Chapter II: Part 2

The purport of this Institution, which is denominated an "Agricultural Colony", is to reform juvenile delinquents; and by the inculcation of moral and religious principles, aided by sober methodical and industrious habits, to effect the great work of penitentiary reform. The founders and devoted benefactors of the colony are Mr de Metz and viscount de Bretigneres. These benevolent gentlemen took the sublime idea of such a project from the reform colony founded by the worthy and excellent Hickerr, at Horn near Hambourg in 1834. And they have so zealously and skilfully executed their designs, as to have already realized in all essential particulars, a beautiful model of their admirable prototype.

The colony is composed of a certain number of uniformly built houses;--Each house contains forty children, divided into two sections, and forming one family, headed by a chief, who has subject to his orders two under teachers.

The first Sunday of each month, a colonist is elected in the respective sections, who takes the title of elder Brother; and serves as mediator between the masters and the pupils. The houses are erected (30 feet) distant from each other, and are united by sheds. The ground floor of the "Maison de la Ville de Paris" occupied by the family A,--is organized like the work shops at Horn, it contains work rooms of tailors, shoemakers, saddlers, etc., and the rest are arranged in nearly the same manner. The house of Count d'Aurches on the ground floor contains six prison cells on the first story, the director's room, and that of the agent of the agricultural works. On the second story, the office and the lodging room of the accountable agent,--a forge and a braziers work shop for the service of the house, are established under the fourth shed. The adjacent large building is intended for a class of 300 scholars; the chaplain and the professor of gymnastics occupy the house opposite those of the colonists. A handsome chapel has recently been added to the establishment.

The instruction given to the colonists is regulated by the station they are likely to fill in the world.

For the suppression of vice, a tribunal composed of the colonists inscribed on the honourable list, is deputed to try serious offences, the directors reserving to themselves the right of softening those judgments which may be too severe.

The heads of each family (young men of irreproachable conduct, selected on the formation of the colony from poor but respectable familyies) conduct their children to the fields, and the work rooms, which are separated into several divisions by a partition of a yard in height; by the manner of which distribution a single chief can at the same time overlook the works of the whole. After the ordinary occupations of the day, the children return to their respective families, where it is sought to instil in their hardened minds those affections and good feelings which the carelessness or depravity of their parents had blighted.

When a fresh pupil arrives at the establishment, he is placed under the peculiar care of an intelligent person who studies his disposition, and who each day gives to the director an account of the results of his observations; after a certain period of trial, the child is admitted in a family, where is performed a religious ceremony, and a sermon preached to prove the blessing of finding a safe asylum after many temptations;--it is then the new comer is reinstated in the eyes of the colony and its directors; who take it on themselves, if he conducts himself well, to place him, and to appoint him a zealous patron who enjoys public esteem.

Such is the philanthropic nature of the system adopted in this admirable institution, already productive of the happiest results; and so judiciously and efficaciously have the economical and industrial departments been conducted, that it is confidently expected, the colony will in two years support itself.

The visitor will he highly gratified by a trip to this establishment, the _tout ensemble_ of which on a fine summer's day, particularly, is one of surpassing loveliness. Its pretty white Swisslike buildings are completely environed by woods, groves, vineyards, and tastefully decorated pleasure grounds, which, viewed as the hallowed precincts of practical humanity and piety, are highly calculated to inspire the reflective mind with the most pleasing thoughts and emotions.

Peaceful abode! with rural beauty rife,
And charms that smooth the rugged paths of life;
Here human aid assumes a power divine,
And _Virtue's_ fix'd her gentle, hallowed shrine;
Erring, untutor'd youth, enraptur'd pause
Mid wild career, to recognize her laws.
_Vice_ with her direful train abash'd retires,
Nor dares to light her soul-consuming fires;
_Industry_ with her sober, powerful arm,
Guards the young mind, and keeps the passions calm:
While benign _religion_, with sweet controul,
Gently compels, the wild and wayward soul
To taste the various joys her truths impart,
And kiss the rod that rectifies the heart.

The customary paved roads having in this department as in many other provinces of France been broken up, and superseded by well formed macadamized ones, trips into the surrounding country can be performed with as much ease and facility as is afforded by the unequalled highways of England.

The steam packets which navigate the river as far down as Nantes, and up to Orleans, offer every facility for agreeable excursions.

SOCIETY.

It is presumed that in closing these multifarious notices, a few words touching the social habits and condition of the little _coterie_ of English located at Tours, may prove acceptable to the general reader, as well as to persons who contemplate an abode within its interesting precincts.

The established etiquette is, for those who have resolved on a period of residence, _first_ to call upon such of the British residents as they may feel disposed to visit, which acts of courtesy, are, generally speaking, the prelude to a reciprocity of agreeable and social intercourse.

An air of high respectability, and elegance, is characteristic of the Anglo-French circle of acquaintance pervading Tours and its environs; the newly arrived man of social habits and fashion, may if he chooses, soon possess the happy consciousness of feeling, that, though distant from friends and native land, he has his customary social comforts, and habitual pleasures and refinements of life, completely at his command.

It is true, these enjoyments exist in a limited and circumscribed form, but for this very reason, facility of intercourse and goodfellowship, are distinguished by an acuteness of character, rarely to be found in the far more expansive arrondisements of English society at home.

The warm, generous heart of the Englishman, like the concentrated rays of the genial orb of day, here, glows with the greater intensity on all who come within the sphere of its vivifying influence.

Behold him seated at his hospitable board, which groans beneath the cheapened luxuries and substantial fare, alike of his native and his adopted land, and gladdened by the presence of his selected countrymen, who perhaps like himself, have quitted their native shores, to seek for renewed pleasure, wonted repose, health, or it may be economy, abroad. The sparkling champagne speedily thaws the icy formula which too often envelopes and conceals the best, inherent feelings of his nature, and in the exuberance of his zeal for the universal cultivation of the _social principle_, and his lively sense of national toleration and liberality, he rises to toast, with equal sincerity, the beloved Queen of old England, or the citizen King of France.

