A new family encyclopedia, or, Compendium of universal knowledge : comprehending a plain and practical view of those subjects most interesting to persons, in the ordinary professions of life : illustrated by numerous engravings

Front matter

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Preface To The Second Edition

The First Edition of the following work, having met with a more flattering reception among its Patrons, than the most sanguine hopes of the Editor allowed him to anticipate, he has been encouraged to attempt several improvements in this edition.

In making these improvements, the Editor has endeavored to render the plan of the work more simple — has erased such portions as appeared devoid of interest, or utility, and substituted therefor more than sixty pages, original matter, on topics, which, it is believed, will be found important in the view of those for whose benefit the work is designed.

It has been the object of the Editor from the first to proceed upon the principle of selection and utility — to embrace so lew subjects, as to enable him to enlarge upon them, according to their relative importance ; arid to treat of them in so 'plain and practical a manner, as to render the work intelligible and useful. By this means, he has been enabled, he trusts, in a measure to avoid a serious objection, which has sometimes been made to the portable Encyclopedias extant, that they embrace so great a variety of articles, as to render them little more than Dictionaries. A ditferent course has been here adopted ; and it gives the Editor pleasure to know that it has the sanction of a large portion of his patrons.

To the friends, who have aided him, and lightened his task, he takes occasion to renew the expression of his thanks, especially to the author of the article on Horticulture. In respect to that article, the Editor is requested to say, that it is chiefly an abridgement of Cobbett's excellent system of gardening. And in relation to several other parts of the work, he can claim no other merit, than that of presenting to his readers a condensed and faithful compilation.

The nature of the work has precluded him, in many instances, from giving credit to the several authors of whose labors, he has availed himself.

It belongs to this place, therefore, to express his obligation to Guy's Pocket Encyclopedia, Edinburgh Encyclopedia, Mitchel's Pocket Encyclopedia, Library of Useful Knowledge, Library of Entertaining Knowledge, Godman's Natural History, Goldsmith's Natural History, Hooper's Medical Dictionary, Family Physician, American Farmer, New England Farmer, Complete Grazier, Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agriculture, Clater's, Hind's and Mason's Farming, White on the Diseases of Cattle, Bigelow's Technology, Allen's Mechanics, Tegg's Book of Utility, American Almanac, &c. &c.

1*

Section I. NATURAL HISTORY, STRUCTURE, &C. p. 14 — 29

Varieties of the Human Species — Intellectual capacity — Difference of Form, Stature, and Complexion — Origin of the North American Indians — Human Structure, viz. Bones — Teeth — Muscles — Flesh — Skin — Absorbents — Cartilages — Membrane— Gland — The Brain — Cerebrum — Cerebellum — The Spinal Marrow — The Thorax, or Chest — Respiration — The Windpipe — The Lungs — The Heart — An Artery—A Vein— Air— The Blood — Thoracic Duct— The Abdomen— The Liver— The Bile— The Spleen, or Milt— The Stomach— Of Digestion— The Gastric Juice — The Intestines — The Kidneys — The Senses, viz. — The Eye — Feeling — The Nose— The Taste — The Sexes.

Section ii

of the mind and its faculties, p. 29 — 35.

The Mind— Sensation — Memory — Imagination — Genius — Reason — The Will — Ghost— Knowledge— The Passions.

Part II. Aliments

GENERAL VIEW OF THE VARI0C3 ALIMENTARY PROPERTIES OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FOOD ; AND THEIR DIFFERENT EFFECTS UPON THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION, p. 35 — 47.

Section I.

of artificial aliments, p. 47—53.

Bread— Starch— Sugar— Tea— Coffee— Chocolate — Rice— The Yam— The Plantain— Bread Fruit, &c. — Cheese, Butter, &c. See Agriculture.

Section II.

of fruits, p. 53—63.

Oranges — The Citron— The Lemon — Olive— The Almond— Tamarinds — Prunes —The Cacao Nut — The Cocoa Nut— The Pomegranate — The Fig— The Banian, or Indian Fig Tree— Raisins — Dates— Pine Apple — Apple — Plum— Peach— Nectarine — Apricot— Cherry — Quince.

CONTENTS.

