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¦ 302 tHE; : L:E:A:D|i:.;,.:.v,,,:v;; *<...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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" At A Later Period, Humboldt Also Calle...
names that claim a place in its history ; and it is in the course of tilings S a German should hare the honour of having ^ a ^ the ^ jience of Physical Geography , which Karl Bitter must be allowed to have done . Every one famuiar with philosophic speculation wjU be aware of the absolute importance of apoint a / view-a , standpxmM , as the Germans caU it Though no sagacity will availwithout . well-grouped facts , yet all tne facts withm reach of man are incompetent to tne solution of a smgle problem . Facts are the materials of which Science is the Architect , y It is because this simple truth is not sufficiently present to men s minds that so many Hodmen in our time pass as Architects . _ ' # i ¦ ^ What was Rijier's point of view P It was this : —Considering our planet as the theatre whereon the great drama of'human life was acted , he asked himself , What are the fundamental conditions of the form of the surface socie
of the globe most favourable to the progress of man and of human - ties P To answer that question , he restudied the facts , and discovered so many unperceived relations , that he earned for himself the title of Father of Scientific Geography . , _ _ , He showed that the lands are far more numerous in the north than in the south , and that if we draw a great circle through the coast of Peru and the south of Asia , the surface of the globe will bx e divided into two hemispheres . The land hemisphere contains the most extensive terrestrial masses , the nearest together and the most important ; the oceanic hemisphere contain only vast oceans , in which appear here and there the peninsular extremities of the principal lands narrowed and dispersed , with Australia the smallest and most isolated of the continents . JN ot without reason is London the great Mart of the World , for it is nearly in the centre of the land hemisphere , and its central position makes it a natural
meeting point ! „ ¦ , . , " The second general fact with regard to the grouping of the lands , is that ol their combination in two great masses , the Old World and the New World , the forms and structure of which make a striking contrast , and give to each a marked character of its own . # " The point of contrast which strikes one most is , that the direction of their greatest extension is the inverse in the two worlds . The principal mass ofthe Old World stretches from east to west over one-half of the circumference of the globe ; while its width is much less , and occupies , in Asia , only a part of the space which separates the equator from the pole . In Europe it is not even equal to the sixth part of the earth ' s circumference . In America , on the contrary , the greatest length extends from the north to the south . It embraces in that direction more than two-thirds of the circumference of the globe , and its width , which & yery
variable , never exceeds a fifth of that space . - " The most remarkable consequence of this arrangement is , that Asia and Europe extend through similar climatic zones , while America traverses nearly all the climatic zones of the earth , and presents in this relation a much greater variety of phenomena . ; »¦ . # ¦ . " But the most important of the geographical relations of configuration ( that which Ritter was the first to bring prominently forward , and of which he has explained the importance with rare felicity ) is the difference which exists between the different continents with regard to the extension of tLe line of their contours . Some are deeply indented , furnished with peninsulas , gulfs , and inland seas ,-which give to the line of their coasts a great length . Others present a mass more compact ; their trunk is , as it were , deprived of members , and the line of the coasts , simple and without many inflections , is proportionally shorter .
" Considered under this aspect , the three principal continents of the Old World form a striking contrast . " Africa is by far the most simple in its form . Its mass is concentrated upon itself . It projects into the ocean no important peninsula , nor any where lets into its bosom the waters of the ocean . It seoms to close itself against every influence from without . Thus the extension of the line of its coast is only 14 , 000 geographical miles ( of 60 to the degree ) for a surface of 8 , 720 , 000 square miles ; so that Africa has only one mile of coast for 623 miles of surface . " Asia , although bathed on three sides only by the ocean , is rich , especially on
its eastern and southern coasts , in largo peninsulas , the chief of which are Arabia and the two Indies , Corea , and Kamtschatka . Whole countries push out into the ocean , as Manchouria and China . Nevertheless , the extent of this continent is such , that , in spite of the depth of the indentations , there yet remains at its centre a greatly preponderating mass of undivided land , which stands to the maritime regions in the relation of tho body to the limbs . Asia is indebted to this configuration for a line of coast of 30 , 800 miles , which is more than double that of Africa , a continent only one-third smaller . Asia , therefore , possesses one milo of coast to 459 square miles of surface .
