from Prof. Tyndall's famous Belfast address: "The principles enunciated by Democritus reveal his uncompromising antagonism to those who deduced the phenomena of nature from the caprices of the gods. They are briefly as follows:-1. From nothing comes nothing. Nothing that exists can be destroyed, all changes are due to the combination and separation of molecules. 2. Nothing happens by chance; every occurence has its cause from which it follows by necessity. 3. The only existing things are the atoms and empty space; all else is man's opinion. 4. The atoms are infinite in number and infinitely various in form; they strike together, and the lateral motions and whirling which thus arise are the beginnings of worlds. 5. The varieties of all things depend upon the varieties of their atoms, in number, size and aggregation. 6. The soul consists of free, smooth, round atoms, like those of fire. These are the most mobile of all They enter and penetrate the whole body, and in their motions the phenomena of life arise. Then the atoms of Democritus are individually without sensation; they combine in obedience to mechanical laws, and not only organic forms, but the phenomena of sensation and thought are also the result of their combination." Some one says that "The ancients have stolen all our best thoughts," and thus it is that at any rate Democritus stole a number of the thoughts of modern Material Philosophy. Owing to the remarkable harmony of their opinions we are not surprised that Prot. Tyndall seems in his address to elevate Democritus to a loftier eminence than he is willing to assign to Plato and Aristotle. There were other Atomists besides Democritus, but they need not engage us. Democritus was born about 460 B. C., travelled extensively, became the most learned man before Aristotle. Given space, the atoms in space, local alteration or mechanical movement of the atoms in space, this movement caused by a necessity springing from the nature of the atoms-out of these elements Democritus constructed the universe.

Anaxagorus, who first introduced Philosophy in Athens, which was henceforth for a long time to be its home, added to the notions of his predecessors the thought of "a world forming intelligence that was absolutely separated and free from matter, and that acted on design." It would be a mistake however, to suppose that Anaxa. gorous propounded anything like a theistic conception of the universe as that phrase is commonly understood. And so with Anaxagoras

there ended this first series of Philosophers who struggled in their own way with the problem which nature presents to every thoughtful mind.

The series has extended over nearly 200 years. There has been steady growth, each thought or system springing from, being conditioned by that which has gone before it. And the period is by no means wanting in permanent interest and value.

As to the Sophists, who came next, they should have a short paper to themselves alone. A single thought, however, may serve to indicate their position, and their wide difference from those whom we have considered. Up to this time it was all along taken for granted that our thought, subjective consciousness, is entirely detertermined by objective reality, by that which lies outside of us. Things without us are the source of our knowledge. Not so, said the Sophists; our thought is not determined by things outward, but things outward are determined by our thought. Hitherto the external object was everything and the thinking subject was totally submissive. Now the thinking subject is exalted and the external subject is almost sacrificed altogether. There is no absolute truth, no absolute good. That is true which is true to me, and false which is false to me. That is good which gratifies me, and evil which gives me displeasure, and so with every one else. Hence the same thing may be

man.

both true and false, good and evil, it all depends on the individual "The individual man is the measure of all things," so taught the Sophist Protagoras. It would be wrong, however, to condemn the Sophists as a set of quibblers. In some respects they rendered genuine service alike to the Athens of their day and to the progress of thought. And here must end this paper, already too long, much as we would wish to tarry until the unsightly figure and winning voice and relentless questioning and noble, earnest spirit of Socrates enter upon the scene.

REMARKABLE LANDSLIDE NEAR
BRANTFORD, ONTARIO.

*BY J. W. SPENCER, B. A. Sc.; PH. D., F. G. S.

A gigantic landslide occurred on April 15th, 1884, at 6.45 p. m., along the right bluff of the Grand River, two miles south south-east of Brantford. During the short period of three or four minutes, a mass of quaternany deposits, measuring more than 300,000 cubic yards were involved in the physical changes.

In the vicinity of Brantford, the Grand River valley has a width of about two miles, with the river meandering from one side to the other, as its slope is there much less than above the city. Several miles farther down, the valley becomes contracted again. It is bounded by bluffs rising about 80 feet above the flood plains, with the river flowing ten or more feet below their level.

