PREFACE. The first volume of the Society's Transactions is now offered to the public. It has been the aim of the Editor, to present only such articles and papers as are immediately useful and interesting to the citizens and schools of Illinois, with a hope that a zeal for the pursuits and studies of Natural History may spring up among our people, like the seeds of the sower, in the parable, falling upon good soil, and yielding, "some sixty and some an hundred fold." In order to render the greatest good to all, the subjects have generally been treated in a popular rather than a technical style. It has been said, that he who places a valuable truth or fact within the reach of the million, is doing more for humanity than he who discovers it. And, indeed, if scientific men, or libraries and museums, cannot contribute to the elevation of the masses who are less privileged, their usefulness is questionable. Humboldt, Liebig, Lyell, Davy, Silliman and Agassiz, do not rank less, because they have reduced their observations to the comprehension of ordinary men. Those who teach, in any department, must learn the alphabet common to all, and then all can be educated, whether in Literature, Science or Religion. It is, therefore, unnecessary to apologize for the popular style of the present offering. It should be said, however, in behalf of the authors of the several papers, that they were written in the intervals of their professions or occupations, leaving but little time for study and research. In this country we have but few professional Naturalists; and in this State, only one department of Natural History has ever received public patronage, viz: Geology. The forth-coming Report of the State Geologist will not only encourage these pursuits at home, but will show that the basement of Illinois is worthy of the wonderful garden that rests upon it. Within the last few years, the advancement of science has been unparalleled. Expeditions to every part of the globe, under government patronage, by societies and individuals, besides a host of observers at home, have furnished a vast array of interesting facts. It is an age of discovery-not of new continents-but of new truths and facts. As a consequence, the public taste is leading irresistibly in the direction of Natural History, to the merited neglect of fiction and romance; and the day is near at hand, when a thorough knowledge of the principles and phenomena of Nature will be considered essential to a liberal education. In the Great West, furnished ages ago, with its millions of readymade farms, and where Agriculture is the leading employment, these studies must receive particular and constant attention. Here every portion of Natural History can be made practical and interesting. AGRICULTURE is NATURAL HISTORY APPLIED. Geology, Botany and Zoology are its basis, and in proportion as these are understood, will there be success in farming. It is because these sciences are the basis of Agriculture, that men have theoretically considered it practical; it is because it has to a great extent ignored these sciences, its true basis, and become a changeless routine, that it has been practically considered base. When the farmer studies the minerals of which his soil is composed, the plants that spring up around him, the insects that destroy-when he learns to study all the objects which abound on every hill-side, valley and prairie-farming will be a science that will daily awaken thought, a pursuit in which mind can develop, and then it will not only be anong the most honorable, but the most honored, of secular professions. Just in proportion as it takes this place, does it rise in dignity, and call men of culture from other pursuits. STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY, Bloomington, Oct. 30, 1861. C. D. W. CONTENTS. PAGE. MIND, FORCE AND MATTER-An Address-By Prof. J. B. Turner, Jacksonville.... 17 THE GREAT TORNADO OF 1860-By James Shaw, Esq., Mt. Carroll, Illinois....... 37 GEOLOGICAL SECTION OF ROCK RIVER, FROM STERLING TO OREGON-By Dr. Oliver THE MASTODON GIGANTEUS: ITS REMAINS IN ILLINOIS-By C. D. Wilber, Bloomington. 59 The Water Lily, (Nelumbium Luteum,)—ITS MODE of Growth-By Dr. Frederick |