Vickipedia

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, a federated republic, composed of 88 independent states, eight organized and two other territories, and a federal district, occupies the central portion of the continent of North America, from hit. 24° 30′ to 49° 24′ N., long. 68° 50′ to 124° 45′ W., exclusive of Alaska. Its greatest length, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is 2760 miles; greatest breadth, from Minnesota to Texas, 1600; northern or British frontier, 3540 miles; Mexican. 1550 miles; ocean coast, including the larger indentations. 12,609 miles, of which 6861 are on the Atlantic, 3461 on the Gulf of Mexico, and 2281 on the Pacific. The area of the U. S., as revised at the census of 1880. is 3.602,990 sq. in. The vastness of this territory will be best recognized by remembering that the total area of Europe is but little greater, being estimated at 3,826,000 sq. in. Texas, one of the states, is itself considerably greater in extent than the Austro-Hungarian Empire; and there are four other states or territories, each larger than the United Kingdom.

In 1783, the U. S. had an area of only 827,844 sq. in.; by the purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803, it acquired 1,171,931; by the cession of Florida by Spain in 1819, 59,270; by the annexation of Texas in 1845, 376,000; by the Oregon Treaty with Great Britain in 1846, 280,425; by the Mexican treaties, 677,260; and by the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, 577,390 sq. m.

The 38 states composing the Federal Republic, each having its constitution, legislature, executive, and judiciary, and represented in the Federal Congress by two senators, and from 1 to above 30 representatives, according to its population, may be arranged in six groups, as in the accompanying table.

The eight organized territories are governed by the Federal Congress, with governors and judiciary appointed by the President of the U.S., but have a local legislature, and send a delegate without a vote to Congress. There is also the Indian Territory, a reserve for Indian tribes removed from the east of the Mississippi River; and unorganized region west of this, called Public Lands; the district of Columbia (60 sq. m.), ceded by Maryland, including Washington, the Federal capital, governed by Congress; and Alaska, under military rule. All these states and territories are described separately.

The original thirteen states are those which are marked in the table as having been admitted between 1787 and 1790. At the outbreak of the Civil War, there were fifteen slave-holding states; in the table they are the south-eastern and southern states, together with Nos. 10, 11, 12, and 27 (11 being then part of 13). In 1881 the preliminary steps were taken for having the southern half of Dakota delineated as a new territory, with the name of Pembina.

Physical Character.—Though occupying the central portion of a continent, more than two-thirds of the frontiers of the U. S. are shores of lakes and oceans, with numerous bays and sounds, rivers, and lakes. The principal lakes, besides those divided with British America, are Lake Champlain, Lake Michigan, Great Salt Lake, Pyramid Lake, Mono Lake. Lake Tulare. and many beautiful clusters of smaller lakes in Maine, New York, Minnesota, &c.

The rivers of the U. S. may be classed in four divisions : 1. The Mississippi and its branches (q. v.); 2. The rivers emptying into the Atlantic or its bays and sounds—the St. Croix, Penobscot, Kennebec, Merrimac, Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, Potomac, James, Roanoke, Neuse, Cape Fear, Pedee, Santee. Savannah, Altamaha, St. Johns, &c.; 3. Those, besides the Mississippi, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico—the Chattahoochee, Alabama, Tombigbee, Pearl, Sabine, Trinity, Brazos, Colorado, Nueces, and Rio Grande; 4. Those emptying into the Pacific—the Oregon or Columbia, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Colorado, &c. Besides these, there are many small rivers emptying into the great lakes, and finding their outlet through the St. Lawrence; and the rivers which empty into the salt lakes of the great interior basin of Utah.

The chief mountains of America are those of the Alleghanies and the Rocky Mountains; for the extraordinary scenery of the west, see YELLOWSTONE; also COLORADO and YOSEMITE.— The geology of the U. S. will be found under the titles AMERICA, APPALACHIANS, ROCKY MOUNTAINS, and the several states.— The soil is of every variety, from the sterile deserts of the great western plains and Utah, to the inexhaustible fertility of the bottom-lands of the Mississippi Valley, where heavy crops of maize have grown for fifty successive years without manuring. The St. Lawrence basin is an elevated calcareous plain, fertile and well wooded. The Atlantic slope from Maine to New Jersey, east of the Hudson, is hilly, and best adapted for grazing; more southerly, the coast-belt is low, sandy, in places swampy, with pine-barrens, the inland region fertile, and among the best in the country. The Mississippi valley is generally level, and prairie-land of unsurpassed fertility, with a rich mould, in places 25 feet deep. North-west, the country rises to a high and sterile region, extending from 200 to 400 miles from the base of the Rocky Mountains. The Texas slope has rich bottom-lands on the coast, a fine rolling fertile country, rising to a high plateau, dry and sterile, except in the river-bottoms. The Pacific slope is generally sterile, except the great valleys between the mountain-ranges, and bordering the rivers, which are of great fertility.

Utah, with the exception of a few fertile spots, is a desolate untimbered region of salt lakes and land saturated with alkaline substances. The country east of the Mississippi, except the prairies of Illinois and Indiana, was, at its settlement, heavily wooded, and there are still vast forests of valuable timber—beech, birch, maple, oak, pine, hemlock, spruce, walnut, hickory, ash, elm, &c-; and in the south, live oak, water oak, magnolia, palmetto, tulip-tree, cypress, cotton-wood, cane, &c. West of the 97th meridian stretches a vast region of almost treeless prairies; forests again occur in the Rocky Mountains, and California, Oregon, and Washington Territory have the largest timber in the world. The flora and fauna will be found under the head NORTH AMERICA (Botany. Zoology), and the several states.

Population.—The growth of the population will be best seen from the table, which shows the rapid increase of the inhabitants of the Republic at various censuses from 1800 to that of 1880. How far this is due to foreign immigration is shown by some appended figures. It is to be noted that the census figures for the various states do not include in their totals, the tribal or wild Indians within their limits. These are estimated apart, but the civilized or settled Indians are reckoned along with their neighbors of European stock. A separate column shows the number of the colored persons.

At the census of 1880 there were 64 cities in the U. S. with between 20,000 and 50,000 inhabitants; 15 between 50.000 and 100.000; 10 between 100.000 and 200,000; 3 between 200.000 and 300,000; 3 between 300,000 and 400.000; 2 between 400,000 and 500,000; 1 (Philadelphia) over 800,000; and 1 (New York) with upwards of 1,200,000. It was found that of the 18 most populous cities of the U. S., 6 had increased since 1870 by from 20 to 30 per cent. 4 from 30 to 50, 4 from 50 to 71, and 1 (Milwaukee) 92 per cent.

No country has been peopled by such a variety of races. New England was settled by English Puritans, and a few Scottish and Welsh; New York, by Dutch; Pennsylvania, by Quakers and Germans; Maryland, by English Roman Catholics; Delaware and New Jersey, by Dutch and Swedes; Virginia, by English cavaliers; the Carolinas, in part by French Huguenots; Louisiana, by French; Florida, Texas, and California, by Spanish; Utah, by Mormons, chiefly from England, Wales, and Denmark. Immigration from Ireland, Germany, England, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Sweden has been large and progressive. Of the total of 50.155.783 reckoned in the census, 25.518,820 were males, and 24,636,963 females; 43,475,840 were native born, and 6,679,943 were whites, foreign born, 105,465 were Chinese, 148 Japanese, and 66,407 were civilized Indians. The table shows separately the tribal Indians, and the occupants of the Indian territory. Of the whites foreign born, 2,772,169 were natives of the United Kingdom; 1,966,742 were Germans; 717,084 British Americans; 194,327 Norwegians; 181,729 Swedes; 106,971 French. It is said that the Irish and the Germans, with their descendants

constitute one-third of the entire population; about 10,000.000 being set down as of Irish descent, and 6.000,000 of German stock. From 1820 to 1880, the immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland numbered over 4,700,000. The current of immigration which goes to swell the grand total is very large, but fluctuates from year to year. Between 1870 and 1880 it varied from 138.000 in 1877, to 457.000 in 1880; in 1881 it reached the enormous aggregate of 669,431.

Climate.—For a particular account of the climate of the U. S., we refer to the articles RAIN and TERRESTRIAL TEMPERATURE. It is remarkable for wide transitions of cold and heat, rain and drought, except in the peninsula of Florida, where the temperature varies but 12° F., and Western Oregon and Washington Territory, where the climate is like that of England. With few exceptions, the summers are hot, both north and south, the thermometer rising at times to 110° F., and along the northern range of states sinking to—20°, and even sometimes as low as— 40°. The whole Atlantic coast has a winter temperature 10° lower than that of Western Europe in the same latitude. Thus, at New York, in the latitude of Madrid, the Hudson River is frozen, and the harbor at times filled with floating ice.

The causes modifying the climates of the different portions of the states chiefly arise out of the physical features; of which the Rocky Mountains, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, and the lake system in the north are the most prominent. On the west, from the shores of the Pacific to the Cascade Mountains, one of the most important ranges of mountains in America, the climate resembles that of Great Britain more closely than that of any other country in the world, being mild and humid, with frequent showers at all seasons. But the great valley lying between the Cascade and the Kooky Mountains is almost entirely a rainless district, because the westerly winds are drained of their moisture in crossing the Cascade Mountains before arriving there. In winter, it is covered with snow, but in summer is dry and arid. Owing, however, to the copious streams poured down from the melting snow, it presents abundant facilities for irrigation, so that its capabilities and resources are great, if they were properly developed. The country east of the Rocky Mountains depends for its rain on the Gulf of Mexico; and the rainfall there is distributed most in the low plains, and least on the plateaux and mountains. Hence over this extensive district southerly winds are warm and moist, and westerly and northerly dry and cold.

The result is rapid alternations of temperature, such as are never experienced in Western Europe, the temperature having frequently a range in the course of a day of 50° or 60°. In the New England states, the northerly and easterly winds are cold moist, and chilly, accompanied with frequent fogs; otherwise the climate resembles that of Great Britain. The climate of the states surrounding the great lakes in the north is mild and moist in summer as compared with the other northern states; but in winter, when the lakes are frozen over, a degree of cold is experienced greater, absolutely and relatively, then anywhere else in the states. This excessive cold is caused by the country being exposed in the north to the full sweep of the polar current from the north; but more particularly to its low-lying situation, thus forming, as it were, a vast basin into which is poured from all sides the cold, and therefore heavy, currents of air chilled by terrestrial radiation during the winter season.—The health of the U. S. varies with climate, elevation, &c. Swamps and river-bottoms in some regions, especially the more fertile, are malarious. The rice-swamps of Georgia and Sooth Carolina are fatal to whites, but not to negroes. In vast tracts of new country, even the rolling and hilly, the disturbance of the soil causes intermittent fevers. Diseases of the lungs prevail in the northern and middle states, bilious fevers in the southern; in the western, intermittent and remittent bilious.

In 1850, the average mortality was 1 in 72, varying rather widely in different regions, modified not only by climate, but by the presence of large towns, and by immigration and emigration. In 1870, the lowest rates of mortality were 0′69 per cent, in Oregon, 0′80 in Minnesota, and 0′81 in Iowa; the highest were 1-77 per cent, in Massachusetts (with numerous manufacturing towns), and 2 in Louisiana (with yellow fever). Of the larger cities in 1880, Charleston had a death-rate of 32 per 1000, New York, 26; Baltimore, Brooklyn, and New Orleans, 24; Boston, 23; Washington, 22; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, and Philadelphia, 20; San Francisco and St. Louis, 19. Probably no portion of the world is more salubrious than Vermont, the eastern slope of the Alleghanies, California, and Oregon.

Mineralogy.—The U. S. are rich in mineral productions. Coal is found in every state except Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nevada. The area of the coal-measures is estimated at 300,000 sq. miles. The whole extent of the coal area in the U. S. has been divided into four principal coal-fields or tracts—viz., the Great Central Alleghanian or Appalachian coalfield, extending from Alabama, through Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, Western Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and reappearing in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. This field has been computed to cover within the U. S. an area of 50,000 to 60,000 sq. m., of which about 40,000 sq. m. are considered workable area.

The second coal-field occupies the greater part of Illinois and Indiana, and in extent is nearly equal to the first. A third field covers a large portion of Missouri; and the fourth, of Michigan. The Chesterfield bituminous coal-field, a small district near Richmond, contains the oldest collieries in America. The petroleum springs form a source of great wealth. Beds of rich marl are found in several of the eastern states, and in many, nitrates and carbonates of soda, and potassia, gypsum, and marble of great variety, and some of rare beauty. Iron is found everywhere, from the pure metal in mountain masses, to bog-ore; and in many places in close proximity to coal. Lead exists in rich deposits in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, and Iowa. Copper is found in several states, and in great quantities of ores of 71 to 90 per cent, on the borders of Lake Superior. Zinc exists in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and tin in Maine and California. There are rich silver mines in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Gold is found in small quantities in some of the Atlantic coast states; in great quantities in California, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Montana. There are also found platinum and mercury in California, osmium and iridium in Oregon, cobalt in North Carolina and Missouri, and nickel in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The value of the produce of American mines increased by 90 per cent, in the period 1870—1880, and amounted in the latter year to 72 millions sterling. Over 91 millions of tons of iron ore were raised in 1880 (more than twice as much as in 1870); 20,300 tons of copper ore; 66 millions of tons of coal; and 860 millions of gallons of petroleum (20 times as much as in 1870). A value of $34,700,000 of gold was obtained in 1881, and $43,000,000 of silver.

Agriculture.—Agriculture holds the first place in the national industry. In 1871, the acreage of hay was 10.009.052; maize, 34,091,137; wheat, 19,943.893; oats, 8,365.800. The average size of farms, nearly all held by their cultivators in fee-simple, was 153 acres. In 1880, the acreage of maize was 52.965.000 acres, and of wheat, 36,000,000. The cereal crops of 1879 and 1880 were the largest ever known. The production of wheat in 1879 was 448,-000,000 bushels, in 1880 it was 480,000.000; and of maize, 1,577,000 were produced in 1880. The advance in production between 1870 and 1880 was unprecedented, amounting to about 100 per cent., taking all kinds of grain produce; whereas, in 1860 to 1870, it was but 12 per cent. The production of cotton advanced from 1540 million lbs. in 1870 to 2773 millions in 1880. More than two-thirds of the world’s cotton crop is grown in the states. Till 1859 the U. S. used occasionally to import wheat from Europe; now they produce one-fourth of the world’s crop, and have a yearly surplus of 150.000,000 bushels. Between 1870 and 1880 the horses in the U. S. increased from 8,690.000 to 12.550,000; cows from 28,000,000 to 33,600.000; sheep from 28.500,000 to 38,000,000; hogs from 25.200,000 to 35.000,000. The shipments of cattle and meat from the U.S., which have enormously increased of late, exceeded, in 1880, the value of $25.000_:000. The wine produce has steadily increased to about 20,800.000 gallons. Other important agricultural products are sugar, rice, tobacco, and vast quantities of fruits, varying in the various sections of the Republic. It has been estimated that the animal income of the U.S. from agricultural industries is about $3.000.000.000. as compared with $1,900,000,000 for France, and $1,325,000,000 for the United Kingdom.

Fisheries.—The fisheries of the U. S. employ from 800.000 to 1,000,000 persons, and give an annual yield of $27,300.000 (the yield of the British fisheries alone exceeding this aggregate ) Pisciculture is diligently and most scientifically practised and with the best results.

Manufactures.—The manufactures of the U. S. increased about 30 per cent, in the period 1870 to 1880. In the making of flour, the states are foremost in the world, the annual product being nearly 4i billion dollars. In regard to textile manufactures’, they come next after England, and make about one-sixth of the entire produce of the world. Between 1870 and 1880 the consumpt of cotton rose from 530 million lbs. to 911 millions, and of wool from 204 to 258 millions. In 1880, the combined produce of cotton and woollen manufactures in the U. S. was valued at $420,000,000. The total silk manufactures are valued at $34,000,-000. The progress of iron and steel is marvelous; iron having risen in the past decade from 1,580,000 to 4,290,000 tons a year, and steel from 40,000 to 800.000 tons (both these quantities being-surpassed by Great Britain). The Americans now make one-fifth of the iron, and one-fourth of the steel of the world. The flour trade employs 3,000,000 workmen, and textile manufactures 3.500,000. The chief manufacturing states are Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

Commerce.—The total value of imports into the U. S. rose from $462.380,000 in 1870 to $760.990.000 in 1880; that of exports of American produce, from $420,500,000 to $841.501,000 (the coin and bullion imported in 1880, $93,000,000, exceeding that exported, $85,240,000). The imports from Great Britain and Ireland were nearly $175,000,000 in 1870, and a little over $154,000,-000 in 1880; the exports thither were only $305.000,000 in the former year, and $535,000,000 in the latter. The chief imports into the United States are cotton goods; iron, wrought and un-wrought; linen and woollen manufactures. The chief exports are wheat and flour, cotton, tobacco, pork and hams, butter and cheese. More than one half of the exports of the U. S. go to the United Kingdom, the rest mainly to Canada, France, and Germany. Port entries of the U. S. doubled between 1870 and 1880 (16,193,000 tons entered in 1879); and the value of the carrying trade by land and sea has advanced greatly, though the shipping on the high seas has declined from $43,000″000 to $40.500,000.

Railways, &c.—The U. S. possesses an enormous extent of navigable rivers, canals, and railways. The Mississippi and its branches afford 20,000 miles of steamboat navigation. Canals unite the waters of the Hudson River with Lakes Champlain, Ontario, and Erie in New York, the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers in Pennsylvania, the Ohio with Lake Erie in Ohio and Indiana, and the Mississippi with Lake Michigan in Illinois. Other canals make with these an extent of 3500 miles. Railways extend from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. There were in operation in 1880, 85,000 miles of railway. Railways have doubled in ten years. New main lines of communication are the Southern Pacific (from Galveston by Topeka and Santa Fe), and the Northern Pacific, from St. Paul to the west.