And in what a pretty sylvan retreat has he snugly domiciled himself!--his white freestone villa, which presents a pleasing display of architectural elegance, is replete with every internal comfort; a smiling _parterre_, decked with many a fine specimen of the stately cypress, a garden stored with rare and luscious fruits, and the generous vine every where hanging in graceful festoons, are the most prominent adjuncts of his sequestered retirement.

There is in short, an exclusiveness, a completeness, spaciousness and peacefulness, about this his foreign abode, which comports well with his native feelings, and closely assimilates with the home of his childhood.

Such are the brighter parts of a pleasing picture, and it would hardly appear fair, were we to recount them without a glance at its darker shades, which, circumscribed like some of the former; are also of an intense character, and in the busy workings of the ill disposed curiosity monger, often appear, as the concentrated essence of bold conjecture. In plain terms, here, as in other small communities, the condition, and character of individuals, are constantly subjected to the microscopic investigations of the vigilant, and not over scrupulous retailers of flying news, and _interesting on dits_.

The good feeling of the well-bred, and liberal minded Frenchman, is ever here, manifested towards the English, in a variety of pleasing demonstrations, constituting a series of practical illustrations of that native politeness, for which he is pre-eminently distinguished.

And no one can, we think, be a spectator of these mutual good offices, and growing interchange of kindly feeling, between the subjects of two nations which have so long been led to regard each other as inveterate foes,--without rejoicing at the liberal and peaceful policy which maintains inviolate the present order of things. Beneath its fostering and genial sway, the acceleration of the respective national interests and energies, the reciprocal cultivation of the arts and sciences, the advancement of true religion and benevolence, and the consolidation of domestic happiness, though amongst the most prominent, are but a meagre catalogue of the mutual benefits, which the two neighbouring nations, cannot fail to realize, as the blessings of a _permanent peace_.

BOTANY OF TOURAINE.

In this rapid enumeration of the more prominently interesting features of Indre-et-Loire, it would appear unpardonable were we to pass over wholly unnoticed, the Botanical productions of the department, the great variety and successful culture of which, have long since obtained for it the enviable _sobriquet_ of the _garden of France_. And perhaps it behoves us the more especially to glance at it in an essay of this character, as the study of Botany has become so favorite and fashionable a pursuit, that scarcely a person of any pretensions to elegant taste, or to refined intellectual occupations, traverses a new or distant region without endeavouring to increase the interesting riches of his _Hortus siccus_: or at least to bestow some attention to its natural floral and arborescent productions.

It is justly observed that a Botanical taste, of all sources of amusement, is, to an invalid, perhaps the most desirable. When exercise is the only object it becomes irksome even in the loveliest scenery; the Botanist is however beguiled onwards with a never ceasing fascination, yet so leisurely as not to induce fatigue; and when his strength is unequal to excursions of higher attainment, he can find beauties in the humblest paths.

Frenchmen take much delight in their gardens, which are often very extensive and characterized by great neatness and uniformity, indeed in the majority of instances regularity is carried to excess;--clipped hedges, alleys laid out in straight lines, flower beds tortured into fantastic shapes, trees cut in the form of pyramids, birds, animals, etc., are the order of the day. The principles of good taste are however beginning to manifest themselves in the adoption of a more natural and elaborate style in the laying out of grounds which surround many of the more modern mansions, etc. And they are frequently enriched by choice and rare collections of exotic plants. Among the most conspicuous of the arborescent kinds, which adorn the pleasure grounds of such establishments, may be named the cypress de la Louisiane, the Pinus Silvestris, the graceful Weeping-willow, and Acacia, which here grow to great perfection; the Arbutus, Bay tree, Laurel, Fig tree, Chesnut, and Majestic Cedar of Lebanon. They also frequently contain some fine specimens of the beautiful family of mimosas, a variety of Pelargoniums, with the elegant Coronille, and Annas.

Between four hundred and five hundred plants are said to be cultivated in the gardens. And upwards of twelve hundred wild plants have been enumerated as belonging to Touraine, besides the _cryptogamia_, such as the mosses, ferns, liverworts, and mushrooms.

In the woods and forests are found from one hundred and fifty to two hundred plants; amongst which may be mentioned the genera _Amentaceae_, which flower and blossom. In the month of April the woods are bespangled with the violet. _Viola._ Ficaria. Wind-flower. _Anemone nemorosa._ Lung-wort. _Pulmonaria Officinalis._ etc. In May and June we there also find the _Orchis. Mellitis._ Periwinkle. _Vinca Major._ Hyacinth or Blue Bell. _Hyacinthus non-scriptus._ Hare Bell. _Campanula rotundifolia._ St. John's Wort. _Hypericum-pulchrum._ Crane's Bill. _Geranium Molle._ Bitter vetch. _Orobus tuberosus._ Strawberry leaved cinque-foil. _Potentilla Frargariastrum._ Wood Angelica. _Angelica Sylvestris._ The star of Bethlehem. _Ornithogalum pyrenaicum._ Black centaury. _Centaurea Nigra._ Forget me not. _Myosotis palustris._ The above are to be found in the Woods of Chatenay, etc. in the immediate neighbourhood of Tours.

On the commons and higher arid tracts, are seen the cross leaved Heath. _Erica Tetralix._ Fine leaved Heath. _Erica cineria._ Male Fern. _Aspidium Felix Mas._ Common Broom. _Sparticum scoparium._ And the Furze. _Ulex Europaeus._ When these hardy natives of the wold and the waste, happen to be grouped together, which is very commonly the case, the varied and vivid hues of their blossoms, present a striking contrast, and a very pleasing appearance.

Between two hundred and three hundred plants are common to the cultivated fields, of which, may be named, the Corn Blue Bottle. _Centaurea cyanus._ Red Poppy. _Papaver Rhoea._ Venus's Mirror. _Campanula speculum._ Corn Cockle. _Agrostemma Githago._ Corn Spurrey. _Spergula Arvensis._ Common yellow Rattle. _Rhinanthus Crista-Galli._ Great White Ox Eye. _Chrysanthemum_ _Leucanthemum._ All flowering in July and August.

