Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-03-03
COMMODORE MAURY.
Extract from n Lecture Of DIR. Alsxsn-
dSF Ershine, Dean Of the Faculty
erehe Memphis Medical
College.

Aub bFAUD5kI VI III NHAAn h44AunHg
Published In the APPEAL Of Friday, at
tracted q crest deal Of attention, so much
so thst We have bsen requested by several
intelligent gentlemen to publish IL in full.
This we are unable to do for want Of
space; but We gladly 6nd room for the
following Lengthy extract, having partic-
ular reference to the achievements OF
Commodore Msury. DR.. Erskine having
cursorily glanced st
oHEMIsTRY,
passed to the consideration Of the great
progress maze in the discovery Of physi-
cal truth by Newton and later explorers
and students, dwelling with particular
emphasis upon the discoveries OF Maury
and the great value Of his theory of the
winds and currents. The Doctor ssid:
tsThese progressive steps In science have
been more recently beautifully illustrated
In those ingenious and valusble diseov-
cries which our own great Commodore has
made in the physical geography OF the
sea. He has within q few years thrown
that light upon the great deep which has re-
volutiODizsd maritime affairs and changed
the navigation Of the world. When be
perfected his chart of the winds snd cur-
rents of the ocean, he gave to b mariner
IN the stormy deep q guide over its roll
ing pillows, of which he lever dreamed
before, and showed him paths of the seas
which as yet u~utrsversed, brought him
into near proximity with his points of
destination which gratiied, surprised and
charmed him It seems strange that this
man of science could sit in the national
observatory at Washington and dictate 20
the captain on the quarterback
THE SEoRTRsF AND SAFEST RoUTR OVER
THE oCEAN
Ills was q sublime position when In the
scientific conference at Brussels in 1853
he unfolded TO the representatives OF the
European governments his beautiful the
cries OF improved navigation. With what
admiration and surprise were they filled
and with what esgerness did they enlist
In the great work of observation, which
has expanded into so great and glorious .
result. How imposing that cordial CO.
operation of the nations In a scheme
which was to rebound to q common
good. At onc9 s thousand observers
were alert on every sss. A. oncs-in bis
oEn beautiful lang1ags-"every ship be-
came q floating temple Of sciences" each
officer brought the rich tribute of his OBJ
servStIons and laid them at his feet; each
nation sent in the result Of It's aecumUl6-
ted lsbors, and his rare inductiye hand
seized upon. analysed and combined
these; theoriZsd upon them, establishing
law after law and truth after truth till the
result became unQuestioned and sure.
The world has now the benefit of his Ia
bors In that
INVALUABLE CHART,
now to be found on the deck Of every
ship IS an Indispensable necessity, and
In that rare work, so replete with infor-
nation, 30 peTspicuous in style, so grace.
full and elegant in diction, the "The Phys
ical Geography of the Sea-" All honor to
this son of genius, who, by the power Of
his grand intellect, has developed those
intricate laws which lie hidden In the
depths of the ocean; which are felt in
every breeE5 which q its surface; which
respond from every land and every cline
against which It's waters dash, and over
which the winds blow pregnant with
frost, the ice and the snow for man.
Honor to him who has made the facs OF
Ocean radiant with intelligence, as he re-
q 9cts into his philosophic eye his msrvels,
his mysteries from every law which guides
his cesselsss roll. From the fountains Of
the
eULF STREAM,
which rises underth the Equator, to its mouth
in the distant Arctic sea, upon whose I'M
explored shores the lamented Kane once
stood; from the temperature of its waters
under the burning sun Of the tropics to
the home Of the icsbsrgs in the frozen
z0nes; from the voice OF the storm as IL
Dresks in its dreadful fury on the Atlantic
shores to the calm zsphyr-like stiffness of
the winds which blow ovsr the wide
wastes of the Pscthoj from the great
lsviathsn which ploughs the deep and
fads her home in the North TO the in
fusorisl life which teens in countless
myrisds under ths waters of the Indian
Ocssn from the home of the trade winds
in the South Pacific to their rebound On
the distant North Pole, whence they re-
turn TO refresh snd gladden. the earth; in
these and in much more honor to this
stupendous mind to whom the ocean has
in audible tones and made him
It's interpreter to man, lie 9 far higher and
grander sense than hat in which the
great poet sang, as he laid his hand upon
his crested name and sported with his
hosry locks and bade him give forth
his WONDERS
with authoritative voice BE has has re-
spondsd in tones of bsne6cence and love.