Education and Religion-—The benevolent, literary, and scientific institutions of the U. S. are generally state institutions, accounts of which will be found under the heads of the respective states. The exceptions are the Smithsonian Institute (q. v.), American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Sciences, and military and naval academies and hospitals.—In the U. S. are about 350 colleges (including UNIVERSITIES, q. v.), 120 theological seminaries, 100 medical schools, 40 law schools, great numbers of academies or high schools, and female seminaries. Free common schools are established in nearly all the states, sufficient for universal education, supported by taxes, school funds, and, in all the new states, the reservation of one or two sections of land, of 648 acres each, in every township. In 1880, there were near 4000 public libraries, with near 18,000,000 volumes (including in the total the district school libraries). Literary societies abound, and courses of lectures are largely provided. The press is very active. In 1871, there were 6056 periodical publications (637 daily); in 1881, there were above 8000 (1000 daily).

Religion is free from any interference of either the Federal or state governments, and all denominations exist in entire freedom upon the voluntary principle. The numbers of the principal religious denominations were as follows in 1880 :

Constitution, Government, &e.—The government of the U. S. is one of limited and specific powers; strictly defined by a written constitution, framed by a convention of the states in 1787, which went into operation after being ratified by the thirteen original states in 1789, by which instrument the several states, having their independent republican governments, conferred upon a Federal Congress, executive, or President, and judiciary, such powers as were necessary to ‘ form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, and secure the blessings of liberty.’ The legislative powers granted to the Federal government are vested in a Congress of the U. S.. consisting of a Senate of two senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof; and a House of Representatives, consisting of one or more members from each state, elected by all male citizens over 21 years of age; so that the states, large and small, have each 2 votes in the senate, and from 1 to above 30 in the House of Representatives, which consists, after 1883, of 325 members, or 1 to 154.325 of population (In 1873, 293 members). The senator must be 30 years old, and is chosen for 6 years; the representative 25 years old, and for two years. Senators and representatives, by an act of Congress passed in 1874, are paid $5000 per annum, with traveling expenses. The Senate is presided over by the vice-president; and is a high court for trial of cases of impeachment.

It also confirms the appointments of the President, and ratifies treaties made with foreign powers. Revenue bills originate in the House of Representatives. Bills passed by both Houses, within the limits of their constitutional powers, become laws, on receiving the sanction of the President; or, if returned with his veto, may be passed over it by two-thirds of both Houses.

By the constitution, the states granted to Congress power, ‘ to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States;’ to borrow money; to regulate commerce; to establish uniform naturalization and bankruptcy laws; to coin money, and fix the standards of weights and measures, and punish counterfeiting; to establish post-offices and post-roads; to secure patents and copyrights; punish piracies; declare war; raise armies and navy; to call out the militia, reserving to the states to appoint their officers; and to govern the district of Columbia, and all places purchased for forts, arsenals, &c., with the consent of the state legislatures. All powers not expressly granted are reserved to the states or the people; but the states, though sovereign and independent under the constitution, with all powers of local legislation, eminent domain (i. e.,. absolute possession of the soil), and power of life and death, with which neither President nor Congress can interfere, cannot make treaties, coin money, levy duties on imports, or exercise the powers granted to Congress.

The executive of the Federal government is a President, chosen by an electoral college, equal in number to the senators and representatives, elected by the people of the states. He must be a native of the U. S., 35 years old, and is elected for a term of four years, and may be re-elected without limit. His salary is $50.000 a year. The Vice-president, who, in case of the death of the President, succeeds him, is President of the Senate. If he should die after becoming President, his successor would be chosen by Congress. The President, by and with the consent of the Senate, appoints a cabinet, consisting of the Secretaries of State and Foreign Affairs, Treasury, War, Navy, Interior, the Postmaster-general, and Attorney-general. These officers have salaries of $8000 a year, have no seats in Congress, and are solely responsible to the President, who also appoints directly, or through his subordinates, the officers of the army and navy—of which he is commander-in-chief—the justices of the Federal judiciary, revenue-officers, postmasters, &c.—in all about 100,000.

The judiciary consists of a supreme court, with one chief-justice and seven assistant-justices, appointed by the President for life, and district judges in each district. The supreme court has jurisdiction in all cases arising under the constitution, laws, and treaties of the U. S.; causes affecting ambassadors and consuls, of admiralty and jurisdiction; controversies to which the U. S. is a party, or between a state and the citizens of another state, citizens of different states, citizens and foreign states. It has original jurisdiction in state cases, or those affecting ambassadors or consuls— in others, appellate. A person may be tried for treason, both against the federal government, and against the state of which he is a citizen. The President can reprieve or pardon a person condemned by a Federal court; but has no power to interfere with the judgments of state tribunals. Besides the supreme court, there are U. S. district courts, with judges, district attorneys, and marshals, in districts comprising part or whole of the several states. The citizens of each state are entitled to all privileges and immunities of the several states. Criminals escaping from one state to another are given up for trial on demand of the executive; and the constitution declared, before the rebellion, that ‘ no person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.’ The constitution may be amended by a convention called at the request of two-thirds of the states; or amendments may be proposed by a vote of two-thirds of Congress, and ratified by three-fourths of the states; but ‘ no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.’

The President, either directly or through the Secretary of State and Foreign Affairs, appoints ministers, consuls, and consular agents to foreign countries. The envoys-extraordinary and ministers-plenipotentiary receive from $17.500 to $10,000 of salary; ministers resident have $7500 to $4000.

Army and Navy.—The army of the U. S., under the command of the President, consisted, in 1790, of 1260 men. In 1861, its numbers were 14,000, and those who took part with the Confederates, or were disbanded in the Confederate States, reduced the number to about 5000. April 15, 1861, 75,000 volunteers were called out; May 4, 64,000; July and December 1861, 500,000; July 1, 1862, 300,000; August 4, 1862. 300,000; summer of 1863, 300,000; February 1, 1864, 500,000. The total number called out from 1861 till the end of the war in 1865, was 2,670,874. This vast army was procured by volunteering, by enlistment in the regular army, and by drafts or conscriptions; but the greater part by bounties of 300 to 1000 dollars to each volunteer. Large numbers of recruits were also found among newly arrived immigrants; and the negro troops recruited in the seceded or slave states, ill October 1863, numbered 38,707, and increased in numbers to the end of the war. In 1871, the regular army was reduced to the legal standard of 30,000 enlisted men, and it was subsequently enacted that from 1875 there should be no more than 25,000 men enlisted at any one time. The militia of the U. S. is under the state governments, but is not organized. There are numerous arsenals and manufactories of arms at Springfield (q.v.). Massachusetts; Pittsburg- (q. v.), Pennsylvania, &c. The Military Academy at West Point educates cadets, nominated from each state by members of Congress, and appointed by the President, who receive commissions as officers in the army.

The navy of the U. S. in 1880 consisted of about 60 cruising-ships. 20 monitors, and 2 torpedo-boats. The iron-clad turret-steamers (see TURRET-SHIP) called monitors, constitute a powerful portion of the American navy. A Naval Academy has been established at Annapolis, Maryland, for the education of naval cadets.

The Post-office Department, organized before the “Revolution of 1775 by Benjamin Franklin, had in 1880 over 44,500 offices, and forwarded 868,493,500 letters; 276,450,000 post-cards; 695,000,000 newspapers; 53,472,000 magazines; books, &c., 300,855.000; articles of merchandise, 22,645,000. There were, in the same year, 11,317 telegraph offices, with 107,103 miles of lines, which forwarded 30,486.000 messages.

Revenue, Expenditure, &c.—The following table gives the expenditures (excepting interest on debt), and the debt of the U. S., for 20 different years :

Of late years the surplus revenue has come to be so great that it has been an embarrassment; the debt has been swiftly reduced; and it has been a problem whether to reduce internal duties (on tobacco, spirits, &c.), or customs, but the prohibition system is maintained. The expenditure of 1881—1882 (chief items, legislation, executive, civil list, army, navy, post office, pensions), was $216,694.384, and left near $150.000,000 of surplus; 1880—1881, the surplus was $100,000,000.

The revenue of the U. S. up to the War of Secession. 1861, was drawn almost wholly from the sale of public lands and duties on imports. In 1850, the revenue from customs was $39.668.686; from lands, &c., $3,707,112—total, $43,375,798. In 1850 the revenue from customs was $53.187,511; lands, &c., $2.877.691— total, $56,064,606. The cost of the war compelled the government to add to these resources a system of internal revenue or direct taxation, consisting of stamps, licenses, excise, income-tax, &c., by which the revenues were increased in 1865 to $309,510.-932. The revenue for the year 1879-80 amounted to $333,526,610 (£66,705,000), the principal items being customs, $186,000,000. and internal revenue, $124,000.000. The expenditure was $267,642,955 (£53.528,600). The total debt in 1880 amounted to £422,-407,182; from 1865 to 1880, the nation had paid off the immense sum of £170.000,000. In the fiscal year 1879-80. the debt was reduced by £13,176,000. In 1865, owing to the Civil War, the debt per head was about £16; but in 1880 it had been reduced to about £8, 8s. per head.

The currency of the U. S. is a mixed one of gold, silver, and copper, and bank-notes. Specie was for many years the only money recognized by the Federal government; paper money being issued by chartered banks. The war of 1861—1865 compelled the government to issue paper-money, and to establish national banks, in 1871, for its circulation. The capital of state banks in 1880 was $456,000,000, and of private banks upwards of $190,000,-000, In 1878 a law was passed making silver equally a legal tender with gold, though silver was then 11 per cent, less in value. Specie payments were resumed by the government in 1879.

The specie currency of the U. S. consists of the gold dollar (value in exchange about 4s. sterling); the half-eagle, $5; the eagle, $10; the double eagle, $20; silver-dollar, half-dollar, quarter; dime, 10 cents; half-dime; nickle cent, or 100th part of a dollar. The coinage of 1880 was—gold $56,157,735; silver, $27,942,437; copper, $269,971; from the establishment of the mint to June 30,1880, $1,133,103,322.

History.—The territories now occupied by the U. S. of America, though they were probably visited on their north-eastern coast by Norse navigators about the year 1000, continued the sole possession of numerous tribes of Indians (who had succeeded earlier and extinct races), until the discovery of America by Columbus, 1492. In 1498, an English expedition, under the command of Sebastian Cabot, explored the eastern coast of America from Labrador to Virginia, perhaps to Florida.

In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon landed near St. Augustine in Florida, and explored a portion of that region in a romantic search for the Fountain of Youth. In 1520, some Spanish vessels from St. Domingo were driven upon the coast of Carolina. In 1521. by the conquests of Cortes and his followers, Mexico, including Texas, New Mexico, and California, became a province of Spain. In 1539—1542, Ferdinand de Soto led a Spanish expedition from the coast of Florida across Alabama, and discovered the Mississippi River. In 1584—1585, Sir Walter Raleigh sent two expeditions to the coast of North Carolina, and attempted to form settlements on Roanoke Island. A Spanish settlement was made at St- Augustine, Florida, 1565. Jamestown, Virginia, was settled in 1607; New York, then called the New Netherlands, 1613; Plymouth. Massachusetts, 1620. A large part of the country on the great lakes and on the Mississippi was explored by La Salle in 1682; and settlements were made by the French at Kaskaskia and Arkansas Post, 1685; Mobile and Vincennes, 1702. The early history of the various colonies which now constitute the U. S. will be found under the heads of the different states and territories. The first effort at a union of colonies was in 1643, when the settlements in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut formed a confederacy for mutual defence against the French, Dutch, and Indians, under the title of ‘ the United Colonies of New England.’

They experienced the benefits of united action in 1754, when an English grant of lands to the Ohio Company brought on the French and Indian war—the French claiming, at that period, as the first explorers, Northern New England, half of New York, and the entire Mississippi Valley. George Washington was sent on his first expedition, to remonstrate with the French authorities; ‘ and the colonies being advised to unite for genera,] defence, apian for a general government of all the English colonies was drawn up by Benjamin’ Franklin; but it was rejected by both the colonies and the crown—by the colonies, who wished to preserve their separate independence, and by the crown from a jealousy of their united strength. The colonists, however, took an active part in the war. Under Major Washington, they joined General Brad-dock in his unfortunate expedition against Fort Du Quesne, now Pittsburg; they aided in the reduction of Louisburg, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Niagara; and rejoiced in the conquest of Quebec, by which the vast northern regions of America became the possessions of Great Britain.

The principles of a democratic or representative government were brought to America by the earliest colonists. The colonies themselves were founded by private adventure, with very little aid from government. The Plymouth colony was for 18 years a strict democracy, and afterwards a republic under a charter from the crown. A representative and popular government was established in Virginia in 1620. It was not until the Protectorate and the reign of Charles II. that the colonies were considered as portions of the empire, to be governed by parliament, when navigation acts were passed to give English ships a monopoly of commerce. when the produce of the colonies was required to be sent to England, and duties were levied on commodities sent from one colony to another. Protests were made against these assumptions; Virginia asserted her right of self-government; and it was not until the English revolution of 1688 that settled and uniform relations with the different colonies were established.

In 1713, by the treaty of Utrecht. England, which, since the reign of Elizabeth, had imported slaves from Africa into her American and West Indian colonies, obtained a monopoly of the slave-trade, engaging to furnish Spanish America, in 33 years, with 144,000 negroes. A great slave-trading company was formed in England, one-quarter of the stock being taken by Queen Anne, and one-quarter by the king of Spain, these two sovereigns becoming the greatest slave-dealers in Christendom. By this monopoly, slavery was extended in, and to some extent forced upon all the American colonies.

At this period, there was a general feeling of loyalty towards the mother country. The sons of the more wealthy colonists, especially in the south, were educated in England; English literature pervaded the colonies; the British throne was the fountain of honor; the colonies, though distinct, and differing in origin and character—Puritan in the East, Dutch Reformed in New York, Quaker in Pennsylvania, Catholic in Maryland, and Church of England in Virginia—were yet united by language, common ties, fears, and interests.

In 1761, the enforcement of the Navigation Act against illegal traders, by general search-warrants, caused a strong excitement against the government, especially in Boston. The Admiralty enforced the law; many vessels were seized; and the colonial trade with the West Indies was annihilated. In 1765, the passing of an act of parliament for collecting a colonial revenue by stamps caused general indignation, and led to riots. Patrick Henry, in the Virginia Assembly, denied the right of parliament to tax America, and eloquently asserted the dogma, ‘ no taxation without representation.’ The first impulse was to unite against a common danger; and the first colonial congress of 28 delegates, representing 9 colonies, made a statement of grievances and a declaration of rights. The stamps were destroyed or reshipped to England, and popular societies were formed in the chief towns, called ‘ Sons of Liberty.’ In 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed, to the general joy of the colonists; but the principle of colonial taxation was not abandoned; and in 1767, duties were levied on glass, paper, printers’ colors, and tea. This renewed attempt produced, in 1768, riots in Boston, and Governor Gage was furnished with a military force of 700 to preserve order and enforce the laws. In 1773, the duties were repealed, excepting 3rf. a pound on tea. It was now a question of principle, and from north to south it was determined that this tax should not be paid. Some cargoes were stored in damp warehouses and spoiled; some sent back; in Boston, a mob, disguised as Indians, threw it into the harbor. To punish this outrage, parliament passed the Boston Port Bill, 1774, by which the chief town in New England was no longer a port of entry, and its trade transferred to Salem. The people were reduced to great distress, but received the sympathy of all the colonies, and liberal contributions of wheat from Virginia, and rice from Charleston, South Carolina.

It was now determined to enforce the government of the crown and parliament over the colonies; and a fleet, containing several ships of the line, and 10,000 troops, was sent to America; while the colonists, still asserting their loyalty, and with little or no thought of separation from the mother country, prepared to resist what they considered the unconstitutional assumptions of the government. Volunteers were drilling in every direction, and depots of provisions and military stores were being gathered. A small force being sent from Boston to seize one of these depots at Concord, Massachusetts, led to what is called the battle of Lexington, and the beginning of the war of the Revolution, April 19, 1775. The British troops were attacked on their return by the provincials, and compelled to a hasty retreat. The news of this event summoned 20,000 men to the vicinity of Boston. The royal forts and arsenals of the colonies were taken possession of, with their arms and munitions. Crown Point and Ticonderoga, the principal northern fortifications, were surprised, and their artillery and stores appropriated. A Congress of the colonies assembled at Philadelphia, which resolved to raise and equip an army of 20.000 men, and appointed George Washington commander-in-chief. June 17, Bunker Hill, in Charleston, near Boston, where 1500 Americans had hastily intrenched themselves, was taken by assault by the British troops, but with so heavy a loss (1054) that the defeat had for the provincials the moral effect of a victory. After a winter of great privations, the British were compelled to evacuate Boston, carrying away in their fleet to Halifax 1500 loyal families.

The British government now put forth a strong effort to reduce the colonies to submission. An army of 55,000, including 17,000 German mercenaries (’Hessians’ ), was sent, under the command of Sir William Howe, to put down this ‘wicked rebellion.’ The provincial Congress, declaring that the royal authority had ceased, recommended to the several colonies to adopt ’such governments as might best conduce to the safety and happiness of the people; ‘ and the thirteen colonies soon adopted constitutions as independent and sovereign states. On the 7th of June 1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, offered a resolution in Congress, declaring that ‘the united colonies are, and ought to be. free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is. and ought to be, totally dissolved.’ This resolution, after an earnest debate, was adopted by the votes of 9 out of 13 colonies. A committee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, was instructed to prepare a declaration in accordance with the above resolution; and the celebrated Declaration of Independence, written by Mr. Jefferson, based upon the equality of men and the universal right of self government, and asserting that ‘ all government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed,’ on the 4th of July 1776, received the assent of the delegates of the colonies, which thus dissolved their allegiance to the British crown, and declared themselves free and independent states, under the general title of the thirteen United States of America—New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia—occupying a narrow line of the Atlantic coast between Canada and Florida, east of the Alleghanies, with a population of about 2,500,000.

After the evacuation of Boston, General Washington, with tin remains of his army, thinned by the hardships of winter, hastened to New York. On the 3d of July, General Howe, being joined by his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, and Sir Henry Clinton, fount himself at the head of 35,000 men; defeated the Americans or Long Island, August 27. 1776, compelled the evacuation of New York, and secured the possession of its spacious harbor, and the river Hudson. General Washington, with inferior and undisciplined forces, retreated across New Jersey, closely followed by the English, hoping to save Philadelphia. Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton, the chief towns in New Jersey, were taken, ant the British awaited the freezing of the Delaware to occupy Philadelphia. On Christmas night. General Washington, by crossing in boats among floating ice, made a successful night-attack upon a Hessian force at Trenton, and gave new courage to the desponding Americans, who recruited the army, and harassed the enemy with a winter campaign.