In the meadows which occupy the vales, subject to occasional inundations, a very great variety of plants luxuriate, consisting for the most part of the Family _Graminaceae_ amongst them may be seen shining the Pile-wort. _Ranunculus Ficaria._ Crow-foot. _Ranunculus sceleratus._ And many others of this genus. The Cuckoo flower. _Cardamime Pratensis._ Ragged Robin. _Lychnis Floscuculi._ White Campion. _Lichnis vespertina._ Tale Red Rattle. _Pedicularis palustris._ Queen of the Meadows. _Spiraea Ulmaria._ _Upatoria Cannabinum._ Common Loosestrife. _Lysimachia vulgaris._ Also the _Parnassia Palustris._, _Gentiana cruciata_, and _Colchicum Autumnale._

On the surface of the Pools and Brooks, many beautiful specimens of the _Nymphaea_ are to be seen reposing, as those of the white water Lilly. _Nymphaea Alba_, and yellow water Lilly. _Nymphaea Lutea._ On their banks may also be found the Water Iris, or Flower de Luce. _Iris Pseudacorus._--The emblem of France. The Flowering Rush. _Butomus umbellatus._ Arrow Head. _Sagittaria sagittifolia_, and Water ranunculus. _Ranunculus aquatilis._

Our limits will not admit of a further enumeration, but perhaps sufficient has been stated to signify the interesting character of the Botanical productions of the Province, and to induce the scientific visitor, or the lover of nature, to prosecute his researches through its sequestered glades and rural retreats; where in fact, he may on every hand, behold prolific nature displaying her exquisite charms, in elaborate perfections, rich profusion, and endless diversities.

Of cultivated Fruit trees, the Pear, Peach, and Prune, are justly famed for their size and richness of flavour; the Meddlar, Quince, and a great variety of choice Apple trees are thickly dispersed throughout the vineyards; some of the latter of which during the winter, present a very singular appearance, from their being often thickly studded over with the sombre tufts of the parasitical _Viscus_, or Misleto. A considerable quantity of excellent cyder is made in the neighbourhood of Tours.

The vineyards which occupy so large a portion of this district, contain a great many varieties of the vine, which circumstance, together with the prevailing difference of _soil_ and _aspect_, naturally produces wines of very various flavour and opposite qualities.

It is affirmed, that the first requisite to make good wine seems to be a peculiar quality in the soil in which the fruit is grown, more than in the species of vine itself; the second requisite to good wine is the species of plant, aided by a judicious mode of training and cultivation. It would naturally be supposed that the wine is excellent in proportion to the size and luxuriance of the plant, but such is not the case, on the contrary, good rich soils invigorating the growth of the tree never produce even tolerable wine, but it is best as the soil is lighter and drier;--sandy, calcareous, stony and porous soils are found to be most friendly to the growth of the vine. The chalky soils particularly produce wines of great freshness and lightness.

Hence we may in a great degree account for the superiority of many of the vinous productions of the neighbourhood of Tours; on both sides of the vale of the Loire, the denudated or furrowed elevations naturally afford many genial sites, whose southern aspects are always exposed to the direct rays of the sun and which favoured situations are perhaps more prevalent on the northern banks of the river; where, as on the opposite slopes, the rather lofty chalky elevations, are mostly covered by deep accumulations of adventitious and heterogeneous materials, principally constituted of the debris of that cretaceous formation, and partly composing the extensive deposit termed the argile et poudinge.

It moreover appears, that the species of plant which is a favourite in one district is discarded in another; and also that very celebrated wines are produced in vineyards where the species of plant is by no means held in high repute; but the most inexplicable circumstance respecting the culture of the vine, is the fact, that the most delicious wine is sometimes grown on one little spot only, in the midst of vineyards which produce no others but of the ordinary quality: while in another place the product of a vineyard, in proportion to its surface, shall be incredibly small, yet of exquisite quality, at the same time, in the soil, aspect, treatment as to culture, and species of plant, there shall be no perceptible difference to the eye of the most experienced wine grower. Possibly this may in some measure be accounted for by the peculiar nature of the substratum which the roots of the respective vines may chance to penetrate.

The grape called _caux_ or _cos_, common on the banks of the Cher, imparts colour and body to the red wines.

The best vines for the more valuable white wines, are the species denominated _sauvignon_, _semilion_, _rochalin_, _blanc doux_, _pruneras_, _muscade_, and _blanc auba_. The _semilion_ should form two-thirds of a vineyard consisting of these seven species of plants.

Red Hermitage is produced from two varieties of plants named the little and great _Scyras_. White Hermitage is produced from the greater and lesser _Rousanne_ grape.

The esteemed red wines of Saumur, are made from the _pineau_ plant. The Haut Rhin is classed under the generic title of the _gentil_. Some excellent black wines are produced from a grape named _cote-rouge_, as also from _auxerrois_, or _pied de perdrix_ grape, so called because its stalk is red.

The best Bordeaux wine _de cotes_ is made with the grape called _noir de pressac_, the _bochet_, and the _merlot_.

The first class Burgundies, called _les tetes de cuves_, are from the choicest vines, namely; the _noirien_ and _pineau_, grown on the best spots of the vineyards having the finest aspect.

The black grape called the "golden plant" (_plant dore_,) is cultivated in all the most distinguished vineyards of Champagne, and from which is produced the finest of those celebrated wines.

The vines called the _semilion_ and _muscat-fou_ are very extensively cultivated, those most noted are the black _morillon_, of two varieties, the _madaleine_ and the vine of Ischia; the latter produces fine fruit as high as north lat. 48 deg..

The bloom upon the grape, which so delicately tints the skin, is considered in proportion to its prevalence a proof of attention or negligence in the culture.

The age of which the vine bears well, is from sixty to seventy years, or more, but in the common course of things it is six or seven years before it is in full bearing. The vines are pruned three times before they bear fruit, when this operation is again repeated. In France the vine is propagated by layers of buds, which are taken up after the vintage, and by slips chosen from among the cuttings; vines from the latter live longest and bear most fruit, though those from the layers shoot earliest. The general method of training the vine in France, is the "_tinge bas_" or low stem training, the young shoots of the year being tied to stakes from four to five feet in height.

