of the water into the city : and it was an occasion of unrestrained enthusiasm and joy. Multitudes came in from the country around, and from sister cities : — all business was laid aside for the pleasing ceremonies of the day, and the Croton water, with the beauty and grandeur of its fountains, met with a welcome which showed that its value was appreciated. * This includes, besides the actual cost of constructing the work, the accumula- tion of interest on loans. 123 The advantages, the comforts and blessings of this supply of pure water will be appreciated as the city extends the means for its use, and the time is not distant when she will regard it as a treasure which was cheaply purchased, and will proudly point to the noble work which she has achieved not only as an example of her munificence, but as an illus- tration of what art and science can accomplish. With cleanly streets, and the public parks beautified with the fountains which send forth cooling and refreshing vapours upon the air, the citizens will forget to leave the city during the warm months of summer, and the sea-shore, the mountain-tops, and watering-places, will fancy their beauty has faded, since they cease to be visited. The foreigner who visits this country will find the Croton Aqueduct an interesting specimen of our public works, and will be pleased with a pedestrian tour along the line of work to the Fountain Reservoir among the hills of the Croton. Besides becoming acquainted with the important features of the work, he may enjoy much that is beautiful in Ameri- can scenery. In his course along the Aqueduct he may see the majestic palisades which for a distance wall the right bank of the Hudson ; he may view the Tappan and Haver- straw bays with their ever-varying scenery, and the dark gorge where the Hudson emerges from the Highlands with its white bosom. Along the Aqueduct there are also many picturesque scenes where the mountain stream leaps among the rocks in the deep ravine which guides its course to the Hudson. The country is interesting also from the associations with which it has been invested by the pen of our novelists. The 124 region of the Croton where the Fountain Reservoir is formed, is a part of the district where the scene of the " Tale of the Neutral Ground" is laid ; and one may fancy there the figure of Harvey Birch, beneath his pondrous pack, casting a shadow at night along the moon-lit slopes. Leaving the valley of the Croton we come out upon the Hudson at the head of the "great waters of the Tappan Zee," beyond which the early inhabitants of New-Amster- dam dared not to voyage without first " settling their family affairs, and making their wills." As we approach Tarrytown we find the localities which were pictured in the " Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and easily recognize the Old Dutch Church near which the affrighted Ichabod Crane was so sadly unhorsed by the headless Hessian. We find in this vicinity also, the place noted as the " spot where the unfortunate 'Andre was captured!' Besides the romantic and diversified scenery of the Hud- son which is in view from the line of Aqueduct, the visitor may find highly cultivated grounds and delightful country seats, and among them that of our distinguished countryman, Washington Irving, where he sought a rural retirement for his literary pursuits. But it is unnecessary to speak further of the objects which are calculated to interest the visitor to this part of the country : we would only invite the stranger who visits the city of New-York to go forth and visit her noble Aqueduct : when he has become acquainted with the magnitude and grandeur of its construction, then he may turn aside for prospects to admire and incidents to interest. APPENDIX. BY CHARLES A. LEE,M. D. WATER. ( Chiefly compiled from the works of Thomson, Pereira, Whewell and others.) Water was regarded by the ancients as an elementary substance, and as a con- stituent of most other bodies. This opinion was somewhat modified by the experi- ments of Van Helmont and Mr. Boyle, who maintained that it could be changed into all vegetable substances, as well as into earth ; but it was substantially held until the middle of the last century, (1781,) when Mr. Cavendish proved that this liquid was a compound of oxygen and hydrogen. Natural History. In the inorganized kingdom. Water is very generally diffused over the surface of the globe, forming seas, lakes, and rivers ; it is mechanically disseminated among rocks, constitutes an essential part of some minerals, and always exists to a greater or less extent, in the atmos- phere.