Section III. OF DRINKS, p. 63—73

Water — Wine — Method of Making and Fining Wine — Currant Wine — Method of making Currant Wine — Cider — Method of making Cider — Vinegar — Method of making Vinegar — Alcohol — Rum — Brandy — Geneva, or Gin — Arrack — Ale — Malt Method of making Malt— Brewing— Hops.

Section IV

of condiments, p. 73—81.

Ginger— Nutmeg— Clove — Pepper— Cassia— Cinnamon— Salt— Method of making Salt— Mustard— Ketchup.

Section V. OF ANIMALS, p. 81 — 111

Domestic Animals, See Agriculture — The Lion — The Tiger — The Puma, or Cougar—Domestic Cat— The Dog— The Camel— Llama— The Giraffe — Rein Deer- Moose — American Elk — Elephant — Method of taking the Elephant— Gigantic, Mastodon, or Mammoth — Bear — Seal — Beaver.

Section I

RULES AND HINTS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE, HEALTH, &C. p, 127 — 156.

Rules of Sir R. Philios — Of Dr. Boerhaave— Experience of Howard— Hints to Students — Quantity of Food — Abstinence — Exercise — Friction — Air — Sleep — Sleeping Apartments— Beds — Cleanliness — Bathing — Contagion — Purifying and Disinfecting Agents— Tobacco— Dr. Rush's View of the Effects of certain Liquors upon the body and minds of men — Of Opium and Laudanum — Of Wounds cut with sharp Instruments — Of Poisoned Wounds — Mode of Treatment — Strains or Sprains — Treatment of Frozen Limbs — Burns and Scalds— Dress of Children — Diet of

Children— Sleep— Exercise— Washing and Bathing of Children— Teething

Summer Complaint— Hooping Cough— Croup — Measles.

ENCYCLOPEDIA.

CONTENTS.

Section II. OF POISONS SUSPENDED ANIMATION, p. 156 — 164

Different kinds of Poisons — Symptoms, and Remedies — Stomach Pump— Poison from the fumes of Burning Charcoal, Gas from Wells. Caverns, &c. and the necessary Treatment — Drowning — Symptoms of apparent Death by Drowning — Treatment— Choking — Treatment — Lightning, and its Remedy.

Section III. FAMILY DISPENSATORY, p. 164: — 163

Weights and Measures used by Apothecaries, and the signs by which they are denoted — Recipes for the making of Laxative Pills — Pills of Aloes, and Fetida— Hull's Colic Pills— Purging Pills— Sir H. Halford's Aperient Pills— Strengthening Pills— To Excite Perspiration — Adhesive Plaster— Anodyne Plaster — Strengthening Plaster — Picra — Sweating Powder, or Dover's Powder — Elixir Proprietatus — Tincture of Bark, or Huxham's Tincture — Tincture of Guaiac — Laudanum — Elixir Asthmatic— Linseed Meal Poultice — Bread and Water Poultice—Mustard Poultice — Yeast Poultice— Simple Ointment— Golden Ointment — Sulphur Ointment— Pile Ointment— Basilican Oii.trnent — Simple Sirup — Sirup of Ginger — Sirup of Lemons —volatile Liniment— Liniment of Oil and Lime — Camphorated Oil — Opodeldoc.

Part IV

OF MANUFACTURES, AND THE MECHANIC ARTS. p. 168 — 240.

