the rocks, formed, as though by compression, into flattened cylinders or ellipsoids, the diameters of the elliptical bases being respectively as 24 to 9.

4. Clays and Ochres.-These are abundant in almost every portion of the state, but are, perhaps, in this formation, superior to any which have been observed in other districts.

5. Slate. The slates of this district are black and impregnated with coaly matter; they contain also, a considerable portion of lime, and are traversed by small veins of limestone Rep. No. 2. pp. 126-8.

Mineral springs, occur, as might be expected, in so large a district. The two most generally known, are the Catawba Springs in Lincoln county, and the Rockingham Springs in the county of the same name. Neither of them, however, are strongly impregnated with mineral solutions, and will owe their reputation more to their climate and scenery, than to their intrinsic qualities.

Of the third mineral district of North-Carolina, our notice must be brief. It was not visited by Mr. Olmsted, whose Reports have hitherto, in a great measure, served us as guides-and our materials from other sources, are very incomplete. We have spoken of it as an extensive valley, or rather broken table land, between the Alleghany mountains (or Blue Ridge, as they are frequently called,) and the Bald and Iron mountains, which form the western limits of the state. In the southern division,

however, the country seems rather composed of a series of mountainous ridges, with no regular direction, giving rise to the numerous branches of the Pigeon, the Tennessee and Hiwassee rivers-and we know few districts in the United States that offer greater temptations to the mineralogist and botanist, than the county of Haywood.

The greater part of this district, as we have mentioned, is covered with transition rocks, limestone, sandstone or grey wacké; quartz, as usual, in great abundance and in many varieties; sulphat of Barytes; ores of lead more frequently than of any other metal, excepting, perhaps, iron, but no where discovered in such abundance as to be wrought; and fossils in great numbers and of many forms.

The primitive rocks appear occasionally through this superincumbent covering, particularly in the south, but the predominant strata are all of a later series.

In this review, which we have endeavoured to condense as much as perspicuity would admit, we have only noticed those substances which occur in large masses, and become conspicuous in the geology of the country, or those minerals which are important in their economical relation. We have, therefore,

omitted to notice those which would be only prized for the cabinet, as exhibiting the varied and beautiful forms which nature has lavished on the mineral kingdom. When, however, to the many substances we have had occasion to notice in our preceding pages, we add the Zirconite and Jasper of Buncombe, the splendid Beryls of Burke, the Lazulite of Lincoln, the sky blue Sulphate of Barytes of Hillsborough, the Siliceous Minerals of Stokes, the Amethysts of Lincoln and Mecklenberg, the Tourmaline scattered over the western counties, and the fine varieties of Talc which are widely dispersed, we might readily believe, what has long been impressed on the mind of the writer of this article, that North-Carolina may be considered, whether we regard the variety or the value of her productions, as one of the richest mineral districts in the United States-surpassed by few countries of equal area in any portion of the globe.

If then, we should inquire why the geology and mineralogy of North-Carolina has been so long neglected, it might be replied, that until within the last twenty years, no attention had been paid to these sciences in any portion of the United States. Mr. Olmsted shall add two other causes.

"1st. Until recently, no professed mineralogist has ever resided in the state, and such travellers as had any pretensions to the science, have usually passed through the state in directions parallel to that of all of our geological formations.

"2d. The face of the country every where eastward of the mountains, is marked by this strong peculiarity, that the rocks are not, as in most other countries, particularly in New-England, exposed on the surface, but are very generally concealed by a thick covering of clay and sand, and appear only in the beds of the rivers. Thus, a traveller might cross the great slate formation, (which, for its variety and the elegance of its productions, is not surpassed, probably, by any similar formation elsewhere) and still see so few ledges of rocks or precipices, and would observe the surface to be so generally unobstructed, that he might fancy himself to be journeying over an alluvial district. In the neighbourhood of Salisbury and Charlotte, the surface is, for the most part, occupied by a deep soil, with scarcely a rock to impede the plough; and yet this whole region is based on granite, which lies only a few feet below the surface." Rep. No. 2. p. 138.

ART. X.-The Talisman, for 1828. New-York. E. Bliss. 18mo.

WE need hardly inform our readers, that the species of works, of which the Talisman is a favourable specimen, has, within a few years, become much in vogue amongst us. The merit of

originating these annual productions, in which the talents of the moralist, the poet, and the artist, are put in joint requisition, rests with the Germans. This book-making people, (we believe there are more volumes published annually in Germany, than in all Europe beside,) have had for many years, their annual Literary Almanacks; in the pages of which, articles from their most distinguished writers, have first seen the light. The English and French "caught the idea" from their neighbours; and at length, we, on this side of the Atlantic, find springing up amongst us, Souvenirs, Tokens, Memorials, Forgetme-Nots, &c. &c. in such abundance, that we are afraid the uses of their humbler weather-wise brethren, who offer themselves annually to our notice, at the modest price of six cents a piece, will be entirely superseded. "Poor Richard," with all his sage remarks, wonderful stories, new recipes, and old jokes, will no longer beguile the long winter evenings of our northern farmers; and "Hutchings Revived," despite his skill in yerbs and planetary lore, will die a natural death.

