The Sun.
London, England, 1829-12-01 00:00:00

THE RIVER.

(From tlie British Naturalist.)

There is no object in nature of which the asso-
ciations are more delightful than a river. The
mountain and the lake have their sublimi:y ; and in
the economy of nature they have their uses—the
mountain is the father of streams, and the lake is
the regulator of their discharge. The lofty summit
attracts and breaks the clouds, which would other-
wise not be carried so far inland, or would pass over
without falling to fertilize the earth. These are col-
lected in snow, and laid up in a store against the
bleak drought of the spring; and as the water, into
which the melting snow is gradually converted during
the thaw, penetrates deep into the fissures of the
rock, or into the porous strata of loose materials,
the fountains continue to pour out their cooling
stores during the summer. The lake, as has been
mentioned, prevents the waste of water which would
otherwise take place in mountain rivers, as well as
the ravage and ruin by which that waste would ba
attended.

These have their beauty and their value ; but
they cannot, in either respect, be compared to the
river. They are fixed in their places, but that is
continually in motion—the emblem of life—the
source of fertility—the active servant of man—and
one of the greatest means.of intercourse, and, con-
sequently, of civilization. The spots where matt
first put forth his powers as a rational being, were
on the banks of rivers; and, if no ,Euphrates had
rolled its waters to the Indian Ocean, and no Nile
its flood to the Mediterranean, the learning of the
Chaldeans and the wisdom of the Egyptians would
never have shone forth; and the western world,
which is indebted to them for the rudiments of
science, and the spirit which leads to the cultiva-
tion.of science, might _have still been its it sisa':of
ignorance. and *barbarity no way superior to that of
the nations of Australia, where' the want of rivers
separates the people into little hordes, and prevents
that general intercourse -Which 'is essential to even a
very moderate degree of civilization.

The river is a minister of health and puri►y. IC
carries off the superabundant moisture, which, if
stagnating on the surface of the ground, would be
injurious both to plants and animals. It carries off
to the sea those saline products, which result from
animal and vegetable decomposition, and which soon
convert into deserts those places where_ there are no
streams. When the alkalis and alkaline earths, that
enter into the composition of organized bodies, are:
once united with the more powerful acids, they cease
to be capable of again forming part of the living
structure. Lime, which, chiefly combined with
phosphoric acid, enters largely into the composition
of bones, combines more intimately with sulphuric
acid, and is then unavailing for animal purposes.—
It is the same with those alkalis which ewer into
the composition of plants and animals. iVass and
soda are the alkalis usually found in vegetate es; and.
the acids, with which they are found in combina-
tion, are, principally, the carbonic and acetic, though
in saline plants growing near the sea, there is usually
a small portion of muriate of soda, or common salt.— .
Now these combinations are. easily .dissoved by
sulphuric or nitric acids, and the compound,i which
these form with the alkalis cannot• be again
dissolved by the weaker acid; so that it' potass
of soda be once united to either of those acids, it
ceases to be fit for entering into the vegetable struc-
ture. The alkali which is found most abundant iii
animal structures, is soda, and the acids with which
it is found combined are principally the muriatic and
and phosphoric, or some.haviug a weaker attraction
for it than the muriatic. Ammonia is obtained•_
abundantly in the decomposition of animal matter;
but there much reason to believe that it is formed
during the process. Now, whenever any of those.,
,salts are changed to the nitrate or the sulphate, or
when any of their alkaline bases are combined with
nitric or sulphuric acid—combinations that are sure
to take place in every instance when the salt or the
base comes in contact with either of these acids.—
a substance is formed which cannot,_by any natural
process of which we have any knowledge, be again
separated so that the alkali may again enter into the
composition of an organic structure. Thus, if these
substances were allowed to remain, they would gra-
dually accumulate, and that termination both of ani-
mal and of vegetable life would be the consequence.
Of this we have many proofs : in those warm
regions which through the want of irrigation by
water, have become deserts, there is alwas a crust
of some of those salts upon the surface; and the
beds of dried-up lakes in warm climates contain
quantities of the same, while all their vicinity is
sterile. On the surface of the neglected lends, the
coast is comparatively thin, but in the basins that
once were lakes (as in some of those in Mexico),•
it. is several inches, or even feet, in thickness. The
greater thickness in the beds of the lakes shows'
that there must have been an accumulation there
while the bed was filled with water ; and hence it'
is evident that the purification of the soil front
saline compounds, deleterious -to vegetable and tini-
mal life, is one of the most important functions of
rivers; and if not so immediately nece,sury to the
existing race of-beings,at lea.t essential to their per-
manent continuation.