The lower and principal portion of the bluffs, at the landslide, is composed of Erie clay, while the upper beds are made up of the more sandy Saugeen clay of Canadian geologists. The underlying rocks belong to the higher series of the upper Silurian system, but these are exposed on the banks of the river, only above and below this wide alluvial plain, along which our landslide occurred. The structure of the Erie clay, as shown in the landslide, is much more distinct than is usually seen in the older exposures, where the vertical or oblique joints have been observed by weathering. The formation consists of a very hard drab (blue when wet) clay splitting into regular and thin slabs. The jointed structure is less apparent in the vertical walls, left standing, than in the fallen masses, where it is broken into pyramids, from a few feet to more than ten in height. It was from the slipping along these planes, and those of the natural bedding that the slide was produced.

The geological interest attached here is, that we can see : (1) The character of a slide which has not resulted from undermining action, but from hydrostatic pressure, in the ever opening joints, where the clay is constantly becoming softened. (2) The dynamical effect upon laterally confined plastic clay, below the horizon, to which the fallen masses could reach; and (3), the manner in which the

* Professional geology, University of Missouri.

broad shallow valley has been excavated out of Pleistocene formations in recent days.

(1) As before stated, the bluff has an elevation of about 80 feet above the plain. The river itself flows from 150 to 300 feet distant from the brow or edge of the bluff, thus producing a more gentle slope than is ordinarily required for clay to withstand the mechanical action of weathering forces. The length of the slide is 700 feet, and the approximate width of the original surface fallen, is represented by a plot of ground 165 feet broad, in part, which for a length of 375 feet, has slidden bodily from the face of the bluff, for a distance of fifty feet or more, and sunken from 40 to 60 feet, without further disturbing its grassy surface and forest trees, other than by producing a large longitudinal pressure, and the tilting of the trees a few degrees towards the hillside, with the overthrow of some others. This plot is still about 70 feet distant from the river. At the eastern end, the slide graduates into a confused mass of pyramids of jointed clay, between which there are great fissures. These masses at the eastern end of the landslide, in place of quietly sinking down as at its western end, rolled in confusion from the side of the bluff, not only to the river channel, but 100 feet across it, thus temporarily producing a dam, which has subsequently been removed by the river. The cause of the landslide is evidently due to hydrostatic force, acting in the vertical joints, along which, and also along the planes of bedding, the clay was eventually softened, and produced slipping surfaces, which yielded to gravity and lateral pressure.

(2) Whilst beneath the hummocky mass, at the eastern end of the slide, the dynamical effects upon the lower beds of the more or less plastic clay, at the level of the river, are concealed; yet between the sunken plot of wooded ground and the river, which is about 70 feet distant, these are shown in a most interesting manner. Here we find that the beds of clay are pushed up vertically upon their edges, by a lateral thrust, and that the gravel of the present river, which occurs at only ten feet or more below the surface of the plain, is also lifted up from ten to fifteen feet. These vertical beds can be traced for some hundreds of feet longitudinally, and in some places they are more or less distorted. Thus we see in miniature, the phenomena of upheaval, and of deformation of great stratified masses. The dynamical forces here, have resulted from an enormous mass sliding sud

denly down upon laterally confined plastic clay, with an oblique thrust of two or three thousand foot-tons per linear foot, of which probably one-third, converted into a longitudinal force, acting at some distance, has pushed up the beds of moistened clay upon their edges, and also bent them where the resistance was not great enough to withstand it. This vertical movement of the beds did not reach the opposite side of the river.

(3) Although landslides do not often exhibit so clearly the two interesting effects just described, smaller ones are everywhere of such frequent occurrence, that observations at Brantford, bearing upon the widening of the valley, are of purely local interest, and scarcely worthy of notice. Whilst the broad valley between the Quaternary bluffs, here, has been slowly produced by atmospheric and river action, it may be noted that there was an enlargement in the Silurian water before the deposition of the Pleistocene deposits, and we find some miles farther down the river, that the valley is much narrower and bounded frequently by limestones and other hard rocks, which were removed from the region of our landslide before the deposition of the Erie clay, which is not nearly so largely developed outside of Tertiary (or older) valleys of this part of the Province of Ontario.

BURLINGTON BAY. AND THE CITY
DRAINAGE.

BY C. S. CHITTENDEN.

Adjacent to our city, we have a beautiful sheet of water, of which we are all naturally quite proud. When away from home we speak of Burlington Bay as a something which we can boast of, and those who hear us speak of it, sometimes feel a little envious that they have not such a miniature lake as well as we. The long stretch of sandy beach, separating it from the lake, affords a charming drive for pleasure seekers, and at the same time forms a magnificent break-water, protecting yachting and boating parties from the long sweep of the winds and waves of the lake.

Burlington Bay, Mr. Charlton has told us, was discovered by three Sulpician missionaries, Gallinu, De Cassou and La Salle, in 1667,