t 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 
 https://archive.org/details/influenceofbluerOOplea 
 
Sketch of Gen. A. J. Pleasonton’s Grapery, in the 24th Ward of the City of Philadelphia, displaying the 
 
 arrangement of the Blue and Transparent Glasses 
 
THE 
 
 INFLUENCE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Blue Eat of the Sunlight 
 
 AMD OF THE 
 
 BLUE COLOUR OF THE SKY, 
 
 IN DEVELOPING ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE LIFE ; 
 
 IN ARRESTING DISEASE, AND IN RESTORING HEALTH IN ACUTE AND 
 CHROJHC DISORDERS TO HUMAN AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS, 
 
 AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE EXPEBI2IEMT3 OF 
 
 GEN. A. J. PLEASONTON, AND OTHERS. 
 
 Between the years i86i and i8j6. 
 
 AJtefflJ to llie Pladslsliia Society fir ProMiii AAiiciiltaie. 
 
 “ Error may he tolerated, •what reason is left free to combat it." — Thomas yeffersott. 
 “ If this theory he true, it upsets all other theories." — Richmond Whig. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 CT.AXTON, KEMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 - 1876. 
 

 
 '1 -" i.- -v^^^.'i^'''-.-i '.j 
 
 y 
 
 
 '1 
 
 
 fv 
 
 Entered accqrding to Act. of Congress in the year 1876, 
 
 _^By gen. AUGUSTUS J. PLEASONTON, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 
 
 P’l 
 
 ■? 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 TTating been much interested in the phenomena of the physics of the earth, 
 llio aiit'iui., in offering to liis readers a second edition of his work, “Oh the 
 luriueiic6. ,ee the Blue Color of the Sky in Developing Animal and Vegetable 
 Life,” may be indulged in his introduction into this preface of some views that 
 his observations have led him to entertain relative to the variations .of tempera- 
 ture, and changes of our seasons, wliich are in harmony with the subjects treated 
 by him in this work. 
 
 The first edition of the following memoir was printed for distribution 
 among scientific and literary institutions, and among persons of culture, for the 
 purpose of attracting the attention of those for whom it was intended, to the 
 subjects of which it treats. It was hoped that its publication would invite 
 investigaiion into the nature, composition, and influences of those great forces 
 which, in the poverty of our language, we call imponderables, that is to say, not 
 to be w"cighed in the balance, and consequently never to be found wanting. 
 This expectation is likely to be realized, if we may judge from the general 
 interest that appears to be taken in the memoir, w'hich has been manifested in 
 the. numerous apirlications that have been made to the author, from various 
 parts of our country, for copies, of it. The edition has now been distributed, 
 yet .so many persons who liave applied for copies of the memoir are still without 
 it, that it has been deemed advisable to issue another edition. 
 
 If, by a course of study, and observation of the great forces of nature, as 
 they are exliibited, not in the laboratory, upon the minutest scale, but in those 
 grand operations by which physical changes are at every moment developed 
 before our eyes, we can succeed in penetrating the mysteries of their origin, 
 of their evolution, of their application, and of their reciprocal conversions into 
 each other, we shall become indeed wise in our generation, and mankind in the 
 future will be able to rejoice in a development never yet reached in any pre- 
 ceding age. 
 
J>y \vny of illustration of this idea, we may suggest that this planet is 
 surrouudeii, at variable altitudes above its surface, by a canopy of cold, increas- 
 ing in jhtensity with its distance above the earth. 'Kow, w'e may ask, what 
 produces the changes of our seasons? We answer, simply the descent or ascent 
 of columns of tliis canopy of cold 1 
 
 It has been observed, for any years, that the first frost of the autumn 
 appears in Texas or Louisiana, or some othef of the Gulf States, while at :h.- 
 same time no frost is observable in other localities situated much farther to the 
 north— the commonly supposed place of departure of our winters. This frost, 
 therefore, must come from the descent of the cold of the higher atmosphere 
 immediately over the locality where it prevails. Following the valley of the 
 Mississippi and those of its tributaries, frost appears successively in various 
 idaces along those routes, till it reaches the vallies of the Northern Lakes, 
 running along which it is felt in Northern New York and the NewJEngland 
 States, and subsequently in the Middle and Southern Atlantic States. It does, 
 not reach the vicinity of Philadelphia until some fifteen or twenty days after 
 it has shown itself on the Gulf of Mexico. Now would it not seem that the 
 influences producing this frost are telluric; and not exclusively solar, as hitlierto 
 they have been supposed to he '* 
 
 • V 
 
 We know that in the ocean there are columns of fresh water which differ in 
 temperature from the. surrounding sea water, and with which they do not 
 mingle for a long time. So is it for a himdred or more miles at sea, distant from 
 the mouths of the great rivers Amazon, Orinoco, Mississippi, etc., whose fresh 
 waters do not mix w'ith the salt waters surrounding them, owing to the difference 
 of their densities. In like manner the cold air of the. tipper atmosphere descends 
 in columns of various extent over particular localities, to vary the temperature 
 and change the seasons, on the surface of our earth, without mixing with the 
 warmer and more expanded air beneath, which it displaces. 
 
 • The spring and summer seasons arc produced by increased radiations from 
 tlie interior heat of the earth, forcing upwards the dense cold of winter, whose 
 particles are so close together as to prevent the intrusion among them of tbe 
 e^panded warm air in its ascent. ■ Much of the heat of the lower atmospliere is 
 also developcxl in the conversion of vapor into clouds by condensation from cold. 
 
 It is in this way that our seasons arc changed. Let our savans discover 
 how and why tlicse effects are produced. Until they do, it may be. suggested 
 that they arc owing to electrical atmospherical disturbances in the upper atmos- 
 phere, repelling the negative electricity of those regions, and forcing the cold 
 
iii 
 
 air to the surface of the earth, where it displaces the warnier and nrore rarehed 
 and expanded air, and condenses in rain, snow and hail, the vapors it contains, 
 driving tlie displaced g amier air totlvo tropics, and the heat from the. tropics 
 attracted to the cohdensed vapor in the clouds in the temperate zones to liquefy 
 them in rain, producing winter. ' :r 
 
 Tn the opposite manner the warm seasons of spring and summer are pro- 
 duced hy the positive elcclricity of the suxfaee-air .of the earth becoming wai .ued 
 by increased radiation of heat from the interior of the earth, repelling itself, 
 and displacing the upper strata of cold ah, till by induction of electricity the 
 temperature of the season is established. 
 
 • ■ f . . 
 
 geologists tell us that in the early existence of this planet, the greater part 
 f)f tlve earth’s surface was covered with ice, and that this period of time is Cidled 
 the G-lacial Period. 
 
 ' Let us imagine that the igneous action, of the elementary substances of the 
 interior of the earth’s ermst, just before that period, might have been so iidense 
 as by the radiation of its heat to the surface of the earth to rarefy the lower _ 
 atmosphere, converting into vapor the water it contained, and forcing it upward 
 till the whole surface of the eartH was almost incandescent. 
 
 To restore' the equilibrium, the canopy of cold repelled by its own negative 
 electricity from above, whiclr has been increased by the currents of polar elec- 
 . trikty, largely dcyeldped by this central and interior igi^ous action— and 
 attracted by the positive electricity in the heated atmosphere below— descended 
 to the surface of the earth, condcsi.sing the vapors of- the atmosphere into rain, 
 and afterwards into hail and snow, driving the remainder of the warmer air 
 at what wo call, now, the temperate zones, to the tropics,'" and covering the' 
 surfaces of the earth, from the poles to the tropics, with a dense mantle of ice, 
 freezing the rivei-s, hays, iTnd seas of those latitudes. -The internal central fires 
 "thus eoncerdTated, in due season increased their radiation of heat, and melted 
 the .superjacent ice, whidx, breaking from- the' sides of glaciers in large masses, 
 
 - slid aiid rolled to the. ocean, there becounng'lcshergs, and carrying- with them 
 'those immense boulders ■which, iorn from the mountain sides by the adhesion 
 • of the ice, have left the traces of their furrows on the slopes of the mountains, 
 and have marked their courses till, by the melting of the bergs, they have 
 been dropped in the ocean, which subsequently, by its subsidence, have left 
 them dry on the land. If such was the cause of the glacial period, it would 
 rc,quire no grout stretch of fancy to coniprehcnd tlie deluge of Deucalion or 
 that of our great ancestor; iN'oah, wiien tlie rain descended for forty days ; 
 
occasioned no doubt by a lessCr descent of the canopy of cold (limiting its . 
 effect to the condensation of five vapors of the atmosphere into rain) than 
 that vvliich produced tire glacial lauioiL' 
 
 If such effects follow from ,sueh causes, wfe need not be at a loss to account • 
 for the changes of our seasons, or the daily variations of temperature in every 
 locality. 
 
 This edition of our memoir has been printed upon tinted paper with blue ■ 
 ink, as an experiment, in an attempt to relieve the eyes of the reader from the. 
 great glare, occasioned by the reflection of gas light at night from the white 
 paper usually employed in ' the juinting of hooks. If it '.shall succeed we may 
 hope to see the tinted paper introiiuced for all books and periodicals. 
 
 rmLADELPHIA, July 29, 1871. " i. 
 
 
PREFACE TO THE LAST EDITION. 
 
 r 
 
 In the previous editions of my memoir “ On the Influence of the Blue Colour 
 of the Sky in Developing Animal and Yegetahle Life,” an erroneous, imjjres- 
 Sion has been created by the ambiguity of - the language Employed in describing 
 the- results of my experiments -with light. From the tints reflected from the 
 outside of the coloured glass, upon centain localities in my terraced garden, I 
 fancied that the glass itself -was of ayiolet tint, and so attributed the remarkable 
 results -within the grape^ to violet rays. Upon my attention having been 
 called to this apparent discrepancy, I investigated the matter, and found that the 
 glass -was of a dark mazarine blue — o-sving its colour to a preparation of cobalt, 
 \vhlch had been fused -with the materials composing the glass during its manu- 
 fueturo— and* hat the reflection of the violet ray on the outside -was due to the 
 irregular surface of the glass itself upon -which the light of the firmament, as 
 well as of the sunlight had fallen, and had been thus reflected. Wliatever effect 
 may he produced by the use of violet coloured glass is to be attributed to. the 
 ■ proportion of the blue ray which enters into the composition of the -violet rays of 
 light, and not to those composite raj’s themselves. 
 
 This edition, begun in the summer of the year 1373, has been prepared at 
 intervals snatched from the occupations of a busy life, which will account for 
 any incoherences that may appear in the subject? as they are treated herein. 
 
Tlie following memoir was read by Gen, A. J. Pleasonton. 
 before tbe Pbiladelpbia Society tor Promoting Agriculture, on 
 Wediiesday, tbe 3d of May, 1871, at their room, S. W. corner 
 ot 9th and "Walnut Streets, in the City ot Philadelphia, upon 
 the following recpiest ; 
 
 1309 Walnxtt St., mii, 1871. 
 
 Mk Dear General: 
 
 Will it suit you, and will you do us the favor to explain your 
 process of using glass in improving stock to the' Philadelphia So- 
 ciety for Promoting Agriculture, on Wednesday next, the 3d of 
 May, at eleven o’clock, A.M., at their Eoom, S. W. corner of Ninth 
 and Walnut Streets, (entrance on Ninth street) ?■ You were kind 
 enough to express to me. in conversation, j'our willingness to give 
 u.s, the result of your experiments. 
 
 ■ Yours, very truly, 
 
 W. H. DEAYTON, 
 
 President 
 
 General Pleasonton. 
 
Ifr. President and Gentlemen of The Philadelphia Society for 
 Promoting Agriculture. 
 
 At the request of my old friend'and yoiir respected Presi- 
 dent, I have attended your meeting this morning to impart to 
 you tlie results of certain experiments that I have mjide within 
 the last ten years in attempts to utilize the blue color of the 
 sky in the development of vegetable and animal life. 
 
 I may prernise that for a long time I have thought that the 
 blue color of the sky, so permane!-' and so alKpervading- and 
 yet so varying in intensity of color, according to season and 
 latitude, must have some abiding relation and intimate con- 
 nection with the living organisms on this planet. 
 
 Deeply impressed with this idea, in the autumn of the year 
 1800, 1 commenced the erection of a cold grapery on my farm 
 in the western part of this city. I remembered that while a 
 student of chemistry I was taught that in the analysis of the 
 ray of the sun by the prism, in the year 1666, by Sir Isaac New- 
 ton, he had resolved it into the seven primary rays, viz : red, 
 orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, and had disco- 
 vered that these elementary rays had different indices of refrac- 
 tion ; that for the red ray at one side of the solar spectrum being 
 the least, while that of the violet at the opposite side thex'eof was 
 the greatest, from which he deduced his celebrated doctrine 
 of the different refrangibility of the rays of light and further, that- 
 Sir John Herschel in his subsequent investigation of the pro- 
 perties of light had shown that- the cherin^l power of the solar 
 ray is greatest in the blue rays, which give the least light of any of 
 the Imiinoiis prismatic radiations, but the largest quantity of so- 
 lar heat,^ and that later experiments established the fact of the 
 stimulating influence of the blue rays upon vegetation. Haviuo- 
 - concluded to make a practical application of"the properties of 
 the blue and violet rays of light just refeiTed to in stimulating ve- 
 getable life, I began to inquire in.every accessible direction if 
 this stimulating quality of the blue or violet ray had ever re- 
 ceived any practical useful application. My inquiries developed 
 the facts that various experiments had been made in England 
 and on the European continent with glass colored with eimh of 
 
c 
 
 the several primary rays, hut that they wore so iinshiishietory 
 ill their results tliat nothiiia; useful came cf Uiem so far as auy 
 iin}ir()vemeiit in the process of devehapiriy’ ve/rcia.iion was con- 
 cerned. Finding no beaten track, I was left to grop-'. iny way 
 as best I ci)uld under the guidance of the violet ras* alone. 
 My grapery was finished in ]\Iarch, 1861. Its dimensions were, 
 84 feet long, 26 feet wide, 16 feet higirat the ridge, with a dou- 
 ble-pitc.heil roof. It was built at the foot of a tet raced .garden, in 
 the direction of H. E. 1)y E. to S. W. by W. On three sides of it 
 there was a border 12 feet wide, .and on the fourth or N. E. by 
 E, side the border was only five feet wide, bcirig a walk of the 
 garden. The borders inside and outside were excavaicd 3 feet 
 6 inches deep, and w'oro fillcfl up with the usual nutritive jnat- 
 tcr, carefully'proparcd for growing vines. I do not think they 
 diffcrc(l ossenliail}'- from thousand.^ of other borders wbieh 
 have been made in man.y parts of the world. The first ques- , 
 tion to be solved on the completion of the frame of the 
 grapery, was the proportion of blue or violet glass to he used 
 on the z’oof. Shuuld too much he used, it would reduce the 
 temperature 'too much, and cause a foilure of the experiment; 
 if too little, it would not afford a fair test. At a venture I 
 adopted every eighth row of glas.s on the roof to he violet 
 colored, alternating the rows oti opposite .sides of the roof, so 
 that the sun in its duilj'- course should cast a beam of violet 
 light on every leaf in the grapeiy. Cuttings of ^■inc8 of some 
 twenty variciies of grapes, each one year old, of the thickness 
 of a ])ipe-stem, and cut close to the pots containing them, were 
 planted in the borders inside and outside of the grapery, in. 
 the. early part of April, 1801. Soon after being planted thg 
 growth of- the vines began. Those on the outside were 
 trained through earthen pipes in the walls to the inside,, and 
 as they grew they were tied up to the wires like_ those wliich 
 had been planted within. A^ery soon the vines began to at- 
 tract great notice of all who saw them, from the rapid growth 
 they Avere making. ' Every day disclosed some new extension, 
 and the gardener was kept busy in tying up the new wood 
 which the day before he had not observed. In a few Aveeks 
 after tbe vines had been planted, the walls and inside of the 
 roof were closely cov'ered Avith the most luxurious-and healthy 
 development of foliage and Avood. 
 
 In the early part of September, 1861, Mr. Eobert Buist, Sr., 
 a noted seedsman and distinguished horticulturist from whom 
 I had procured, the vines, haAung heard of their Avonderful 
 growth, visited the grapery. * On entering it he seemed to be' 
 
t 
 
 lost in amazement at "wliat he saw; after examining it very care- 
 fully? tiirning to me, he said, “ General! I have been cultivating 
 plants and vines of various kinds for the last forty years; I have 
 seen some of the best vineries and conservatories in England and 
 Scotland, but I have never seen anything like this growth.”’ 
 He then measured some of the vines and found them forty- 
 five feet in length, and an inch in diameter at the distance of 
 one foot above the ground ; and these dimensions were the 
 growth of only five months I He then . remarked, “I visited 
 last week a new grapery near Darby, the vines in which I fur- 
 nished at the same time I did- yours ; they were of the same 
 varieties, of like age and size, when they were planted as yours ; 
 they were planted at the same time with yours. When I saw 
 them last week, they were puny spindling plants not more 
 than five feet long, and scarcely increased in diameter since 
 ■ they were planted — and yet they have had the best possible 
 care and attendance ! ” 
 
 The vines continued healthy and to grow, making an abun- 
 dance of young wood during the remainder of the season of 
 1861. 
 
 In March of 1862 they were started to grow, having been 
 pi'uned and cleaned in January of that year. The growth in 
 this second season was, if anything, more remarkable than it 
 had been in the previous year. Besides the formation of new 
 wood and the display of the most luxuiriant foliage, there was 
 a wonderful number of bunches of grapes, which soon assumed 
 the most remarkable proportions — the bunches being of extra- 
 ordinary magnitude, and the grapes of unusual siz"e and de- 
 velopment. 
 
 In September of 1862 the same gentleman Mr, EobertBuist, 
 Sr,, WHO had visited the grapery the year before came again — 
 this time accompa nied by his foreman. The grapes were then 
 beginni ng to color and to ripen rapidly. On entering the grapery, 
 astonished at the wonderful display of foliage and fruit which it 
 presented, he stood for a while in silent amazement; he then 
 slowly walked around the grapery several times, critically ex- 
 amining its wonders ; when taking from his pocket paper and 
 pencil, he noted on the paper each bunch of grapes, and esti- 
 mated its weight, after which aggregating the whole, he came to 
 me and said, “ General ! do you know that you have 1200 pounds 
 of grapes in this grapery ?” On my saying that I had no idea 
 of the quantity it contained, he continued, “ you have indeed 
 that weight of fruit, but I would not dare to publish it, for no 
 
8 
 
 one ‘.voiild believe me.” "We well conceive of bis astnn- 
 isbmont at this product wlicn we are reminded that iii grape- 
 groving countrio,s where grapes have been grown for centu- 
 ries. that a period of time of from tive to six years will elapse 
 ‘before a single bunch of grapes can be produced from a young 
 vine — while before him in the second year of the growth of' 
 wnes wbich he himself had furnished only seventeen mouths 
 before, he saw this remarkable yield of the finest and clioicest 
 varieties of grapes. He might well say that an account of it 
 would be incredible. 
 
 During the next season (1863) the vines again fruited and 
 matured a crop of grapes estimated by compai'ison with the 
 yield of the previous year to weigh about two tons ; the vines 
 were yjerfectly healthy and -free from the usual maladies which 
 affect the grape. By this time the grapery and its products 
 had become partially known among cultivators, who said that 
 such excessive crops would exhaust the vines, and that the 
 follovring year there would be no fruit, as it was well known 
 that all plants required I’est after yielding large crops ; notwith- 
 standing, new wood was formed this year for the next year’s 
 crop, which turned out to be quite as large as it had been in 
 the season of 1863, and so on year by year the vines have con- 
 tinued to bear large ci'ops of fine fruit without iutcriuission- 
 for the last nine years. They are now healthy and strong, 
 and as yet show no signs of decrepitude or exhaustion; 
 
 The success of the grapery induced me to make an experi- 
 ment with animal life. In the autumn of 1869 I built a pig- 
 gery and inti’oduced into the roof and three sides of it violet- 
 colored and white glass in equal proportions — half of each 
 kind. Separating a recent litter of Chester county pigs into 
 two parties, I placed three sows and one barrow pig in the 
 ordinary pen, and three other sows and one other barrow pig 
 in the- pen under the violet glass. The pigs w'ere all about 
 two months old. The weight of the pigs was as follows, viz : 
 Under the violet glass, No. 1 sow, 42 lbs.. No. 2, a barrow pig, 
 45J lbs,, No, 3, a sow, 38 lbs., No. 4, a sow 42, lbs., their ag- 
 gregate weight 167-J lbs. The weight of the others in the 
 common pen was as follows, viz No. 1,, a sow, 60 lbs., No. 2, 
 a sow, 48 lbs.. No. 3, a barrow big, 59 lbs.. No. 4, a sow, 46 
 lbs ; their aggregate weight was 203 lbs. ' It will be observed 
 that each of the pigs under the violet glass was lighter in 
 weight than the lightest in weight pig of those under the sun- 
 light alone in the common pen. The two sets of pigs were 
 treated exactly alike ; fed with the same kinds of food at 
 
9 
 
 eq^ual intervals of time, and vritli equal quantities by measure 
 at each meal, and. were attended by the same man. They 
 were put in the pens on the 3d day of November, 1869, and 
 kept there until the 4th day of March, 1870, when they were 
 weighed again. By some misconception of my orders, the 
 separate weight of each pig was not had. The aggregate 
 weight of the three sows under the violet light on the 8d of 
 November, 1869, was 122 lbs; on the 4th of March, 1870, it 
 was 520 lbs., increasc^98 lbs. 
 
 The aggregate weight of the three sows in the old pens , on 
 the 3d of November, 1869, was 144 lbs,, and on the 4th of 
 March, 1870, it was 530 lbs., increase 386 lbs., or 12 lbs. less 
 than those under the violet glass had gained. 
 
 The weight of thq barrow pig in the common pen on the 
 3d of November, 1869, was 59 lbs., and on the 4th of March, 
 1870, it was 210 lbs., increase 151 lbs. The weight of the 
 barrow pig under the violet light, on the 3d of November, 
 1869, was 45 J lbs., and on the 4th of March, 1870, it was 170 
 lbs., increase 124| lbs. The large increase of the weight of 
 the barrow pig in the common pen is to be attributed to his 
 superior size and weight on being put in the same common 
 pen with the three sows, and which enabled him to seize upon 
 and appropriate to himself moi;e than his share of the com.- 
 mon food. 
 
 If the barrow pig under the violet light had increased at 
 the rate of increase of the barrow pig in the common pen, his 
 weight on the 4th March, 1870, would have been only Ihlfyl, 
 Ibs.^^instead of his actual weight of 170 lbs. — showing his fate 
 of increase of weight to have been 8i«, lbs. more than that of 
 the other barrow pig. 
 
 If the barrow pig under the sunshine in the common pen 
 had increased at the rate of increase of the barrow pig under 
 the violet glass, his weight on the 4th.of March, 1870, should 
 have been 224/(^ lbs. instead of 210 lbs., his- actual weight at 
 that date. 
 
 . By these comparisons it seems obvious that the influence of 
 tlie violet-colored glass was very marked, although it must be 
 borne in mind that 6wing to the great declination of the sun 
 during the period of the experiment and the consequent com- 
 parative feebleness of the force of the actinic . or chemical rays 
 of the blue sky at that time, the effect was not so great as it 
 would have been at a later period of the season ; but the time 
 
10 
 
 ■- 1 ‘ the experiment was selected for that very reason. The 
 t;viimals were not fed to produce fat or increase of size, but 
 ^■mply to ascertain, if practicable, whether by the ordinary 
 nmde of feeding usual on farms, in this country, the develop- 
 ment of stock could be hastened by exposing them in pens to 
 t'iie combined influence of sunlight and the transmitted rays 
 of the blue sky. 
 
 My next experiment was with an Alderney bull calf born on 
 'he 26th "f January, 1870 ; at its birth it was so puny and fee- 
 ]>le that the man Avho attends upon my stock, a very expe- 
 rienced hand, told me that it could not live. I directed him 
 to put it in one of the pens under the violet glass. It was done. 
 In 24 hours a very sensible change had occurred in the animal. 
 It had arisen on its feet, walked about the pen, took its food 
 freely by the finger, and manifested great vivacity. In a few 
 days its feeble condition had entirely disappeared. It began 
 to grow, and its development was marvelous. On the 31st 
 March, 1870, 2 months and 5 days after its birth, its rapid 
 growth was so apparent, that as its hind quarter was then 
 growing, I told my eon to measure its height, and to note 
 down in writing the height of the hind quarter, and the time 
 of measurement — whi.ch he did. On the 20th of the follow- 
 ing May (1870), just fifty days aftei’wards, my son again mea- 
 sured the hind quarter, and found that in that time it had 
 gained exactly six inches in height, carrying its lateral development 
 with it. Believing the question solved, the calf was turned into 
 the barn-yard, and when mingling with the cows he manifested 
 every symptom of full masculine vigor, though at the time he 
 was only four months old. Since the 1st of April of this year, 
 when he was just 14 months old, he has been kept with my 
 lierd of cows, and has fulfilled every expectation that I had 
 formed of him. He is now one of the best developed animals 
 that can be found any where. 
 
 These, gentlemen, are the experiments about which your 
 curiosity has been excited. If by the combination of sunlight 
 and blue light from the sky, you can mature quadrupeds in 
 twelve months with no greater supply of food than would be 
 used for an immature animal in the same period, you can 
 scarcely conceive of the immeasurable value of this discovery 
 to an agricultural people. You would no longer have to wait 
 five years for the maturity of a colt ; and all your animals 
 could be produced in the greatest abundance and variety. A 
 prominent member of the bar a short time since told me that 
 bis sister, who is a widow of a late distinguished general in 
 
11 
 
 the army, had applied blue light to the rearing of poultry, 
 with the most remarkable success, after having heard of my 
 experiments. In regard to the human family, its influence 
 would be wide spread — ^}'ou could not only in the temperate 
 regions produce the early maturity of the tropics, but you 
 could invigorate the constitutions of invalids, and develop in 
 the young, a- generation, physically and intellectually, which 
 might become a marvel to rnankind. Architects would be 
 requii'ed to so arrange the introduction of these mixed rays of 
 light into our houses, that the occupants might derive the 
 greatest benefit from their influence. Mankind will then not 
 only be able to live fast, but they can live well and also live 
 long. 
 
 Let us attempt an explanation of this phenomenon. It is 
 well known that differences of temperature evolve electricity*, 
 as do also evaporation, pressure suddenly produced or suddenly 
 removed, in ydiich may be comprised a blow or stroke, as, for 
 instance, from the horseshoe in the rapid motion of a horse on 
 a stone in the pavement, striking fire, which is kindled by the 
 electricity evolved in the impact, or, again, from the collision 
 of two silicious stones in which there is no iron, is electricity 
 produced. 
 
 ^ Friction even of two pieces of dried wood excites combus- 
 tion by the evolution of hydrogen gas which bursts into flame 
 when brought into contact with the opposite electricity evolved 
 by the heat. Chiystallization, the freezing of water, the 
 melting of ice or snow — every act of combination in respira- 
 tion, every movement and contraction of organic tissues, and, 
 indeed, every change in the form of matter evolve electricity, 
 which in turn contributes to form new modifications of the 
 matter which has yielded it. 
 
 The diamond, about whose origin so much mystery has 
 always existed, it is likely, is the product of the decomposition 
 of carbonic acid gas in the higher atmosphere by electricity, 
 libei’ating the oxygen gas, converting it into ozone, fusing the 
 carbon, and by the intense cold there prevailing, which is of 
 opposite electricity, chrystallizing the 'fused carbon, which is 
 precipitated by its gravity to the earth. 
 
 To the repellent affinity of electricity are we indebted for 
 the expansive force of steam whose power wields the mighty 
 trip hammer, propels the ship through the ocean, and draws 
 the train nver the land — and to the opposite electricities of the 
 heated steam and the cold water introduced into the boiler to 
 
repleuisli it, do we owe those terri])le explosions in steam 
 boilers whose prevention has hitherto, defied human skill. 
 But the most interesting application of electricity, is in 
 nature’s development of vegetation. Let us illustrate it : 
 
 Seed perfectly dried, hut still retaining the vital principle, 
 like the seed of wheat preserved for thoupnds of years in 
 mummy cases in the catacoinbs of Egypt, it planted in a soil 
 of the richest alluvial deposits, also thoroughly dried, will not 
 germinate. Why? Let us examine. The alluvial soil is 
 composed of the deJrYs of hills and mountains containing an 
 extensive variety of metallic and metalloid compomids min- 
 gled with the remains of vegetable and animal matter in a 
 state of great comminution, washed by the rains and carried 
 by freshets into the depressions of the surface of the earth, 
 'lihese various elements of the' soil have dilferent electrical 
 attributes. • In a perfectly dry state no electrical action will 
 occur amo-ng them, hut let the rain, bringing with it ammonia 
 and carbonic acid, in however minute quantities, froin the 
 upper atmosphere, fall upon this alluvial soil, so as to moisten 
 its mass within the influeiice of light, heat, and air, and plant 
 your seed within it, and what will you observe ? Rapid germi- 
 nation of the seed. W^hy ? The slightly acidulated, or it may 
 be alkaline water of the rain has formed the medium to excite 
 galvanic currents of electricity in the heterogeneous matter of 
 the alluvial soil— the vitality of the seed is developed and 
 vegetable life is the result. Hence vegetable life owes its 
 existence to electricity. Herein consists the secret of success- 
 ful agriculture. If you can maintain the currents of electri- 
 city at the roots of plants by suppl};ing the acidulated- or 
 alkaline moisture to excite them during droughts, you will 
 secure the most abundant and unvarying crops.^ To do this, 
 your soil should be composed of the most varied elements, 
 mineral, earthy, alkaline, vegetable, and animal matter in a 
 state of greatly comminuted decomposition. 
 
 The poverty of soils arises from the homogeneous character 
 of their composition. A soil altogether clayey, or coniposcd of 
 silicious sand, or the debris of limestone, or of alkaline sub- 
 stances exclusively, must necessarily be barren for the want 
 of electrical excitement, which no one of the said elements 
 will produce ; but commingle them all with the addition of 
 decomposed vegetable and animal matter, and you will form a 
 soil which will amply reward the toil of the husbandman. 
 
 What do you suppose has produced the giant trees of Cali- 
 
13 
 
 fornia? Electricity! Since tlie west coast of America has 
 been known to Europeans, and perhaps for centuries be- 
 fore, it has been subjected to the most devastating earth- 
 quakes. From the Straits of Magellan to the Arctic 
 Ocean, traces of volcanic action are .everywhere visible. Its 
 mounl'dns have been upheaved, broken, torn asunder, and 
 someti mes, like Ossa upon Pelion, one has been superimposed 
 on another. 
 
 All volcanic countries are noted in the temperate regions, 
 where they produce anything, for the exuberance of their 
 vegetable productions. Etna has been famous for its large 
 Chest- n,xi trees, which have given a name Catania to the to-wn 
 near irs luise. 
 
 The ij'noral richness of California has doubtless, by the 
 debris its mountains, carried into the valleys where grow 
 these h.i’ge trees, furni.shed an immense deposite of various 
 matter which,- under the favorable circumstances of the locali- 
 ties, In r . maintained for ages a healthful electrical excitement 
 resulr-'g dii-ough centuries of undisturbed growth in these 
 vegetu!;ia wonders. 
 
 Who is there that has not been struck with admiration in 
 looking rpon the firmament, when the atmosphere was clear- 
 est, was unclouded by the slightest vapor, — ^Avhen, in the 
 brig' of sunlight, it would put on its livery of blue, and 
 dispiry its resplendent and glorious beauties? How many 
 myris ds of mankind, in all ages, have gazed upon this mag- 
 nificent arch, of what men call “sky;” and howfe-\y havi - ever 
 asked tbe question, Why is the sky blue? aiid why should its 
 intensity of blue vary in different latitudes, and in difierent 
 seasor.is? 
 
 Hl said he had never seen its blue so intense as in 
 
 tlie tr(.‘pio 3 and under the equator. Arctic navigators have also 
 declared, that in the arctic regions the intensity of the blue 
 color 01 the sky was amazing. Here are two extremes of lati- 
 tude 'lisplaying the same effect; and in our own temperate re- 
 gion many have observed a variation in the intensity of the 
 blue of the sky, in different seasons, extending from the early 
 spring until the close of autunni, but never equaling in depth 
 of color what is represented of it, eithei in the tropics or in 
 the ai’ctic or antarctic regions. 
 
 On no part of our planet is the development of vegetable 
 life so grand, so various, 80.e.vcessive and so constant as in the 
 
14 
 
 tropics and in the eqnatorif/l r'fegious. "Wliile this wonderful 
 display of vegetation is observed in these regions, the exuber- 
 ance of animal life and the rapid growth of vegetable life m 
 the arctic regions are said to be unequaled, in any other part 
 of our world. Let us see if these results in the two natural 
 kingdoms may not be attributed largely to the same cause. 
 
 Recent discoveries have shown that the Zodiacal light over 
 the equator and the aurorre borealis and australis arb evolu- 
 tions of electricity. In the arctic i-egions there is little doubt 
 that the auroras are constantly evolved, though they are not 
 txlwciys visible. Tbey li£ive been seen to emeigo iioru tlie sur- 
 face of the ocean, at short distances from the observers, and 
 ascending into the upper regions of the atmosphere, to present 
 those corruscations of brilliant light, shooting as it were to 
 the equatorial regions, in rapid flashes, for which they have 
 been noted wherever observed. 
 
 In the equatorial regions it is well known that af certain 
 periods of the year the accumulation of efectricity in the upper 
 atmosphere'i's so excessive, 'that the earth is shaken with thun- 
 derbolts, and the air illuminated by day as well as night with 
 constant shoots- of electric flame, as they rush vith trighttul 
 velocity to their great .ceutre ot attraction, the eaith and ocean 
 in those regions. ^V'h^nce does this electi-icity come, and 
 where does it go? 
 
 If we may be' permitted to form a conjectuie, we might 
 simgest that the sixty odd primary elements which enter into 
 the composition of the crust of our planet such as carbon, 
 sulphur, phosphorus, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, the metals, 
 the- metalloids, etc. — ^having been endowed by the Creator with 
 different electrical qualities and conditions — when they were 
 assembled together in this planet, evolved in the interior there- 
 of electricity, light, heat, and magnetism in certain or variable 
 qualities and quantities. These constitute the forces winch 
 in all probability cause the rotation of the earth upon its axis, 
 and assist in its revolution around the sun. The electricity of 
 the interior of the earth is supposed to be positive electricity 
 
 which, as soon as evolved there, would be repelled according 
 
 to the law of electricity of the same character repelling itself 
 —towards the poles of the earth, and escaping there, would 
 be attracted by the negative electricity which surrounds the 
 upper atmosphere, and would display itself by night as aurorae, 
 coiTUScating toward the equator, to be there attiacted by t ® 
 heated equatorial regions, and descending to the earth, to be 
 
15 
 
 again_ absorbed by it, for further use. This escape of polar 
 electricity into the upper atmosphere, and forming at night 
 the aurorje, when visible, and by day the blue firmament or 
 sky, will account for the intensity of the blue color of the sky 
 both in the arctic regions and the equatorial regions. 
 
