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countries named: nor are they to be relied on as indicating, with anything like exactness, the comparative proportions of children actually attending school; for the proportion of the children enrolled which on the average is in actual attendance, varies in different countries. It should also be borne in mind that averages conceal the condition of the worst parts of a country-in Scotland, for instance, where the school attendance varies from 1 in 4 of the population in the best districts to 1 in 15, 1 in 20, and even 1 in 30 in the worst.

See the reports of the assistant-commissioners appointed to inquire into the state of popular education in England, vol. iv., being vol. xxi. part iv. sess. 1861; the second report of the Scottish educational commissioners, 1867; the statistical society's quarterly journal for March, 1867; Horace Mann on education in European countries; Fraser's report on American (U. S. and Canada) schools; Cousin on German and Dutch educa tion; M. Block's abstract of public documents relating to education in France; L'In struction du Peuple, par Pierre Tempels (Brussels, 1865); Statistiche Nachrichten über das Elementar Schulwesen, an official return, which gives a complete survey of elementary education in Prussia to the end of 1864; Congrés International de Bienfaisance de Londres, Session de 1862; and Rapport et Discussion sur l'Instruction Obligatoire. See EDUCATION. [Since the preceding account was written, the claims of national education have been more fully recognized, and, with less opposition than might have been expected, a na tional system has been established in England and Scotland. The elementary education act for England, 1870, enacts that every district in which the existing schools are found deficient shall have a popularly elected school-board, to manage its rate-supported schools, levy school rates, appoint teachers, etc. Elementary schools are to be sup ported, and the expenses of school boards paid, out of funds called school-funds. The local rate forms the nucleus of each school-fund; but every school under the act is like wise entitled to an annual grant from parliament not exceeding the income of the school from other sources, and varying in amount according to the number of pupils and their proficency as tested by different standards of examination. Schools are to be open at all times to government inspection. Religious instruction, if given at all-and this is left to each board to decide-is to be given at fixed times other than the ordinary schoolhours, when no child is compelled to attend. It is further left to the discretion of school-boards to make education compulsory-The Scotch education act, 1872, differs materially from the English act on three points only; first, by providing that a schoolboard, under the Scotch education department, is to be elected in every parish and burgh; secondly, by making it illegal for parents to omit educating their children between! and 13 in reading, writing, and arithmetic; and thirdly, by comprehending higher-class schools. Otherwise the acts are much alike. Every school is to be open to children of all denominations, and religious instruction is only to be given before or after ordinary school-hours. Provided they conform to the “conscience clause," school-boards may make any provision they please for religious instruction. School-boards are enjoined to relieve the teachers of higher-class schools, so far as may be, from elementary work.] NATIONAL EDUCATION (ante). See COMMON SCHOOLS: ENDOWED SCHOOLS ACTS. NATIONAL GUARD, an organization for local defense, differing from the British militia and volunteers, in being at the disposal of the municipalities, not of the crown. Italy, Greece, and other nations have maintained this civic force; but the country whence it derives historic fame is France. The French national guard was instituted in Paris in 1789, when the government had an army of 30,000 at the gates. The municipality armed 48,000 men, and their example was followed by the chief towns of France. These corps obtained the name of national guard and assumed the famous tricolor as their ensign. In 1795, 30,000 of the Paris national guards attacked the Tuileries, and were repulsed by Napoleon Bonaparte with 6,000 regular troops. In 1830 they were reorganized under the command of Lafayette, their original chief; and between 1848 and 1851 a law was passed by which all males above 20 not otherwise employed under government were included in the national guard. After the coup d'état in December, 1851, they were reduced to the condition of an armed police. In the war of 1870-71 they showed some signs of vitality in sympathy with the commune, but effected nothing for France. After the fall of the commune they were disbanded.

NATIONAL GUARD (ante), a body of militia composed principally of the bourgeoisie, first formed by the committee of safety in 1789, and mustering at one time 300,000 men under the command of Lafayette. Napoleon dissolved them in 1795, and reorganized them in 1814. They were again dissolved in 1827, by Charles X., were reorganized in 1830, deserted Louis Philippe in 1848, were reorganized in 1852, and took part in the Franco-Prussian war and the insurrection of the commune. The same term is applied to the state militia of New York and New Jersey.

