New-York tribune., 1872-11-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
ryNDArl,s CLOUDS AND RIVERS ICE AND
CIACIE2s


In this attractive volume we Lave the inst ii-
etalIlrert of the International Scientific Series
awork devoted tothe popular exposition ci piys'al
aud so,al science and TO the phenomena OF life ana
mind The preparation Of this series has been ~,
trustcd 10 writers Of eminent abil'N' "a m,
rCcoeriyod as authorities la q .r tcvorol
branches Of research includi.s. beside the uu-
thor Of tie present NF..ume, Professor Huxley
D. Carpo .er Sr John Lubbock, Professor Viz
chow, Mr. heT ,ert spencer Mr.. }. " LOckyor Pro-
fessor iIerhelot, Professor James d. Dana Professor
y W Johnson, Professor Austin Flint Professor
W. d. Whitney, and several other scientific ceiebn-
ties Of the most distinguished reputation hoth III
Europe and this country. Among the subjects Whhch
viii 6e treated in the progress OF the work are tho
rost siqliifcant problems of modern science com
,ris,no fbc f,rtsof external nature in their physi-
al and chemical aspects the analysis of the meuiai
farulfcs under the iuductiyc method ana
~, tbe basis Of their organic conditions,
mud tbe laws If social development, or the natural
tistorv OF society. The wide range Of topics enI-
braces the specific questions Of Physics and Poll
tics" THE New Chemistry Spectrum Analysis
mind in the Lower Animals "Social Physics
"Thc Negro Races" Zoology since Cuyier.' The
Nervous Syztcm,' Modern Linguistic Science
Atoms and the Atomic Theory Responsibility IN
H.scaso7 "ProtOplasln and the Cell Theory "Ihe
Antiquity Of Man." Food and Drinks Bodily
Motion and Consciousness" and several Others of no
Iss significance aud interest. The work is 10 be
issued simultaneously i'm New-lors London. Paris,
and Iersc. thus securing TO it tue benefit
a. an audience in the principal intellectual ccuters
of Tire world
In the volume now published. Professor Tyn-
dali has presented a noble illustration of the
n.ut.ness and subtlety of his intellectual powers
to scope and insight Of his scientific vision his sim
t1-l,r command Of the appropriate language of expo
fi,o nrlfn
which he unfods the results of intricate scientific
research. An apparent love Of paradox may some
times perhaps bc detected in his method of treat
mcut But this s ony ON csnrlaca 1t has its origin
in tho sense mystery and which the laws Of the
Universe awaken in the truly scientific mind. The
study Of Nature, to the intelligent observer is
series of surprises and the wonder which he feels
himself ho cannot but wish to impress upon others
This Is the secret of Professor Tyndalls inclination
for rstartling effects. He makes appeals to
vulpar curiosity he provides meat for the love
of sensation though he never fails TO seize the inn
acinatvc aspects of Nature, 90 present the facts
of science in their vital and picturesque relations
rather than as "a cabinet of fossils or museum of
skeletons.
Thus the universal agency Of the solarlay in the
production " yscl phenomena is stated almost
in the form Of an arhorsm that the cold lee Of the
Alps has it's origin the heat of the Sun" But how
lucid and beautiful the analytic process by which
he arrives at this curious conclusion He begins by
tracing river TO its source. Starting from the
point where IL flows into the sea, he follows 1t back
ward as it is joined by tributaries which swell ITS
waters The river becomes smaller as these tIlb~
utares are passed. tillit shrinks first to brook,
then 10 a stream, then to a number Of smaller
strcamlcts, ending in mere threads of water
These form the source of the river, and are
usually found among tho hills. But we
have not yet reached the real beginning. These
pTrnitiye stTeamlets are fed by rains. In dry
weather you find them feeble, often indeed quite
dried up. But whence comes the rain that forms the
mountain stIcamsl Not from the blue sky but
from clouds But what are elouds1 You find par
aHI TO them in the condensed steam of locomo-
tive. At every puff of the engine cloud is pro-
jscted into the air. Watch the cloud sharply and
you viii notice that it forms at little distance from
the top of the funnel. You will sometimes see per
fcflv clear space between the funnel and the cloud.
Though that clear space the thing which makes the
cloud must pass What, then, this thing which
is NJ one moment transparent and invisible, and the
next moment visible as an opaque cloUdf It is the
steam OF yapor Of water from the boiler Within
The boiler this steam is transparent and invisible,
but when it minges with the cold air above the hot
tunnels it ceases to be vapOr Every atom OF steam,
when chilled shrinls 10 a more minute particle of
water. The liquid particles thus produced form
Kind of waterdust of exceeding dnencss, which
floats In the air and is called cloud As yOu watch
the cloud-bauuer from the funnel of the locomotive,
sou see il gradually becoming less dense until it
finally mets away altogether. What has becOmeOiit'
It has been reconyerted into true invisible yapOr
The drer the air and the hotter the air the greater
is the amount of cloud which can thus be dissolved
But even on the driest day, this vapor is never alb
sent from the atmosphere The vapOr diiused
through the air Of q room may be CONCEALED TO hOar-
Frost Make the lid of q tea-kete air-tight and
permit the steam TO issue through the nose, cloud
viii be precpitated like that which issues from the
funnel Of a locomotive To produce the cloud in
the case both Of the locomotive and the kettle heat
isnecessary By heating the water, we first convert
II into steam and then by chilling the steam we
convert il into cloud But the fire in Nature which
produces the clouds Of the atmosphere is the fire Of
,he sun We thus trace the river from its mouth TO
IFS source, and come al length to the Sun.
There are rivers, however, which have a different
source from those just described They do not begin
with the drppines on a hillside, nor can they be
Traced 10 a spring. Go to the mouth Of the RhOne,
for instance follow it backwards to Lyons, where it
turns to the East trace through the lake OF Geneva
you finally reach a huge mass of ice which fills the
Rhone valley. and from the bottom of which the
river rushes. In the glacier Of the RhOne You thus
end the source Of the River Rhone. But we have
not come TO the real beginning. You soon perceive
that this earliest water Of the RhOue is
produced 10y the melting Of the ice. If you
80 upon the glacier and walk upwards on its sur
face after time the ice disappears and you come
upon suOw. You soon learn that it is the mountain
snow which feeds the glacier. BY some means OF
other the snow is cony ertcd into ice. But whence
,,lucs the snow ikc the rain ii come, from the