in reference to the climate of particular countries in early periods, it must be borne in mind that the thermometer is comparatively a modern instrument, invented by the celebrated Sanctorio, in 1590; but still left so imperfect, that it was not till 1724 that Fahrenheit succeeded in improving it sufficiently to warrant a comparison of observations. The want of exact instrumental observations prior to the of agricultural imcommencement provements, therefore, renders it impracticable to determine, with any degree of precision, what changes may have been effected through these causes, in the mean annual temperature or in that of particular seasons. The following remarks of Dr. Forry and the facts adduced in their support, carry with them great force: "Dense forests and all growing vegetables doubtless tend considerably to diminish the temperature of summer, by affording evaporation from the surface of their leaves, and preventing the calorific rays from reaching the ground. It is a fact equally well known that snow lies longer in forests than on plains, because in the former locality it is less exposed to the action of the sun; and hence the winters in former years may have been longer and more uniform. As the clearing away of the forest causes the waters to evaporate and the soil to become dry, some increase in the mean summer temperature, diametrically contrary to the opinion of Jefferson and others, necessarily follows. It is remarked by Umfreville that at Hudson's Bay the ground in open places thaws to the depth of four feet, and in the woods to the depth only of two. Moreover, it has been determined by thermometrical experiments that the temperature of the forest, at the dis tance of twelve inches below the surface of the earth, is, compared with an adjacent open field, at least 100 lower during the summer months; whilst no difference is observable during the season of winter. It may therefore be assumed that although cultivation of the soil may not be productive of a sensible change in the mean annual temperature, yet such a modification in the distribution of heat among the seasons may be induced as will greatly influence vegetation." Changes of climate in the New World are also alleged to have super- nature. The following quotation expresses the views of our learned and able author on this subject:— "The opinion that the climate of the States bordering the Atlantic on their first settlement, resembled that now exhibited by Fort Snelling and Council Bluffs, [the former at the confluence of the St. Peter's and the Mississippi, and the latter inear the junction of the Platte and Missouri], has been shown, it is believed, to be wholly gratuitous and unsustained by facts. Although the mean annual temperatures, as has been ascertained, vary from one another irregularly, either a few degrees above or below the absolute mean temperature of the place; yet no accurate thermometrical observations made in any part of the world, warrant the conclusion that the temperature of a locality undergoes changes in any ratio of progression; but conversely, as all facts tend to establish the position that climates are stable, we are led to believe that the changes or perturbations of temperature to which a locality is subject, are produced by some regular oscillations, the periods of which are to us unknown. That climates are susceptible of melioration by the extensive changes produced on the surface of the earth by the labors of man, has been pointed out already; but these effects are extremely subordinate, compared with the modification induced by the striking features of physical geography-the ocean, lakes, mountains, the opposite coasts of continents, and their prolongation and enlargement towards the poles. "But even Malte-Brun has ventured the assertion, that 'France, Germany, and England, not more than twenty centuries ago, resembled Canada and Chinese Tartary-countries situated, as well as our Europe, at a mean distance between the equator and the pole.' This illustration the pretended antiquity of the Chineseis certainly very unhappy; for, rejecting the fables in relation to Fohi and HoangTi, the former of whom, we are told, founded the empire of China about five thousand years ago-we must, with MalteBrun, date its origin at least eight or nine centuries before Christ. China should, therefore, possess a milder climate than Europe, inasmuch as agriculture is represented to have been always in the most flourishing condition. As the practice of fallowing is unknown, almost the whole arable land is constantly tilled, and even the steepest mountains, cut into terraces, are brought under cultivation. Now, as this country presents a climate as austere as that of Canada in the same latitudes, the conclusion is irresistible, that in proportion as the leading physical characters of a region are immutable, does error pervade the remark of Malte-BrunThat vanquished nature yields its empire to man, who thus creates a country for himself." deed, not unfrequently leads to the A partial view of this question, inmost unwarranted conclusions. Any changes in the climate of the United States as yet perceived, are very far from justifying the sanguine calculations indulged in, a few years ago, by a writer whose observations upon many other points are very valuable. "But there will doubtless be," he says, "an amelioration in this particular, when Canada and the United States shall become thickly peopled and generally cultivated. In this latitude, then, like the same parallels in Europe at present, snow and ice will become rare phenomena, and the orange, the olive, and other vegetables of the same class, now strangers to the soil, will become objects of the labor and solicitude of the agriculturist." The fallacy of the opinion which ascribes the mild climate of Europe to the influence of agricultural improve * Remarks on the Climate and Vegetation of the fortieth degree of North Latitude. By Richard Sexton, M. D., in Vol. V., American Journal of Medical Sciences. 