In the meantime, Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin had been sent to France to solicit recognition and aid. The recognition was delayed, but important aid was privately given in money and supplies, and European volunteers—the Marquis tie Lafayette, Baron Steuben, Baron de Kalb, Kosciusko, and Pulaski, rendering the most important services. Efforts were made to induce the British colonies of Canada and Nova Scotia to unite in the struggle for independence, and an expedition was sent against Montreal and Quebec, led by Generals Montgomery and Arnold. The Canadians refused their aid; Montgomery was killed, Arnold wounded, and the remains of the expedition returned after terrible sufferings. In 1777, after several severe actions in New Jersey, generally disastrous to the Americans, the British took possession of Philadelphia; and Washington, with the remnants of his army, went into winter-quarters at Valley Forge, where they suffered from cold, hunger, and nakedness.

While Washington was unsuccessfully contending against disciplined and overwhelming forces in New Jersey, General Burgoyne was leading an army of 7000 British and German troops, with a large force of Canadians and Indians, from Canada into Northern New York, to form a junction with the British on the Hudson, and separate New England from the rest of the rebel confederacy. His march was delayed by felled trees and destroyed roads; his foraging expeditions were defeated; and after two sharp actions at Stillwater and Saratoga, with but three days’ rations left, he was compelled to capitulate, October 17; and England, in the midst of victories, heard with dismay of the loss of an entire army. The Americans gained 5000 muskets, and a large train of artillery. Feeling the need of more unity of action, articles of confederation, proposed by Franklin in 1775, were adopted in 1777, which constituted a league of friendship between the states, but not a government which had any powers of coercion.

In 1778, Lord Carlisle was sent to America by the British government with offers of conciliation; it was too late. France at the same time recognized American independence, and sent a large fleet and supplies of clothing, arms, and munitions of war to their aid; and General Clinton, who had superseded General Howe, finding his supplies at Philadelphia threatened, retreated to New York, defeating the Americans at Monmouth.

The repeated victories of the British armies, the aid afforded by great numbers of Americans who still adhered to the royal cause, and furnished during the war not less than 20,000 troops, and the alliance of large tribes of Indians, who committed cruel ravages in the frontier settlements, did little towards subjugating the country. Portions of the sea-coast of New England and Virginia were laid waste; but the king’s troops were worn out with long marches and tedious campaigns, and even weakened by victories. Spain, and then Holland, joined in the war against England, and aided the Americans. Paul Jones, with ships fitted out in French harbors, fought desperate battles under the American flag on the English coast. But the king and parliament were determined to maintain the honor of the crown and the integrity of the empire. In 1780, 85,000 seamen were raised, and 35,000 additional troops sent to America, and a strong effort was made to subjugate the Carolinas, where the war became of a bitter partisan character, and was conducted with spirit by Sumpter. Marion, and other Southern chieftains. Lord Cornwallis, with a large army, marched from Charleston, through North Carolina, pursuing, and sometimes defeating the American General Gates. Worn out with his success, he arrived in Virginia, where he was confronted by General Lafayette. In the meantime, Admiral de Varney had arrived upon the coast with a powerful French fleet, and 6000 soldiers of the elite of the French army, under Count de Rochambeau.

Cornwallis was obliged to fortify himself at Yorktown, blockaded by the fleet of Count de Grasse, and besieged by the allied army of French and Americans, waiting for Sir Henry Clinton to send him relief from New York. October 19, 1781, he was compelled to surrender his army of 7000 men—an event which produced such a change of feeling in England as to cause the resignation of the ministry, and the despatch of General Sir Guy Carleton to New York with offers of terms of peace. The preliminaries were signed at Paris, November 30, 1782; and on September 3, 1783, peace was concluded between England and France, Holland, and America. The independence of each of the several states was acknowledged, with a liberal settlement of territorial boundaries. In April, a cessation of hostilities had been proclaimed, and the American army disbanded] New York, which had been held by the English through the whole war, was evacuated November 25; on December 4, General Washington took leave of his companions in arms, and. December 23, resigned into the hands of Congress his commission as commander.

From the retreat of Lexington, April 19, 1775, to the surrender of Yorktown, October 19, 1781, in 24 engagements, including the surrender of two armies, the British losses in the field were not less than 25,000 men, while those of the Americans were about 8000.

The states were free, but exhausted, with a foreign debt of $8,000,000, a domestic debt of $30,000,000, an army unpaid and discontented, a paper-currency utterly worthless, and a bankrupt treasury. The states were called upon to pay their shares of the necessary expenditures, but they were also in debt, and there was no power to compel them to pay, or to raise money by taxation. In these difficulties, and the failure of the articles of confederation, a convention was surnamed by Congress in 1787, to revise these articles. The task was so difficult, that the Convention resolved to propose an entirely new constitution, granting fuller powers to a Federal Congress and executive, and one which should act upon the people individually as well as upon the states. The constitution was therefore framed, whose provisions have already been stated, and which is still the basis of the government; and though strongly opposed by many, who believed that the extensive powers granted by it to Congress and the executive would be dangerous to the liberties of the people, it, was, in 1787—1788, adopted, in some cases by small majorities, in 11 state conventions, and finally by the whole 13 states, chiefly through the exertions and writings of James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton.

Virginia ratified the constitution with the declaration, that she was at liberty to withdraw from the union whenever its powers were used for oppression; and New York, after Hamilton had declared that no state could ever be coerced by an armed force. The country was at this period divided into two parties : the Federalists, who were in favor of a strong centralized government, and the Anti-federalists, who held to the sovereignty and rights of the independent states. George Washington and John Adams, standing at the head of the Federalist Party, were elected President and Vice-president of the United States. The President took the oath to support the constitution in front of the City Hall in New York; and the government was organized with Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State; Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury; General Knox, Secretary of War; and John Jay, Chief Justice of the supreme court. Congress assumed the war-debts of the several states, and Chartered the bank of the United States, though its constitutional right to do so was strenuously denied by the Republican or States’ Rights party. Washington was re-elected to the presidency in 1792; but party-spirit increased, excited by the events of the French Revolution. Citizen Genet, who represented the French Republic in America, fitted out privateers against England, and his recall was demanded by the President. The Federalists took the side of England in the great European contest, while the Republicans sympathized with the Revolution. There grew up also difficulties between the English and American governments. The Americans accused the English of carrying off large numbers of negroes and other property at the close of the war; while the English accused the Americans of sequestrating the property of loyalists, which they had engaged by treaty to restore to them. These controversies were happily settled by Mr. Jay.

In 1796, Washington, worn and irritated by partisan conflicts and criticisms, refused a third election, and issued his farewell address to the people of the U. S., warning them against the dangers of party-spirit and disunion, and giving them advice worthy of one who was said to be ‘first in war, first in pence, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.’ John Adams was elected President; and Thomas Jefferson, the second choice of the people for the presidency, became, according to the rule at first adopted, Vice-president. In 1798. the commercial regulations of France, and the assertion of the right to search and capture American vessels, nearly led to a war between the two republics. In 1799, the nation, without distinction of party, mourned the death of Washington; and, in the following year, the seat of government was removed to the city he had planned for a capital, and which bears his name. The partiality of Mr. Adams for England, the establishment of a Federal army, and the passing of the Alien and

Sedition Laws, by which foreigners could be summarily banished, and abuse of the government, by speech or the press, punished, caused great political excitement, and such an increase of the Republican, or, as it was afterwards called, the Democratic party, that the President failed of a re-election in 1801; and there being no election by the people, the House of Representatives, after thirty-five ballotings, chose Thomas Jefferson, the Republican candidate, with Aaron Burr for Vice-president; and the offices of the country were transferred to the victorious party.

Internal duties, which a few years before had led to an insurrection in Pennsylvania, called the Whisky Insurrection, were abolished, and the Alien and Sedition Laws repealed. Tennessee, Kentucky, Vermont, and Ohio had now been organized as states, and admitted into the Union. In 1803, the area of the country was more than doubled by the purchase of Louisiana—the whole region between the Mississippi and Rocky Mountains—from France for $15,000.000. The infant navy waged a successful war with Tripoli. In 1805, Mr. Jefferson was elected for a second term; but Mr. Burr, having lost the confidence of his party, engaged in a conspiracy to seize upon the Mississippi Valley, and found a new empire, with its capital at New Orleans. He was tried for treason, but not convicted. The commerce of America was highly prosperous, her ships enjoying much of the carrying-trade of Europe; but, in May 1806, England declared a blockade from Brest to the Elbe, and Bonaparte, in November, decreed the blockade of the coasts of the United Kingdom. American vessels were captured by both parties, and were searched by British ships for British subjects; and those suspected of having been born on British soil, were, in accordance with the doctrine, once a subject always a subject, impressed into the naval service. Even American men-of-war were not excepted from this process. The British frigate Leopard meeting the American frigate Chesapeake, demanded four of her men, and on refusal, fired into her, and the surprised Chesapeake struck her flag. British ships were hereupon forbidden U. S. harbors.

Mr. Jefferson, following the example of Washington, declined a third election; and, in 1809. James Madison became President. The French decrees, prejudicial to neutral commerce, were revoked in 1810; but the English continued, a source of loss and irritation, while hundreds of American citizens were in forced service in British vessels. The feeling was increased by a night-encounter between the American frigate President and the British sloop-of-war Little Belt, May 16, 1811. In April 1812, an embargo was again declared by Congress, preparatory to a declaration of war against Great Britain, July i9. for which Congress voted to raise 25,000 enlisted soldiers, 50,000 volunteers, and 100,000 militia. General Hull, with 2.000 men at Detroit, invaded Canada; but on being met by a small force of British and Indians, under General Brock, recrossed the river, and made a shameful surrender; and was sentenced to death for his cowardice, but pardoned by the President. A second invasion of Canada was made near Niagara Falls by General Van Renssalaer. One thousand American” militia stormed the heights of Queenstown, and the British general, Brock, was killed; but reinforcements arriving opportunely, the heights were retaken, and nearly all the Americans were killed or driven into the Niagara, while the American general was in vain imploring a large body of militia on the opposite bank to cross over to the support of their brethren in arms. They refused, upon the ground, that the government had no constitutional right to send the militia across the frontier. The Federal party, opposed to the war, defended this doctrine, and General Van Renssalaer resigned in disgust. American disasters on the land were, however, compensated by victories at sea.

August 19, the U. S. frigate Constitution captured the British frigate Guerriere; October 18, the Wasp took the Frolic; October 25, the frigate United States captured the Macedonian; December 29, the Constitution took the Java. The Americans in most cases had the larger ships and heavier ordnance; but the immense disparity in losses showed also superior seamanship and gunnery. American privateers took 300 British vessels and 3000 prisoners. In 1813. General Proctor crossed the Detroit river with a considerable force of British and Indians, and defeated General Winchester, with the usual results of savage warfare. In April, an American army of 1700 men captured York (now Toronto), and about the same time another American force of 800 men was defeated with great loss by the Indians under Tecumseh; but the remainder of this campaign was wholly favorable to the Americans. The attempt of the British general, Prevost, on Sackett’s Harbor was repulsed; the squadron on Lake Erie, consisting of 6 vessels, 63 guns, was captured by Commodore Perry at the head of an American flotilla of 9 vessels, 54 guns; and this latter success enabled General Harrison to invade Canada, where he defeated General Proctor in the battle of the Thames, in which the great Indian warrior-chief Tecumseh was killed.

In 1813. another invasion of Canada was attempted; and York (now Toronto) was taken by General Dearborn; and an unsuccessful attempt was made to take Montreal. Villages were burned on both sides. The British also destroyed American shipping in Delaware Bay. At the same period, General Jackson defeated die Creek Indians in Alabama and Georgia, who had been excited to make war upon the frontier settlements.

In 1814, Generals Scott and Ripley crossed the Niagara, and sharp actions, with no decisive results, were fought at Chippewa and Lundy’s Lane, close by the great Cataract. General Wilkinson also invaded Canada on the Sorell River, but was easily repulsed. A British invasion, by Lake Champlain, by General Sir George Provost, with 14,000 men and a flotilla on the lake, was no more successful. On the 6th of September, the flotilla was defeated and captured in the harbor of Plattsburg, while the army was repulsed on shore, and retreated with heavy loss. In August, a British fleet ascended Chesapeake Bay, took Washington with but slight resistance, and burned the government buildings. A subsequent attack on Baltimore was unsuccessful. New York. New London, and Boston were blockaded, and a large expedition was sent against Mobile and New Orleans.

On the 8th of January 1815, General Packenham advanced with 12,000 men against the latter city, which was defended by General Jackson, at the head of 6000 militia, chiefly from Tennessee and Kentucky, aided by a small force of artillery, recruited from the Barataria pirates. The Americans were sheltered by a breast-work, and the British assault was met with so deadly afire of riflemen, that it was repulsed, with the loss of General Packenham and several officers, with 700 killed and 1000 wounded; while the entire American loss is stated to have only amounted to 71. This ill-planned and unfortunate action was fought more than a month after peace had been concluded between England and America, and was followed by two naval actions in February and March. Though during this contest fortune at first favored the Americans on the high seas, she changed sides completely from June 1813, as if to counterbalance the disasters of the British on land. June 1, the Chesapeake was taken by the Shannon; June 3, the Growler and Eagle were captured by British gun-boats; the Argus was taken by the Pelican, August 14; the Essex by the Phœbe and Cherub, March 29, 1814; the President by the Endymion, January 15, 1815; tile only counterbalancing success being the sinking of the British sloop Avon by the Wasp. September 8, 1814. In December 1814, the Federalists of New England held a convention at Hartford in opposition to the war and the administration, and threatened a secession of the New England states. See HARTFORD CONVENTION. In 1815, Commodore Decatur, who had taken a distinguished part in the recent war, commanded an expedition against the Algerians—whose corsairs had preyed on American commerce in the Mediterranean—and dictated terms to Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli.

The Democratic-Republican party having- brought the war to a satisfactory conclusion, the Federalists disappeared; and in 1817, James Monroe was elected to the presidency, almost without opposition, in what was termed ‘ the era of good feeling.’ A rapid emigration from Europe and from the Atlantic states to the richer lands of the West, had in ten years added six new states to the Union. Difficulties arose with the warlike southern Indian tribes, whose hunting-grounds were invaded; and General Jackson, sent against the Seminoles, summoned to his aid the Tennessee volunteers who had served under him against the Creeks and at New Orleans, defeated them, pursued them into Florida, took Pensacola, and banished the Spanish authorities and troops. He was, however, supported in these high-handed measures by the President; and in 1819, Florida was ceded by Spain to the United States. In 1820, Alabama and Maine, a slave and a free state, were added to the Union; and the question of the admission of Missouri arose in Congress—the question of its admission with or without slavery. At the period of the Revolution, slavery existed in all the states except Massachusetts; but it had gradually been abolished in the northern and middle states, except Delaware, and excluded from the new states between the Ohio and Mississippi by the terms on which the territory had been surrendered by Virginia to the Union. Under the constitution, slaves were not counted in full as a represented population; but by a compromise, three-fifths of their numbers were added to the whites. The slave states were almost exclusively agricultural, with free-trade interests. The free states were encouraging manufactures by protection. The two sections had already entered upon a struggle to maintain the balance of power against each other.

After an excited contest, Missouri was admitted, with a compromise resolution, that in future no slave state should be erected north of the parallel of 36° 30′ N. lat.—the northern boundary of Arkansas. During the second term of Mr. Monroe, in 1824, General Lafayette visited America, and was everywhere received with great enthusiasm. In the presidential election of 1824, there were four candidates—John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William H. Crawford. There being no choice by the people, the House of Representatives chose Mr. Adams; John C. Calhoun being elected Vice-president. Party and sectional feeling became stronger- Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, who had heretofore acted with the party of Jefferson and Madison, were henceforth identified with what was called the National Republican, and later, the Whig, and finally, in union with the Anti-slavery party, the Republican party. In 1826, two of the founders of the republic, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, died on the 4th of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence —an event which made a profound impression. The four years of Mr. Adams, during which there were violent contests on protection and the powers of the Federal government to carry out public works within the states, ended with an excited election contest, which resulted in the triumph of the Democratic part}’, and the election of Andrew Jackson, with John C. Calhoun as Vice-president.

The bold, decisive, and impetuous character of General Jackson was shown in a general removal of those who held office, down to small postmasters and tide-waiters, under the late administration, and the appointment of his own partisans. An act for the re-chartering of the U. S. Bank was met by a veto of the President, who declared it unconstitutional and dangerous. In 1832. an Indian war, called the Black Hawk War, broke out in Wisconsin; but the passing of a high protective tariff act by Congress caused a more serious trouble. The state of South Carolina declared the act unconstitutional, and therefore null and void, threatening to withdraw from the Union if an attempt were made to collect the duties oil foreign importations. The President prepared to execute the laws by force; Mr. Calhoun resigned his office of Vice-president, and asserted the doctrine of state-rights, including the right of secession, in the Senate. A collision seemed imminent, when the affair was settled by a compromise bill, introduced by Henry Clay, providing for a gradual reduction of duties, until 1843, when they should not exceed 20 per cent, ad valorem.

The popularity of General Jackson caused his re-election by an overwhelming majority against Henry Clay, the leader of the Bank, Protection, and Internal Improvement party; and he entered upon his second term with Martin Van Buren of New York as Vice President. The removal of the government deposits from the U. S. Bank to certain state banks, led to the failure of the bank, and after some years, to the adoption of Mr. Van Buren’s plan of an independent treasury. The Cherokee Indians in Georgia, who had attained to a certain degree of civilization, appealed to the President for protection against the seizure of their lands by the state; but they were told that he had no power to oppose the exercise of the sovereignty of any state over all who may be within its limits;’ and the Indians were obliged to remove to the territory set apart for them west of the Mississippi. In 1835, the Seminole war broke out in Florida; and a tribe of Indians, insignificant in numbers, under the crafty leadership of Osceola (q. v.), kept up hostilities for years, at a cost to the U. S of several thousands of men and some fifty millions of dollars. In 1837, Martin Van Buren succeeded General Jackson in the presidency. His term of four years was a stormy one, from the great financial crisis of 1837, which followed a period of currency-expansion and wild speculation. All the banks suspended payment, and the great commercial cities threatened insurrection.