NATIONAL HYMNS are popular airs which are peculiar to and characteristic of a particular nation. It is a singular fact that the composers of national hymns are seldom known. The Germans call their national music rock's musik, a designation which is very appropriate, as a people collectively may not improperly be considered as the actual composer of its national tunes. A short melody extemporized by some one in a moment of patriotic emotion, is often taken up by others and traditionally preserved. In the course of time it generally undergoes modifications, until it has attained those conditions

National.

which insure it a general acceptance. This fully explains what W. Grimm means in his laconic saying, "A national song composes itself" (Ein Volkslied dichtet sich selbst), for the attempts of celebrated musicians to invest a tune with universal and permanent popularity have been successful in a few instances only. Among the most popular European national hymns is God save the King, but the authorship of the tune has not hitherto been satisfactorily ascertained. In Prussia it is called Heil Dir im Sieger Kranz, and in the United States the melody is sung with the words" My country 'tis of thee," etc. Although there is no satisfactory evidence of its having been in existence before the reign of George II., there are several tunes known of an earlier date in some degree resembling it. Dr. Bull's tune, discovered in an old manuscript dated 1619, certainly bears a remarkable resemblance to the present God save the Queen, but with none of these melodies have the words God save the King, or similar words, been found. The Austrian national hymn, Gott irhatte [Franz] den Kaiser, is a composition by Joseph Haydn. Having during his visit to England witnessed the effect of God save the King, on public occasions, Haydn resolved after his return to Vienna, to present his country with a similar composition. Baron Swicten and count Saurau procured the poetry for him, and the hymn was sung for the first time on the birthday of the emperor Franz, Feb. 12, 1797. The poetry was written by L. Leopold Haschka. The Russian hymn dates from the year 1830, when the emperor Nicholas ordered it to be performed in concerts and representations on the stage. Its composer was Alexis Lwoff, and the air appears to have been suggested by the Sicilian Mariner's Hymn, which is also a favorite melody of the gondoliers in Venice. The poetry of the patriotic song of the Danes, Kong Christian stod ved poien Mast, was written by Ewald, and the music is by a German composer, Johann Hartmann. The French national hymn, the Marseillaise, dates from the year 1792. It was composed by Rouget de l'Isle during the French revolution. The national hymn of the Germans, Die Wacht am Rhein, came into great popularity during the Franco-German war of 1870. Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland was written by Ernst Moritz Arndt, a German patriot, during the wars of Napoleon I. There have been many attempts to manufacture national songs in the United States, but the great national hymn of America will probably be a spontaneous production. The Star-Spangled Banner was written by F. S. Key, in 1814, and the words were adapted by F. Durang to an old French air, long known in England as Anacreon in Heaven, and in America as Adams and Liberty. It grew in favor in the loyal states during the rebellion, and was played continually by all military and orchestral bands. But as a patriotic song for the people at large it is almost useless, as the range of the air, an octave and a half, places it out of the compass of ordinary voices. Yankee Doodle has the claim of long association, and will probably always retain a certain degree of favor. Its words are mere childish burlesque, and it is reported to have been a popular tune in England during the commonwealth Some state that its doggerel words originated at that time, Oliver Cromwell being designated as Nankee Doodle. Others state that it was the tune originally set to the old English song Lydia Locket lost her Pocket, and that the present words were written by a British sergeant in Boston in 1775. Hail Columbia was written by Joseph Hopkinson in 1798, and was set to the music of the President's march, which was composed by one Phylas or Fayles, a German leader of orchestra in New York. Columbia the Gem of the Ocean, and Harrison Millard's Viva l'America have also attained considerable popularity.

