New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-08-21

| paid 10 Jose ,h's brethen by the Exypt.ans h -
Tor 'ss hoy Sss s.en% q silver
| uttals are mentioned by Hewbrev writey, ~ 49,
| understand the numbers referring 10 svord,.I
weights. These weights came i,to u.s. in EsclssS;
the fourteenth century. conventional sycrl,as.
onpce was adopted by the United States fom Sn.;r -
| the valve of our mone yed unit Tie vordaoIy. -
| the word coin are both probably Of Gresk os;s'.
eidOon and exon es0, ',s;li,'ss an image o. DOL
| the images OF gods or kings. TIE "masss" vs;.r
Rachel stole from her father, and hid d D. .a,,a,a
furniture. we're probably coins-Iot Of Heh,s ~.
age but OF reGaboiDg ,aeh a.,ou. Ss.,oes Thshv
naying his fare 10 Tsrshlsh, Indicate the Of snan
coins omong the Hebrews. Our arbitrary unit do.,
no. agree exactly with any ancient or modem weight
The srcient Tyrsir ornoe contained soe am o. very
great fneress while modern dollar contains CAY
5S4 grains Of inferior silver, 81 coined 10 halves Il
was originally il6 grains. The half hrkel Of tie
Hebrew WIS., Therefore, worth u cents of our uOders
American money. A troy ounce Is i" grsins' t.kix
ali he grains the same. The sterng-ihs. is, Easter
lpg--ouIce still different. Thus, oil our modern
weights and coinage the remains and vespgssd
ancert civilizations now lost. In ancient nmes co
Gent laws Of Deuteronomy similar to those Nss-
ton sopc hit to establish when Master of the EngthA
Mint ard declare emph .ica,ly that justice and sosu.
racy Ia ceilings are favorable to longevity.
Prof PIERCE OF Harvard College next I'd note
| on The C. uservation OF Force.
| Lent f. b. HrHr next resds paper upon the Aeas
Of Metaphysical ard Physical lnElity lie ihoagos
het our ideas Of noity and we're Usually
rnded upon the dist c visibility the distance
btv.cn cnr eyes or upo, the length OF steps and
so on That ia, the infinitely GREATS that which istoo
rea. for our conception the ininitessiinal that
which ia too tmsll for our conception Innnty there-
fore is relative 10 the mind Of whose cognion
NJ ,aicsied IL is negative. not positive; dehnlng TIE
in It's Of our knowledge. There may be- orders DIN
tegence If varying orders the Infinitely great cse
being the infinitely small of the second order above
Irof ALEXANDER remarked that Lieut.. Husts
paper was abunjantly true far as it went. Hat
lie went on to show with great clearr ess and beauty9
language that there are also ideas OF absolute iua9
belonging to absolute fpste, aud 70 absolute tina
The ipfnities of which Lieut.. Hunt had spoke the
lowest ipfni.ies. God Is not only relatively nhniis
tut absolutely so and all things equally zerois
his presepce. Ii is TO more condescenson In HimA
make covenant with man than it would be to make
| q covenant with tho higbe.t arch8ngels.
Lieut. T. b Hunt replied that he cordially assen,ea
| % Prof. Ale xanders uarks-be, lieut.. H. hS
cnly il (, ndcd to speak of the relative innte, withs
out abiding ~ the absolute ioinlties.
Dr. WYNHE exhibited sectional model OF the
Boerdman locomotive ard explained It's great vslss
in economy OF fuel and entire freedom OF the smoke
and sparks.
Pro-. s. ALEXANDER then took up his discussion Of
TIE asterod planet-thst rs, Of the imaginary planet
which, by its rupture while yet in bascens state,
formed the numerous small paucts between Man snd
Juuiter He would not init upon his theories hr be
acknowledged the mathematical dlihcuiiies bat he
wished TO present the numerous facts which seeme4
10 Joint toward confirmation OF his views. He
wond also still mainaip, despite the disapprOval Of
Humboldt, the probability Of some come elton be-
tween the comets of short periods. He also thought
il possible that there bad been collision between this
hypothetical planet and Halley's comet.
