An excellent Remedy for Corns.-Take two ounces of gum-ammoniac, two ounces of yellow wax, six drachms verdigris: melt them together over a slow fire, and spre the ointment on a piece of linen or thin leather. Pare as much of the corn as you can, with a sharp penknife and apply the plaster to the part affected. If the com not effectually eradicated in a week, renew the plaster but, unless in very bad corn cases, the second applicati of the plaster will be found unnecessary. Advertisements. STAMMERING REMOVED, ON THE MOST APPROVED SYSTEM, BY MR. STAFFORD, OF LIVERPOOL, feet for upwards of twenty years. SEQUESTERED BURIAL-PLACES. [Continued from our last.] HE CEMETERY OF MOUNT ST. LOUIS, OR THE (FROM THE LITERARY ŠOUVENIR.) "The Grave of France."-Lord Byron. Correspondence. MUSICAL CRITICISM. TO THE EDITOR. SIR,-Although I am favoured with a regular trans- in such case, act by Amateur as a certain wary lawyer did by a friend, who, after he had stated a case, and simply asked him "how he would have him to act," as simply recommended him to "take advice !"-I am, Sir, yours, &c. MUSICUS. MADRAS SYSTEM. TO THE EDITOR. SIR,-You have repeatedly promised to discuss the point, whether Dr. Bell or Mr. Lancaster are entitled to the merit of having discovered the "new system of education," but still you defer giving us the satisfaction we may probably derive from your own opinion on the subject, or from the information afforded by your correspondents. is burial ground, in which stands the now deserted of the celebrated Père La Chaise, the Confessor of XIV. is beyond all comparison the most picturesque Ivantageous of those points of view, with which the yourhood of Paris abounds. The prospect from the arts of the ground is commanding and beautiful in reme, and stretches from the Castle of Vincennes at-Martre, an angle of about one hundred and sixty s. The city of Paris, with its splendid spires and is burning in the glories of a setting sun, forms a ag contrast to the scene immediately around you. urface of the cemetery, which extends over a space having doubts upon the other. As I had no doubt at all dice in favour of either one of these gentlemen or the I A musical correspondent of yours, under the modest signature of Amateur, asked for information on two points of musical science. Different gentlemen replied to his queries; but, very properly, spoke positively to one only, upon either, I spoke conclusively to both, and herein certainly considered myself his most satisfactory informant. did him the favour, moreover, to remark on one of his chords, which he himself passed by; and I considered that I still further added to my good and valuable service in my hint to him upon the subject of specification and completeness in the employment of terms; the importance of which to science generally your correspondent has to learn cannot be invalidated, or at all affected, by a silly sneer. I fear, however, from his quoting the words negligent" and slovenly," that the expression by which ty acres, is much varied, and of this, judicious ad- he subdued hum of the Parisian multitude, a wreath, number of tombs has greatly increased during the w years, and fashion and ostentation, which play so freaks on the busy stage of life, intrude their follies heir fripperies even into this quiet and beautiful ary; and the modest stone with its emblematic over which the cypress mourned, and the willow drooped, has given place to the obelisk, the pyraand the temple; for it seems to be the object now to each succeeding tomb surpass in expense and magIce the previous erections, and display at once the and extravagance of those who raise them. a succession of discords. EXAMPLE 2. t -&c. My own opinion has been long ago formed, and I have never seen occasion to aiter it. But I did not form it on mere conjecture, nor was I swayed by the slightest prejuother. My opinion rests on facts which are indisputable, and to which thousands can bear testimony. The truth of these facts can never successfully be called in question, so long as the publications to which I shall refer are in the hands of countless numbers, and which are more than sufficient to convince all those persons who are not wilfully blind. My principle is, "render to all their due;" and while I freely acknowledge all the merit due to Mr. Lancaster, , I cannot allow him to bear away the palm of discovery, which so notoriously belongs to another. The general principle which constitutes the new system of education is mutual tuition, or the method of teaching a school through the medium of the scholars themselves. On this hinge the whole system turns, and it was discovered in India by Doctor Bell himself. After having been successfully practised there for several years, the whole process was detailed in "a report of the Madras Asylum, to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, in London." This report was printed after its arrival in London, in