NATIONAL PARKS, a term applied to certain territory in the United States, set aside by act of congress and specifically exempted from sale, being reserved, by reason of picturesque character and general natural features, as common to the entire people; except for settlement or private use. Up to the present time two tracts of land have thus been appropriated-the Yosemite valley and the Yellowstone region; the former of which was made a national park by act of congress passed June 30, 1864, and ordered to include the Mariposa Big Tree grove; the Yellowstone park was set aside by act approved Mar. 1, 1872.—The wonders of the Yellowstone region were first made known to the world through the report of a government reconnoissance, or exploration of the Yellowstone river and the surrounding country, made by officers of the U. S. corps of engineers, under the orders of lieut.-gen. Sheridan, in 1871. This region, long known as the "Great Divide," is comprised in the states of Montana and Wyoming, being the geographical center of North America. The area covered by the reservation measures 3,578 sq. miles. Generally speaking, it lies between 100° and 110° w. long. and in 44 or 45° n. lat., the general elevation being about 6,000 ft. above the level of the sea, though mountain ranges on every side rise to a height of 10,000 to 12,000 feet. Four routes lead to the Yellowstone national park: 1, From Corinne, on the Central Pacific railroad, to fort Ellis, thence 30 m. to the Yellowstone river; 2, by way of the upper Missouri; 3, from the Canadas and the great lakes to Duluth, and thence by the Northern Pacific railroad; and, 4, from Walla Walla, on the west. The most convenient and practicable route has hitherto been that from Corinne to Virginia City, Montana; thence to fort Ellis, crossing the Madison river, one of the head-waters of the Missouri and to the Gallatin valley, which is about 40 m. in length and 10 to 15 broad, the finest agricultural land in Montana; at the upper end of which is Bozeman, and 3 m. beyond, fort Ellis. From this point the trail leads to a Crow agency, about 30 m. dis

Natron.