Cotton ; Manner of raising Cotton ; Process of Manufacturing Cotton into Cloth Silk Manufacture ; Satin ; Velvet ; Taffety ; Gauze ; Tabby ; Brocade ; Stockings History of Silk ; Mulberry Tree ; Mode of Cultivation ; Eggs of Silk Worms Hatching the Eggs ; Rearing Silk Worms ; Rising of the Silk Worms ; Picking of the Cocoons ; Cocoons kept for Use ; Cocoons intended for Sale ; Manufacture of Linen; Of Cambric; Of Lace ; Culture of Flax; Culture of Hemp;. An of Tanning; Of Curryim ; Mtnufacture of Parchment; Of Morocco ; Of Glue ; Of Hats ; Of Buttons , M?thod of Refining Gold ; Art of Gilding : Of Silvering ; Of Coining; Process of Making Tin and Tin plate ; Solder ; Melting and casting of Metals ; Art of Casting in Sand ; Of casting Statues ; Of Casting Cannon ; Of Casting Bells ; Of Casting Printing Letters ; Printing : History of Printing ; Art of Common, or Letter-press Printing ; of Rolling press Printing ; of Calico Printing ; and Stereotype Printing ; Method of "Making Varnish ; Art of Japanning ; Method of making Bricks ; Manufacture of Tiles : Pipes ; Pottery ; Delft-ware ; Of Porcelain, or China ; Of Glass ; Ingredients of Glass ; Method of making Bottles, Phials, Drinking G — 3, Window Glass. Plate Glass, for Looking Glasses, &c. ; Manufacture of Putty ; Pins ; Needles ; Art of Bleaching ; Manufacture of Woollen Cloths; Of Camblet; Of Carpets; Arf of Dyeing ; Materials for Dyeing different Colors : General Rules fjr Dyeinsr all Colors ; Soap ; Candles ; Wax ; Manufacture of Sealing:- Wax ; Of Paper ; Architecture ; General History and Description of the different Styles of ancient and modern Architecture, <£e. <£c. &c.

CONTENTS.

Part V. Agriculture

GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Section I. ON NEAT CATTLE, &C. p. 3 — 42

Different Breeds of Neat Cattle in Great Britain and the United States ; Wild Cattle ; Devonshire Breed ; Sussex Breed ; Hereford ; Short Horned Cattle ; Long Horned ; Galloway Breed ; Highland Breed ; Welsh Breed ; Alderney Breed ; Varieties in the United States ; Coke Devon Bull Holkam ; Wye Comet ; On buying and stocking a farm with Cattle ; Of the Bull ; Method of managing mischievous Bulls ; Of the Cow ; Description of a Perfect Cow ; On the Treatment and Rearing of Calves ; Of Steers and Draught Oxen ; Easy method of accustoming animals to draw ; Mode of yoking in France ; Of Grazing ; Soiling and Stall Feeding Neat Cattle.

Section II

on the dairy, &c. p. 42—52.

Of Milch Kine, and of the Pasture and other Food best calculated for Cows, as it respects their Milk ; Of the Management of Milk and Cream ; and the Making and Preserving of Butter ; Of the Making and Preserving of Cheese.

Section III

ON THE BREEDING, REARING, AND MANAGEMENT OF HORSES, p. 52 — 90.

Brief History of the Horse ; Different Breeds of Horses, viz. Barb ; Dongola Horse ; Arabian ; East India Horse ; Chinese ; Persian ; Toorkoman ; Tartar and Kalmuck ; Turkish ; German ; Swedish, Finland and Norwegian ; Iceland ; Flemish and Dutch ; Spanish ; Italian ; English ; Roadster or Hackney ; Farmer's Horse; Coach Horse ; Heavy Draught Horses ; Cleveland Bays; Suffolk Punch ; Clydesdale ; Heavy Black Horses ; Dray ; Cavalry ; Race Horse ; Darley Arabian ; Flying Childers ; Eclipse ; Wellesley ; Arabian ; Hunter ; Galloways and Ponies ; Welsh Poney ; Highland Poney ; Shetland Poney ; Irish Horse ; American; Wild Horse; Canadian; Conestoga ; English Horse in the United States; Rules for judging of the Age, Action, Hardihood, and Spirit of Horses ; Nicking ; Pricking; Foxing; Docking; Fattening; Excessive Fatigue; Treatment on a journey ; On the management and Training of Colts ; Castration.

Section IV

ON THE BREEDING, REARING AND MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP, p. 90—104.

History of the Sheep ; Synopsis of the different Breeds of Sheep in Great Britain ; Heath, Linton Short, or Forest Sheep ; Exmoor and Dartmoor ; Norfolk ; Wiltshire ; Dorset ; Leicester ; Lincolnshire ; Teeswater ; Romney Marsh ; De* vonshire ; South Down ; Cannock ; Ryeland ; Cheviot ; Merino ; Sheep in the United States ; Essential Requisites to a good Ram ; Signs of a Healthy Sheep .; Signs of Age ; Time of purchasing ; Breeding Ewes ; Owning of Lambs ; Wean* ing ; Winter Management ; Quantity of Food ; Manner of Feeding ; Salt ; Fold, ing; Marking.

