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Show 164 A PPENDTX. and virtue and benevolence, as when their feelings of regard for each other and each other's rights are excited into active exercis~? And_ what moment so suitable for presenting to their view the baneful eflects of Improper_ conduct, whether it consist of unkindness to eac~ other, or_ of deceit, of fals eloood, or of theft, as when tSOmc one of their compamons has been guilty of one or these offences? Their feelings wi~l become tendered on tl~e occasion, and while they learn to detest the comrn1ttal of a wrong, they wtll be taught to pity the individual who thus suffers on account of it. Besides tl1e above essay, two others, written by females, were read by the Secrctary,-onc on "Femal~ Decision of Character,_" and the .other on "Rhetoric." Answers to qucshOil.!il proposed at a prevwus meeting were then reaU as follows: 1. "Tf?!wt is the cause of Eart!tquakes?-RefcrreU to J .. YDIA GIL~ LINGHAl't1. AsswER.-As earthquakes are the most formidable ministers of nallne, it is not to be wondered nt, that a multitude of writers have been industriously engaged in their consideration, and it would be. tedious ~o giv.e all the various opinions that have employed the speculat1ve on this subject. So dreadful have been their appearances, that men's terrors have added new horrors to the scene, and they have regarded as prodigies that which we on a more tranquil investigation shall fintl are prod~JCed by very ob_vi_ous and. natural causes. But in the pres~ntstate of geologica) knowledge, Ills not to be expected that any theory which can be proposed will account for every circumstance connected with this phenomenon of nature. There are many circumstances which indicate such a connection between Earthquakes and Volcanos, as may warrant the conclusion that they de~ pend upon the same general cause. Both these pheno.men~ ar~ manifestly owing to the agency of subterranean heat; but there ts thts difference be~ tween them, the fury of the Volcano is spent in the eruption, that of the Earthquake spreads wide and acts more fatally by being confined. The Volcano only afli·ights a province, Earthquakes have laid whole kingdoms in ruin. Volcanic eruptions of lava in a state of igneous fusion, of red hot stones and ashes, and of columns of steam, afford suflicient evidence of the very high temperature that must subsist in the interior of the earth. Many instances might be adduced of the great quantities of lava emitted by some Volcanos, proving the existence of an immense mass of igneous matter ~n~er the surface of the earth; when this mass is disturbed, as by the admiSSIOn of water, an Earthquake is the consequence, and this becomes more or less disastrous according to the degree of internal commotion. If, then, Earthquakes and Volcanos depend on the same causes, the source of these phe~ nomena must be very deeply seated below the earth's surface; for, though Volcanos might be regarded as confined to certain localities, the action of Earthquakes seems to be almost unlimited, since these concussions of the surface have been felt over nearly half the globe. Volcanos, therefore, may be considered as safety-valves by means of whioh some portions of the sub~ stances in fusion, which form the internal mass, escape from time to time, with violence, to flow over the surface of the soil, and the Earthquakes are diminished in force, or cease entirely because the internal pressure is thus relie.ved. From all which has been adduced on this subject, we cannot but conclude, that the phenomena of Earthquakes and Volcanos indicate the LYCF.UiU EXI::RCISJ::S, IG:> existence of an ocean of melted lnvR, constantly existing at an unknown depth under the surface of the earth, and that these phenomena may, in most of their varieties, be accounted for by such an hypothesis, and by no other which has yet been proposed. h is, therefore, reasonable to infer that such a mass of igneous matter docs actually exist. 2. " Jif/!wt is the origin of those JJfeteoric Stones which have fallen to the earth, at various period:1 of lime since the creation ?-Referred to MARY R. "\V.J.:•rnERALD. ANswEn.-Most persons are familiar with the history of what has been called Atmospheric or Meteoric Stones; their orig-in, however, is still a In)~:~r~~s theories have been formed on this subject, as on most others about which there is any uncertainty. Some learned men maintain that they are the smaller fragments of a large celestial body wh.ich once existed between Mars and Jupiter, (and from whose larger porlions the planets Ceres, Vesta, Juno, and Pallas were formed;) and that when the particles thus detached arrived within the sphere of the earth's attraction, they re~ volve:l round that body at dilTerent distances, and fell upon its surface in consequence of a diminution of their centrifugal force; or bei1~g. struck by the electric fluid, they are precipitatated on the earth, and exhtb1t all those phenomena which usually accompany th~ descent of .l\1e.teoric Sto_nes .. According to a French philosoph~r, Igneous mounta1~s were 111 anm_ent times endued with mighty force; and tt appears not at all1mprobable to h1m, that from the said mountains masses of matter were propelled from an immense depth, to such a height as to perform spir_al ~ircumgyrations somewhere within the limits of our planetary system, tdl 111 the course or ages they came to pop down and tal\e their rest on the surface of mother earth. Some suppose that they are generated. in our own atmosphere. bJ: some chemical action; but this is an assumption repugnant to every pnnc1ple of science. Others think tho.t they have been thrown from Volc<tnos in the moon, beyond the re:wh of its attraction, and. within the Sf? here ~f tl.Ie ea.rth's gra~ vity: this also is declared to be a fauc1ful hypothesis, whiCh IS neither ~ug~ gested by facts, nor founded on analogy? as_ such Volcanos are not ~e~tam!y known to exist, and such force of proJection has never been exhibtted 111 in any Volcanic eruption on our earth. There are many objections llrgcd against all these theories; and whether Meteoric Stones are the fragments of the "lost pleiad," projected from lunar or earthly Volcanos, or compounded in the regions of air, is a ques~ tion not likely to be soon, if ever, decided. A number of scattered facts have, however, been brought together, and generalized, for some future philosopher to work upon, from which he may perhaps deduce a theory that will clear away the mystery which now envelopes their origin. 3. u What is the cause of the .fog, which sometimes overspreads London, r.uusing darkrtes .., to walk in mid,-day, with her ~ra~n of haiJ·-brea~lth escapes and fatal accidents-why are 'tts retu.rns J:enodlCal, and why 'lS Lond~n the radiating point? Do clouds, ram, 1mst, dew, frost, snow, and !tatl, z>roceedfrom the same cause?"-Ueferred to SAl'ttUEL WEnn. ANswEn.-The atmoBphere contains an elastic, transparent, invisible, and intangible Jlnid, called vapor Oi' steam, which, by reduction of its tempera- |