tant; and thence by a course nearly due s., following that of the Yellowstone river, te the great falls of the Yellowstone. The whole of this route, after reaching the river, offers some of the most impressive and sublime scenery in the world. Picturesque masses of rock, tall columns of basalt, and a landscape generally volcanic in character, present the most prominent features of the trail; chief among which is the "Devil's Slide," an extraordinary vertical rock formation, projecting a thousand feet into the air. Pro ceeding up the valley, Gardner's river, or Warm Stream creek, is met, as it enters the valley and joins the Yellowstone 15 m. from the middle cañon. Here begins the hot springs district, with the largest spring in the country, consisting of a basin 40 ft. long by 25 wide, through three openings, in which great quantities of carbonic acid gas are discharged. In this spring, which offers water of different degrees of temperature, in smaller basins and terraces, are found the most fantastic deposits of stalactites and stalag. mites; while the basins are gracefully curved and scalloped, and vary in color from a rich yellow to a vivid red, offering a most brilliant and beautiful effect. Leaving this point, the "low divide" is crossed between the valley of Gardner's river and that of the Yellowstone, and the precipitous entrance to the great cañon is reached, so gloomy and forbidding in aspect that it is named the "Devil's Den." Through this narrow gorge the river rushes with great velocity, until it shoots over the abrupt descent of a fall of about 150 ft., and, after a series of rapids and cascades, finally leaves the great cañon with a single leap of 350 ft., after which its course lies over a rolling prairie for several miles. The great cañon has never been explored, but the height of its sides is known to be more than 2,000 feet. A new hot spring region is now reached, remarkable for its "mud geysers," and particularly for a mud volcano, having a crater 25 ft. in width and 30 ft. in depth, and in a constant state of ebullition. One of the geysers having a basin 60 ft. in diameter, spouts at regular intervals of six hours. Eight m. from these geysers is Yellowstone lake, more than 7,000 ft. above the sea-level, 30 m. in length, 15 m. broad, and from 14 to 50 fathoms deep, with a shore line measuring more than 300 miles. Almost in contact with this remarkable body of water is a chain of hot springs; fish abound in the lake, game of all kinds is found in the surrounding forests, and there are facilities for boating, and rude accommodations for the tourist. Striking westward, the traveler now journeys toward the head-waters of the Madison river. The country, though impressed with volcanic characteristics, is here diversified by dense tracts of forest; and about 10 m. from the Yellowstone a new system of hot springs is reached, the whole district presenting the appearance of a vast limekiln in active combustion. Shortly after reaching the crest of the divide between the Yellowstone and the Madison, a valley is entered in which the springs are strongly impregnated with sulphur. In what is known as the Firehole valley-that of the Firehole river, the main eastern fork of the Madison are large numbers of beautiful springs. But the object of greatest interest to the tourist is the great geyser basin, which is entered from the north, following the course of the Madison river. The geysers are all named, the first seen being two which are very active, placed one on each side of the river, and known as the Sentinels." Next is the Well" geyser, which has a crater formed like a well, and which spouts to a height of 80 or 90 feet. An extraordinary formation, 8 ft. high and 90 in circumference, is called the Grotto;" it is hollowed into arches, and plays to the height of 60 ft. several times in every 24 hours. The "Giant" geyser is considered one of the most remarka ble in the group. It has a crater 5 ft. in diameter, and its highest point is 15 ft. above the mound on which it stands. It throws a column of water the size of the opening, to the measured height of 130 ft. continuing each active period for an hour and a half. From this system of geysers, a journey of about 12 m. reaches "Castle" geyser, which is situated on a platform of deposit, measuring 100 ft. in length and 70 in breadth. From the center of this platform rises a chimney 12 ft. high, 120 ft. in diameter at the base, and 60 ft. at the top, with a three-foot aperture. This monster geyser, when in operation, sends a column of water to a height of 250 ft., the movement being not continuous, but pulsating, at the rate of about 70 throbs to the minute, the time of activity being about an hour. At the head of the valley stands the geyser known as "Old Faithful," so called because it plays with great regularity every three-quarters of an hour, throwing a stream 100 to 150 ft. in height. From the mound of this geyser can be seen the best presentment of the basin. The entire valley is drained of its hot water by the Firchole river, which takes it into the Madison. The geysers visible from this point are severally named the "Bee-hive," the "Giantess," Grand," Young Faithful.” Fan," "Riverside," "Saw-mill," "Turban," etc. of The Firehole river is itself one the most remarkable features of this region. Its bed and banks, entirely composed of hot-spring deposit, are honeycombed and scooped out by geyser springs and pools, vary. ing between minute vents not bigger than a quill and great tanks of boiling water. The course of the river is very straight, and resembles that of a canal through a country of limekilns covered with slag-heaps and refuse of old smelting-works. The borders of this stream, and of its confluent, Iron Spring creek, are dotted in all directions with mud ponds, warm pools, boiling springs, and the remains of ancient geysers. The Yellowstone region has been only visited by tourists, and the therapeutic qualities of its springs have not been analyzed. The writer of the government report said of the country in question: "No other locality, I think, can be found which combines so many attrac tions, both of climate and scenery." The act of congress by which the Yellowstone

39 66

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country was reserved as a national park, stated that it was "reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale, under the laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people," while by the same act it was placed under the exclusive control of the secretary of the interior. The park is 65 m. n. and s. by 55 m. e. and west. During the summer months the atmosphere is pure and invigorating, with an entire absence of storms. The number of springs is from 5,000 to 10,000, and there are at least 50 geysers. The temperature of the springs ranges between 160° and 200°.

