“The historical part of Deuteronomy contains a period of only two months; and concludes the life of Moses that truly great man and faithful servant of the Most High. His parting words to the people whom he had so long and so anxiously governed, were expressed in a hymn that is pre-eminent for the beauty and strength of its composition. It briefly but pathetically reiterates his warning exhortations, and ends with a repetition of the particular blessings promised to each tribe. His race being now run, we are told by the writer who finished this book, that Moses retired to the top of Mount Nebo, from whence he was permitted to behold the land which the Lord had declared the seed of Abraham should inherit; and he there died in the 120th year of his age, and in the year 2552 of the world.”
The coming of Messiah is more explicitly foretold in Deuteronomy, my uncle says, than in any other book of the Pentateuch; and the prophecies of that great event, as well as of many other circumstances in the history of the Jews, have been so fully and minutely realized, that they completely demonstrate the divine inspiration of Moses.
3d.—Besides the rocks which compose our five grand formations, there is another series, the trap formation, or overlying rocks; so called, because they are found in various places lying on almost every rock, from granite even to chalk. They sometimes traverse the other rocks in veins or dykes, and are sometimes found in immense shapeless masses, but never regularly stratified. It is evident from these facts, my uncle says, that their origin must be more recent than those rocks on which they repose; yet they are quite free from all organic remains—none, either animal or vegetable, having yet been found in any rock of this class in England, nor, he believes, in any part of the world.
These circumstances have given rise to much discussion as to the original formation of these trap rocks, whether by fire or by water; but that is a subject on which my uncle will not yet allow us to touch. Some species of this family have the appearance of crystallization; green-stone trap, for instance, has large distinct crystals of felspar; in others, every trace of distinct crystals vanishes, and the whole assumes a dull earthy appearance.
The famous basaltic rocks, of which there are such singular specimens in Scotland and Ireland, belong to this family; but I shall be able to tell you much more about them in a few months, my dear mamma, for my uncle says it will be necessary for him to visit Ireland, and he proposes to take us all with him to see the Giants’ Causeway. You will be surprised at this; but pray do not be alarmed; I assure you there is no danger now from the wild Irish. My uncle has been there already, and from what he says, I think some parts of that country must be very interesting. I am so full of the idea of our Irish travels that I can write no more to-day.
5th.—I have had another long walk to-day with Miss Perceval, and, therefore, another charming conversation. The infinite variety in the vegetable kingdom was our chief subject.
“Plants,” she said, “have not been thrown at random over the surface of the globe; in every region, we find those which are best adapted to each particular situation. Every climate, and every soil, has some peculiarity which influences its plants; and every plant seems to be subservient to some great and important object. From the brilliant profusion of vegetation in some countries, down to the stunted lichen, which just colours the rocks in others, every change points out the beneficence of the Creator; and those who endeavour to comprehend this beautiful order, and who trace these arrangements to the general system of Providence, can alone enjoy the study of botany in its full extent.”
She then told me a great deal about this distribution of plants, and mentioned many of the circumstances which appear either to fit them for the different regions of the earth, or to render them useful in supplying the local wants of the inhabitants. She began with the low plants whose small, close-set leaves resist the intense cold of high latitudes, or of stormy mountains; and tracing the gradual increase in the size as well as in the number of native plants through all the intermediate climates, she ended with the great stems, gigantic leaves, and splendid flowers of the torrid zone.
“A similar change,” she added, “may be observed in those adjective races of plants which depend upon others for support and protection. Instead of the dwarf mosses and lichens which clothe the bark of trees in colder countries, the luxuriant parasites between the tropics may be almost said to animate their trunks. Delicate flowers spring from the roots of the chocolate and calabash trees; and amidst the abundance of flowers and fruits, and the confusion of parasites and climbing plants, the traveller is at a loss to determine to what stem the leaves and blossoms belong. Humboldt describes a species of aristolochia, whose flowers are four feet in circumference; but Sir Stamford Raffles discovered a flower belonging to a parasite plant in the island of Sumatra, that was nearly ten feet in circumference. He brought home an exact model of it, which is now in the apartments of the Horticultural Society, and which your uncle told me he saw and measured when he was last in London. It has five petals of a deep red colour, and of a very solid fleshy substance, from a quarter of an inch in thickness at their outer lip to almost an inch at their base; and he understood that when the flower was first cut, it weighed fifteen pounds. The nectarium is so large and deep that he thinks it would hold eight pints of water; and the whole diameter of this giant flower he found three feet and two inches.”
I interrupted her to ask the name of this wonderful plant.