Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1850-01-24
HUMBOLDT's ASPECTS OF NATURE.

We extract the following from Review of Hum
boldts Aspects of Nature in Different Lands, from
the last number of the North British Review.
The desert plains in the interior Of AZ
rica are parts Of sea OF sand, separating
fertile regions, or enclosing them like is
lands. On these desolate plains neither
dew nor rain descends; and except in the
Gases, TO which malefac,ors were sent in
the latter tines OF the Caesars, vegetable
life is wholly extinct. Herds of antelopes,
and swiit-footed ostriches, roam through
these vast regions and though the ver-
dant shores Of the watered Gases are fre-
qnented by nomadic tribes, the African
desert must be regarded as uninhabitable
by man. Bordering nations cross it peri
odically, by routes which have been un-
changed for thousands Of years, and by
the aid Of the camel, the ship Of the desert
the adventurous merchant is enabled to
cross it from Taiilet to Ti,nbnctoo. and
from Moorzouk to Bornou. The extent,
Of these vast plains, lying partly within,
and partly in the vicinity, Of the tropics,
is three times as great as that ofthe Med
ilerranian Sea.
The celebrated Prussian naturalist, M.
Ehrenberg, has discovered, by micro
scopic observations, that the dust or yell
low sand which falls like rain on the At
lan,ic, near the Cape de Verde Islands,
and is sometimes transported to Italy, and
even the middle Of Europe, consists of a
multitude Of .ilicious shelled microscop-
ic animals. "Perhnps," says Humboldt,
"mony Of them float for years in the upper
strata Of the atmosphere, until they are
brought do,Un BY vertical currents, or in ac-
compartment wih the superior current OF
trade ,rinds, still susceptible of reririfca-
fion, and multiplying their species by spon
tnneous division, in conformity riM the
particular lars oftheir organization.
"But besides creatures fully formed"
continues Humboldt, 'lhe atmosp phere
contains innumerable germs Of future LIE,
such as the eggs of insects and the seeds
of plants the latter provided with light
hairy aud leathery appendages, by means
of which they are waited through the ali
during long autumnal wandernes. Even
the fertilizing dust or pollen from the
anthers OF the male flowers, in spaces in
which sexes are separated, is carried ov.
er land aud sea by winds and by the a.
gency Of winged insects. to the solitary fe.
male plant on other shores. Thus, where
ever the glance ofthe inquirer into nature
penetrates, he sees the continual dissem.
ination Of life either fully formed or in the
germ. We do not yet know
where life is most abundant, whether ar
continents or in the unfathomed depths oI
the ocean. Through the excellent work
Of Ehrenberg, we have seen the sphere
of organic life extend and its horizon wider
before our eyes, both in the tropical part.
of the ocean, and in the fixed or floating
masses Of ice Of the Antarctic seas. Sill
cious shelled polygastrica, and even con.
cinodisce with their green ovarics, have
been found alive enveloped in mass
es Of ice only IL degrees ION the Pole
the small black glacier flea and Podurel'
lac inhabit the narrow tubular holes exam.
ined by Agassiz, in the Swiss glaciers
Ehrenberg, has shewn that on several mi
cro>copic infu>oria others live as parasites
and that in the Gallionelle. such is their
prodigious power Of development, or capa
bility Of division, that in the space Of fonl
days an animalcule invisible tothe naked
!. eye, can form two cubic feet o! the Bill,
polishing slate! In the sea, gelatinou
worms, living or dead, shine like stars
and by their phosphoric light change tn,
surface Of the wide ocean into a sea of fire
lneffaceable is the impression made on my
, mind By the calm nights Of the torrid zon,
on the waters Of the Pacific. still Sc,
the dark azure Of the armament, the con
stellation Of the ship near the zenith, ant
; that Of the cross declining towards the no
rizon, shedding through the perfumed al
their soll and planetary lustre; Will.
bright furrows Of flashing light marked tn
track Of the dolplhns through the midst 0
the foaming waves. Not only the ocea'
but also the waters ofour marshes hid
from us an innumerable multitude Q
strange forms. The naked eye can wit
difficulty distinguish the Cyclidias, III
Euglenes, and the host Of Naiads, divisibl
bv branches like the Lempa or Duckwee