The Yosemite valley was granted by congress to the state of California, conditionally on the district being forever set aside as a place of public resort and recreation. It is in Mariposa co., California, about 155 m. from San Francisco, nearly in the center of the state. It is nearly level, and is 6 m. long, and varying between one-half a mile and a mile in width; and its perpendicular depth below the surrounding level is about one mile, although it is elevated above the sea level almost 4,000 feet. Its walls are nearly vertical, and through it winds the Merced river, its general direction being n.e. by e., and s. w. by w., nearly at right angles with the general direction of the mountain ranges. The valley is accessible by stage and saddle-horse from points on the Central Pacific railroad, about 90 m. distant, but only in summer: in winter it can only be reached on snow shoes. There are hotels for the accommodation of tourists, and these are comfortable and well supplied. Numerous objects of interest occur in proceeding up the valley, the first being the Bridal Veil fall, which is formed by the precipitous leap of a creek of the same name over a descent of 630 ft., to a slope below, from which point a series of cascades extend to the valley, the entire fall being more than 900 feet. Cathedral rock, a massive granite formation, 2,660 ft. in height, is met a little above the fall; and a short distance beyond this, the "Spires," single columns of granite, 500 ft. in height, stand out from the main walls of the valley. Sentinel rock is 3,043 ft. high, its termination being a slender obelisk 1000 ft. in height. Sentinel dome and the Virgin's Tears fall are the next important features; the latter being a cataract falling more than 1000 feet. El Capitan and the Three Brothers are monster masses of rock; and, above the latter, is the great Yosemite fall, which has first a vertical descent of 1500 ft., then a series of cascades falling 626 ft., and a final plunge of 400 ft.-the whole appearing to the observer to be a continuous fall, whose effect is grand and imposing in the extreme. During Aug. and Sept. the Yosemite and Bridal Veil falls nearly disappear, the best time for seeing them being in May, June, or July, before the creeks which form them are dried up. Other smaller falls and innumerable eccentricities of the rocky walls of the valley occur at different points; while the general effect is a combination of the sublime and beautiful in nature, not known to exist elsewhere to a similar extent.

About 16 m. s. of the Yosemite valley are the Mariposa groves of "big trees," one of a number of groups or collections of the sequoia gigantea, only found in California; and the sequoia semper virens, or red wood. Three of these groves are in Mariposa co., and include 134 trees more than 15 ft. in diameter, and 300 of smaller size. In all the groups there are trees from 275 to 375 ft. in height, and 25 to 35 ft. in diameter, well proportioned; the age of some that have been cut down have been estimated, by the usual methods, at from 2,000 to 2,500 years. The Yosemite valley was unknown to white men until 1851, and was first visited by tourists four years later.

NATIVE, a term mostly applied to metals, and employed to designate substances, as minerals, which are most of them more abundantly obtained from other minerals by chemical processes. Thus silver found pure, or nearly so, is called native silver, whilst most of the siver in use is procured from ores in which it exists variously combined.

NA TROLITE, soda mesotype, feather zeolite, spreustein, radiolite, Bergmannite, a hydrous silicate of the zeolite section, containing silica, soda, and alumina, with about nine per cent of water, and usually oxide of iron, crystallizes in the trimetric system; crystals usually slender and interlacing, divergent, or stellate; also fibrous and massive. Hardness 5 to 5.5: sp. gravity 2.17 to 2.24. Luster vitreous, sometimes pearly: color white, grayish, and yellowish; transparent, translucent. The following is an analysis of crystals from Auvergne; silica 47.76; alumina 25.88; soda 16.21; water 9.31. The following were the constituents of iron ratrolite: silica 46.54; alumina 18.94; peroxide of iron 7.49; soda 14.04; water 9.37; iron 2.40; manganese 0.55. In North America natrolite occurs in Nova Scotia in trap rock; at Cheshire, Conn; at Copper falls, lake Superior, in crystals associated with native copper. Natrolite is also found at Bergen

hill, N. J.

NA TRON, or TRONA, an impure sesquicarbonate of soda, Na2CO3+2NaHCO, +3H2O, which always contains sulphate of soda and chloride of sodium. It is obtained from the margins of lakes in Egypt, Siberia. Thibet, etc., and from the borders of the Black and Caspian seas.

NATRON LAKES. Natron was one of the substances employed by the ancient Egyptians in embalming mummies. They called it hesmen, and, together with the lakes from whence it was derived, it is mentioned in texts of the twelfth dynasty, circa 1800 B.C. These lakes, eight in number, are in the vicinity of Zakeek, a village west of the Damietta branch of the Nile. They are below the level of the sea, and the natron is

Naturalization.

obtained by evaporation. The locality is also renowned for four monasteries, Deyr Suriana, St. Maiarius, Amba Bishoi, Deyr Baramoos, from whose libraries of Arabic, Coptic, and Syriac MSS. the national collections have been enriched. In the time of St. Pachomius 5,000 anchorets dwelt here; they at present number about 300.

NATTERJACK. See TOAD.