the year 1797, and may be read by all who wish to see so unquestionable and important a docu. ment. Mr. Lancaster informs us, in his “ Improvements in Education," &c. which went through three editions, from 1803 to 1805, that "in the year 1798 he opened a school for the instruction of poor children, in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and the knowledge of the Holy. Scriptures; the children were taught at the low price of fourpence per week." And he adds, "I knew of no modes of tuition, but those usually in practice." Mr. L. in another part of the same publication, says, " Doctor Bell's method has been crowned with complete success; refer the reader to Doctor Bell's pamphlet; he cannot do better than procure one, and read it himself, which will save me going more into detail, and afford him greater satisfaction." These quotations are, I think, sufficiently decisive concerning a question on which every one ought long ago to have been convinced, especially as the new system was discovered and practised for several years before Mr. Lan circumference of the burial ground of Mount St. The same, with the resolving notes written, which are, in and I have been endeavouring to walk in his footsteps. I is upwards of two miles. The house of the Jesuit, the former, supplied by the mind: La Chaise, is rendered, by its situation, a commandbject; but its architecture is mean, and its tout-enby no means picturesque. It is uninhabited, but watch-dogs are chained during the day in its lower Père La Chaise was the general of his order; s also Confessor to his monarch, and having fulfilled uties of that important situation thirty-four years, the 20th of January, 1709, aged eighty-five years. ere are many tombs in the burial ground of Mount ouis to which the eye of the stranger is particularly ted; some being objects of curiosity on account of elebrity of the characters they commemorate, and s for the beauty and simplicity of their epitaphial inions. Of the former class, the tomb of the poet le, which is situated in the higher part of the ground, r the shade of a bower of linden trees, is one of the interesting. Those of Moliere, La Fontaine, Eloisa Abelard, Madame Cottin, Marshals Massena and . with many others of characters scarcely less distinhed, are also well worthy of notice. As a specimen of pathetic simplicity which is not unfrequently to be with, in the inscriptions on tombs in this burial and, we may instance the following brief, but touchepitaph on a young girl. A SA FAMILLE ELLE APPORTA LE BONHEUR; in London, in 1797, and as Mr. L. did not attempt to adopt it till 1801. Before he adopted it in his school, it had also been practised, according to Dr. Bell's instructions, in the school of St. Botolph, Aldgate, London, and at Kendal, in Westmorland. As I have, in my former notice, set down, in very sim-caster ever taught a school, as its details were published ple terms, why the thing, which, in Amateur's "humble opinion," is, cannot be, I am not to be induced to say more thereupon, however "preposterous" my arguments, viz. that because it is the chord of F, FX cannot, conveniently, be concerned in it; and, although "I have spoken, yet said nothing," had Amateur preserved the modest demeanour with which he set out, and which my expression (meant as it was in perfectly good humour, and which I would have as readily addressed in a similar case to any friend) by no means warranted him to put off, I might have been content, upon his secking, to have enlightened him a little further; but, as I am not satisfied with his mode of acknowledgment, he will not get any further information from me so cheaply. I shall hereafter, Mr. Lancaster's mode of operation was, in many respects, different from that of Dr. Bell; but the principle was the same, and was, confessedly, borrowed from the Doctor. And as to his mode of operation, experience has proved it to be so very inferior and inadequate to the ends in view, that it is now universally superseded by that of Dr. Bell, even in schools where such a change was least to be expected. I am, Sir, your humble servant. Liverpool, March 5, 1825. S. GYMNASIA. TO THE EDITOR. SIR,-As you are always ready to listen to the proposal of any measure that may tend to the advantage of your fellow-townsmen, I would call your attention as well as others to a society which is now forming in London, for gymnastic exercises, under the superintendence of a celebrated German, who has made the teaching of these his particular study in his native country, and with great 'success. In my opinion, this will, perhaps, form a new era in the habits of our youth, and I would be happy to see it universally followed throughout the country, particularly in our great commercial towns, where there is so much to enervate and effeminate the minds and bodies of both young and old. reprobate such conduct, esteeming it wholly unwarrant- An American's opinion of Liverpool.