 This positive electricity of the central interior of the earth, 
 repelling itself towards the poles, and from there into the at- 
 mosphere through the arctic and antarctic oceans, and attracted 
 there by the negative electricity of the upper atmosphere, 
 forms, by the union of the two electricities, the auroras, caus- 
 ing those crackling detonations heard during the prevalence 
 of the most brilliant auroras, in high latitudes and evolving 
 light, which, seen through the vaporous atmosphere of those 
 latitudes, is displayed by refractions of its rays in the lumin- 
 ous corruscations of varying tints as the rays of the sun or 
 moon are converted into the tints of the rainbow. 
 
 The negative electricity of those frigid regions attracted to 
 the equator through the upper atmos^phere is there concen- 
 ti’ated in. enormous quantities, which are conducted and dis- 
 charged into the earth or ocean in the tropics, by the incessant 
 fall of water in rain during the rainy seasons, every .drop of 
 water being a conductor of electricity, and every leaf of veo-e- 
 tation assisting in the conduct and distribution of this wonder- 
 ful force into the earth. 
 
 As under certain circumstances electricity becomes magnet- 
 ism, and this again is converted into electricity, we can com- 
 prehend how the auroral rays in some instances, followin'? the 
 law of dia-magnetism, are attracted in the northern hemisphere 
 towards the southwest — magnetic currents flowing from east 
 to west in opposition to the earth’s motion from west to east; 
 hence in the auroras you have rays shooting to the zenith over 
 the equator, and others moving southwest, and others again 
 due west. 
 
 The simultaneous appearance of. auroras frequently observed 
 in opposite hemispheres in corresponding latitudes would go 
 to show their origin from a common impulse in the central in- 
 terior repelling them towards the poles from under the equator. 
 
 TV" e now come to a presumed explanation of one of the rea- 
 sons for the blue color of the sky. 
 
 The sun’s ray, or what is Called the white light of the sun, 
 was resolved by means of a glass prism, by Sir Isaac Kewton, 
 into the seven primary rays of light, viz., red, blue, violet, etc., 
 
 \ 
 
16 
 
 and tl-i oir com'bination again produced the white light-- show- 
 ing hotlx fiynthetically and analytically of what the sun’s light 
 was composed. 
 
 It was announced in England about the beginning of this 
 c'entury, tiiat the red ray of light was heating, the 'yellow ray 
 was illmniuating, mid the blue ray in a remarkable degree sibnidated 
 the devdoynient of vegetable life. 
 
 From this discovery we can imagine the immense influence 
 whirdi the intensely blue color of the sky in the equatorial 
 regions has and always has had in conjunction with the sun’s 
 white light, aixd the heat and moisture of those regions, upon 
 the development there of vegetable life. 
 
 This intensely blue color of the sky in the arctic regions 
 may also serve to explain the exuberance of animal life tliere. 
 It being known that the deeper water of the arctic -ocean is' 
 niucli warmer than the surface water which is often frozen, 
 furnishes abundant food for its inhabitants. The increased 
 temjxeratnro of this deep water is probably derived from radi- 
 ation of heat from the interior of the earth under it — as all 
 those regions ai'e more of less volcanic; witness Iceland, Jean 
 'Mayer, 'Bpitsbergen, etc. The laws, of animal and vegetable 
 life being very analogous, what would stimulate one would 
 probably have a similar effect upon the othei\ 
 
 In the arctic waters you have warmth, food, light and elec- 
 tricity, escaping through the waters into the air, and all stimu- 
 lating life. ■ ^ 
 
 Whoever has noticed the dolor of the electric spark in at- 
 mospheric air, from an electrical machine, will readily recog- 
 nize its likeness of color to the blue color of the sky. 
 
 If experiments should be instituted to ascertain the electri- 
 cal condition of the sky, as associated with its blue.color, and th(?y 
 should satisfactorily establish the connection, the result would 
 prove to be one of the greatest blessings ever conferred upon 
 ' mankind. "What strength df vitality could be infused into the 
 feeble young, the mature invalid, and the decrepit octogena- 
 rian! How rapidly might the various races of our domestic 
 animals be multiplied, and how much might their individual 
 proportions be enlarged! 
 
 One of the most beautiful illustrations of the mighty influ- 
 ence of the blue color of the sky upon veg^ation, is to be 
 found in the gre.cn color of the lea^ms of plants. It i.sjcno'wn 
 that blue and yellow when mixed produce gi-een, which is 
 
IT 
 
 darker when tlie blue is in excess over the yellow, and tlie re- 
 voi'se wbcn the yellow pi’edominates. Now let us obscrye the 
 process of germination. Seeds are planted in the soil — at first 
 a wliite w’orm-like thread at the lower part of the seed appears; 
 it is Avhite, ajid contains all the primary rays of ligbt; it is the 
 root of the plant, and remaining under the soil continues white. 
 At the upper end of the seed also appears a white swelling, 
 which continues to grow upward till it approaches the surface 
 of the soil, when a change occurs in its color. This is the leaf ; 
 it absorbs yellow A’om the soil which is brown (composed of 
 yelloAV and black), and as it comes within the influence of the 
 blue sky, it absorbs from it the blue light, which mixing Avith 
 the yellow already absorbed, produces at first a yellowish^uTeen, 
 which finally assumes the deeper tinge of green that is natmal 
 to the plant. The plant blossoms, forms its seeds and seed-' 
 vessels, and having fulfilled its mission, the blue, color of the 
 leaves is eliminated, the leaves become yellow, and ahsm'lfing 
 the carbon of the plant, they change their color to brown ; the 
 sajn vessels of the leaves are choked by the carbon ; the leaves 
 are dead and fall to the ground. Thus the blue ray is the 
 symbol of vitality — the yellow ray that of decay and death. 
 
 Robert Hunt, in his Researches on Light, says “ that the 
 rays of greatest refrangibility, viz., the violet, '&c., favor dis- 
 oxygenatiou, but the rays^ of least refrangibility, viz., red, 
 orange, &c., favor oxygenation.” 
 
 _ “ The experiments of Seunebier show that the most refran- 
 gible of the solar rays, a4z., the violet, are the most active in 
 determining the decomposition of carbonic acid gas by plants.” 
 
 These experiments have been confirmed by Mr. Robert 
 Hunt, who says, “ that experiments have been made with ab- 
 sorbent. media, a,nd the light which has been carefully ana^- 
 lyzed, permeating under the influence of blue light, in every 
 instance oxygen. gas,h as been, collected, but not any under the 
 energetic action of yellow or red light. * * It is only the green 
 parts of plants which absorb carbonic acid : the flowers absorb 
 oxygen gas. Plants grow in soils composed of divers mate- 
 rials, and they derive frpm these by the soluble powers of 
 water, which is taken up by the roots, and by mechanical 
 forces carried over every part, carbonic acid, carbonates 
 and organic matters containing carbon. Evaporation is con- 
 tinually going on, and this Avater escapes freely from the leaves 
 during the night when the functions of the Amgetable, like 
 those of the animal Avorld, are at rest, and carries with it car- 
 bonic acid. Water and carbonic acid are sucked up by ca- 
 
18 
 
 pillary attraction, and both evaporate from the exterir part of 
 fhe leaves.” 
 
 “ There is no reversion of the processes "which are necessary 
 to suppoi’t the life of a plant. The same functions are ope- 
 rating in the same way by day and by night, but ditfering 
 greatly in degree. During the hours of sunshine the whole 
 of the carbonic acid absorbed by the leaves or taken up with 
 water by the roots is decomposed, all the functions of the 
 plant are excited, the processes of inhalation and exhalation 
 are quickened, and the plant pours out to the atmosphere 
 streams of pure oxygen at the same time as it removes a large 
 quantity of deleterious carbonic acid from it. In the shade 
 the exciting power being lessened, these operations are slower, 
 and in the dark they are very nearly, but certainly not quite, 
 suspended.” 
 
 “ Although a blue glass or fluid may appear to absorb all 
 the rays except the most refrangible ones, which have usually 
 been considered as the least calorific of the solar rays ; yet it is 
 certain that some principle has permeated the glass or fluid which 
 has a very decided and thermic influence. Numerous experi- 
 meirts have been tried with the seeds of mignonette, many 
 varieties of the flowering pea, the common parsley, and cresses 
 under the various tints of glass — with all of them the seeds 
 have germinated, but except under the blue glass these pjiants 
 have all been marked by the extraordinary length to which 
 the stems of the cotyledons have grown, and by the entire ab- 
 sence of the plitmuld — no true leaves forming, the cotyledons 
 soon perish and the plant dies ; imder the blue glass alone has 
 the process gone on healthfully to the end.” 
 
 “ The changes which take place in the seed during the pro- 
 cess of germination have been investigated by Saussure: 
 oxygen gas is consumed and carbonic acid is evolved ; and the 
 volume of the latter is exactly equal to the volume of the 
 former. The grain weighs less after germination than it did 
 befgi’e ; the loss of weight varying from one-third to one-lifth. 
 This loss of course depends on the combination of its carbon 
 with the oxygen absorbed, which is evolved as carbonic acid.” 
 
 “For the discovery that oxygen" gas is exhaled from the 
 leaves of plants during the daytime, we are indebted to Dr. 
 Priestley ; and Seunebier first pointed out that carbonic acid 
 is requi red for the disengagement of the oxj’gen in this pro- 
 cess. M. Theodore de Saussure and De Candolle fully estab- 
 lished this fact.” 
 
 The experiments of Seunebier show that the most refrangi- 
 
ble of tlie solar rays, viz., the violet, are the most a'ctive in deter- 
 mining the decomposition of carhonic acid hy plants. 
 
 “We have now certain knowledge. We know' that all the 
 carhon which forms the masses of the magnificent trees of the 
 forests and of the herhs of the fields has been supplied from 
 the atmosphere, to which it has been given hy the functions 
 of animal life and the necessities of animal existence. Man 
 and the whole of the animal kingdom require and take from 
 the atmosphere its oxygen for their support. It is this which 
 maintains the spark of life, and the product of this combustion 
 is carbonic acid, which is thrown off as waste material, and 
 which deteriorates the air. The vegetable kingdom, however, 
 drinks this noxious vapor ; it appropriates one of the elements 
 of this gas — carbon — and the other — oxygen — is liberated 
 again to perform its services to the animal world.” 
 
 “The animal kingdom is constantly producing carbonic 
 acid, water in the state of vapor, nitrogen, and in combination 
 with hydrogen, ammonia. The vegetable kingdom contin- 
 ually consumes ammonia, nitrogen, water, and carbonic acid. 
 The one is constantly pouring into the air what the other is 
 as constantly drawing from it, and thus is the equilibrium of 
 the elements maintained.” 
 
 “ Beccaria examined the solar phosphori, and ascertained 
 that the violet ray was the most energetic, and the red ray the 
 least so, in exciting phosphorescence in certain bodies.” 
 
 _“M. Biot and the elder Becquerel have proved that the 
 slightest electrical disturbance is sufficient to produce these 
 phosphorescent effects. May we not therefore regard the 
 action of the most refrangible rays, viz., the violet, as analo- 
 gous to that of the electric disturbance ? May not electricity 
 itself be but a development of this mysterious solar emana- 
 tion ? ” ■ • 
 
 _ It has been long known to chemists that a mixture of chlo- 
 rine and hydrogen gases might be preserved in darkness 
 without combining for some time, but that exposure to diffused 
 day light gradually occasioned their combination, and which 
 is etfected with the greatest speed by the extreme, blue and indigo 
 rays. M. Edmond Becquerel in 1839 first called attention to 
 the “ electricity developed during the chemical action excited 
 by solar agency.” 
 
 The experiments of Dr. Morichini, repeated by MM. Carpa 
 and. Ridolfi, that violet rays magnetized a small needle, were 
 successfully confirmed by Mrs. Somerville. 
 
20 
 
 not solely a radiant visible element. _ It bas other 
 nroTi, .■ies Vvdiich cannot be overlooked. It oxidizes, colors, 
 iil ae'M - Lio'bt becomes, absorbed — light changes into neat, 
 ami heat into^electricity ; in fact, light in its visib e 
 
 character only shows one of its many phases. Light hole s 
 many forces within its beams. It has properties, powers, ot its^ 
 owii which neither mathematician nor optician can giasp. it 
 is a ercat chemical agent. Colors-:are produced by a change 
 resnltlug from a polaric act of arrestation— yellow and red 
 yellow belong to the acids; blue and red blue to the alkalies. 
 The iimlnlatory theory explains the radiant visible i^ropeity 
 of li'dit, hut it does not explain its chemical eftects, the opti- 
 cal iiohirity of a chrystal and its connection with the polmic 
 condition of its conkitueiits— the ditfraetion, inflection, intei- 
 ferciices, the oxidation of surfaces as_ the cause of natural co- 
 lors, t'iie presence of the chemical action of lig i , le piesen 
 nf heat, electricitv, magnetism; yet xight produces all dhes 
 phenomena; it vitalizes, and the organic action of light is 
 witnessed in the fauna and flora around. 
 
 I'.ave seen that bine light, and the violet ray which is a 
 com., on-, id of it, and the red ray-being the .mbst refi-iingihle 
 r->vs^ef !he solar spectrum — excite magnetism, and electuuty, 
 l)YAvMch carbonic acid gas evaporated from growing pl.ants 
 k decomposed and oxygen theroot 
 
 •xo'ain in maturing the flowers, fruit and seed of the plant, thus 
 stimaleting the active energies of the plant into' its fullest and 
 most complete development. I[owthis is just iviiat I think is 
 done in the vegetable world by'the blue light of the firmanent. 
 That Id Lie light of the firmanent, if not itself electro-magne- 
 tism eimlves those forces Avhich compose it in our atmosphere 
 and anplying them at the season, viz., the early J3nug, when 
 tiie sL-i is finest, stimulates, after the torpor of winter, the 
 active ener-ies of the vegetable kingdom, by the decomposi- 
 odroibomc acid |as-saprlyi.;g cajhon for the pi auto 
 and oxygen to mature it, and to complete its mission. 
 
 In tlie experiment which I have made in the cultivation of 
 cn’apes under violet light, I have endeavored 
 ft the blue light of the firmanent, causing the other rays ol the 
 solai sSrufi to be absorbed while the blue and violet rays 
 were iLrmitted to permeate the violet glass into the gnpiery. 
 The ditference of tLperature under the white glass and under 
 the violot glass of the grapery is supposed to bave exei ed 
 
 currents of electricity sufficient to decompose more lapidly the 
 
 carbonic acid gas that bad been evaporated fi-pm the leaves 
 the vines, than would have been doue under the influence of 
 
21 
 
 the suiishiae alone — thus stimulating the increased ahsorptiOn 
 of ox/gen, and the deposit of carbon in the vines, and- con- 
 stantly and quickly renewing the evaporation of carbonic acid 
 gas. The result has been seen in tlie wonderfully large pro- 
 duct of fruit, accompanied by a prodigious' formation of new 
 wood, to yield the crop of fruit for the ensuing year. 
 
 The investigations that have been made during the present 
 century regarding light have developed the existence of some 
 remarkable attributes ; one of the most astonishing is the dis- 
 covery that there is no heat per se in the sun’s ray, though it 
 is one of the causes which produce heat. This is established 
 beyond dispute by the existence of the intense cold which pre- 
 vails in the upper atmosphere, increasing with its altitude, and 
 through which all the sunlight which reaches the earth must 
 pass, but whose temperature it cannot alter. Hence you have 
 at the present time the line of perpetual snow, according to 
 Professor Agassiz, at an elevation of 15,000 feet at the equator, 
 of 6,000 feet at the latitude of 45°, and gradually approaching 
 the surface -of the earth, till it reaches it at 60° of north lati- 
 tude, beyond w.hich ice prevails nearly to the pole. 
 
 Aeronauts have remarked also at great altitudes above the 
 earth that the thermometer had ceased to mark any variation 
 of temperature w'hen exposed in the full sunshine or in shadow. 
 
 A curious illustratioh of the fact that something more is 
 needed than sunlight to produce heat is to be found in the fact 
 stated by the famous arctic navigator. Dr. Scoresby, as well as- 
 by others, that when, after a long night in the arctic regions, 
 the sun had appeared, though the thermometer was below 32° 
 of Fahrenheit, and everything around was frozen hard, he 
 observed that the pitch with which the seams of the jilanks of 
 the ship had been payed, on the side of the ship exposed to 
 the sun, wa's melted, notwithstanding the giniat declination of 
 the sun aiid the small angle of incidence, that the nearly liori- 
 pntal rays of it made as they fell upon the pitch, while that 
 in the shade on the other side of the ship was so hard that it 
 was with difficulty broken with a hatchet — other objects on the 
 ship manifesting at the same time the low temperature marked 
 by the thermometer. I am not aware that any explanation of 
 this phenomenon has ever been attempted. I may, therefore, 
 offer to suggest that the pitch being an electric or non-con- 
 ductor of electricity and negatively electrifi.ed when the. sun’s 
 ray positively electrified fell upon it, an explosion took place, 
 heat was evolved, and the pitch was melted — ^thus proving that 
 
froni =!un8liine is produced by tlic contact of an electricity 
 opposed to that of the sun’s rays. 
 
 As a corollary from what has just been stated, it may be. 
 observed, that the heat of the equatorial and tropical oceans is 
 •lot de^ i ve d from the sun. We do not heat our houses by 
 kindl’no- fires at the tops of our chimneys or boil our water 
 ! roni obove, but rather we descend into our cellars, and make 
 onr Urea for that purpose in the<furnaces constructod^there. 
 Besides, we know that from the surface of the water, if at rest, 
 n'ul fr<>m its many surfiices, if agitated by winds, the rays of 
 i he smi would be reflected in all possilde angles corresponding 
 10 the angles of incidence of the rays themselves, and the heat 
 would l)o"lost in space. Whence comes, then, this ocean heat 
 hi the tropics, finding its vent in the arctic and antaictic 
 regiovis through the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic, and the 
 dapan Stream laving the shores of northeastern Asia, and the 
 south-eastern current running 'along the south-western coast 
 ^-'f South America to the Antartic seas ? Does it not come by 
 radiation from the interior of the earth from those great fires 
 which, by the elastic gases and vapors engendered there, in 
 raanv parts of _ the world upheave mountains and islands, and 
 forming chimneys for themselves in their summits, belch oi^ 
 that superfluous heat, light, electricity, and magnetism which 
 radiation to the surface of the earth at times is inadequate to 
 discharge? And are not these great ocean currents of heated 
 water merely channels or flues of radiation of heat fiom he- 
 iieath, by which, for climatic purposes, the Ornnipotent Creator 
 has devised the means of distributing this interior heat over 
 ■the surface of our planet ? 
 
 All admit the existence of those great forces of nature in 
 the interior of the earth, manifested through volcanic action 
 in those imponderable elements of heat, light, electricity, and 
 niao-netism. Why are those forces there? May they not be 
 the'^forces which turn the earth on its axis,_and aid in propel- 
 lino- it around the sun ? May not the frigid zones north and 
 south furnish the cold cushions of water in the extreme depths 
 of the ocean, of the uniform temperature of 39J° of I ahren- 
 heit and of nearly the greatest density known to that elenaent, 
 for the purpose of restraining and controlling the radiation of 
 that great interior heat of the earth, which otherwise might 
 be wasted? 
 
 Dr. Winslow, in his treatise on light, its influence on life 
 and health, says : “ Accurate calculations have been made as to 
 the temperature of the ocean. The results obtained clearly 
 establish that the lowest degrees of temperature are obtainable 
 
on the surface of the -vrater; and that about ten feet below the 
 surface the thermometer rises several degrees, — 90° is said by 
 Mr. Agassiz (son of Professor Agassiz,) to be the highest tem- 
 perature he has known the oceau to attain ; at very great 
 depths of the ocean a uniform temperature of about 39i-° has 
 been found.” . 
 
 The low temperature of the surface water of the oceau is 
 attributable to the evaporation which is constantly goiug on, 
 carrying off the atmospheric heat adjacent, and proving con- 
 clusively, that the Gulf and other -^arm ocean cuiTents do not 
 derive their heat from the sun. 
 
 These reflections have forced themselves upon me, while 
 pondering over some of the great revelations of . nature. 
 
 In a recent report of the Secretary of the Agricultural Bu- 
 reau at Washington, he states — “ On the loth of June the suu 
 is more than 23° north of the equator, and therefore it miglit 
 be inferred that the intensity of heat should be greater at this 
 latitude than at the equator ; but that it should continue to 
 increase beyond this even to the loole, may not at first sight appear 
 so clear. It will, however, be undei-stood when it is recol- 
 lected that though in a northern latitude the obliquity of the 
 ray is greater, and on this account the intensity should be less, 
 yet the longer duration of the day is more than sufficient to 
 compensate for this effect and produce the result exhibited.” ' 
 
 It strikes me that this explanation is not sound. I remem- 
 ber several years ago, at Philadelphia, on the afternoon of a 
 day in August, when the thermometer- was at 94°, that in fif- 
 teen minutes the thermometer fell 40°, which was owino- no 
 doubt to a descending column of cold air from the upper at- 
 mosphere, attracted by some local electrical disturbance. The 
 continuous heat of the preceding summer months could no 
 more prevent this thermal change at Philadelphia than could 
 the long day with the oblique sun’s rays increase the intensity 
 of the heat in high northern latitudes. 
 
 Professor Maury says— “The summer temperature as ob- 
 served on the very borders of the Polar ocean is absolutely 
 marvelous. Observations made with a view of determining 
 this accurately have for some years been, taken in Alaska! 
 One of the observers in the northern district of Yukon states 
 in the ‘Agricultural Report’ for 1868, ‘I have seen the ther- 
 mometer at noon at Port Yukon, not in the direct rays of the 
 sun, standing at 112° ; and I hm informed by the commander 
 of the post that several spirit thermometers graduated to 120° 
 had burst under the scorching sun of the arctic midsummer, 
 which can only be appreciated by one who has endured it. In 
 
24 
 
 midsummer, on the Upper Uukou, the only relief from the 
 intense heat un.der which vegetation attains, an almost tropical 
 luxuriance, is the two or three hours during which the sun 
 hovers near the northern horizon, and the weary voyager in 
 his canoe blesses the transient coolness of the midnight air. 
 
 A-C'cerdhig to hi. (le Humboldt, the sky is bluer between the 
 tro'des than in the higher tempei’ate latitudes, but paler at sea 
 than in the interior of countries ; the blue is less intense at 
 the horizon than at the zenith. The early maturity of human 
 r.fe in the tropics is to be attributed to the stimulating influ- 
 ence of the enormous quaatitios of electricity, which, continu- 
 ally passing by day as well as hy night in the auroras from the 
 poles to the equator, and descending to the earth in those re- 
 gions, in those dazzling sheets of lightning flame, so terrifj ing 
 to all who have witnessed them, and conducted hy the inces- 
 sant rains Jirevailing there in certain seasons of the year de- 
 ox^imnate the enormous volumes of carbonic acid gas gene- 
 rated hy the exuberant vegetation, as well in its growth as in 
 its decay, thus supplying excessive quantities of oxygen gas to 
 stimulate and support the animal life, as well as carbon to fhe 
 fresf vegetation which- is being continually renewed— the cir- 
 cle of development and decay in the vegetable kingdom being 
 thus always preserved. V 
 
 'Vv^'e have thus? seen that the magnetic, electric, and thermic 
 pmvers of the Sun’s ray reside in the violet ray, vkidi is a 
 compo-ond ■ of the blue and red rays. These constitute Avhat are 
 terme d the chemical powers of the sunlight. That they are 
 tlie most important powers of indturc, tiiore can he no doubt, 
 as T^'ivliout tlioni life cannot exist on tliis planet. TV^itliout tlicse 
 chemical powers there could he no vegetation. 'Without veg- 
 etation there could he no insect life, and no development of 
 the higher order of animal existence. Tlie earth would he 
 without form and void, and we can now uiiderstaiid the poten- 
 tial iiieaniiig of the first sulilimo utterance of the ,A.lmighty in 
 forming this earth, when he said “Lot there he Light, 
 there was. Light. ■ 
 
 From the foregoing premises, we deduce the following con- 
 clusions : ' ■ ■ ' ■ ^ , 
 
 1. Heat is developed hy opposite electricities in conjunction 
 and in proportion to the quantity and intensity of those elec- 
 tricities in contact with each other, will he the intensity of the 
 
 The blue color of the sky, for one of its functions, de- 
 oxygenates carbonic acid gas, supplying carbon to vegetation 
 and sustaining both vegetable and animal life with its oxygen. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 [I-] 
 
 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 119,242, 
 
 ArausTus J. Pleasontox, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 L. prorrA^it in Accelerating the Growth of Plants and Animals. 
 Spfiifieations forming j>art of Letters Patent No.. 119,243, 
 dated September 26, 1871. 
 
 7 ; all whom it may concern : . 
 
 p 0 it known that I, Augustus J. Pleasonton, of the city of 
 Pi.ilauuh-hia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have discovered a new 
 and v tluablo aid and improvement in accelerating the growth to 
 maturity of plants, vines, vegetables, cereals, and the flora of the 
 vegetable kingdom of nature, and of animals, fowls, fishes and 
 birds of the animal kingdom of nature; and that I do hereby 
 declare the following to bo a full, clear, and exact description of 
 the 0 |; -rotion of the same by means, of combining the natural 
 light of the sun transmitted through transparent glass with the 
 nam-ral light of the sun transmitted through blue ^ass or any of 
 t'it var.eties of blue, as indigo or violet, in varied proportions of 
 biuo and white glass, from one of blue to eight of white, up to 
 equal proportions of blue and white, as greater or less caloric is 
 needed,, according to the nature of the plants or animals, to 
 accelerate their natural growth, increase their vitality, and h:i„sten 
 inaturiiy ; reference being also raadO to the accompanying drawing 
 making a part of this specification, in which the figux’e represents 
 one form of construction of a conservatoi'y or grapery, in which 
 A A A represent the clear or transparent glass, and 13 the blue 
 or coloured glass. Proper ventilation is ofibeted by moans of wire 
 cloth placed in the walls, as shown at C, and which can bo opened 
 and clo.sed at pleasure by means of hinged glazed sashes, as shown 
 at D. There is also represented at E a hinged sash, glazed with 
 both cle.y and blue glass, for changing the angle of incidence to 
 agree with the declination of the sun. ' These proportions of the 
 natural light of the sun with the blue or electric transmitted rays 
 
may be varied to conform to the epeeific constitution of the 
 varieties oV life in the vegetable world and the vaiaetles of consti- 
 tution in the animal world, and can only bo ascertained throughout 
 both Icingdoms by progressive and continued ex])eriinent. rho 
 proportions of the heating rays and the transmitted blue electric 
 rays must be varied to conform to the constitutional vitality ot 
 the vegetable or animal, and care must be had that the heating or 
 caloric .light is not in excess of the electric or vitalizing and 
 , growing ti’ansmittcd blue light. • • . 
 
 ^ I confine myself to no particular form, externally or intcrnahy , 
 of the buildings to be used, whether they apply to the growth and 
 propagation of plants, vegetables, fruits, &o., or to the ^rowtu 
 pro])agation,"&c., of animals, fishes and fov.ds; but the best lonn is 
 that building which will receive the rays of the sun daring its daily 
 revolution as nearly perpendicular as pi’acticable_ to the surfaces 
 of the glass covering, so that the rays shall bo as little dcfiected as 
 possible, an<i the tiers or rows of blue glass, violet or other degrees 
 of blue, shall be continuous over the encire portion of the building 
 on which the sun shines, imparting in this way to every portion 
 of tlio interior uniformly throughout the day the caloric und 
 electric rays in the proportions of white and blue glass in their 
 alternations. Suen structures should be built on curves, Ce<nfoim- 
 ing to the curve in which the sun moves in its daily revolution, 
 and the alternating rows of white and blue glass^ should extend 
 over the portions on which the sun shines, so that in the course oi 
 the day plants and vegetables, wherever they grow under the 
 glass, will all have the same exposure to the caloric ^od electuc 
 transmitted light. Variations from these forms of buildings, and 
 variations in the proportion of the natural caloric and blue 
 electric light will, in degree, aepelerate the growth and maturity 
 of plants and animals depending upon their constitution and 
 vitality; and the same proportions that hasten growth in the 
 vegetable kingdom are not the best for many animals ot the 
 animal kingdom. Experience alone can determine the best pro- 
 portions of natural, and blue light, depending on the constitution 
 of the animal and the nature of plants. In extreme northern 
 latitudes the form given to the glass buildings so as to take the 
 sun’s rays perpendicularly to the surfaces during the day would 
 vary from the form that should bo given in. soutnern. latitudes to 
 effect the same purpose. Therefore no one general plan for the 
 construction of conservatories, graperies, houses for animals, &c., 
 can be adopted or described beyond the rule for the builders to 
 conform the shape of tho glass portions so as to present their 
 surfaces around bis building in form to take the^ sun’s_ rays as 
 nearly perpendicularly as practicable, so as to avoid their deflec- 
 tion. All persons skilled in building will readily understand this 
 principle, and be enabled to make use of the discovery and apply 
 it to practical use, in whatever place he may live, extreme north 
 
27 
 
 or extreme south, within the limits of the sun’s rising and settino-. 
 1 prefer, as a transmitting medium for the electric rays of the 
 sun, blue glass, violet and indigo; but I do not confine myself to 
 t he use of glass, as the sun’s transmitted rays convey these colors 
 through other media, producing in degree the same results. 
 
 In buildings for the treatment of invalids, whether they be men 
 or animals, no particular form or construction of hospital, house or 
 stable will be necessary, as the beds of invalid men and the places 
 for animals can be so changed that the order of the' means for 
 transmitting the blue light maybe very variable. The propor- 
 tion of electric blue light and the natural light, however, should 
 be constant, or as nearly so as practicable, after the proportions 
 are ascertained by expeidenee that prove most beneficial in their 
 healing process. 
 
 I do not pretend to be the first discoverer of the vitalizing and life- 
 growing qualities of the transmitted blue light of the solar rays 
 and its effect in quickening life and.intensifying vitality. ' 
 
 I have found, upon patient and long experiments, running 
 through many years, that plants, fruits of plants, vines and fruits 
 ot vines and vegetables so housed and inclosed as to admit the 
 natural light of the sun through ordinary glass, and the trans- 
 mitted light of the solar rays through the glasses of blue, yiolet or 
 purple colours in the proportion of eight of natural light to one of 
 the blue or electric light, grow much more rapidly, ripen much 
 quicker, and produce much larger crops of fruit than the same 
 plants housed and treated with the natural light of day, the soils 
 and fertilizers and treatment and culture being identical in both 
 cases and the exposure tbe same. 
 
 I have also found, by repeated and patient experiments of several 
 years, that young animals, fishes and fowls under the same care 
 lood, regimen, and treatment grow much more rapidly and to a 
 much larger size under the influence of the combined natural li./ht 
 of day with the transmitted blue electric light than when exposed 
 only to the natural sunlight, andjthat their flesh is equally good and 
 tiieir health, vigor and constitutions are equal to those that, under tho 
 same cireumstauces of food, care and shelter, grow in the nataraf 
 light. In these experiments with animals, fishes and fowls, I have 
 not used the same proportions of natural light and transmitted 
 blue light,_viz; eight of natural to one of blue light, that I used in 
 my experiments with vines, vegetables and fruits, but with tho 
 first named the proportions of natural and blue light were equal • 
 and I prefer not those proportions of the natural caloric light and 
 the transmitted electric light; yet I do not doubt that other pro- 
 portions, depending upon the different organic constitutions in 
 both the animal and vegetable creations, may bo found to combine 
 hfe-growing and vitalizing powers even exceeding tbe results I 
 have produced, and still more productive of good in creating 
 greater results. In these experiments I have discovered and 
 
28 
 
 proved Ihfit the transmitted blue light of the solar raj’s in its 
 ditto -ent degrees of intensity of color, in combination witli natural 
 sunlight, inrparts vigour and vitality to the vegetation and life- 
 fronTn f principle in nature, heretofore unknown and never hefoie 
 utilized°and applied to practical results of incalculable value to 
 stock growing, to agriculture and horticulture, both as relates to 
 time, labor and economy. 
 
 I have also discovered, by experiment and practice, special and 
 specific efficacy in tbe use of this combination of the caloric rays 
 of the sun and the electric blue ligid in stimulating the glands of 
 the body, the nervous system generally, and the secretive organs 
 of man and animals. It therefore becomes an important clement 
 in the treatment of diseases, especially such as have bocom-o 
 chrome, or result from derangement of the secretive, perspiratory 
 or glandular functions, as it vitabi^cs and gives renewed activity 
 and force to the vital currents that keep the health, unimpaired; or 
 restores them when disordered or deranged. 
 
 Having thus fully described my discovery and invention, what I 
 claim, and desire to have secured to me by Letter Patent, is 
 
 1, The method herein described for utilizing the natural light of 
 the sun transmitted through clear glass, and the blue or electric 
 solar rays transmitted through blue, purple or violet coloured 
 glass, or its equivalent, in the propagation and growth of plants 
 and animals, -substantially as herein set forth. 
 
 2. The hereia described construction of conservatories and other 
 buildings, when tlio roof, "walls or parts thereof arc covered with 
 alternating portions of clear and l>lue, purple, or violet glass or 
 equivalents, as and for the purposes set forth. 
 
 In testimoiTcy that I claim the above, I have hereunto snO-^ 
 scribed my name in the presence of two witnesses at the titj of 
 Philadelphia, the 23d day of Jiine, A. D. 1871. 
 
 ^ ’ AUGUSTUS J. PLEASONTON. 
 
 Witnesses : 
 
 H. Tunison, 
 
 II. A. Nagle. 
 
 [II.] 
 