CONTENTS.

Section V

ON THE BREEDING, REARING AND FATTENING OF SWINE, p. 104 — 112.

Different Breeds of Swine ; Chinese Breed ; Berkshire ; Essex Half Black ; Sussex ; Dishley ; Woburn ; Hampshire ; Northampton ; Shropshire ; Yorkshire ; Lincolnshire ; Cheshire ; Swine in the United States ; Management of Sows with Pig ; Pigs ; Store Pigs ; Fatting Hogs.

Section VI

DISEASES OF HORSES, CATTLE, SHEEP AND SWINE, p. 112—135.

1. Horses. Botts ; Colic ; Inflammation of the Bowels ; Lampas ; Bridle-sores ; Pole evil ; Stranguary or suppression of nine ; Of Mange ; Glanders : Treatment ; Of Shoulder Strains ; Treatment ; Of Galls ; Of Wind Galls ; Of Ring Bone; Of Broken Wind; Of Founder ; Symptoms of a Founder ; Remedy.

2. Of Cattle. Of Colic, or Gripes ; Remedy ; Of Jaundice, or Yellows ; Of Foul in the Foot, or Hoof- Ail ; Of Grain Sickness ; Of Warts, or Horny Excrescences ; Of Mange ; Of the Horn Distemper ; Its Treatment ; Of Udder ; 111 j Of Sore Teats ; Of Lice.

3. Of Sheep. Of Scab : Its remedy ; Of Staggers, or Dizziness ; Treatment ; Pinning or Scouring ; Of Tick ; Cold and its consequences ; Foot Rot ; Bowel Sickness > Catarrhal Affections ; Of Poisons ; Of Wounds.

4. Of Swine. Measles : Of Mange ; Of Murrain ; Of Diseases of the Lungs : Of Fever, or rising of the Lights ; Of Gargut ; Of Issues.

Part VI

art of gardening, or horticulture, p. 138 — 1T6.

Of the proper Situation of Gardens ; Soil ; Fencing ; Laying out ; Hot beds ; Of making the bed ; Of the management of a hot-bed ; Propagation and Cultivation ; Sort of Seeds : True-Seed ; Soundness of Seed : Saving and Preserving Of Sowing ; Of Transplanting ; Of Cultivation ; Alphabetical List of the several sorts of Plants, and the proper treatment of each.

Propagation of Fruits ; By Cuttings ; By Slips ; By Layers ; By Suckers ; Bv Budding ; By Grafting ; Of Storks ; Of Planting ; Of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees ; List of the different kinds of Fruits, and the proper treatment of each : Directions for the Culture of Grape Vines.

Management of Bees. Bee ; Female or Queen Bee ; Males or Drones ; Working Bees or Neuters; Swarming; Hiving; Wax; Propolis; Building of Cells ; Honey ; Bee Bread ; Hives ; Bee-moth.

PART YIL

ART3 OF LOCOMOTION, HEATING, VENTILATION, &C. p. 176—201.

Motion of Animals; Human Strength; Aids to Locomotion; Wheels: Broad Wheels ; Form of Wheels : Mode of Attaching a Horse ; Rail Roads.

Of Steam Engines ; Of Canals ; Canals of Egypt ; China ; Italy ; Russia : Sweden ; Denmark ; Holland ; Germany ; Spain ; France ; Great Britain ; American Canals ; Fuel; Chimneys; Telegraph; Deaf and Dumb Alphabet

12 FAMILY ENCYCLOPEDIA,

CONTENTS. _

Part VIII. On Civil Polity

OP GOVERNMENT, p. 201—217.

Origin and History of Government ; Of the different Forms of Government j Synopsis of the Constitution of Maine ; New Hampshire ; Massachusetts ; Vermont ; Connecticut ; Rhode Island j New York ; New Jersey ; Pennsylvania ; Delaware ; Maryland ; Virginia ; North Carolina ; South Carolina ; Georgia ; Alabama ; Louisiana ; Mississippi ; Tennessee ; Kentucky ; Ohio ; Illinois ; Indiana ; Missouri ; United States.

Part IX

statistics, p. 218—228.

