Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
T. BASSNETT,
In the Clerk’s Office of the Southern District of New York.
CONTENTS.
| [SECTION FIRST.] | |
|---|---|
Present State of the Science of Meteorology—Primordial Condition of theSolar System—Theory of Gravitation the great key of Nature—Bessell’sdoubts of its perfect adequacy—the Newtonian Vacuum: itsdifficulties—Nature of the element called Ether—The Medium of Spaceand the Electric Fluid—Ponderosity of Matter—Dynamical law ofEquilibrium—Specific heat and its relation to space—A Plenum notopposed to Gravitation—The medium of space in motion—Formation ofVortices—A new principle developed—Elements of the problem—Hutton’stheory of the production of rain—Indications of change and thecause—Action of the Ethereal Current—Physical process of AtmosphericDerangement—Redfield’s theory of Storms: its difficulties—All stormsare of brief duration and limited extent. | [13] |
| [SECTION SECOND.] | |
Mechanical action of the Moon—The Moon’s mass—Axis of the TerralVortex affected by the Moon: its inclination and position: itsdisplacement—An example of the principle—Correctionsnecessary—Milwaukie storm—New York storm—Ottawa storm—Liverpoolstorm—Names and recurring order of the storm-producing agents—Recordof the weather—Second New York storm. | [58] |
| [SECTION THIRD.] | |
Lunar influence rejected by the learned—Their conclusions notvalid—Modifying causes in accordance with these principles—Years andseasons vary in character—Superficial temperature of differentPlanets—No storms on the planet Mars—Rotation the cause of Ocean andAtmospheric Currents—Pressure of the atmosphere and its regular andirregular variations—Terrestrial Magnetism—Internal Constitution ofthe Globe—Magnetic variations—Cause of these variations—Magneticstorms—Aurora Borealis: its altitude—Earthquakes; their possibleconnection with Storms. | [101] |
| [SECTION FOURTH.] | |
The solar spots—Law of periodicity compared with the theory—Existenceof another planet beyond Neptune probable—Masses of the Sun andPlanet yet uncertain—The Law of Gravitation not abovesuspicion—Proofs of this—The full of the Moon—Density of theEthereal Medium: its law in the Solar Vortex—Bode’s law of theplanetary distances—Law of planetary density—Law connecting thepresent and former diameters of the planets—Disturbing action of theEther—Kepler’s third law not rigidly exact—Inconsistencies ofAstronomers—Nature of light and heat—Distinction between light andheat. | [147] |
| [SECTION FIFTH.] | |
Comets—Their small inclinations—Their motions chiefly direct—Comet of1770 and 1844—Cause of acceleration in the case of Encke—Anomalousmotions of the comet of 1843—Change of diameter at differentdistances of a comet from the sun—Cause of this change—Nature of thenebulosity—Formation of the tail—Compound nature of a comet’slight—motion and direction of a comet’s tail—Phenomena presented bythe great comet of Halley—Mass of a comet—The Zodial light—Nebulousstars—Shooting stars—Periodic showers—Periodicity doubtful—Causeof the apparent periodicity—Cause for being more numerous in Autumnthan in Spring. | [187] |
| [SECTION SIXTH.] | |
State of the polar ice since 1845—Sir John Franklin’s track—Probableexistence of islands north of Behring’s Straits—Possibility ofsubsisting in the Arctic islands—News from theInvestigator—Necessity of searching in a higher latitude than theInvestigator visited—Franklin’s misfortunes due to ScientificErrors—Relative levels of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans—The Arcticseas more accessible in a few years—Conclusion. | [233] |
PREFACE.
