Volume I Part 9 (1/2)
”Onward YOU pa.s.s, the pine-capt hills divide, Or feed the golden harvests on their side; The wide-ribb'd arch with hurrying torrents fill, 40 Shove the slow barge, or whirl the foaming mill.
OR lead with beckoning hand the sparkling train Of refluent water to its parent main, And pleased revisit in their sea-moss vales Blue Nereid-forms array'd in s.h.i.+ning scales, 45 Shapes, whose broad oar the torpid wave impels, And Tritons bellowing through their twisted sh.e.l.ls.
”So from the heart the sanguine stream distils, O'er Beauty's radiant shrine in vermil rills, Feeds each fine nerve, each slender hair pervades, 50 The skins bright snow with living purple shades, Each dimpling cheek with warmer blushes dyes, Laughs on the lips, and lightens in the eyes.
--Erewhile absorb'd, the vagrant globules swim From each fair feature, and proportion'd limb, 55 Join'd in one trunk with deeper tint return To the warm concave of the vital urn.
II. 1.”AQUATIC MAIDS! YOU sway the mighty realms Of scale and sh.e.l.l, which Ocean overwhelms; As Night's pale Queen her rising orb reveals, 60 And climbs the zenith with refulgent wheels, Car'd on the foam your glimmering legion rides, Your little tridents heave the das.h.i.+ng tides, Urge on the sounding sh.o.r.es their crystal course, Restrain their fury, or direct their force.
[_Car'd on the foam_. l. 61. The phenomena of the tides have been well investigated and satisfactorily explained by Sir Isaac Newton and Dr.
Halley from the reciprocal gravitations of the earth, moon, and sun. As the earth and moon move round a centre of motion near the earth's surface, at the same time that they are proceeding in their annual orbit round the sun, it follows that the water on the side of the earth nearest this centre of motion between the earth and moon will be more attracted by the moon, and the waters on the opposite side of the earth will be less attracted by the moon, than the central parts of the earth.
Add to this that the centrifugal force of the water on the side of the earth furthest from the centre of the motion, round which the earth and moon move, (which, as was said before, is near the surface of the earth) is greater than that on the opposite side of the earth. From both these causes it is easy to comprehend that the water will rise on two sides of the earth, viz. on that nearest to the moon, and its opposite side, and that it will be flattened in consequence at the quadratures, and thus produce two tides in every lunar day, which consists of about twenty- four hours and forty-eight minutes.
These tides will be also affected by the solar attraction when it coincides with the lunar one, or opposes it, as at new and full moon, and will also be much influenced by the opposing sh.o.r.es in every part of the earth.
Now as the moon in moving round the centre of gravity between itself and the earth describes a much larger orbit than the earth describes round the same centre, it follows that the centrifugal motion on the side of the moon opposite to the earth must be much greater than the centrifugal motion of the side of the earth opposite to the moon round the same centre. And secondly, as the attraction of the earth exerted on the moon's surface next to the earth is much greater than the attraction of the moon exerted on the earth's surface, the tides on the lunar sea, (if such there be,) should be much greater than those of our ocean. Add to this that as the same face of the moon always is turned to the earth, the lunar tides must be permanent, and if the solid parts of the moon be spherical, must always cover the phasis next to us. But as there are evidently hills and vales and volcanos on this side of the moon, the consequence is that the moon has no ocean, or that it is frozen.]
65 2.”NYMPHS! YOU adorn, in glossy volumes roll'd, The gaudy conch with azure, green, and gold.
You round Echinus ray his arrowy mail, Give the keel'd Nautilus his oar and sail; Firm to his rock with silver cords suspend 70 The anchor'd Pinna, and his Cancer-friend; With worm-like beard his toothless lips array, And teach the unwieldy Sturgeon to betray.-- Ambush'd in weeds, or sepulcher'd in sands, In dread repose He waits the scaly bands, 75 Waves in red spires the living lures, and draws The unwary plunderers to his circling jaws, Eyes with grim joy the twinkling shoals beset, And clasps the quick inextricable net.
You chase the warrior Shark, and c.u.mberous Whale, 80 And guard the Mermaid in her briny vale; Feed the live petals of her insect-flowers, Her sh.e.l.l-wrack gardens, and her sea-fan bowers; With ores and gems adorn her coral cell, And drop a pearl in every gaping sh.e.l.l.