 In the winter of the year 1872,1 called at the Pennsylvania 
 Hosnital, on Pine street, between Eighth and Ninth streets, in this 
 city, to suggest to its officers the introduction of my plan of using 
 the associated light of the sun and the blue colour of the S'W 
 alleviating the sufferings of, and probably in restoring to health 
 many of their, patients. On being presented to them, one oi the 
 resident physicians, on hearing my name mentioned, asked ’f 
 I was the author of the experiments with blue light of which ho 
 had read r.n accouut. On receiving my answer, he said ; “ 1 have 
 
2J 
 
 pomctliing curious to tell you. I fim a native of Tlrazil, where niy 
 father still resides ; I have been’ educated in the United States; 
 last week I received a package of books, pamphkU'i, &c., from my 
 father, in Brazil, who had ordered thoin from Paiis. In his ac- 
 companying letter my father directed my partitnilar attention to 
 a French pamphlet wliich detailed some remarkahle experiments 
 on animal and vegctalde life, that had been mude with blue glass 
 and .sunlight, that he thought would he nsefiil to me in my medical 
 proicssion. On examining the pamphlet 1 discovered it to be a 
 transliftion in tho French language of your memoir on that subject. 
 The translator, however, had not mentioned your name in it, or 
 even tho namo of the locality where the exj)criments had been 
 made. It evidently was intended to convoy the impression that 
 the experiments had been made in Paris.” 
 
 If the trumslator was a Frenchman we can pardon him for 
 omitting the name of tho author, .in memory of tlio ancient Bevo- 
 lutionary aliiancc between liis nation and our own. We can oven 
 condone his fault, smarting as he must have been under the then 
 recent loss of Alsace and Lorraine — but wo think that it might 
 have occurred to him that the scene of my experiments was rdso 
 the locality of tho electrical experiments of Frtinklin, whom his 
 countrymen and women always delighted to honor, and henc. ihe 
 namo of Franklin’s- home might have been associated with the 
 announcement of discoveries in physics that do no discredit > ven 
 to those of Franklin himself. 
 
 [ni] 
 
 V 
 
 Til's Diamoxi); its OuiGiN. — In former editions of this memoir 
 I have attribated the origin of the diamond to electricity in the 
 upper atmosphere decomposing carbonic acid gas, fusing the car- 
 bon, converting tho oxygon gas into ozone, and crystalizing tho 
 fused carbon, under the great evaporating power of the intense 
 cold there prevailing. The Atheneura says; “A somewhat novel 
 idea is stated by M. Desdemaines Hugoii, in a paper ‘ On the 
 Diamond Diggings of South Africa,’ which is printed in tho Revue 
 ScientiJiquedelaFranee et 1’ Stranger. He states that theair is always 
 highly electric where diamonds abound, and he intimates his 
 opinion that this may throw sotne light on the formation of that 
 gem.” 
 
30 
 
 [IV.] 
 
 [From the President of the Indiana University.'] 
 
 Indiana XlNivEasiTY, ' "I 
 Bloomington, June 15, 1871. j 
 
 Gen. Pleasonton. 
 
 Bear Sir: — I received a few days ago a pamphlet containing 
 an account of your iuteresting experiments on the influence of the 
 blue ray in developing animal and vegetable life. If. the experi- 
 ments, where it so difficult to determine tlio amount of influence 
 duo to the light, eorapai’ed with that due to other circumstances, 
 have been fairly made, as doubtless they have been, you have 
 opened up a now field of great practical usefulness to all the world. 
 Thanking you for your kindness in sending me your treatise, 1 
 remain. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 T. A. WYLIE, 
 
 [V.] 
 
 [P/'o/n the President of the Lehigh University^ 
 
 The Lehigh Un-iversitv, ) 
 
 South Betflehem, Pa., President’s Booms, July 10, 1871. ) . 
 My Dear General ; 
 
 I have ju.st received and at once read your very interesting 
 paper on -violet rays, 
 
 The facts are astonishing, and your explanation evinces care, 
 judgment and research. 
 
 I shall take pleasure in putting it- among our scientific papers, 
 and thank you for oending it. ; 
 
 Yery faithfully yours, 
 
 HENRY COPPJiE. 
 
 Gen’l. Pleasonton. 
 
 [YL] 
 
 [From the Ron. -Wrh. M. J^eredith, late Secretary of the Treasury 
 of the United States ] 
 
 My Dear Pleasonton : 
 
 I have delayed thanking you for the pamphlet you sent me, 
 till I should have read it, which I have now done twice, with 
 very great interest and pleasure. I congratulate you sincerely 
 on the discovery you have made, which must not only be greatly 
 valuable in Agriculture and Horticulture, but in many other 
 matters as well. 
 
 Alwai'S faithfully vours, 
 
 W. M. MEREDITH. 
 
 Gen. Pleasonton, Monday, 10th July, 1871. 
 
31 
 
 [TIL] 
 
 [From Wm. A. Ingham, Esq,, a Director of the Lehigh Talley 
 itailroad Company. 1 
 
 320 "WAiiNUT St.. ) 
 
 Philadelphia, AuguU 29th, 1871. | 
 
 Pear General : 
 
 ' Alio .V me to return my thanks for the copies of your pamphlet. 
 I have read it with great interest and am satisfied that your dis- 
 covery will have wonderful results, revolutionizing in fact the 
 f-cience of horticulture. 
 
 I am, very truly yours, 
 
 WM. A. INGHAM. 
 
 - Gen. a. J. Pleasonton. 
 
 [Till.] 
 
 [ From the Hon. Joserh R. Chandler, late Minister Plenipotentiary 
 of the United States at the Court of Naples ] 
 
 153 North Tenth Street, ) 
 
 20th September, 1871. j 
 
 Pe.ar Sir; 
 
 I thank you for a copy of the third edition of your pamphlet on 
 '■ the influence of the blue colour of the' sky.” I cannot doubt 
 the importance of your discovery, nor fail to see that the public 
 must hold itself indebted to you for your interesting and success- 
 ful experiments. 
 
 W'itb great respect, your servant, 
 
 JOS. E. CHANDLER. 
 
 Gen. Pleasonton. 
 
 [IX.] 
 
 Department of the Interior, 1 
 Patent Office. j 
 
 Washington, D "C., August 15th, 1871. 
 
 A, J. Pleasonton, Philadelphia, Penn. 
 
 Your letter of the 14th inst., relative to your invitation to the 
 examiner in charge of the Agricultural class of this office to call. 
 u])on you to witness the influence of the “ blue colour of the sky ” 
 i n developing animal and vegetable life, is received. 
 
 In reply you are informed that Prof. Brainerd is at present con- 
 fined to his room by sickness, but a leave will be given him for the 
 purpose of accepting your invitation, as soon as he is able to travel. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 M. D. LEGGETT, 
 
 Commissioner. 
 
C2 
 
 [X.] 
 
 Department of the Interior, \ 
 Datent Office. J 
 
 Washinoton, D. C., August 19th, 1S71. 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I have so far recovered from my late illness as to he able to pay 
 you a visit in compliance with your invitation, for the purpose nf 
 examining your improvement in the construction of conservatories. 
 
 I purpose to leave tliis city on the 8 A. M. train on Tuesday, 
 and shall therefore be due at Philadelphia at 1 P. M. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 J. BRAINERD, 
 
 Examiner. 
 
 Gen. a. j. Pleasonton, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 [XI] 
 
 Department of the Interior, 1 
 Patent Office. j 
 
 ■Washington, D. C., September Gth, 1871. 
 Dear General ; ^ 
 
 Your drawing arrived this morning, and the patent will now go 
 to issue, but will take the usual time. 
 
 The Commissioner yesterday introduced General Babcock, who 
 is Superintendant of .Public Grounds, and Consulting Engineer 
 of the Board of Public Works. T^ie object of his call was to learn 
 particulars in regard to your eerufean process. I had a pleasant 
 interview with him, at the close of which he desired me to write 
 to you, asking the privilege of using your invention upon a 
 grapery which bo is now fitting up on the President’s grounds.^ 
 An answer directed to the care of myself or Commissioner ot 
 Patents, will reach him promptly. ****** 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 General A. J. Pleasonton. J. BRAINERD. 
 
 [XII.] 
 
 Paris, September 29th, 1871. 
 
 General Pleasonton, 
 
 Dear Sir:— I have just received and read with great pleasure, 
 vour very interesting paper from the Gardener's Monthly, ot August 
 last, concerning your experiments on the action of coloux-cd light 
 cn plants and animals. You will find in the “Report of tne 
 
33 
 
 Department of Agriculture,” at 'Washington, for 1869. a ^'e v 1 ’-g 
 report of mine “on the influence of climalogie agents, atnioreiiej ; 
 and terrestrial, upon agriculture,” where, in the chav-bers of light 
 and electricity, I • have treated fully all these questions with x 
 great number of . experiments aiid quotations of authors. At 
 that time I had no idea of any of your publications, although [ 
 had formed a bibliogranhj' on that subject of 1326 arlicles in 
 every language. I am preparing a work iii French and English 
 on Agricultural Meteorology, and I should be most happy o 
 mention in it your experiments, and to- receive all that you have 
 published. My name may be known to you through my papers 
 on Meteorology at the French Academy and in America. I was 
 the founder and director of the observatory at Havana until tlm., 
 beginning of our war, being now a victim of my patriotism. [ 
 correspond with several journals of the United States, as the 
 American Agriculturist, the Rural Neio Yorker, etc., etc. ^ ^ < 
 
 ifi iii ii: ^i ^ 
 
 I remain, General, your most obedient servant, 
 
 51 Kuo Mazarine, Hotel Mazarin. 
 
 ANDRE POE'r. 
 
 [XIII.] 
 
 Paris, JYovemher 10th, 1S71, 
 
 GENEKAtt A. J. PlEASONTOX. 
 
 Dear Sir: — Your most affectionate of October lOtli, is at hand, 
 with seven copies of your interesting pamphlet. After a very 
 careful study of that paper, I should advish you strongly to pursue 
 3 ’our exijeriments on the i.-fluence of colouired lights on vegetable 
 and animal life. There are still a great manj' points to be resolved, 
 and, unfortunately, this important question has been totally 
 abandoned in our days. Should you publish anything else, pray 
 do not forget me. I shall be very happy to quote all your experi- 
 ments in my works. At the next sitting of the French Academy, 
 I shall also endeavor to have a little extract of your pamphfefc 
 inserted in ti.o Coniptes liendus of that Institution, with' a copy 
 presented in your name, and also to M. Bocquerel, M. Duebartro, 
 the Meteorological Society, etc. I am waiting for the return of 
 one of its perpetual Secretaries, M. Elie do Beaumont. ' I shail 
 have the pleasuro^to send you whatever may be published on your 
 experiments. I have sent another copy to tho Meteorological 
 Society of Yienna, very much interested in the study of periodical 
 phenomena, treated in ray second report to tho Department of 
 Agriculture. ^****«*=i: 
 
 I remain, your most obedient servant, 
 
 ANDRfc POEY. 
 
 54 Rue Mazarin, Hotel Mazarin. 
 
34 
 
 [XIT.] 
 
 Paris, November 2Jtth, 1S71. 
 
 General A. J. PriEASONTON. 
 
 Dear Sir: — As I had promised you T enclose tho little extract 
 presented to the French Academy of Science, Monday last, and 
 ■which will appear to-morrow in tho Comptes Jlendus. I took par- 
 ticular pains to write a condensed letter, giving the most sG'ikmg 
 facts, to the perpetual Secretary, the great Geologist, M. Ehe de 
 Beaumont, who was very much, interested in your experiments. 
 A copy was also presented to tho Academy, Becquerel Jiathor, 
 DuchaVtre, and Barral, the editor of the Practical Journal of Agri- 
 culture^ Avho will reprint it in that paper. At the same time dif- 
 ferent scientific and political papers whl make some mention of it. 
 I shall send next Aveek the translation of my letter to the excel- 
 lent Emrlish journal called Nature ; so your experiments and name 
 Avill be, in short, spread through tho scientific Avoild in Europe. 
 
 :|C * * * * 
 
 I remain, General, your most obedient servant, 
 
 ANDIlil POEY. 
 
 54 Rue Mazarin, Hotel Mazarin. 
 
 [From Rev. Henry A. 
 
 [XY.] 
 
 Boardman, Pastor Tenth Presbyterian Church, 
 Philadelphia. 1 
 
 My Dear General : , „ i 
 
 I thank you for your generous supply of tae Memoir, and not 
 
 less for the very kind terms of your note. , . ^ 7 . . , , „ 
 
 Once before in our national history tho subject of Blue Light 
 has caused a great commotion. There will bo a greater still before 
 I'ono-, and in a somewhat more beneficent direction. I heartily 
 congratulate you on tho just fame Avhich is already assured to you 
 
 as the reward of your great discovery. 
 
 1 shall place tho pamphlets whore they will by appreciated. 
 
 Ycry sincerely yours, 
 
 H. A. BOARDMAN, 
 
 May 1st, 1872. 1311 Spruce Street. 
 
 [XYL] 
 
 \_From the same.'] 
 
 1311 Spruce Sr., June 1st, 1872. 
 
 My Dear General : 
 
 “ Laudari a viro laudato," — to bo praised by a man ivho is him- 
 self praised,— the Latins used to think was a very nice thing.'' So 
 
35 
 
 I take great pleasure in enclosing a letter from the Rev. Dr. 
 Sprague, for forty years a pastor at Albany, one of the roost ac- 
 complished and revered clergymen of our church or country, and 
 enjoying a high European reputation. You will see what estimate 
 he puts upon your great discovery, and hd-w he prizes your 
 autograph. For I took the liberty of sending him your kind note 
 to me, for his fe,mous autographic collection — the largest (some 
 200,000 specimens, I believe,) and finest in America. 
 
 I enclose, also, a note from Mr. Alex. Brown, Nineteenth and 
 TTalnut, to whom I gave the Memoir. I know it will gratify you. 
 With sincere regard, 
 
 I am, dear General, yours, 
 
 H. A. BOARDMAN. 
 
 design these two autographs for your collection, so you 
 will not return them. 
 
 [XVII.] 
 
 [iVom Alexander Brown, Esq., Banker, &c,'\ 
 
 PnmADELPniA, May 80th, 1872. 
 
 Eev. H. a. Boardman. 
 
 Dear Sir : — I thank you for the copy of Gen. Pleasonton’s ad- 
 dress before the “ Philadelphia Agricultural Society.” 
 
 I have read it with great interest, and think that the successful 
 result of his experiments of the blue colour on animal and vegeta- 
 ble life must carry conviction to every mind. 
 
 Very respectfully, yours,' 
 
 ALEX. BROWN. 
 
 [XVIII.] 
 
 [From the Rev. Dr. W. B. Sprague, an eminent divine of Albany, 
 
 New Vor^.] 
 
 Flushing, May 80, 1872. 
 
 My Dear Dr. Boadman. '' 
 
 Since I wrote j'ou yesterday, (I believe misdating my letter.) 
 I'have read the pamphlet you kindly sent me, with astonishment 
 and admu’atidn, 1 am not chemist enough to pronounce upon 
 every part of it, but it seems to me that the man who could have 
 written it is destined to be a great benefactor to the world ; I do 
 not seewhy .it should not mark the introduction of a. new and 
 better era. I shall lay it away, with the author’s autograph, as 
 containing everything conceiming him that I should desire. 
 
 With much love, as ever, yours, 
 
 W. B. SPRAGUE. 
 
33 
 
 [XIX.] 
 
 [From H. ui. Foardman."] 
 
 1811 Si’KTJCE St., Oct. 10th. 
 
 1'>EAR General : 
 
 Wc firo all prepared to testify that the Hue glass grapes are in 
 size, color and liavor of the very choicest. If there bo gainsaycrs 
 send ihom to us. Wo give you many thanks for so generous a 
 sample of your crop. And what too ! 
 
 The fresh testimonies you recite are very remarkable — a fiir- 
 iiicr presage of the certain and cai’ly attention which will soon 
 be given to this whole subject, by mlm of science.. I regret that I 
 am compelled to send this bare acknowledgment of your es- 
 tremoly interesting letter. - 
 
 I am, very truly yours, 
 
 ir. A‘. ]30 AHd:iian. 
 
 [XX.] 
 
 [From Lieut. Col. Charles Manly, Loyal Volunteer 'Engineer' StaL 
 
 Corps, England.'] 
 
 CO Westbourne Terrace, Hyde Park. 
 
 'hoi^i'Don, March 23d, 1S72, 
 
 Nt Pear General: 
 
 Pr;' e accej)fmy thanks for your kind letter of 6th inst., and tor 
 Ihc six copies of your most interesting paper, which I sliall .dis- 
 t vibntc to the persons most capable of comprehending it, and of 
 repeat! og the experiments hoi’O; , 
 
 1 am grieved to say that my dear old friend A. H., cf 
 t'openliaaen, for whom I ventured to' ask you to' send mo your 
 paper, has died in the interval, and ho never I’ceeived your paper, 
 nor tim copies of tho Comptes Jiendus de V Academje de Sciences do 
 Paris, trpa Ung of tho subject, of which I procured him exomplaires. 
 liis son will, I hope, keep up his Horticultural Experiments and 
 when I next go to Denmark I will tell you whether any experimento 
 hayo bcen.tricd of your sj^stem. I have many friends who will, 1 
 think, try tho system, and if you dc.siro to make it known, s<nvl 
 5316 Boruo iTioro copies and they shall bo 'svoll placed aniong i * 
 cutial ] 3 orHot)s. I am a member of tho ITorticnltiiral and tho 
 Botanical Societies of London, and in my capacity of Honorary 
 Seerotar^^ of tho Institution of Civil Engineers of England, 1 am 
 in communication with scientific men, so I can make your system 
 well known to everybody. It is most interesting as an^ investiga- 
 tion, and I will try and get it tried in every way. ^ 
 
 Believe me, my dear General, yours sincerely, 
 
 CHAELE3 MAXBY. 
 
37 
 
 [XXL] 
 
 l^Frpm. J. T. Alden, of Newport, Kentucky.'] 
 
 Newpoet, KENTUCKYj.Jfay 26 th, 1872 . 
 General A. J. Pleasonton, Philadelphia. 
 
 Pear Sir : — Tour esteemed favor of 2-Sd inst., "vrith pamphlets, at 
 hand, for Avhieh please accept my sincere thanks. 
 
 1 read your treatise "with absorbing interest and satisfaction, and 
 vras amazed at the •wonderful discoveries evolved by your critical 
 observations and the scientific deductions and logical conclusions, 
 and still moi*o -astounded by their gi-and and overwhelming 
 demonstrations. 
 
 Your mind and vision have penetrated into the labyrinth of the 
 *' imponderable ” deep of nature, and eliminated from her secret/ 
 chambers great practical truths that hitherto have been buried 
 ii; an abyss too profound for even man’s comprehension. My dear 
 sir, I do most sincerely congratulate j’ou as the author of a dis- 
 covery ranking in great practical value with those of Morse, 
 Iv'ewton, Fulton and Watt. I cannot feel you will soon be 
 adequately rewarded, because truths like these are too abstruse for 
 immediate apprehension by the common mind. But time will 
 reduce j’our grand theory (no longer theory in your hands,) to 
 practice, and not until then will your great efforts, be duly appre- 
 ciated. 
 
 1 bow in deep grateful devotion to you, as the chosen instru- 
 ment of God in communicating this valuable knowledge to man- 
 kind j and may it be your happiness, as of Morse, to see its adoption 
 by your follow-creatures throughout the civilized world, as well as 
 like him to reap the full fruition of its honors and fruits. And if 
 you arc not deluged •with letters, I would like, to ask if theso 
 principles may be applied in a more humble' way than your 
 demonstration exhibits ? Can they be made subseiVient to the 
 produ' ’ ion of early vegetables by tlio ordinary hot bed cuhivro.jon ? 
 Have you experimented “ on this line,” or has any one under your 
 instruetiop ? If two or three weeks can be anticipated over the 
 hot bed culture now so common, it would equal 400 miles of lati- 
 tude in ii fliience and results. On this point, if consistent with 
 your time and convenience, I should be highly gratified to hear 
 fr'-)in you, stating any knowledge in your possession of results or 
 discoveries in this line of industries. 
 
 With considerations of profound respect, I am, dear sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. T. ALDEN. 
 
 I will confer -with you touching the area of territory desired 
 hereafter. 
 
D8 - 
 
 [XXIL] 
 
 [From Dr. John C. Brown, late Professor of Botany in the So\ah 
 African College, Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, Africa.'] 
 
 Philadelphia, 3405 Baring Street, ] ■ 
 16th October, 1873. , j 
 
 Sir: — I have tried to procure a copy of your valuable treatise 
 on blue light us an organic eliinulant, but have failed. May I aslc 
 you where I can procure a copy ? May 1 ask if you have collected 
 any information on the climatic effects which have followed the 
 extensive destruction of forests in America, and if you can inform 
 me where I may procure information on this point? I have just 
 enmplcted the tour of the forest districts of central and northern 
 Europe,' collecting information for the use of the Government at 
 t he Cape of Good Hope, and having come to the Conference of the 
 Evangelical Alliance, I am desirous of such information, and I 
 shall feel greatly obliged if you can supply it. I leave for Pitts- 
 burgh on Monday. Address me to the care of Kev. 0. Eastm.a.v, 
 311 West Twenty-Ninth Street, New ^ orlc. 
 
 My permanent address is, Eev. D. Brown, Borwick-on-Tweed, 
 England. 
 
 I am, sir, respectfully yours, 
 
 JOHN C. BEOWN, LL. D., P. E. G. S., F. L. S., &o. 
 
 Late Professor of Botany in the South African College, Cape, 
 Town. 
 
 To General Pleasonton. 
 
I 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen of the 
 
 (Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture : 
 
 It is now more than three years since I had the honour lo 
 read before you my memoir “ on the influence of the blue 
 colour of the sky in developing animal and vegetable life, as 
 illustrated by certain experiments I had mstituted and 
 continued between the years 1861 and 1871.” 
 
 The subject was so entirely novel, and the results of the ex- 
 periments were so surprising, that men were lost in amaze- 
 ment wl^n they conternplated the facts as they were narrated, 
 an*d began to conjecture the bearing that these facts were 
 destined to have upon the comfort, the health and the 
 prosperity of mankind. 
 
 As a knowledge of the experiments and the conclusions 
 deduced from them became diffused, various criticisms appeared 
 in many journals, some of which were humorous, and intended 
 to be facetious; others treated the subject with grave dignity, 
 not knowing exactly w'hat to make of it; while others, again, 
 grasping it in its important relations, as by intuition, welcomed 
 it as a long step in advance in the knowledge of the great 
 truths in physics ■which mankind • are so anxious to acquire. 
 All this was perfectly natural. ' The little knowledge which 
 men have has been acqiiired by great labour, industry, priva- 
 tion, and perhaps through a long course of arduous study. 
 They are, therefore, loath to abandon preconceived notions 
 upon any subject It would be a loss of so much mental 
 capital. A new idea, therefore, upon any familiar subject 
 naturally excites doubt, and is met with disapproval until, by 
 a free and full discussion, its merits are understood, when, if it 
 is established by facts and conclusive reasoning upon them, it 
 is accepted as sound, though it may displace all preexisting 
 notions in opposition to it. 
 
 Such has been the history of the publication of my memoir, 
 and of the wonderful discovery that it describes. I proceed 
 now to communicate to you some facts in connection with this 
 subject, which are very curious, instructive and important. 
 
*2 
 
 It may be remembered that m the month of May, 1871, a 
 great hailstorm visited , this city and neighbourhood, and 
 inflicted immense damage among gardens, green houses, &c. 
 Among the sufferers was Mr. Robert Buist, Sr., in his extensive 
 glass houses, near Darby, in some of which nearly all of the 
 glass was broken. The damage was promptly repaired, and 
 the houses reglazed as before, with colourless glass. After 
 which, my memoir on the influence of the blue colour of the 
 sky, &c,, Avhich had been readbefore.your society in the begin- 
 ning of May, of that year, was printed and published. It was 
 then too late for Mr. Buist to introduce blue glass into his 
 forcing houses — but fully informed of the results of my experi- 
 ments he . adopted an expedient, which differing somewhat 
 from my experiments conflrras the conclusions thereon to 
 which I had arrived, and which will prove a valuable addition 
 to ouf appliances in horticulture. 
 
 xVIr. Buist had at this time a very large and valuable 
 collection of geraniums which had become diseased ; some of 
 them had died, others were feeble, losing their leaves and 
 flowers, and 'others again, though blooming, were sensibly 
 being deprived of the brilliant tints of colour which char- 
 acterized their several yarieties. . • 
 
 It occurred to Mr. Buist that if he should paint with a ligU blue 
 colour the inside siu'face of each pane of glass in one of diis 
 houses, leaving a margin of an inch and a quarter in width of • 
 the glass in its uncoloured condition all around the painted 
 surface on each of the panes of glass, and then place his 
 Sickly geranium plants in the house under this glass so 
 paintedj' the vigour of his plants might be restored. . 
 
 The experiment was made, and was successful. The plants 
 began to revive soon after they had been placed in this house. 
 In two days thereafter they began to put forth new leaves, and 
 at the end of ten days their vigour was not merely restored, but 
 Mr. Buist assured me that the plants he had thus treated were 
 more healthy and vigourous than he had ever seen similar 
 plants of the same varieties to have been. Their colours were 
 not only restored but their tints were intensified. 
 
 During the summer of 1871, Mr. Dreer, one of our most 
 successful horticulturists, called my attention to another con- 
 firmation of my theory, which had just come to his notice. It 
 was as follows, viz. ; 
 
3 
 
 A professional gardener in Massachusetts (near Boston) had 
 been trying for several j’ears to protect his young plants, as 
 they were germinating, from various minute insects which fed 
 upon them, sometimes as soon as they were formed. For this 
 purpose he adopted nearly every expedient of which he had 
 any knowledge, and. even used the primary rays of sunlight 
 separately. Clothing succeeded, however, in these experiments 
 but the blue ray, which proved itself to be a perfect protec- 
 tion against the attacks of these insects. He made a small 
 triangular frame, similar in form to a soldier's tent, covered it 
 with blue gauze, such as ladies use for their veils. Having 
 prepared a piece of ground, he sowed his seed in it, and,,, 
 covering a portion of the ground thus prepared with his little 
 blue frame and gauze, he left the other parts exposed to the 
 attacks of the insects. His. plants outside of this frame were 
 all eaten by the insects, as soon as they germinated, while 
 those under it escaped entirely from their depredations. This 
 experiment was tried many times, and always with similar 
 results. 
 
 This gardener had written an account of his experiments to 
 Mr. Freer, and had forwarded to him one of his small blue, 
 gauze frames, in order to its introduction here to the attention 
 of our gardeners. This was shown to me by ^Er. Freer, with, 
 the gardener’s account of his experiments with it. 
 
 The explanation of this phenomenon, I think, is this, 
 Tlie sunlight negatively electrified in passing through the 
 meshes of the blue gauze of the frame, which is positively 
 electrified, excites an electro-magnetic current sufficiently 
 strong to destroy the feeble vitality of the eggg or of the insects 
 themselves, which are in the soil with the seed, lea%dng the 
 seed to germinate more rapidly under its influence. One 
 remarkable circumstance in* these experiments was that the 
 combination of sunlight with blue light, while it destroyed 
 these noxious insects injurious to vegetation, at the same 
 time stimulated the development of the gr'owth of the plants 
 it had preserved. 
 
 Having introduced blue glass into the windows of the sleep- 
 ing apartments of my servants in one of my country houses, it 
 was observed that large numbers of flies, that had previously 
 infested them., were dead soon after its introduction, on the 
 inside sills of the windows. This effect seemed to be pro- 
 duced by alike cause to that on the insects injurious to vege- 
 
i 
 
 tation as described by the gardener of Massachusetts iii Ins 
 experiments. Various experiments have been made in several 
 parts of this country as well as in Europe, with this associated 
 fio-ht, in developing vegetable life according to my suggestions 
 and with results corresponding to those that I have obtained. 
 A lady of my acquaintance, residing in this city, informed mo 
 that having some very choice and rare flowering pli^V^s 
 in her sitting room, which were drooping and manifesting signs 
 of disease, she threw over them’ a blue gauze veil, such as 
 ladies wear, and exposed them to the sunlight, when -she was 
 highly gratified to discover that in a very short time they were 
 fuUy restored to health and vigour. 
 
 A o-entleman in TTest Philadelphia having a large lemon- 
 tree, which he prized highly, placed it in his hall near to the 
 vestibule door, the side lights of which were ot glass of 
 ent colours, blue and violet predominating; the sunlight 
 passing through these side lights fell upon a portion of the, 
 branches of this lemon tree ; great vigour was imparted thereby 
 to the vitality of these branches, which were filled with very 
 fine lemons, while the other branches of the tree that did no 1 
 •receive the light from these blue and violet panes ot glass, 
 were small, feeble and apparently unhealthy, and were without 
 
 fruit. 
 
 It will be remembered that during our late civil war, 
 when commercial intercourse between the Northern and 
 Southern -States had ceased, the sale of early fruits and. vegeta- 
 bles in the markets of the principal northern cities, was 
 monopolized by their producers in the states of Nevv Jersey 
 and Delaware, and on the eastern shore of Maryland This 
 was a very valuable trade, and enriched many of those 
 enc^aged in it. The price of land in these regions became 
 enhanced in value, and the people resident there enjoyed 
 . unusual prosperity. On the restoration ot peace all this was 
 changed; the people along the Atlantic sl<^e of Virginia, 
 North and South Carolina and of a part of G-eorgia, at once 
 entered upon the cultivation of fruits and vegetables for the 
 northern cities, and owing to their lower latitudes and earlier 
 • seasons, aud improved modes of cultivation, they have secured 
 their lost markets, and are now rapidly recovering from the 
 efiects of the war. All this, of course, is a corresponding loss 
 to the farmers of New Jersey, De-laware and the eastern shore 
 of Maryland, and as a consequence the value of farming lands 
 in these sections has been sensibly depreciated. A large por- 
 
tion of this trade can be recovered by tbe application of mv 
 discovery to the cultivation of vegetables and fruits, and their 
 maturity can be hastened so as to equal that of those of the 
 Southern States herein referred to. 
 
 The early vegetables used in my family are, for the most 
 part, started in pots under blue and plain glass, then trans- 
 planted into proper soil, and are ready for use several weeks 
 before I could otherwise obtain them. As an illustration, 'we 
 have been using on my table since July 12tli, of this year, 
 Stowell’s evergreen sugar corn, grown in this way, while I am 
 informed that it is one of the latest in the season to mature ; 
 it will be at least two weeks later than now, August 10th. 
 before any of it grown otherwise in the ordinary course of 
 growth will be ready for use.* 
 
 As it is only the very early and very late vegetables and 
 fruits that remunerate the grower, while the abundance of 
 the_ regular crops reduces the prices oftentimes below cost, 
 it is truly the interest of all persons engaged in furnishing 
 such foods to mankind, to produce them and sell them when 
 the prices are highest, v^z., at the beginning and end of their 
 seasons. 
 
 Cotton and tobacco, in the Middle States, can be raised and 
 matured according to this process, so as to avoid entirely the 
 September frosts, and to compete in yield and quality with 
 any of the cottons grown in the Southern States, unless it may 
 be the Sea Island cotton. I have myself raised and rnatured 
 cotton plants on my lawn in this city, year after year, which 
 produced as fine and large bolls as I have ever seen in Carolina 
 or Georgia, and this without tlie use of blue, glass, and before 
 I had made my discovery of its wonderful influence on vegeta- 
 tion. 
 
 A machine has been invented and patented at Washington 
 City, by which a man, with it and a mule, can set out in a day 
 growing cotton plants which would cover an immense area of 
 land. Now if these plants are started according to my direc- 
 tions, under these glasses, and then transplanted into suitable 
 soil after the spring frosts are over, the heat and moisture 
 of the summer in the Middle States, w'hich probably are in 
 excess of those of the Southern States at that season, will 
 rapidly ensure the maturity of the plants ; and crops can be thus 
 raised which will compete favorably with those of any other 
 
 , * The above was written in 1874. 
 
0 
 
 section of the country. This same principle of hastening the 
 maturity of plants, applies with still greater force to higher 
 latitudes where the seasons of growth are necessarily short. 
 
 Tt is estimated that people residing six or eight degrees of 
 latitude farther north than the present latitude of cultivation 
 of various plants, may he enabled to enjoy many plants and 
 fruits of which they are now deprived, by the introduction of 
 the process of development that I 'have herein sketched. 
 
 W^hat boundless blessings may not be obtained in this man- 
 ner for the populations of E’orthern Germany, Southern Russia, 
 of Scandinavia, Northern China and even the Steppes of 
 Tartary, and some parts of Siberia which may be brought 
 within the influence of this wonderful power, and thus, by 
 increasing the comforts of life, hasten the progress of their 
 civilization. So much for vegetation and what may be done 
 with it. We will now invite your attention to the stimulating 
 influence exerted by this associated blue and sunlight upon 
 animal life. 
 
 An esteemed friend of mine, of high character. Commodore 
 J. R. Goldsboi’ough, of the United States Navy, liaving been 
 assigned to tlie command of one of our western naval stations 
 in the latter part of the year 1871, caused some experiments to 
 Re made with the associated blue light of the firmament, and 
 sunlight, and subsequently addressed to me a letter, of which 
 the following is a copy, viz ; 
 
 Mound City, Illinois, May 31st, 1872. 
 To General A. J. Pleasonton, Fhiladelphia, Penn’a. 
 
 General : — Presuming that it would be agreeable to you to 
 luarn the results of some experiments that I caused to be 
 made, after having read the pamphlet you did me the honor 
 to place in my hand, “ On the Influence of the Blue Color of the 
 Sky, in Developing Animal and Vegetable Life,” I proceed to 
 detail them to you : The first experiment was made here by the 
 Surgeon of this station, who, having had every alternate pane 
 of uncoloured glass removed from each of two windows in his 
 parlour, and having substituted for them corresponding panes 
 of blue glass, proceeded to place a number of plants and vines 
 of many varieties, in pots, in the room so as to receive the 
 associated light of the sun and the blue light of the firmament 
 ■upon them. 
 
7 
 
 In a very short time the plants and vines began to manifest 
 the effects of the remarkable influences to which they had 
 been subjected. Their growth was rapid and extraordinary., 
 indicating unusual vigour, and increasing in the length of 
 their branches from an inch and a half to three inches, accord- 
 ing to their species, every twenty-four hours, as by measure- 
 ment. 
 
 The second experiment was made in a comparison of the 
 development of the newly hatched chickens of two broods of 
 the same variety. In each of these two broods were thirteen 
 chickens, all of which were hatched on the same day. 
 
 Comfortable but separate quarters near to each other were 
 assigned to the two broods, with their respective mothers, on 
 the lawn ; one of the coops, containing a hen and her brood, 
 was partly covered with blue and plain glass ; the other' coop, 
 also containing a hen and her brood, did not difier from the 
 coops commonly used in this country. 
 
