New-York tribune., 1872-11-05

fine polar air flows below towards the equator But
before the air returns from the poles great changes
have taken place. The aqueous yapor with whicb
il was laden rs it left the tropics corI not subsist
in thc polar cold and was ,.n ,reciptated in the
iorE' y I'''u' Vt 20 commonly of snow. The lana
nvar -, reic Is covered with this snow, which gives
,nh 20 glaciers OF stupendous magnitude ~
: hos hoor sunnoscd that If the Suns heat were
diminished still yastcr glaciers would be proougu"
But the eject would be precisely the reverse Inc
! ouantity of aqueous yapOr would be dimihsneu ~
the lessening of the SIMS heat, and the glaciers
would thus be cut of ut their source In conin'o"
dstillation the liquid is heated and converted ln'o
/ vapor in one vessel and chilled and reconveitcd
| into LIQUID in another But the earth and its at
mosphere constitute vast distillrng apparatus IN
which the equatorial ocean plays the part OF the
boilrr and tc chill regions of the poles the part OF
| tbc condenser. In this process, heat is no less
/ necessary than cold The equatorial ocean had TO
be warmed by the Sun, before "Grecnlands icy
mountains were possible.
! The action of mountains in causing the fall oi
AQUEOUS yapor in the atmosphere is explained III q
singularly interesting section. Imagine a south
west wind blowing across the Atlantic towards
Ireland, il will encounter the mountains of ke1y m
the south. The lowest stratum of this wind has
become fully charged with vapor on its ocean pas
sage ana meeting the udSt VI it iN'iA9 Ah'i'''"
IL is tilted ND and its contents spilled bodily over
them. Hence the luxurious vegetation Of Killarney
and indeed the supply of the lakes with water The
cold crest Of the mountains also assists in the
work of condensation. The formation of clouds by
mountains is often connected with a singular phe-
uomenon. You viii see streamer Of cloud many
hundred yards in length drawn out from an Alpine
peak, 1t appears to be perfectly steady although
strong wind may be blowing at the same time over
the mountain head. Now this permanence is only
! apparent and the cloud, in fact, is blown away.
While il is necessarily dissolved at end 1t Is in
cessantly renewed 1t the other. Supply and con
sumption are thus equalized and the eioud appears
as changeless as the mountain to which il seems TO
/ cling. When the red sun of the evening shines upon
these cloudy streamers, they resemble vast torches
with their flames blown through the air
| The architecture Of snow, which is so important
an element in the phenomena Of glaciers, is made
the subject Of series of graphic illustrations. re-
markabe for their beauty and impressivcness. The
molecules and atoms of all substances, wlenallowcd
free play build themselves into variety OF definite
and. for the most part exquisite forms called crys
tails. Iron. copper, gold, silver lead, sulphur and
especially bismuth, when melted and permitted 20
cool gradually, show this crysiallizing power hNou
dissolve salpeteT in water, and allow the solution
to evaporate slowly yOu viii obtain CRYSTALS
VI 6lO"V ''",' ~ m
salt is converted into vapOr The water Of the at
mosphere is fresh though il is derived from the salt
sea- Sugar dissolved in water yields crystals Of
sugar candy. Flints by natural process Of crys-
tailzation yield the prsms and pyramids OF rock
crystal ChlS Dy liie s'ie PROCESS pIouu'e' ti'I
spar. The diamond is cNStaAzed carbon All hie
precious stones, the ruby sapphire beI3l topaz 'ih
erald, are examples OF inc same cIFat'ui]ne power
! Compared 10 lhe l"iceS oI cry stdiil@',Io'' ',''
| force OF gravity Is simPle a""D' J"
the former case the ultimate pai'lop8 ol i''''C'
snow themselves poSse'Se" ol a'',a'TIc ~" lrP''-
lent poles ny the lhu'ua' aC'Ioh oI "Hc" v'' s"P'
ana structure OF tue cI4S''i arc ue''iiniHIu' - '
soild stale' 'le a't"C''ls PoicS H' iit""S iO nv
togethei' Dul il Suuciehl "I"' 'D "P''u '.,' ''iIU
OIL union Is uisso''' ''' % '"' pms ''o
OF eaoh o'ler IansT. "o n"'""i
the molecules 10 oulIu themselves 'ole'nei - t"c'
heuuaiNeu' Inns j. 'lo c's' VIZ" "''Vr VIM" 10
apparently destitute 01 hXed ioih zen .,I sum
cIeu'S cVoi'I 'lio ,5 So, IL
pHS VI 'Ho ,iS -. W.,
Sei'rS III ~; ,I,a I,;I tb
pIouu'eu III ,lu '"iI '''' ''io
'oi'o' M - m ,-..4;9., -. tI go. ,I,,.r,l
i''s a,'ro,,, 80 ,l .,,,,s,o,.
- isitoI,. I-rssso, T.nd,ll ,,,,,.os il,
Lie d,sirt; + d,,n ,,,or the iuvster. ,,us work
lcb ,s ,,o,, an in tIe atmo7pbere dUriul, the de-
scent of everv snov-sbower and upon the impcrfcc-
tion of all human productions when compared with
toe formed nv what men venture to call the blind
fo,ces of nature But the blindness he suggests is
| NJ =, NJ, t,ro bpt IN oursolves We ought to con-
fess That our novrers are totally inadeouate 10 com
prehend her wonderful operations.
In discussing the changes OF the volume Of water
by heat and cold the author takes occasion 10 cor
rect some popular errors the subject. Water at