The season of the vintage is one of stirring interest and alacrity, the merry groups of grape gatherers now to be seen in almost every field, commence their employment as early as possible after the sun has dissipated the dew, and the gathering is uniformly continued with as much rapidity as possible, if the weather continue fair, so as to terminate the pressing in one day.

In concluding this subject, we may very well exemplify the general distribution of the vegetable tribes in this part of France, by observing that merry _Bacchus_ presides over the cheerful hills, _Flora_ and _Pomona_ grace the laughing vallies and the sylvan shades, while the bountiful _Ceres_ extends her dominion over the upland plains, and the smiling prairies of the fertilizing Cher and Loire.

GEOLOGY OF TOURAINE.

_The GEOLOGY of Touraine_, being of a nature particularly worthy the attention of the scientific enquirer, we may properly close these restricted remarks, by a few cursory observations on so interesting a subject. In contemplating the geognostic structure of this department, the eye of the investigator encounters none of those strikingly bold and sublime operations of nature, almost every where to be met with in the primitive and volcanic regions of the globe.

Here with but a few solitary exceptions, the whole surface of the province presents a continuous series of rounded and gentle undulations, exhibiting to the careless glance of the unobservant, and to the uninitiated, one vast homogeneous mass of earthy and stony materials.

But when this wide spread, and apparently uninvestigable aggregation of particles, comes under the scrutinizing _eye of science_, a beautiful and systematic arrangement of undigenous formations are clearly developed. Individually containing within themselves the marvellous and decisive evidence of their comparative existence, in their present relative positions.

Those "_medallions of Nature_," the fossils which they contain not only furnishing us with a chronological knowledge of the progressive formation of the Earth's crust, but recording in language the most intelligible, what were the peculiar states, and characteristics of animal and vegetable existences at the distinct, and distant epochs of the World.

By the aid of these silent but eloquent intelligencers, we discover that the strata which now constitute the table lands of Touraine, were among the last, in the whole geological series, that emerged from the waves of the Ocean. That, that grand instrument of transposition and renovation, has in a general sense, ever since been restrained within its mighty confines. And that at the time its waters last prevailed over these regions now high and dry, many of the types of living testacea, etc. were become identical with those of existing species.

Touraine, or the department of Indre-et-Loire, may be said to be the grand repository of the _tertiary_ formations of central France. It constitutes the southern divisions of the great _Paris basin_, formed by a vast depression in the chalk, and which is about 180 miles long and 90 miles broad. This cretaceous or chalk basin terminates to the south a short distance from Poitiers, where the oolites and certain other formations older than the chalk, crop out from beneath it, and thence forward, principally constitute the formations of the more southern departments of the kingdom: and occasionally extend to the summits of the gigantic Pyrenees.

The long range of rocky precipices often constituting rather lofty escarpments, along the northern borders of the valley of the Loire, are a portion of the extensive cretaceous formations which surround Paris. In the vicinity of Tours and many other places where its strata are alike exposed to view, many beautiful specimens of some of its characteristic fossils may be readily obtained; this formation here also frequently contains its usual layers of flint, and which often assumes the exact form of the zoophytes, and other organic structures, into which it has percolated.

But in this locality, as also in many instances in the chalk region south of Angouleme, the mineralogical character of the formation is often completely altered, chiefly appearing as a fine white calcareous sandstone, occasionally passing into a compact siliceous limestone, similar to the _calcaire siliceux_ of the superior freshwater limestone, but for the most part destitute of the small sinuous cavities the latter commonly contains.

This calcareous sandstone is directly succeeded, in ascending order, by the most extensive surface deposit of Touraine, termed by the French geologist, argile et poudinge; a rather thick argillaceous deposit, in which flint boulders are sometimes thickly embedded, and on which reposes the _calc d'eau douce_ or freshwater limestone, both formations belonging to the uppermost subdivision of the Parisian tertiary strata, or newer Pliocene deposits.

Immediately above the freshwater limestone just named, a series of isolated masses occur, consisting of marine sand and marl, the whole rarely exceeding fifty feet in thickness, and containing for the most part a different and immense assemblage of fossils. This tertiary formation which is provincially termed _faluns_, (broken shells) is considered to belong to a period intermediate between that of the Parisian and subapennine strata, and to assimulate in age to the crag formation of England, which belongs to the Miocene or middle Tertiary.

Mr Lyell who has closely examined the _faluns_[D], says that most of the shells they contain do not depart from the Mediterranean type, although a few would seem to indicate a tropical climate, among these may be mentioned some large species of the genera _conus_, _terebra_, _rynula_, _tasciolaria_, _cerithium_ and _cardita_.

The species he considers for the most part marine, but that a few of them belong to land and fluviatile genera. Among the former, _helix turonensis_ (faluns Touraine) is the most abundant.

Remains of terrestrial quadrupeds are here and there intermixed, belonging to the genera mastodon, rhinoceros, hyppopotamus, deer and others, and these are accompanied by cetacea, such as the lamantine, morse, sea calf, and dolphin, all of extinct species.

Out of two hundred and ninety species of shells from the _faluns_ Mr Lyell says he found seventy-two identical with recent species, and that out of the whole three hundred and two in his possession forty-five only were found to be common to the suffolk crag. Nevertheless a similarity of mineral composition, and the general analogy of the fossil shells and zoophytes, together with the perfect identity of certain species, strongly justifies the opinion that has long been pronounced, that the faluns of Touraine, and the Suffolk crag are nearly contemporaneous.

To this brief outline of what may properly be termed the regular stratifications of Touraine, it only remains to be stated, that they are frequently concealed by considerable deposits of alluvial and diluvian beds of flinty gravel, sand, and adventitious clays, in some of which numerous specimens of the rocks and fossils to be found existing in _situ_ in the neighbourhood are interspersed.