 The chickens of each brood were fed at the same times 
 and with equal quantities of similar food. Those under the blue 
 glass soon began to display the effects of the stimulating 
 influence of the associated blue and sunlight by their daily 
 almost visible growth, increase of strength and activity, far 
 exceeding in . all these respects, the developments of the 
 chickens of the other brood which were exposed to the ordi- 
 nary atmospheric influences. . 
 
 I will also relate to you what I imagine -to be another re- 
 markable circumstance having relation to this subject. 
 
 On the 29th of January, 1872, the wife of one of the gentle- 
 men on the station gave birth prematurely to a very small 
 child, which weighed at the- time only three and a half pounds. 
 It was very feeble, possessing apparently but little vitality. 
 It so happened that the wiitdows of the room, in which it was 
 born and reared, were draped with blue curtains, through 
 which and the plain glass of the windows, the sunlight entered 
 the apartment. The lacteal sj'stem of the mother was greatly 
 excited, and secreted an excessive quantity of milk, while at 
 the same time the appetite of the child for food was greatly 
 increased, to such an extent indeed, that its mother, notwith- 
 standing the inordinate flow of her milk, at times found it 
 difl3.cult to satisfy its hunger. 
 
8 
 
 The child grew rapidly in health, strength and size ; and on 
 the 2&th of May, 1872, just four months after its birth, when 1 
 saw it, before I left Mound City, it weighed twenty-two 
 pounds. 
 
 Whether this extraordinary result was the effect of the 
 associated blue and sunlight, passing through the the curtains 
 and glass of the windows, or not, I.do not profess to determine, 
 but I give you the facts of the case, which are in complete 
 harmony in their developments with the results of the exfieri- 
 ments bn domestic animals that you yourself have made. W ith 
 great regard, 
 
 ' I remain, very truly; yours, 
 
 JOHN R. GOLDSBOROXJGH. 
 
 It will be seen from this statement that this child had grown 
 eighteen pounds and a half in four months, or four and- five- 
 eighth pounds per month, -and considering its apparently 
 slight hold upon life, at its birth, we niay unite with the 
 Commodore in believing it to be “ a remarkable circumstance.” 
 
 On the 15th February of this year, 1874, two newly born 
 lambs, one weighing three and a half pounds, the other weigh- 
 ing four pounds, were taken from their mothers and placed in 
 one of the pens on my farm fitted with blue and uncoloured 
 glass ; they had not received any nourishment from their dams, 
 .they were fed alike, and without any design to increase largely 
 ' their weight, with skimmed cow’s milk. When they Avere three 
 months old, they were weighed — one of them weighed fitty- 
 one pounds, the' other fifty-five pounds — at two weeks old 
 their teeth were so much developed that they began to eat 
 hay. 
 
 The flesh of lambs is deemed to be a delicacy. From this 
 experiment, it would appear that in three months from birth 
 two lambs have gained forty-seven and a half and fifty-one 
 pounds respectively, which, at the market price of forty cents per 
 pound, would yield in one case twenty dollars and forty cents, 
 * and in the other twenty-two dollars, for the lambs weighing 
 respectively fifty-one and fifty-five pounds. 
 
 Farmers who raise domestic animals for food have here a 
 very simple and inexpensive process by which their gains may 
 be very largely increased. 
 
9 
 
 A gentleman of my acquaintance having a canary bird that 
 had been a very fine singer, vs^as surprised to discover that, 
 without any apparent cause, the bird had ceased to sing, 
 refused to eat, and evidently vras in a declining state of health, 
 and it was feared that he would soon die. I recommended 
 the owner to try the effect of blue and sunlight upon the bird. 
 He consented. The cage was removed with the bird to the 
 bathroom of the owner’s house, whose windows contained varie- 
 gated glass, blue and violet in excess. The cage, with its 
 occupant, was suspended so that the sunlight passing through 
 these lights might fall upon the cage. The bird began to 
 recover very soon, its appetite returned, and in a little while 
 its song, which its owner assured me, was sweeter, stronger 
 and more spirited then he had previously known it to be. 
 
 At the close of the late civil war in this country, I bought a 
 pair of mules that had been used in the military service of 
 the government. A little while after the purchase it was dis- 
 covered that one of them was completely deaf, having had his 
 hearing'destroyed by the noise of heavy firing during the 
 battles in which he had been employed. Thereupon I directed 
 the teamster who had charge of him, to be particularly careful 
 in using him, and to treat him with great gentleness and kind- 
 ness on account of his infirmity. Two or three years after he 
 came into my possession, this mule was seized with acute 
 rheumatism of so violent a character that the poor animal 
 could not walk. Before this time he, with other animals, had 
 been removed to a new stable that I had built, in which he 
 was kept for several months without being used for work. 
 He gradually got better of his rheumatism, but his deafness 
 continued until this spring, when he recovered entirely both 
 from his deafness and rheumatism. Over each of the doors of 
 this stable I had caused to be placed a transom, with panes of 
 blue and colourless glass therein. The stall of this mule was 
 before a door with such a transom over it. 'When the 
 the sun arose in the morning, he cast his light through this 
 transom on the n.eck and top of the head of thisnmle. Before 
 he set in the afternoon he threw his light again upon the head 
 and neck of this mule, through, the transom of another door 
 on the northwestern side of the stable; the eflect of this light , 
 upon the animal has been the cure of his rheumatism, and the 
 removal of his deafness; He is now as healthy and hearty a 
 mule as you will see anywhere. The removal of this deafness 
 was produced by an electro-magnetic current, evolved by the 
 
10 
 
 two lights upon his auditory nerves and exciting them to 
 healthy action. 
 
 These last two incidents just mentioned, serve to introduce 
 the subject of the influence of the associated blue and sunlight 
 upon animal health and particularly upon Human Health. 
 
 It is known that silk is one of the most important staple 
 products of Italy. It is also known that much of the high 
 prices which this staple product hear in commerce, is due to 
 to the ditficulty experienced in hatching and rearing the silk 
 worms which produce the cocoons or halls oh which they wind 
 the silk drawn from their bodies. To hatch the eggs of the 
 silk wOrra, an even temperature of a certain degree of heat is 
 indispensable, and great caa’e in feeding and keeping them 
 clean is required after the worms are hatched. 
 
 An eminent' Italian chemist, after the publication of the 
 results of my experiments with blue light, instituted some 
 experiments in the rearing of the silk worms. He placed a 
 certain number of the eggs that produce the worms under 
 plain glass, of which, in the hatching and rearing, 60 per cent, 
 died. He then placed the same number of eggs under violet 
 glass, of which only 10 per cent, perished. Had he used blue 
 glass in his experiments it is probable that the loss would have 
 teen nearly nominal. As the rearing of silk worms for the 
 European factories has become an important industry in Cali- 
 fornia, we may expect great success will follow the efforts to 
 raise them, when the stimulating influence of blue light shall 
 be applied properly. 
 
 "While we are considering this subject, it maybe as well to 
 allude to the vitalizing influence of the associated blue and 
 sunlight of this discovery in the cure of human and, other 
 animal diseases, and I may mention here a most extraordinary 
 case in which its power was manifested. 
 
 In the latter part of August, 1871, 1 chanced to visit a physi- 
 cian of this city, of my acquaintance, whom' I found to be in 
 great distress, and plunged in the lowest despondency. 
 On inquiring the cause, he told me that he feared that he was 
 about to lose his wife, who was suffering from a complication 
 of disorders that were most painful and distressing, and which 
 had baffled the skill of several of the most eminent physicians 
 here, as also of others of equal distinction in New York. He 
 then stated that his wife was suffering great pains in the lower* 
 
'll 
 
 part of her back, and in her head and neck, as also in her 
 lower limbs; that she could not sleep; that she had no appetite 
 for food and was rapidly wasting-awav in flesh; and that her secre- 
 tions were all abnormal. I said to him, “ Why don’t you try 
 blue light ? ” to which he replied, “ I have thought of that, but 
 you know how it is with wives; they will frequently reject the 
 advice of a husband, while they would accept it if offered by 
 any one else. This has deterred me from recommending 
 blue light, but I think that if you should recommend it to her 
 she will adopt it, for she has great confidence in your judg- 
 ment.” I told him that I would most certainly recommend it 
 to her. Accordingly we went up to her sitting room in the 
 second story of the main building, having a southern expo- 
 sure, the hquie being on the southern side of the street. We 
 found her seated at an open window, the thermometer up in 
 the nineties ; she was looldng very miserable, greatly emaci- 
 ated, sallow in complexion, indicating extrerne ill health, and 
 her voice very feeble. On inquiring of her relative to the 
 state of her health, she described it very much as her husband, 
 the doctor, had done. When I had put to her the same ques- 
 tion I had proposed to her husband, viz : “ Why don’t you try 
 blue light ? ” “ Oh!” she replied, ‘T have tried so many things, 
 and have had so nmny doctors that I am out of conceit of all 
 remedies; none of them have done me any good; I don’t 
 believe that anything can relieve me.” To which I remarked, 
 xvonsense ! you have many years of life yet remaining, and if 
 you will try blue light you will live, to enjoy them.” To 
 which she answered, “Are you in earnest? Do you really 
 think that blue light would do me any good ? ” “ Certainly !” 
 
 I said, “I do, or I would not reconamend it to you ; my expe- 
 rience with it fully justifies my opinion.” She then said she 
 would try it, and asked me how it should be applied. I then 
 told her and her husband in what manner the application of 
 blue light iu her case should be made, and how often and 
 when it should be repeated^ and they both promised that the 
 trial with it should be made the next day. 
 
 Six days after this interview I received a note from the 
 doctor, asking me to send him some copies of my memoir on 
 blue light, &c., which he wished to forward to some of his 
 distant friends, and at the close of it he had written : “ You 
 will be surprised to learn that since my wife has been under 
 the blue glass, her hair on the head has begun to grow, not 
 merely longer, but in places on her head where there was 
 none new hair is coming out thick.” This was certainly an 
 
12 
 
 unexpected effect, but it displayed an evident action on the 
 skin, and so far was encouraging. Two days after the receipt 
 of this note I called to see the doctor, and while he was 
 giving me an account of the experiment with the blue light, 
 his wife entered the office, and coming to me, she said, “ Oh, 
 general ! I am so much obliged to you for having recommended 
 to me that blue light !” “ Ah !” said I, “ is it doing you any 
 
 good?” “Yes,” she said, “ the greatest possible good. _ Do 
 you know that when I put my naked foot under the blue light, 
 all my pains in the limb cease ?” I inquired, “ Is that a fact ?” 
 She assured me that it was, and then added, “ My maid tells 
 me that my hair is growing not merely longer on my head, 
 but in places there which were bald new hair is coming out 
 thick.” She also said that the pains in her back were less, 
 and that there was a general improvement in the condition of 
 her health. 
 
 Three weeks afterwards, on visiting them, the doctor told 
 me that the arrangement of blue and sunlight had been a 
 complete success with his wife; that her pains had left her; 
 that she now slept well ; her appetite had returned, and that 
 she had already gained much flesh. His wife, a few moments 
 afterwards, in'person, confirmed this statement of her husband,, 
 and he added: “From n^y observation of the effects^ of this 
 associated blue and sunlight upon my wife, I regard it as the 
 greatest stimulant and most powerful tonic that I know of in 
 medicine. It will be invaluable in typhoid cases, cases of de- 
 bility, nervous depressions, and the like.” It was at this time 
 that the' first svmptoms in the improved condition of the health 
 of the Prince of Wales, who had been dangerously ill in Eng- 
 land, were announced, when the doctor added: “Yow, in this 
 case of the Prince of Wales, could he have been submitted to 
 this treatment with the associated blue and sunlight baths, 
 his recovery would be in one-tenth part of the time that it will 
 take under the usual treatment.” 
 
 I introduce here a copy of the letter that I received from 
 this physician. Dr. S. W. BeckAvith, on this subject. It is as 
 follows, viz. : 
 
 “ Electrical Institute, 1220 Walnut street, 
 
 “ Philadelphia, 21, 1871. 
 
 “Jb General A. J. Pleasonton. 
 
 “ My Dear Sir :— In following out the suggestions from you 
 at our late conversation concerning the application of the asso- 
 
13 
 
 ciated blue light of the sky and sunlight for the cure of debility 
 and nervous exhaustion, I have found some very singular 
 results. 
 
 ‘‘ The application of your theory to the cultivation of plants 
 and the development of animal life, has been wonderfully sue* 
 cessful ; but it will, in certain conditions of human suffering, 
 prove to be a far greater blessing to mankind, if judiciously 
 used. As an illustration, I offer the following facts, viz : 
 
 “ My wife had been suffering trom nervous irritation and 
 exhaustion, which resulted in severe neuralgic and rheumatic 
 pains, depriving her of sleep and appetite for food, and pro- 
 ducing in her- great debility, accompanied by a wasting away 
 of her body, and changing the normal character of her secre- 
 tions. 
 
 I had prepared a window sash fitted with blue glass, which 
 was inserted in one half of one of the windows in her sitting- 
 room, The sash of the other half of the same window was 
 fitted with uncoloured glass, the window having a southern ex- 
 posure, and receiving, from ten and a half o’clock a. m. till 
 four o’clock p. M,, the full blaze of the sun’s light. The shut- 
 ters of the other window (there being two windows in the 
 room) were closed, excluding all light from it, and light was 
 also excluded from the upper sash of the first mentioned 
 window, 
 
 “ This arrangement I found to furnish too strong a blue light 
 for my wife’s eyes; and, besides, it was not in accordance with 
 your instructions. So I introduced an equal number of panes 
 of clear glass and of blue glass into the sash, and then my wife 
 exposed to the action of these associated lights those parts of 
 her person which were the subjects of her neuralgia. In three 
 minutes afterwards the pains were greatly subdued ; and in 
 ten minutes after having received the lights upon her person, 
 they almost entirely ceased for the time being, whether they 
 were in the head, limbs, feet, or spine. With each application 
 of the sun and blue light bath, relief was given immediately. 
 There is no doubt in my mind that in eases of exhaustion from 
 long-continued -fevers and other debilitating causes, the appli- 
 cation of this principle that you have discovered -will restore 
 the patients to health with a rapidity tenfold greater than can 
 be effected by any other treatment within my knowledge. 
 
14 
 
 “ Congratulating you upon your grand discovery, as well in 
 science as in animal Hygiene, 
 
 ‘‘ I remain, very truly yours, 
 
 “ S. BECKWITH. 
 
 ' p_ g. — From a close examination of tlie effects of these 
 associated lights of the sun and the firmament,.! am ot the 
 opinion that they furnish the greatest stirnulant and the most 
 powerful tonic that I am acquainted with in medicine. 
 
 “ Very truly yours, 
 
 “ S. W. BECKWITH.” 
 
 About this time (September, 1871), one of my sons, about 22 
 years of age, a remarkably vigourous and muscular young m.an, 
 was afflicted with a severe attack of sciatica, or rheumatism of 
 the sciatic nerve, in his left hip and thigh, from which he had 
 been unable to obtain any relief, though the usual medical as 
 well as galvanic remedies had been applied.^ He had become 
 lame from it, and he suffered much pain in his attempts to 
 walk. 
 
 I advised him to try the associated sun and blue light, both 
 upon his naked spine and hip, which he did with such benefit 
 that at the end of three weeks after taking the first of these baths 
 of light, every symptonr ot the disorder disappeared, and he 
 has had no return of it since; — a period now ot three years. 
 
 Some time since two of my friends. Major Generals S r 
 
 and D , of the United States regular army, were on duty 
 
 in this city. On making them a visit at their official residence, 
 I saw on the window-ledge as I ^ entered the room, a piece of 
 blue glass of about the size of one of the panes of glass in the 
 window. After some conversation, General D. said to me, ‘‘Did 
 you notice that piece of blue glass on our window-ledge? I 
 said, “I had observed it.” ‘‘Do you know what it is there for ?” 
 To winch I replied, that did*not V He then said, I will tell 
 you — S. and I have been suffering very much from rheumatism 
 in our fore-arms, from the .elbow-joints to our fingers ends; 
 sometimes our fingers were so rigid that we could not hold a 
 peu — we have tried almost every remedy that was ever heaid 
 of for relief, but without avail; at last I said to S., suppose we 
 try Pleasonton’s blue glass, to which he assented — when I sent 
 for the glass and placed it on the window-ledge. When the sun 
 began about ten o’clock in the morning to throw its light 
 
15 
 
 through the glass of the window, we took off our coats, rolled 
 up our shirt sleeves to the shoulders, and then held our naked 
 arms under the blue and sunlight; in three days thereafter, 
 having taken' each day one of these sun-baths for 30 minutes 
 on our arms, the pains in them ceased, and we have liot had 
 any return of them since — ^we are cured.” 
 
 It is now more than two years since the date of my visit to 
 these officers. Two months ago General S. told me that he 
 had not had any return of the rheumatism, nor did he think 
 that General D. had had any — General S. in the meantime had 
 been exposed to every vicissitude- of climate, from the Atlantic 
 Ocean to Washington Territory, on the Pacific, and from the 
 49th degree of notth latitude to the Gulf of Mexico, and General 
 P. was theffi stationed in the far hTorth. 
 
 In the beginning of March, 1873, I was called upon by Mr. 
 Henry H. Holloway, a very respectable gentleman, doing busi 
 ness in this city as a bookseller, who came to consult me on 
 the subj^t of his mother’s illness, and to ask my opinion in 
 regard tolhe propriety of using blue and sunlight baths in 
 her case. He stated that his mother had been confined to her 
 bed for more than two months, and that she w^as sufferino- ex- 
 cruciating pains in her head, spine and other parts of her body ; 
 that she could not bear to be moved in bed ; that she could not 
 sleep, and having no appetite, she was rapidly wasting away 
 in flesh and strength ; that her physician had not been able to 
 make any impression uppn her malady, and that the family 
 w'ere in despair lest she should die ; that its members had been 
 summoned to her bedside that afternoon to see her probably 
 for the last time, and if I thought that these blue and sunlight 
 baths would relieve his mother, he wished to have them tried. 
 From his account it was evident that her situation was criti- 
 cal, and that there was a*serious disturbance of the electrical 
 equilibrium in her system; I told him very frankly that I 
 thought his mother could be greatly benefited by tbe use of the 
 said baths of light, and I informed him bow and how often 
 these baths of light should be administered. He expressed 
 himself much gratified by my explanations and said, that he 
 wmuld urge his mother and her physician to give them a fair 
 trial. I received from him subsequently a letter, of which the 
 following is a copy, viz : 
 
 “Philadelphia, April 14 .ih, 1873 . 
 
 ‘ ‘ To General A. J. Pleasonton. 
 
 “ Dear Sir : — Knowing that you have been assiduously inves- 
 
tigating the curative properties of blue light (for human 
 diseases) for several years past, a feeling of gratitude prompts 
 me to take the liberty of communicating a few facts that may 
 he of some interest to you. 
 
 “About six weeks since I heard you explaining to an ac- 
 quaintance of yours, the way in which blue light should be 
 arranged in windows, so as to take sun-baths thereby. In 
 enumerating the classes of invalids that would be benefited 
 by such baths, you mentioned those afflicted with spinous or 
 nervous diseases. 
 
 “ I was an interested auditor ; for my mother, Margaret C. 
 Holloway, residing in Chesterfield “township, Burlington 
 county, Hew Jersey, had then been confined to her bed for 
 about two months, her entire nervous system being appar- 
 ently incurably aflected. It was probably a regular consump- 
 tion of the nerves. She appeared to' be wasting away very 
 rapidly, and we had but little, if any, hope of her recovery. 
 
 ■ “At my request, after first obtaining the full consent of her- 
 self and the attending physician, blue %yindow lights (pur- 
 chased froth French, Richards & Co., of this city,) were suita- 
 bly arranged in the west windows of her room, the east win- 
 dows being too much shaded by trees to admit the light pro- 
 perly. During the first week thereafter, the weather was so 
 unfavorable that only one sun-bath could be taken ; but the 
 next week, three or four w^ere taken on consecutive days. 
 
 “From the commencement of her sickness, she had not been 
 able to sit up more than a few minutes each day, just while 
 the nurse made the bed; but in a few days after the several 
 sun-baths w’ere taken in succession, she surprised the entire 
 family by getting up and dressing herself while they were at 
 breakfast. She probably over-exerted herself as she was not 
 so well for two or three days thereafter. However, she con- 
 tinued to improve very rapidly, and has now almost or entirely 
 regained her usual health. 
 
 ,“ I may just here state the most important perceptible efiects 
 of the sun-bath. 
 
 “ During most of the time of her illness, mother suffered 
 from an intense pain in the upper part of the spine and in her 
 head, and the galvanic battery had been frequently and regu- 
 larly used in the hope of mitigating it. The sun-baths re- 
 lieved this pain very materially; and also induced a profuse 
 
17 
 
 perspiration that relieved the jiiterior. organs from their ob- 
 structions, and which relief medicines, as well as the galvanic- 
 battery, had failed to produce. 
 
 “ These are the important facts in the case. • 
 
 “The attending physician would probably maintain that the 
 remedial virtue was mainly or altogether in his medieinds, b=ii 
 the circumstances are such as to induce the belief that motlier’- 
 speedy recoveiy was in a great degree attributable to the cura- 
 i've properties of the blue glass. lam so fully convinced of 
 tins that I shall hereafter use tlie glass in a similar way, in al) 
 cases of protracted sickness in my own famil\', whenever prac- 
 ticable. 
 
 “Very respectfull}" yours, &c., 
 
 . “HENRY H. HOXLO’WAY, 
 
 “No. 6 South Tenth street, Philadelphia, Pa.” 
 
 This lady soon afterwards recovered her usual good health . 
 and on. its re-establishment,’ she made several visits to her sons 
 residing here. In two of these visits, I had the pleasure to 
 see her. In one of the interviews that I had with her, she 
 told me that for two }’ears prior to the use of these baths of 
 liglitshe had had no perceptible perspiration, but that after the 
 •'Jiird of these light baths, a most copious perspiration broke 
 out all over her person, but particularly profuse on her neck 
 and shoulders, and that she had called her daughter to witness 
 it, who scraped it with her hands from her neck and shoulders as 
 a groom does from a horse that has been hard driven or ridden 
 in summer. She dates her recovery from the restoration of 
 her power to perspire, which she attributed to the effect of the 
 associated sun and blue lights. • , 
 
 I ^ 
 
 I addressed a note to the attending physician in this case, 
 asking from him a statement of the case, with its diagnosis, &c. 
 Prom his reply I make the following extract, viz : “ Mrs. H. 
 .had been sick some two or three weeks with excessive spinal 
 iritation amounting to partial paralysis of the right side, with 
 •intense neuralgia from the occiput down to the foot, including 
 the right arm. This condition was greatly improved before 
 the blue glass was used. She was almost free from pain, but 
 nervous iritation remaining at this time I made use of the 
 galvanic battery, which she thought done her a great deal of 
 good. 
 
18 
 
 “I ihink it was some two or three days after that, the blue 
 light was used. She says that she took it about twelve times 
 altogether, from a quarter to a half hour each time. 
 
 “You can draw your own conclusion, if there was any benefit 
 derived from blue light. 
 
 . “My dear sir, I would not have you imagine that I do not 
 have any faith in your theory, for I confidently believe that it 
 has a most powi^rful influence, both on the animal and vegeta- 
 b'e kingdoms. 
 
 Y I should like, at some future period, tb give it a fair trial ; 
 conseq^iently, if it would not be encroaching too much on your 
 time, I should like very much to hear from you in regard to 
 3 our experience of its application and result, the nianner and 
 mode by Avhich it may be used, and should there be any 
 benefit derived by its use, I would most cheerfully transmit 
 that fact to you. 
 
 “ Respectfully yours, 
 
 ‘ “ J. G. L. WHITEHEAD. 
 
 “ Ckosswicks, April Sd, 1873d’ 
 
 I have introduced here the extract from the letter of Dr. 
 Whitehead merely to show the desperate condition of his 
 patient, her agonizing suffering, and the well founded appre^ 
 hensions of the patient’s family — that the situation of the 
 patient was extremely critical, and fully justified the use even 
 of experiment with a new practice, in the attempt to relieve 
 her. When they saw that the expedients resorted to during 
 her long sickness had failed to produce the desired results. Dr. 
 Whitehead, himself, is stated by Mr. Holloway to have given 
 his full consent to have the experiment with the blue light i 
 made in the case of Mrs. Holloway, she also desiring it, which 
 is conclusive that she. had not been so much benefited by his 
 treatment of her as to wish to continue it longer, and that he 
 also was in doubt as to its efficacy from the adoption of another 
 practice. 
 
 About this time, Mr. H. H. Hollowa^q the gentleman whose' 
 mother’s case is given above, being a great sufferer from rheu- 
 matism, from which he had been unable to obtain relief, 
 determined to try in his own person the efficacy of the sun 
 and blue light bath, and after having tested it to his entire 
 satisfaction, addressed me a letter, as follows, viz : 
 
19 
 
 “ Philadelphia, October 17th, 18?'^. 
 
 '•’’Gen. A. J. Pleasoiiton. 
 
 “Dear Sir: — In the spring of 1872, 1 was afflicted with the 
 rheumatism (sciatica,) for nearly two months, and I suffered 
 from a recurrence of the same, at intervals, until last spring. 
 At that time the surprising effect which your blue glass sun- 
 baths produced in restoring my mother to health (an account 
 of which I sent you a few months since,) induced me to try 
 the same for the rheumatism. 
 
 “I took three or four such baths of sun and blue light, in . 
 accordance with your directions, and have had no returns of 
 the rheumatism since, although six months have now elapsed; 
 and I have been- much exposed in stormy weatheri My limbs 
 have been a little stiff, but without pain, two or . three times 
 during long continued' storms, which was probably owing to- 
 the mercury contained in the drugs taken by me, when first, 
 attacked in 1872. 
 
 “I have deferred writing to you on the subject for several 
 months, so that sufficient time might elifpse to be sure of the 
 permanence of the effect of the blue glass sunbaths. 
 
 “ I am fiilly confident that a fair trial of said sunbaths will 
 seldom if ever fail to cure the rheumatism, and I wish that so 
 simple and inexpensive a curative agent may speedily become 
 popularized. 
 
 “Very respectfully, 
 
 “HEURY H. HOLLOWAY. 
 
 “ Ho. 5 South 10th street, Phila.” 
 
 In the further consideration of this subject, I introduce here 
 some extracts from a letter received from Dr. Robert Rohland, 
 a distinguished physician residing in Hew York. 
 
 “Hew York, Jul^ 13th, 1873. 
 
 “ General A. J. Pleasanton. 
 
 “ Sir : — ^Dr. McL. told me, three days since, that you had 
 written to him about a new edition of your highly interesting 
 pamphlet on blue light that you were" preparing, that would 
 contain additional results that you had obtained in your experi- 
 ments with blue light as a healing power. I can readily 
 believe in its efficacy, and I very much regret that I have been 
 unable to continue my own experiments in the same direction, 
 by which many new facts would have been developed in all 
 
20 
 
 ■•ikelihood to tlio great benefit of suffering humanity. Be that 
 ' ' it may, you deserve the warmest thanks for having extended 
 your experiments so far, making the professional plyysicians to 
 feel ashamed that none of them thought it worth, their while 
 TO draw practical consequences from your experiments in the 
 levelopment of animal and vegetable life. As the effect of 
 olue light is identical with ‘ od-force ’ it might be of interest 
 to 3'ou to hear of some surprising phenomena produced on 
 soiisitive persons in connection with blue light and corrobora- 
 ting the results of ^od-force ’ and ‘ odified 'preparations. ’ 
 
 '• 1. Compare with your results of the blue light on the Alder- 
 ney bull calf the statement of Dr. Henry B. Ilcind, page 36 'if 
 my pamphlet on ‘ od-force’ case No. 17, and you Avill find tlu' 
 timilor surprising growth of babies, by using my ‘ od-tnafpiet/t' 
 tiigar of milk.’ 
 
 “2. I exposed, about a year ago, a man suffering with severe 
 rheumatism to the influence of the blue light through two 
 glass panes. He felf, after fifteen minutes, much relieved, and 
 eould move about without pains, but complained of a nasty 
 metallic taste on his tongue. The same happened to a friend' ' 
 who visited me duripg odo-magnetizing sugar of milk, when 
 I placed his hand in the blue and violet rays of the prism. • 
 
 “Dr. riardis, assistant physician of Dr. E. B. Foote, has the 
 same metallic (copper) taste, whenever he takes some of my ) 
 odo-magnetic sugar of milk, on his tongue ; also Dr. Fincke, a 
 highly educated and reliable physician in Brooklyn, Avho ex- 
 perimented a great deal with od-force produced by the blue 
 and violet rays of the prism, and who placed the hand of a 
 man Avithin these rays, and the latter complained of having a 
 taste like verdigris on his tongue. 
 
 “These examples show that the blue and violet light .and the \ 
 
 od-force generated in this AAmy are of an electric positive nature ; ; 
 
 and it is Amry much to be regretted that Professor Von Eeichen- : 
 bach reversed the poles, and, in his Avorks, caljs this pole, 
 which is analogical in its effects to the posdive pole of any elec- 
 tric or eleccro-magnetic apparatus, the ‘ odie-negative one,’ , 
 causing by that uselessly an unavoidable confusion.” * 
 
 In the latter part of March, 1874, 1 received a letter from 
 Major-General Charles W. Sanford, late the commander of 
 the National Guard of the city of New York, of which the fob ^ 
 lowing is a copy : j 
 
“462 West Twenty-Second street, 1 
 “New York, March 1874. / 
 “7b 31aj or- General Pleasonton, 
 
 “ 918 Spruce street, Phila., Pa.. 
 
 “ General : — Will you oblige me with a copy of your pam- 
 pblet upon the use of blue glass ? I had some time since an 
 opportunity to read it, and having an invalid daughter, her 
 pliysician was induced to try the experiment of having blue 
 glass inserted in her windows. She has been materially bene- 
 fited by its use, and I am anxious to investigate the subject, 
 
 “ She has also a number of plants in her sitting-room, whic'^-, 
 have grown and flourished in an extraordinary manner under 
 its influence. -Yam, General, very respectfully, 
 
 “ Your obedient servant, 
 
 “CHAELES W. SAYFOED.” ' 
 
 Extract from a letter of Dr. Eobert Eohland,-of Yew York- 
 received Eymre in June, 1874. 
 
 'k 
 
 “Yew York, 28, 1874. 
 
 “ To General A. J. Pleasonton, 
 
 “Philadelphia.' 
 
 “Sir: — . ... . . Several gentlemen have made some 
 experiments with blue light under my direction, with very 
 favourable results, especially Dr. L. Fisher, in a case of general 
 debility and exhaustion, and Dr, McLaury, in a case of very 
 troublesome tumor, 
 
 “Very respectfully yours, truly, 
 
 “DE. EOBEET EOHLAYD.” 
 
 ^Extract from a letter of Dr. Wra, M. McLaury, of Yew 
 Y ork, r.eceived by me in August, 1874. 
 
 “ To General Pleasonton, Phila, 
 
 , “ Dear Sir : — Understanding through Dr. E. Eohland that 
 you are about to publish a new edition of your article on the 
 blue ray, with some additional matter, I suppose that you 
 would like to hear of my experience therewith. * ^ 
 
 “ I regret to state that my experience is as yet very limited, 
 but I have great hopes that by extensive experiments, with 
 careful observation, we will yet find it to be an important 
 aa:ent in combatinsr disease. 
 
. . , “In a little girl, one nionlli old, was foun<l a 
 
 hard resisting tumour about the size ot a robin’s egg, in the 
 sub-maxillary region of the left' side. I bad it placed in such 
 a position that tlie rays of light through a blue glass should 
 impinge upon it one hour, at least, each day. This tumefac- 
 tion disappeared entirely within fort^^' days. 
 
 “The child has developed astonishingly; is now seven 
 months old ; is exceedingly bright and happy; has not known 
 an hour’s sickness or discomfort. Its peculiar freedom from 
 i;;faiitile ills I attribute, at least in some degree, to the influence 
 • d' the blue light. 
 
 “ "With great respect, yours, • 
 
 “ WM. M. McLATJRY. 
 
 “ IsEW York Gyiy, August 20th, 1874.” 
 
 Some time since, Mrs. C., the wdfe of Major-General C., a 
 distinguished officer of the United States regular army, told 
 me that one of her grandchildren, a little boy about eightee;i 
 mouths old, had from his birth had so little use of his legs 
 that ha could neither crawl nor walk, and was apparently so 
 CM .i'cebled in those limbs that she hegan to fear that the child 
 wa.; permanently paralyzed in them. 
 
 To obviate such an affliction, she requested ' the mother of 
 tba child to send him, with his two young sisters, to play in 
 the entry of the second story of her house, where she had 
 fitted up" a window with blue and plain glass in equal propor- 
 tions. The children were accordingly brought there and were 
 allowed to play for several hours in this large entry of- hall 
 tinder the mixed sun and blue light.. In a very few days, Mrs. 
 0 — —told me that the child manifested great improvement 
 in the strength of its limbs, having learned to climb by a 
 chair, to crawl and to walk,'and thaflie was then as promising 
 -a child as any one is likely to see. 
 
 In 'the case of the child, whose premature birth occured 
 at the naval station at Mound City, in Illinois, Commodore 
 Ooldsborough was informed by its mother, a short time since, 
 th|it it had continued to improve in health, size and vigour, 
 since the Commodore had last seen it, and that it was then a 
 perfect specimen of infantile development. 
 
 Tlie case of this child, described by Commodore Golds- 
 borough, is a yery remarkable one, for, having been prema- 
 turely born, it may be presumed that its organization w-as not 
 
23 
 
 S as eompletelj developed as it Avould have been had it-fulfibed'' 
 » the entire period of its gestation — and consequently it would 
 seem that the association of the blue and sun light had re- 
 r paired all the deficiencies in its organisms existing at its birth. 
 
 "We have, in these instances that I have advanced, maui- 
 •' festations of the remarkable variety of powers as developed in 
 
 t' the several cases, all difiering from each other in their various 
 
 disorders, and all having been restored to their normal condi- 
 tion of health and vigour ; and, in some instances, having had 
 , that condition increased and intensified. 
 
 "We have had moidbund fiowefing plants, not only arrested 
 in their course of decay, but rein’sfigourated, and their beauti- 
 fill tints of colour greatly improved. 
 
 b 'We have had branches of a ti’opical fruit tree, that were 
 
 ■ exposed to the action of blue light, made highly fruitful, while 
 t ^ others of the same tree, not similarly exposed, bore no fruit, 
 
 I and were feeble and apparently unhealthy. . ' 
 
 We have an immature infant child, defective in its develop- 
 i ' . ments at its birth, made perfect in its parts, and strengthened 
 so as to become a striking instance of infantile health, vigour 
 and beauty. 
 
