The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1865-10-25
Mountaineering.

| So great an abundance of material for
study and thought is there in the Alps, IN
the geological Vegetable, and animal worlds.
that it would we'll occupy life OF ohsefva-
whole literature a whole branch OF science
| has been bestowed As ever moving and
changing agents of vast geologic movements.
they possess an interest which perhaps no
! other natural force bu: volcanoes Affords
| And whereas volcanoes are singuIarly cap
ricious, and bear hardly any personal exam
! inalion, glaciers are, OF ali The mundane Tor
ces, among the most constant and the most
accessible. There is something about the
Ambiguous character of glaciers-haIf solid,
half huid-that is very fascinating There
is something so difficult TO crap in the
scan OF huge tracts of earth, as broad and
lofty, perhaps, as one Of our English noun
tain ranges, YET heaving aud working with
all the ceasless life OF an ocean. To The ex-
| 2erienced observer the glacier seems 10
have It's waves, its tides, and lis currents,
like sea, both on lis surface and down 10
It's basin. In no other mode can be watch
ed the heaving of the earth's crest visibly,
and The machinery of geologic change in
actual operation. And il is this union of
vast extent with movemeni-oi force and
vitality which makes the study OF the gla-
cier so ever fresh and so impressive TO the
meresl scrsmbler as to the man of science.
| Glaciers, as is we'll known, from bu: one
branch OF the Alpine studies. Ths animal
branch is naturally The least abundant in
material, but in that It possesses the mark
OF speciality, as retaining yet in the midst of
Europe some traces Of long bygone alimal
eras. But the Vegetation al once affords the
matter for first-tate investig alton. If olher
spots in the world offer more extraordinary
types, there are perhaps no regions in Eu-
I rope where, IN go small an area, such a vary
ing series OF climates and consequently of
plants can be seen. But quiie apart from
The richness or beauty OF it's fora or its fau-
ma, an Alp offers peculiar character to all
observation. The conditions under which
both exist are, for the most part, so special
/ that both ill the least observant with new
suggestions. There is a poetry and psibos
in an Alpine rose or gentian, as we see it
the sole organic thing amid vast inorganic
masses, the sole link of life between US and
the most gigantic forms of matter. At home.
the brightest of birds or insets scarcely
awakens thought in summers walk, but
a stout mans heart and even eye may be
soltened by the sight bat of poor stranded
bee, blown iorh and shipwrecked amid
those piiiless solitudes.
In all The eros;aiic phenomena, the Alps,
as is well known, take the first rank as the
/ observsories OF science. 1t is difficult for
, the student 10 fail of new ideas in their
midst as for the most needless tourist 10 fail
! TO learn something The great physical for
ces form there the very conditions of exis-
tence. The veriest scrambles gets 10 record
something of aimcsphereic facts and chang
es. And here il is but fair to say that Al
pine climbers in general, and the Alpine
club in particular, have given very useful
impulse TO popular science, and even in
some cases 10 science proper. II is simply
, ridiculous to suggest that most OF them climb
, with ans scientific purpose, any more than
men hunt 10 improve the breed OF horses.-
I But il is The special value of Alpine climb
ing that it combines great variety OF OBJ
jecls. And whereas some men pursue il
. for beallh, for exercise, for mere adventure
/ or enjoyment, for the wonderful exhileraiion
II affords, for the poetry, for the soIemnily
and the purity oil the emotions il awskens,
some find there The richest field for their Sc
rious labors, and nearly all find loo much
that gives matter for profitable thought =
Indeed ground which, if 10 many il is but
one of recreation aud rest, has been ihs
scene OF :he studies OF the Saussures, the
Asassizes, the Reaumonis, the Forbeses,
! The TyndRls, the Huxleys, the Tschudis, the
Studers, the BerIepschs, must be one which
has equal promise :or every mind ard every
character.
But il is not, after all, as being rich in sci
ence, nor simply as being lovely in scenery
that the Alps are chiefly marked. II is
more that they form as it were an epitome
of earth, and place before US, in the range
ei a summer days walk, every form OF nat
ural object and production in the most slrik-
ing and immediate contrast. Within few
hours after leaving the mos, terrible forms
of ruin, dssolaton, and solitude, where no
life is found, and man can remain but for
lew hours, the traveller is in the midst OF all
the luxuriant loveliness oil Italian valleys
and lakes, basking in an almost tropical
heat, surrounded by the most delicate flow
ers, ferns, and shrubs, and charmed into
mere rest by evervaried landscapes, softer
and more fairy like than Turner ever drew.
Indeed, after some weeks OF rough work
amid the glaciers, it is immpossibe 10 resist
the emotion Of grateful delight with which