1842.] Is the Region West of the Alleghany Milder than that East? 469 ment, becomes at once apparent, when it is considered that the region of Oregon, lying west of the Rocky Mountains, which continues in a state of primitive nature, has a climate even milder than that of highly cultivated Europe in similar latitudes: and again, China, situated like the United States on the eastern coast of a continent, though subjected to cultivation for several thousand years, possesses a climate not less, and some assert even more rigorous, than that of the United States on similar parallels. Connected with this subject is the question often agitated--upon which we have before slightly touched--whether the Old Continent is warmer than the New. Volney and others have attempted its solution by a comparison of the mean annual temperatures of different places on both sides of the Atlantic; but to this mode of determining it, the objection at once presents itself, that the points of comparison represent opposite extremes in the climate of each continent. Indeed, the question in itself involves an absurdity; for, as the laws of nature are unvarying in their operation, and as similar physical conditions obtain in corre sponding parallels of both continents, the same meteorological phenomena will be induced. It shows in lively colors the truth of the remark, that every physical science bears the impress of the place at which it received its earliest cultivation. In geology, for example, all volcanic phenomena were long referred to those of Italy; and in meteorology, the climate of Europe has been assumed as the type by which to estimate that of all corresponding latitudes. In making a comparison of the two continents, it is, therefore, necessary that both points have the same relative position. Pekin and Philadelphia, for instance, are legitimate points of comparison; but this is not the case in reference to the United States and Western Europe, or the latter compared with China. The climatic difference between the former has just been pointed out; and as regards the latter, the following extract from Traill's "Physical Geography" is to the point: "At Pekin, in lat. 400 N., and long. 1160 20' E., the mean temperature of summer is 78° 8', and of winter 230-a differ ence of not less than 55o.8, which gives rise to frosts of several months' duration in that part of China; yet Pekin is under the same parallel as the southern extremity of Naples, where frost is unknown, and of the central provinces of Spain, in which, though at an elevation of two thousand feet above the sea, ice is an ex tremely rare occurrence." In every work professing to treat of the climate of the United States, the opinion of Jefferson and Volney, that, in regard to the temperature of the regions lying east and west of the Alle"there is a general and unighanies, form difference equivalent to 3o of latitude in favor of the basin of the Ohio and Mississippi," is quoted as an established fact. Mr. Jefferson estimated the difference equivalent to 3° of latitude, as similar vegetable productions are found so many degrees farther north. These phenomena M. Volney ascribed to the influence of the southwest winds, which carry the warm air of the Gulf of Mexico up the valley of the Mississippi. As North America has two mountain chains, extending from north-east to south-west, and from north-west to south-east, nearly parallel to the coasts and forming almost equal angles with the meridian, Humboldt endeavored to explain the migration of vegetables towards the north, by the form and direction of this great valley which opens from the north to the south; whilst the Atlantic coast presents valleys of a transverse direction, which oppose great obstacles to the passage of plants from one valley to another. The tropical current or trade-wind, it is said, deflected by the Mexican elevations, enters the great basin of the Mississippi and sweeps over the extensive country lying east of the Rocky Mountains; and that when this current continues for some days, such extraordinary heat prevails even through the basin of the St. Lawrence, that the thermometer at Montreal sometimes rises to 989 of Fahr. In winter, on the contrary, when the locality of this great circuit is changed to more southern latitudes, succeeded by the cold winds which sweep across the continent from the Rocky Mountains or descend from high latitudes, this region becomes subject to all the rigors of a Siberian winter. The fallacy of these views is ably 46 pointed out by Dr. Forry. "As a traveller," says Volney, I can confirm and enlarge upon the assertion of Mr. Jefferson;" and in regard to the temperature of the regions lying east and west of the Alleghanies, he concurs in the opinion," that there is a general and uniform difference equivalent to three degrees of latitude in favor of the basin of the Ohio and Mississippi." This conclusion, which is not deduced from instrumental observations, rests, it will be observed, upon the phenomena of temperature and vegetation exhibited in the region of the great lakes. Even as high up as Niagara," he continues, "it is still so temperate that the cold does not continue with any severity more than two months, though this is the most elevated point of the great platform-a circumstance totally inconsistent with the law of elevations." He proceeds to say that this climate does not correspond with similar parallels in New Hampshire and Vermont, "but rather with the climate of Philadelphia, three degrees farther south. At Albany, no month of the year is exempt from frost, and neither peaches nor cherries will ripen." The phenomena observed by Volney are truly facts; but as the influence of physical geography on climate was then little known, the theory in regard to the difference of temperature east and west of the Alleghanies was naturally suggested. Instead of deducing general laws from universal facts, it is thus seen that the theory of Volney and Jefferson was a premature deduction-the result of hasty and partial generalization. It is a good rule in philosophy to ascertain the truth of a fact before attempting its explanation--a truism, the observance