-The American papers publish the following extract of a letter from a Virginia lawyer, in England, to his friend in the city of New York: "Liverpool, 1824. "DEAR SIR,-You see that there was something more than talk about a visit to this country: for here I am, after a tempestuous voyage, safely arrived in England. Having been To those who are confined in counting-houses, during the greater part of the day, some kind of exercise is necessary for the preservation of health of body and vigour here only two days, I have seen little as yet; but have, for the of mind; and where could a short time be more profitably Indeed, one who has been in New York may be said to have short time, experienced much of kindness and hospitality. and agreeably spent, for this purpose, than in a gymna-been in Liverpool in miniature. The docks are stupendous sium? As it now is, the Sabbath is generally the only time allowed for recreation, and, in too many instances, this day is much abused and perverted. I would sincerely rejoice to see one of these institutions formed in this town, and am fully persuaded that many of my brother quill-drivers would with pleasure take advantage of such an opportunity of engaging in manly and healthy exercises. The notice I saw of the London institution was in the last number of the Examiner, and I works of art, and in this way the tempestuous Irish sea, and not seen a beggar in the street since my arrival. 1 found no hope you, or some other gentleman of influence, will take without a bribe; nor have I found difficulty in any way since WANTON CRUELTY TO DUMB ANIMALS. S. The following note, and the resolution which accompanies it, ought to have been inserted at the foot of the article on the subject of wanton cruelty to animals, in page 354; as it was in consequence of the appearance of that article that Mr. Martin favoured us with his correspond ence. my arrival. Indeed, I am inclined to think, that John Bull The Beauties of Chess. "Ludimus effigiem bell"............VIDA. SOLUTION TO GAME XL. While. H-6+ H SIR,-Accept my best thanks for the Liverpool Mercury of the 8th instant, and for the very great services you have rendered to the cause of humanity. I have the honour to enclose you a resolution entered into by some medical men of Bath; and I think it would be very important if resolutions of the same import could be obtained from those of the medical profession resident at Liverpool. The white to move, and to give checkmate in five moves We, whose names are underwritten, medical persons, chiefly practitioners, resident at Bath, do hereby engage and declare that we will, as far as in us lies, prevent and discourage by our example, influence, and dissuasion, those painful and cruel anatomical experiments upon living animals, which, to the disgrace of science, in our opinion, are made, sometimes without necessity or utility, and frequently without any adequate end, under the plea of promoting medical knowledge. The gratification of rere curiosity, the illustration of favourite but essential theories, or the repetition of any known and conclusive experiment, we consider very insufficient motives for the infliction of torture. We do thus protest against, and To Correspondents. Fair Play makes his approach under a very prepossessing th "By the bye, Mr. Editor, why do you stop rule. fil the pledge given last week. The fact is that his w temporarily mislaid between the leaves d'art duce them in our present publication. PRECIOUS ANCIENT RELICS-We shall have much plea giving a place next week to the humorous letter of && Glasgow; from whom, judging by the present specia hope to hear further. The Song and Music promised in our last, are postponed until next week. When arranged in type, cupied more space than we had reserved for it, could not give it a place without disturbing the wh rangement of our publication Just before our publication was put to press, we received a favour of Philocribris, and A Lady, who has made as pa penalty of postage, for an offence of which the r 153 OR, Literary and Scientific Mirror. "UTILE DULCI." miliar Miscellany, from which religious and political matters are excluded, contains a variety of original andselected Articles; comprehending Literature, Criticism Men and Manners, sement, Elegant Extracts, Poetry, Anecdotes, Biography, Meteorology, the Drama, Arts and Sciences, Wit and Satire, Fashions, Natural History, &c. &c. forming a handsome Annual ne, with an index and Title-page.—Its circulationrenders it a most eligible medium for Literary and Fashionable Advertisements.-Regular supplies are forwarded weekly to the Agents. 252.