John Cargill Brough

“ How shall we describe this monster of the old world, which is so unlike any modern inhabitant of the woods? Its body, which is at least twenty feet long, is upheld by legs of proportional size, and a massive tail, which drags upon the ground and forms a fifth pillar of support. Its head is hideously ugly, its immense jaws and flat forehead recalling the features of those grim monsters which figure in our story-books. Its dragon-like appearance is still further increased by a ridge of large triangular bones or spines which extends along its back. ”

“ Looking around, we perceive a host of wonders. We are in a new world, whose plants and animals have no resemblance to those of the world we have just quitted. Dense forests of many-coloured algæ are outspread before us; uncouth creatures crawl at our feet, and fairy-like forms flit around us.
If we wish to obtain a correct impression of these submarine wonders, we must examine them separately in regular order. We will therefore confine our attention at present to the beautiful herbs that grow in the mermaid's garden, and the miniature trees of her parks and forests. ”

“ I am the keeper of the metals, those wonderful substances which have been such important aids to human progress, and without which, indeed, any high degree of civilization were impossible. Unlike the jewels guarded by the boastful gnome who vanished as I approached, the metals are not merely ornamental, for you must be aware that they are essential to every process connected with the tilling of the soil, the building of houses and temples, the construction of roads, the manufacture of clothing, the navigation of seas—to every art, in fine, which elevates man above the condition of the brute. ”

“ Our artist has pictured the lamp of science as a luminous hand. What is the meaning of this curious emblem? Reflect for a moment, and you will detect a deep truth hidden in this fancy. Science, dear reader, is the magical hand that points out truth and strikes down falsehood; and, more than that, it is the magical hand which fashions the crude materials of the world in objects of beauty, which constructs and moves all kinds of machinery, which performs Herculean feats of strength, and executes works of marvellous delicacy. ”

“ Do we traverse the deep, they lend wings to the ship, and bid defiance to the natural opponents, the winds and the tides! Does the windbound ship desire to get out of port to start on her voyage, steam throws its arms around her, and places her on the open sea! Do we traverse the land, steam is harnessed to our chariot, and we outstrip the flight of the swiftest bird, and equal the fury of the tempest! ”

“ Now, if you wish to visit the mermaid's home, prepare for a dive, so—one, two, three—and in you go head foremost!
We are now safe on land; not on dry land, be it understood, but on the floor of the sea, with a good many feet of water overhead. We have ceased to be human beings subject to death by drowning, and have become the heroes of a fairy tale whom the elements cannot harm. ”

“ Wherever we perceive light and heat emanating simultaneously from a combustible body, we say—there is fire—but we can bring forward no proof of the material existence of this so-called element. We cannot weigh it, measure it, or put it in a bottle; nor can we imagine it existing apart from a burning substance. Fire, after all, may be nothing but a name for certain phenomena of heat and light. These two great forces are intimately connected; thus, whenever we raise a solid object to a high temperature it becomes luminous ”

“ We are in the heart of a strange wild country. At our feet runs a mighty river, whose tortuous course we can trace far away on the distant landscape. The scenery around us is grandly picturesque, being diversified by high mountains with harsh and rugged outlines, yawning chasms, swampy plains, and thick forests. Here a broad stream dashes impetuously through a narrow glen, and there a placid lake glistens like polished silver. Huge masses of rock arise in a thousand fantastic forms on one side, while on the other vast desert tracts, monotonously level, spread out as far as the eye can reach. ”

“ The wolf stands for the lawless man who preys upon his fellow mortals and lives by crime; the hog for the ignorant glutton who wallows in the mire of indolence, devouring everything that comes in his way. We trust that these brutes in human form will one day become extinct, and that the chains which depend from our wonderful lamp will be no longer needed; at present, however, it is absolutely necessary to restrain the wolf from interfering with those who labour in the light of science, and the hog from devouring their well-earned food. ”