Mr. Van Buren was firm in adhering- to his principle of collecting the revenues of the government in specie, and separating the government from all connection with the banks. His firmness in acting against the strong sympathies of the northern and western states with the Canadian insurrection of 1837—1838, also damaged his popularity; and in 1840, the election of General Harrison, with John Tyler for Vice-president, was one of unexampled excitement, characterized by immense popular gatherings, political songs, the use of symbols, and the participation of botli sexes to a degree hitherto unknown in America. The Whigs triumphed in nearly every state; General Harrison was inaugurated March 4, 1841; and the rush to Washington for offices was as great as the election had been exciting and remarkable. Worn down with the campaign and the office-seekers, General Harrison died in a month after his inauguration, and was succeeded by John Tyler, who, having been a. Democrat, was no sooner in power than he seems to have reverted to his former political principles. He vetoed a hi 11 for the establishment of a national bank and other measures of the party by which he had been elected. His cabinet resigned, with the exception of Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, and others, Democratic or neutral, were appointed in their place. During Mr. Tyler’s administration, the north-eastern boundary question, which nearly occasioned a war with England, was settled by Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton; a difficulty amounting almost to a. rebellion, was settled in Rhode Island; but the most important question agitated was that of the annexation of Texas. This annexation was advocated by the South, as a large addition to southern and slave territory; and, for the same reason, opposed by the Whig and anti-slavery parties of the North. Besides, the independence of Texas, though acknowledged by the U. S., England, and France, had not been acknowledged by Mexico, audits annexation would be a casus belli with that power. The recent admissions of Iowa and Florida into the Union had kept the balance of power even between North and South, but Texas would be an advantage to the South. But the gain of territory, and a contempt for Mexico, overcame these objections, and in 1845, Texas was formally annexed to the U. S.; and James K. Polk of Tennessee succeeded Mr. Tyler in the presidency.

M. Almonte, the Mexican minister at Washington, protested against the annexation of Texas, as an act of warlike aggression; and to guard against a threatened invasion of Texas, General Zachary Taylor was ordered, with the U. S. troops of his military district, to its southern frontier. The Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande, and commenced hostilities, April 36, 1845. General Taylor moved promptly forward, and won the victories of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, Saltillo, and finally, against great odds—20,000 to 4759—the hard-fought battle of Buena Vista, a victory that excited great enthusiasm. In the meantime, General Wool had been sent on an expedition to Chihuahua, in Northern Mexico; General Kearney to New Mexico; and Captain Fremont and Commander Stockton took possession of California. March 9, 1847, General Scott landed at Vera Cruz, which he took on the 29th, after a siege and bombardment by land and water. Marching into the interior with a force of about 9000 men, he found General Santa Anna intrenched on the Heights of Cerro Gordo with 15,006 men. On April 18, every position was taken by storm, with 3000 prisoners, 43 cannon, 5000 stand of arms, &c. Waiting at Puebla for reinforcements until August, General Scott advanced with 11,000 men towards Mexico, near which General Santa Anna awaited him with large forces and in strong positions. On the 19th and 20th of August were fought the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, in which 9000 Americans vanquished an army of over 30,000 Mexicans in strongly fortified positions.

After a brief armistice, hostilities recommenced on the 7th September; and after a series of sanguinary actions, the American army, reduced to about 8000, entered the city of Mexico, which ended the war. By the treaty of Guadalupe, the U. S. obtained the cession of New Mexico and Upper California, the U. S. paying Mexico $15,000,000, and assuming the payment of the claims of American citizens against Mexico. The opposition to the annexation of Texas, and to the war and the acquisition of the newly-acquired territory, became now complicated and intensified by sectional feelings and the opposition to slavery. The Northern party demanded that slavery should never be introduced into territories where it had not existed; the South claimed the right of her people to emigrate into the new territories, carrying with them their domestic institutions. During the debates on the acquisition of the Mexican territories, Mr. Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduced an amendment, called the ‘ Wilmot Proviso,’ providing that there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the acquired territory. This was voted down, but became a party principle. In 1849, General Taylor, the ‘ Rough and Ready’ victor of Buena Vista, became President, with Millard Fillmore as Vice-president. The Free-soil party* [footnote: *The Free-soil party opposed the extension of slavery by the admission of new slave states, while recognizing its legal and constitutional existence where already established.] had nominated Martin Van Buren, with Charles Francis Adams for Vice-president; the Democratic candidate being General Lewis Cass.

The Liberty party in 1840 had cast 7609 votes; in 1844, it had 62,300; Mr. Van Buren in 1848 received 291,263, so rapid was the growth of a party soon destined to control the policy of the government. September 1, 1849, California, rapidly peopled by the discovery of gold, adopted a constitution which prohibited slavery. Violent struggles and debates in Congress followed with threats of secession, and protests against interference with slavery. The more zealous abolitionists of the North denounced the constitution for its support of slavery, and its requirement of the return of fugitive slaves to their owners, and threatened separation. The South denounced the violation of the constitution by interference with slavery—a domestic institution of the states—the carrying off of negroes secretly by organized societies, and what was termed the ‘Underground Railway,” and the passage of personal liberty bills in several states, which defeated the Fugitive Slave Law, and the requirements and guarantees of the constitution. Mr. Clay introduced a compromise into Congress, admitting California as a free state, and introducing a new and more stringent law for the rendition of fugitive slaves. President Taylor, more used to the rough life of a frontier soldier than the cares of state, died July 9, 1850, and was succeeded by Mr. Fillmore.

The election of Franklin Pierce in 1852, against General Scott, was a triumph of the Democratic, States’ Rights, and Southern party. Jefferson Davis, a senator from Mississippi, a son-in-law of General Taylor, and who had served under him in Mexico, was appointed Secretary of War. New elements were added to tution of slavery. The struggles of Kansas, approaching a civil war between the Free-soil and Pro-slavery parties in that rapidly growing territory, resulted in the exclusion of slavery. A brutal assault upon Mr. Sunnier, senator from Massachusetts, by a Southerner, named Preston Brooks, in consequence of a violent speech on Southern men and institutions, increased the excitement of both sections. The formation of an Anti-foreign and No-popery party, called the ‘Know-nothing’ party, acting chiefly through secret societies, was a singular but not very important episode in American politics, though it may have influenced the succeeding election.

In 1856, the Republicans, composed of the Northern, Free-soil, and Abolition parties, nominated John C. Fremont for the presidency; while the Democratic and States’ Rights party nominated James Buchanan. Ex-president Fillmore received the Know-nothing nomination. The popular vote was—for Buchanan, 1,838,169; Fremont, 1,341,264; Fillmore, 874,534. Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated March 4. 1857, with John C. Breckenridge, afterwards a general of the Confederate army, as Vice-president. A difficulty with the Mormons, which caused the President to send a military force to Utah, was settled without bloodshed. The efforts of the government to execute the Fugitive Slave Law kept up an irritated feeling. There were savage fights between the northern and southern parties in Kansas, and on the western borders of Missouri. Resolute and well-armed settlers were sent out by New England emigration societies. In October 1859, John Brown, known in Kansas as ‘ Ossawattamie Brown,’ who. with his sons, had been engaged in the struggles in Kansas, planned and led an expedition for freeing the negroes in Virginia. He made his attempt at Harper’s Ferry, on the Potomac, where, after a vain attempt to induce the negroes to join him, he and his small party took possession of one of the government workshops, where he was taken prisoner by a party of U. S. soldiers, and handed over to the authorities of Virginia, tried and executed, December 2. His body was taken to his home in New York for burial, and he was regarded by the Abolition party as a martyr.

In 1860, the Democratic party, which, except at short intervals, had controlled the Federal government from the election of Jefferson in 1800. became hopelessly divided. The Southern delegates withdrew from the convention at Charleston, and two Democratic candidates were nominated, Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, and John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky; while the Republicans, or united Whig and Abolition party, nominated Abraham Lincoln of Illinois; and the Native or American party nominated John Bell of Tennessee. The Republican convention adopted a moderate and even conservative ‘ platform ‘ of principles, denounced the John Brown raid, and put forward as a principle, ‘ the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the states, and especially the right of each state to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively.’ Still, the country was sectionally divided, and all who had labored to limit and destroy the Southern institution of slavery were acting with the Republican party.

At the election of November 1860, Mr. Lincoln received every Northern vote in the electoral college, excepting the three of New Jersey, which were given to Mr. Douglas, 180 votes; while Mr. Breckenridge received the 72 electoral votes of the South. The North and South were arrayed against each other, and the South was beaten. Of the popular vote, Mr. Lincoln received 1,857,610; Mr. Douglas, 1,365,976; Mr. Breckenridge, 847,951; Mr. Bell, 590,631. Thus, while Mr. Lincoln gained an overwhelming majority of the electoral votes given by each state, the combined Democratic votes exceeded his by 356,317, and the whole popular vote against him exceeded his own by 946,948. A small majority, or even plurality, in the .Northern states was sufficient to elect him.

The South lost no time in acting upon what her statesmen had declared would be the signal of their withdrawal from the Union. On the 10th of November, as soon as the result was known, the legislature of South Carolina ordered a state convention, which assembled December 17, and on the 20th unanimously declared that ‘ the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states, under the name of the United States, is hereby dissolved;’ giving as a reason that 14 of these states had for years refused to fulfill their constitutional obligations. The example of South Carolina was followed by Mississippi, January 8, 1861; Florida, 10th; Alabama, 11th; Georgia., 19th; which were followed by Louisiana and Texas; and in 1861, by North Carolina. Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri were divided, and had representatives in the governments and armies of both sections.

On the 4th of February 1861, delegates from the seven then seceded states met at Montgomery, Alabama, and formed a provisional government, under the title of the Confederate States of America. A constitution was adopted similar to that of the U.S.. and the government fully organized, February 18, 1861; President, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi; Vice-president, Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia; and, May 24, established at Richmond, Virginia. The secession movement appears to have been nearly unanimous in the more Southern states, and to have been carried in all by decided majorities. As state after state withdrew from the Union, its senators and representatives in Congress at Washington resigned their seats; and nearly all the officers of the army and navy of Southern birth, believing that their first and final allegiance was due to their states, and that the action of each state carried with it all its citizens, also resigned their commissions, and tendered their swords to their respective states, and to the Confederacy they had formed.

President Buchanan, doubting his constitutional power to compel the seceding states to return to the Union, made a feeble and ineffectual attempt to relieve the garrison of Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, closely besieged by the forces of South Carolina. Commissioners were sent to Washington to negotiate for the settlement of the claims of the Federal government, and great efforts were mode to effect compromises of the difficulties, but without result.

On the 4th of March 1861, President Lincoln was inaugurated at Washington. In his address, he said: ‘I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe that I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.’ On the 7th of April, a naval expedition set sail from New York for the relief of Fore Sumter; and its arrival off Charleston Harbor was the signal for the commencement of a bombardment of the fort by the Confederate batteries of General Beauregard. The surrender of the fort, April 11, was followed by a sudden outburst of excited feeling in the North. The government called out 75,000 volunteers, large numbers of whom were in a few days marching to the defence of Washington. April 18, the Confederates seized the U. S. arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, and took or destroyed a large quantity of arms and machinery. On the 20th, the navy-yard, near Norfolk, Va., was destroyed by the U. S. officers, and five large men-of-war burned or sunk, to prevent their falling into the hands of the Confederates. Opposed to the Federal volunteers assembled at Washington, the Confederates took up a position at Bull Bun, a few miles distant from the Potomac, under General Beauregard. where they were attacked by General M’Dowell. A severe action resulted in the repulse and complete panic of the Federals, who hastily retreated to Washington. Congress saw that it must act in earnest, and that the rebellion was not to be put down in 90 days by 75,000 volunteers. It voted to call out 500,000 men.

The Confederate States had a population of 5.582,122 free inhabitants, and 3,519,902 slaves; total, 9,102.024; and though the negroes were not called into the field except as laborers, they were not less useful in supplying the armies, by carrying on the agricultural labor of the country. The Confederates had also the strong sympathy and aid of the four slaveholding border states, prevented by their position from seceding—Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.

Holding their position in Virginia, the Confederates erected fortifications on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, and on important points of the Mississippi, from Columbus, in Kentucky, to its mouth. They also made a strong effort to secure the state of Missouri, as well as to defend the seaports through which they must receive their most important supplies from abroad. The Federal government, on its side, blockaded the whole line of coast from Virginia to Texas, and sent large forces to secure the doubtful states. Gun-boats were rapidly built for the rivers of the west, and vessels purchased and constructed for the navy. In December 1861, the Federals had 640,000 men in the field; and the Confederates had 210,000, and bad called for 400,000 volunteers.

The first important operation of 186,2 was the taking the defences of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers (February 6), which led to the occupation of Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, henceforth held by the. Federals—Andrew Johnson, formerly governor and senator, having been appointed military governor. Roanoke Island was also captured, on the coast of North Carolina. In March, General M’Clellan, who had succeeded the aged Lieutenant-general Scott as commander-in-chief, commenced a movement on Richmond, the seat of the Confederate government, now defended by General Lee. On the 8th of March, the Confederate iron-clad Virginia, constructed from the U. S. steamer Merrimac, which had been sunk at Norfolk, and raised by the Confederates, attacked the Federal fleet in Hampton Roads, and in 40 minutes sunk the Cumberland, and set on fire and captured the Congress (frigates); while the other vessels took refuge in shoal water or in flight. The next day, the Monitor, a war vessel of entirely novel construction, low and flat, with a revolving turret, invented by Captain Ericcson, engaged the Virginia. The battle lasted two hours without result.

On the 6th of April, a sanguinary but indecisive battle was fought near Corinth, Alabama, the Federals being protected by gun-boats. Soon after, Admiral Farragut, with a fleet of 45 vessels, carried the forts at the mouth of the Mississippi river, and

took New Orleans; while the armies and gun-boats captured the fortifications on the upper part of the river as low as Memphis, Tennessee. In the meantime, General M’Clellan had besieged and taken Yorktown, and fought his way up the peninsula of the James River, until within five miles of Richmond, when he was beaten in a series of sanguinary battles, and driven, with a loss, in six days, of 15,000 men, to the shelter of his gun-boats; while Generals Banks and Pope, sent to co-operate with him in the Shenandoah Valley, were defeated and driven back by General ‘ Stonewall ‘ Jackson. On the 1st of July, the President called for 300,000, and August 4, 300,000 more men for the Federal army. Congress abolished slavery in the district of Columbia, prohibited it in the territories, and passed a resolution to compensate the masters in any state that would abolish slavery. They also authorized the President to employ negroes in the army, and to confiscate the slaves of rebels. In August, the Federals were a second time defeated at Bull Run, and General Lee crossed the Potomac into Maryland, creating great alarm in Washington, and even in Philadelphia. General M’Clellan made a rapid march, and met him at Sharpsburg or Antietam. A drawn battle resulted in the retreat of General Lee, covering an immense train of provisions, horses, cattle, &c., which was probably the object of his expedition.

A Confederate invasion of Kentucky, about the same time, was attended with similar results. Another advance on Richmond was led by General Burnside, who had superseded General M’Clellan; but he was confronted by General Lee at Fredericks-burg, and defeated in. one of the most sanguinary battles of the war. President Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the freedom of all the slaves in the rebel states, which it was expected might cause them to rise against their masters; but it was without result. While the army of the Potomac was vainly endeavoring to advance on Richmond, the army of Tennessee, under General Rosencranz, with its base at Nashville, was trying to sever the Atlantic from the Gulf States, and cut off the railways that supplied the Confederate armies in Virginia. At Murfreesborough Tennessee, the Confederate General Bragg attacked General Rosencranz with the usual result of heavy looses on both sides, but no decided victory.

Early in May 1868, General Hooker, who had succeeded General Burnside in the command of the army of the Potomac, crossed the Rappahannock, and was defeated by General Lee at Chancellorsville with great slaughter; but this victory was dearly bought by the loss of General Jackson, mortally wounded in mistake by his own soldiers. General Lee now took the offensive, and invaded Pennsylvania, advancing as far as Harrisburg; but being met by General Meade, the new commander of the army of the Potomac. he attacked him in a strong position at Gettysburg without success, and was compelled to recross the Potomac. In the meantime, the two principal fortresses of the Mississippi, Vicksburg and Port Hudson, attacked by land and water, after a long siege, were starved into capitulation, and the entire river was open to Federal gun-boats.

Charleston, blockaded since the beginning of the war, was now strongly besieged—its outworks, Forts Gregg and Wagner, taken, Fort Sumter battered in pieces, but still held as an earthwork, and shells thrown a distance of five miles into the inhabited part of the city. In September, General Rosencranz had taken the strong position of Chattanooga, and penetrated into the north-west corner of Georgia, where he was disastrously defeated by General Bragg at the battle of Chickamauga. At this period, there were great peace-meetings in the North, terrible riots in New York against the conscription and the negroes; while the banks having suspended specie payments, the paper-money of both Federals and Confederates was largely depreciated. The Confederates were, however, cut off from all foreign aid, except what came to them through the blockade, and their own resources, both of men and material, were becoming exhausted. The railways were worn, many destroyed or occupied by the Federals, and it became difficult to transport supplies and feed armies. The Federals had command of the sea, and access to all the markets of Europe.

