The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-03-24
Chemistry Of the Atmosphere.

a Divine Arranger must have spread out
the thin, filmy curtain OF the sky like that
thin film OF water, the blue soap-bub0le, which
like the atmosphere, reflects aud decomposes
the light reflected on its surface. As with
light 50 also the atmosphere is the conductor
OF sound Pro-. Cooke says: Every one who
has dropped stone into the water, OF a still
lake has noticed the system of waves which,
with its ever increasing circles, spreads in ev
cry direction from the stone; but all may not
know tnat when two stones are struck togeth-
er in the air similar system OF aerial waves
spreads, in Overwhelming spheres, through the
atmosphere, and that it is these waves break
ing on the tympanuni OF our ears like the
waves of water on a sand beach, which pre-
duce the sensation we call sound. Two stones
thus struck together give rise to waves OF un-
equal size, following one another at irregular
intervals; and such waves produce an un-
pleasant sensation on our auditory nerves
which we call noise. But if, instead of strik-
ing together two stones, we set in vibration
the string of piano-forte or the reed of an
organ pipe, we excite system of waves, all
of equal size, and succeeding one another
with perfect regularity, and these breaking on
the ear produce by their regular beats what
we call musical note. II the waves follow
one another with such rapidity that one hun
dred and twenty eight break on the tympanum
every second, the note has a fixed pitcn, call
G natural. If the waves come faster than
this, the pitch is higher, and IL less rapidly the
pitch is lower. What you are ali familiar
with as the pitch Of a musical note depends
then, on the rapidity with which the waves Of
sound strike the ear, and may evidently be
measured by the number of waves breaking
on the tympanum in a second"
Science demonstrates that the difference be-
tween colors is of precisely the same kind as
the difference between tones Red, yellow,
green, blue, violet, &c, are names we give to
sensations caused by waves OF ether breaking
at regular intervals on the retina, aud color
corresponds to pitch, and at every step as the
whole scale of colors spreads out before US the
analogy of light to sound becomes still more
evident. And thus wonderful are The forces
the atmosphere holds and the varieties OF ar
rangement it displays; it modifies and diffuses
heat while it holds and dispenses the myste-
rious and astonishing agencies of electrical
machine, is constantly rubbing together glass
and silk, just as If we rub stick of sealing
wax or a glass tube with warm silk nandker-
chief, so the air is always rubbing over the
face of the earth with greater or less rapiditv.
Nature seems TO be great electrical ma
chine. AS man guards his roof from the de-
structive action of lightning-dashino to The
earth, crashing, rending, and burning on fs
way by erecting the lightniug.rod whose
bristIing points quietly drain the clon5s or
falling to do this, receive the charge and bes, !,
1t harmlessly to the earth, SO God has nala a
harmless conductor in every pointed leaf ev-
cry blade OF grass 1t Is said that a common
blade OF grass pointed with natures exquisite
Workmanship is three times as effectual as the