 ' V "W^e have had in another infant child, only one month old, 
 an obstinate tumour to be absorbed, and. a degree of bodily 
 i . vigour imparted to it that defied the attacks of all infantile 
 disorders after the tumour had disappeared. 
 
 I "We have had poultry of the same variety, hatched on the 
 
 same day, presenting siich different .stages of advanced 
 development, after the lapse of the same period of time, to 
 those of similar poultry reared in the common way, that 
 incredulity must yield to, well established fact, and surprise 
 give way to conviction. 
 
 We have had the vocal powers of a singing bird, that had 
 ceased to sing, again -excited, and its musical tones again 
 poured forth with greater force, richness and beauty than it 
 : . had before ever displayed, to the delight of all who have heard 
 
 ■ The deaf has been made to hear: in a domestic animal, 
 
 p, the mule, which for nearly ten. years, and perhaps longer, had 
 
 ' . heard not at all ; and the stifthess of his limbs witl^ rheuma;- 
 
24 
 
 ti«m has given way to the natural elasticity of his normal 
 condition of health. Under this most potent influence, lambs 
 that may be used for the food and clothing of man, have been 
 so greatly developed in so short a time that we may reasona- 
 bly liope that the rearing of domestic animals for food may be 
 s!) largely extended ’and improved, that immense numbers of 
 uiankind who, from the costliness of such food heretofore, 
 had never tasted it, may, in the near future,- be no longer de- 
 prived of the use of this most stimulating and nourishing 
 article of flesh diet. 
 
 Bxit the greatest value of this application of blue light, will 
 be found to be in its curative poAver in human, and animal dis- 
 orders of health. 
 
 In the cases before quoted in the human family, rheumatism, 
 both chronic and acute, netiralgia, with its accompaniment of 
 partial paralysis and various other complications, torpor of the 
 lower extremities of a child, nearly amounting to paralysis,, 
 have all yielded. to the application of these vital forces of light. 
 May we not congratulate mankind on the blessings which this 
 discovery foreshadows ? 
 
 For cerebral disorders, from .softening of the brain to con- 
 firmed insanity, I would respectfully suggest to the medical pro- 
 fession full trials of the blue and sunlight baths, to be taken 
 by their patients at least once in every twenty-four hours on the 
 naked spine and back of the head. Should they succeed in 
 removing the disorders of 'the, brain, we may, in the near 
 future, be relieved of the cost 'of building additional lunatic 
 asylums, and insanity may be classed as a curable disease. 
 
 While this edition was being put through the press, I 
 received the following communication and its enclosure from 
 Dr. Eobert Eohland, a distinguished scientist, resident in 
 Hew York : 
 
 209 Third Avenue, Hew York. 1 
 . October ’2.6th, 187 4-. J 
 
 (iEN. A. J. PlEASONTON. ' . 
 
 Dear Sir ; — With mj^ warmest thanks for your last, land 
 letter, I have, to-day, the pleasure to send you enclosed, at last, 
 the report of Dr. Fisher's patient ; and am still in hopes to 
 send you more next month. 
 
 Accept the assurance of my highest respect, and allow me 
 to sign myself, your most obedient and grateful, 
 
 ‘ Dr. EOBEET EOIILAHD. 
 
l’5 
 
 • 
 
 Enclosed in the above, was the following statement of the 
 lad}' who had been placed under the influence of the associated 
 dght of the sun and the blue light of the firmament, and tlie 
 b’ne rays eliminated from sun-light transmitted through blue 
 glass : 
 
 ='At the request of my attending physician. Dr. Louis 
 i-'isher, I will state, as briefly as possible, the eftects produced 
 upon me by the transmission of the sun’s ray* through blu 
 glass : 
 
 Having been an invalid for nearly three years, and for thv 
 last half of that time confined entirely to my rooms on one 
 s' oor, I became so reduced by the long confinement, and my 
 nervous system seemed so completely broken down, that all 
 ’ onics lost their effects, sleep at nights could only be obtained 
 ‘■^y the use of Opiates, appetite, of course, there was none, and 
 -arcely a vestige of color remained, either in my lips, face or 
 hands — as a last resort I was placed, about the 19th of Janu- 
 ary, 1874, under the influence of blue glass rays. Two large 
 panes of the glass, each 36 inches long by 16 inches wide, wore 
 placed in the upper part of a sunny window in my parlour, a 
 Tviudovv Avith a south exposure, ;tnd as the blue and sunlight 
 streamed into the room, I sat in it continuously — I was also 
 advised by Dr. Fisher, to take a regular sun-bath of it; at 
 ;east to let the blue rays fall directly on the spine for about 20 
 u' 30 minutes at a time, morning and afternoon ; but the 
 ■fleets of it Avere too strong for me to bear ; and as I Avas pro- 
 gressing very favorably by merely sitting in it in my'ordinary 
 iruss, that was considered sufficient.' 
 
 In two or three weeks the change began to be very percep- 
 iible. The colour began returning to my face, lips and hands, 
 ay nights became better, ray appetite more natural, and my 
 strength and vitality to return, while my AA'hole nervous 
 system, AAms most decidedly strengthened and soothed. 
 
 “ In about six weeks, I Avas alloAved to try going up and down 
 a fcAV stairs at a time, being able to test in that Avay hoAv the 
 strength Avas returning into my limbs, and by the middle of 
 April, Avhen the spring Avas sufficiently advanced to make it 
 prudent for me to try Avalkiug out, I Avas able to do so. 
 
 “ The experiment Avas made a peculiarly fair one b;f the 
 stoppage of all tonics, &c., as soon as the glass AA'as placed in 
 the Avindow, allowing me to depend solely on the efficacy of 
 the blue light.” 
 
2C 
 
 A distinguished surgeon of this city, on being made 
 acquainted with the remarkable vivifying_ effects of this force, 
 in several of the cases mentioned herein, expressed to the 
 author, the opinion that the vitalizing influence of these asso- ■ 
 ciated colours, would probably be found to eradicate scrofula, 
 and the terrible diseases wliich have produced it, from fbe 
 human system — a result never yet attained by any medical 
 treatment now known. 
 
 If this opinion should prove to he well founded, why may 
 we not anticipate that tubercular consumption of the lun^gs 
 may be arrested in its progress, its abscesses absorbed and dis- 
 persed by the purified blood taking up the purulent matter, 
 and either dcconiposing it, or eliminating it through the 
 various excreting channels of the body t* 
 
 If this last mentioned case had furnished the only example 
 of the restorative influence of blue light upon disordered health, 
 it should awaken in the medical , profession, throughout the 
 world, a desire' to investigate the causes and sources of that 
 force which had produced such marvelous effects. 
 
 Let us attempt a soiutim. The juxtaposition of plain 
 uncoloured glass and blue glass in the passage, of sunlight, 
 and the transmitted blue light of the firmament, and the 
 eliminated blue rays of the sun-light through them respectively , 
 evolves an electro-magnetic current, which imparts to vegeta- 
 ble or animal life subjeeted to it, an extraordinary impulse to 
 the dcvelop'ement of their respective vigour and growth. 
 Their vitality is strengthened so as to resist disease, and to 
 throw it off in those instances in \yhich it had appeared before 
 having been subjected to its power. , , 
 
 * A friend of mine has .sent me the following notice, viz: 
 
 “ Lifk TTitder Glass.” — The author of “Life Under Glass,” sends to the 
 Boaion Transcript, a letter giving .some curious results of his experience m t ic 
 use of coloured glass, as a medium for the transmission of the sun s riws m the 
 treatment' of lurig disease. The writer of the connnunication, bemg himself a 
 victim to weak lungs, gave special attention to the subject from personal as widl 
 as professional interest. His attention was directed to the matter by an accident 
 in his own experience. During the autumn of he was home on ,yek 
 
 leave” from the army, and was in tlie habit of frequentin"ttie pholygraph gallery 
 of afriend. The operatbig room of the gallery was lighted by a skylightol light 
 lilue glass, and the walls weie tinted of the same colour, lie soon noticf'd, that 
 he invariably felt better after an hour or two passed in the gallery, and he -spas 
 firmlv coiivinced that the beneficial effect was largely due to blue light. Alter 
 the war, he began a series of experiments among his patients by using blue 
 class. As the light from pure blue glass is not entirely agreeable to the eye, he 
 alternated the panes with clear glass. This was an improvement, and he went 
 on with his experiment until he attained the liighest sanitary power in a purple 
 or li'^ht violet colour, the red, iu the staining, making the light pleasant to bear. 
 
The velocity of light on the earth’s surlace has been found 
 Tv Leon Foucault, by .experiments most carefully conducted^ 
 
 to be 298,000 kilometres or 186,000 miles per second of time 
 
 now of the seven primary rays of light, all of them excepting 
 the blue ray and possibly its compounds, purple, indigo and 
 violet, which perhaps are decomposed, and the blue ray 
 liberated, are suddenly arrested in their marvelously rapid 
 course, on coming in contractwith the blue glass. This sudden 
 impact of the intercepted rays on the outer surface of the blue 
 glass with this inconceivable speed, produces a large amount 
 of friction. Light, though imponderable, yet is material, since 
 according to the book of Genesis, God said, “ Let light be made,, 
 and it was made” — and the movement of -matter upon matter' 
 always produces friction. By friction electricity is evolved, and 
 when opposite electricities meet in conjunction, their conflict 
 according to th e cetebrated Banish philosopher, 0 ersted, develops 
 magnetism. ^ The electricity produced by this friction is 
 negative, while the electrical condition of the glass is opposite, 
 or positive, and heat is therefore also evolved by their conjunc- 
 tion. This heat sufliciently expands the pores of the glass to 
 pass through it — and then you have within the apartment, elec- 
 tricity, magnetism, light and heat— all essential elementsjof viva' 
 force. Without light and heat, life cannot exist, and electricity 
 ■and magnetism are indispensable to its active vitality. This 
 cun’ent of electro-magnetism, when allowed to fall upen the 
 spinal column of an animal, is conducted by its nerves to the 
 brain, and thence is distributed over its whole nervous svstem, 
 imparting vigour to all the organs of the body, and svimu- 
 lating them into active exercise : hence follows restoration to 
 health. 
 
 In the early part of the summer of 1871, having caused to 
 be printed an edition of my memoir which, a short time before., 
 I had read before you, I distributed copies, of it among literary 
 and scientific institutions, and to such persons of culture aV 
 yvere likely to be interested in the investigation of the subjects 
 treated of in it. Having sent several copies to W ashington 
 oify, I received from my friends there suggestions to take- out 
 Letters Patent from the Government of the United States for 
 niy new discovery, which they deemed to be of the highest 
 importance. Accordingly, I made an application to the Oom- 
 ■ missioner of Patents for the issue of Letters Patent thereon. 
 Ti hen the application was received at the Patent Ofiice, the 
 novelty of its character, and the wonderful results of the ex- 
 periments on which the application had been based, excited 
 
28 
 
 .the greatoyt surprise aud interest among tlie officers of the- 
 Bureau of Patents. The application "u^as referred by the 
 C ommissioner to the Examiuer-in-chief of the class of Chemis- 
 ivy, who, after a full examination of the whole subject, as I was 
 informed, reported favourably upon the application and recom- 
 r.icuded the issue of Letters Patent. At this , stage of the 
 ' vroceeding, the (Commissioner was visited by the Exaniiner-in- 
 ;hief of the class of Agriculture, Professor I. Brainerd, of 
 Oldo, a very distinguished scientific gentleman, who suggested 
 iotbe Commissioner that the application had received a wrong 
 : : ference.; that it should have been referred to him as it eon- 
 r'orned plants and animals, which were intimately associated 
 wl'h the class of Agriculture under his charge. The Commis- 
 sioner replied, that it concerned, also, Chemistry; but if he, 
 Professor Brainerd, desired to investigate the subject, the 
 issue of the Letters Patent should be suspended till that oppor- 
 i unity was afforded him — which was done. I was thereupon 
 informed of it, and that the Commissioner, in view of the 
 great importance of the application, and of the novelty of the 
 principle-’ involved in it, Avas desirous, before proceeding 
 further in the issue of the Letters Patent, to send to my farm 
 in this vicinity, Professor Brainerd, who, with ray permission, 
 would examine into the manner in which my experiments had 
 been conducted, and particularly investigate the whole subject 
 of the application. O'n the receipt of this_ communication, I 
 wrote to the Commissioner of Patents, and informed him that 
 [ Avduld be very glad to receive Professor Brainerd, and to give 
 him every information and afford him every facility tor making 
 
 ids investigation in my power. 
 
 • \ ■ - 
 
 A few days thereafter, the Professor arrived at my house in 
 Spruce street ; and, on presenting himself to me, he said : 
 
 U-eiieral, you must receive this visit of mine as 'a very high 
 ■ ompliment, since the Commissioner of Patents, in extremely 
 rare cases, ever sends any one from the office lor information 
 in relation to an application for a Patent ; for he requires all 
 ^^uch information to be brought to him. He has, however, in 
 ' this case deviated from his usual course, from the great interest 
 he feels in your alleged discovery, and has sent me, therefore,, 
 to make the necessary inA'estigation. For myself, I will say, 
 that I have no prejudice for or against the principles announced 
 in your. startling memoir, and I come to you to make a fair, 
 honest and impartial examination of the whole matter. If 
 your averments. General, shall be sustained after I shall 
 have examined the subject, I aaIH report favourably upon your 
 
2 ; 
 
 application, and your Letters Patent will be issued forth wiili. 
 Should I, however, have any doubts in the matter I will report 
 against their issue, and you wull not get your Patent.” Tu 
 this I replied, “That the facts in the case must furnish thei] 
 own evidence, and I was perfectly satisfied to abide by his 
 judgment thereon, whatever it might'be.” We then proceeded 
 to my farm, where the professor remained three days, devotine- 
 himself to a critical examination of the subjects committed V 
 him for investigation. ■ On the afternoon of the third day w= 
 visited the grapeiy, as he had often done before, where we 
 met three professors of colleges, who, attracted by the notices 
 of the experiments which they had seen in, the newspapers, 
 had come to the farm to verify for themselves- the statemen,' ? 
 they had road. For purposes of ventilation in the grapery, 1 
 had caused to be removed from immediately below the eave.^ 
 on the southeastern side thereof, for the whole length of th ; 
 house, two panes of glass in width; and in their places I had in- 
 troduced galvanized iron wire cloth, with meshes of about one 
 quarter of an inch square. The vines planted on the outside 
 .border, and trained through terra-cotta pipes into the grapery, 
 along its walls of glass, and up to the ridge on the southeaster;^ 
 side of the grapery had, when they reached this wire clo;b, 
 in their growth on the inside, sent lateral branches through 
 its meshes into the outer air, which had grown to varyir g 
 lengths of ten, twelve or fourteen feet, on the outside of th« 
 grapery. These lateral branches were covered with foliage — 
 the inside branches from the same stems extending to tho 
 ridge were likewise covered with the densest foliage; but the 
 dittereuce between the inside and outside foliage was most 
 distinctly marked. The inside leaves, from the same roots 
 which furnished those on the outside, were fully six or eight 
 inches respectively in diameter, of the deepest green coloup 
 and so perfectly healthy that they seemed more like wax leaves 
 tlian natural ones, while those on the outside of the grapery, 
 though abundant, were not more than two inches in diameter, 
 of -a pale, sickly, yellowish colour, indicating a feeble vitality. 
 
 I called the attention of Professor Brainerd and of the other 
 professors to this most marked difference in the respective 
 leaves inside and outside, and they all united in the opinion 
 that this example furnished the most conclusive illustration of 
 the influence of blue light on vegetation that could be produced 
 under any circumstances. Here were branches of vines from 
 the same roots, covered with foliage, deriving their nutriment 
 from the same sources, the outside leaves exposed to all the 
 influences of temperature, light, humidity or dryness of the 
 
30 
 
 natural atmosphere, and yet, scarcely one-fourth of the size 'of 
 their relatives — those on the inside ; andindicatiug an enfeebled 
 and transitory existence. While the latter, revelling in the 
 stimulating forces of the combined sunlight and blue light of 
 the sky, had attained not merely size, but also an exuberance 
 of vigor which excited the greatest astonishment. Professor 
 Brainerd gathered some of the leaves from the outside and 
 inside branches of the same vines, which he took with him ta 
 the Patent Office to be measured' and photographed. The 
 other professors did likevdse to exhibit to their respective 
 classes. 
 
 When Professor Brainerd had completed his examination, 
 and was prepared to return to Washington, he said to me,^ 
 “ General, everything that you have alleged on this subject ot 
 blue light is confirmed ; I am perfectlj'^ convinced of their 
 truth. On my return to Washington, I will make a most 
 favourable report on your application, and your Letters Patent 
 'will be issued foi’thwith. I will now say to you, that before I 
 left Washington, the officers of the Patent Office discussed 
 among ourselves your application, and we came to the conclu- 
 sion, unanimously, that if my investigation should establish, 
 the verity of your statements you have made the. most import- 
 ant discovery of this century, transcending in importance even 
 that of Morse’s Telegraph, which, at best, furnished only a 
 means of communication with distant places, while your dis- 
 covery could be brought home to every living object on the 
 planet. We further thought that your patent would be one 
 of the most valuable that had ever been issued in the United 
 States. I congratulate you upon your great discovery.” 
 
 The Professor accordingly returned to Washington, made 
 his report, which, as he said it would be, was most favourable; 
 and Letters Patent for my new process of accelerating the 
 growth of plants and animals were issued to me on September 
 26th, 1871. 
 
 It is to Moses, the lawgiver, the great leader of the 
 Israelites in their Exodus from Esrypt, in their passage across 
 the Ked Sea, and in their subsequent residence in the desert, 
 that we are indebted for our knowledge of the plan of the 
 Deity in the creation of the world. _ This narrative of 
 Moses, as contained in the book of Genesis, has been received 
 by Christian and Jewish peoples, of all nations, as a faithful 
 description of the revelations claimed by Moses to have been. 
 
31 
 
 made to him by the Almighty himself. It is the foundation 
 of their religions^the basis *ou which their spiritual faiths 
 rest. . ■ 
 
 Let us take up this book of Genesis, and endeavour to dis- 
 cover from it, . illuminated by the developments of modern 
 science, what the prevailing idea of the creative mind may 
 have been in establishing the physical functions of the planet 
 on which we live. 
 
 In the first chapter of Genesis, we read the first four verses 
 as follows, viz : ^ 
 
 “1. In the beginning God created heaven and earth. 
 
 “ 2. And-the earth was void, and empty, and darkness was 
 upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved on 
 the waters, 
 
 “3. And God said. Be light made; and light was made. 
 
 ‘‘4. And God saw the light that it was good, and he divided 
 the light from the darkness.” 
 
 From these verses, it would appear that the materials com- 
 posing this planet were created and assembled in darkness, 
 and lhat the first physical force made was light — not heat, 
 
 . not electricity, not magnetism — but light, which we shall ' 
 endeavour to show is the almost ommpotent force, which 
 produces them all, and gives form and motion to our plane- 
 tary system. In the same chapter, in the 6th verse, we read, 
 
 “ 6. And God. said ; Let there be a firmament made amidst 
 the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 
 
 And in the 7th verse, we read as follows, viz: 
 
 “ 7. And God made a firmament, and divided the waters ■ 
 that were under the firmament from those that were above 
 the firmament — and it was so.” 
 
 There is obscurity in this verse, since in the following verse, 
 the 8th, we read, 
 
 “ 8. God called the firmament Heaven, — ^and the evenino- 
 and the morning were the second day.” How in the 1st verse, 
 it is stated, “ In the beginning God created heaven- and 
 earth;” heaven having precedence both as to time and place 
 in the creation. In the 8th verse, it. would read as if there 
 were waters above the heaven, which were divided by the 
 
32 
 
 firmament from those that were on the earth. _ We may 
 suppose, therefore, the word firmament,, used in the 7th 
 verse, to mean the atmosphere, which was to hold in sus- 
 pension the waters contained in it as vapours, clouds, &c., 
 thus separating them from the waters on the earth, as well as 
 the infinite space above the atmosphere, now supposed to 
 contain the orbits of the fixed stars. In the 9th verse, the dry 
 oiid appears, and the waters under the heaven (probably 
 tmosphere) are gathered together and, in the 10th verse, are 
 e.alled seas, and in the lltli verse God said, “ 11. Let the 
 earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, ami 
 ; j:e fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind which may have 
 seed in itself upon the earth, and it was done. 
 
 “12. And the earth brought forth the green herb, and 
 such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree tliat 
 beareth fruit having seed, each one according to its kind, and 
 God saw that it was good.” 
 
 We will here observe, that so far as the order of developing 
 creation had gone, light was, as yet, the only active force 
 which had been brought into existence, or as the vei'se 
 ' xpressed it, “ and light was made.” Of course, it must 
 have been made of the materials which composed it. There 
 were, at that period, no sun, no moon, and perhaps only the 
 fixed stars, which were to illuminate the heaven, that had 
 been created, and yet light was made, and it was made of its 
 materials, and l.>eing made its attributes were at oiice called 
 ii-to use. “ For the earth brought forth tlie green herb, and 
 such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that 
 beareth fruit having seed, each one according to its kind.” 
 hTo herb could have been green Avithout light, and no tree 
 could have borne its fruit In darkness, nor . could seed have 
 been matured Avithout light, and yet this light came neither 
 from the sun, nor the moon, modern spectroscopes to the con- 
 trary potAvithstanding, for as yet neither the sun nor the moon 
 had been created. 
 
 Hence, we can understand that the Creator, in directing 
 that light first of all should be made, intended to constitute a 
 force superior to all other forces, for it is by light that they 
 are all developed, and made auxiliary to the great plan of 
 Creation. 
 
 “14. And God said, Let there be lights made in the firma- 
 ment of heaven, to diAude the day an d'the night, and let them 
 be for signs and seasons and for days and years. 
 
“ 15. To shiue in the firmament of heaven and to ^ivo 
 light upon the earth, and it was so done. 
 
 “16. And God made two great lights, a greater light to 
 rule the day, and a lesser light to rule the niglit, and the"^stars. 
 
 “ 17. And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine 
 upon the earth, 
 
 “ 18. And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the 
 light and the darkness, and God saw that it was good.” 
 
 It will be seen from these verses, that the ruling intent of 
 the Creator was to furnish light, and not heat, to the world he 
 was bringing into existence — to separate the day from the 
 night — as signs and for seasons, and for days and years, to 
 shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the 
 earth. 
 
 These then are the varied functions to be performed by the 
 sun, moon, and stars, hy the fiat of the Creator. 
 
 l\Iuch Speculation has been evoked, in the inquiry for the 
 source of that light that was ordered to be made previous to 
 the making of the two great lights, the sun and moon, whicli 
 he set in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth. 
 The modern revelations of the telescope in disclosing the 
 character of the more distant fixed stars, the congregations of 
 stars in the “ Milky Way,” in the nebulae and cloudlets of 
 lights, furnish an answer to all such inquiries. The limited 
 vision of Moses, unassisted by the telescope, which, in his day, 
 had no existence, would not have permitted him to compre- 
 hend any revelation of the glories of the world of astronomy, 
 as known to us now ; and hence, no such revelation was made 
 to him. He was only instructed partially on the subject of 
 our solar system, and the myriads of lights, lesser and greater 
 than any that our system contains, which were sending theii' 
 illumination over a boundless world, were entirely unimagiued 
 by him. But we can readily fancy with our increased know- 
 ledge of astronomy, whence this primeval light was drawn. 
 W e may suppose that our solar system was the last created of 
 the various systems which stud the heavens with their brilliant 
 eftulgence, and that the materials which compose it were 
 easily gathered from the mighty masses that illuminated the 
 firmament. 
 
 Our astronomers tell us of the infinite star depths, in which 
 are assembled series of worlds without number, all circling 
 
34 
 
 iirouml their respective central orbs, and all moving with 
 inconceivable velocity towards some region of the firmament 
 so remote that our finite intellectual powers fail to conceive 
 of it, and that, in this grand movement of worlds, our diminu- 
 tive solar system has ifs allotted part and pursues its inevitable 
 destinv. Hence arises the reflection that when our system shall 
 approach the astronomical horizon of this mighty systern of 
 worlds, 'and shall be descending helow it, as our sun now does 
 l)elow our own horizen, another solar system, transcending in 
 its glories anvthing of which the human mind can conceive, 
 sliail arise in the western firmament to take the place that had 
 been vacated by our own, and thus system after system shall 
 he circling in the great expanse of space, till time shall he no 
 
 more. 
 
 We must have a starting point in our discussion, and we 
 will begin with matter, out of which all things are made. 
 
 We define matter to be anything which moves, or is the 
 subiect of motion. W e prefer this definition before all others, 
 since it is entirely irrespective of human existence, and has no 
 reference to human impressions. Motion was produced long 
 before man, and will continue long after he has passed away. 
 
 When matter is said to be solid, liquid or gaseous, we 
 convey a very inadequate idea of its composition or of its 
 c )udition. The microscope, as its powers are bein^ developed, 
 reveals to us forms and conditions of matter of which the inost 
 fm-tile imagination could have had no previous conception. 
 So in the series of what is termed created matter, we have but 
 a verv faint image of a few of the most obvious links in the 
 chain of its conditions, while we know and can know nothing 
 of its extreme terminations, its greatest density and most 
 minute tenuity. But we may conceive that whatever moves, 
 or can be moved, must be matter — according to this definition, 
 the imponderables, light, heat, electricity and magnetism, are 
 all material substances, so subtle and attenuated, however, 
 that human ingenuity has never been able to discover then 
 components, or" to reduce them to standards of^mparison by 
 which their powers might be measured. We might go 
 farther and assert that all human emotions as well as animal 
 instincts are likewise material, since our only cognizance of 
 them is made apparent to us through our senses, concerning 
 whose materiality there can be' no question. Let it not be 
 supposed that this idea of material being is at all inconsistent 
 with an aspiration for a future life, since the resurrection of 
 
35 
 
 the material body is as much a part of the Christian’s creed as 
 is the hope of his immortality. Moses has told us for what 
 jiurposes the suu and moon and stars were created ; “ to rule 
 the day and night, and to divide the light and the darkness, 
 and as signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.” JTow, 
 it is a very remarkable thing, that Moses, who was born ia 
 Goshen, a province of Egypt, who passed the first forty years 
 of his life in Egypt, which lies between north latitude 32° and 
 22°, and 57° and 34° east longitude, the next foi-ty years on 
 the borders of the Desert, and the last forty years thereof in the 
 wilderness with his people, should have omitted to assign to- 
 the sun the heating qualities which our scientists declare it to 
 
 f possess if, in fact, the sun did possess such powers, and the 
 fact had been revealed to him by the Almighty. 
 
 I ^lodern discoveries in science go to show that Moses was. 
 right in his description of the functions of those luminaries. 
 
 ;■ We may imagine the astonishment, amounting almost tO' 
 
 ' incredulity, with which Moses received the revelation regard- 
 ing the attributes of the sun, moon and stars. Living in the 
 ^ hot climate of Egypt, or of the Desert, whose “ soil is fire, and 
 , whose wind is flame,-” and termed' “ burning sands of the 
 ! Desert,” from their great heat, to what other source could he 
 ; . refer this terrible heat than to the sun. Yet the sun is de- 
 L Scribed to him as a great light, not a great furnace, not a great 
 
 ' source of heat, but simply as an illuminating power. When 
 
 traveling in the Desert, and overtaken by the burning Sirocco,. 
 [ whose blast, like that from a fiery furnace, obscuring the light 
 
 7 of the sun by the clouds of burning sand which it had raised, 
 
 [. Closes might have, by a course of reasoning, traced a connection 
 between the raging tempest and the sands heated by the sun, 
 
 ' and thus have assigned to that luminary the heating power 
 claimed for its radiations. He might even have been familiar 
 i with the tenets of the predecessors of Zoroaster, and of the 
 fire worshippers in Persia, who worshipped that great orb of 
 light as the source of earthly heat, but if so, he discarded 
 j/ all such imaginings, and boldly declared “ that it is the greater 
 
 I of two lights, intended to separate the day from the night ; as 
 K. signs, and for seasons, and for days and years ; to shine in the 
 
 E firmament of Heaven, and to give light upon the earth.” 
 
 K Light is the gireat source of.terrestrial electricity, magnetism 
 H and heat. 
 
 K ■ Whatever moves^ or is the subject of motion, is matter. 
 
36 
 
 "We cannot conceive of motion, witliout associating with the 
 idea an object to be moved. Hence light, which moves with 
 a velocity of which ^ye may speak, bi^ whicj is not con- 
 ceivable by us, is composed of matter. hen the Creator, in 
 his beneficence, first displayed the rainbow in the atmosphere, 
 he tam?ht mankind their first lesson in philosophical analysis, 
 lie thus showed that the white-light of the sun was not a simple 
 substance, but that it was composed of seven primarv rays, 
 which, by their combinations, produced all the varying tints or 
 colours that are seen in nature, and yet how manv myriads ot 
 years have passed since this magnificent spectacle has been 
 •exhibited to man before any one ventured to impure into the 
 simple and beautiful lesson which it taught. Lven yet, what 
 profound ignorance prevails everywhere in connection wit i , 
 the iiifiuences which these elementary rays develop. 
 
 Light, which thrown upon the photosphere of the sun. trom 
 the imiumerable orbs that from their starry depths il uiiiinate 
 the expanse of Heaven, is reflected to this planet with a 
 velocity of 186,000 miles per second of time, and recpxires about 
 8 16-35 minutes to reach the earth from the sun, iiinetv-two 
 millions of miles distant. Whatever may be the composition 
 of the space intervening between the sun and the earth ou - 
 side of our atmosphere, as we are taught that nature abliom 
 a vacuum, it must be composed of s^uiethnig which is of 
 
 matter. Give it its most attenuated form and call it ethei it 
 is still matter, and light, which is also composed of matter, 
 however subtle it may be', passing through it 
 marvelous speed, must produce everywhere enornioim tiictioii. 
 How whenever one body moves in, on, under, around, or 
 anoTher body in contact with it, such motion produces friction. 
 Friction, derived according to Webster, from the Latin/nco, to 
 rub, as we know evolves electricity, and it is His electricit} an . 
 its correlative magnetism, discovered by Oersted, thc_ c e- 
 brated Danish naturalist, to be its constant accompanimeifi 
 when opposite electrical polarities are united, thus ^lerived 
 which form those tremendous forces of nature that 
 everywhere those changes in, on and about our planet, that 
 meeLur observation at every instant. _ 
 
 Creator, after having assembled m their respects e po^it o us 
 the materials which compose the planetary and ^^ehar v orij^^^^ 
 uttered the sublime words, “Let Light be made, calk, 
 into being a power which became the generator of all ti e 
 physical forces which control and regulate ^ 
 for a moment imagine the radiant reflection of luminou. matter 
 
37 
 
 from every part of the photosphere of that great luminary, the- 
 sun, which in its magnitude was intended to illumine and 
 vitalize all animated matter, as well as to give form and con- 
 sistency to whatever had been created, passing from every 
 point thereof with a velocity of 186,000 miles per second, 
 penetrating through planetary and stellar spaces which, how- 
 ever subtle and attenuated, must have offered some resistance 
 to the passage of this material light, producing everywhere in 
 its passage an enormous amount of friction, and with it elec- 
 tricity and magnetism. Electricity, by the junction of its 
 opposite polarities, evolves heat and also imparts to all sub- 
 stances that are capable of being invested with it, magnetism. 
 The sun, the planets, the stars and all the bodies that stud the 
 expanse of heaven, are doubtless all magnets, to which mag- 
 netism was imparted when the Creator uttered in heaven the 
 words without parallel in sublimity, “Let light be made.” 
 This then is the origin of all the physical forces of the universe. 
 
 ' Let us consider for a moment the nature of heat, and it will be- 
 apparent that terrestrial heat cannot be directly derived from 
 tlie sun. 
 
 The tendency of heat is always to ascend into the atmos- 
 pliere, when it is derived from combustion on the surface of 
 the earth, or from radiation within it. The flame of a candle 
 is vertically upward, on every part of the earth’s surface, when 
 the air is still. The eflbrt of heat is to depart from its source 
 with a rapidity proportionate to the intensity of the combus- 
 tion. This is a repellent force — at the same time from its 
 being associated with positive electricity, it is attracted to the 
 upper atmosphere by its negative electricity, always associated 
 with cold, w'hich is- opposed to positive electricity. The 
 diffusion of heat, laterally or downwards, is very inconsiderable, 
 as is constantly manifested in our rooms, where the fire in the 
 grate emits very little heat below the bottom of the grate, and 
 parts of the room distant from the fire are very imperfectly 
 he,ite(l by it. The sun in its daily course being above the 
 earth, if it had any calorific rays, could not send them to the 
 earth below it, through a space of ninety-two millions of miles, 
 which, according to calculations of Pouillet, has a temperature 
 of minus 142 degrees of Centigrade thermometex’. We will 
 illustrate this by an example or two. During our late 
 unhappy sectional war, xit the siege of Fort Sumter, in South 
 Cax’olina, General Gilmore’s heavy guns threw their enormous 
 shells into the city of Charleston, four xmd a half miles distant. 
 While the expansion of the powder in the chamber of these 
 
o-uns, in its combustion into gases, evolved a power wbieli 
 tlirew these shells so great a distance, it was totally inadequate 
 to drive the heat disengaged in the conversion ot the powder 
 into these propelling gases to a greater distance trom the 
 muzzles of the guns than thirty feet. It ascended, instanth 
 on leaving the guns, into the upper atmosphere, attracted by an 
 opposite electricity. Any one familiar with the fire of artilleiy, 
 must have observed similar efiects regarding the heat trom the 
 discharge. 
 
 We will illustrate this by an example. “ Mount W ashington, 
 in the White Mountains, in Hew^ Hampshire, is in north iMitud'^ 
 44° 16' 25", and in west longitude trom Greenwich /I 16 
 '26". Its elevation above tide water is 6,293 feet ; and in 
 altitude it is the second highest mountain northward ot the 
 Gulf of Mexico, the highest mountain thereof being Clingmaus 
 Peak, in the State of North Carolina— which is 6,707 teet 
 above tide water. 
 