At the commencement of 1864, the Federals held, including the garrisons on the Mississippi, nearly 100,000 prisoners of war. The Southerners also had about 40.000 Federal prisoners, whom they could feed with difficulty, and who suffered great hardships. General Ulysses S. Grant, who had been successful at Vicksburg. was appointed commander-in-chief of the Federal armies, and commenced a vigorous campaign over an immense area—in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Louisiana, and Arkansas, with the determination ‘ to hammer continuously against the armed forces of the enemy and his resources, until by mere attrition he should be forced to submit.’ Of the Confederates, General Lee defended Petersburg and Richmond; General J. E Johnston opposed the army of Tennessee at Dalton, Georgia; General Forrest was in Mississippi; General Taylor and Kirby Smith commanded in Louisiana and Arkansas. In February. General Sherman marched from Vicksburg, making a destructive raid across Northern Mississippi to Alabama. In March, the Federals bad 1,000.000 of men raised and provided for. The entire Confederate forces probably numbered 250,000. The army of the Potomac, commanded by General Meade. under the personal superintendence of General Grant, covered Washington, and advanced toward Richmond. General Butler advanced from Fortress Monroe up the James River; General Sigel marched up the Shenandoah. Sherman united the armies of Tennessee, Cumberland, and Ohio, at Chattanooga, where he had nearly 100,000 men and 250 guns. General Banks had 61.000 men in Louisiana. In March, General Banks moved up the lied River, toward Shrieveport, but was defeated on the 24th, and driven back to New Orleans. In May, the campaign of Virginia commenced, and the army of the Potomac fought a series of battles at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court-house, Jericho’s Ford, North Anna, and Cold Harbor, with terrible losses. After each repulse, the Federals took up a new position further south, with a new base, until they had made half the circuit of the Confederate capital. General Breckenridge defeated Sigel in the Shenandoah valley, and once more threatened Washington. General Sheridan, with a strong cavalry force, drove back the Confederates, and laid waste the valley. In September, General Sherman advancing with a superior force, captured Atlanta. General Hood, superseding Johnston in the command of the Confederates, was out-generaled and beaten. While lie marched west to cut off General Sherman’s base, and attack Nashville, where he was defeated, Sherman burned Atlanta, destroyed the railway, and marched boldly through Georgia to Savannah. The Confederates made strong efforts and won victories, but with no permanent result.

In 1865, the Federals made a new draft for 500,000 men. Expeditions were organized against Mobile. Wilmington, the most important Confederate port, was taken by a naval and military expedition. Savannah and Charleston, approached in the rear by Sherman, were evacuated. Cavalry raids cut off the railways and canal that supplied the Confederate army in Petersburg and Richmond. Finally, on March 29, 1865, a series of assaults was made upon the Confederate works, during ten days of almost continual fighting, until the Confederates were worn down with fatigue. Richmond and Petersburg were evacuated April 2; and on the 9th, after several conflicts, General Lee surrendered at Appomatox Court-house, his army numbering 28,000. At this period, it is said that there was not lead enough remaining in the Confederate States to fight a single battle. On the 12th, Mobile surrendered with 3000 prisoners and 300 guns. Then General Johnston, in North Carolina, surrendered a few days after to General Sherman; and the Trails-Mississippi Confederate army followed his example.

The war was scarcely ended, when 800,000 men were paid off. During the war, the number of men called for by the Federal government was 2,759,049; the number actually furnished was 2,653,062. Of colored troops there were 186,097. The state of New York, with a pop. of less than 4,000,000, sent 223,836 volunteers. There was an annual waste of one-third, half of which was by wounds in battle. The Federal losses during the war were estimated at 316,000. In 1864, the Confederate army consisted of 30,000 artillery, 128,000 cavalry, 400,951 infantry; the entire available force enrolled did not exceed 600,000. The Confederate losses are said to have amounted to 300,000.

Mr. Lincoln was in 1865 triumphantly re-elected to the presidency, with Andrew Johnson as Vice-president. On April 14, while the North was rejoicing over the capture of Richmond and the surrender of the Confederate armies, the President was assassinated at a theater in Washington, by John Wilkes Booth, an actor; while an accomplice attacked and nearly killed Mr. Seward, Secretary of State. The assassin was pursued and killed, and several of his accomplices tried and executed. Andrew Johnson became President. Jefferson Davis and the members of the Confederate government were supposed to be privy to the assassination of President Lincoln, and large rewards were offered for their apprehension. Mr. Davis was captured in Georgia, and placed in Fortress Monroe, but was released without trial in May 1867. An amendment to the constitution, for ever abolishing slavery in the states and territories of the union, was declared ratified by two-thirds of the states, December 18. 1865. The vast change in the organization of the republic made by this new fundamental law was completed by the 14th and 15th amendments, passed in 1868 and 1870, which gave to the former slaves all the rights and privileges of citizenship. The seceded states were readmitted to the Union on condition of their adhesion to the constitution as thus amended. In 1867, the United States acquired by purchase the whole of Russian America (see ALASKA).

In 1872, the Alabama (q. v.) Court of Arbitration gave its decree in favor of the United States, while the San Juan boundary dispute with Great Britain was settled on the same side by the Emperor of Germany. The outrages of a secret organization known as the Ku-Klux Klan, in the Southern States, necessitated the passing of an act in 1871, giving cognizance of such offences to the U. S. Courts. In 1875, great excitement was created in the States by the discovery of grave malversations on the part of citizens holding high rank in the public service. The year 1876, memorable in the annals of the Republic as the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, was celebrated by a great Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. The presidential election of the same year was of more than usual interest. General Ulysses S. Grant (q. v.), chosen President in 1869, had been re-elected in 1873. When the result of the keenly-contested election towards the close of 1876 was made known, it seemed as if fortune had favored the Democratic party. But many of the returns from the various States were disputed; and for several months the intensest excitement prevailed. At last a special tribunal, selected from the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Judges of the Supreme Court, was appointed to examine the election returns. The result was that Mr. Hayes, the Republican candidate, was declared to have been elected President, and inaugurated March 4, 1877. His Democratic rival was Mr. Tilden.

A period of great commercial depression, not peculiar to America, reached a height in 1877, and was accompanied by alarming difficulties between labor and capital. In 1878, a measure was passed, in spite of the President’s veto, making silver a legal tender equally with gold, though the former was then 11 per cent, less in value. A marvelous recovery in trade rendered comparatively easy in 1879 the resumption of specie payments, which had been strenuously opposed by the Democrats. An extraordinary movement took place amongst the negroes of the Southern States in 1879; a regular ‘ negro exodus ‘ northward and westward created some anxiety. Antipathy to the Chinese immigrants in the Pacific states raised a violent agitation, which threatened a new constitution to California; but the excitement declined in 1879. Bad harvests in Europe increased the already enormous exportation of grain from the U. S. The wheat crop and exportation in 1880 were unparalleled, but the crop of 1881 was, owing to unfavorable weather, much diminished. In 1879, there was, for the first time since the Civil War, a Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress; and a term of office seemed to the Democrats at last to be at hand. But the presidential elections in 1880 gave a large majority for the Republican General Garfield, though the ‘ Solid South ‘ voted for General Hancock, the Democratic candidate.

An item of special interest in the contest was the promotion of General Grant’s claim to a third term of office; but the ex-president’s candidature was withdrawn before the end of the struggle. President Garfield, who was an outspoken advocate of civil service reform, was installed in March 1881. To the horror of his fellow-citizens and of all the civilized communities in the world, he was struck down on 3d July by the hand of an assassin; but not till 19th September did lie succumb to the effects of the fatal shot. Thereupon the vice-president. General Chester Allan Arthur, succeeded to the supreme office, assuming the presidentship on 23d September.

MAPS:
United States, Eastern Part
United States, Western Part

FI’LLIBUSTERS, another name for the piratical adventurers whose origin and history are treated of under BUCANEERS (q. v.). Recently it has become familiar to English ears as the designation of certain lawless adventurers belonging to the United States, who have attempted violently to possess themselves of various countries in North America. The plea urged by these persons has generally been, that such countries were a prey to anarchy and oppression, and could only attain to prosperity by annexation to the United States, and the introduction of ‘ democratic ‘ institutions—amongst which, strange to say, slavery stands prominent. The most notorious of these flllibusters was the late William Walker, whose expedition against Nicaragua in 1855 was so far successful that he kept his ground in that country for nearly two years. At last, he was driven out by a combination of the various states of Central America. He was subsequently captured and shot, September 12, 1860, at Truxillo, in Central America, in the course of another piratical expedition.

SPI’THEAD FORTS. The troubled state of European politics which gave rise in 1859 to the Volunteer movement, led also to the recommendation of an extensive plan of defence for the arsenals and coast. A Board of Commissioners drew up a scheme for these defences, to cost about £5,000.000, of which a sum of £2,000,000 was for Portsmouth, Spithead, and the neighboring coast. At present, the entrance to the important arsenal and dockyard at Portsmouth is defended by Fort Moncktou on the Gosport side, Southsea Castle on the opposite side, Cumberland Fort at the entrance to Langston Harbor, Lumps and Eastney Forts between the two last named, and some defensive lines between the island of Portsea and the mainland. £580.000 was voted in 1860 as a beginning, to increase the number and strength of these forts, to build detached forts on shoals in the sea between the mainland and the Isle of Wight, and to raise fortified lines on Portsdown Hill (the principal work being Fort South-wick), wholly northward of Portsmouth Harbor. The works were commenced; but the often-conflicting lessons furnished by the American war led to much delay and endless variations of plan.

The National Defence Commissioners had proposed five advanced forts on the shoals known as Horse Sand, Noman or No Man’s Land Shoal, Sturbridge Shoal, Spit Point, and a point intervening between Horse Sand and Portsea Island. But after much discussion and numerous alterations of plan, it was only in 1864 that it was determined to proceed with the foundations at least of two—the Horse and the Noman forts. The foundation of eacli fort consists of rings of stone-work, laid on the leveled bed of the shoal, tapering a little upwards from a width of 54feet to one of 43 feet; the outer diameter of the ring gradually lessening from 231 to 213 feet. From 20 to 15 feet of sub-marine masonry is required. Outside the rings of stone are layers of rubble, to protect the stone-work from the action of tidal rush. Two years later, similar forts were begun on SpitBank and St. Helens shoal. In 1865 a mortar batterjr had been erected at Puckpool in the Isle of Wight, commanding at long range the approach to Spithead-In 1868, after it had been found impossible to secure a foundation for a fifth fort on the Sturbridge shoal. Puckpool Battery was strengthened and armed with 30 mortars and four 25-ton guns.

All this time the government had not determined which of three modes to adopt for constructing the forts—whether to form them entirely of iron; or of granite faced with iron; or simply of granite, leaving the facing for after-consideration. The plan most in favor with the government in 1866 was to erect on each of the foundations at Spithead a revolving iron fort or tower of enormous magnitude.

Circumstances in 1867 induced the government again to pause. Experiments on the Hodman 15-inch and 20-inch guns led some engineers to believe that no iron casing for forts could resist shot of 500 Ibs. to 1100 Ibs. from such ordnance; while the rolling of an armor plate 15 inches thick (see ARMOR-PLATES) revived the hopes of those who believe that armor will eventually vanquish guns. Finally, the forts are nearly finished, of a granite core, surrounded by a great thickness of iron plates. Above each fort are revolving turrets carrying 35-ton guns, which throw shells of 700 Ibs. The inner line of defence has been strengthened by new works at Gilkicker, Southsea Castle, &c., and by the increase in the size of the guns, and the additon of iron shields in the embrasures.

RAPHA’NIA, or ERGOTISM, is a disease which was much more prevalent some centuries ago than it is at present. It is defined as ‘a train of morbid symptoms, produced by the slow and cumulative action of a specific poison peculiar to wheat and rye, and which gives rise to convulsions, gangrene of the extremities, and death ‘ (Aitken’s Science and Practice of Medicine, 1858, p. 332). It has been described under various names. From the 10th to the 14th c., it was known as St. Anthony’s fire, a title which has been since associated with erysipelas. It was then described as epidemic gangrene. The name Raphania was first given to it by Linne, who thought the morbid symptoms were dependent upon the mixture of Raphanus Raphanistrum, or jointed charlock, with the wheat used as food. It was suspected, as early as the end of the 16th c., that the disease was due to the development of a fungus on the grain, and this fact is now established beyond doubt, although some writers hold (like Linne) that this morbid state is also produced by the admixture of poisonous plants, especially Lolium temulentum, or darnel, being mingled with the grain. Although rye is the ordinary seat of the poisonous fungus, wheat, rice, and other grains are liable to be similarly affected, and to produce similar results. For an account of the fungus, see ERGOT.

There are two forms of the disease—the spasmodic and the gangrenous. The spasmodic form begins with tingling or itching of the feet and hands, and sometimes of the head. Violent contractions of the hands and feet, giving rise to intense pain in the joints, are a common symptom. The head is much affected, the patient complaining of drowsiness, giddiness, and indistinct vision. If coma or epileptic convulsions supervene, there is little hope of recovery. The appetite is usually enormous; spots like those of purpura appear on the face, and there are seldom any signs of improvement for some weeks. The gangrenous form begins with extreme lassitude, and is accompanied by some febrile disturbance. The extremities are painful, cold, almost insensible, and not readily moved; and after a varying time, gangrene supervenes.

With regard to treatment, the first thing to do is to replace the poisonous flour by easily digested, nourishing, wholesome food. The pain must be relieved by opiates, the blood purified by the administration of chlorate of potash, and the general tone of the system improved by tonics, such as the preparations of iron, bark, &c. In the spasmodic form, warm baths and gentle friction would probably prove serviceable. Whatever be the form of treatment adopted, the mortality in the gangrenous form is usually 90 per cent. The spasmodic form is much less destructive to life.

RAPE is the crime of having carnal knowledge of a woman against her consent and by force. The essence of the offence is that force he used, and it is immaterial what is the age of the woman, and whether she is single or married, chaste or unchaste. The only difference caused by the habitual unchastity of the woman is that in such a case it is less easy to satisfy the jury that the element of consent was wanting. The two elements of rape are the carnal knowledge and the force used. As to the element of resistance on the part of the woman, or force on the part of the man, several niceties often occur in the application of the law, from the great variety of circumstances attending this crime. With regard to an idiot woman, it lias been held that it is not necessary to prove resistance on her part, and that the crime may be committed though she made no resistance. If consent be extorted by fear and threats, or where several men join together, and resistance is useless, this is the same as using violence to overpower the woman. Where the woman is stupified by drink, so that the power of resistance is annihilated, it is the same as knocking her down. In a case, however, where force is used in the first instance, but the woman afterwards in some degree consents, the crime of rape will not be committed, though the evidence may establish the crime of assault. Some difficult cases have occurred with reference to married women who have been beguiled by men personating their husbands, and so been in a certain sense, cheated out of their consent. But it has been repeatedly decided by a majority of the court, both in England and Scotland, that such an offence was not rape.

One of the important circumstances attending the crime of rape is the mode of proof, and in this respect it differs from other crimes. It is held to be all but essential, as a corroboration of the woman’s story, that if her cries of resistance were not heard, at all events she should have, immediately after the offence, complained on the first opportunity to her friends or relations. It is not allowed to give in evidence the particulars of such complaint, but merely the fact that she made a complaint against some person. Unless this important particular be proved, her evidence is looked upon with great suspicion, and may be discredited by the jury, unless there were peculiar circumstances to account for the want of such complaint. One of the common defences to a charge of rape is the unchastity of the woman, the object being to render it unlikely that she did not consent, and hence it is in practice considered a proper question for the prisoner’s counsel to put to her, whether she had not had connection with the prisoner before or with other men; but at the same time she is cautioned by the judge that she is not bound to answer such questions unless she likes. If, however, she denies the accusation, witnesses may be called to contradict her on that point.

The crime of rape is felony by the law of England, and is punishable by penal servitude for life, or for not less than three years, or by imprisonment not exceeding two years, with or without hard labor. Of late, attempts have been made to add flogging or corporal punishment to the other punishment, but bills having that object have been thrown out of parliament. There are several other crimes in the same category as rape, but punishable under separate enactments. Thus, the crime, of having carnal connection with a girl under the age of ten years is felony,, and punishable like rape. Whoever has carnal connection with a girl who is between the age of tea and twelve years, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to penal servitude for three years, or imprisonment for two years with hard labor. Consent of the girl in these two cases is immaterial. The forcible abduction of women is divided into two offences. Wherever a woman of any age has property, and is forcibly taken away with intent to marry or carnally know her, the offence is felony punishable by penal servitude of three to fourteen years, or two years’ imprisonment. Again, if a girl, though having no property, is under the age of twenty-one, and is fraudulently allured or taken away out of the possession of her parents or guardians, with intent to marry or carnally know her, this is felony, punishable as in the preceding-case. In order to the commission of the latter offence, an improper motive is necessary on the part of the man, but the consent of the girl is of no consequence.

SPI’RITUALISM. Under the head of animal MAGNETISM, an account is given, from the scientific point of view, of some of those mysterious phenomena which, under the name of modern spiritualism, have recently attracted so much public attention. It is proposed here to give a more complete account of these phenomena as they appear to those who hold that they are inexplicable by the commonly received laws of physics.

That these phenomena in their higher phases—as those of trance, healing by touch, and subjection to the thought and will of another mind—are intimately allied with those of mesmerism, Is obvious to all who have given any careful attention to them. Spiritualists, indeed, affirm that they differ only in this—that in the one case the operator is a mortal, in the other a disembodied human spirit possessing a spiritual body instead of a physical one. Those persons most readily susceptible to mesmeric influence generally prove to be the best mediums for spirit manifestation. Wherever mesmerism has been extensively practised, it would seem that the ground has thereby been prepared for the operators in the unseen world; and indeed, human magnetism is not unfrequently resorted to for this express purpose.

Many of the earliest and foremost advocates of spiritualism in England have traveled to spiritualism via mesmerism. As is fully shown in the correspondence of M. Billault and M. Deleuze, published in two volumes in 1836, the rnagnetists of France anticipated by at least half a century the revelations of what is now known as ‘ modern spiritualism,’ which was as humble in its origin as other great movements recorded in history which have so largely influenced mankind.

In the village of Hydesville, New York State, lived Mr. John D. Fox and family, much respected by their neighbors as honest upright people. The two youngest children, Margaret, then twelve years old, and Kate, nine, were staying with their parents. Soon after they had taken up their residence here, in December 1847, they began to hear knockings in the house, which towards the end of March increased in loudness and frequency. Mr. Fox and his wife got up night after night, lit a candle, and thoroughly searched every nook and corner of the house, but discovered nothing. When the raps came on a door, Mr. Fox would stand ready to open it the moment they were repeated, but though he opened the door on the instant, he could detect nothing, and no one was to be seen; nor could he obtain the slightest clue to the cause of these disturbances. But through all these annoyances Mr. and Mrs. Fox clung to the belief that some natural explanation of them would be found. Nor did they abandon this hope till the last night of March 1848.