It is not our wish to exalt any of the above mentioned meritorious works at the expense of the others. Indeed, as periodical personages ourselves, we entertain a fellow feeling and warm sympathy with them all. They are, in general, much above mediocrity, and come before the public, as fine as hotpressed paper, fair types, beautiful engravings, and splendid gilt backs and covers can make them. We wish them all success. On the festal occasions for which they are prepared, a variety is demanded; and the more there are of them, the greater opportunity for selection is given to the friend or lover, the old who wish to make glad the hearts of the young, or the young who desire to testify their regard for their seniors, by presenting these little memorials of affection. The competition, too, excited by their number, leads to an emulation among the artists of the same or different cities, which otherwise might lie dormant. Indeed, it is a fact, that the publication of the English Souvenirs, which has led our imitative brethren of the north to call forth the same description of talent, has materially improved

the style of our engravers in Boston, New-York and Philadelphia. It has stimulated those who already were distinguished, to further diligence, and quickened the dry bones of several plodding copper scratchers, whose illustrations of our bibles and prayer-books, have heretofore done much to prevent idolatry, though, perhaps, they may have occasionally interrupted devotion.

We are, however, to take up the Talisman, as a literary work-a collection of miscellanies, illustrated in the ordinary style of Souvenirs, from which it purports to differ, in being the product of a single hand, and not a compost of various hues, and materials collected from different quarters. As such, it offers itself a fitting subject for critical notice. There runs through it, besides, a vein of originality, which is more to our taste than the common-place sentimental stories, and pretty poetry, usually found in similar volumes. The author, Mr. Francis Herbert, as he writes himself at full length, at the end of his autobiographic introduction, is, evidently, not a novice in the manufacture of prose or rhyme. Indeed, in corroboration of what he tells us about his manuscripts having been made free with by others, we, ourselves, think we have, more than once, before now, seen his marks; and in much lauded pieces too, for which others got the praise. Be this as it may, in the sketches which he has here dashed off, apparently in haste, we recognize the style of one, who passes "from grave to gay, from lively to severe," with the utmost ease and grace: who follows not in the beaten track which others have made before him; and whose compositions possess the merit of not savouring too strongly of the lamp. As a favourable specimen of Mr. Herbert's ethical and hortatory manner, we give entire, the first article, entitled "Preface to an Album."

"This book is destined to preserve the memorials of acquaintance, of esteem, of friendship, of affection-to contain the thoughts of many minds to bear the impress of many characters. Who can anticipate its future contents? How various will be its tone-its temper-its talent-its moral expression-influence and feeling!

"Such a volume is an apt emblem of the history of our own minds. "In the mysterious order of Providence, we are all made subject to each other's influence. We assume the shape, colour, fashion of the little world about us. We become the very abstracts and brief chronicles of the opinions, feelings, tastes, and principles of those amongst whom we live. We are as mirrors, giving back the reflections of the society in which we are placed; sometimes, it may be, brighter and purer than the original forms themselves; how much oftener imparting to them our own dimness and distortions.

"Our power over the materials of which our daily thoughts are woven, is but that of the owner of this book over the thoughts which fill its pages; a power too rarely exercised in real life-that of shutting out the intrusion of gross evil, and opening our sympathies and affections to the kindly welcome of all that is beautiful and good.

Happy they, who, taught by the sure instinct of their own purity, have ever shrunk back from the near approach of vice. Happy they, upon whose hearts, and memory, and imagination, the vain and bad ones of the earth-the worldly, the licentious, the grovelling, have never written any lasting transcript of their own thoughts. Into such, the spirit of this world does not enter-its seductions, follies, and vices soil not them-the delusions of life find no resting place in their minds, and glide off like rain-drops from the pure and smooth plumage of the dove. "This theme is fruitful in still deeper and higher morals.

"That influence, so powerful in its sway over us, we must, in turn, exert upon others. Other minds must become, in part, the transcripts of ours, and perpetuate the evil or the excellence of our short being here. It is not given alone to the great, the eloquent, or the learned, to those who speak trumpet-tongued to millions of their fellow-creatures, from the proud elevations of power or talent, thus to extend themselves in the production of good or ill into after-times. We are each and all of us, as waves in the vast ocean of human existence; our own little agitation soon subsides, but it communicates itself far onward and onward, and it may often swell as it advances into a majesty and power, with which it would scarcely seem possible, that our littleness could have had any participation.

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Happy, then, reader-happy thou, if thou hast confined the bad tendencies of thy nature to thy own breast-if thou hast never proved the cause of offence-not even to any "little one"-if thou hast led none into dangerous error, lulled none into careless or contemptuous negligence of duty, nor ever sullied the whiteness of an innocent mind. "Yet Remember-that it is the myterious and awful law of thy nature, that no one of us can pass through life insulated and solitary, leaving no trace behind him. Thy influence will be-must be, for good or for evil after thee. Then, although haply thou mayest have but a single talent committed to thy charge, whether thou writest thy thoughts in these pages, or engravest them in living characters upon the hearts of those who trust, or love, or honour thee, strive always, that they may be such as will tend to 66 give ardour to virtue and confidence to truth,' so that others may be holier and happier because Thou hast lived."

The poetical preface to an Album, which follows, is in a more lively vein. After many similies and quaint comparisons, the author concludes with some practical advice to those painstaking metre-mongers, who are wont to waste their brains and ink in these "doomsday books, wherein is writ of every man's capacity, the measure;" for which, the fair proprietors will, doubtless, give him many thanks. We have only room for two or three stanzas.