It is almost impossible to contemplate even the comparatively scanty catalogue of geological facts just adverted to, without being forcibly reminded of the remarkable physical transformations which the surface of the country must have undergone, at distinct, and incalculably distant epochs; and to speculate on the causes which effected; and the peculiar circumstances characterizing those revolutionizing periods.

Geology, may indeed, be truly said to be an inductive science, and while pondering over its natural inferences we find ourselves most marvellously progressing through a long concatenation of pre-existing realities, which at every remove may be said to assume more and more the features of romance!

During the cretaceous period, _Touraine_ had not emerged from the Ocean, which here was probably studded with Islands constituted of the primary rocks of Brittany, and those of the older secondary formations we have noticed as now principally occupying the more southern provinces. These lands, we may reasonably infer, were adorned by the luxuriant vegetation of a tropical climate, the fossil remains of which, are found abundantly dispersed throughout the first formed members of the tertiary series.

Subsequent to the deposition of the chalk, a retiring of the sea from this region, and a period of repose, are indicated by the presence of the _freshwater formation_, but on examining the overlying deposits of _faluns_, we have the most indubitable evidence, that this quiescent state, was succeeded by another irruption of the Ocean, which desolated the land, and deposited the wrecks of its animal and vegetable productions as now discovered in that formation. As yet, the geologian maintains, man had not been called into existence, and therefore the huge quadrupeds whose remains are found in the _faluns_, unmolestedly ranged through the umbrageous wilds of nature absolute Lords of the creation.

While the imagination is startled at the mystic nature of these successive cosmological revolutions, it is no less puzzled to account for the mighty causes which have effected them. The geologist however has discovered in various parts of the world, the most positive evidence of the upheaving and subsidence of immense tracts of territory, by the stupendous operations of subterranean convulsions.

At Alum Bay in the Isle of Wight we have an extraordinary and complete example of this description; in the remarkable _vertical_ position of the beautiful and variously coloured arenose stratifications of the plastic clay, we are enabled to discover that the ponderous substrata of chalk were uplifted subsequently to the deposition of the tertiary formation. And it would not be unreasonable to believe that the same, or a similar convulsion, finally raised the lands of Touraine to their present elevation above the level of the sea.

We have however in this country, as in almost every other part of the globe, the most striking proofs of the mighty modifying operations of the last grand _cataclysm_, the erosive power of whose turbulent waters have denudated or scooped out deep vallies, frequently leaving--as instanced in the faluns detached and widely scattered masses of pre-existing formations, and heaping up their _debris_ in the vast and variously shaped accumulations designated as diluvial deposits.

These popular speculations have been touched upon rather with the view of exciting the attention of the curious, and inviting the disquisitions of the able student of nature, than a desire to attach any absolute importance to existing theories; for in a progressive science like geology, new and amazing facts are continually being developed, and it is only when an immensely increased accumulation of such existing evidences has been thoroughly scrutinized by the penetrating and comprehensive genius of a _Newton in geology_, that we can hope to arrive at any thing approaching a correct explication of its remarkable and interesting phenomena.

To the commonest observer however the present state of geology presents an astounding exposition of divine power and goodness, and distinctively marks the gigantic footsteps of that creative energy, which out of stupendous confusion and disorder, the rocking earthquake, and the "wreck of worlds," has caused to spring forth the existing order of things; whose beauty, perfection, utility and harmony, charm our senses, enhance our knowledge, and demand for their Creator, the constant tribute, of our most grateful emanations.

There are a few Chalybeate, and many calcareous springs in the department, some of the latter of which incrust every substance over which they flow, and it is not uncommon to find an assemblage of most fancifully shaped stalactical incrustations in the caves of the calcareous freestone, etc., being often singularly imitative of the works both of nature and of art. Caves of this description known by the name of the caves gouttieres are to be seen near the _village of Savonnieres_ on the road from _Tours_ to Chinon, not far from the banks of the Cher. But perhaps no less remarkable in the estimation of the curious are the extraordinary series of excavations ranging nearly opposite Tours. These artificial caverns which are hewn out of the white calcareous sandstone rocks on the banks of the Loire, frequently constitute entire dwellings, and are so free from humidity as to be occupied by the peasantry during summer and winter, while others are formed into extensive storehouses for the wines of the country.

From the general and impartial review we have here taken of some of the more attractive features, climatic advantages, and geological structure of Touraine, it cannot but be admitted that it possesses inducements of no ordinary description to the searcher after health or recreation. Considerations, of more special importance to the hypochondriac and the valetudinarian, who may feel themselves obliged to abandon the soothing comforts of the domestic circle, for the purpose of obtaining relief from a temporary residence abroad.

In our just estimation of any country or locality, much however depends on the spirit and manner in which we scrutinize its resources, to the eye of the vacant and unobservant mind, the most beautiful and soul-stirring facts and scenes possess neither novelty nor charms, while the attentive and _intelligent investigator_ seldom fails to discover and appreciate those extraordinary assemblages of creative perfections, and wonders, with which the all bountiful hand of the Supreme Creator has most amply stored every portion of the material Universe.

SPAS OF FRANCE.

A small work of this description will not admit of our entering into a minute detail of all the mineral waters of France; we shall therefore merely give a sketch of their physical characters, medicinal properties, and of the different localities where they are found, to serve as a superficial guide to Invalids; and conclude by giving a more general description of the _Spas of Central France_.

Mineral waters may be arranged into the four following classes; _Saline_; _Acidulous_; _Chalybeate_; and _Sulphureous_.

_Saline._ These waters owe their properties altogether to saline compounds. Those which predominate and give their character to the waters of this class are either,

1. Salts, the basis of which is Lime.

2. Muriate of Soda and Magnesia.

3. Sulphate of Magnesia.

4. Alkaline Carbonates, particularly Carbonate of Soda.

They are mostly purgative, the powers of the salts they contain being very much increased by the large proportion of water in which they are exhibited.