Wearied out by a succession of sleepless nights, and of fruitless attempts to penetrate the mystery, the family had retired very early to rest; but scarcely had the mother seen the children safely in bed, and was retiring to rest herself, when the children cried out: ‘ Here they are again! ‘ The mother chid them, and lay down. Thereupon the noises became louder and more startling. Mrs. Fox called in her husband. The night being windy, it suggested to him that it might be the rattling of the sashes. He tried several, shaking them to hear if they were loose. Kate happened to remark that as often as her father shook a window-sash, the noises seemed to reply. Turning to where the noise was, she snapped her fingers, and called out ‘ Here, do as I do?’ The knockings instantly responded. She tried, by silently bringing together her thumb and forefinger, whether she could still obtain a response. Yes! It—the mysterious something—could see, then, as well as hear! She called her mother: ‘Only look, mother,’ she said, bringing her finger and thumb together as before. And as often as she repeated the noiseless motion, just so often responded the raps. This at once arrested the mother’s attention. ‘Count ten,’ she said; ten strokes were distinctly given. ‘ How old is my daughter Margaret?’ Twelve strokes responded. ‘And Kate?’ Nine! ‘What can all this mean?’ was Mrs. Fox’s thought. Who was answering her? Was it only some mysterious echo of her own thought? The answers to the next question she put seemed to refute this idea. ‘ How many children have I?’ she asked aloud. Seven strokes. ‘Ah!’ she thought, ‘it can blunder sometimes.’ And then, aloud, ‘Try again.’ Still seven strokes as before Of a sudden a thought crossed her mind : ‘ Are they all alive?’ she asked. Silence for answer. ‘How many are living?’ Six strokes. ‘How many dead?’ A single stroke; she had lost a child. Then she asked, ‘ Are you a man?’ No answer. ‘ Are you a spirit?’ It rapped. ‘ May my neighbors hear if I call them?’ It rapped again. Thereupon she asked her husband to call a neighbor, a Mrs. Redfield, who came in laughing. But her mirth was soon changed. The answers to her inquiries were as prompt and pertinent as they had been to those of Mrs. Fox. She was struck with awe; and when, in reply to a question about the number of her children, by rapping four, instead of three, as she expected, it reminded her of a little daughter, Mary, whom she had recently lost, the mother burst into tears.

Of course a knowledge of these things could not be kept secret. The news soon spread, and the utmost excitement prevailed in the little village and beyond it. Neighbors flocked in and the house was besieged and the time of the family wholly taken up with curious and eager visitors. Formal depositions appeared in more than one publication. The earliest of these, published April 1848 —a pamphlet of forty pages—contains twenty-one certificates, chiefly given by the immediate neighbors. Most of the witnesses offer to confirm their statements, if necessary, under oath, and express their conviction that the family had no agency in producing the sounds.

It was found that these were more marked in the presence of Kate Fox, and in the hope of getting rid of these annoyances, Kate was sent on a visit to Mrs. Fish, a married sister, at Rochester. The only result being that, while the rappings did not cease at Hydesville, a new and more extended scene of operations was given them at Rochester, whither they followed Kate, and were found also to accompany her sister; and a girl who resided with them.

On one occasion, a visitor suggested that the alphabet should be called over, to see if the sounds would respond to the required letters, and so spell out a communication. A shower of raps followed, as if to say: ‘Yes, that is what we want!’ The first message so given, was : ‘ We are all your dear friends and relatives.’ Then the name of ‘ Jacob Smith,’ Mrs. Fish’s grandfather, was given. Previous to the spiritual telegraphy thus commenced, the only mode of communication had been by asking-questions, one rap being understood as an answer in the negative, three in the affirmative, and two, doubtful, or that the answer could not then be given. It was now asked that a signal should be given when the alphabet was required; this was responded to by five strokes, which was henceforth understood as a call for the alphabet; and so a code of signals was instituted.

Similar demonstrations occurred about this time, independently, in the homes of some of the most respectable inhabitants of Rochester. At length it was communicated by the rapping that the facts should be given to the world, with a view to open up a more extended intercourse: and instructions were given as to where, how, and by whom, this was to be done. There was much difficulty in getting the parties named to take the responsibility, and incur the discredit and ridicule of this step : but their scruples were at length overcome; and on the 14th of November 1848, a public lecture, giving a simple narrative of the facts, was delivered in the Corinthian Hall, Rochester, to an audience of about four hundred people. The rappings, as had been promised, were distinctly heard in all parts of the hall; and a committee was appointed by the audience to investigate the subject, and report at a subsequent meeting. The committee all agreed that the sounds were heard; but they entirely failed to discover any means by which they were produced.

This result was very different to what had been confidently anticipated, and the dissatisfied audience, amazed at the failure, appointed a second committee, which it was expected would make such an investigation as could not fail to find out the trick; and when this committee, after the strictest investigation, only continued the judgment of its predecessor, the excitement became intense; and a third committee was appointed, consisting of those who had shown the most determined hostility to the reports of the previous committees, and who had expressed the utmost confidence in their ability to detect the imposition. It certainly was no fault of theirs that they did not- They resorted to every means their ingenuity could devise; but no fraud could be detected, no explanation given. The ‘mediums’ were separated, and their friends were rigorously excluded from the sittings of the committee. They were unexpectedly removed, first to one house, then to another. A committee of ladies divested them of their clothing; feather pillows were placed under their feet; the stethoscope was applied to see that there was no movement of the lungs by which the sounds could be made. Under every condition imposed, the obstinate raps came—on doors, floors, walls, ceiling; the place seemed alive with them. When this final committee, baffled and mortified, made known their failure, the meeting broke up in the greatest excitement and confusion. But the object was gained : the facts were reported and commented on in all the journals throughout the country.

Circles for investigation were now everywhere formed, and not only were the rappings obtained, but new phases of these strange phenomena were constantly developed. In Forty Years of American Life, by Thomas Low Nichols, M.D., we read : ‘ Dials were made with movable hands, which pointed out letters and answered questions without apparent human aid. The hands of mediums, acting convulsively, and, as they averred, without their volition, wrote things apparently beyond their knowledge, in documents purporting to be signed by departed spirits. Their writings were sometimes made upside down, or reversed so as only to be read through the paper or in a mirror. Some mediums wrote with both hands at a time, different messages, without, as they said, being conscious of either. There were speaking mediums, who declared themselves to be the merely passive instruments of the spirits. Some represented, most faithfully, it was said, the actions, voices, and appearance of persons long dead; others, blindfolded, drew portraits, said to be likenesses of deceased persons they had never seen—the ordinary work of hours being done in a few minutes. Sometimes the names of deceased persons, and short messages, appeared in raised red lines upon the skin of the medium. Ponderous bodies, as heavy dining-tables and pianofortes, were raised from the floor, falling again with a crash and jar. Tables on which several persons were seated were in like manner raised into the air by some invisible force. Mediums are said to have been raised into the air, and floated about above the heads of the spectators. Writings and pictures were produced without visible hands. Persons were touched by invisible, and sometimes by visible hands. Various musical instruments were played upon without visible agency. Strange feats of legerdemain, as the untying of complicated rope knottings in an incredibly short time, astonished many. Voices were heard, which purported to he those of spirits. In a word, over a vast extent of country, from east to west, these phenomena existed, or were said to exist, in hundreds of places, and were witnessed by many thousands of people—numbers of whom were of the highest credibility, and the mass of those persons whose testimony no one would think of impeaching in a trial of life and death.’

Many theories were invented to explain these phenomena: they are now for the most part obsolete or forgotten. Each theory generally began by exploding its predecessors, and was in turn exploded by its successors. No sooner was a theory invented to explain one class of facts, than another sprang up for which it made no provision, and to which it was manifestly inadequate. Not only did the flame spread, but sometimes the extinguishers caught fire; and those who at first were its opponents, ended as its advocates. The most obdurate materialists became convinced of a future life for man by the experimental evidence spiritualism supplied. For instance, Professor Hare instituted a series of experiments intended to prove that the phenomena were wholly due to natural causes : and the public, and men of science in particular, were surprised when, in place of this explanation, there appeared a large work with his name as its author, entitled Spiritualism Scientifically Demonstrated; and with diagrams of ingenious apparatus invented by him to test the genuineness of the phenomena. The Hon. J. W. Edmonds, judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal for the state of New York, brought to bear upon the subject a mind trained by long judicial experience, and the careful sifting of evidence. He investigated with many different mediums, and took notes as carefully as though in court. To his great astonishment he found he was himself a medium, and under the title Spiritualism, he published two large volumes, narrating his investigations, visions, and spiritual communications. His daughter. Laura, also became a medium, and under some foreign influence would sometimes answer freely in languages with which in her normal state she was wholly unacquainted.

Reports of these marvels soon crossed the Atlantic; but in England, for a long time, they excited little serious attention, and were generally received, not only with incredulity, but with ridicule and contempt. The visit to London of Mrs. Haydon, an American medium, in 1854, first excited any considerable degree of public interest in spiritualism. Many visited her, most of whom were puzzled, some ridiculed, a few were convinced. Among the latter were Robert Owen, the founder of English Socialism, and Dr. Ashburner, the translator of Reichenbach, and the colleague of Dr. Elliotson in the establishment of the Zoist and of the Mesmeric Infirmary. In 1855, a more remarkable medium came to England, Mr. Daniel Dunglas Home. The manifestations which occurred in his presence were soon the subject of newspaper controversy. From that time to this they have been seen and tested repeatedly by scientific and other witnesses of the highest credit and social position; and they made him a frequent and welcome guest at the Tuileries and at the courts of Berlin and St. Petersburg. A full account of his ’strange experiences is given in his> autobiography, entitled Incidents in My Life. They include nearly the whole range of ‘ manifestations ‘ referred to in the important Report of which we are about to speak.

In January 1869, the London Dialectical Society appointed a committee ‘ to investigate the phenomena alleged to be spiritual manifestations, and to report thereon.’ The committee invited evidence from all sides, and especially solicited the co-operation of scientific men. and resolved itself into sub-committees for experimental investigation and test. In July 1871, the committee presented its report, with minutes of evidence, reports of seances, and other documents, making a volume of 412 large octavo pages. The committee state that ‘ a large majority of the members of your committee have become actual witnesses to several phases of the phenomena, without the aid or presence of any professional medium, although the greater part of them commenced their investigations in an avowedly sceptical spirit.’

A synopsis of the evidence is also given as follows : ‘ Thirteen-witnesses state that they have seen heavy bodies—in some instances, men—rise slowly in the air, and remain there for some time without visible or tangible support. Fourteen witnesses testify to having seen hands or figures, not appertaining to any human being, but lifelike in appearance and mobility, which they have sometimes touched or even grasped, and which they are therefore-convinced were not the result of imposture or illusion. Five witnesses state that they have been touched by some invisible agency on various parts of the body, and often where requested, “when the hands of all present was visible. Thirteen witnesses declare that they have heard musical pieces well played upon instruments not manipulated by any ascertainable agency. Five witnesses state that they have seen red-hot coals applied to the hands or heads of several persons without producing pain or scorching; and three witnesses state that they have had the same test applied to themselves with the like immunity. Eight witnesses state that they have received detailed information through rappings, writings, or in other ways, the accuracy of which was unknown at the time to themselves or to any persons present, and which, on subsequent inquiry, was found to be correct. One witness declares that he has received a precise and detailed statement, which, nevertheless, proved to be entirely erroneous. Three witnesses state that they have been present when drawings, both in pencil and colors, were produced in so short a time, and under such conditions, as to render human agency impossible. Six witnesses declare that they have received information of future events, and that in some cases the hour and minute have been accurately foretold days and even weeks before. In addition to the above, evidence has been given of trance-speaking, of healing, of automatic writing, of the introduction of flowers and fruits into closed rooms, of voices in the air, of visions in crystals and glasses, and of the elongation of the human body.’

One of the latest scientific investigators of spiritualism is Mr. William Crookes, F.R.S., discoverer of the metal thallium, editor of the Chemical News and of the Quarterly Journal of Science. In the latter journal for January 1874 is an article by him, entitled, ‘ Notes of an Inquiry into the Phenomena called Spiritual, 1870— 1873.’ He attests phenomena similar to those affirmed by the Dialectical Society’s committee and its witnesses, which came under his notice in his own house, in the light, and with only private friends present except the medium, at times appointed by himself, and under circumstances which, he says, absolutely precluded the employment of the very simplest instrumental aids. One of the most recent phases of spiritualism in this country is ‘ spirit photographs.’ On clean and previously unused plates, marked by the sitter, and even when the sitter has used his own plates and camera, there has appeared with the sitter a second figure, which in many instances have been recognized as portraits of deceased relatives and friends. In the Spiritual Magazine for December 1872, is a list of the names and addresses of forty sitters who have so recognized these figures. They have been obtained by many photographers, both professional and amateur, in England, the United States, and on the continent of Europe.

The Spiritual Magazine (the oldest journal of spiritualism in England, and which contains a record of the movement from its establishment in January 1860) has the following as its motto : ‘ Spiritualism is based on the cardinal fact of spirit communion and influx; it is the effort to discover all truth relating to man’s spiritual nature, capacities, relations, duties, welfare, and destiny; and its application to a regenerate life. It recognizes a continuous divine inspiration in man; it aims through a careful, reverent study of facts, at a knowledge of the laws and principles which govern the occult forces of the universe; of the relations of spirit to matter, and of man to God and the spiritual world. It is thus catholic and progressive, leading to true religion as at one with the highest philosophy.’

At a conference in Liverpool in November 1873, at which delegates from about forty societies attended, steps were taken which have led to the establishment of the ‘ British National Association of Spiritualists ‘—’ to unite spiritualists of every variety of opinion for their mutual aid and benefit; to promote the study of pneumatology and psychology; to aid students and inquirers in their researches, by placing at their disposal the means of systematic investigation into the now recognized facts and phenomena, called spiritual or psychic; to make known the positive results arrived at by careful scientific research; and to direct attention to the beneficial influence which those results are calculated to exercise upon social relationships and individual conduct.’

In 1881 the chief English journals of spiritualism were Light, Medium and Daybreak, Spiritualist, and Spiritual Notes, weekly or monthly. In the United States the earliest was the Banner of Light, founded in 1857. In 1881 it was stated that there were in Germany 1 spiritualist magazine, in Austria 1, Holland 1, France 1, Belgium 4, England 7, Italy 1, Spain 5, United States 5, Argentine Republic 2, Mexico 2, Colombia 2. The literature of the movement is very voluminous. The following are important works on spiritualism : Transcendental Physics, translated from the German of Prof. Zöllner (1880), Psychic Facts, by Harrison (1880); Researches in the Phenomena, by Crookes (1874); Modern American Spiritualism, by Hardinge (1870); From Matter to Spirit, by Mrs. De Morgan, with preface by Professor De Morgan; The Two Worlds, by Thomas Brevior; Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World, and The Debatable Land, by Robert Dale Owen; History of the Supernatural, by William Howitt; A Defence of Spiritualism, by Alfred Russell Wallace; Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism, by D. D. Home (1877); Mesmerism, Spiritualism, &c., Historically and Scientifically Considered, by W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S. (1877).

LUMINO’SITY OF ORGANIC BEINGS. Many organic beings, both vegetables and animals, possess the property of emitting light.

In cryptogamic plants, it has been observed on the filaments of Schistostega osmundacea, one of the order of Hepaticæ; in Rhizomorpha subterranea, belonging to the order of Fungi (which is not uncommon on the walls of dark, damp mines, caverns. &c., and occasionally emits a light sufficiently clear to admit of reading ordinary print); in certain species of Agaricus (belonging to the same order); and in Thelaphora cærulea (also a fungus), to which decayed wood owes its phosphoric light.

An emission of light, chiefly in flashes, has been observed in the case of a few phanerogamic plants, among which may be mentioned the garden nasturtium and marigold, the orange lily, and the poppy. In these instances, the light has been emitted by the flowers; but cases are also recorded in which the leaves, juice, &c., of certain plants have evolved light. The emission of light from the common potato, when in a state of decomposition, is sometimes very striking. Dr Phipson, in his work On Phosphorescence, mentions a case in which the light thus emitted from a cellarful of these vegetables was so strong as to lead an officer on guard at Strasburg to believe that the barracks were on fire. The phosphorescence in this case is probably due to the same cause as that of decayed wood.

Before proceeding to notice the principal cases in which living animals have been observed to emit light, we shall briefly refer to the emission of light by dead animal matter. The bodies of many marine animals shine after death, but in none is the phenomenon so vivid or continuous as in the well-known boring mollusc the Pholas. The luminosity of this animal after death was known to Pliny,-who said that it shone in the mouths of persons who ate it; and has been made the subject of special investigation by Reaumur, Beccaria, and others. Among other results, they found that a single Pholas rendered seven ounces of milk so luminous that the faces of persons might be distinguished by it; and that by placing the dead animal in honey, its property or emitting light, when plunged into warm water, lasted more than a year.

It is universally known that certain kinds of dead fish, especially mackerels and herrings, shine in the dark. From a careful study of the body of a dead stock-fish in a luminous condition, Dr. Phipson finds that the phenomenon is due to a grease which shines upon the fish, and which (as it neither contains phosphorous nor minute fungi, by which the light might have been caused) contains some peculiar organic matter, which shines in the dark like phosphorous itself.

Several cases are on record in which ordinary butcher’s meat has presented the phenomenon now under consideration, but their occurrence is so rare that we need not specially notice them. It may be observed that phosphorescent light is not unfrequently observed on the dead human body by persons who visit dissecting-rooms by night. The occasional evolution of light by living human beings will be presently referred to.

The living animals which possess the property of emitting light are extremely numerous, decided cases of phosphorescence having been frequently observed, according to Dr. Phipson, ‘in infusoria, rhizopoda, polypes, echinoderms, annelides, medusæ, tunicata, molluscs, crustaceans, myriapodes, and insects.’ Following’ the arrangement here laid down, we shall mention a few of the organisms in which the phenomenon in question is most remarkable.