“ Our wonderful lamp is merely a poetical image of Science. The lamp of science dispels intellectual darkness, and floods the world with its all-penetrating light. The night-prowling ghouls, Ignorance and Superstition, dare not encounter its glancing rays, and descend shrieking into the abyss, while Industry toils in the glare, and seems to acquire new vigour whenever the flame increases in brilliancy.
The attendant genii of this wonderful lamp are those powers of the material world which have been subjugated by man—the Aladdin of our story. ”

“ If we kindle a few dry sticks on a cool hearth, we may remark that while the wood burns there rises smoke or air; the smoke is followed by flame or fire; moisture or water is deposited on the hearth; and ash or earth remains.
Everywhere can we detect the presence of the mighty elements. Fire can be set free from innumerable substances; air penetrates the pores of all bodies, and covers the world like a mantle; water forms the all-embracing sea, and nourishes every plant and animal: while earth enters into the composition of all solids, and gives form and stability to the universe. ”

“ In fine, aluminium seems to possess properties which render it useful in a thousand ways, and if the process by which it is obtained can be further simplified, it will prove an inestimable boon to mankind. The source of aluminium is inexhaustible, since it is the base of every kind of clay. About one-third of the weight of every brick, every stone-jar, and every tea-cup consists of this curious metal.
Who will say that alchemy is extinct? What science but alchemy would enable us to extract a metal having an intrinsic value equal to that of gold, from a lump of worthless clay? ”

“ I have never yet been a part of a poet’s brain, and it is therefore quite out of my power to set forth in appropriate language the varied pleasures of an atmospheric existence. My roving life as an atom of the ocean had its charms, but it was not to be compared with the life I now led among the sportive atoms of the air. ”

“ The discoveries of science have disclosed to us in each planet, which, like our own, revolves in regulated periods round the sun, provisions in all respects similar to those found to exist here:—the same structure, form, and materials—the same action and influence of the same calorific and illuminating agency—the same alternations of light and darkness, produced by the same means—the same pleasing succession of seasons—the same diversity of climate—the same agreeable distribution of land and water. ”

“ The erratic stars constitute, with the sun—about which they move as their common centre or focus, in obedience to the great universal law of gravitation revealed to us by the genius of Newton and his sublime predecessor the illustrious Kepler—the solar system, which, however so infinitesimally small in comparison to the infinite magnitude and extent of the sidereal world, men must naturally regard with greater and more vivid—nay, if the expression may be permitted us, with more affectionate—interest than the universe beyond. ”

“ The flowers of the sea far surpass those of the land in splendid and gorgeous colouring. In the "gardens of Nereus" there are anemones of the richest crimson, purple, and orange; chrysanthemums, beautifully striped and variegated; carnations, whose petals are exquisitely cut and fringed; and dahlias, so perfect in form that they could not fail to win the admiration of enthusiastic flower-fanciers.
But these flowers are not only beautiful. Nature has endowed them with wonderful powers. They fold and expand their petals at will; some of them can move from place to place ”

“ Now we reach a vaulted chamber, the roof of which is sustained by arches springing from pillars of every form and colour. The floor is inlaid with chequered slabs; the walls are composed of broken and detached masses of rock, piled one upon another in picturesque irregularity; while high above us fantastic forms of stalactite are arranged with a grandeur beyond the workmanship of mortal.
We enter another apartment still more magnificent. Its walls are of purple marble, embellished with branching sprays of rock crystal, which, on the purple ground, assume the hue of the amethyst. ”

“ Let us quit the infusoria and glance with our microscopic eye at some other marvellous objects belonging to the invisible world. If we look through our magic tube at the downy mould formed upon any decaying substance, a wonderful forest of delicate thread-like plants will be revealed. These beautiful fungi will be seen to multiply and grow, to swell and finally to burst, scattering their invisible spores into the surrounding air.
If we make use of our microscope to examine the eggs of insects we shall have cause to wonder at their elaborate carving and beautiful forms. ”

“ The chalice-like cup of the pure white lily floating on the lake, the variegated tulip, the brilliant anemone, the delicate rose, and the intensely-coloured peony or dahlia, have each powers peculiar to themselves for drinking in the warming life-stream of the sun, and for radiating it back again to the thirsting atmosphere. ”

