The native American., 1838-05-19

who could thus like an assassin aim to destroy Tie
reputation of fellow-being. Compare tins Sc
cret attempt to undermine the reputation OF Mr..
Mather, with the open and manly charge OF Mr..
Mather against the United States Geologist, OF
having appropriated to himself portion OF his
labors, and it is Hyperion to satyr. have un-
derstood that Mr.. Mather was educated at the
West Point Military Academy, and is much es-
teemed by those who know him, for his private
worth and scientific attainments. lie volunta-
rilv left the army, and is now employed by one
of the largest and most important States III the
Union at the head of scientific corps to make
geological and other examinations of the State.
This circumstance of itself is conclusive reluta-
ton of the charges alleged against him by the
"Unifed States" Geologist, of being ignorant of
geology and destitute of the honorable feelings of
la gentleman.
From the contemptuous manner in which Mr..
Featherstonhaugh spoke of the article in the Ma
val Magazine, which occasioned the publication
of his pamphlet, l had the curiosity to read it.
On referring to it, 1 found il to be :. review of
recent geological reports occupying about thir-
ty pages of the Magazine, from the pen of an
officer of the U. S. Navy. 1t is written in a
chaste and beautiful style, and gives very com
prehensive view of the origin, progress, and USE
| full purposes of geology, besides commenting in a
Just, liberal, and scientific spirit, upon the seve-
raj geological reports that have recently been
published in this country. The reviewer has
adapted his language to the most ordinary under
standing, and all who read comprehend it,
even without the slightest knowledge OF geology.
| 1t is great pity that the reports of the "Unned
Hates' Geologist had not been written i'll the
same clear and Ineligible style, it would have
saved him the modification of seeing it fall still
born from the press. Mr. F.'s report is a perfect
ND of
readers could as easily comprehend the Choctaw
or any other Barbarian language, as recognise in
It the pure idom Of their mother tongue. 1t is
inflated, obscure, ungrammatica, and full of tech
, nical jargon; and | have heard members of Con-
gress declare over and over again, that they had
never been able to wade through it, either from
disgust at the bombast and pedantry of the geolo-
glst or from the want of mental vision sufficient
ly powerful to penetrate the dark and incoherent
verhiage in which it is shrouded.
: The review on the contrary is anxiously sought
after, and read by all who have heard Of it.
!, know not who the author is, but whatever he
). may be- do not hesitate to pronounce him an
! ornament to our Navy, maugre the contemptuous
t sneer of Mr.. Featherstonhaugh, of the review
? being worthy Of san emanation from the fore
CASTLE" If the forecastle is such fine school
for the study of geology, and produces many such
/ ment would consult its own interest, not only in
an economical point of view, but also in the ac-
t QUESTION of accurate geological information Of the
country, by consigning the United States Geolo-
glst to the pupillage of forecase, in one of our
/, men-ot-war, bound on long cruise.
I | will not detain you longer with any further
reflections of my own, but invite the attention Of
yourself and readers to the suboined extract from
the review, which was my principal object in
r troubling you at this time.
/, ".... A CITIZEN.
"Takng up the Report of the U. S. Geolo-
: glst, we find in it so little to commend, and so
much to condemn, that were it not for the autho-
lrity under which it is heralded forth, we should
pass by it i'll silence. We do not intend a labor
ed review of Mr.. Featherstonhaugh, for tina,
would be giving the document an importance
which, in our humble way Of thinking, it BY no
means deserves.
Ellis style might be called good, aDere it not for
the obscure sentences and grammatical errors with
which he frequently frets the understanding and
ohends the ear of his patent reader. Let his
naurdered English appear in judgment against
him:-'
"'The greater number Of the formations of the
organic division are put down approximately as
to their order of succession.''
1.-The reader may be allowed to gather Gf he
CAM from the authors own words, what he aims
at iii his Report
''' In short, perceiving the general desire to
acquire systematic information on this subject,
what would aim to accomplish is, the putting
into the hands of all who wish to cultivate geo.
logical knowledge, an elementary work which
should not be dry recapitulaton of what was fa-
mlllarly known before, but brief and intelligent
view of the whole subject, explaining the harmo-
ny which prevails in the structure of the earth's
surface, and how important knowledge of its
details are in an economical point Of view, ma
king the whole, at every step, subservient as
much as possible, to the illustration of American
geology"
son page 81, are two remarkable sentences in |
iuxta position; they are very short; the first is
awkward, confused, and scarcely Ineligible; the
last is ungrammatcal. Here they are. The
gness is a stratified rock, often abounding so
much in mica as to constitute its base The
plates of this last mineral are distributed parallel
to its strata, which OCCASIONS ii to split easily in
that direction" Is it the plates of mica, the
manner of their distribution, or its strata aOhich
occasions, &c. and To what do ;fs and - rafar2I