[_The gaudy conch_. l. 66. The spiral form of many sh.e.l.ls seem to have afforded a more frugal manner of covering the long tail of the fish with calcareous armour; since a single thin part.i.tion between the adjoining circles of the fish was sufficient to defend both surfaces, and thus much cretaceous matter is saved; and it is probable that from this spiral form they are better enabled to feel the vibrations of the element in which they exist. See note on Canto IV. l. 162. This cretaceous matter is formed by a mucous secretion from the skin of the fish, as is seen in crab-fish, and others which annually cast their sh.e.l.ls, and is at first a soft mucous covering, (like that of a hen's egg, when it is laid a day or two too soon,) and which gradually hardens. This may also be seen in common sh.e.l.l snails, if a part of their sh.e.l.l be broken it becomes repaired in a similar manner with mucus, which by degrees hardens into sh.e.l.l.
It is probable the calculi or stones found in other animals may have a similar origin, as they are formed on mucous membranes, as those of the kidney and bladder, chalk-stones in the gout, and gall-stones; and are probably owing to the inflammation of the membrane where they are produced, and vary according to the degree of inflammation of the membrane which forms them, and the kind of mucous which it naturally produces. Thus the sh.e.l.ly matter of different sh.e.l.l-fish differs, from the courser kinds which form the sh.e.l.ls of crabs, to the finer kinds which produces the mother-pearl.
The beautiful colours of some sh.e.l.ls originate from the thinness of the laminae of which they consist, rather than to any colouring matter, as is seen in mother-pearl, which reflects different colours according to the obliquity of the light which falls on it. The beautiful prismatic colours seen on the Labrodore stone are owing to a similar cause, viz.
the thinness of the laminae of which it consists, and has probably been formed from mother-pearl sh.e.l.ls.
It is curious that some of the most common fossil sh.e.l.ls are not now known in their recent state, as the cornua ammonis; and on the contrary, many sh.e.l.ls which are very plentiful in their recent state, as limpets, sea-ears, volutes, cowries, are very rarely found fossil. Da Costa's Conchology, p. 163. Were all the ammoniae destroyed when the continents were raised? Or do some genera of animals perish by the increasing power of their enemies? Or do they still reside at inaccessible depths in the sea? Or do some animals change their forms gradually and become new genera?]
[_Echinus. Nautilus_. l. 67, 68. See additional notes, No. XXVII.]
[_Pinna. Cancer_. l. 70. See additional notes, No. XXVII.]
[_With worm-like beard_. l. 71. See additional notes, No. XXVIII.]
[_Feed the live petals_. l. 82. There is a sea-insect described by Mr.
Huges whose claws or tentacles being disposed in regular circles and tinged with variety of bright lively colours represent the petals of some most elegantly fringed and radiated flowers as the carnation, marigold, and anemone. Philos. Trans. Abridg. Vol. IX. p. 110. The Abbe Dicquemarre has further elucidated the history of the actinia; and observed their manner of taking their prey by inclosing it in these beautiful rays like a net. Phil. Trans. Vol. LXIII. and LXV. and LXVII.]
[_And drop a pearl_. l. 84. Many are the opinions both of antient and modern concerning the production of pearls. Mr. Reaumur thinks they are formed like the hard concretions in many land animals as stones of the bladder, gallstones, and bezoar, and hence concludes them to be a disease of the fish, but there seems to be a stricter a.n.a.logy between these and the calcareous productions found in crab-fish called crab's eyes, which are formed near the stomach of the animal, and const.i.tute a reservoir of calcareous matter against the renovation of the sh.e.l.l, at which time they are re-dissolved and deposited for that purpose. As the internal part of the sh.e.l.l of the pearl oyster or muscle consists of mother-pearl which is a similar material to the pearl and as the animal has annually occasion to enlarge his sh.e.l.l there is reason to suspect the loose pearls are similar reservoirs of the pearly matter for that purpose.]
85 3. ”YOUR myriad trains o'er stagnant ocean's tow, Harness'd with gossamer, the loitering prow; Or with fine films, suspended o'er the deep, Of oil effusive lull the waves to sleep.
You stay the flying bark, conceal'd beneath, 90 Where living rocks of worm-built coral breathe; Meet fell TEREDO, as he mines the keel With beaked head, and break his lips of steel; Turn the broad helm, the fluttering canvas urge From MAELSTROME'S fierce innavigable surge.
95 --'Mid the lorn isles of Norway's stormy main, As sweeps o'er many a league his eddying train, Vast watery walls in rapid circles spin, And deep-ingulph'd the Demon dwells within; Springs o'er the fear-froze crew with Harpy-claws, 100 Down his deep den the whirling vessel draws; Churns with his b.l.o.o.d.y mouth the dread repast, The booming waters murmuring o'er the mast.