-Vol. V. Men and Manners. ANTIQUITIES. DON AN ANCIENT VESSEL, IN A LETTER FROM ELIAS ESO. F. A. S. TO SAMUEL SNUB, ESQ. READ BY MR. SNUB T BE THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, WITH SOME HINTS BY T LATTER. VERY DEAR FRIEND, I have just got into my ion a fragment of an ancient utensil, which I think curiosity, and which I hope will throw considerght upon the domestic habits of the ancient inhabiof Caledonia. It was picked up on the thirteenth t month, on the north-east corner of that oblong field, commonly called the Cow Park, immediately my offices. The utensil, when whole, appears to een round, like an egg-shell cut through the midattened on the end for a base. In colour it is dark formed of the coarsest clay, burned hard, not of ele execution, marks of fingers being discernible on laces, and it is coated with a vitrious substance both and out; but whether it has received this coating gn, or only from being frequently exposed to fire TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 1825. From the handle being broken at the top, it is very probable that it was used hung some distance above the fire, and whatever suspended it has, in process of time, worn the handle; lucky if in its downfall it did not deStroy some poor Caledonian's dinner. I am the more confirmed in this, as from its nature it could not stand sudden heat and cold, and of course would be obliged to be raised some distance above the fire:-happy we are that in our days we are not obliged to trust our dinners to such frail cooking dishes. But you may, perhaps, think I am begging the question in stating it to be a cooking vessel; but I was led to suppose this from its evident early manufacture, and from its form and size; for, at the time it was made, I think they would contine their exertions to attempts for bettering their means of cooking; that being tired of having their mutton continually roasted, they would long for having it boiled, the belly being among all uncivilized nations a principal concern: indeed, I am sorry to say, too much attention is paid to it by civilized people. From its size it could not be used with any advantage for storing provisions. What then could it be for? why, to cook them is the only rational answer in my humble opinion. I would have sent it in by John Drappy, the carrier, PRICE 3d the said precious relic was a drinking cup of the giants, wafted here at the Deluge, and not a part of a Caledonian's clay kettle. I have remarked, that, when the old gentleman is showing his curiosities to the ladies, which he is very fond of doing, there is a general titter set up, particularly among the young ones, when he commences to expatiate upon the Caledonian pot; and I even heard, the other day, the dairy-maid tell the cook, that it was nothing more than a bit of Meg Simpson's (the ploughman's wife's) broken -; but this cannot be true, as a learned man, like my uncle, could never mistake Meg Simpson's broken for a Caledonian cooking pot.-Yours, &c. R. R. Glasgow, December 15, 1824. Natural History. LETTERS ON THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE GLOBE. BY M. ALEX. B. La legère couche de vie, qui fleurit à la surface du globe, ne couvre que des ruines.-Paris: printed, 1824. ing, is a point as to which I have not yet made up but as he sometimes gets tipsy, I did not think it prudent Translated expressly for the Kaleidoscope from a recent French work. d. As the fragment remains, it is of the following nce, the broken edges being amazingly sharp, conthe time it must have lain in the ground till up by the plough. s been found, both by reasoning from general and from facts, that man in his rude state is in on of very few utensils to add to his comfort; a gor hollowed log to hold his provisions, and a log in his wretched hut, are all he has; indeed, in rude state, it is extremely probable that he has hut, log, nor bag, and when he wishes to rest himself t likely would sit down on his hams on the ground: opinion being founded rather on reasoning than s, is rather without the strict bounds of antiquarian h. Among the first steps, however, that man attains lization, is, no doubt, the making of crockery; and yage, copying nature, forms his utensils round, or in rical form: indeed, square things are more difficult ke, and nature, from which he copies, very rarely things square. From these circumstances I am into think that this is of Caledonian manufacture, and ery remote period. That it is not Roman I think is n, as I believe that nation made use, in general, of { cooking dishes; at any rate, it is not likely they d bring any other to so distant a station. Although yet decided as to the cause of the vitrious coating, yet her think it arises from accident, as the coating of cery shows a rather further advanced state of civilizathan I am inclined to allow to the makers of this relic mes gone by. On reading the preceding letter, Mr. Snub begged to say, that he did not agree with his friend in supposing that the vessel received its vitrified coating from being used in cooking, as if this had been the case, it would only have been vitrified on the outside. But still he thought Mr. Grub right in the hypothesis as to its age, for we know the ancient Caledonians