There are but few _Cold Saline Springs_ in France, viz: those of Andabre or Camares in the department of Aveyron; Jouhe, dep: Jura; Pouillon, dep: Landes; Niederbronn, dep: Lower Rhine. They are employed in diseases which require continued and moderate intestinal evacuations; such as dyspepsia hypochondriasis, chronic hepatitis, jaundice and strumous swellings. They are more grateful to the stomach when carbonic acid gas is also present; and when they contain Iron as in the springs of Camares, their tonic powers combined with their purgative qualities, render them still more useful in dyspeptic complaints and amenorrhoea.

To this class the water of the Ocean belongs. The quantity of saline matter _Sea Water_ contains varies in different latitudes thus, between 10 deg. and 20 deg. it is rather more than 1/24; at the equator it is 1/25; and at 57 deg. north it is only 1/27. The saline ingredients in 10,000 parts of sea water according to the last analysis of Dr. Murray, are, muriate of Soda 220.01; muriate of lime, 7.84; muriate of Magnesia, 42.08; and Sulphate of Soda 33.16. When brought up from a great depth, its taste is purely saline; but when taken from the surface it is disagreeably bitter, owing, perhaps, to the animal and vegetable matters suspended in it. Its specific gravity varies from 1.0269 to 1.0285; and it does not freeze until cooled down to 28.5 deg. Fahrenheit. Its medicinal properties are the same as those of the saline purgative waters, but more powerful; and as a bath, its efficacy is much superior to that of fresh water.

The general effects of mineral waters are modified by temperature, whether they be taken internally, or applied externally.

In some _Warm Saline Springs_ as those of Plombieres, and Bains, in the department of Vosges; Luxeuil, dep. Haute Saone; Bourbon-Lancy, dep. Saone-et-Loire; Bourbonne-les-Bains, dep. Haute-Marne; Chaudes-Aigues, dep. Cantal; Avene, Balaruc, dep. l'Herault; La Motte, dep. l'Isere; Bagnols, dep. l'Orne; Aix-en-Provence; dep. Bouches-du-Rhone; St.-Laurent-Les-Bains, dep. l'Ardeche; Sylvanes, dep. l'Aveyron; Cap-Bern, Bagneres, Bigorre, dep. Upper Pyrenees; Encausse, dep. Haute-Garonne; Neris, dep. l'Allier; their virtues depend principally on the height of temperature. And in others which have been found to contain scarcely any foreign matter, the simple diluent power of the pure water seems to produce the benefit that results from drinking them.

ACIDULOUS. Waters of this class owe their properties chiefly to Carbonic Acid. They sparkle when drawn from the spring, or when poured into a glass; have an acidulous taste, and become vapid when exposed to the air. Besides free carbonic acid, on the presence of which these qualities depend, acidulous waters contain generally carbonates of Soda, of Lime, of Magnesia, and of Iron; and sometimes muriate of Soda.

They may be divided into _thermal_ or _warm acidulous waters_, and _cold acidulous waters_.

The temperature of the former rarely exceeds 72 deg. F. while that of the latter is generally about 55 deg. F. Of the warm acidulous waters are those of Mont-D'or, Saint Nectaire, Clermont-Ferrand, in the department of Puy-de-Dome; Vichy, Bourbon-l'Archambault, dep. l'Allier; Audinac, Ussat, dep. l'Arriege; Chateauneuf, Saint-Mart, Chatel-guion, dep. Puy-de-Dome; Dax, dep. Landes; Saint Alban on the left of the river Loire.

Of the _cold acidulous waters_ there is Pougues in the department of Nievre; Chateldon, Bar, Saint-Myon, Medague, Vic-le-Comte, dep. Puy-de-Dome; Mont-Brison, Saint-Galmier, dep. Loire; Langeac, dep. Haute-Loire. They are tonic and diuretic; and in large doses produce a sensible degree of exhilaration.

They all afford a grateful and moderate stimulus to the stomach, but the _warm acidulous springs_ are to be preferred as there are few of this kind that do not contain a small portion of Iron and a larger portion of carbonic acid gas, and are especially useful in all cases of impaired digestion; while those which contain alkaline carbonates, as Pougues and Saint-Galmier, are more particularly employed as palliatives in calculous affections.

CHALYBEATE. Waters thus named owe their properties to iron in combination generally with carbonic acid; and as the latter is usually in excess, they are often acidulous as well as chalybeate. The metal is found also in the form of a sulphate, but the instances of this are very rare.

Chalybeate waters have a styptic or inky taste: they are, when fresh drawn, transparent, but become black when mixed with tincture of nut-galls; but an ochery sediment soon falls, and the water loses its taste. If the iron be in the state of sulphate, however, no sediment falls; and the black colour is produced by the above test, even after the water has been boiled and filtered. Chalybeate springs are very numerous in France, some of the following are much frequented: Rennes-Les-bains, in the department of l'Aude; Saint-Honore, Passy, near Paris; Forges, Aumale, Rouen, dep. Seine-inferieure; Contrexeville, dep. Vosges; Bussang, Provins, dep. Seine-et-Marne; La Chapelle-Godefroi, dep. of l'Aube; Saint-Gondon, Noyers, dep. Loiret; Fontenelle, dep. Vendee; Watweiler, Upper-Rhine; Cransac, dep. l'Aveyron; Sainte-Marie, dep. Cantal; Sermaise, dep. Marne; Ferrieres, Segray, dep. Loiret; Alais, dep. Gard; Boulogne-sur-Mer, dep. Pas-de-Calais; Vals, dep. l'Ardeche.

Chalybeate waters are powerful tonics, and are employed in dyspepsia, scrofulous affections, cancer, amenorrhoea, chlorosis, and other diseases of debility for which the artificial preparations of iron are used. Much of the benefit derived from the use of chalybeate waters depends on the extreme division of the metalic salts they contain, as well as the vehicle in which it is held in solution; while at the same time their operation is much modified by the carbonic acid gas by which the iron is suspended. When the water is a carbonated chalybeate, it should be drunk the moment it is drawn from the spring; but the same precaution is not necessary with a water containing sulphate of iron.

