The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-02-20


OF the ''feast Of reason and the flow Of SOUL"
The Globe on which we Live.
COMPARATIVE PHYSICAL GEoGRAPHY-LECTURE AT
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY BY PROBES GUgOT.
select and attentive audience assembled nc rooms
of the Historical Society in Second avenue al two O'Clock
Monday afternoon to hear the first Of series Of lectures
by Professor Guyotin connection with the
Course of Columbia Colege-on Comparative Physical
Geography in It's relation 10 History and Modern Cviza-
on The Introductory lecture delivered during last
week, and the course will BIO rather lengthy On
each side Of the platform there suspended elaborate
Diagrams showing the relative Of land and water and
OF continents the of climatic in each CONT
nent the relative length OF coasts the concentration and
formation of lands &C. to all Of which the lecturer re-
ferred in the course of his discourse.
Professor GuYoT began his very erudte and instructive
lecture by saying that in his Introductory lecture he had
endeavored to show by the past ages Of GLOBE that
has undergone the same sort Of changes phases to
which organized beings subject in the Of life.
There beginning and progress Of the terrestrial
globe well of organic e and the termination OF the
formation existed at the present day. The globe
in its adult, blooming state but IL is not by a
restriction 10 any one part that our conclusions
could be derived, but by the study Of all
the parts and all the elements which are
viewed them in inorganic inanimate nature in the
life Of they all combined in the globe, and bar
monized together in complete manner The result of
such researches would be to limit field with regard
the other sciences For instance, with reference TO the
science of geology we are not to consider the laws Of the
formation Of rocks their capitalization, the
in which they clustered globe purpose
not to consider any part Of the material globe but to
their application not TO discover the laws Of physics
chemistry electricity TO go into the beauties Of the
science Of botany to treat Of zoology and the varied
phases Of animal e but to observe and how they all
Of the gobeone part Of the great family uniting with
other and making the great totaty And SO with man.
The n not into bis hsU but only
created things the combination which s the last result of
the life Of nature Of man, and In Short OF the whole
planet The science most akin this matter il that of
geology which is the physical geography Of the past ages
Of the world up to the present time, and the his
of the changes Of those eP0ch The globe
librium, and considerations arising out Of this
had given place to the religious Pantheism which
the present But though the globe condition of
and equilibrium not TO be therefore supposed
that the planet was in state Of inactivity Never was II
varieties of plants and animals are continually seen
to be reproduced and in the realm Of the real life Of
moral, and ntelectua-there are success
sve changes in the law of development which discover
themselves.
There were three elements now silent In history har-
working together-the physical life plants
and animals called animated nature matter and the life
Of These three elements combined work bar
organsm but man was the micr0cosm and the grea
GROWING element-the very being in the soul of man
raj Principle like man; but there was in il pre-
established harmony. According to all observation the
union of all these elements was in tho mind Of God and
not in man. for when came to man, 1t was found that
it God who gave him life 1t necessary, too, to
understand that in speaking of the globe it was not
great living ANIMAL but only an organism.
The order of study is just like the order Of
nature. We do not proceed first with that
which best, but with that which is most
md io tlv
agreeable with the order Of nature that the superior
exist without the Inferior whereas the inferior cam
many cases, exist without the superior. The globe
exist without moral life; and known to have existed
at time when moral life, as developed man. was alb
sent from it, But man cannot exist without the globe
Thus it that the lower was Indispensable And
il the in society. What would the literary
the elevated classes do, not for the poor Irish
man who labored and earned his bread out of doors2
Thus established the great principles OF action aud
reaction.
The lecturer then proceeded to into the forma-
ton Of the solid part Of the GLOBE then Of the aqueous
how tremendously they worked
together. strange that matter presented to
in solid, liquid and gaseous forms. We that the
solid the positive element Of FORM containing Of
the chemical elements of which the globe is formed. It
the arrangement Of the solid masses that gave the
great ucture for all the phenomena Of life Then there
the liquid dvis aud what was the solid without the
qDid which formed essential point Of unionY Every
Of the human body was connected with circulation and
human body could not be conceived without the cir.
custing principle Life could not exist without liquids,
and in nature the circulating elements were the great
end to the other bearing the ship its
performing the other operations for which they de-
signed. The motion Of the waters only grand sys
tenn Of circulation, coming sometimes from the great
streams and running into the ocean, The transportation
of temperature the continents was another element
Of circulation and the combination Of the three constituted
the physical globe But they all needed outside force
to set them in notion and this motive power is found in
the rays Of the SUM- for when the SUMS rays upon
them all that begin to move, and without this
outward force they are motionless.
Professor Guyot then began very carefully to explain
~
taken expouud observing that careful study
cary so to understand thoroughly what some might
cali the dry details, but without which the subject could
not be understood He then very ntegby illustrated
his subject by the diagrams already referred to- Nearly
three-fourths Of the area OF the globe was water,
and only one'third land; the relation, as shown by
the diagrams, being about 10 TO ~, or nearly so.
water, though it occupied the largest division Of
ferior part because in the water were found the spec
mems Of inferior lc and oil sorts Of plants and animals
which remain at the bottom On the other hand the land
possessed the most desirable plants and animals and
himself go that the nobles forms Of life found land
But the land, though having superior characteristics,
would If IL could, absorb the water and become the
ter-be no longer andt would be dead Tho law OF dis
trbution equally necessary for the preservation of
every division Of the globe II the purpose of
globe. BY their division they become moro valuable,
and we profit more by their being divided than II they
OF nation could not be developed island like those
OF the Pacific ocean, He then very eloqueny explained
demonstrating his arguments by continuous reference
dagramshow the position Of the land was invariably
extended towards the NORTH taperng towards the
south POLE showing that this was the necessary result
the law of conceptyatIon The lecturer Concluded ,nc
resting and learned discourse by dissertation on the stu
alton Of the various islands Of the climatic zones showing
the result Of an investigation Of globe which had been
split In halves.
The second lecture will be delivered at the same place
to day.
The Eryptisn War steamer "La vov.ueur