Among the rhizopoda, the Noctiluca miliaris, a minute animal very common in the English Channel, stands pre-eminent. Dr. Phipson relates that he has found it ‘ in such prodigious numbers in the damp sand at Ostend, that on raising a handful of it, it appeared like so much molten lava.’ It is the chief cause of the phosphorescence of the sea, which is so often observed. Among the annelides, earthworms occasionally evolve a shining light like that of iron heated to a white heat. Among the tunicata, a minute animal common in some of the tropical seas, the Pyrosoma Atlantica, resembles a minute cylinder of glowing phosphorus, and sometimes occurs in such numbers, that the ocean appears like an enormous layer of molten lava or shining phosphorus. Among the myriapodes, certain centipedes—viz., Scolopendra electrica and S. phosphorea—present a brilliant phosphoric appearance. There is reason to believe that the former will not shine in the dark, unless it has been previously exposed to the solar rays. Luminosity in insects occurs in certain genera of the Coleoptera and Hemiptera, and possibly in certain Lepidoptera and Orthoptera. Among the Coleoptera, must be especially mentioned the genus Lampyris, to which the various species of Glowworms (q.v.) belong, and the genus Elater, to which the Fireflies (q. v.) belong. In “the Hemiptera, there is the genus Fulgora, or Lantern-flies (q.v.), some species of which are highly luminous.

The evolution of light from animals belonging to the vertebrates is extremely rare. Bartholin, in his treatise De Luce Hominum et Brutorum (1647). gives an account of an Italian lady, whom he designates as ‘ mulier splendens,’ whose body shone with phosphoric radiations when gently rubbed with dry linen ; and Dr. Kane, in his last voyage to the polar regions, witnessed almost as remarkable a case of human phosphorescence. A few cases are recorded by Sir H. Marsh, Professor Donovan, and other undoubted authorities, in which the human body, shortly before death, has presented a pale luminous appearance.

It is very difficult to give a satisfactory explanation of the above facts. The light evolved from fungi is most probably connected with chemical action, while that emitted in sparks and flashes from flowers is probably electrical. In some luminous animals, a phosphorescent organ, specially adapted for the production of light, has been already detected, and as anatomical science progresses, the same will probably be found in all organisms endowed with luminous or phosphorescent properties. For full details on the subject of this article, the reader is referred to Dr. Phipson’s work, On Phosphorescence (London, 1862).

SOY is a thick and piquant sauce, made from the seeds of the SOY BEAN (Soga hispida), a plant of the natural order Leguminosæ, suborder Papilionaceæ, so nearly allied to the genus Dolichos (q. v.) as to be often included in it. It is a, native of China, Japan, and the Moluccas, and is much cultivated in China and Japan. It is also common in India, although, probably, not a native of that country. The seeds resemble those of the Kidney Bean, and are used in the same way. The Japanese prepare from them a substance called Miso, which they use as butter.

Soy is made by mixing the beans softened by boiling with an equal quantity of wheat or barley roughly ground. The mixture is covered up and kept for 24 hours in a warm place, to ferment. The mass is then put into a pot, and covered with salt, the salt used being in quantity about equal to each of the other ingredients. Water is poured over it; and it is stirred, at least once a day, for two months, after which the liquor is poured off and squeezed from the mass, filtered, and preserved in wooden vessels. By long keeping, it becomes brighter and clearer. A Chinese sauce, called Kitjap (Ketchup), is often sold in Britain as soy, but is very inferior to the true soy.

SPONTANE’ITY, the name for the doctrine, referring to the Human Mind, that muscular action may, and does, arise from purely internal causes, and independent of the stimulus of sensations. It had long been the tacit assumption, in Mental Phi losophy, that we are never moved to action of any kind, except under the stimulation of some feeling, some pleasure or pain, or some end in view. To this is now opposed the doctrine of the Spontaneous commencement of movements under certain cir cumstances; which, however, does not exclude, but only supple ments, the operation of the feelings in stimulating movements, as in the ordinary course of voluntary action. .The doctrine sup poses that the nerve-centers, after repose and nourishment, ac quire a fulness of vital energy, which discharges itself in the play of movement, without any other occasion or motive; the addition of a feeling, or end, enhances and directs the activity, but does not wholly create it.

Of the various proofs and illustrations of Spontaneity, perhaps the most striking is that furnished by the movements of young animals of the active species. A young dog or kitten shows a degree of activity out of all proportion to any feeling to be gratified, or any end to be served; we can interpret it only as internal energy seeking vent, irrespective of the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance of pain—in other words, the action of the will. When the accumulated energy is expended, the animal falls back into a state of repose, and is then roused only by the stimulus of sensation. The state called ‘ freshness’ in a horse, for example, is a state of superabundant and irrepressible activity. Children go through the same phase : after rest or confinement, they burst forth incontinently into some form of active excitement, of which a part may be considered as pure spontaneity, while part may be owing to sensation.

The doctrine is well fitted to express the difference between the active and the sensitive temperaments; for if it were true that action is in proportion to the stimulation of the feelings, the most susceptible characters would be the most active. But, in point of fact the active temperament is manifested by a profusion of activity for its own sake, with little circumspection or regard to consequences; and constitutes the restless, bustling, roughshod, energetic, and enterprising disposition of mind, as seen in sports men soldiers, travelers, &c.

The explanation of the growth of the Will (q. v.), or voluntary power, involves the spontaneous beginning of movements.—See Bain on The Senses and the Intellect, 3d edit., p. 76.

SPLINTS, in Surgery, are certain mechanical contrivances for keeping a fractured limb in its proper position, and for preventing any motion of the fractured ends; they are also employed for securing perfect immobility of the parts to which they are applied in other cases, as in diseased joints, after resection of joints, &c.

Ordinary splints are composed of wood carved to the shape of the limb, and padded; the best pads being made out of old blankets, which should be cut into strips long and wide enough to line the splints, and laid in sufficient number upon one another to give the requisite softness. The splints should be firmly bound to the previously bandaged limb with pieces of bandage, or with straps and buckles; care being taken that they are put on sufficiently tight to keep the parts immovable, and to prevent muscular spasm”, but not so tight as to induce discomfort. Gutta percha, sole-leather, or pasteboard, after having been softened in boiling water, may in some cases advantageously take the place of wooden splints. They must be applied when soft to the part they are intended to support, so as to take a perfect mould, and then be dried, stiffened, and, if necessary, lined. An account of the more complicated kinds of splint required in certain cases, as Macintyre’s Splint, Liston’s Splint, &c., may be seen in any illustrated catalogue of surgical instruments.

The ordinary splint is now to a great degree superseded by immovable bandages, which consist of the ordinary bandage saturated with a thick mucilage of starch, or with a strong solution of a mixture of powdered gum-arabic and precipitated chalk, which, when dry, form a remarkably light but firm support. As, however, these bandages require some hours to dry and become rigid, means must be used to counteract any displacement of the limb in the interval. On this account, many surgeons prefer the plaster of Paris or gypsum bandage, which is applied in the following manner : the limb being protected by a layer of cotton-wool, a bandage composed of coarse and open material, into which as much dry powdered gypsum as possible has been rubbed, must be immersed in water for about a minute, and then rolled around the limb in a spiral manner, just as an ordinary bandage; after every second or third turn of the bandage, the left hand of the surgeon should be plunged into water, and smeared over the part last applied. When the whole has been thus treated, the exterior of the bandage should be smeared over with a paste of gypsum and water until a smooth surface and complete rigidity have been attained—a process not occupying more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour.

In a case of simple fracture, where no surgical aid is at hand, any non-professional person of ordinary intelligence might apply this bandage, extreme care being taken that the ends of the broken bones are in their proper position.

SPONGE (Spongia), a genus which originally included all the numerous genera and species of the family Spongiadæe, all of which are still commonly spoken of by naturalists as sponges, although in its more popular sense that term is limited to a few kinds, or to their fibrous framework. The sponges are creatures of very low organization, concerning which controversies long raged, first as to whether they ought to be referred to the animal or the vegetable kingdom, and more recently as to their systematic position in the former group. At first referred to the Protozoa, and later to the Cælenterata (see ZOOLOGY), they are now considered by the greater number of naturalists as entitled to rank as a separate subkingdom, Porifera. characterized by the multitude of months or inhalent apertures which open through the body wall, the primitive mouth of the two-layered sac-like embryo being converted into the large exhalent opening.

They may be classified as follows: 1. Myxospongiæ destitute of skeleton; 2. Fibro-spongiæ, hating a fibrous skeleton, with or without siliceous spicules; 3. Calcispongiæ. having calcareous spicules. These spicules are not purely mineral, but contain a trace of organic matter. They are most beautiful microscopic objects, and spicules of different forms are sometimes found in the same species, sometimes lying close together in bundles, sometimes straight or slightly curved, sometimes in the shape of needles pointed at one end, or at both; sometimes of needles radiating from a center; whilst some have a head at one end, like a pin, some have grapnel-like hooks at the ends. Some of the species with horny framework have spicules imbedded in it; some have them implanted in the fibres; some are destitute of them. There is a beautiful West Indian species, Dictyocalyx pumiceus, in which the siliceous matter becomes itself a fibrous network, and is so fine and transparent as to resemble spun glass. In a living state, many sponges exhibit lively colors, from the presence of coloring matter.

Like any of the higher animals, the body of the sponge is com posed of a distinct outer layer of cells, the ectoderm or epidermis, and a ciliated inner layer or endoderm (often restricted to definite areas, the so-called ‘ ciliated chambers ‘), between which a middle layer of cells, the mesoderm arises. This may be of very variable thickness, and gives rise to the skeleton. From the close resemblance which the cells of the ectoderm and mesoderm present to Amœbæ, and those of the endoderm to those Infusorians known as Monads, it has been argued that the sponge is a mere colony of Protozoa. The development of the sponge, however, accords too closely with that of higher animals to admit of such a view, a free-swimming ciliated larva being produced by segmentation of a fertilized ovum; but it is undeniable that in the sponge we have a degree of independence of the cell units far greater than that which exists in any other group—a divided sponge readily re unites, and adjacent masses grow together. They assume very various forms, which, as well as the peculiarities in the structure of the framework, are characteristic of the different genera and species. Some are nearly globular; some cup-shaped, top-shaped, conical, cylindrical, thread-like, &c.; some are simple, and some branched.

The surface of a living sponge is generally covered with minute pores, through which water is imbibed, carrying with it both the air and the organic particles necessary for the support of life. The pores are supposed to be permanent in many of the sponges,

and the currents which enter through them to be produced by cilia, although these have as yet been detected only in a few species. But .in those of the very lowest organization, the pores seem to be formed for the occasion, just as the Amœba opens any where to admit food within its substance.

In Spongilla fluviatilis, a small fresh-water species found in Britain, the opening and closing of each pore occupies less than a minute, and the pores do not open simultaneously, but in irregular succession, and apparently never again in precisely the same spot. No trace of the pore remains for an instant after its closing, nor is there any indication of the point where a new one is to open. The water which enters by the pores passes out of some sponges by a single orifice, which serves for the whole mass; others have numerous orifices (oscula) which are permanent, and are much larger than the pores by which the water is imbibed, the whole mass being pervaded by canals which lead from the pores to these orifices, from which, under the microscope, a constant discharge of water may be seen taking place, minute opaque particles being carried along with its current. These particles are not only fecal matter, but gemmules and ova.

Reproduction takes place both by gemmation and by true ova. Many of the gemmules go to increase the sponge-mass; but the greater part finally become detached, and are carried out into the water, to settle down in a new locality Mr. Huxley has detected true ova and sperm-cells imbedded in the substance of sponges.

The sponges employed for domestic and other purposes derive their value from the elasticity and compressibility of their fibrous framework, divested of the glairy substance, and its power of imbibing fluids. The absence of spicules is essential to a useful sponge. The kinds fit for use are found in the seas of warm climates. Some small species of sponge live at great depths. One has been brought up in the Gulf of Macri from a depth of 185 fathoms. Numerous species of sponge are very abundant on many parts of the British coasts.

Fossil remains of sponges are found in many rocks, and of horny, fibrous kinds, as well as of those with calcareous or siliceous framework.

Several species of sponge are in use for economical purposes. Two species are chiefly brought from the Levant, and a very inferior one from the West Indies and coast of Florida. The trade in sponge is very considerable; it is carried on chiefly by the Turks and the inhabitants of the Bahama Islands. The number of men employed in the Ottoman sponge-fishery is between 4000 and 5000. forming the crews of about 600 boats. These boats find their chief employment on the coasts of Candia, Barbary, and Syria. The sponge is obtained by diving, the diver taking down with him a flat piece of stone of a triangular shape, with a hole drilled through one of its corners; to this a cord from the boat is attached, and the diver makes it serve to guide him to particular spots. When he reaches the growing sponges, he tears them off the rocks, and places them under his arms; he then pulls at the rope, which gives the signal to his companions in the boat to haul him up. The value of sponges collected in Greece and Turkey is from £90,000 to £100,000 annually. The Greeks of the Morea, instead of diving, obtain sponges by a pronged instrument; but the sponges thus collected are torn, and sell at a low price. The best sponges are obtained on detached heads of rock in 8 or 10 fathoms water.

The sponges of the Bahamas and other West Indian islands are of a larger size and coarser quality; but large quantities are gathered; and about 215,000 lbs., worth £17.000. are sent annually to Great Britain. The sponges are torn from the rocks by a fork at the end of a long pole. To get rid of the animal matter, they are buried for some days in the sand, and then soaked and washed.

The domestic uses of sponge are familiar to every one. It is also of great value to the surgeon, not only for removing blood in operations, but for checking hæmorrhage. Burnt sponge was once a valued remedy was scrofulous diseases and goitre; but iodine and bromine, from which it derives all its value, are now administered in other forms.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION OF THE HUMAN BODY.

In medico-legal works, cases are recorded, generally of a somewhat ancient date, in which it was supposed that the body was either spontaneously consumed by inward, combustion, or acquired such extraordinary combustible properties as to be consumed when brought into contact with fire. The following is one of the first of the cases on record. It rests on the authority of Le Cat, a distinguished surgeon of his time, and is stated to have occurred at Rheims in 1725. The remains of a woman named Millet were found burned in her kitchen, about eighteen inches from the open fire-place. Nothing was left of the body, except some parts of the head, of the legs, and of the vertebras. Suspicion was excited against the husband, and a criminal inquiry was instituted; but learned experts reported that the case was one of spontaneous combustion, and the prisoner was acquitted. The facts are explicable on the supposition, that the clothes of the deceased woman were accidentally ignited; and although the almost complete destruction of the body appeared to the medical men of that time to be inconsistent with the ordinary effects of fire, subsequent observations have shown that this is an error. In reference to this case, Liebig observes that it is easy to see that the idea of spontaneous combustion arose at a time when men entertained entirely false views on the subject of combustion, its essence, and its cause. What takes place in combustion generally lias only been known since the time of Lavosier (about a century ago), and the conditions which must be combined in order that a body should continue to burn, have only been known since the time of Davy, or for little more than half a century. From the time when the case of Millet occurred to the present day, probably somewhat over 50 supposed cases have been recorded. (In an article published on the subject by Dr. Frank of Berlin in 1843, 45 cases are adduced.)

From an analysis of all the cases on record up to 1851, Liebig arrives at the conclusion that the great majority agree in the following points : ‘1. They took place in winter. 2. The victims were brandy-drinkers in a state of intoxication. 3. they happened where the rooms are heated by fires in open fireplaces and by pans of glowing charcoal, in England, France, and Italy. In Germany and Russia, where rooms are heated by means of closed stoves, cases of death ascribed to spontaneous combustion are exceedingly rare. 4. It is admitted that no one has ever been present during the combustion. 5. None of the physicians who collected the cases, or attempted to explain them, has ever observed the process, or ascertained what preceded the combustion. 6. It is also unknown how much time had elapsed from the commencement of the combustion to the moment when the consumed body was found.’—Letters on Chemistry, 3d ed., 1851, p. 282. Out of the 45 cases collected by Frank, there are only three in regard to which it is assumed that combustion took place when no fire was in the neighborhood; and Liebig distinctly shows that these three solitary cases are totally unworthy of belief. With regard to the other cases, the writers who record them do not deny the presence of fire, but assume that the body was ignited by the fire, and then burned on like a candle or a bundle of straw, under similar conditions, till nothing but ashes or charcoal was left- These writers maintain that excess of fat, and the presence of brandy in the body, induce an abnormal condition of easy combustibility; but Liebig shows, by numerous illustrations, the utter fallacy of this view; and adds, as further evidence, ‘ the fact that hundreds of fat, well-fed brandy-drinkers do not burn, when by accident or design they come too near a fire. It may with certainty be predicted, that so long as the circulation continues, their bodies would not take fire, even if they held a hand in the fire till it was charred.’ Spontaneous combustion in a living body is (he adds) absolutely impossible.

Notwithstanding the wide promulgation of Liebig’s views, the belief in the possible occurrence of spontaneous combustion, seems not yet to have disappeared. In 1847, the body of a man, aged 71, and who was neither fat nor a drunkard, was found in bed in a state of combustion. Dr. Nasson, who was commissioned to investigate the case, reported that the burning must have resulted from some inherent cause in the person—probably roused into activity by a hot brick that was placed at his feet; and Orfila is reported to have coincided in this opinion. This case is reported in the Gazette Médicale, September 4, 1847. On the 13th of June 1847, the Countess of Goerlitz was found dead in her bedroom, with the upper part of her body partly consumed by fire. The head was a nearly shapeless black mass, with the charred tongue protruding from it. The physician who was consulted could suggest no other explanation than that the body of the countess must have taken fire spontaneously, and not even by ignition of her dress by a candle. On this evidence, she was buried; but circumstances having led to the suspicion that she had been murdered by her valet Stauff (who had been detected in attempting to poison the count), her body was exhumed in August 1848, fourteen months after her death, and was subjected to a special examination by the Hesse Medical College, who reported that she had not died from spontaneous combustion. The case was then referred to Liebig and Bischoff, and their report was issued in March 1850, when Stauff was put upon his trial. They found no difficulty in concluding that the body was wilfully burned after death, for the purpose of concealing the murder (either by strangulation or a blow on the head), which had been previously perpetrated. The prisoner was convicted, and subsequently confessed that he had committed the murder by strangulation, as indeed the protruded tongue might have suggested. Since that date, there has not been any case of alleged spontaneous combustion.—On this subject, the reader is referred to the various articles on ‘ Spontaneous Combustion’ in the Medical Dictionaries and Encyclopædias; to Dupuytren’s Leçons Orales; to Liebig’s Letters on Chemistry; and to Taylor’s Medical Jurisprudence.