" Of till the continents , Europe is the one of which tho form of contour is most varied . Its principal mass is deeply cut in all parts , by the ocean and by inland Hcas , and seems almost on tho point of resolving itself into pcninsulus . These peninsulas themselves , as Greece and Scandinavia , repeat to infinity tho phenomena of tho articulation and indentation of coasts , which are characteristic of tho entire continent . Tho inland seas and tho portions of the ocean which its outer limits enclose , form nearly half of its surface Tho lino of its shores is thus extended to 17 , 200 miles , an enormous proportion compared with its small size ; for it is 3200 milcB more than tho const lino of Africa , wliich is nevertheless three times greater . Europe has one milo of const for every 156 square miles of / surface . Hence it is tho continent most open to the Ben for foreign connexions , nt the same timo that it i « tho moHt individualized , and the richest in the variety of its districts .
* " In thin respect there is , as wo seo , a gradation between tho thrco principal continents of tho Old World . Africa is tho most simple ; it is a body without members , u treo without branches . , Asia is a mighty trunk , tho monitors , of winch make only a fifth of it « niii ™ . In Europe tho members overrule tho body , tho branches cqvor tho trunk ; tho peninsulas , form almost a third of its entire surface . Africa is closwl to tho ocean ; Asia opens only its margins ; Europe surrenders entirely to it , and is in consequence tho most accessible of all the continents . The importance of those discoveries will only be estimated when tho student is advanced in his investigations of tho higher questions of Greo-Sxaphical Science , and trios to understand that magnificent . subject—the Life of this Globe . For it must not bo forgotten that Descriptive Geography furnished us with tho facts wherewith to ascend highor , and to interrogate tho processes of nature in tho formation of this planet , past and present . JNot hy Chanco was this World made ; not by accident are
And yet the phrase , ;; ja > jae > r : conp $ pi ^ on of the * world * and one . that for some years has been steadily expanding men ' s minds . Schellinffin his JErster JSntwurf ' einesS ystems' derWatur iphilosophie , and after him Coleridge , ( who had no philosophic notion that wag " not pillaged from Schelling ) in Ins Tfieory of Juife , set forth as' -a Metaphysical truth that whatever is , lives . But as they stated : it ; the position seemed both anti-religious and trivial , and was not widely Accepted . Organic chemistry , however , has in these latter days placed th « idea on such a broad ] basis of evidence , that repugnant though it be to current ppinibns , it must , we believe , prevail . Beferring the studeidt to Mulder ' sjpkysiologischen C / iemie fora thorough investigation of this point , let us here briefly notice a strange aberration of M . G-uybt ' s in the work under notice . He , who has stated with admirable lucidity the arguments which support the notion of I 7 ie Life of our Globe , has nevertheless this remark : ¦—¦ ,
must be usedioritihdicatea / its climates , its flora , its fauna , its human inhabitants , an 4 their vario histories , different among each other : the corelation of physical condition withorganisms , which produces ' the differences between the trotoical a ^ l the arctic vegetation , also produces the differences we note in . the destini of nations . As the land is , will the race be I Perhaps the very phrase , TJte JAfe of " our !? o 5 , will startle you as it has startled ah < jl pained the editor of the adinirable littleworjfcbefore us
" But the term , the life of the globe , may perhaps require justification . ,, I would be far from attempting to assimilate the general life of the globe to the individual life of the plant or the animal , as someunwise philosophersi have done . I know well the wide distance which separates inorganic from organized nature . I believe that there is an impassable chasm between . the mineral and , the plant , between the plant and the animal , between the animal and man . " Upon this we may be permitted to observe , that Organic Chemiatry assuredly rejects the notion of an " impassable chism" between the mineral and the plant , the plant and the animal . Every physiologist will tell tnat tne line oi demarcation Deiweentne animal