were acquainted with the process of vitrifying; witness the remains of their vitrified forts. This being his opinion, he was led to think that the vessel was intended for a higher purpose than cooking, for he thought the Caledonians would hardly have taken so much trouble about any cooking dish. He took it to be a fragment of some vessel used in Druidical worship. Whatever it was he thought it well deserving deep consideration. The society ordered the letter to be printed, with Mr. Snub's remarks. SIR, I have copied the preceding from a report of an antiquarian society, which my worthy uncle, Mr. Grub, has just received. He has had the precious relic, referred to above, stuck upon the table of his study, covered with a bell glass, among Etruscan vases, pigs and pots, ironpans, knife blades, and broken skull-caps, dirks and armour, used, good lack! in the wars of Noah's grandfather; and, indeed, it looks nearly as well as a piece of crockery which he has, and which he verily believes is part of Japhet's porringer. Indeed, it is amazing to me, that, when seeing the two together, it did not strike him that LETTER XII. OF OSSEOUS CLEFTS AND CAVERNS. Most of the bones of fossil ruminants are found incrustated in the midst of the concretions which fill the clefts of certain rocks, upon the coasts of the Mediterranean. These clefts, which have derived the name of osseous clefts from the bones contained in them, are among the most remarkable phenomena in geology. No satisfactory explanation can, in fact, be proposed of their production in the places where they are found, nor of the resemblance which they bear to each other, with respect as well to the nature of the rocks in which they are excavated, as to the matter contained in them; neither can any reason be given why they are limited to the coasts of the Mediter ranean. The nature of the bones, deposited in these clefts, adds much to the interest which they excite, since it proves that their formation took place at a much more ancient period than has, till now, been supposed. They do not, in fact, belong to ruminants of the countries where they are found, but to races of animals contemporary with the fossil elephant and rhinoceros. It may, therefore, be concluded, that the only reason why the bones of these quadrupeds are not also found in the same clefts is, that their large dimensions have prevented them from falling into them. The principal osseous clefts are those of Gibraltar, Antibes, Nice, &c. The examination of them has tended much to bring to perfection the study of antediluvian zoology, since it has been the means of making known fourteen or fifteen species of animals, of moderate size, which had never been found elsewhere. All circumstances concur to prove, that the rocks, in which these osseous clefts are formed, were dry at the time of their formation: the bones and fragments of stone, contained in the clefts, have, says M. Cuvier, fallen successively into them, and have since been held together by the cement that was gradually accumulated there. The stones generally proceed from the rock to which the cleft belongs. The osseous clefts have preserved for us numerous remains of ruminants; the caverns containing bones afford us the means of improving our knowledge of the carnivorous animals contemporary with them. You have most probably, Madam, heard of these famous caverns; the most celebrated are those found in the country of Blanckenbourg, and in the Electorate of Hanover, which have been described by Leibnitz. It would be very erroneous to suppose that these ancient dens of wild beasts are mere cavities, excavated in rocks to the depth of a few feet. Represent to yourself a succession of numerous grottos, ornamented with stalactites of all forms, exceedingly variable in height and breadth, and communicating with one another by apertures so narrow that a man can hardly creep through them. These grottos often extend to very considerable distances. A modern naturalist (M. de Valpi) who explored a series of them, advanced within them three whole leagues, almost constantly in the same direction. His further progress was prevented by a lake, which he had no means of crossing. At the end of two leagues he found bones, which he supposed to have belonged to the palæotherium; but M. Cuvier has recognised them to be the remains of a large species of bear, known under the name of bear of the caverns, whose bones are more common in these subterranean places than those of any other species. Bones of tigers, wolves, foxes, and weasels, are also found in caverns. The remains of the hyæna species are particularly numerous there. The hyænas of the ancient world had the same propensity as those of the present day for digging up dead bodies, in order to carry the bones to their dens, where they ground them with their teeth, which were of a form peculiarly adapted by nature for the mastication of the hardest substances. These