Population of the American Colonies in 1701 and 1749 ; Settlements of the'several Colonies ; Expense of the Revolutionary War ; Amount of Continental Money issued ; Loans and Grants of Money from France ; Number of Troops employed during the Revolution ; Naval Force of the United States ; Adoption of the Constitution by the several States ; Amount of money expended by the United States upon Works of Internal Improvements ; Amount of Public Debt ; Bank of the United States ; Value of Exports and Imports of the United States in 1829 ; Domestic Exports of the United States ; Troops furnished by each State during the Revolution ; Total "Population of the Earth ; Inhabitants of the Earth divided according to their Religious Belief.

FAMILY ENCYCLOPEDIA ;

OR

COMPENDIUM OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE.

Part I.-man

A knowledge of the various objects of nature and art is doubtless worthy the attainment of every one. An acquaintance with these objects contributes to enlarge the mind — to gratify a rational curiosity — to excite admiring views of the Great Author of all things, and to prepare for a wider sphere of usefulness. Yet, it cannot be denied, that a knowledge of oneself is of higher importance still. Without self-knowledge, man must be ignorant of the true dignity of his nature, and lost to just views of the Divine wisdom and goodness, displayed in his composition.

Man, it has been well observed, is a compound existence, made up of two great parts ; the Body, and the Mind, or Soul. The body was formed of the dust ; but it is a frame of a most wonderful nature. The parts of which it is composed — their number — their various uses — dependencies and operations, — the arrangement, by which they are formed into a system — the faculties attached to it, of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling — its capacity of pleasure and pain — the warnings which it is fitted to give of approaching or commencing evil — and the power which it so variously possesses of self restoration, are atl wonderful, mysterious, and strongly declaratory of the skill, and benevolence of the Creator.

But the Mind or Soul is of a still more wonderful nature. It is this, which emphatically gives man his pre-eminence over other beings, by which he is surrounded ; and entitles him to be considered as " the lord of the creation." To the faculties of the body there is a limit ; but to the immortal mind God has never said, " Thus far shalt thou go, but no further." Much as man knows, in any stage of his progress, he may know still more ; and may become still more exalted and lovely. Not confined to the present system, as are other animals, he is destined to an existence, which, in point of duration, will run parallel with that of bis Maker.

NATURAL HISTORY, STRUCTURE.

It will, therefore, naturally belong to the first part of our work, to take a view of man, considered as to his animal and intellectual nature.

Section I. Natural History, Structure, &c

VARIETIES. — The human family is divided into different nations, which are scattered abroad upon the face of the earth, and exhibit several varieties of form and color. These divisions are Jice in number : — The European, or while race — the Tartar, or Mongul — the Malay —the African, or Negro race — and the Americ :n, or Copper-colored race.

1st. The European race is distinguished by the elegance of its form, and by a forehead more or less broad and prominent; indicative of a considerable portion of brain, in the front part of the skull ; the skin is, however fairer ; the hair and eyes lighter in color, in the more temperate climates, than towards the south. This race includes all the inhabitants of Europe, (except the Laplanders and Finns,) and the descendants of Europeans in America, and other portions of the world. It also embraces the inhabitants of the western temperate parts of Asia, as far as the river Oby, the Caspian Sea, and the Ganges, and those of the northern parts of Africa, viz. the people of Barbary, Egypt, and Abyssinia, and the Moors of Northern Africa.

2d. The Tartar or Mongul race, is characterized by a yellow skin ; straight black hair ; square heads ; large and flat face ; small and flat nose ; round and prominent cheeks ; and pointed chin. This variety includes all the nations in Asia, east of the Oby, Caspian, and Ganges, excepting Malacca. It embraces, also, the tribes which inhabit the frigid zones in both the eastern and western continents, including the Laplanders, Samoiedes, Ostiacs, Tunguses, Yakuts, Tschutskis, and Kamschadales of Siberia, and the Esquimaux and Greenlanders.

3d. The Malay, comprehends the inhabitants of the peninsula of Malacca, Ceylon, the Asiatic Islands, New Zealand, and Polynesia, with the exception of New Holland, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Van Dieman's land. This variety is characterized by a tawny color ; black curled hair, which is soft, thick, and abundant ; a prominent forehead : thick, wide, and flattened nose ; and moderately projecting upper jaws.