SPONTANEOUS COMBU’STION is a phenomenon that occasionally manifests itself in mineral and organic substances. The facts connected with the spontaneous ignition of mineral substances are well known to chemists, and some of them have been already described in the articlepyrophorus(q. v.). Ordinary charcoal does not undergo combustion in air under a temperature of 1000°, but in some states it is liable spontaneously to acquire a temperature which may lead to unexpected combustion. Thus, lamp-black impregnated with oils, which contain a large proportion of hydrogen, gradually becomes warm, and inflames spontaneously. According to M. Aubert, Chevallier, and other French observers, recently-made charcoal, in a state of fine division, is liable to be spontaneously ignited without the agency of oil; but we are not aware that this phenomenon has been observed in this country. There have been many instances of the spontaneous ignition of coals containing iron pyrites, (q. v.) when moistened with water. The pyrites which most readily give rise to spontaneous combustion are those in which the protosulphide is associated with the bisulphide of iron; and these occur in the Yorkshire coals from Hull, and in some kinds of South Wales coal. Sulphur has no tendency to spontaneous combustion, but Dr. Taylor refers to an instance that came to his own knowledge, in which there was reason to believe that the vapor of bisulphide of carbon in an india-rubber factory was ignited by solar heat traversing glass. Phosphorus, when in a dry state, has a great tendency to ignite spontaneously, and it has been observed to melt and take fire (when touched) in a room in which the temperature was under 70°. The ordinary lucifer-rnatch composition is luminous in the dark, in warm summer nights, which shows that oxidation, and therefore a process of heating, is going on. Hence, large quantities of these matches kept in contact may produce a heat sufficient for their ignition. ‘ I have seen them ignite,’ says Dr. Taylor, ‘as a result of exposure to the sun’s rays for the purpose of drying.’—Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence, 1865, p. 603.

From these cases occurring in the mineral kingdom, we pass to the consideration of spontaneous combustion in organic substances Passing over the accidents that may result from the admixture of strong nitric or sulphuric acid with wool, straw, or certain essential oils, and which, if they occur, are immediate and obvious, we have to consider the cases in which, ‘ without contact with any energetical chemical compounds, certain substances—such as hay, cotton and woody fibre generally, including tow, flax, hemp, jute, rags, leaves, spent tan, cocoa-nut fibre, straw in manure-heaps, &c.—when stacked in large quantities in a damp state, undergo a process of heating from simple oxidation (eremacausis) or fermentation, and, after a time, may pass into a state of spontaneous combustion.’—Taylor, op. cit. p. 606. There is undoubted evidence that hay and cotton in a damp state will occasionally take fire without any external source of ignition. Cotton impregnated with oil, when collected in large quantity, is especially liable to ignite spontaneously; and the accumulation of cotton-waste, used in wiping lamps and the oiled surfaces of machinery, has more than once given rise to accidents, and led to unfounded charges of incendiarism. Dr. Taylor relates a case in which a fire took place in a shop ‘ by reason of a quantity of oil having been spilled on dry sawdust.’ According to Chevallier, vegetables boiled in oil furnish a residue which is liable to spontaneous ignition; and the same chemist observes that all kinds of woollen articles imbued with oil, and collected in a heap, and hemp, tow, and flax, when similarly treated, may ignite spontaneously.

In the case of Hepburn v. Lordan, which came before Vice-chancellor Wood in January 1865, and was carried by appeal before the Lords Justices, in the following month, an attempt was made to prove that wet jute was liable to undergo spontaneous combustion; and the great fire at London Bridge in 1861 was referred to the spontaneous combustion of jute in its ordinary state. With regard to the latter hypothesis, Dr. Taylor remarks that it is wholly incredible, and from experiments which he made for the defendants in the above lawsuit, and on other grounds, he holds that there is no evidence of moist jute undergoing spontaneous combustion; but, he adds, although no cases are recorded, it is probable that jute, cocoa-nut fibre, and linen and cotton rags, imbued with oil, might undergo this change. Dry wood is supposed by Chevallier and some other chemists to have the property of igniting spontaneously. Deal which has been dried by contact or contiguity with flues or pipes conveying hot water or steam at 212°, is supposed to be in a condition for bursting into flame when

air gets access to it; and the destruction of the Houses of Parliament, and many other great fires, have been ascribed to this cause; but from the experiments of Dr. Taylor (op. cit., p. 615) this view must be regarded as untenable.

It is still an open question whether such organic nitrogenous matters as damp grain or seeds of any kind ever undergo spontaneous combustion. In a case recorded in the Annales d’Hygiène for 1841. MM. Chevallier, Ollivier, and Devergie drew the conclusion that a barn had caught fire from the spontaneous combustion of damp oats which were stored in it. No such cases are known to have occurred in this country.

The subject of the article is of extreme importance, not only because it may cause great destruction of life and property, but because it may lead to unjust charges of incendiarism.—For further details regarding it, the reader is referred to Graham’s ‘ Report on the Cause of the Fire in the Amazon,’ in the Quarterly Journal of the Chemical /Society, vol. v. p. 34; to the article ‘Combustion’ in Watts’s Dictionary of Chemistry, vol. i.; and to the elaborate chapter on this subject in Taylor’s Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence.

SMITHFIELD, a noted cattle-market in London, was in the 12th c. an open spot which served the citizens as a playground and a place for a stroll. Being a little north of Newgate, and west of Aldersgate, it was outside the city walls. It was in S. that the rebel Wat Tyler met his death in 1381. Several noted tournaments were held here; and the place is associated with trials by battle, the burnings of martyrs, public executions during many centuries, and a variety of incidents connected with the history of the metropolis.

The most celebrated fair in England, Bartholomew Fair (q. v.), was always held in Smithfield.

A cattle-market was held in S. at least seven centuries ago, for Fitzstephen mentioned it in 1150. The corporation had official control over the market for more than 500 years, dating from 1345; and the city authorities have never to this day relaxed their hold over the one only live-cattle market in the metropolis. At one time, there was a project for removing the market to a field near Sadlers’ Wells, at another, to a spot near the north end of Gray’s Inn Lane; while a spirited projector spent £100,000 in raiding a new market at Islington; but powerful influences prevented the removal of the cattle-market until 1855.

The last market-day in the old spot was on June llth in that year; after which, the trade was transferred to the large and very complete establishment built by the corporation at Pentonville. For several years after this, S. was practically useless. In 1860, however, the corporation obtained an act for erecting market buildings on the site of S., and the first stone of a magnificent Dead-meat Market, from the designs of Mr. Horace Jones, the city architect, was laid in June 1867. The building, which was formally opened in November 1868, is 636 feet long, by 246 broad, is traversed by numerous avenues, and has about 200 shops for dealers in meat, which is partly country-killed. This arrangement has enabled the city authorities to abolish Newgate Market, which had become a serious obstruction to city traffic. Under the market, three railways sunk deeply below the ground-level, traverse the area—one going eastward to Aldersgate and Finsbury, one southward to Ludgate and Blackfriars, and one north-westward to King’s Cross and the north of London. Near the middle of S. is a circular spiral road descending to an underground railway goods-station. The remainder is laid out in well-paved carriage and foot ways with a small ornamental green or garden, including paths, seats, and a drinking-fountain. There is also a new market for poultry, butter, cheese, pork, &c., distinct from the meat-market. The extensive new works and alterations have greatly improved the appearance of S., and increased its salubrity.

SMOKE-NUISANCE, in London, is punishable with fine. The act applies to every furnace employed in working engines by steam, and every furnace in any mill, factory, printing-house, dye-house, distillery, bake-house, &c., which is not constructed so as to consume its own smoke, or which is so negligently used that the smoke is not consumed. The penalty is from two to five pounds. The statute only applies to the metropolis and to the river Thames.—In Scotland, a similar act is not confined to the Scotch metropolis.

Large consumers of fuel are naturally more anxious about how it can be best burned economically than about how the escape of smoke into the atmosphere can best be prevented. The two questions are not at all the same, although plans may be devised which will accomplish both objects at the same time. Thus with ordinary bituminous coal not only may the volatile hydrocarbons which sometimes yield twenty per cent, of the heating-power pass up the chimney unburned, but nearly two-thirds of the coal may be wasted by the conversion of the carbon into carbonic oxide instead of carbonic acid—that is, if the carbonic oxide escapes as such—and yet no smoke may appear. At the same time, it is the fact that the most complete combustion of the coal insures there being no smoke.

There is a great difference of opinion even about the apparently simple question of how the coal should be laid on the furnace bars. The late Professor Macquorn Rankine and others, reasoning on theoretical grounds, say that the fresh coals should be laid on the front of the fire; whilst Dr. Anderson, late of the Woolwich Arsenal, judging from great practical experience, says that, on the contrary, they should be mainly piled up at the hack of the fire. Mr. Wye Williams again, whose name is so famous in connection with such questions, asserts that the coal is best spread evenly over the furnace bars.

Whether the fuel is heaped at the front, at the back, or spread uniformly over the fire, the end in view is the same. It is to secure that the volatile hydrocarbons are burned, and that carbon is converted into carbonic acid, and this can only be done when these gases are conducted over a hot portion of the fire with a sufficient supply of air. If the fresh coal is laid on the front, that of a previous charge having been pushed inwards, the coal vapors will of course pass over the thin layer of burning fuel at the back, and be more or less burned. When on the other hand, the fuel is kept banked up at the back (that is at the bridge), and spread evenly over the rest of the grate, although a little smoke may be given off at first, it would nevertheless appear that by this plan the mass of incandescent fuel at the bridge is yet more effectual in burning these vapors. The balance of opinion would, however, seem to be in favor of the method of rapid, thin, and uniform spreading of the coal over the grate, care being taken that no part of the furnace bars are left bare.

With regard to the admission of air to the furnace, it is necessary, in order to obtain the best result, that it be admitted through small orifices, and at such a point or points where the temperature is sufficiently high for the combustion of the coal vapors, and that it be so regulated that heat is not uselessly absorbed by an excessive supply. It is of course also necessary to have sufficient air passing up between the furnace bars to burn the non-volatile coke. The arrangement recommended by Mr. Wye Williams

will be understood by the help of the annexed drawing, which represents one of his furnaces under a boiler h. The fire is fed, as usual, through the door at d; it slopes downward to the bridge g, which rises much above the firebars, so that the flames have to pass over it. The bridge consists of two parts, the solid masonry or brickwork, g, and the chambered portion behind it, c, called the distributer. Into this a tube, 5, opens, through which a supply of atmospheric air enters, and becoming heated, passes through a number of plates with slits, or with perforations as shown in ee’, into the mixing-chamber, f; here the heated air enters into combustion with the carbon in the smoke-laden flame, deprives it of that element, and greatly increases the heat by its combustion. Smoke prevention arrangements may be classified as follows :

I. Apparatus for the regular addition in small quantities and uniform application of the fuel to the fireplace of the furnace. The chief kinds are : (1.) A hopper kept charged with small coal or slack, and feeding a rapidly rotating horizontal disc. (2.) A hopper and rollers to reduce the size of the coals, and a screw spreader for throwing; them on the fire. (3.) An under grate stoker, which feeds a circular furnace by causing the fresh coal to pass from below through a central orifice into the middle of the incandescent fuel. (4.) A hopper and traveling furnace bars.

II. Arrangements for the admission of air above as well as below the furnace bars. This is usually done either by means of air-holes with slide or slides to cover them; or opening and shutting slits in the furnace door or above it. Another plan is to have a valve at the further end of tubular flues in the furnace to regulate the admission of air. In one or two instances a clockwork arrangement has been introduced for gradually closing the air inlets in the furnace doors after firing.

SMUGGLING is the offence of importing or exporting goods prohibited, or without paying the duties imposed on goods not prohibited. The offence in general leads to forfeiture of the goods. If goods are imported to defraud the revenue, treble value of the goods is forfeited. Many of the offences connected with smuggling are felonies, and punished with severity under the Customs’ Consolidation Act. Where high protective tariffs separate the industry of adjoining countries, smugglers are certain to abound; no prohibitory decrees can keep the goods out. It was in vain that Napoleon fulminated the Berlin and Milan decrees for closing all continental ports against British shipping; British goods were lauded at Salonica, passed on horseback through Hungary to Vienna, and thence distributed in all directions. Similarly, French manufactures reached England, often most circuitously : some a year in transit by way of Smyrna; others, via Archangel, after two years’ journey. A vast cost was incurred in England hi maintaining a Coast Guard and Preventive Service; but so long as smuggled goods could be sold at much lower prices than those at which they could be lawfully imported, so long would it be absolutely impossible wholly to suppress the traffic. The duties on French goods evaded in 1831, by the aid of smuggling, were estimated at £800,000. The true remedy for smuggling is a free, or, at least, very liberal tariff, without any prohibitive rates. Since the adoption of free trade by Great Britain, its Coast-guard has ceased to have any preventive duties to perform, and has been converted into the far better institution of a defence for the coasts from foreign foes, a reserve of trained men for the sea-service, and last, though far from least, a branch of skilful auxiliaries ready to aid any ship thrown in distress upon the British coast. The leading instance of smuggling, so far as England or Englishmen are concerned, is the great amount of contraband traffic from Gibraltar into Spain.

SPACE AND TIME. Space and Time being the most general conditions, forms, or attributes of all existing things, their discussion is linked with the highest problems of philosophy. Space is co-extensive with, and inseparable from, the sensible, external, or Object World; time is a property both of the Object World and of the Subject Mind.

Of the so-called Innate Ideas maintained by one school of philosophy, Space and Time are the foremost examples. (Other examples are Number, Infinity, Being, Substance, Power, Personal Identity, &c.) Accordingly, it is held, on the one side, that these notions are underived, or intuitive to the mind; and, on the other side, that they arise in the course of our education or experience, like our ideas of heat, sound, color, gravity. &c.

To begin with Space. The supporters of the innate or intuitive origin of the idea, allow that it does not arise in the mind until actual objects, or extended things, are presented to the senses— until we see the visible, and touch the tangible things around us; but they declare that this contact with the sensible world is only the occasion of our becoming conscious of what was already in the mind. Thus, Mr. Mansel says : ‘ Space is not properly an innate Idea, for no idea is wholly innate; but it is the innate element of the ideas of sense which experience calls into consciousness.’ It is, in short, the superadding of some independent activity of the mind to the passive sensation.

The reasons usually given for assuming an intuitive element in the idea of Space are, in the main, the reasons given for innate ideas generally; they chiefly resolve themselves into affirming the attributes of universality and necessity in such ideas, and the inadequacy of mere sensible experience to reveal these high attributes of things. Whatever is got by experience can be thought away; Space and Time cannot. Thus, it is impossible for us to receive any sensible impression of an outward object—the sun, for example—without conceiving that thing as existing in space. To use the language of Kant, Space is a form of our sensibility, or sensible perception; and as the perception itself cannot, he thinks, give this universal and inseparable form—it must be contributed by the mind. Sir W. Hamilton supposes that we may have an ‘empirical’ notion of Space—i.e., a notion from experience; but that Space as a ‘form ‘ is not obtained from experience, but from intuition. He does not, however, explain clearly wherein consists the difference between these two notions. According to the opposite view, Space is an abstraction from our experience of extended things, exactly as gravity is an abstraction from gravitating bodies, and justice from just actions. We first obtain from experience a variety of impressions, in the concrete, of things possessing extension; and, next, from all these, by the usual process of abstraction, we gain a notion of extension in the abstract, or Space. A few remarks may be made on these two distinct operations, as both involve matters of controversy.

1. Before the Muscular Feelings were distinctly recognized as something superadded to the proper sensations of the senses—or the feelings of mere light, sound, &c., it was not easy to show that, by sensible experience alone, we could perceive objects as extended, or as occupying space. The pure optical sensibility of the eye is for color solely; the pure tactile sensibility is for softness and smartness, roughness and smoothness, &c. When, however, we make full allowance for the whole range of feeling connected with the exercise of muscular energy, there is no difficulty in accounting for the origin of such notions as Resistance (Force or Power) and Extended Magnitude. The element supposed, by the a priori philosophers, to be contributed by the mind itself, is, according to the other school, Muscularity, or the feeling of the putting forth of inward energy. The two senses related to our ‘Cognizance of Space—Sight and Touch, are compound senses; they involve an active energy, with its peculiar consciousness, as well as a passive sensibility; and all that is characteristic of Extension, or Space, arises through these muscular accompaniments.

2. Having perceived a great number of things as extended, with the intervals of unoccupied extension that separate these, we form an idea of extension in the abstract. The distinguishing peculiarity of this abstraction is related to unoccupied extension, or empty space, where we seem to have extension without anything extended; rendering the idea of Space unlike other abstract ideas, as Gravity, or Justice, which are conceivable only as embodied in gravitating things, or just actions. Still, empty space is a reality to us, inasmuch as it expresses cessation of resistance, and free scope for movement. To the senses alone, without the muscular accompaniments, Space would be a nonentity, an inconceivability; but the feeling of the sweep of the arm, or of the locomotion of the body, in passing from one point of resistance to {mother, is a genuine mental experience—the filling up of the interval between two tactile encounters, or between two optical pictures, with conscious activity.

The idea of TIME, continuance, or endurance, applies both to our feelings of energy put forth, and also to our sensations, emotions, and the flow of our ideas; in other words, it attaches both to the extended or Object World, and to the unextended or ‘Subject Mind. In our muscular feelings, which represent the universe of matter and space, we discriminate a dead strain, or effort of resistance, lasting a short time, from the same strain lasting a longer time; and also a more persisting movement from a less. So in the sensations; a sound enduring a second is different to us from a sound enduring two seconds : a transitory odor is not confounded with one of greater continuance.

We distinguish two bursts of wonder, terror, love, or anger, if they have been unequal in their duration. Abstracting from all these experiences of continuance in the concrete, we obtain the idea of Time; which idea, however, like other abstractions, must be conceived by us under some individual continuing thing. If we were to imagine the whole outward universe annihilated, we should still have, in our own consciousness, an instance of the continuing, and upon that we could sustain the conception of Time. See GENERALIZATION.

Time is measured by Space, and Space by Time. The one is often expressed by the other, but with a certain limitation; we say ‘ a space of time,’ but not a ‘ time of space.’ Movement is common to both. Of passive sensations, the best for indicating time are those of Hearing.