creatures contributed, no doubt, more than any other carnivorous animals, to fill the places of their refuge with the bones of herbivorous animals and large quadrupeds of every species. They did not even spare their own species; for it has been remarked, that their bones are not less broken than those of the other animals buried with them. There has even been found a fractured skull of a hyæna, bearing evident marks that the fracture had been healed; it was, therefore, probably, the result of one of the combats which so frequently take place amongst these animals. Very few remains of carnivorous animals are found in the large light layers, containing so many remains of the herbivorous animals contemporary with them. Remains of the species of the hyæna have been found in considerable quantities at Cronstadt, near Aichstedt. Some bones of bears have also been discovered in other places; but the number of them is very small, compared with the prodigious quantities contained in the caverns. The greatest part of the bones contained in the caverns. the most anciently known, and the most frequented, have been removed from them. These singular places were, during a long time, objects of curiosity to the neighbouring people; and, as medicinal virtues were attributed to the bones deposited in them, they were carried away in order to be sold to apothecaries, who preserved them, under the name of licorne fossile. The existence of these caverns is a very curious pheno. menon in every respect: the remains deposited in them prove to us, that animals, of species, genera, and classes, entirely different from each other, lived together, during the ancient order of things, although the species analogous to them cannot, at the present period, support the same climate. Thus, animals, now found only in the torrid zone, formerly lived in the same countries with species now known to exist only in the coldest regions. menon. The bones of the auroch are, in many places, found buried with those of the elephant. This is the case in the Val d'Arno. opinions, if it had not since been ascertained that they had been precipitated, at no very distant period, into clefts, where they remained during some centuries, covered with stony and earthy matter, and that they were at length accidentally dug up by workmen, to the great astonist. ment of people who did not consider the nature of the places where they were found. But, although many discoveries tend to prove incontes. tably that the antediluvian world was, in many respects, very different from that now inhabited by us, there are, on the contrary, others, by means of which it is known, that carnivorous animals formerly existed in nearly the A theologian, of the name of Scheuchzer, author of s the same proportion that they now exist, and that their system upon the theory of the earth, was led into errer, in way of living was very similar. It may also be remarked, a different manner. He had found some bones, really in that the carnivorous animals found in caverns, which were a fossil state, buried in very ancient soil, and published contemporary with the elephant and rhinoceroses of our an account of the discovery, under the title Home diluri countries, differed much less from the present races of car-testis. These remains proved to be the skeleton of a large nivorous animals, than the herbivorous animals of the lizard, of the genus proteus, which, like most of the repsame period differ from those known to us. The fossil tiles of the ancient world, was much superior in size to the great bear, great tiger or lion, and hyæna, although very animals of the corresponding species now living. similar to the animals analogous to them now living, do indeed, nevertheless, belong to extinct species; but it is impossible satisfactorily to distinguish the other carnivorous animals found in caverns, from the corresponding species of the present day. But, Madam, though these ancient caverns are exceedingly interesting on account of the remains contained in them, there is another circumstance which renders them still more curious; I mean the absence of the bones of certain animals, whose species may thence be reasonably supposed not to have been in existence at that time. It is a very important consideration, that human bones are not in the number of those found in the caverns. Now, as the hyænas of that period, like those of the present time, dug up from the earth the dead bodies of all sorts of animals indiscriminately, in order to carry them away to their dens, it cannot be supposed that they would have spared the bodies of men, had the human race then been in existence. The discovery of the petrified men of Guadaloupe seemed, during a long time, favourable to the opinion of the antediluvian antiquity of the human specia. The French government having heard accounts of this pheno menon, ordered researches to be made for the bone in question; but, in the mean