Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1850-06-27

INTERESTING FACTS coNNEorEp TuRF,

conversation are the means whereby the whole
surface fthat part of the globe which constitutes
land is supplied with the fresh moisture and water
necessary to sustain the organization and to main
tain the functions oft the animal & vegetable world
Thence sap and juice are supplied to vegetables
and fluids to animals; rivers and lakes are fed
and carry back to the ocean their waters after sup
plying the uses Of the living world The exten-
Sive surface of the ocean undergoes neyer-ceas-
ing process of evaporation and Gismisses into the
atmosphere quantity of pure water proportionate
TO its extent of surface and temperature of the air
above 1t, and to the state of that air with respect
to saturation. This vapor is carried with currents
of air through every part of the atmosphere which
surrounds the globe. When by various meteoro-
logical causes the temperature of the air is re-
duced, it will frequently happen that it will come
below that limit at which the suspended vapor is
in a state of saturaton. A deposition Or conden-
sation will therefore take place, and rain or aque-
Gus clouds will be formed. II the condensed va
por collect in spherical drops, it will be precpi-
tated, and fall on the surface of the earth in the
form of rain; but from some unknown cause it
frequently happens that. instead of collecting in
drops, the condensed vapor is formed into hollow
bubles, enclosing within them fluid lighter, bulk
for bulk, than the atmosphere, These bubles are
also found to have repulsve influence on each
other, like that of bodies similarly electrified
They float therefore, in the atmosphere, their mu-
tual repulsion preventing them coaescing so as to
form drops. In this state, having by the laws of
optics certain degree of opacity, they become
distinctly visible and form clouds. The vapor
suspended in the air during hot summers day is
so elevated in its temperature as to be below the
point of saturation, and therefore, though the
tual quantity suspended be very considerable yet,
while the air is capable of sustaining more, no
condensation can take place but in the evening,
after the sun has departed the source of heat be-
ing withdrawn, the temperature of the air under
goes great depression, and the quantity of vapor
suspended in the atmosphere, now at a low tenn
perature, first attains and subsequently passes the
point of saturation. A deposition of moisture then
takes place by the condensation of the redundant
vapor Of the atmosphere, and the small particles
of moisture which fall on the surface, coalescing
by their natural cohesion, form clear, pellucid
drops on the surface of the ground, and are known
by the name of delO. The clouds in which the COLI
densed vesicles of vapor collected, are affect
ed by an attraction which draws them toward the
mountains and highest points of the surface Of the
earth. Collected there, they undergo change,
by which they form into drops, and are deposited
IN the form of rain and hence, by their natural
gravtation, they find their way through the pores
and interstces othe earth, and in channels along its
surface, forming, in the one case, wells and springs
in various parts Of the earth, where they find
natural exit or where an artificial exit is given to
them, and, in the other cases, obeyng the form of
the surface of the country through which they are
carried they wind in narrow channels, first deep
ening and widening as they proceed and are fed by
tributary streams until they form into great rivers,
or spread into lakes, and at length discharge their
waters into the sea. The process Of evaporation
is not confined to the sea, but takes place from the
surface of the soil, and from all vegetable and an
imal productions. The showers which fall in
summer, first scattered in thin sheet of moisture
over the surface of the country, speedily return to
the form of vapor and carry with them, in the lat
ent FORM quantity of heat which they take from
every object in contact with them-thus modera-
ting the temperature of the earth, and refreshing
the animal and vegetable creation. A remarkable
example of evaporation on a large scale is sup
Piled by that great inland sea, the Mediterranean
That natural reservoir of water receives an extra
ordinary number of large rivers, among which
may be mentioned the Nile, the Danube, the
Dnieper, the Rhone, rhe Ebro, the Don, and ma
nv others. 1t has no communication with the
ocean, except by the straits of Gibralter, and there
instead Of an outward current, there is rapid and
never ceasing inward flow of water. We are,
therefore, compelled to conclude that the evapo-
ration from the surface of this carries off the
enormous quantity of water constantly supplied
from these sources This, may in degree be
accounted for by the fact that the Mediterranean
is surrounded by vast tracts of land on every side
except the west The wind, whether it blow
from the south, the north, or from the east, has
passed over considerable extent OF land, and is
generally IN state, with respect to vapor. con-
siderably below saturation. These dry currents
Of wind coming in contact with the surface of the
Mediterranean draw off water with ayidity, and
passing off, are succeeded by fresh portions of air,
which repeat the same process: 4
LIBEL.-The editor Of down east paper
a bachelor-says "the reason why the women
In moi cut themselves in two by light lacing, ls