New-York daily tribune., 1863-09-12
NEW VIEWS OF HFAf

,hc most ORIGINAL and important contribution tia
hos yet bccH made 10 the theory and literature oi
Ihcmotics. l. has two.old claim 10 attention;
irs as an admirable exposition Of the general fae's
and laws of heat, q, determined BY expcrim' nj and
displayed in TIE phenomena OF Nature; and second,
as al able statement from high authority Of The
views now hold in the scientific world OF the nature
Of heat ard the new philosophy Of forces.
Pro-. Tynda,l possesses an unusual combination
o qualities FOR the execution Of such work He
uulcs remarkable inventive skill in deyisngexpcri-
ments with great mechanical tact in performing
th.m By means of The thcrmo-clcctric pile The
construction and use Of which Gro fully described
in this volume and aided by the electric light he
gas able to exhibit TO q large audience, and in
striking manner, the elects Of the most minute
changes Of temperature, thus bringing forward "a
range OF phenomena, the representation Of which
bad leea hitherto impossible. Clearly lercoiung
his facts and principles, he presents them with sin-
culary graphic power while his cepeamesiness and
enthusiasm give such yiyaciy TO his style that the
phenomena and experiments he is describing seem
actually to be passing before the readers eye.
While remarkably popular and attractive in charac-
ter. the book at the same time eyinces hcthorourh
ness Of the master-himsch q discoyerer and au-
thority upon the subject Of which he treats.
Tie first seven lectures are devoted 10 a doscyip-
ton of Instruments the sources Of heat, friction,
percussion. combustion, the elects of thermomcinc
heat cxl lauson, sounds produced by the contact of
bodies Of different temperatures, the sphoroidai
state. hquefaction, evaporation convection, CON
gcla,ion. regelation, geysers, and VARIOUS other
thermal phenomena. The remaining lectures arc
devoted to radiant heat. its reflection absorption,
and transmission is relation 10 the various forms
Of matter and tic oihc. radiant forces. Tie work
embraces the whole subject Of heat in its physical
aspects and relations, ald contains many new r.
suits Of late investigation which VIII 10, be found
in any other ueatiscs.
One OF the most remarkable OF the recent discoy
cries In thoTmoiics is the relation Of daIk heat 20
the waicry yapor OF the air, and tls has double
interest from the consummgte dclicgcy Of the
Investigations by which the principle was estab
lishel and the important meteorological consc-
quences 20 which il gives Use. Mellon Of itHy,
wlo has been styled the Newton o; Heat was
the FIST 20 apply Tho thcrmo-clcciric Pile 20 the In
,ostiea,ion 81 dark thermal radiaiions which ore
emitted from al bodies below q rel heat. ~ TIE
use OF plates lenses, and prsms Of rock salt com
mon salt IN blocks, which "a transparent TO dark
heat Mellou lrst engaged ia these Icsoafchos, and
in fact founded this branch Of tie science. Ein-
uovins an apparatus oi wonderful delicacy, figured
and described IL his book, Profcs0r Tynda inves-
ugated the relations Of dark heat 70 various gases
and vapors. lie prepared long glass tube, closed
air-tcht at its ends with plates Of rock salt, end
which he could empty AID ili with various gases al
pleasure. Al one end he placed bis source oi heat,
canister Of hot wafer and at the other the sensi-
| tive face of h,s thermoelcct1c Pile. By erhnu'i-
ing the air and forming vacuum, and then intro
duci1e various gaseous bodies, be determined Nov
much dark hca, passed through and also the differ
cnt absorbing or ntcrcop,ing powers OF the various
substances il the tube. Ii was found tlat the SIN
/ ple gases oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen arrested
hardly trace u the passing heat acting toward IL
as q practical vacuum. On tie contrary, Other
equally transp spaIent gases as ammonia carbuicitod
/ hydrogen, &C., stopped eno7mors numbers Of tie
dark rays; IN fact, were almost Opaque 70 them.
The small trace Of ammonia exhaed into an apart
meut by opening a lady's smelling bottle arrested
many times more Of the dark beet rays tan the ni-
rrogen and oxygen gases which form The body OF
! the atmosphere. Professor Tynda found that per-
fec,ly pure air stopped all exceedingly minute por
ton of the heat which he assumed as the unit for
comparison of other bodies, and upon investigation
Il proved that the small amount of aqueous vapor
contained in the or struck down sixty or seventy
times as much heat as the gases Of the CIR itsei
so new and striking result could not DO permitted
to pass unchallenged on any mans authority. The
experiments were therefore multiplied, and varied
:, an extraordinary extent upon air brought from
all Nights and sources, but with the same result.
The principle thus established becomes an im-
portant key TO the explanation Of natural phc-
uomcna. Luminous heat, or heat OF high reirangi-
bilitv, coming from the sun, penetratcs the a'nos
phere and reaches the earth. ii is here changed to
obscure or dark heat, and losing its power Of cs-
Gaming backward through the air il retained. Thus
the watery apor Of the air acts as barb or ratchet
wheel, permitting motion in one direction and
Stopping il in another and by preventing the cs-
cane o: heat keeps tho world warm as by blanket.
We're the aqueous vapor Of the atmospcre with
drawn. the earth would be unuble TO accumulate
sufficient heat for the maintenance OF life. The
question of the loss Of heat by upward radiation be-
comes at once question Of the dyness OF the air.
We gee why il is that in tOnid deserts the nights
are often 70 cold as 20 freeze water, there being
nothing 70 check the torrent OF heat which poured
into space by nightly radiation. Again we under
stand one reason why high mountains are 80 cold
and act as such powerful condensers upon the vapor
which ia brought up by winds and strikes against
their sides There s bu, small amount Of aqeons
yapor IN thc unpcr regions OF The atmosphere, and
the heat %. the mountain SUBMITS Is consequently