The union Democrat., 1855-10-13

Wonders of the -Afniosphere.

The atmosphere forms spherical shell sur
rounding the earth to depth which is unknown
to us by reason of its growing tenuity as ii is re
leased from pressure of its own superintendent
mass. Its upper surface cannot be nearer to us
than fifty and can scarcely be more than five hun
dred miles. 1t surrounds us on all sides vet we
see 1t not; 1t presses on us with load of fifteen
pounds on every square inch of surface of our
bodies, or from seventy TO one hundred tons on
us ALL yet we dot no so much as feel its weight.
Softer than the finest down, more impalpable
than tie finest Sossamer, it leaves the cobweb
undisturbed, and scarcely stirS the slightest flower
that feeds on the dew il supplies; yet it bears
the fleets of nations on its wings around the
world, and crushes the most refractory substance
with its weight. When in motion its force is suf-
clent to level the most stately forests and stable
Buildings with the earth to raise the waters of
the OCEAN into ridges like mountains, and dash
the strongest ships to pieces like toys 1t warns
ard ceo,S by turns the earth and the living crca-
tures that inhabt It it draws up vapors from
the sea and land, retains them dissolved in itself
or suspended in cisternS or clouds, and throws
them down again as rain or dew, when they are
REQUIRED 1t bends the RAYS Of the sun from
h9ir path to give Us the twilight of evening and
of dawn; it disperses and refracts their various
tint5 to beautuy the approach and the retreat of
the orb o. day Bat Tor The atmosphere, sun
shire would burst upon us and fail rs at once,
and at once remove us trGU midnight darkness
to the blaze Of noon. We should have no tu-
light to aotten and beaujiiy the landscape, no
clouds to SHADE rs from lhe scorching heat, hut
the bald earth, as ii revolvcG on its axis, would
tuFa lis tanned and weatheved front 10 the full
an5 EplGiiig iga,tG laya OF the lord of cav. 1t af-
l0gs he siS icl WHITES aud wGr.ns our francs,
,i!d recel rs i!tG fsavi, That Which lad fe5n pol
luted by use ard is 1hrown off as noxious. 1t
feeds the ilane 2i lie exactly as it does that of
the tire; L Is il both cases consumed and affords
the food ofcoasumption in both cases it becomes
combined with charcoal, which requires it for
combustion, and is removed by it when this is
over.
1t is only the eirding cncrcling air." says a
writer in the North British Review, that flows
ab0ye and arGund us, that makes the whole world
kin. The earoonc acid with which to-day our
breathing Ills the air, tomorrow seeks its way
round the world. The date trees that grow
round the falls OF the Nile viii drink it in By their
leaves; the cedars of Lebanon will take of it to
add 20 their stature: the cocoa-nuts of 'TahGti
viii grow rapidly upon it, and the palms and be-
uaEas of Japan will change it into flowers, The
oxygen we are breathing was distilled for US
come short time ago by the magnoiies of Susque-
hama and the great trees that skirt the Oronoco
and the Amazon the giant rhododendrons of the
NimalayS contributed TO il, and the roses and
myrtles OF Cashmere the cinnamon tree of Cey-
lop and the forests older than The flood, buried
deep in the heart OF Africa, tar behind the Noun
taIuS OF he Neon. The rain we see descending
was thaweC for US out Of the icebergS which have
watched the Polar Star for ages; and the lotus
lilies have soaked up from the Nile and exhaleI
as yapOr SHOWS that rested on the SUBMITS Of
the Alps