4th. The African or Negro variety, is spread over western and southern Africa. It is found, also, upon the coasts of Madagascar, and occupies New Holland, Van Dieman's Land, New Caledonia, and New Guinea. This variety is characterized by a black color ; black and woolly hair; thick lips ; projecting cheek bones ; large and flat nose; raised chin ; retreating forehead ; and crooked legs.

5th. The American or copper-colored race, includes all the aboriginal inhabitants of both the Americas, except the Esquimaux and Greenlanders. This race is of a copper color, resembling that of rusty iron, or cinnamon ; coarse, straight black hair ; high cheek bones ; and

INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY.

sunken eyes. The forehead is usually short ; the nose and the whole countenance broad ; the nostrils open ; and the lips thick. The beard is thin and scanty. Of the Indians it has been affirmed, that they are destitute of beards ; but this only occurs, when the beard has been eradicated, at the expense of much industry and suffering.

INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY.— Of all the varieties of mankind, there can be no doubt that the white man exhibits the greatest marks of ingenuity and intelligence ; and of this variety, the most intelligent will be found to be those who reside in temperate climates. Portions of the Mongtil race exhibit also considerable ingenuity, evinced particularly in the Hindoo and the Chinese ; but the range of intellect of this portion of our race is nevertheless comparatively circumscribed. The third, or . x'alay race, exhibits no small variety of intellectual endowment. While none of the tribes, which belong to this race, equal the Chinese and some others of the Mongul race, few, perhaps are so sunken as some portions of the Negro race. This last race exhibits much animal power, yet it is far beneath the white man in intellectual capacity ; we see the Negro in the Hottentot at its lowest grade. The copper-colored man, we may be certain, is also far beneath the European in his intellectual capacity, although he is not deficient in many fine traits of character.

DIFFERENCE OF STATURE, FORM, AND COMPLEXION.— Three causes, a writer remarks, may be regarded as concurring in the production of those varieties which we find attached to the different nations of the globe. First, the influence of the climate ; second, food, which has a dependance on climate ; and third, manners, on which climate has, perhaps, a still greater influence.

The heat of the climate is the chief cause of blackness among the human species. When this heat is excessive, as in Guinea, we find the people are perfectly black ; when a little less severe, the blackness is not so deep ; when it becomes nearly temperate, as in Barbary, the Mogul empire, and Arabia, the men are only brown ; and when it is altogether temperate, as in many parts of Europe, Asia, and America, the men are white. Some varieties are, indeed, produced by the mode of living ; all the Tartars, for example, are tawny, while Europeans, who live under the same latitude, are white. This difference may safely be ascribed to the Tartars being always exposed to the open air ; to their having no cities and fixed habitations ; to their sleeping constantly on the ground ; and to their rough and savage manner of living. These circumstances, are sufficient, at least, to render the Tartars more swarthy than the Europeans, who want nothing to make life easy and agreeable. — Why are the Chinese fairer than the Tartars, though they resemble them in every feature ? Because they are more polished, live in towns, and practise every art to guard themselves against the injuries of the weather ; while the Tartars are perpetually exposed to the action of the sun and air.

When the cold becomes extreme, it appears to produce effects similar to those of great heat. The Samoiedes, the Laplanders, and the natives of Greenland are tawny. Here the two extremes approach each other ; great heat and great cold produce similar effects on the skin, because each of these causes acts by a quality common to both — the dryness of

ORIGIN OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

the air, perhaps, is equally great in extreme cold, as in extreme heal. Both cold and heat dry the skin, and give it that tawny hue which we find in so many different nations. Cold contracts all the productions of nature ; the Laplanders, accordingly, who are perpetually exposed to the rigors of the frost, are the smallest of the human species.

The most temperate climates produce the most handsome people, and from this climate, the ideas of the genuine color of mankind, and of the various degrees of beauty ought to be derived.

Although the climate may be regarded as the chief cause of the different colors of men, yet food greatly affects the form of our bodies ; that which is unwholesome and ill prepared, makes the human species degenerate. All those people who live miserably, are ugly and ill made. The air and soil have considerable influence upon the figure of men, beasts, and plants. In the same province, the inhabitants of the elevated and hilly parts, are more active, nimble, handsome, and ingenious, than those who live in plains, where the air is thick and less pure.