of which would have saved M.Volney the labor of constructing his complex theory of the winds. It is a law that in proportion as we recede from the ocean or inland seas, the climate grows more excessive; and that the meteorological phenomena of the great lakes do not arise from the agency of tropical winds, is apparent from the single fact, that the winters are several degrees warmer, and the summers at least ten degrees cooler, as regards the mean temperature of these seasons, than at positions one hundred miles distant, notwithstanding they are on the same parallel or even directly south, and consequently equally exposed to the current from the Gulf of Mexico. Volney's theory, in truth, bears a contradiction upon its own face; for, whilst he ascribes the modified climate of the lakes to the agency of tropical winds, he admits that the intermediate country traversed by these winds has a much more rigorous climate. Now had Volney and Jefferson chanced to observe the vegetation, by way of comparison, along the coast of Rhode Island or Connecticut, and on the same parallels in Illinois or farther westward, instead of the Lakes and Albany, the world would have been edified with an opposite theory, viz., that the Atlantic side of the Alleghanies is milder by three degrees of latitude than the tramontane region. Whilst at Fort Trumbull, Connecticut, the mean winter temperature is 39°.33, at Council Bluffs, near the junction of the Platte and Missouri, it is as low as 24°.47. Hence plants sensible to a low temperature, which flourish in the climate of the former, will perish in the latter; for, whilst the mean temperature of the coldest month at Fort Trumbull is only 340.50, at Council Bluffs it is as low as 220.61. This is also demonstrated by the aver age minimum temperature, that of the former being nine degrees above, and that of the latter sixteen degrees below zero; and equally so by the minimum temperature of the winter months, that of December, January, and February, being at Fort Trumbull, respectively, 20°, 10°, and 16o, and at Council Bluffs,-40, -13°, and -11°. On the other hand, it will be found that the vegetables which can endure the rigorous climate of Council Bluffs will flourish more vigorously than in the region of Connecticut; for at the former, the vernal increase is 270.47, at the latter only 110.67. Moreover the latter increase is added to a winter temperature of 390.33; whilst the former, added to 240.47, more than doubles itself. It thus appears that the error of Volney and Jefferson arose from the fact demonstrated by Dr. Forry, that the United States present on the same parallels different systems of climate, produced by the unequal distribution of heat among the seasons causes upon which the geographical distribution of plants greatly depends. We have thus brought under notice the portion of the volume before us, pertaining to climate proper; and though we have endeavored to follow our author through the main course of his investigation, yet there are many points considered which it would have given us pleasure to have noticed more particularly. Indeed we do not feel at liberty to make any further requisition upon these pages, inasmuch as we may have already, perhaps, infringed upon the law of copyright. As this Review speaks for itself, we deem it unnecessary to do more than merely advert to the severe mental toil demanded of the author of this excellent and impartial work, and to the circumstance that the facts and views he presents are in a great measure original. The work has been already most favorably noticed not only throughout the United States, but in England, Ireland, France, and Germany. Witness the following tribute to its merits from the London Literary Gazette, with which, as a distinguished foreign endorsement of the praise we have bestowed on the production of our able and indefatigable countryman, we conclude the present article: "This is an important subject, treated in a comprehensive, able, and scientific manner. Considering what few data existed previous to the author's labors, it is a most complete and satisfactory performance. It has further the advantage of being treated in a scientific manner, and up to the present state of knowledge on the subject. The highest praise that we can award to this great labor-for so it may be truly with all its industrious intelligence, has designated-is, that the older country, nothing of the kind: most of the contributions in local medical topography that adorn the pages of the Transactions of the Provincial Medical Association will not bear comparison; and it reflects altogether the highest credit on the medical literature of the United States." THE FUNERAL OF GOETHE.* FROM THE GERMAN OF HARRO HARRING. BY ALEXANDER H. EVERETT. I. SLEEP well beneath thy lordly funeral stole, While envying lords are crowding round thy hearse, Bard of the lofty rhyme and little soul! Thou star-bedizened, courtly King of verse! Sublime and sweet, I own, was every line But never did one German thought of thine, In the long course of thy most varied strain, E'er reach the German hearts of thy true countrymen. • The Poem of which a translation is here presented, exhibits one of the various lights under which the character of Goethe has been viewed by his countrymen and the literary world. It is curious to contrast the extreme bitterness of the censure here expressed, with the tone of admiration-I may almost say, adoration, with which he has been held up by Carlyle, not merely as the first poet of his day, but as the great moral and religious regenerator of modern times. There is a downright, straightforward, business-like air in these stanzas, which gives a favorable impression in regard to the author's sincerity, though the excessive acrimony of the satire may throw some doubts upon his discretion. It is not to be denied, however, that the friends of improvement and liberty in Germany have no small ground for complaint in the total indifference shown by their favorite poet to the fortunes of his country at the most trying moment of her history. |