SULPHUREOUS. Waters classed under this head derive their character chiefly from sulphureted hydrogen gas; which in some of them is uncombined, while in others it is united with lime or an alkali. They are transparent when newly drawn from the spring, and have a foetid odour which is gradually lost from exposure to the air, and the water becomes turbid. When they are strongly impregnated with the gas, they redden infusion of litmus, and exhibit some other of the characteristics of acids; and, even in a weak state, they blacken silver and lead.

Besides containing sulphureted hydrogen gas, they are not unfrequently, also, impregnated with carbonic acid. They generally contain muriate of Magnesia or other saline matters, which modify their powers as a remedy.

The _warm sulphureous springs_ in France are those of Bareges, Saint-Sauveur, dep. Upper Pyrenees; Cauterets, Bonnes, Cambo, dep. Lower Pyrenees; Bagneres-de-Luchon, dep. Haute-Garonne; Ax, dep. l'Arriege; Greoult, Digne, dep. Lower Alpes; Castera-Verduzan, dep. Gers; Bagnols, dep. Lozere; Evaux, dep. Creuse; Saint-Amand, dep. Nord; Loeche, right of the Rhone; Aix-la-Chapelle. The _cold sulphureous waters_ are those of Enghien-les-Bains, in the department of Seine-et-Oise; La Roche-Posay, dep. Vienne; Uriage, near Grenoble.

These waters are resorted to chiefly by patients who labour under cutaneous affections and are applied locally as well as drunk.

They are slightly sudorific and diuretic, and apt to occasion in some patients headache of short duration, directly after they are taken.

They are also employed for curing visceral and scrofulous obstructions, torpor of the intestines, chronic engorgements of the joints: sprains of long standing, obstinate catarrhs, rheumatism, etc, and in some dyspeptic and hypochondriacal cases.

The _warm_ sulphureous waters are to be preferred; attention however should be paid to the state of the bowels during their course which ought to be kept free from any accumulation by the aid of some mild aperient medicine; Spa Doctors trust almost entirely to the aperient operation of the waters and doubtless, the crises, spa-fevers, and re-actions described by foreign writers on the spas are often attributable to the want of combining some mild mercurial alterative and aperient with the use of the waters, and that many cures are prevented or rendered ineffectual by the dread of mercury entertained by continental Physicians. The following what Dr. Johnson terms the _Auxilio-Preservative_ will be found of essential service taken every night before drinking the morning waters.

R,

Ext: Col: Co:

Pil: Rhei: Co: a a gr. XL

Pil: Hydrarg: -- gr. X

Ol: Caryoph: -- gr. VI

ft. pil: XX capt. 1 vel: ij hora somni.

It is however absolutely necessary on patients arriving at any spa, to consult the resident Physician.

With respect to the use of mineral waters in general, we consider them as most important, and extremely beneficial in the treatment of disease; some of the good effects of all of them however, must be allowed to proceed from change of air and scene; relaxation from business, amusement, temperance, and regular hours, and under these circumstances the drinking the waters at the springs possesses advantages which cannot be obtained from artificial waters, however excellent the imitations may be, nor even from the natural water, when bottled and conveyed to a distance from the springs.

SPAS

OF

CENTRAL FRANCE.

THERMAL SALINE WATERS,

PLOMBIERES.

_Plombiers_, a small town in the department of Vosges, twenty-four leagues from Nancy, is situated between mountains in a deep narrow valley watered by the Augrome.

According to a careful analysis made by M. Vauquelin, these waters contain Subcarbonate of Soda, Sulphate of Soda, Chloride of Sodium, Subcarbonate of Lime, and Silex. He affirms that they also contain an animal matter greatly resembling gelatine, which performs an important part in their action upon the animal economy; to this ingredient he attributes the fetid odour which occasionally arises from the waters.

The thermal waters of Plombieres, are classed as follows:--1st The _Bain des Dames_; having a heat of 126 deg. Fahr 2nd--The _Source du Chene_, or _du Crucifix_; this is the only one of the waters not used for bathing, but solely for drinking. 3d--The _source du Grand-Bain_ or _du milieu_, the temperature of the former is 130 deg.: and of the latter 142 deg. Fah. The _Grand Bain_ is called the _Bain des pauvres_. 4th--The _Bain-tempere_, which is supplied by two sources; one at 90 deg. and the other at 113 deg. Fah. 5th--The _Petit-Bain_ or _Capucins_, is 113 deg. Fah. Its basin is divided into two parts, the temperature of the water there being 95 deg. to 97 deg. Fah. 6th--The _Bain-Neuf_ or _Royal_, has a square basin which receives the waters from a source formerly called _l'enfer_, and had originally, a temperature of 153 deg. Fah. being the hottest of the number. 7th--There is another source, called the source _de Bassompierre_, situated at the upper part of the town.

These waters are stimulant, giving increased activity to the circulation, and in great reputation for the cure of Chlorosis (green sickness) chronic enteritis, neuralgia, scrofula, and in the chronic and painful stages of gout and rhumatism. Although rarely beneficial in severe cutaneous diseases they are in much esteem for their unctuous qualities, which impart softness to the skin and allay superficial irritations.

The season for taking these waters is from May to September, and this place is then much frequented; the accommodations are very good, in the principal street are arcades built by Stanislaus, king of Poland, under which the company promenade.

LUXEUIL.

The great esteem in which these waters were anciently held is attested by the vast ruins and immense number of antiquities which have been found here; at present Luxeuil is a small but agreeable town in the department of the Haute-Saone, twelve leagues from Besancon, situated in a plain, and intersected by a street called the _rue des Romains_. The bathing establishment, which is much admired, was built about the middle of the last century, is adorned with a beautiful garden.

There are five Baths namely the _Bain des Femmes_; the _Bain des Hommes_; the _Bain Neuf_; the _Grand-Bain_; the _Petit-Bain_.

The analysis of these waters is very incomplete; they are stated to contain muriate of Soda, Lime, sulphate of Potash and a small portion of Iron.

