n. If this be so, it
is evident, on comparing the two formations, that the ochraceous sandy
clay of the Valley of the Amazons has been deposited under different
circumstances; that, while it owes its resemblance to the Rio drift to
the fact that its materials were originally ground by glaciers in the
upper part of the valley, these materials have subsequently been spread
throughout the whole basin and actually deposited under the agency of
water.

A MANIAC'S CONFESSION.

I am a maniac. I have for some years been the victim of a peculiar
insanity, which has greatly distressed several of my friends and
relatives. They generally soften it in their talk by the name
_mono_mania; but they do not hesitate to aver, when speaking their
minds, that it has in truth infected my whole soul, and made me
incapable of doing or thinking anything useful or rational. This sad
delusion, which they endeavor to remove by serious advice, by playful
banter, or by seeming to take an interest in my folly for a moment, is
encountered with great acrimony by less gentle friends. They who are not
bound to me by blood or intimacy--and some who are--deride, insult, and
revile me in every way for my subjection to a mental aberration which is
rapidly consuming a pretty property, more than average talents, and
unrivalled opportunities.

Of course, like all madmen, I think just the reverse. When the fit is on
me, I assert that this fever--this madness--far from being the bane of
my life, is a blessing to it; that I am habitually devoting money, time,
and wits to an object at once beautiful and elevating; that I have found
consolation in its visions for many sufferings, which all the amusements
offered me by my revilers are utterly inadequate to touch. I declare
that I have found a better investment for my money than all the West
Virginia coal companies that ever sunk oil-wells, and am making more
useful acquaintances than if I danced every German during the season. I
have not been shut up yet, for my friends know that, if they attempt any
such thing, the Finance Committee on the Harvard Memorial and Alumni
Hall are in possession of a bond conveying all my money to them; so I am
still at large, scolded by my brother Henry, laughed at by my sister
Bathsheba, the aversion of Beacon Street, and the scorn of Winthrop
Square.

The other day, I took a little journey to Europe, with the view of
feeding my madness on that whereby it grows. My friends