 “ The limit of the growth of trees on the north side of Mount 
 Washington is 4,150 feet above tide water. The climate of 
 Mount \\"ashiugton corresponds with that of the middle ot 
 Greenland, about 70° of north latitude or 26 further north 
 than New Hampshire. ' It is an arctic island (so to speak) in 
 the temperate zone, and, on account of its great elevation, it 
 exhibits also the condition of the atmosphere where tlie 
 mercury does, not rise above 24 inches in the barometer. lor 
 peculiar interest, therefore, the Mount Washington (meteoin- 
 logical) station is not exceeded by any point within the arctic 
 circle." 
 
 It was on this mountain that a party of scientific gentlemeri 
 passed the winter of 1870 and 1871, amid great privations and 
 suffering,. for the purpose of investigating the physical con- 
 ditions of the atmosphere and mountain at that great elevation. 
 “ Observation shows that the climate of any country becomes 
 colder in proportion to the height of the land above the sea. 
 Thus in tropical regions there may be an arctic climate at an. 
 altitude of 12,000 or lo,000 feet. 
 
 The room inhabited by these gentlemen was in the south- 
 west corner of the railroad depot, about 20 feet long, 11 teet 
 wide and 8 feet high. It was well protected trom the outer 
 cold, was heated by two stoves, one an ordinary cook stove, 
 the other a Magee parlor stove, prized for its marvelous heating 
 power. Their Journal reports as tollows, viz ; 
 
39 
 
 ^ " February 4th, 1871, temperature at 7 o’clock, A. M., — 33°; 
 
 ; at 9 o’clock, P. M., — 40°. In the room the temperature was 
 
 ^ +35° and sometimes +60°. To do this, the stoves were kept 
 
 I at a red heat. The thermometer hangs 5 feet from stoves, the 
 
 ' temperature 10 feet from the stoves at the floor was 12°, in 
 
 ^ other parts of the room the temperature was 65° ; midnight, 
 
 i wind fully up to 100 miles per hour and northwest. 
 
 j “February 5th, some of the gusts of wind 110 miles per 
 
 [■ hour; at 3 o’clock, A. M., temperature in the room 59°, 
 
 ‘ barometer 22.810 inches, attached thermometer 62°. Yester- 
 
 [ day, barometer 22.508 inches.” . 
 
 i. I7ow let us see what this means : 5 feet from red hot stoves 
 f ' the thermometer marked 60°, 10 feet from the same stoves on 
 
 t the floor the thermometer marked 12°, being a loss of 48° in a 
 
 S distance of 5 feet in length and 2 feet below the sources of 
 
 ^ heat.' Now at that rate of radiation of heat, how hot must the 
 
 I sun be to transmit any degree of heat 92 millions of miles , 
 
 J- through a temperature of — 142° of centigrade to this planet, 
 
 and not merely to this earth in a column of heat of 8,000 miles in 
 diameter to envelope it, but also to difluse its heat through an 
 ' ellipsoid of ether, whose circumference would be the orbit of 
 the earth around the sun ? But the actual loss of heat in its 
 ^ descent to the earth (if that could be possible, which it cannot 
 
 f be,) per foot would be immensely more than is stated above,' 
 
 t as the heat would have to pass -through space chilled to — 142° 
 of centigrade instead of in a rOomheated to +65° of Fahrenheit. 
 Again,"in this latitude of 40° north, we have in our winters 
 I fatls of snow which lie upon the ground sometimes for weeks, 
 
 I with the sun being unable to make any impression upon it — 
 
 I and when the snow does begin to melt, it commences with the 
 
 i: layer of snow in contact wdth the earth, and not with that on 
 
 [: the upper surface exposed to the sun. Our farmers all know 
 
 I that when their fields in winter are covered with snoAV, their 
 I growing crops under it are kept warm, though no ray of the 
 t sun could reach them through the snoiw , and they anticipate 
 r therefrom a large yield in the ensuing harvest. If terrestrial 
 ; heat is derived dire'ctiy from the sun, how is this fact explained ? 
 i A gentleman in the State of Maine, during the early part of 
 
 I the last winter, when the ground at his residence was deeply 
 
 f covered with snow in many places, made some experiments to 
 [ ascertain the temperature of the earth under the snow. He 
 found that the heat increased at the surface of the earth with 
 the depth of the snow above it. The following is the uccouu*, 
 nz : 
 
40 
 
 ^^xpcrinionts wci’e made in the winter of 18^2— ^ 3, with a 
 view to ascertain how far the soil is protected from cold by 
 snow. For fonr successive days in winter, there being four 
 inches in depth of snow on the ground on a level, the average 
 temperature, immediately above the snow, was found to he 
 fourteen degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer below zero; 
 immediately beneath the snow in contact with the earth, it 
 was ten degrees above zero; being an increase of twenty-four 
 degrees of temperature, occasioned by a covering of the earth 
 with four inches of suoav; and under a drift of snow two teet 
 deep the temperature Avas tAventy-seven degrees above zero ; 
 making an increase of temperature at the earth’s surface under 
 two feet of snow, of forty-one degrees of Fahrenheit over the 
 Temperature of the air just above the upper surface of the suoav, 
 iso one can pretend that these variations of temperature were 
 derived from the sun. Let us attempt an explanation of this 
 phenomenon. 
 
 It is thi?. The radiation of heat from the interior of the 
 earth, positively electrilied, meeting at the surface of the earth 
 with ’the snow in contact Avith it, negatively electrified, the 
 conjunction of these opposite polarities of electricity evolves 
 heat, melting the under layer of the snow, irrigating the plants 
 under it Avith water moderately Avarm, and keeping the earth 
 from being frozen, so that in the spring folloAving, when the 
 snow had disappeared, the plants Avere ready_ to receive the 
 stimulating infiuence of sunlight and the blue light of the sky, 
 of Avhich they had been deprived during the winter. 
 
 Professor Tyndall, Avriting of Avhat he calls solar radiation, 
 sa 5 ^s: “ ilever did I sutfer so much from solar heat, as when 
 descendino- from the corridor io the grand glateau of Mont Blanc 
 on" the 13th of August, 1857. Whilst I sank up to the waist in 
 the snoAV, the sun darted its rays upon me with intolerable 
 fierceness. On entering into the shade of the Dome du Goute, 
 these impressions instantly changed, for the air was as cold as 
 ice. It was not really much colder than the air traversed by 
 the solar rays, and I sutfered not from contact with AA^arrn air 
 but from the stroke of the sun’s rays,_ which reached me after 
 passing through a medium as cold as ice,” 
 
 It is singular that to so learned and astute a scientist as Pro- 
 fessor Tyndall, it did not occur that if his sensations, so dis- 
 tressino- on this occasion, were derived from the heat of the 
 sun’s fierce rays, that he could not have Avalked through snoAV 
 waist deep, in'^ such heat, without the snoAV becoming melted 
 
41 
 
 by the same heat which oppressed him, and that he would 
 have been swept away by the torrent of water thus produced 
 by the melting of the snow by this great heat; but it does not 
 appear that the snow was at all atfectcd by it, while the water 
 was drawn out of the Professor in profuse perspiration. 
 
 I venture upon an explanation. The heat from which the 
 Professor suffered came from his own body, and was dei’ived 
 from electrical action of sunlight upon his dark woolen clothes, 
 warmed by the animal heat of his system. He was sti-uggling 
 through deep snow in an atmosphere of icy coldness. The 
 natural heat of his body, ninet^’-eight degrees of temperature 
 of Fahrenheit, was greatly increased by the muscular efforts 
 he was maldng in his descent of the glacier. His woolen 
 clothes had become positively electrified by the heat of his 
 body. The strong sunlight of August having passed through 
 the cold, dry ether of planetary space and the upper atmos- 
 phere of the earth, by its friction with them was negatively 
 electrified, and falling upon his warm body and clothes, posi- 
 tively electrified, increased heat was evolved in and around 
 his person, and his sufferings were intensified. As soon as he 
 left the sunlight, his clothes, by induction, became negatively 
 electrified and the temperature of his body was soon lowered, 
 and his sufferings from heat ceased. 
 
 Again, there is no heat in the moon, which' proves that the 
 moon has not an atmosphere, as it also proves that there is no 
 heat in the sun ; for if there was an atmosphere about the 
 moon the sun’s light penetrating it and producing friction by 
 the contact with it would evolve electricity, which uniting 
 with the opposite electricity of the moon’s atmosphere would 
 produce heat, but no such effect has been perceptible with the 
 most delicate instniments. Besides, if there was heat in the 
 rays of the sunlight, that heat would be reflected with that 
 light from the moon’s surface to the earth, which we know is 
 not the case, 
 
 JTow, if the sun possessed heat, and could force it down- 
 wards to the earth, which, according to our knowledge of the. 
 laws of heat, is impossible, we could have no clouds in our 
 atmosphere, as from the absorbing power of gases of heat the 
 clouds would be so expanded and attenuated by the absorbed 
 heat that they never could be formed. 
 
 The sun is a great magnet, as are all the planets of the solar 
 svstem, and it is by their magnetism and not by their weight 
 
or gravitation that their motions in tlieir respective ori)its are 
 regulated by the greater magnetism of the sun. Is ow as mag- 
 netic attraction or repulsion varies inversely as the squares oi 
 the distances, svhich relation has been heretofore attributed to 
 gravitation, it is not difficult to assign to magnetism, iii its 
 attraction and repulsion, the forces which have heretofore kepi 
 and now keep our solar system in its various motions, nor need 
 we hesitate to conceive that all the motions of infinite systems, of 
 suns and stars, of nebulas, and cometary and meteoric matter, 
 are in like manner regulated. The meteoric matter whicli. 
 has fallen to the earth, has been found, when examined, to be 
 highly magnetic. 
 
 If the sun is a magnet, there ts only sufficient heat generated 
 in its interior by opposite electricities to cause its daily rota- 
 fion on its axis, and it- cannot be an incandescent body, since 
 magnetism is destroyed by heat. 
 
 "Wherever there are differences of temperature, there are 
 opposite electricities-— one electricity being always associated 
 with what is called heat while the opposite electricity 
 accompanies cold. These terms of heat and cold are mere 
 expressions of relative differences in varied temperatures, with- 
 out regard to the intensity of either condition. 
 
 Professor Tyndall, in his book on “ The Forms of Water in 
 Clouds and Rivers, Ice and Glaciers,” has given what he con- 
 siders explanations of many physical phenomena connected 
 with his subjects, attributing to radiations of solar heat the. 
 changes and transformations Avhich he describes. 'With great 
 deference to so learned and distinguished an authority, I take 
 occasion to offer other explanations of the caipes of the 
 jffienomena alluded to, which seem to me as being more in • 
 accordance with our knowledge of general physics. 
 
 In his article on “ Mountain Condensers,” he says : “Imagine 
 a southwest wind blowing across the Atlantic towards Ireland. 
 In its passage it charges itself with aqueous vapour. In the 
 south of Ireland it encounters the mountains of Kerry ; the 
 highest of these is Magillicuddy’s Reeks, near Killarney.^ Row 
 the lowest stratum of this Atlantic wind is that which is most 
 fully charged with vapour. When it encounters the base of the 
 Kerry Mountains, it is tilted up and’ fiows bodily over them. 
 Its load of vapour is therefore carried to a height, it expands 
 on reaching the height, it is chilled in consequence of the 
 exoansion, and comes down in copious showers of rain. From 
 
4:0 
 
 ■this, ill fact, arises- the luxuriant vegetation of Killarnej; to 
 this indeed, the lakes owe their water supply. The cold 
 crests of the mountain also aid in the work of condensation.” 
 
 Let us examine this. The tilting up of the masses of cloud 
 on coming in contact with the face of the mountain is the 
 resultant of the impact of two forces, one being that of the 
 wind from the southwest with any given velocity from twenty 
 miles per hour to that of eighty or one hundred miles per hour ; 
 the other, tlye static force of the resistance of the mountain 
 itself ; the diagonal of these two forces is the tilting up of the 
 cloud after impact. ISTow these two great masses of cloud and 
 mountain, oppositely electrified, when they come together in 
 contact produce great friction of their molecules, which friction 
 evolves positive electricity from the higher temperature of the 
 southwest wind; this positive electricity thus evolved rushes 
 into conjunction with the opposite electricity of the atmosphere, 
 producing heat, which heat being absorbed by the air holding 
 the water in suspension communicates to it positive electricity, 
 and the air so electrified is attracted by the negative electricity 
 of the upper atmosphere, carrying it up and by expansion so 
 comminuting the particles of air that they can no longer con- 
 taiti the globules of water they before held in suspension, 
 which latter thus released then begin, being attracted by the 
 positive electricity of the earth, to fall as rain oppositely 
 electrified, and it is, therefore, these electricities thus excited 
 with the heat which is evolved by their conjunction and the 
 rain charged with ammonia and carbonic acid gas which furnish 
 the stimulants to the remarkable vegetation of Killarney. 
 During the prevalence of these rain bearing clouds, driven 
 across the Atlantic by the southwest winds upon the above 
 mentioned mountains, the sun must be obscured by them,' 
 and hence there can be no I’adiations of solar heat to expand 
 the air of the clouds after their impact with the mountains, 
 and they have been tilted up in their further progress over the 
 crests of the mountains. 
 
 A similar explanation covers the example the Professor gives 
 of a heavy fall of rain or snow in the Alps, while the sky is 
 clear and blue over the plains of Italy — while the wind is bldxcmg 
 ■over the plains to the Alps. The warm wind, positively electrified 
 and holding water in STispension, coming in contact with the 
 negative electricity of the cold Alps, and producing friction 
 by the impact, evolving more positive electricity to combine 
 ■with the negative electricity of the atmosphere at that great 
 
 * 
 
44 
 
 clcvatiou, increases tlie lieat, and by it expands tbe air of 
 the clonds so much that it can no longer hold the globules of 
 water held by it in suspension. The heated and expanded air, 
 attracted to the still higher atmosphere from its greater nega- 
 tive electricitv, separates from the water it before held, A\hile 
 (he water having lost its heat by the superior capacity of the 
 air to absorb it, becomes negatively electrified and is attracted 
 to the earth by its positive electricity — hen'ce the rain fall. 
 
 Professor Tvndall also states in the same work, “that the 
 nnconfined aii’ heated at the earth’s surface, and ascending by 
 its lio-htness, must expand more and more, the higher it rises 
 in the atmosphere,” and that the ascending “air is chilled by its - 
 expansion. Indeed this chilling is one/Wurce of the coldness 
 of the higher atmospheric regions.” It strikes me that this 
 explanation is not correct. In the first place the ascent of 
 heated air in the upper atmosphere has a limit beyond which 
 it cannot pass. Secondly, it ascends not by its lightness but 
 bv the attraction of the negative electricity of the upper 
 atmosphere for the heated air, ivhich is oppositely electrified. 
 In its upward course it loses its heat by radiation and with it 
 its positive electricity— and by induction becomes negatively 
 electrified with the air whose altitude it has reached— nor is 
 this chilling bv expansion, as he terms it, one source ot the 
 coldness of the upper atmosphere. That coldness associated 
 with negative electricity is derived from the ether m which 
 the atmosphere as well as the earth is continually revolving, 
 that ether has a temperature, according to Fouiliet, ct 
 of Centigrade thermometer, and our upper atmosphere in 
 contact with this ether receives from it, by induction, both its 
 (■old and its negative electricity, and the atmosphere itseii is 
 kept in its place as an envelope of the earth by the positive 
 electricity of the earth and the opposite electricity 
 atmosphm’e. The snow line from the equator, (15,000 feet 
 above the equator to the 60° of north latitiide, where it 
 coincides with the earth,) being the dividing line between these 
 two opposing electricities. . 
 
 The Professor gives another example of the air being chilled 
 bv its expansion, as follows, viz : “ with a condensing syringe 
 you can force air into, an iron box furnished with a stop cock, 
 to w'hich the syringe is screwed. Do so till the densitj of the 
 air within the box is doubled or trebled. Immediately after 
 this condensation, both the box and the air within it are warm, 
 and can be proved to be so by a proper thermometer, bimply 
 
4 .:= 
 
 turn the cock and allow the compressed air to stream into the 
 atmosphere. The current, if allowed to strike a thermometer 
 visibly chills it, even the hands feel the chill of the expanding 
 
 • 5 > 
 
 air. 
 
 J^ow for another explanation different from the Professor’s. 
 The air in the iron box had become heated by the friction of 
 it with the sides of the bo.x ; that friction evolved positive 
 electricity associated with the heat; on turning the cock and 
 allowing the heated air to escape into the atmosphere, the heat 
 and the positive electricity both left the escaping air with the 
 velocity of lightning, rushing into the oppositely electrified air 
 in the upper atmosphere, and the air that reached the ther- 
 mometer deprived of its heat i-educed its temperature. There 
 is also an inconsistency in the explanation of the Professor 
 in producing heat by condensation in his iron box, while he 
 produces rain by the condensation of the clouds by cold in the 
 upper atmosphere. This reminds one of the fable of .^soj), 
 in which a satyr invited into a husbandman’s hut, blew upon 
 his hot broth as he said to cool it before eating it, and again 
 blew' his breath upon his fingers to warm them on coming into 
 the house from the cold outside air. The husbandman turned 
 the satyr out of dooi’s, as he could not comprehend how any 
 one could blow hot and cold from the same breath. 
 
 If compression of the atmosphere produces heat, condensa- 
 tion, which is merely another form of expression for the same 
 thing, cannot produce cold. If cold condenses, why does it 
 not condense the air in the upper atmosphere where the 
 greatest cold prevails, and the air is veiy dry, rarefied and 
 attenuated? According to the theory of condensation by cold, 
 the air should be very much more dense at great elevations 
 above the earth, than it is at the surface of the ocean, but the 
 reverse is known to be the case. The higher in the atmos- 
 phere a balloon, inflated with hydrogen gas, ascends, the more 
 the gas becomes expanded by the rarefaction of the atmos- 
 phere, w’hich shows that the cold of the upper atmosphere 
 cannot condense the gas in opposition to the expansive influ- 
 ence of the rarefied atmosphere at great elevations. Ice water 
 poured into a glass tumbler in the heat of summer, causes a 
 deposit of drops of water on the outside of the tumbler 
 resembling dew, w’hich is the result of a conjunction of 
 opposite electricities, the glass and the air within and around 
 it being warm and positively electrified, while the ice water is 
 negatively electrified. Their conjunction evolves heat, w'hich 
 
46 
 
 ia absorbed by the molecules of air, bolding in suspension tbe 
 humidity of the atmosphere ; these molecules, so heated, ascend 
 immediately with inconceivable rapidity into the upper atmos- 
 phere, attracted by its opposite negative electricity, while the 
 globules of water thus released from their suspension in the 
 air on the outside of the glass, being now negatively electrified, 
 are attracted by the vitreous or positive electricity of the glass 
 tumbler and are deposited on it. 
 
 On the thirty-first day of March, A. D., 1872, I visited my 
 farm to give directions to apply heat to start the growth of the 
 vines in my grapery, at the commencement of the season. 
 The weather was veiy ' cold, patches of ice and snow lay in 
 places on the fields, which the sun, shining with great brilliancy 
 through a remarkably clear atmosphere, was unable to soften 
 or melt. No semblance of cloud or vapour was anywhere 
 visible. In the open air, protected from sunlight, the ther- 
 mometer (Fahrenheit’s) marked 34 degrees, two degrees above 
 the freezing point of water. On entering the grapery, in which 
 there had been no artificial heat from fuel of any kind for 
 the space of nearly a year, mj’ son and myself were astonished 
 at the great heat that there was within it. On examining the 
 thermometer which hung on one of the middle posts of the 
 grapery, completely sheltered from the sunlight, about four 
 ieet from the floor, we were amazed to find that it marked one 
 hundred and ten degrees of Fahrenheit. Here was an increase 
 of seventy-six degrees of temperature over that of the outside 
 air, and produced by a film of glass not exceeding one-six- 
 teenth of an inch in thickness, but associated as blue and 
 plain glass. This extraordinary increase of temperature, mani- 
 fested the supreme wisdom of the Creator in kindling this 
 heat at the surface of the earth, where it was needed, by rays 
 of light passing through a denser medium than air, instead of 
 sending heat from the sun through ninety-two millions of 
 miles of ether at a temperature of —142 degrees of Centigrade 
 thermometer, in the passage through wdiich so much of the 
 said heat would have been lost by radiation. 
 
 I have had many occasions to observe since that date, that 
 during the passage of strong sunlight through the blue and 
 plain ”glass of the grapery, the temperature through the day, 
 within the grapery^ varied from one hundred degrees to one 
 hundred and fifteen degrees, while that without, according to 
 the seasons of the year, at the same times of the day would 
 range from thirty-two degrees upward to sixty degrees or 
 sixty -five degrees. 
 
47 
 
 During the winter of 1871 and 1872, which, in this city, was 
 a very cold and rigourous one, two ladies of my family 
 residing on the nortlieru side of Spruce streets cast of Broad 
 street, in this city, who, at my suggestion, had caused blue 
 glass to be placed in one of the windows of their dwelling, 
 associated with plain glass, informed me that they hful 
 ol)served that when the sun shone through those associated 
 glasses in their window, the temperature of the room, though 
 in mid-winter, was so much increased that on many occasioTis 
 they had been obliged during sunlight to dispense entirely 
 with the .fire which, ordinarily, they^kept in their room, or 
 when the fire was suffered to remain, they found it necessary 
 to_ lower the upper sashes of their windows, wdrich were 
 
 wdthout the. blue glass, in order to moderate the oppressive 
 heat. ii- 
 
 ^ These examples go to illustrate the remark of a distinguished 
 (derman scientist, made to a friend of mine after he had read 
 an account ot my experiments with blue light on animal and 
 vegetable life. He said, “ that the discovery o"f this extraordinary 
 influence was destined to produce the most important and 
 beneficial results on the comfort and happiness of mankind 
 throughout the civilized world. That fuel was everywhere 
 recognized as one of the most indispensable elements of social 
 and domestic economy. That it is, particularly in Europe, 
 very expensive from its scarcity, which is becoming greater 
 every year with its annual consumption, and in the^'narthern 
 parts of Europe, furs, skiiTs of animals and the down of 
 aquatic birds are extensively worn, sometimes with two or 
 three suits at once ot clothing, in order to preserve the animal 
 heat of the body, owing to the great costliness of fuel and the 
 severity of the cold. 
 
 “ That even in England, apprehensions are being expressed of 
 an exhaustion of their coal mines in the not distant future. 
 Now since this wonderful discovery of General Pleasonton, of 
 the influence of the blue light of the sky in developing animal 
 and vegetable life, which is largely due to the heat and elec- 
 tricitv developed by the passage of sunlight through these 
 associated blue and plain glasses, I am of the opinion that 
 during sunshine, for many hours in the day, by means of blue 
 and colourless glass arranged together in*^ doors and windows 
 exposed to the sun, sufficient heat can be evolved to enable 
 families, and work people in factories, to dispense with a large 
 proportion of the fuel that they have heretofore been oblio-ed 
 
4:- 
 
 to use. Let us suy that ono-lnilf of the fuel heretofore 
 required, can be saved by thus utilizing sunlight, and von will 
 begin to comprehend how vast will be the bencltt derived to 
 mankind in the economy of fuel alone, by this discovery of 
 General Pleasonton.” • 
 
 I have said that while the rays of the sun’s light were one 
 of the causes of terrestrial heat, yet there is no heat in them.. 
 This can be proved by any one, in the follo^ving experiment, 
 viz: During winter, when the ground is covered with snow, 
 and the temperature of the open air is at zero of Fahrenheit’s 
 thermometer, it will be found that the sun, however brightly 
 shining, cannot melt the snow or ice on which it may shine. 
 Take now a piece of black or brown silken or woolen cloth oi’ 
 any form and of convenient size, and place it on the snow in 
 the shade where the sun does not reach it with his rays. Tin- 
 snow will not be melted under this cloth, which will have th< 
 same temperature as the snow ; hence it is'obvious that therf 
 is' no heat either in the sunlight which could not melt the 
 snow, nor in the coloured cloth whose temperature was the 
 saine as the shaded snow on which it had been placed ; now 
 take up the cloth, and place it on the snow where the sun can 
 shine upon it. Let us observe the effect of thi.s new position : 
 the rays of the sun moving with a velocity of 186,000 mile.s 
 per second are suddenly arrested by this cloth, which they 
 cannot penetrate. This sudden stoppage of velocity produces 
 friction, by the impact of the rays of light upon the cloth; 
 electricity is evolved by the friction, having a polarity opposed 
 to that of the cloth; instantly these opposite electricities rush 
 together, pi’oducing heat, warming the cloth and melting the 
 snow immediately under the cloth, by which the cloth begins 
 to sink below the level of the snow, and if it shall be allowed 
 to remain, it will melt the snow under it till the cloth shall 
 rest upon the ground beneath, clear of the snow, and the sur- 
 rounding snow shall enclose the cloth, of its exact size and 
 form. 
 
 From this experiment, we conclude that the heat which 
 melted the snow under the cloth was not derived from the sun 
 as heat, but that the electricity produced by the impact of the 
 sun’s rays with the cloth oppositely electrified, through friction, 
 evolved the heat which melted fhe snow. 
 
 Ffow suppose that instead of a single piece- of this cloth 
 having been placed upon the snow, you have put a series of pieces 
 
49 
 
 of the same cloth upon the snow. The same principle applies 
 hut a different action is observed. The cloth is a bad con- 
 ductor of heat as well as of electricity, consecpiently the heat 
 evolved bv the conjunction of the opposite electricities produced 
 by the friction of the rays of sunlig-ht by impact on the cloth 
 with the opposite electricity of the cloth, cannot descend 
 through the cloth to an}- depth, being contrary to the laws of 
 heat, but it immediately ascends into the atmosphere and 
 escapes, vehile the edges of the series of pieces of cloth in 
 ■contact with the snow become warmed by the conjunction of 
 the opposite electricities, produced by the friction of the ravs 
 of light with the edges of the cloth and the cloth’s electricity, 
 and soon melt the snow in contact with them, till the pieces of 
 cloth are left high and dry above the snow which surrounds 
 them. 
 
 Glaciers— their Origin, Fosition, Duration, Changes and Move- 
 Much has been written on these subjects, and many 
 distinguished scientists have been greatly exercised to give a 
 satisfactory explanation of the phenomena they have witnessed 
 in connection with them. 
 
 It seems to me that glaciers are formed in the regions of 
 perpetual snow by the deposition of snow in the valleys of the 
 lofty mountains where, they exist; clouds laden with vapour 
 wdien they reach the^ neighbourhood of the mountains whose 
 valleys are filled with glaciers, being positively electrified 
 encounter the negative electricity of the higher atmosphere. 
 These opposite electricities meet in conjunction,^ heat is 
 evolved the air associated with water as vapour in the clouds 
 being thus heated, is rarefied and expanded to such an extent 
 that it can no longer retain its water, (while it ascends rapidlr 
 into the upper atmosphere attracted bi’ its negative electricit}' ) 
 which on being liberated from the air that held it as vapour is 
 converted by the surrounding low temperature of its great 
 altitude into flakes of snow, which having an opposite 
 magnetism to the earth are attracted downward to it, and are 
 at the same time repelled from the height where they are 
 formed by the opposite magnetism pre%miling there. The 
 crystallization of these snow flakes is made in a vacuum, 
 produced by the escape of this heated and rarefied air, and by 
 absorbing the magnetism which is developed by the con- 
 junction of the opposite electricities of the clouds and the 
 atmosphere as they come together in contact, these mao-netic 
 snow flakes transfer it to the-earth to replace the macrnetism 
 
■which is constantly leaving the earth in evaporations to escape 
 into the upper atmosphere. 
 
 This, then, in all probability, is the origin of glaciers. The 
 successive snow falls in the upper valleys of tliese elevated 
 regions, by their magnetic attraction to the earth, serve to' 
 pack the snow, and to compress the lower portions of it into 
 ice of greater or less density, according to its elevation in the 
 atmosphere and the depth of the valleys in which the glaciers 
 are formed. The effect, therefore, is that the bottom of the 
 glacier is ice, while the upper part of it is snow, termed neve. 
 
 Crevasses are .fissures of various depths and widths in the 
 glacier, whose formation Professor Tyndall attributes to the 
 effect of the solar radiation of heat upon the glaciers. lie says, 
 in his book on “ The Forms of "Water,” &c., page 100, “first, 
 then, you arc to know that the air of our atmosphere is hardly 
 heated at all b,y the rays of the sun, whether visible or invisible ; 
 the air is highly transparent to all kinds of rays, and it is only 
 the scanty fraction to which it is not transparent that expend 
 their force in warming it.” 
 
 I have shown that heat ascends in our atmosphere by the 
 attraction of the positive electricity Avith which it is always 
 associated, by the negative electricity of the colder air in the 
 upper regions of the atmosphere, and by its repulsion from 
 the earth by its positive electricity ; it is, therefore, contrary 
 to the laws of heat that the , sun should, can or could transmit 
 ra;js of heat downward to this planet, and as these heat raA^s 
 can not be so transmitted, they are therefore not present to bo 
 absorl.ied by the snoAV of the glacier or on the mountains. On 
 page 98 of the same book, he says: “ we have wrapped up our 
 chain and are turning homewards after a hard day’s work 
 upon the Glacier du Geant, Avhen under our feet, as if coming 
 from the body of the glacier, an explosion is heard. Somewhat 
 startled, Ave look inrpiiringly over the ice. The sound is 
 repeated, seAmral shots being fired in cpiick succession. They 
 seem sometimes to our right, sometimes to our left, giving 
 the impression that the glacier is breaking up, still nothing 
 is to be seen. 
 
 “"We closely scan the ice, and after an hour’s strict search 
 Ave discover the cause of the reports. They announce the 
 bii’th of a crevasse. Through a pool upon the glacier, we 
 notice air bubbles ascending, and find the bottom of the pool 
 
51 
 
 tTossed bj a nan-ovv crack, from which the bubbles issue, 
 mght and left from, this pool, we trace the young fissure 
 tbrough long distanees. It is sometimes almost too feeble tO' 
 >e seen, and at no place is it wide enough to admit a knife- 
 blade. 
 
 It is difficult to believe that the formidable fissures, amono" 
 which you and I have so often trodden with awe, should 
 vjmmence in this small way. Such, however, is the case, 
 i ho great and gaping chasms on and above the icefalls of the 
 (:reant and the Taletre begin as narrow cracks, which open 
 ,gi'adually to crevasses. The crevasses are grandest on the 
 higher neves, where they, sometimes appear as long yawning 
 Assures, and sometimes as chasms of irregular outline ; delic(de 
 him light shimmers from them, but this is gradually lost in the. 
 darkness ot their profounder portions. 
 
 Over the edges of the chasms, and mostly over the southern' 
 edps,_ hang a coping of snow, and from this depend like 
 stalactites, rows of transparent icicles, ten, twenty, thirty feet 
 pendent spears constitute one of the most beau- 
 tiful features of the higher crevasses. How are they produced ?’ 
 hvideutly by the thawing of the snow. -But ivhv, when once 
 thawed, should the water freeze again to solid spears ?” Hovv 
 let us examine this ; if the supposed heat of the sun’s rays,, 
 could melt the snow at the southern edges of the crevasse, 
 why did not similar rays from the sun, conveying the like^ 
 temperature, melt the general surface of the glacier, and. 
 profluce thereby -large pools of water on the surface of the 
 glacier ? Particularly, as the Professor states, “ that the suow on 
 which the sunbeams fall, absorbs the solar heat, and on a- 
 sunny day, you may see the summits of the high Alps glisten- 
 ing with the water of liquefaction. The air above, and around 
 the mountains niay, at the same time, be many degrees below 
 the freezing point in temperature.” 
 
 If the surface of the snow on the mountains was melted by 
 the solar heat, as the Professor supposes, what was there to 
 arrest the .streams of water thus produced, and to prevent them 
 from .flowing into the valleys occupied by the glaciers, and 
 converting the glaciers themselves into mountain torrents, 
 while at the same time the mountains were being denuded of 
 snow? But we know that such results have not been pro- 
 duced. Above the snow line the mountains are perpetually 
 covered with snow, and the glaciers have remained from a 
 remote antiquity to attest that the snow does not absorb 
 
tlie heat of the sunbeams, foi’ the simple I’cason that the sun- 
 beams in themselves do not bring any heat from the sun to 
 this planet. 
 
 In my early boyhood, I dwelt on the banks of the Potomac, 
 a river fancifully named by the Indians, before the advent of 
 the white man, '‘ the river of swans,” from the abundance of 
 that water fowl that frequented- its waters. Well do I 
 remember, lying awake on the eve of our several winter 
 holidays, when the river was deeply frozen, anticipating a day 
 of s})len(lid skating on the morrow,’ to have been often startled 
 by the noise of a great explosion of the ice on the river, 
 ■occasioned by the compression of the air beneath the ice, as 
 the Tide rising rapidly forced it upwards between the water 
 .and the iee, till its accumulation and compression would over- 
 cojne the re.'sistance of the ice, and a iissure would be opened 
 in it extending sometimes for miles, and liberating the pent 
 up air into the atmosphere. If the temperature of the night 
 air was l)elow the freezing point of water, as the tide receded 
 the water which had filled the fissure, when the tide was full, 
 was frozen into ice, and the track of the fissure could be 
 marked on the next day by the film of thin ice that had been 
 formed in it, as the tide was recediim the nis-ht before. 
 
 In this way, air holes, so dangerous to travelers and skaters 
 on the ice, are constantly formed on our rivers and streams, 
 •subject to the flow of the tides, and in lakes and mountain 
 .•streams, they are also formed by the currents of water flowing 
 tlownwards in a similar manner. In my later youth, I had' 
 observed similar effects from similar causes, produced on the 
 ice of the river Hudson, at West Point. In short, fissures on 
 the surface of anything, whether on the surface of the earth by 
 volcanic eruptions in which lava, rocks, scorite, mud, boiling 
 Avater, are thrown out from ' the iiiterior, or by Geysers 
 spouting their hot streams into the atmosphere, or the cracks 
 in the ground produced by long continued droughts, evapo- 
 rating the moisture contained in the soil, and even eruptive 
 diseases among mankind or other animals whether wild or 
 domestic, are all the results of interior forces, acting from the' 
 interior to their respectiAm surfaces. 
 
 . Hoav let us explain the crevasse on the glacier. The snow 
 falls carry to the glacier large quantities of atmospheric air, 
 Avhich are confined between the glacier and the snow as it 
 falls; every fall of snow presses its predecessors and the air 
 they contain closer together against the ice. filling its 
 
53 
 
 vacancies with air. This column of air, thus pressed down 
 upon and into the ice, encounters the air which has been 
 enclosed between the bottom of the glacier and the earth on 
 which the glacier rests, — this last mentioned air has been 
 warmed by the radiation of heat from the interior of the earth, 
 and has become positively electrified by it — the contact of this 
 positively electrified air with the negativelj'^ electrified ice of 
 the bottom of the glacier.* evolves more heat, which, melting 
 the lower stratum of ice of the glacier, constitutes the source 
 of the stream of water that flows from the glacier. Such is 
 the origin of the river Ehone. 
 