They have proved very beneficial in chronic rheumatism, paralysis, chronic catarrh, alterations in the abdominal viscera, and in some nervous affections. As these waters are less exciting than those of Plombieres, they are more suitable to persons of a feeble and delicate constitution.

The Baths are under the superintendance of a medical practitioner. A Hotel, called the Lion d'Or, affords ample accommodation for persons who come for the benefit of the waters. This place has been much frequented of late.

BOURBON-LANCY.

The mineral waters of this place, containing a population of 2700, are in the department of Saone-et-Loire, twelve leagues from Autun and eighty from Paris.

Dr de Verchere, a talented and philanthropic man, who long had the establishment under his management, reports numerous cures having been effected by the waters.

Their celebrity is of ancient date, and they have at various times been visited by several kings of France.

The town of Bourbon-Lancy is placed on the side of a hill, and constitutes a striking feature in a beautiful landscape. The air is extremely salubrious, and the place has long been remarkable for its freedom from epidemics.

It abounds in the comforts and luxuries of life, and commodious accommodations are provided for visitors, near the Baths.

The _Bread_ made here is said to be of a very superior quality, which the inhabitants attribute to its being kneaded with the mineral waters.

Numerous kinds of excellent fish are furnished by the Loire.

The mineral waters of Bourbon-Lancy have apparently one common source but appear at the surface of the earth in seven distinct springs. The 1st is called _le Lymbe_, from its great heat, as much as 135 deg. Fah. 2nd The _Fontaine de Saint-Leger_ temperature 100 deg. Fah. 3rd The _Fontaine de la Reine_ temp: 108 deg. Fah. 4th The _Fontaine des Ecures_, which take its name from the person who discovered the spring in 1600. temp: 140 deg. Fah. 5th The _Bain Royal_, temp: 104 deg. Fah.

Mr Jacquemont's analysis of these waters exhibits the presence of Carbonic Acid, and Muriate of Soda in excess, also the Sulphate of Soda, Carbonate of Lime, Oxide of Iron and Silex.

It is to be regretted that a more minute analysis of the waters has not been effected, for their continual boiling, and the saline efflorescence which forms upon the sides of the pipes, would seem to indicate the prevalence of fixed and volatile principles, the proportions of which it would be important to demonstrate.

Their heat and stimulating qualities peculiarly adapt them for the cure of obstinate chronic rheumatism, diseases of the lymphatics, chlorosis, incipient disorganization of the stomach, bowels, and other abdominal viscera. They have also been found highly beneficial in old gun shot wounds.

The Bourbon waters are administered in different doses, according to the constitution of the patient, and the nature of the disease, it is usual to take several glasses in the morning at intervals of a quarter of an hour.

The Baths varying in temperature from 90 deg. to 104 deg. Fah. are the most commonly used, and with the greatest success. But the most active baths are those varying from 113 deg. to 122 deg. Fah. but they require great caution in their administration.

There are several kinds of douches at Bourbon as the ascending, descending, fumigating, which are frequently used in torpidity of the intestines and obstinate constipations; resource is also had to them in some affections of the uterus and urinary organs. There are also _mud_ baths at this place.

BAGNOLES.

Bagnoles is a village in the department of l'Orne, the efficacy of the mineral waters at this place, was discovered by the following singular circumstance. An old horse having a disease of the skin, being covered all over with sores, was about to be delivered up to the knacker when his master calling to mind his good qualities, resolved upon turning him into the _Coppice of Roches-Noires_. Two months after happening to pass through the end of the valley, he descried an animal which he thought much resembled his own discarded steed. The horse trotted up, approached him familiarly, and though fat and sleek, was speedily recognised by his owner, who wishing to ascertain the cause of such an unexpected and astonishing cure, carefully watched the animal's movements, and presently saw him roll himself with much apparent satisfaction in a neighbouring bog, which upon putting his hand into it, he found to contain much internal heat. This circumstance occasioned the clearing out of the bog, when the source of a hot spring very limpid and very abundant was discovered.

This cure, originated the idea of forming the present establishment which since 1812 has been rapidly increasing in reputation. It stands at the foot of a mountain between two rocky escarpments, in one of the most beautiful and picturesque vallies in France.

Through this, winds the little river _la Vee_, the banks of which, adjacent to the Baths, are prettily planted, and intersected with numerous gravel walks, forming shady and agreeable promenades. The luxuriance of the trees and meadows which adorn this fertile valley, contrasted with the savage aspect of the vast rugged rocks by which it is bordered, together with the pretty scattered villas, and the salubrity of the air form a _tout ensemble_ rarely to be witnessed, and which contributes not a little to the recovery of the numerous visitors who resort to this fine establishment.

The mineral springs are received into a square cistern from whence they are conducted into the bathing rooms; they are extremely clear, unctuous to the touch, taste slightly acid, and emit a sulphureted hydrogen odour: air bubbles continually ascend with the water, and break as they reach the surface. The waters are found on analysis to contain carbonic acid, and muriate of Soda, in excess; a very small quantity of sulphate and muriate of lime, and muriate of Barytes. The sediment of the general receptacle contains some sulphur and Iron.

The Bagnoles waters are at once tonic and purgative; they excite the appetite, giving more activity to the digestive system, and have a general tendency favourable to the promotion of healthy secretions and excretions; particularly of the skin kidneys and glandular organs generally.

Administered as Baths, they have a very salutary action upon the skin, imparting to it a remarkable flexibility and softness.

M. Piette, who was forty years physician to this establishment, published a report upon the efficacy of these waters, in obstinate rheumatism, chronic catarrh, paralysis, chlorosis, leucorrhoea, chronic gastritis, etc. After enumerating their other virtues he says: "On lit dans les vieilles chroniques que les dames de la Normandie allaient autrefois a Bagnoles pour porter remede a leur sterilite."

From three to six glasses constitute a dose of the waters, they are taken in the morning.

The Bath rooms and appendages are judiciously arranged; when the natural heat of the water--(from 82 deg. to 90 deg. Fah.) is deemed insufficient by the physician, it can easily be increased by the aid of artificial heat, without materially deteriorating the medicinal virtues of the water.