A paper on Weights and Measures was read by G.
N. DExTyR, President OF tie Vermont Central Raj.
road. He would suggest remedy for the detects OF
uniformity which had been we'll set forth, ~ tar o.
rep ards weights by DIR. Gbb0n. He proposes 10
sdopt the English foot the assumed unit, and 10
simplify all the tables 70 agee with it. BY taking a
inch as the tenth Of foot, cubic inch would become
an avoirdupois ounce, it happens that cubic foot
of water weighs thousand ounces. The avOrdupon
ounce would then be the beet unit OF weight and the
tables should be smplfed 10 conform TO it. special
advantage would arise in the case OF shipping because
the water displaced by loading would exactly conform
to tho weight Of sding. Thus entire reform IL pos
sibe for US with but few changes 10 perplex the
pubic.
Prof. HENRY next offcrd q paper BY j. III. Lsse
on new electro magnetic governor for producing
| form velocity Of motion.
An interesting sketch was then given by DR.. FB.
HoUGH, Superintendent Of the New-York census ola
new plan " reduce observations upon periodical phe
pomera TO a series Of dates. He illustrated biz
plan BY specimens Of results obtained in dealing with
| The climate Of the State Of NewYork, dividing the
State into thirteen geographical sections and pOiatsd
out ts advantages in developing the laws Of climate.
THosAs GuERIS Of Montreal, next offered al essay
the general principle Of lateral pressure in running
water coniO.pg himself chiefly to the considerstsn Of
water running in the bed of river. After obtsisng
general sgebraical results, be applied them to the
Gaze Of The St Lawrence at Montreal showing ct
what depths below the surface Of the river itwss
practicable to open the sewers Of the city.
The lat pepper was by Lieut. Z. Is. Hunt upon ~
moecuer constitution Of bodies. The paper was too
long to be actually read, but Lieut. H. gave skstch
of its contents and nature. II was @ mathematical
discussion Of atoDic forces starting vita the generally
admitted forces known " exist in them.
GEOLOGY.
DIR. LArHAM. Of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in tae chair.
Mr.. WooDFALL, Of Oxford, England, read sa.
ology of Cahfornis and the Gsdsden Purchase" b.
1. Antisell, n. ID. t
These papers give The geology Of the trad from tao
Organ Mountains the Vest II Texas to Sac Diego
the coast of the Pacific That part Of the pepper
which relates 70 the Gacsden Purchase and the hssA
10 Valley We give pretty fully.
The district in question is included between the no
Grade tho east and the Colorado the vest and
embraces seven and half degrees Of longitude. Ths
Iorthern boundary Is defined by the Gna AMI o las
drawn from the Rio Grande Little north Of parallel
$50 10 the CHA north Of Fot Webster sad the Copper
Mines The southern limit IS defined by line drawn
from. the Rio Grande at FL Paso toward the Sierra
Florida tile west Of 1852 thence due souh for -
miles, and tber Go due wet to Santa Cruz Valley.
distance Of l7O miles thence north west ~ the Cos'
RADIO River, few miles below where the CHA De-
bouches into il.
The total distance in direct line is nearly 500 miles,
but the travelled route Is somewhat over 600 mills
Travelled near parallel 32ofrom the Rio Grsnde tst to
Sen Pedro, nearly $50 mies-but from the San Pslo
to the junction Of the Gile at Fort Yuma the nal be
the parallel OF 330-the want Of NJ WEEK
compelling this deviation. From the San Pcdre,
westward the slope 10 the Pacific s decided and rapid
until in the Colorado Desert the ocean level Is nssry
if not quite reached. East Of the San Pedro me ssi
| retains for more thar 100 miles east Vt the Rio
Grade. This elevated lice constitutes the spine OF tas
continent and marks the line Of tue accumulated ny
beavrg forces, which iaither north have raised tho
Ps,ky Mountains. In these lattvdes such noun
tnirs elis vast plateau Of tabe.land taking their
Mace traversed by numerous parallel ridges from 30
10 100 miles il length, rarely exceeding 1900 feet or
- hooa