 This warm air, in its effort to rise through the glacier into 
 the upper atrnosphere negatively electrified, meets in the 
 crevices everywhere abounding in the ice of the glacier^ the 
 air which has been forced down by the snow falls, and which 
 last air is negatively electrified; the coninnction of these two 
 airs oppositely electrified evolves heat, which expanding the 
 air, displaces the ice of ' the glacier, foi’ming channels for its 
 escape into the upper atmosphere, and when it reaches the 
 upper surface of the glacier, forces its way' through it into the 
 atmosphere in that .minute fissure, which Professor Tyndall 
 had such difficulty to discover; Again, this warm air as it 
 escaped into the atmosphere, melted the edges of the ice or 
 snow at the surface through which it passed, and through 
 which it was visible in the air bubbles Professor T. described. 
 
 The melting of the lower stratum of ice of the glacier in 
 contact with the earth produced by the heat evolved by the 
 conjunction of the positive electricity of the. earth with the 
 negative electricity of the ice, is the cause of the subsidence of 
 the body of the' glacier, and the declivity of the valley itself is 
 the cause of the glacier moving bodily downward in it. The 
 fractures, strains, torsions of certain portipns of the glacier 
 are the results of the forces of expansion and contraction in 
 the interior of the glacier, produced by variations of its 
 interior temoerature as mentioned above. 
 
 In this country, the winter of the years 1874 and 1875 has 
 been an exceptional one. The cold has been of long, and 
 almost uninterrupted continuance, and of great seterity. 
 The rivers in the 5liddle and Eastern States have been closed 
 with ice, which has been of great density and depth, extending 
 in some of their courses through the mountains even to the 
 beds of their streams. The frozen condition of the waters has 
 
54 
 
 rcniained till lute in tiie sprint season; and from the aecumn- 
 lulion of immense masses office in certain portions of these 
 rivers, forming what were called ice-gorges, filling their entire 
 widtli for the distance of miles in lengtli, the most serious 
 apprehensions were entertained of extraordinary damages to 
 towns and villages, railways and canals, in the valleys of these 
 rivers, that would he sustained hy the sudden breaking up of 
 these gorges of ice from rain-storm’s, and the melting of the 
 snows on the mountains, which would produce the most 
 extensive and alarming inundations. These apprehensions 
 were justified by the advanced spring season which usnallv, ' 
 by its increased temperature, terminates the rigours of winter. 
 
 To obviate, if possible, these threatened dangers and calami- 
 ties by the sudden In-eaking up of the ice, various expedients 
 Avere resorted to, viz : cutting chamiels through the ice below 
 the gorges, to liberate the Avater above, should it assume 
 alarming proportions ; attempting to destroy tlie gorges thom- 
 seh^es by the explosions of gunpoAvder, or of nitro-glycerine, 
 confined in chambers in the ice itself, and one very liberal 
 gogtleman, evidently a believer in the theory that the sun is 
 an incandescent body and sends its heat bodily to our earth, 
 dowiiAvards, presented to the authorities of one of the towns 
 e^-dangered by the ice-gorge in its neighbourliood, tAventy- 
 eight barrels of ISTaphtha, to be burnt on the ice-gorge, under 
 the impression that the heat produced by their combustion, 
 would descend through the ice, and liquefy it into water. It 
 is scarcely necessary 'to add, ' that, AA^hen "the experiment of 
 burning the Kajihtha upon the ice-gorge was tried, tlie heat 
 evolved by its combustion immediately ascended into the 
 upper atmosphere, leaving the, ice unaffected by the experi- 
 ment. 
 
 F rom a very interesting book entitled, “ IMount Washington 
 in Winter ; or, the Experiences of a Scientific Expedition uj>on 
 the Highest Mountain in Xew England — 1870-71,” pnblislicd 
 in Boston in 1871, we make some extracts that seem to. 
 have a connection Avith the subjects of Avhich Ave are treating. 
 
 “ Mo.osilauke Mountain, near IMount Washington, is nearly 
 fiive thousand feet high, and lies Avithin the arctic zone of 
 climate. It was on this mountain that tAA'o scientific gentle- 
 men, viz., Messrs. A. F. Clough and II. A. Kimball, deter- 
 nAined to pass tAvo months, in the winter of the years 1869 atid 
 1870. in order to fit themseh’-es the better for a Avinter residence 
 
on Mount Washington, at a future day. They attempted the 
 ascent of the mountain on ISTovember 23d, 1869, but were driven 
 hack by the severity of the weather. On the 31st of December, 
 1869, the attempt was renewed under better auspices, and was 
 successful. 
 
 “About two months were spent by them on this summit. 
 So valuable were the experiences acquired, and so unusual 
 were the meteorological phenomena observed, that the Mount 
 Washington phenomena, subsequently experienced, have not 
 equaled those upon Mount Moosilauke, and among them the 
 possibility of living on a mountain top during the winter, was 
 fully demousti'ated. 
 
 “ There is scarcely a mountain in Xew England from which 
 the view is more extejasive. We can see from it, nearly the 
 whole of the State of ISTew Hampshire, avith its numerous 
 mountain peaks. Eastward is Mount Washington, in solemn 
 repose, — its neighbouring peaks of immaculate whiteness — 
 Momit .Lafayette and its lines of white extending far, down 
 into the evergreen forests. Southward is Lake Winnipiseogee, 
 with its numerous isles, glittering in the sunliglit, like a gem 
 of the purest water. W estward is the whole State of Y ermont, 
 and Ascutney, the most pointed of its mountains, is conspicu- 
 ous. Moosilauke is so muck higher than the immediate 
 neighbouring peaks, that the whole country is spread out as a 
 grand intrusive raised map before the- beholder. 
 
 “ Ho scene more grand and beautiful ever greeted the eye 
 of man, than when, beyond the dark band of clouds just below 
 the summits of the Franconia and White mountains, appeared 
 those tints of rose and orange, lying along the horizon just 
 above the snow capped summit of Mount Washington, and 
 against a deep azure sky. From Moosilauke, you command 
 the whole panorama of the White Mountain range, and you 
 may see something of the effect witnessed among the Alps. 
 As the day dies, the lost shadows pass with strange rapidity 
 from peak to peak, vanishing from one height as they appear 
 on the next.” 
 
 The following are extracts from their.Journal, viz : 
 
 “ On the 1st of January, 1870, the sun rose clear. We were 
 above the clouds, and a grander spectacle one does not often 
 behold. Tlie clouds seemed to roll and surge like the billows 
 of the ocean. They were of every dark and of every brilliant hue ; 
 
o6 
 
 Lore they were resplendent .with golden light, and there of 
 silvery brightness; here of rosy tints, there of sombre gray, 
 here of snowy whiteness, there of murky darkness, here 
 gorgeous .with the play of colours, and there, the lurid light 
 ha.shcs deep down into the gulfs formed by the eddying mist. 
 But above all these clouds, these fla.shes of light, this darkness, 
 rise in stately grandeur, the summits of Mount AVashington, 
 sublime in its canopy of snow, and of Lafoj'ette, with a few 
 peaks of lesser altitude, glittering in the bright sunlight. As 
 the sun rises higlicr, the picture fades away, the whole country 
 is flooded with light. 
 
 “ Did this grandeur, this magTiilicence, this brilliant display 
 ■•flights, of sluidows, and shades — of these clouds, so resplen- 
 dent, so beautiful, portend a storm? In the evening the Avind 
 '•hanged to the southeast, and increased in velocit\ . 
 
 “ At daylight on the 2d of Tanuary, 1S70, it Avas snoAving. . 
 This soon changed to sleet, and then to rain, and at eight o’clock, 
 A. AI., the velocity of the wind aauas seventy miles per hour; at 
 tAvelve o’clock, noon, there Avas a perfect tempest. - Although 
 thcAvind Avas so fearful, yet Air. Clough Avas determined to knoAv 
 the exact rate at AA'hich it aa’US bloAving. By clinging to the 
 rock, he succeeded in reaching a place where he could expose 
 the anemometer, and not be'bloAvn aAvay himself. Re found 
 the velocity of the Avind to be ninety-seven and a half miles per 
 hour, the greatest velocity, until that time, ever recorded. 
 AVhen he reached the house, he Avas thoroughly .saturated Avith 
 AA’-ater, thcAvind having driven the rain thi'ough every garment, 
 although they Avere ot‘ the heaA-iest material, as though they 
 had been made of the lightest fabric' During the afternoon, 
 the rain and gale continued Avith unabated violence. The rain 
 Avas driA’-cu through every crack and crevice of the house and 
 the floor of our room Avas flooded. So flerce Avas the drauglit 
 of the stove, that the wind literally took aAvay every spark of 
 fire, leaAung only the half charred wood in the stove, and it Avas 
 Avith the greatest dilficulty that Ave succeeded in re-kindling it. 
 During the evening, the Avind seemed to increase in fury, and 
 although theAvindovvAvas BomcAvliat protected, yet nearly every 
 glass in it, that Avas exposed, Avas broken by the pressure of 
 the gale. As the lights Avere broken, the fire Avas again extin- 
 guished, and even my hurricaiAC lantern Avas blown out as 
 
 quickly as if the flame had been unprotected. * * * * 
 
 After nine o’clock, P. AI., there were occasional lulls in. the 
 storm, and by midnight it had considerably abated. 
 
“ TVlien it was clear, there was a strong temptation, notwith- 
 standing the cold, to he out of doors to watch the clouds, at 
 first of almost fiery redness, then changing to, gray and neutral 
 tints, until almost black, they seemed to gather around some 
 distant peak, or as a dark band, they lay between the Franco- 
 nia and hite ^lountains, leaving only the snow-clad summits 
 above the dark border; or at sunset, when they lay in narrow 
 bands, or rose tinted clusters around the summit of Mount 
 ^ i^hin^ton, while elsewhere they were those of leaden hue, 
 such as are seen only in winter. Often when the sky is par- 
 tiallj' overcast, through the intervening spaces of the clouds, we 
 see that intense blue sky, which is peculiar to high altitudes. 
 
 _ “ On the 19th of February, 1870, there were two currents of 
 air, the upper had its lowest stratum probably two thousand 
 feet below the summit. In the morning the upper current 
 was northwest, with a velocity of fifty miles per hour ; about 
 noon, the wind changed to the north and increased in velocity, 
 a,ud at five o’clock, P. M., it had a velocity of seventy miles- 
 per hour. At the foot of the mountain, nearly 5000 feet below 
 there was scarcely a perceptible breeze, yet up, a thousand feet, 
 there was a strong current from the southioest, and the clouds 
 seem to move almost as rapidly as those from the north, higher 
 up the mountain. On account of the velocity of the wind, and 
 the upward pressure of the currents below, .the etfect was 
 remarkable. The. whole country, except the higher summits, 
 was covered with clouds, and these were moving at the rate, 
 probably, of more than sixty miles per hour, and everywhere 
 they were broken into seething, undulating masses, for as they 
 came near the mountains, in an instant, almost, they would be 
 lifted more than a thousand feet, to be carried over the 
 summits. As far as the eye could reach, embracing thousands 
 of square miles, Avas this rolling tumultuous mass of clouds.” 
 
 These gentlemen left the Moosilauke mountain on the last 
 day ot February, A. I),, 1870. It was extremely cold, wind GO 
 to 70 miles per hour, thermometer ranging from 0 degrees to 
 —17 degrees. The complete organization of the expedition to 
 pass the winter of the years 187,0 and 1871, on Mount 'Wash- 
 ington, "was as follows, viz : 
 
 ■ C. H. Hitchcock, State Geologist, J. II. Huntington, in 
 charge of the Observatory upon the mountain. S. A. Helson, 
 Observer. 
 
 A. F. Clough and H. A. Kimball, Photographers. 
 
Theodore Smith, Observer and Telegrapher for the United 
 States Signal Service. 
 
 “Mount Washington, in the ^Whte Mountains in New 
 Hampshire, is in latitude44 degrees 16 minutes 25 seconds north 
 and in longitude from Greenwich 71 degree.'^ 16 minutes 26 
 seconds west, or 1 degree 0 minutes 43.99 seconds of longitude 
 east from Hanover in New Hampshire. 
 
 “Its elevation above tide water is 6,293 feet, and in altitude 
 it is the second highest mountain northward, of the Gulf oi‘ 
 Iklexieo, the highest mountain thereof being Clingman’s Peak, 
 in the State of North Carolina, which is 6,707 feet above tide 
 water. 
 
 “ The limit of the growth of trees on the north side of 
 Mount Washington, is 4,150 feet above tide water. 
 
 “The climate of Mount Washington corresponds with that 
 of the middle of Greenland, about seventy degrees of north 
 latitude, or 26° further north than New Hampshire. 
 
 “It is an arctic island (so to speak) in the Temperate Zone, 
 and on account of its great elevation it exhibits also the ct)ii- 
 dition of the atmosphere, where the mercury does not rise 
 above 24 inches in the barometer. For peculiar interest 
 therefore, the Mount Washington Station is not exceeded by 
 any point within the arctic circle.” 
 
 Professor Edward Tuckerm'an, of Amherst, Massachusetts, 
 in his admirable treatise upon “the Vegetation of the White 
 Mountains,” marks out four regions: first, the lower forest, in 
 which are found the hard wood species of trees, the rock 
 maple, the- beech, the white and yellow birches; with these 
 are often large white pines, firs, white spruces, the aspen, the 
 witch hazel and the mountain ash. 
 
 “ In the second region, the upper forest consists mostly of 
 black spruce and fir, with occasional yellow' and canoe birches, 
 Frazer’s balsam fir and a mountain . ash : at 4,000 feet of 
 altitude these trees are dwarfed but are very strong, and w'hen 
 close together form a thicket almost impenetrable. 
 
 , “ Among the plants of the third or sub-aljnne region are the 
 mountain sandwort, the evergreen cowberry, the Labrador tea 
 and the mountain bilberry. This seems not to be well charac- 
 terized- 
 
“The foux-th and highest region is called alpine^ and con- 
 tains many plants peculiar to Labrador and Greenland. There 
 ax’e some fifty or sixty of these, and among them are as many 
 more lowland species which have emigrated to the summit 
 and manage to live there in favourable seasons, though often 
 much dwarfed. The lichens are very conspicuous and beauti- 
 ful, one of a sulphur yellow colour is quite noticeable, and is a 
 good indication of the visitor’s arrival in the Alpine District. 
 Another is the reindeer moss, a very common article of food 
 for the most useful animal to man in Lapland. The best 
 localities of these arctic plants are in the great gulfs or ravines, 
 upon the east side of Mount Washington. 
 
 “ As far as- the upper limit of trees, boulders that have been 
 transported by the glacial drift from more northern summits 
 are common. They rapidly diminish in number and size upon 
 that point, and have not been seen far above the fourth water- 
 tank, or above an altitude of 5,800 feet. 
 
 “It winter weather on Mount Washington in Octobei'. 
 Most of the necessary preparations ha\ung been made on 
 November 12th, 1870, Mr. Huntington promptly climbed 
 Mount Washington and commenced to take and recoi’d the 
 meteorological observations. The other members of the 
 party Avere delayed by various reasons — but on the 30th of 
 November, 1870, four gentlemen of the pax’ty, viz : Charles B. 
 Cheney, of- Oxford, A. F. Clough, of Warren, C. F. Bi'acy, of 
 Warren, and HoAvard A. Kimball, of Concord, ari’Wed at the 
 summit, and on the 4th of December, 1870, Sergeant Theodore 
 Smith, of the U. S. Signal Service, detailed as an observer, 
 joined the party, 
 
 “ KoA^ember was making its exit in what might be ternxed 
 a lovely winter day, and the prospect of so choice a time to 
 make our ascent, toilsome at best at this season, and A-ei'y 
 hazardous except at special times in good Aveather, inspired us 
 with enthusiasm more and more increased as we approached 
 the final reach that stood in defiance of any aid that could be 
 rendered by the panting steeds that noAV bore us forward. 
 
 “ At Marshfield Ave are three miles from the summit, and at 
 present all travel. over this distance must depend- solely upon 
 Inxman ■ muscle and energy to achieve. At this point Ave 
 decided to make the ascent at once, though there Avere serious 
 misgivings on the part of some of us in vicAv of the near 
 approach of night, Avhich at this season, half-fast two o’clock. 
 
CO 
 
 P. M., leaves a small margin of the day, at best for such a task 
 as stood before us. In ascending from this point we to lowed 
 the railroad track. We were compelled to walk upon the ties 
 for the snow was several feet deep, with a sharp upward grade 
 in some places rising one foot in three, with the ties three feet 
 apart and loaded with ice and snow and built on trestle work\ 
 over gorges of some 25 or 30 feet in depth; the careless eager 
 steps of unbaffled enthusiasm, are soon compelled to give 
 place to great caution and the constant stress of nerve and 
 muscle % * * * The end of the first mile carrying us 
 
 up to within one half mile of the limit of wood growth, found 
 us in tolerable condition, when a halt for breath and ob- 
 servations discovered to us an approaching storm Ijing on the 
 Orceii Mountains of Vermont. It would iindoubtedly strike 
 us but we still hoped we might press on and reach the summit 
 first The thought of being overtaken by a furious storm on 
 the wintry, shelterless clitfs of Mount Washington, \yith the 
 nif'’ht about to enshroud us, w'as fearfully impressive, and 
 prompted us to our best endeavours. With all the eftort we 
 could well muster, we had only advanced a half mile more, 
 cari-yino- us fairly above the wooded region to. the toot ot 
 ‘ Jacob’s Ladder,’ when the storm struck us. There were 
 suddenly wrapped around us dense clouds of frozen vapour, 
 driven so furiously into our faces by the raging winds as to 
 threaten suffocation. The cheering repose of the elements, 
 but a moment before, -had now given place to what might well 
 be felt as the power and hoarse rage of a thousand tunes, and 
 the shroud of darkness that was, in a moment thrown over us 
 was nearly equal to that of the moonless night. Compelled to 
 redoubled efforts to keep our feet and make proper advance, 
 we struggled with the tempest, though with such odds against 
 us that we were repeatedly slipping and getting painful 
 bruises. Mr. Kimball finding himself too much exhausted to 
 continue this struggle on the track, we all halted in brief con- 
 sultation — during which Mr. Clough suggested that our only 
 hope consisted in pushing upward with all our might. 
 
 “Here we became separated, three of our party left the 
 track, and Mr. Kimball willingly left behind his baggage in order 
 to continue the ascent. By thus leaving the track, we escape 
 liability to falls and bruises, but found ourselves often getting 
 buried to our ivaist in snow, and forced to e^^t our . ^f^ost 
 strength to drag ourselves out. and advance. We repeatedly 
 called to Mr. Bracy, who had kept on the track as we supposed, 
 but oould get no answer. The roar of the tempest overcame 
 
G1 
 
 our utmost vocal efforts, and the clouds of frozen vapour that 
 lashed us so furiously as it hugged us in its chilling embrace, 
 was so dense that no object could he seen at a distance of ten 
 paces. Against such remorseless blasts no human being could 
 keep integrity of muscle and remain erect. We could only 
 go on together a little wa}' and then throw ourselves down for 
 a few moments to recover breath and strength. We had 
 many times repeated this, when Mr. Kimball became so utterly 
 , exhausted as to make it impossible to take another step. He 
 called to the others to leave and save themselves if possible. 
 The noble and emphatic ‘ never,’ uttered by the manly Clough, 
 whose sturdy muscle Avas found ample to hack his will, aroused 
 him to another effort. . 
 
 , “The two stronger gentlemen, whose habits of life and 
 superior physical powers gave hope of deliverance for them- 
 selves, were both immovable in the determination that our 
 fate should he one, let that be what it must. 
 
 “The situation was one of most momentous peril, especially 
 as to Mr. Kimball, whose exhaustion was so extreme that he 
 was wholly indifferent to the fate that seem to impend, only 
 begging that he might be left to that sleep, from whose 
 embrace there was felt nopoAver of resistance. Still there Avas 
 a listless drag onAvard mostly in the interests of his compan- 
 ions, and in obedience to their potent Avills. After this sort 
 we struggled on a few rods at a time, falling together betAveen 
 each eftbi’t to rest and gain new strength. At each halt 
 Messrs. Clough and Cheney used their best endeavours by 
 pounding and rubbing Mr. Kimball’s feet and limbs, and in 
 various other Avays endeavoured to promote circulation and 
 prevent freezing. The last saving device AA’as supplied by a 
 cord, Avhich Ave chanced to have, and the end of this was made 
 a noose, A\"hich was placed in Mr. Kimball’s hand, Avhile the 
 other end Avas passed over the shoulder of Mr. Clough, who 
 tugged along in advance while IMr. Cheney helped at his side. 
 Most of the last mile was accomplished in this manner. 
 
 “ With the Avind at 70 miles per hour and the thermometer 
 down to 7°, as Avas fpund after arriA'ing at the Observatory, 
 we came at length to ‘ Lizzie . Bourne’s Monument,’ only 
 thirty rods from the Observatory. One of our party shouted 
 an exultant hurrah at the glad sight of this rude pile, Avhich 
 was erected to commemorate the sad fate of one aaLo 
 Avas overtaken by the darkness and heAAuldering fogs and 
 chills of a rude October night. ‘Then,’ in the AAmrds of the 
 
eloquent StaiT King, ‘tvas the time to feel the meaning of that 
 pile of 8tonc3, which tells where Miss Bourne, overtaken by 
 night and fog, and exhausted by cold, breathed out her life 
 into the bleak cloud.’ 
 
 “ It took more than a half hour’s time to miake this last 
 thirty rods. Even the stronger ones had become wearied by 
 their unusual exertions, and had not this been the case, their 
 progress would have been slow, for it was found absolutely 
 impossible to force on the one who had become unable to 
 regard his own peril more than a few feet at a time. lie 
 would then sink down into a deep sleep, while the others 
 would employ the time in chafing his hands and feet, and 
 after a few' moments manage to arouse him and make another 
 struggle onward. 
 
 “From Lizzie Bourne’s Monument to the summit, Mr. 
 Kimball was mostly insensible to passing events, and only 
 awoke to clear consciousness, as from a dream, io find himself 
 in bed in a comfortable room in the Observatory building, safe 
 from the dreadful tempest, and owing his life to the unyield- 
 ing devotion of these brave men w'ho scornlid: to save them- 
 selves at the expense of a comrade left tos^phrieh. Mr. Bracy, 
 who had got separated from us during ouri, earlier struggles,, 
 had got in about 7 o’clock, P. M., our own Wrival being at 
 7^ o’clock, P. M. He had kept on the track. 
 
 “ Thus at least three hours of this ascent were made amid 
 the dai’kness of a moonless night in the howding tempest, the 
 horrors of which will be more readily appreciated when it is 
 remembered that a wind of 45 miles per hour blew down 
 buildings and uprooted trees in Hew York City. Twenty- 
 five miles per hour added make a most fearful hurricane. We 
 were abundantly supplied with nourishment on our ascent,, 
 chiefiy in the form of a strong decoction of tea, of which w’e 
 occasionally partook. This is found to be by far the most 
 potent and effective stimulant that can be used in such con- 
 ditions of extreme exposure. 
 
 “Mr. Huntington, aroused by the arrival of Mr. Bracy, sallied 
 out with a lantern in search of us, hut found his best exertions 
 of little avail, the storm being so fierce and thick, he could 
 neither make himself seen nor heard beyond a few paces, and 
 they were regarding us as probably lost, though they were pre- 
 paring for another effort in our behalf, when we arrived. 
 
63 
 
 “A sleepless uight gave place at length to a day thick and 
 stormy, and for several days the clouds gathered densely 
 around us, and the storm continued to rage, during which we 
 were recovering from ‘ the wear and tear’ of our adventures, 
 and recruiting for the work in store for us.” 
 
 The railroad depot, in a part of which this party passed the 
 winter of 1871, was a wooden unfinished building, sixty feet 
 long by twenty-two feet wide and stands nearly , north and 
 south. It has eleven feet posts and the elevation of the ridge 
 pole is twenty-five feet, the roof of the usual form in ordinary 
 buildings. The apartment occupied by the party is situated 
 in the southwest corner, of this building. It is a room about 
 twenty feet long, eleven feet wide and eight feet high, The 
 large part of the depot forms a sort of vestibule to this roomv 
 and is wholly inclpsed except at' the easterly end of the 
 northern face, where the outer door is situated. 
 
 An extract from Mr. Kimball’s diary, reads: “December 
 5th, 1870. The day is beautiful, we are perfectly comfortable 
 outside without overcoats, and on the east side of the Observatory, 
 the frost is thawing quite rapidly. Thermometer 22° Fahrenheit.” 
 
 jSTow Avhy, Avith-the thermometer at 22°, should the thaAving 
 of the frost be confined to the east side. of the Observatory, when 
 the sun was shining all around the building on the suoav or 
 Irost Avithout thawing it elscAAdiere away from the building? 
 If the thaAving Avas the result of the heat rays of the sun, so 
 improperly termed, Avhy Avas not the thaAving general all over 
 the summit of the mountain, instead of being confined to one 
 locality ? 
 
 The explanation, I think, is this, viz : the early morning 
 rays of . sunlight being nearly horizontal, impinged with a 
 velocity of 186,000 miles per second perpendicularly on the 
 vertical Avail of the Observatory, partly covered 'with frost 
 Avork ; great fx’iction AAms produced by the impact and positive 
 electricity eAmlved ; this electricity rushing to the conjunction 
 or embrace of the negative electxucity of the frost work, Avhen 
 in contact AA'ith it developed heat which thaAved the frost Avork 
 over the other parts of the summit of the mountain ; these 
 morning rays of sunlight either passed horizontally or fell 
 upon them Avith such small angles of ixxcideixce, as to be Avholly 
 reflected into the upper atmosphere. 
 
 Mr. Kixnball continues : “ Ave have succeeded in making some 
 
G4 
 
 Tery good (pliotograpliic) views, but not as large a variety as 
 we intend to have before we complete our winter’s worlc. 
 
 * * * "We have also made three negatives of clouds, which 
 
 wore at least half a mile below us. They resemble the Avaves 
 on the ocean, only the cloud waves are iu some places twenty 
 or thirty miles long. They pass over a range of mountains, 
 and take a long SAveep across the valleys and then rise over 
 the mountains on the opposite ; and as a general thing,' after 
 passing over and coming doAAm on the other side, they break 
 up in small clustei’s resembling, on a grand scale, the surf from 
 breaking Avaves. 'Wo have made some photographs of this. 
 
 * * * All these clouds move rapidly from the south- 
 
 Avest, probably at a velocity of forty miles an hour, AAddle on 
 this summit, it blows generally from the iiorthAvest. W e have 
 made a vieAV w^hich shows a small portion of a remarkable 
 cloud effect or phenomenon, It was like a parallel belt on 
 the distant horizon, Avhose circuit must have been more than 
 a thousand miles. It resembled the tire of an immense cart- 
 AAdieel, (Ave occupying the place for the hub,) Avhich was beyond 
 and encircled all the lakes, mountains, &c. It was even 
 beyond Mount Katahdin— at the south, its upper edge Avas 
 parallel with the point farthest north. At noon it appears to 
 be approaching irs as a.centre, and as it nears us, it breaks up 
 in magnificent great thunderhcads, minus the thunder, — all 
 this time our vieAA’’ is becoming more limited. * * * All 
 
 this time it was snowing beloAV, but we knew nothing of it 
 until night. Our view of the surrounding moun-tains lasts 
 only a short time longer, for Ave see to the AA’est thick heaA^y 
 clouds, marching upon us, a)nd by 4 o’clock, we become 
 densely shrouded — AA'e cannot see Tip Top House from the 
 Observatory not many feet distant. 
 
 “Hecembcr 12th, 1870. This morning the Avind was south, 
 but changed to the northwest in the afternoon ; at ten, A. M., 
 there AA'as a bow in the clouds, and at noon there Ave-re in ad- 
 dition three, supernumerarv bows Avhich remained for an hour 
 and a half, and some of the time they were remarkably 
 distinct. Late, in the afternoon the sky Avas intensely blue.’^ 
 
 From their journal we make the following extracts, viz ; 
 
 “December 21st, 1870. Messrs. Kimball and Thompson (a 
 visitor,) took an observation from the roof of the Tip-Top 
 House’; wind 60 miles per hour. They were out but five 
 minutes, yet their coats, . caps and hair were covered with frost 
 
65 
 
 and Mr. Thompson had slightly frozen a finger. Later, the 
 wind had fallen to 30 miles per hour, and now, eleven o’clock, 
 P. M., it is moderate for Mount Washington. 
 
 “1870, December 23d. A cold morning, thermometer zero, 
 but Ave don’t feel the cold as sensibly as in the lower regions. 
 
 “December 24th. "Yesterday afternoon and late at night a 
 ‘snow bank’ lay along the south; this forenoon, enow was 
 falling^with a temperature of — 13°, at times during the day the 
 wind was as high as 70 miles an hour, consequently, we were 
 confined to the house. It is cold to-night, (now nine o’clock, 
 P. M.,) the thermometer — 15°, "^nd only 42° in the room, 
 although we have two fires. 
 
 “ December 25th; There were no clouds above or around 
 the summit. Below, and but a little lower than this peak, the 
 clouds were dense and covered an extensive tract of country. 
 Through the less dense portion of the lighter clouds the sun’s 
 rays gave a peculiar rose tint, e^ctremely beautiful in eflfect. 
 * * * About ten o’clock, A. M., Mr. K. and myself, 
 
 wont out for an observation. "We had the pleasure of witness 
 ing the formation of several coronse, sometimes single, but 
 oftener three; even on one occasion /owr distinct circles appear- 
 ing and disappearing so rapidly that it was impossible to more 
 than catch a glimpse of form and colour. It was a phenomenon 
 of rare beauty. 
 
 “December. 29tb, 1870. The wind has been increasing all 
 day. ' At 7 o’clock, A. M., observations : wind, 46 miles per 
 hour; at 2 o’clock, P. M., 57 miles; at 4 o’clock, P. M., 72 
 miles; at 7 o’clock, P. M., 46 miles ; and at 9 o’clock, P. M., 
 nearly calm ; a great change in 14 hours, especially in the 
 last tAvo hours. Barometer has fallen rapidly all day. 
 
 “December 30th, 1870. The morning is calm, clear and 
 bcautifull It is what Ave have Avaited a month for. We com- 
 menced AAmrk making negatives at sunrise. In the morning 
 we made a feAV 8 by 10 negatfA’’es, but as AA-e were making the 
 last of them the Avind freshened up, and AA’e could not make as 
 many as aa^c wished. * * * Before I close to-day’s memo- 
 
 randa I must speak of the splendid Anew we had afterthe wind, 
 by bloAving so fiercely, obliged us to quit work. We could see 
 distinctly hundreds of mountains, lakes, ponds, &c. Off to the 
 northeast in the distance — one hundred and fifty miles distant 
 — Ave see Mount Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine, and 
 
6G 
 
 II little to the 'nortli "vre see mountains Avhicli ap.parently are 
 much farther awaj^ than Mount Katahdin, and must be in the 
 upper part of Maine, near Canada. We never before saw the 
 ocean nearly as plain as to-day ; '''"g could see a great distance 
 ‘to sea.’ Off to the southwest Ave could sec Kearsarge mountain 
 and ^lonadnock, and over the Green mountains, the Adiron- 
 ■dacks and Lake Champlain, in northern hTew York, were 
 distinctly visible. About 2 o’clock, P. M., I noticed, a long hazy 
 line over the ocean ; soon it grew larger and then I could sec 
 it was nearing us, and in an hour it was within 40 miles, and 
 we could see it as a vast sea^f cumulus clouds. The wind was 
 increasing, and had chang'^ from the east to the south, and it 
 carried the appi’oaching clouds and storm to the north of us. 
 We were thankful to see it go by without striking us, for it is 
 grand to behold but not desirable for a covering. To-night 
 we have some of the effects of it in the wind, which, as I write, 
 is blowing a most, violent hurricane, making the Observatory 
 creak. A few hours ago the wind was scarcely noticeable ; 
 
 . now its velocity is over eighty miles an hour, and .for a wonder 
 ■ it comes from the south, instead of nortlnvest as usual, and as 
 a natiu’al consequence it tears off’ all the loose ice and frost 
 from the Observatory.’ It seems as if we Avere at sea in a 
 severe gale, and broken ice and timbers were beating against 
 our ship, and at times our building shakes like a vessel in a 
 storm. Contrary to what ordinary experience would seem to 
 teach, the north side of the building is less exposed to the fury 
 of the element than any other.” This is OAving to its haAong 
 but one electricity. ' 
 
 ■Yow, why docs not the north wind, or the northwest wind, 
 produce similar effects? The sun shines upon both Avinds 
 alike, and if it sends doAvn heat to this planet, the northwest 
 wind should be as warm as tire south wind, and should tear off 
 the frost-Avmrk from buildings and rocks just as the south Avind 
 does, But no such effects are observed during the preA-a- 
 lence of these porthern Avinds; on the contrary, it is Only while 
 these northern winds are blowing in winter that this frost- 
 Avork is formed. 
 
 The explanation I conceive to be this: the southern winds 
 coming from a warm atmosphere are positively electrified, 
 and when theyreach the frost work on the buildings or rocks 
 oppositely electrified, their impact produces friction, which 
 evoh'ing more positive electricity, develops heat that detaches 
 the frost work from its adhesions, breaks it into pieces, and 
 
67 
 
 finally melts into water — while other frost work protected 
 from the south wind remains firm and unaffected, the tem- 
 jterature of ' the atmosphere being below the freezing point of 
 water. “ A telegraphic wire connected the Observatdr} with 
 liiarshfield, a distance of three miles, where it is joined with 
 the Western Union Company's line, at Littleton, twenty-three 
 miles farther. The wire has frequently been charged with, 
 atmospheric electricity, especially in the afternoon of the 7th of 
 January, 1871, when, on account of the high tension of these, 
 eurrents, it became utterly unmanageable. When the kew 
 was opened, the flow of the current still continued, exhibiting- 
 bright spai’ks, leaping from one platinum point to the other.. 
 After dark, no auroral display could be seen. There is also 
 wire connecting the summit with the. G-len House, which is- 
 detached from the poles and laid upon the ground during the^ 
 winter, to protect it from the violent winds prevailing at this: 
 season. We had it attached to an instrument, and, althonglr 
 no battery was used, we discovered that it was sometimes 
 charged with . electric currents, which deflected the needle* 
 considerably. The Glen wire was broken about a mile and . 
 a half from the summif, and the one down the railway had 
 parted at about the same distance, thus making thephenomenoa 
 quite remarkable. 
 