Joim , , v < egeu * pie ana xne kingdom—broad and palpable as it is in the higher forms of animal lifeis totally inappreciable m the lowest forms ; which , indeed , the term zoophyte or plant-animal sufficiently shows . But going deeper than that we say , that the ordinary notion or an " impassable chasm * between the mineral and the plant , is a rash assumption unwarranted by evidence . Coal is called an organic substance because we know that it had originally vegetable existence ; but one might almost ; . as well call . flint an organic substance because it had Originally ^^ msect existence ; and it would be difficult to give a ' solid reason for not-classing coals with minerals . At any rate we ask . Does coal live ? NoP ret from the lifeless coal we
get oil , one x > f the organic elements I Where then tv # 1 you draw the line ? Where say , thus far stretches the lifeless inorganic world—here begins the living organic world ? ¦ . Returning to ourpoint , let us see how M . Guyot understands the life of the globe , liie ^ he defines a mutual exchange of relations . There is al the foundation of the idea of life a difference between two or more individuals , which calls out an action and reaction of one upon the other , ^ the incessant alternation of which constitutes the movement we call life . The student of German philosophy will recognise here an old friend with a new face ,. and may perhaps ask , with surprise , how JVC . Guyot , with such a definition of Life , can talk of a chasm between'the mineral and theplant . Before going farther with M . Guyot ' s exposition , we will quote here
tute the greaktexts that subsequent comparative anatomists have commented on : they will enable the reader more thoroughly to understand M . Guyofs view . Goethe says , "No living being is one , but many—not an individual , hut a , plurality . Even when it appears as an individual to us , it is but the reunion of living independent beings . The more imperfect a being is , the more homogeneous it is , i . e ., the more its parts resemble each other and resemble the whole . The more perfect a being is , the more heterogeneous it is , i . e ., the more its parts differ from each other . In the first case , the whole resembles its parts ; in the latter , it does not resemble them . The more the parts resemble each other , the less are they subordinated to each other . Subordination indicates the more perfect being . " «• These are sentences which contain vast chapters , and may not thoreloro bo appreciated at a glance ; but having read them with some thought , tno
student may now turn to M . Guyot : — . . ,. . " Let us see , first , how nature proceeds in tho formation of the organic maiv - dual , tho animal . 'Has subject has been admirably illustrated by my friend lrofessor Agassiz . , - - " Let us follow him , and begin with tho animal , considered in itself as an mam * dual . In a liquid animal matter , without precise form , homogeneous , at lca r appearance , a mass becomes outlined , takes determinate contours , and isi aw - guished from the rest ; it is the egg . Soon , in the interior of the egg , tne c e - ments separate and diverging tendencies are established ; the matter accmnu and concentrates ifcHelf upon certain points ; theso accumulations assume ft tinct forms and more specific characters ; wo seo organs irnccd , a hood , im y > haark . an alimontarv cnnnl . Hut this diversiflcntion does not go on indcnn" « Jj
Under tl » o iniluoncc of a Hpecial force , all tho divorso tendencies arc drawn tog ^ towards a single end ; tho distinct organs are united and coordinated m ono > and porfonn their functions in tho interest and for the service of tho maiv which commands them , , nn " Now in this process the point of departure is n unit , but ft homogeneo «* J without internal diirorcncoH ; a chaotic unit , if I may venturo to say « o ; W _ ^ is a chaos but tho nbaonco of organization in a mas * , of which all tho p « i alike ? . . , r onMB " Tho progress i « diversitt / fyho cstiibliahmont of difference ^ the giving t and functions thoir Hpecial charnotors . v . jivjdtaiil " Tho end is a now unit , the organio or harmonious unit ; for nil tno » ^^^ organs aro not fortuitously aflecmbled , but have each of them thoir p lace a
appointed functions . j , t "The totality of tho * e evolutions is what is ordinarily calkd dev (< lo ^ meJ' H ,, d " Tho progress , we havo said , is diversification } it ia tho variety of org ^ ^^ of functions . What , then , is the condition of a groator amount ot Jito , o . ^ plotcr growth for tho nnimal ? Is it not tho multiplicity and the variwy
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 27, 1852, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27031852/page/18/
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