time, the colony fell into the possession of the English, and they reaped the advantages of the discovery. Nevertheless, our Museum contin many very curious parts of these remains, from viti positive conclusions may be drawn. The bones of Guadaloupe evidently belong to the hmm species; but they are not fossil bones. It is true that they are surrounded by the stony substance in which they wan fixed; but this substance is not incorporated with the They evidently belong to men, who, at a period, pesur not very remote, were shipwrecked upon the coast, and remained buried there. The layer, in which they found, consists of a collection of shells reduced a and connected together by a strong cement. They The same remark may be made, with respect to the undergone no alteration, except that occasioned by dia numerous families of monkeys. Not a single bone has length of time that has elapsed since the period of t been found in the caverns, by which it may be inferred deposition. There is nothing in their appearance rate that they existed at the period of which we are speaking. bling fossilisation, which is, in fact, a new modification The bones of bats have never been found in a fossil any substance effected by the creative powers of the state, nor, in general, any trace of the genus quadruma-ter in which it is enclosed. Now I repeat that natur, nus, which contains the primates of Linnæus. it now exists in the mineral kingdom, seems to You are aware, Madam, that the existence or non-ex-longer endued with a sufficient degree of activity to p istence of the human race, at the period in question, is our duce this effect. most interesting subject of inquiry. Now, according to the observations quoted by many authors, no fact has been better ascertained than the fossilisation of human remains, although they have not been found in the caverns. It has even been recently announced, that human skulls, and other bones, have been found mixed with the remains of elephants. It is affirmed, that the form of these bones, particularly of the skulls, denotes the existence of an ancient race of men, very different from that now inhabiting the globe. But before we decide on this subject, we must wait for the publication of the documents, in which it is treated, and for the judgment of the men, who ought, in these matters, to be the guides of public opinion. I may also observe, that we have not yet received sufficiently authentic information respecting the pretended human skulls found in caverns, which must have belonged to men who had no incisive teeth. I shall merely inform you, in this letter, what are the grounds of all the opinions that have been advanced with regard to the fossilisation of human remains. First, it is now acknowledged, that mistakes have frequently been occasioned, by the difficulty of distinguishing the nature of the soil, in which the human bones that have been found were deposited. No positive inference can be drawn from the inspection of those found in places retaining traces of works formed by the hands of men, since, at however great depths they may be, they are buried in alluvial soil, deposited since the existence of the last order of things. The fact, that fossil human bones have never been f is the most convincing proof that nature is, in her pre state, incapable of effecting fossilisation. Man is lab perish, in every possible variety of circumstances: the dies of miners remain buried in mines; navigators precipitated to the bottom of the sea; fishermen perial rivers; human remains are confided to the earth, in e latitude, from the poles to the equator-and they a where found in a fossil state. Fossilisation, relig does not depend upon any degree of temperature, climate, the nature of the soil, &c. But, perhaps it may be suggested, that hum have not been found in a fossil state, because th capable than the bones of other animals of resig causes of destruction, which tend to decompose then, fore the surrounding bodies have had time to at them. This supposition is not admissible; since perceived, that human bones, left upon the field of h experience a more speedy decay than the bones of h subjected to the same causes of destruction. Human remains have been found in the vaults of ancient church of Sainte Genevieve, which must have he buried there during the earliest period of the mate and which, probably, belonged to the princes of the race: they had, nevertheless, preserved their form. Animals, not exceeding the mouse in size, and of greater antiquity than the fossil elephants, have been in a fossil state; there is, therefore, no reason why bones of men should not also be discovered, if they been subjected to the causes of fossilisation in favo The human bones found incrustated in the interior of circumstances. The history of fossils presents us with the same pheno- rocks, might more easily have given rise to erroneous There are, nevertheless, sufficient proofs, that ster |