Every circumstance concurs in proving that mankind are not composed of species essentially different from each other; that on the contrary, there was originally but one species ; who, after multiplying and spreading over the whole surface of the earth, have undergone various changes by the influence of climate, food, mode of living, epidemic diseases, and the mixture of dissimilar individuals ; that, at first these changes were not so conspicuous, and produced only individual varieties, which afterwards became specific, because they were rendered more general, more strongly marked, and more permanent, by the continual action of the same causes ; and that they have been transmitted from generation to generation, as deformities or diseases pass from parents to children.

ORIGIN OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.-This is a subject which has justly attracted the attention of philosophers, and produced many interesting researches. It would obviously be impossible, within our narrow limits, to give our readers any correct idea of the various theories which have been adopted, to account for the peopling of America by the Indians. The received opinion, we believe, and that which seems to be supported by facts is, that the aborigines of America emigrated to America from the continent of Asia.

The principal objections which have been urged against this doctrine, so far as we know, are, the two following ; 1st, that many thousand years must have elapsed subsequent to the creation, before the population of the old world could have been sufficiently numerous, to extend to its remote borders, and thence attain the American conitnent. Besides, it is thought to reflect upon the wisdom of the Deity, to permit so large a part of the globe to remain during u so long a time" unpeopled.

The second objection is drawn from the number of different languages spoken in North and South America, which Mr. Jefferson and others have thought incompatible with the idea of so recent an arrival on this continent, as even three or four thousand years.

In respect to the first objection, it were sufficient to reply, that it assumes a position which needs itself to be proved, and can therefore nev*

ORIGIN OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

er be the basis of solid argument. On this subject, Dr. Godman, in hU Natural History, observes ; wt There is neither extravagance nor impropriety in the opinion, that the two continents were originally one, and being continuous, the only difficulty is removed, that could be urged against the approach of population from the extremity of Asia. But in addition to all the reasons that can be urged in support of the doctrine we maintain, it should not be forgotten, that there are strong evidences, derived from astronomical and geological observations, proving the axis and poles of our globe to be not now precisely where they originally stood. It is therefore very unfair to decide against the probability of peopling America from the extremity of Asia, if we reason from the existing climate of the countries adjacent to East Cape, or Cape Prince of Wales, the two nearest points of Asia and America.

" The greatest difficulty thrown in the way of this opinion, was thought to be the striking difference between the Esquimaux and the common Indians, seeming to prove that they were derived from different races or kinds. We are informed in Crantz's History of Greenland, that the Moravian Missionaries, who visited the countries inhabited by the Esquimaux, were much surprised to find that they were in all respects similar to the Greenlanders, and made use of the same language ; shewing that the Esquimaux had sprung from the same race, and had gradually reached their present residence from the extreme northern parts of Europe. This fact, now rendered undeniable by more recent researches, entirely invalidates the conclusion, that the Esquimaux were derived from another species. The resemblance existing between these people and the Siberians, Kamtschadales, Tunguse, &c. is manifest ; and notwithstanding they differ in many respects from other inhabitants of the New World, they are undeniably descended from the same parent stock, coming from different parts of the globe. The copper-colored natives of America, who are the most numerous of the aborigines, approach more closety to the Asiatic Tartars in color and stature, and this because they are descendants of that race arriving in America from the extremity of Asia."

In respect to the second objection, the same writer observes ; " Granting, as we are perfectly willing to do, the great lapse of time which would be requisite for the production of such radical changes, we do not think the objection derived from the languages more solid than those heretofore mentioned. As far as the researches of philologers have extended, we do not find that there is so much difference in the dialects of our aborigines, as the arguments of these objectors would seem to imply. Throughout a large mass of this native population, a very perceptible connexion of language is apparent, and the relation to a parent stock is fairly evident. Even allowing that the amount of difference is as great, as could be desired by our opponents, the comparison of the aboriginal dialects with those of European nations, is by no means a correct mode of deciding the point. If, according to our idea, people reached this country at different times, from the extreme north of Europe, or the northeast of Asia, the immense extent of country they were gradually to fre scattered over, the new objects by which they were surrounded, and the new modes of life they assumed, would all conspire to produce a change in their language in a much shorter time than could take place on the old continent, where their wanderings must have been, 2*