On presenting to the public a work of this novel character, overstepping, as it does, the barriers erected by modern systems to the further progress of knowledge, a few words of explanation may not be inappropriate. Early imbued with a desire to understand the causes of natural phenomena, the author devoured with avidity the interpretations contained in the elementary works of orthodox science, until reason and observation rendered him dissatisfied with the repast. To him it appeared that there was an evident tendency in scholastic instruction, to make the knowledge of nature inaccessible to the many, that the world might be made more dependent on the few; while many of the established principles, on which the learned rested, seemed to be at variance with the simplicity and consistency of truth. Thus situated, he ventured to think for himself, and looking back on the history of the past, and finding so many cases in which the philosophy of to-day was supplanted by a different system on the morrow, he was led to suspect the possibility of future revolutions, and was thus determined to be no longer embarrassed by previous systems, nor deterred by opinions however learned, which conflicted with a rational recognition of the mechanical nature of all physical phenomena.
The science of meteorology, to which the following pages are devoted, is, and always has been, a confessedly complex subject; and on this account, any suggestions and facts which observation gleans,—no matter how humble the source may be, should not be denied a hearing by those professedly engaged in the pursuit of truth. Step by step, the author became more and more confirmed in his doubts of the soundness of many modern theories; and in 1838 he had attained a position which enabled him to allege in the public prints of the day, that there did exist certain erroneous dogmas in the schools, which stood in the way of a fuller development of the causes of many meteorological phenomena. This annunciation was made in general terms, and no notice was taken of it. Subsequently, he forwarded to the British Association of Science, then convened at Birmingham, a communication of similar tenor; and at a later date still, a more particular statement of the advantages of his discoveries to the navigator and agriculturist, was sent to the British admiralty. The first of these communications was treated with silent contempt; the last elicited some unimportant reply. In 1844 a memorial was presented to Congress, accompanied with a certified copy of predictions of the weather, written several weeks before the event, and attested in due form by two impartial witnesses; but neither did this result in any inquiry as to its truth. During the time since elapsed, he has been engaged in pursuits which prevented him from pressing the subject elsewhere, until the spring of 1853, he brought his theory under the notice of the Smithsonian Institution. This led to a correspondence between himself and the gentlemanly Secretary of the Institution, whose doubts of the truth of his allegations were expressed with kindness, and whose courtesy was in strange contrast with the conduct of others. In the communications which he forwarded to that Institution, he gave a detailed statement of the difficulties he had met with, and expressed the hope that an Institution, created for the purpose of increasing and diffusing knowledge, would feel justified in lending the influence of its name to facilitate the completion of a theory which was yet undeniably imperfect. In view of this, a test was proposed.[1] “Give us, for example, a prediction of the weather for one month in each season of the year 1854, for the City of Washington.” This test the author refused, for the reason that he did not consider it necessary to wait so long; but he informed the Secretary of the Institution, that he would prepare an outline of his theory, which would enable him to decide upon the merits of the discoveries claimed. This outline is contained in the following pages. During the summer of 1853 he called upon Professor Henry, then at Chicago, with his manuscript; but a sudden indisposition prevented that gentleman from having it read. He, however, strongly recommended its publication from such impressions he then received.[2] This the author had resolved on, from a sense of duty to the world at large, although the promise was rather of prospective loss than of present benefit. The peculiar form under which the theory appears, is, therefore, a result of the circumstances above stated, and of the author’s present inability to enter into the minute details of a subject, which embraces in its range the whole visible creation.
In extending the theory to other phenomena, he has only fearlessly followed out the same principles which have conducted him to a knowledge of a disturbing cause, to which atmospheric storms owe their origin, and in doing so he has conferred with no one. For whatever of merit or of blame may therefore justly attach to these views, he alone is responsible. If he has charged the scientific with inconsistency, or with sometimes forgetting that the truth of their unnecessarily abstruse investigations depends on the truth of the data, he at least is conscientious; for he is too well aware that to provoke an unfavorable verdict by contending against such fearful odds, is not the surest way to either wealth or fame, or even to an acknowledgment of at least the mite, which he cannot but feel that he has contributed to the treasury of knowledge. That the scientific organisations of the day do tend to curb the aberrations of a fanciful philosophy, cannot be denied; but at the same time there is engendered such a slavish subordination as checks the originality of thought, and destroys that perfect freedom from the trammels of system, so necessary to success in the pursuit of truth. Of such an influence the author explicitly asserts his entire independence.