He has surrendered the knowledge of his
trsckless paths, the general source Of his
lite giving heat, tbs places where the
Of his depths A0d homes, the
R~rsveyards Whsre the remains Of his ami
malcular lite lie buried; the influences
which Rrouss mis- storms and b caves
his A1lisn winds are imprisoned,
and whence, and whittier, and why they
OH-gOD Nh1N AE0A lib Wv HAo oS~4NA
10 which there seems TO be no life,
and over which the fowls of the heavens
never ~. How grand, how bene1cent IT'S
laWl How adapted to the wants of every
organism 1t holds, and 20 the Well-beiDg
Of man, whom 1t blesses with its infinite
and i~nexhsustible fitness.
"By careful and labored induction, these
have all been made to yield their practical
in such manner as to have rem
dered nautical life far safer and expedi-
han 1t has ever been before, and has
reduced the annual cost of the tonnage of
the nations by many millions of dollars.
What q triumph to have shortened the
passage
FROM NEW XoRK TO TIE EeUAToR
days, to California thirty days, to
sixty days; 10 rave discovered,
with the deep-sea lead, and the sounding
line, and the microscope, the features of
hat great telegrsphio plateau upon which
the Atlantic Gable restSl What q relief
% oommercei With what Joy does
the emigrant look forward to the early
Of bis long journey TO distant
.ands, the wRnderer 10 revising tg3in
he shores where the home Of his child
hood lies, and The frienda Of his youth are
What . debt of gratitude does
he world owe TO this great mani Dan it
yer repay bim-csn 1t ever forget himf
No; while the sea wells Its sublime roar, |
yer lifts mp itself on high to speak the
name of its great Creator, willis there
ives q sailor TO navigate its traokless wa
-ers, or q mariner to dare Its stormy deep, |
long will the name of this bsnefSctOr |
honored as among esrth's greatest SOILS.
Ali he has made himself . home In the /
heart Of
EVERY soo1 NAN,
home in that of every child Of genius,
Who has hung with delight upon his pO-
descriptions of natural science; q
home on the bosom Of old ocean, upon
whose azure brow he has written his name
letters OF eternal glory, and meath
whose blue waters he may, perchance, |
Tish to sleep his last sleep.
Did 1 not fear to weary you, I might 20
In general illusions 10 the pro-
yress of the industrial arta, of our i'm.
proved means of locomotion and inter.
'Ourse in u system Of
RAILWAYS \ TELEeRAPHs,
he infiuence and power of the press. I
nay for q moment advert to the changes
which will now be wrought since that
,reat iron band has stretched to the Pa
inc, uniting distant California to the
American Union with links of steel.
when the telegraph, which has settled
lown under the ocean and which stretches
o San Francisco, bringing US the hours
Jews from Europe, and that distant point
will lengthen u its wtry arm EloDg the
'scihc coast and dip down its electric
under Behring's Strait to fash in
diligence over the frozen steppes of ST.
,eris and speak to rs in continuous cur
emit from Oriental Europe Within a few
ears will other rival lines of railroad
long more southerly lstitudes stretch
ut their numerous ~feelers, like long an.
snue to suck into this great body Of
atural life
HE GOLD, THE eBNs N TEE PzARLS
{ that terra ineognits. Already does
be voice of human industry wake the
choea OF those wild deserts with the glad
oDg of a pioneer civilization. Before the
loss Of the nineteenth century will Its
gather In their substance from
Is developed OF agricultural