NATU'NA ISLANDS, THE, lie to the n.w. of Borneo, between 2° 28′ and 4° 56′ n. lat., and 107° 57′ and 108° 15′ e. longitude. They are densely wooded and mountainous, Ranay, on great Natuna, rising to a height of 3,500 feet. The largest of the islands is about 600 sq. miles. Pop. of the whole about 1300, who grow rice, maize, sago, cocoanuts, etc., and exchange the produce of their fishings, their sago and cocoa-nut oil, for rice, iron, and cottons, at the European settlements on the strait of Malacca.

NATURAL, in music, a note belonging to the diatonic scale of C, and neither elevated by a sharp nor depressed by a flat. When a note has been so elevated or depressed, the natural sign prefixed to it on its recurrence restores it to its place on the scale. When music is written on a key with a signature of sharps or flats, it is the office of the natural sign to counteract the signature as regards the note to which it is prefixed.

NATURAL BRIDGE, one of the chief natural curiosities in the United States, ranking in interest next, perhaps, to Niagara falls and the Mammoth cave. It is situated in Rockbridge co., Va., 115 m. w. of Richmond, and 160 m. s. w. of Washington. The bridge spans a deep chasm, through which a small stream flows, and is formed by an immense limestone stratum fashioned into an arch 215 ft. high. Its length is 93 ft. and the thickness of the crown of the arch is about 40 feet. The average width of the arch is 80 feet. A public road passes across it from which there is a beautiful view, not only of the long chasm where great forest trees tower up from below but also of the Blue Ridge mountains.-In Walker co., Alabama, and in Califor nia also there are other natural bridges, but none that rival this one. The one in Alabama is about 70 ft. high and spans 120 ft.; and the largest of those in California is across a small creek emptying into the Hay fork of Trinity river; is 3,000 ft. wide and has an arch 20 ft. high by 80 ft. across. It has been suggested that these bridges are the remnants of great caverns.

NATURAL GAS. See GAS, NATURAL.

NATURAL HISTORY, in the widest sense, includes all natural science, and has the whole of creation for its subject. In this sense the term was employed by the philoso phers of antiquity. But it is now limited to those branches of science which relate to the crust of the earth and its productions. Of these, geology and mineralogy have for their subject inorganic portions of creation; botany and zoology, the various branches of which are often pursued as separate sciences, with physiology, have for their subject organized creatures. Natural history takes cognizance of the productions of nature, and of their relations to each other, with all the changes on the face of the earth, and all the phenomena of life, both animal and vegetable. It derives assistance from other sciences, particularly chemistry and natural philosophy; and some of the branches of chemistry may also be regarded as branches of natural history. When man himself is considered as a subject of scientific study, psychology must be added to the branches of natural history, but in the term as commonly employed this can scarcely be said to be included.

In every department of natural history, classification is of the utmost importance, and scarcely less important is a scientific nomenclature suited to the classification. The subjects of study are so incalculably numerous that an arrangement of them in welldefined groups is necessary to any considerable attainment in the knowledge of them; and it is only by systems of classification which arrange smaller groups in larger, and these in larger and larger again, that natural history has been brought to its present state. The very division of natural history into different sciences is a result of such a classification, and implies a recognition of the largest and highest groups. It is not always in the establishment of these groups that the greatest difficulty is experienced. The primary distinction of all the subjects of natural history into organized and unorganized, or into those having life and those not having life, presents itself very readily to every mind. And equally natural and necessary is the distinction of organized beings into plants and animals, however difficult it has been found to draw the precise limit between the lowest of plants and the lowest of animals. Another distinction readily presents itself to the student of living beings in the kinds which retain the same characters from one generation to another. But here arises one of the most important of all the questions of natural history, what a species is, and how it differs from a variety. For this we refer to the article SPECIES. But much difference of opinion as there is on this point, the common and long-prevalent notion may be assumed, as suitable enough for guidance in all that relates to classification, that those are distinct species which cannot by any change of circumstances-or, let it be said, by any ordinary change of circumstances, and within any moderate period of time-be so modified as to be transmuted one into another, whilst those are only varieties of which the modification and transmutation can be thus effected. Thus,