“ The petrified ponds look like frozen water; a stone thrown upon them breaks the crust, and a black fluid exudes through the opening; but when the process of petrifaction has reached a certain stage, a man may walk upon the surface without wetting his shoes. The stony mass is finely laminated, and a section of it resembles an accumulation of sheets of coarse paper. Such is the constant tendency of this water to solidify, that the very bubbles on its surface become hard, as if, by a stroke of magic, they had been arrested and metamorphosed into marble. ”

“ Here is a bar of aluminium. It resembles silver in its beautiful lustre, but can be easily distinguished from that metal by its bluish colour. If we handle the bar we shall marvel greatly at its lightness, as aluminium is only two and a-half times heavier than water, or less than one-third the weight of iron. The alchemist will tell us that it is endowed with many striking properties. It can be fused almost as easily as zinc, and cast into any form. It is malleable and ductile to a great extent, and can be beaten into the thinnest plates, or drawn out into the finest wires. ”

“ Were you to estimate the value of things by their composition, the finest marble and the coarsest chalk would be placed on an equality: or to choose an example from human nature, the wisest philosopher would be no better than the greatest dunce. The diamond is my most precious charge. It surpasses all other gems in hardness and lustre, and its beauty and rarity have rendered it peculiarly attractive to you men. My richest diamond beds are situated in the Brazils and in Bengal, but I have scattered these gems over many parts of the world. ”

“ We have shown that he can travel with the rapidity of thought across a continent or an ocean; that he can write and print our messages in the most distant places; that he can measure time as it flies, move all kinds of machinery, and melt copper in cold water. We may search through our old fairy tales and romances in vain to find a spirit capable of performing such miracles as these. ”

“ Who has not heard of the Philosopher's Stone, that much-coveted but unattainable red powder of the alchemists, which was supposed to possess the powers of transmuting baser metals into gold, of healing disease, and of restoring youth? Who has not read of those misguided men of former ages, whose lives were passed in attempting to discover this precious substance, which was to confer upon them inexhaustible wealth, health, and longevity, but whose labours too often resulted in poverty, sickness, and death? ”

“ Wherever the Sunbeam falls we find life and motion; elsewhere, death and stillness. Under its influence the seed germinates, the stem sends forth branches, the leaf bursts from the bud, the flower unfolds its petals, and the fruit grows and ripens. ”

“ We are surrounded by wonders. The vegetation which fringes the banks of the river is strangely unfamiliar. Some of the trees remind us of the palms and arborescent ferns of the Tropics, and others seem to be allied to the cypress and juniper, but they all belong to unknown species.
The air, which is hot and oppressive, swarms with insects; curious flies and beetles hum around us, and every now and then a huge dragon-fly darts past like a meteor. ”

“ Repair we to the home of the Gnomes—to the stalactite cavern, where Fancy may revel and Imagination soar! Where every hue of the rainbow, every sparkle of the gem, and every metal's sheen shall be reflected in the light of the torch we bear in our hands! ”

“ The vapour that escapes from the spout of an ordinary tea-kettle, is a much more wonderful emanation than any of those flimsy spirits which the wierd sisters summoned from their magic cauldron. Those deluded old ladies, who wasted so much time in collecting disgusting ingredients for their infernal broth, in dancing wildly around their cooking utensils, and in breaking-in and training broomsticks, have happily disappeared from the face of this beautiful earth, As we cannot look into their magic cauldron, let us peep into the homely kettle. ”

“ Let a strain come in whatever direction it may, there is an iron wall ready to baffle it. The engineers may possibly be too sanguine, but they believe the Leviathan will prove the taughtest, trimmest, driest ship ever built, irrespective of its more important qualities. They comfort those who dread sea-sickness with the hope that a ship too long to pitch and too flat to roll, will be bearable even to "the gentlemen of England who live at home at ease;" and they talk of the ship being buoyant even if chopped into ten ships—like those animals which seem to have ten lives instead of one. ”