NEW PUB LICA T 1 oNs.---The following
works are published thia day by llLNitv- COLEURN and
RICHARD BENTLEY, New Burlington-street:—Tales at
an Indian Camp, 3 vols-2. Memoirs of Botavaa, Pre
sident-Liberator of the Republic of Colombia, 2 vols.
with Portrait-L---3. Tales of a Briefless Barrister; 3 vols--
4. 1)r. EDMUND CALAMY'S Historical Account of his
own Life and Times, 2 vols. Bvo. with fine Portrait-5.
The Memoirs and Private Correspondence of TrromAs
JEFFERSON, late President of the United States, 2 vols.
tivo. with Portrait-6. Lieut. HARDY'S Travels in. the
Interior of Mexico, 1 vol. Svo. with a map and numerous
illustratiou.S.

NEWBURGH.—Our report last week of the
serious distress prevalent in this town, we are glad to he
told, was rather exaggerated, and we are now happy to
learn that the fever is abating. We cannot sufficiently
recommend to the inhabitants every cure and attention to
cleanliness, not only in dwelling-houses, but in the streets
and lanes, and that all dung-hills be as speedily as possible
removed therefrom. They should als4 avoil an immode-
rate use of fruit, with which this plate so much abounds.—
Perth Advertiser.

NEWS FOR MALTIIUS.—The rriile;pieS Of
thiA celebrated " Professor of Population," as ?le may net
unaptly be termed, are making as little priilets in the
North of Scotland as in Ireland ; for we are given to un-
derstand, that in several of our parish churches there were
as many good people published, as JONATILAN has it, last
Sunday, as there will be on some occasions for six months.
If matters go on for any length of time this rate, our
population will become so redundant, that it will be ne-
cessary for the half of us to turn earmibals.—Elgin
Courier.

- -
(From a Correspondent of the Times )—All
opposition to the BEarsronns has calved in the county of
Waterfoid. Mr. WINSTON BARRON has resigned his
pretensions : this, perhaps, after all V at has occurred,
was to he expected. But you were net prepared to ex-
pect. I believe, that some of the leading Catholic interests
in Waterford In.-Ye signified their intention to suppOrt the.
Waerford family against all competitors ! This, I un-
ders'and from authority not likely to be deceived or de-
ceive me, is the fact. l'he peop:eappear to be really tired
of agitation ; and as thollEnEsmitos have declared their
intention to suppOrt the present order.of things, and to
ass'st in cultivating the blessings calaveipation is
already bestowing on the country, the good people of Wa-
terford seem disposbd to take them at their word. How-
ever justly obnoxious this family have been, it cannot he
head of the family liaS been generally resident on his estates.
just to
f
the
t
ea' ir:Lnnft family.
i in that county. They
(II:ill:se do:
character
ate
tteirle}i'
it
were:iis
omeyx li“iitliodllvordthaslei,Dacnslas,ints;drfoendotent:balo:yjtf
arp, s a
sort of set-off to the manifold' political sins of which they
Ecclesiasticaltaetlrt
have been guilty in fernier tmodi
inliltyeh.sue.B.CElasNtsFhto:nor is the characttr
confined to f
e
deserve the character from their tenants in the north
Seminary tsontasl,citu.
best and
of Ireland. Now a good rtsident landlord is an object of
great affection to the people of Ireland, who cannot, I am
forced to confess, boast much on this score generally; and
thus you will perceive, -that in this, as well as in several
other instances, private virtues are received as an atone-
meat for public offences.