 “ 1871, Januai’y 10th. After ten, A. M., the summit was freo 
 from clouds, but below masses of clouds were driven along the 
 valleys and over the lower summits. The clouds about and 
 over gave grand effects of light and shade along the mountain 
 range — they were particularly fine on Adams and Jefferson 
 and near the Glen. The snow’ is nearly all off the houses and 
 the' rocks — a great change in three days’ time. I cannot leh 
 this da}’’ pass without a mention of the high temperature: at 
 one o’clock, P. M. it was 37°. Like April it seemed, but 
 ■'vho knows what it wull be to-morrow ? 
 
 “January 14th. Last night we saw a fine aurora, broken 
 arches with streamers , never before was one apparently so 
 near; it certainly did look as though it \vas within reach. 
 
 “ January 16th. Still raining; at. eleven o’clock this fore- 
 noon, Mr. S. started out on a voyage of discovery, but it rained 
 so hard and the w'alking was so difficult that he soon came 
 back. =!:**. ^ent down to the spring to-day and 
 
 brought up a pail of w’ater. A w'eek ago this w'as an arctic 
 region, now it is more like April in the valleys of Hew 
 Hampshire. 
 
cs 
 
 “ January 17th, The wind was high during the night, say 
 eighty miles per hour ; at 7 o’clock, A. M., to-day, only 75 miles 
 • per hour, strong enough however to compel Mr. 11. to sit 
 while he measured the force of the wind that he might, not 
 be blown over into Tuckerman’s ravine. * * * * JXas 
 
 blown stilSl}'’ all day, yet we have taken the air several times; 
 pleasant walks in the face of a fifty mile breeze. Perfectly 
 clear at sunset. Had one of the best views of the shadow of 
 Mount ‘Washington on the sky yet obtained. The mountains 
 far and near look dull and gray now since the rains. 
 
 “ 1871, January 19. Mr. R. called us out, before sunrise, to 
 see the beauty of the morning ; in truth it was wicked to miss 
 such a glorious view as we had. Perfectly clear, and nearly 
 calm. Hever before liave I seen the shadow of the mountain 
 so grand on the western sky, never so charming the purple 
 tints at break of day. Hever so impressive have been the 
 shaded outlines, the lights and shadows on the mountains and 
 in the valleys, as on this memorable morning. Sunset was 
 J)Ut, the complement of the morning,' and the evening is beau- 
 tiful as ever night can be, the stars shine with a light as soft 
 as June, all, all is beautiful. 
 
 “ January 22, 1871. Having a gale to-day, and not only a high 
 wind but a temperature below any thing I have ever expe- 
 rienced before; now, at nine, P. M., — 34 degrees inside the door; 
 at two, P. M., wind 72 miles per hour. Professor 11. measured ^ 
 the velocity, he had to sit with a line around him, myself at 
 the other end indoors as an anchor ; even then it was impos- 
 sible for .him to keep his position. Temperature — 31 degrees. 
 
 I put up a pendulum, this morning, in our room, it is four feet 
 long, and the rod passes through a sheet of cardboard, on 
 which are marked the points of the compass. The oscillations, 
 when the wind blew in gusts, were in every direction, chang- 
 ■ ing suddenly, and sometimes had a rotary motion. '\Wien the 
 wind was steady, the oscillations were northwest and southeast. 
 ‘With two fires the room is cold to night. 
 
 “ January 23, 1871. The wind raged all night. The house 
 rocked fearfully, towards morning the wind ceased, and all 
 day it has been nearly calm. The temperature outride — 43 
 degrees. Professor H. and myself sat up all night to keep the 
 fires going. The pendulum gave oscillations of an inch and a 
 half at times during the night. Temperature to-night at ten 
 o’clock — 40 degrees; a changeable climate this. 
 
69 
 
 “January 31, 1871. The most glorious sunrise this winter. 
 To the east was a sea of clouds broken and much lower than 
 usual. The protruding peaks resembled islands, more than 
 ever before ; over noTthern Xew Hampshire and Maine, and 
 along the coast, the clouds .were very dense, but their upper 
 surface, as the sun shone across them, was of dazzling bright- 
 ness, while singular forms of cirrus clouds overcast- the sky. 
 Low in the west it was intensely black, and detached masses 
 of clouds floated along the northern horizon. For an hour 
 after sunrise all these cloud forms were constantly changing 
 in colour — purple and crimson, leaden hues and rose tiht.s, 
 almost black and dazzling white. 
 
 “February 1, 1871. Clouds on the summit till noon, when it 
 suddenly cleared up. Early in the forenoon, the wind was 
 fully 50 miles per hour, at noon it was nearly calm, and till 
 nine, P. M., not above 20 miles per hour. At nine, P. M., tlie 
 thermometer indicated — 16 degrees. 
 
 “From 3.30, P. M., to sunset, there were the finest clotid dis- 
 plays posgfble. Eastward, heavy masses of clouds, in color from 
 gray to an intense black. Westward, detached cirro-stratus, 
 presenting every shade and colour; along the northern horizon 
 a clear light rested; the west was burning bright in crimson, 
 purple, and gold, while far south, fading out toward the east 
 into gi’ay, the colour was a delicate rose tint. Below, to the. 
 west, far as we could see, the Avhole country was covered with 
 cloud. The icy peaks glow' and glisten in the bright sunlight. 
 The transitions of shades and tints, the colours, burning into 
 the radiant sunset, surpassing any thing we have seen yet for 
 a sunset scene, mark this as a day never to be forgotten — as I 
 write, it seems like a dream. 
 
 “1871, February 2d. All day the wind has been light, and 
 it was nearly calm this evening till half an hour since, when, 
 without any warning, (except the falling in the barometer,)- 
 the .gale began, not with a rising wind, but with a single blast 
 that shook the house to its foxmdations. * * * How, at 
 
 11 o’clock, P. M., the wind has risen to the dignity of a gale. 
 The temperature — 20° out of doors. ^ 
 
 “Friday, February 3d. W ell, it did bloAv last night, making 
 some of the time such a racket out-doors and in-doors too,'for 
 thatiiiatter, that sleep was out of the question. The wind must 
 have been as high as 90 miles per hour during several of the 
 heaviest gusts. For a change to-day, we got the most severe 
 
70 
 
 enow storm of tlie winter so far. The wind is northwest, the 
 point from which our storms and hurricanes come. At no 
 time has the temperature been higher than 5°; it was — 25° this 
 morning at 7 o’clock. 
 
 “ Saturday, February 4th, 9 o’clock, P. M. The wind rising 
 towai'd morning has held its own all day, at no time being 
 below 75 miles, and since 8.30, acts as if it was ambitious to 
 attain the 90 miles per hour standard. At 7 o’clock, A. M., 
 temperature — 33°; from 5 o’clock, P. M., to this last observa- 
 tion it has gradually worked down to -^0°. '\Vo have not 
 suffered from the cohi simply because we have not exposed 
 ourselves to it, In the room at no time has the temperature 
 been lower than 34°, and most of the time we have managed 
 to keep it up to about 60°. ’ To do this, we have the stoves at 
 a red heat; the thermometer hangs precisely five feet from 
 the stove; ten feet from the stove at the floor, to-day, the 
 temperature was only 12°, at the same time was 65° in other 
 parts of the room. Midnight — really there is quite a breeze 
 just now. Some of the gusts, from what we know of the 
 jueasured force, must be fully up to 100 miles per hour. In 
 fact it is a first-class hurricane. The wind is northwest, and 
 as the house .is broadside to it, the full force is felt; at times 
 it‘ seems as if every thing was going to wreck. We go to the 
 door and look oiit ; it is the most we can do ; to step beyond, 
 with nothing for a hold fast, one Avould take passage on the 
 wings of. the wind hi the direction of Tuckerman’s ravine. 
 However unwillingly one might go, such would be the result 
 if he should Venture outside, so irre.sistible is the force of the 
 w'i.nd. What varied sound the wind has as it changes, now 
 howling, screecliin.g, roaring as though the building was sur- 
 rounded by demoniac spirits, bent upon our destruction. We 
 shout across the room to be heard. Xow it suddenly lulls, 
 and moaning and sighing it dies away; then quickly gathering 
 strength, it blows as' if it would hurl the house from the 
 summit. The timbers creak and groan and the windows 
 rattle; the walls bend in-ward ; and as the wind lets go its hold, 
 rebound with a jerk that starts the joints again. The noise is 
 like rili.e firing in fifty different directions, at the same moment 
 in the room— a moment ago close by me as I sat here, leaning 
 against the wall, now in the outer room or up aloft and out- 
 side as well. Then there is the trembling and groaning of 
 the whole building, which is constant. Everything movable 
 is on the move, books drops from the' shelves, we pick them 
 uj), replace them only to do it again and again. The tempera- 
 ture is now — 10°. 
 
71 
 
 “ Sunday, February 5tb, From one to two o’clock, A. M., tbe 
 wind was liigber than during the early part of the night. 
 Some- of the gusts must have been above 100, possibly 110 
 miles per hour. The tempest roared and thundered. It had 
 precisely the sound of the ocean waves breaking on a rocky 
 shore, and the building had the motion of a .ship scudding 
 before a gale. At 3 o’clock, A M., the temperature had 
 fallen to — 59°, and the barometer stood at 22.810, attached 
 thermometer 62°. Barometer was lowest yesterday at 8 A. M., 
 when it was 22.508, and attached thermometer 32°. Isow, 7 A. 
 M., the thermometer indicates — 25°, and the wind has fallen to 
 70 miles per hour. By accident, the spirit thermometer has not 
 yet been received. But this has been the only day when the 
 mercurial instrument has not been perfectly reliable. The 
 valleys are foil of stratus clouds ; charged with frost as they 
 are, occasionally sweeping over the summit, they completely 
 cover one in a moment, hair, beard and clothing; when the 
 face is exposed it feels like the touch of hot iron. To breathe 
 this frosty air is very unpleasant. A full inhalation induces a 
 severe coughing fit. 
 
 “ Monday, February 6th, 9 A. M. Talked oyer the events of 
 the past night at the breakfast table. * * Of all the nights 
 since this party came here, the last exceeds every one. 9 P . 
 M. ; it has been a rough day, down in the world people would 
 say a severe one, so should we but for the recollection of last 
 night; our coal bin is under two feet of snow, and anywhere 
 in the room, that snow is six inches deep. The highest teni- 
 pex-ature is to-day 12°, and the lowest now, at 9 o’clock, P. M., 
 is 2°, a very acceptable change — wind 50 miles in the fore- 
 noon, now 20 miles per hour, is good as a calm. It is clear, 
 and the moonlight is that of the niountain, seen only at this or . 
 higher elevations. 
 
 “Tuesday, Febniary 7. A glorious sunrise; a quite warm 
 dav, and at sunset almost equal to that, of the 1st; tempera- 
 ture at 2 o’clock, P. M., 62° in the sun; change of temperature 
 since Sunday of 121°.” 
 
 These sudden and great valuations of temperature in the 
 same latitude elevation above the sea, and identical locality, 
 in short spaces of time, are strong evidences that the tempera- 
 ture' of our atmosphere is exclusively to be attributed to 
 electrical causes within it, and not to any supposed rays of 
 heat emanating from the sun. 
 
“Tuesday, February 7th. I have given some time this after- 
 oon to the study of cloud formations. Days like this are so 
 rare, that we improve every opportunity for investigation. 
 Gales, sTorms, hurricanes, all clear off with a north wind — a 
 wind gentle and soft as the south wind of the lower regions. 
 How can this he explained? It is S. S. to-night and 2 
 miles per hour; a marked contrast to Sunday morning.’ 
 
 Let us attempt an explanation of this phenomenon : Tnicn 
 masses of clouds, freighted with moisture, and at different 
 elevations, approach each other, attracted hy their opposite 
 electricities, heat is evolved hy their conjunction. The watery 
 vapour constituting the clouds undergoes a radical change ; 
 the atmospheric air, which holds the water in suspension, 
 absorbing the heat that is evolved hy the conjunction of the 
 opposite electricities of the clouds in commixture, is so greatly 
 expanded and rarefied that its molecules can no longer sustain 
 the particles of water with which they had been associated ; 
 this attenuated air, thus heated, leaves the watery particles, 
 and being positively electi’ified, is attracted hy the opposite 
 electricity of the higher atmosphere and ascends instantly into 
 it, while the Avater being negatively electrified is repelled from 
 the air above, and begins, to fall in sheets, Avhich soon separate 
 into drops, repelling each other, and carrying to the earth the. 
 electricity in a latent form with which they were. associated. 
 When the clouds have thus discharged all their water as hail, 
 snow or rain, to the earth, the atmosphere - in which they 
 floated becomes very dry and electrical. The north wind, 
 Avarmed by the heated air AA-hieh has escaped from the clouds 
 when they met, is attracted to the spaces before occupied by 
 the clouds in the direction of the ocean and becomes the 
 gentle, balmy air described by these observers, and as dry air 
 has an electricity ahvays opposed to that of moist air, the 
 north wind at Mount Washington ahvays is attracted to the 
 Atlantic ocean to the south of the mountain, and storms thus 
 terminate in that locality with a north wind. 
 
 “ WednesdaA', February 8th. Ten o’clock, P. !M. There is 
 evidently a snow storm along the coast, the northern edge, 
 within fifty miles of us. This forenoon we could see the storm 
 as it moved eastward. It aauis cloudy and clear by turns on 
 the summits, that is, the loAver current of cloud. rested at times 
 over us. The valleys east were full, and the upper stratum 
 OA'ercast the entire country as far as could be seen. Wind 
 S. S.‘W., from 20 to 50 miles per hour. Temperature from 
 
73 
 
 14°, at 7 o clock A. M., to 20° at 2P. M. Interesting to watek 
 the progress of the storm and to see tke lower current of cloud 
 driven by an easterly wind, running under the higher stratum, 
 which of course is toward the northeast. 
 
 Let us here stop to admire the infinite wisdom of the 
 Creator, who, using the attractive forces of his electricities to 
 gather and collect the watery vapours of the atmosphefe into 
 clouds, disperses them by the repellent forces of these same 
 electricities and scatters in this way their manifold watery 
 blessings over greatly increased areas of the surface of the 
 earth. 
 
 “ Thursday, February 16th. A storm of snow and rain. It 
 rains here, wdth the thermometer at 22°, as it did to-day, and 
 snows with it at 30°, as might be expected. Why it should 
 rain at 22° is hard to explain. Wind steady; southwest 
 through the day ; but, at 8.20 P. M., changed suddenly to 
 northwest in gusts, 60 to 80 miles per hour. Forgot to men- 
 tion last night, that at 6.30 P. M. I read from the ‘Atlantic^ 
 in the open air. Our days are about 46 minutes longer than 
 they are at the sea level.” 
 
 • The warm southwest wind explains the |rain at 22°, which 
 was probably the temperature outside of the column of warm 
 . air brought up by the southwest wind. 
 
 “ Sunday, Februaiy 19th. A bright, sunny day, clear and 
 calm, yet the temperature was at no time higher than 8°.” 
 Where was the sun’s heat ? 
 
 “ Tuesday, February 21st. When S. left this morning the 
 thermometer read — 4°, and wind 20 miles per hour; at the 
 Gulf Tank it was so warm he had to lay aside overcoat and 
 gloves ; no wind there ; the -snow was melting and the water 
 running down the centre rail; quite a contrast to the summit, 
 only one mile distant — meteorologically speaking, he was 300 
 miles south of his mountain home, though in sight of it. We 
 took a walk. Fine weather for a. change. Beautiful cloud 
 views this afternoon. Light fleecy clouds floating over Mount 
 Monroe. Dissolved before reaching Tuckerman’s ravine. They 
 passed between us and the sun, showing the prismatic colors ; 
 then as they x-olled eastward, gradually faded out and changed 
 to a cold gray. The transitions of light and shade were inex- 
 pressibly beautiful, enough to give sensations of pleasure to 
 the dullest observer, and drive an artist crazy with delight. 
 
74 
 
 The buildings are cased in ice and frost worls: of most elegant 
 forms, resembling rocks, flowers, leaves, shells and the wings 
 of birds. 
 
 “February’- 24th. From 9 o!clock A. M. to 3 P. M. the tem- 
 perature varied hut a deg^-ee or two from 37° ; the barometer, 
 steady. ^ 
 
 “February 27th. This time we are favoured with a rain 
 storm, pouring Avhen it was calm, and in driving sheets after 
 . the wind rose to 84 miles per hour. At 9 A. hi. it changed 
 to snow, and then, by turns, rain for a moment, then quickly 
 changing to snow, and suddenly rain again; but the snow 
 obtained the mastery. 
 
 “February 28. If cleared oflT early in the morning. Wind 
 from 50 to 70 miles per hour. The mean temperature, zero. 
 
 “ March 3. A storm seemed to be brewing last night at a 
 late hour, and early it came, a heavy rain storm. Towards 
 noon the wind, rose, and at One P. M., it blew 96 miles per 
 hour. How the wind roared in the flue ! How the house 
 shook ! Had to shout across the room to be heard. It was 
 grand, however, l^Tom 4 o’clock P. M. the wind abated. 
 
 “ March 23. At 9 P. !M., snow squalls to the northea^., and 
 the clouds gradually settling in the valleys. * * * * J3y 
 
 2 P. M. the mountain was in the clouds. They were at a 
 higher elevation than has , generally been ■ the case — cirro 
 stratus; color gray; uniform in density nearly over the entire 
 field of view. * * * * Evidently the lower current was 
 
 from the east, while the wind on the -summit was west north- 
 west. * * * * The clouds passed over Mount Adams, 
 
 and later over the dividing ridge, between Mounts Washington 
 and Clay. They seemed to curve, as they passed over these 
 mountain tops, as though the upper currents of air conformed 
 to their irregularities of surface.” [The mountains and the 
 clouds having the same electricities, which repelled each 
 other. — The Author.'] . * 
 
 “ When there are two strata of clouds, they unite before the 
 snow or rain falls, as a rule, though to-day the snow fell an 
 hour previous to the clouds settling on the mountains. 
 
 “April 1. To-day, 64 degrees in the sun, at 11 A. M. 
 Afterwards cooler — 15 degrees at '9 P. M. * * * * 
 
 northeast wind to-night, seldom- from that quarter. 
 
* * * 
 
 “ April 3 . * * * * Sucli is the atmosphere here, that 
 
 iilthough the thermonaeter, iu the shade, marked 27 degrees, I 
 wore neither hat nor coat, and yet was warm enough. 
 
 “April 4. 'All the forenoon, -till one P. M., the summit 
 was in a dense cloud. Suddenly it lifted, and then we had 
 the most gorgeous display of cloud-scenes we have yet wit- 
 nessed. Eastward, masses of cumuli rested over the valleys 
 and the mountains. Why not call them mountains of clouds ? 
 (■ertainly. They rose far above our level, six thousand or 
 perhaps eight thousand feet higher than this peak. They con- 
 formed to the heights over which they lay, and seemed to 
 envelop other mountains, nearly as lofty as their upper limits. 
 The illusion was perfect, and Mount Washington in compari- 
 son, was a diminutive spur, or outlying peak of this great 
 mountain range. * . * * * sun rises high, but we 
 
 knoiv nothing of Spring. Truly it is more like Winter than 
 some of the time in March. Then there was no snow. hTow, ■ 
 everywhere there are snow and ice. 
 
 “ April 6. • A clear sunrise — cold— thermometer only. 3 
 degrees, the wind 20 miles per hour, and the morning view, 
 that of December. Though clear, the sun gave little heat— -a 
 pale Avhite light ; the sky a light blue, and so clear, that it 
 seemed almost as though we could see beyond its bounds, or 
 through it into the regions of space. 
 
 “April 15. The rule holds good; .no two days alike on 
 Mount Washington. Ten hours we had splendid cloud-effects 
 in every direction; cumuli north, in every form beaiutiful and 
 fantastic, and colors as though some radiant angel had thrown 
 aside his robe of light. 
 
 “ April 28. ■ To show tlie changes in temperature here, in a 
 few feet of altitude, I note my trips down, to-day, and up as 
 well. Left the house at 4.30 P. M.; wind 30 mites an hour; 
 at the Lizzie Bourne monument, 40 miles; at the Gulf House 
 ruins and below, 60 miles, thus reversing the order of things 
 in regard to wind. Thermometer on the summit 28°; frost- 
 work forming some distance below the: monument. At the 
 Gulf Tank, when the sun came out, as it did several times, the 
 ice on my cap would thaw completely; then, while the cloiid 
 was passing, icicles two inches in length would form on the 
 visor. It was difficult to work or even stand against the wind 
 below the Gulf House ruins. .Keturning, the wind was not so 
 violent. 
 
76 
 
 “May 1. May Day, and still it is winter; every aspect is 
 that of mid-winter. The spring near the Observatory remains 
 frozen solid, and so we daily melt ice for nse, and yet down 
 the mountain a half mile there is seldom a day when the 
 stteams are not running. 
 
 “ !May 4, Another tough snow-storm -^ * * * wind got 
 
 up to 48 miles per hour and temperature down to 21°. 
 
 “ May 5. The storm — ^snowing in such a wintry way last 
 night — turned to rain toward morning, and has been raining 
 all day. * ■* * The wind was Avest here — not higher than 
 
 five miles per hour — yet in the valleys it must have been much 
 stronger, judging by the velocity of the clouds; besides, wo 
 could hear distinctly its almost roar. 
 
 “ Monday, May 6. This morning, clear, calm and warm. 
 The thermometer, at 8 o’clock A. M., indicated 85° in the 
 sun ; warmest morning this spring. 
 
 “May 7. The barometer fell 50-100ths from last night at 9 
 o’clock to this morning at 7 o’clock. Wind rising at 3 o’clock 
 A. M.; reached its highest velocity, G7 miles per hour, at 2 
 o’clock P. M. — highest recorded for some time, quite strongly 
 reminding us of the winter months. Snowing all day. * * * 
 At 5 o’clock P. M. the cloud passed otf and we. could see that 
 not the mountains alone, but the lower country as well was 
 ‘ snpAv-bouird.’ At 9.40 P. M. snowing again. Temperature, 
 2 o’clock P. M., 21° — highest for the day — aud 19° at 9. 
 o’clock P. M. . 
 
 “May 8. We did have a rough night; called tue wind 80 
 miles per hour at midnight. Temperature at 7 A. M., 15°. 
 
 “ !May 9. Mountain peaks white as winter, but the valleys 
 are bare. The frost Avork has seldom been more beautiful. 
 Measured some feathers to-day, on a tall pole, at the Tip-Top 
 -House ; found them 36 inches in length, and on a rock south 
 of the house 49 inches in length and 15 inches broad. 
 
 ■ “ May 11th. AAvintry sky and Avinter scenery this morning. 
 The sky a pale blue and the sunshine Jhat of Jlecembcr. * * 
 
 *- * Temperature 20° at 7 o’clock A. M. 
 
 “May 14th. The Avind was high as 80 miles per hour, if not 
 higher, during the night. All day, as usual, it has been cloudy 
 and frost work forming. Temperature at 7 A. M. Avas 11°, 
 aud highest for the dayat 9 P. M., 21° ; at no time the Avind 
 
lower than 46 miles per hour. Mr. IT. left at 9 A. ]\I. in the 
 face of a 48-mile gale and the temperature only 14°. I am 
 auxieus for his safety, and shall he till S. returns. 
 
 The winter s work is done. Storms of unparalleled severity, 
 when, for days in succession, the summit , was enveloped in 
 clouds, and the hurricanes lasted longer and were more vio- 
 lent than any yet recorded in the United States, together with 
 very low temperatures, have been a part of our experiences. 
 Just such an experience has seldom before been the lot of 
 human beings. * * =(= And ours has been the good for- 
 
 tune to witness some of 'the most magnificent winter scenery 
 upon which mortal eyes ever rested, scenery of transcendent 
 grandeur and views surpassingly beautiful. 
 
 _ “ There were days when the shifting views of each hour fur- 
 nish(^d new wonders and new beauties, in the play of sunlio-ht 
 and changing cloud-forms, every hour a picture in itself and 
 perfect iu details. Sunsets, too, when an ocean of cloud sur- 
 rounded this island-like summit, the only one of all the many 
 high peaks visible above the cloud billows, all else of earth 
 hidden from sight; there were times. when this aerial sea was 
 burnished silver, smooth and calm, ancKtimes when its tossing 
 waves were tipped with crimson and golden fife. * * * » 
 
 Gone are the long days and longer nights, when the stoves 
 failed to comfortably warm the little room, though we kept 
 them at a red heat, and when the thermometer indicated 66 ' 
 near the stove and 4° at the floor ten feet distant.” 
 
 Wo have presented these extracts from the published obseiv- 
 ations of the gentlemen who passed the winter of the years 
 1870-1871 on Mount Washington, to show the sudden and 
 great variations of temperature that occurred on the mountain 
 by day as well as by night, and that these variations could 
 not have resulted from solar radiations of heat, as sometimes 
 when the atmosphere was the clearest and freest from vapour, 
 and when the sun was shining with the greatest brilliancy, 
 the temperature on the mountain was lower than when these 
 conditions of the sun and atmosphere did not exist, and 
 further, when the sun had passed the vernal equinox, and- 
 was approaching the summer solstice, the temperature on the 
 mountain, and the condition of its atmosphere, continued still 
 to be wintry, unaftected by the change in the position of the 
 sun, relatively to the angles of incidence of its rays. 
 
 When we consider the altitude of Mount Washin^on, 
 
78 
 
 wliich. is only 6,293 feet alcove the sea level, or not mucli 
 more than one mile, we find that its projection above the 
 periphery of the earth would he about 1-8000 part of the 
 earth’s diameter, a protuberance so slight as to be wholly 
 inappreciable at the sun’s distance of 92,000,000 of miles from 
 it. What proportion of solar radiation ot heat (if there is 
 such a thing,) could fall upon so microscopical a spot as 
 Mount Washington, cannot therefore readily be imagined. 
 But when we contemplate the electrical forces of our planet 
 developed by sunlia^ht, the radiation of interior terrestrial 
 heat into the atmospliere — the movernents of oppositely elec- 
 trified currents of air, and the commingling ot tumultuous 
 masses of cumuli clouds, all evolving heat and changing vith 
 great suddenness the temperature of various localities, _we 
 begin to comprehend the plan of the Creator in furnishing 
 each planet with its own sources of heat, instead of attempting 
 to supply them with heat through almost interminable spaces, 
 from so distant- an orb as the sun. To an observer outside of 
 our atmosphere, looking down upon our planet, he would see 
 sometimes masses of dense clouds, which, intercepting the 
 sunlight would cast dark shadows of various forms and sizes 
 proportional to the clouds which would form them on the 
 surface of the earth. ' The darkness of the shadow would be 
 in proportion to the depth and density of the clouds floating 
 between the sunlight and the earth, ■ These shadows would 
 ' flit across our earth as rapidly as the clouds which had pro- 
 duced them, in great storms or hurricanes of perhaps 100 
 or more miles per hour. JSTow may not tfie sun spots which 
 have so much exercised our astronomers be produced m a 
 similar way ? Clouds or vapours of various luminosity being 
 interposed between the most luminous part of the sun’s 
 envelope and the gray atmosphere of the sun, would cast 
 upon the latter shadows so dark and so flitting as to resemble 
 the shadows of clouds on our own planet, and the dispersion 
 of the clouds so making the shadows would account for the 
 rapid disappearance of the sun spots. The forms of the sun 
 spots would vary with the sinuosities and unevenness of the 
 surface of the gray envelope of the sun upon which these 
 shadows fell, and the continual interference of intense liglit 
 derived from other luminaries of the stellar world, with the 
 fainter light received from our planetary system, would greatly 
 increase the darkness of the shadows so produced. 
 
 Let us now consider the case of a total eclipse of the sun 
 by the moon. In the reports of observers, the following 
 
appearances have been described: Solar prominences during- 
 eclipses, red protuberances, red clouds, red flames, &c. 
 
 One observer says: “They form around the solar globe a 
 denticulated and continuous series of projections of very 
 curious appearance.” Another observer says: “The. promi- 
 nences were seen very distinctly, their colour was that of red 
 coral, slightly tinted with wolet. They all appeared to be 
 adlierent by their bases, and none of them floated detaehed at 
 a certain distance from the moon as was observed in the years 
 1851 and 1861. 
 
 “ The following facts may be considered tolerably certain ; 
 
 “ 1. The prommences (or protuberances) belong decidedly to 
 the sun. 
 
 “ 2. The prominences are of a gaseous nature, that is, they 
 are coVnposed of an incandescent gas, principally hydrogen gas, 
 but thej' contain doubtless other substances, perhaps sub- 
 stances tha.t arc unKnown on the surface of our earth, at least 
 such would xrppear to be proved by the existence of a brilliant 
 . line in the spectrum, near to the yellow line of sodium, but 
 not coinciding with the latter, and, moreover, most curious to 
 relate, it does not coincide with any dark ray of the solar 
 spectrum. 
 
 “3. The matter which forms the prominences is of very 
 ' great , extent, whether it spreads over the entire photosphere 
 or not ; it forms a continuous layer, the thickness of which is 
 estimated by Mr. Loeyer, at some 5,000 miles on an average, 
 and the prominences appear to be only portions of this layer 
 projected to a certain distance from it, sometimes detached 
 from it a.nd floating above it. One of the great prominences, 
 represented upwards of 100,000 miles in vei'tical height above 
 the photosphere. 
 
 “ 4. These stupendous accumulations of incandescent gas 
 undergo, in very short intervals of time, very great changes 
 in their form and size, which indicate that the layers, of 
 gaseous matter of which they form part are iu a state of con-, 
 stxuit agitation, the cause of which is unknown, perhaps it is 
 the same that gives rise to the spots and faculse. 
 
 “It is extremely probable that the the entire globe of the 
 sun has a very high temperature throughout its mass — a tem- 
 perature which surpasses the melting (or boiling) points of 
 
80 
 
 most of the elementary substances of which spectral analysis 
 has revealed the existence in its atmosphere. At the same 
 time, it is evident that the various concentric layers of which 
 the solar globe may be supposed to be formed, exert one upon 
 tlie other considerable pressure, since we find that at the sur- 
 face itself, the intensity of gravitation is twenty-eight times as 
 great, as it is upon the earth’s surface. This pressure may 
 hinder fusion to a certain extent, but not incandescence, fiut 
 we believe that the hypothesis of a liquid incandescence or 
 even a gaseous nucleus is more probable.” 
 
 All such hypotheses are put at rest by the recognition of the 
 sun. as a great magnet, since magnetism is destroyed by heat. 
 
 “ The prominences on the right, (western 'edge) appear like 
 a mass of snow-capped mountains, the bases of which rest on 
 the limb of the moon, and are lighted up by the, rays of a 
 setting sun.” (From M. Jansen’s observations on the eclipse 
 of the sun from Aden to Malacca, Augu'St 18, 1868.) 
 
 “ In 1858, M. Liais found that the light' of the sun’s corona, 
 is really polarized, and at once concluded that the sun has an 
 atmosphere extending far beyond the nhotosphere. 
 
 “During the short, phase of total darkness, a luminous 
 corona makes its .appearance, being generally of a silver 
 whiteness, but is sometimes coloured and surrounds com- 
 pletely the dark limb. Its apparent breadth is from one-fifth' 
 to one-twelfth of the diameter of the moon, and from it, light 
 decreases gradually.” 
 
 ■We have here in the aspect of the clouds in sunshine, from 
 the summit of Mount Washington as they gather from the sea 
 or from the land, advancing, stationary, or retiring, the most 
 vivid descriptions of the varying brilliant tints and gorgeous 
 groupings of colours, as the changing angles of incidence and 
 reflection met their sight, that it is possible to conceive. We, 
 who are familiar with the magnificent autumnal sunsets of 
 many parts of our country, may begin to imagine the 
 exquisite beauty of the scenes which these gentlemen have 
 witnessed. But the particular object we have in view in 
 calling your attention to it, is to trace the analogy of these 
 displays of colour, light and shade, with those described by 
 astronomers in investigating the physical condition of the sun. 
 We have the same tints, brilliant colours, neutral colours, 
 shades and shadows, in our planet as are described to be seen 
 in the sun— -similar disturbances in the vapour of both orbs. 
 
81 
 
 I.s it too mucli to imagiue, therefore, that if an obf 5 errer could 
 , he placed within telescopic range hejond our atmosphere, 
 he might see in our atmosphere an exact imitation, upon a 
 reduced scale however, of whatever has been exhibited by the 
 sun, as the disc of our planet would then display a reflection 
 of the illumination of the whole stellar world? And wdiat 
 more does the sun do ? He receives the light of the whole 
 stellar and planetary world, and reflects it again through 
 space, thus presenting to one orb, or set of orbs, the light he 
 has received from others, until throughout the great expanse, 
 light is diffused everywhere to shine in the firmament of heaven, 
 atid give light upon the earth. 
 
 We have had exhil)ited in this city, (Philadelphia,) a few 
 W'oeks since, by a distinguished artist, an oil painting of 
 ‘‘Pike’s Peak,” one of the grandest mountains of the Eocky 
 Mountain range. Its height is 14,216 feet above the sea level, 
 and on its very summit is a signal station and observatory of 
 the United States, erected in the year 1873. Its summit is 
 covered with snow to a descent of perhaps a thousand feet. 
 The painting, which represents a sunset scene, portrays the 
 .snow-covered summit, illuminated all over by a brilliant red 
 tint, resembling red coral, and creating at first sight the im- 
 pression of a mountain on fire. The resemblance to the red 
 protuberances around the sun, during eclipses, as depicted in 
 photographs taken by the observers, is • most striking. This 
 brilliant red coral colour jDervades the whole surface of the 
 summit of the mountain that is covered with snow, and which 
 is seen through the red colour. Here we have, an exact resem- 
 blance of one of the appearances of the sun, as displayed 
 during an ■ eclipse, and yet there is no incandescent gas 
 covering “Pike’s Peak” to produce this colour. On the com 
 trary, the atmosphere around and above the mountain is - 
 wintry, with a temperature below freezing point “ JEx pede 
 IlereidemI” May we not infer from' this illustration that thei'c 
 is no incandescent gas about the sun, and that the varied tints 
 and colours, however brilliant, and however resembling what 
 w'e suppose to be incandescent metallic vapours, are reallyonly 
 manifestations of light in its protean displays, as fitful and 
 evanescent as we see it in our autumnal sunsets. 
 
 How let us for a moment imagiue that by the interposition 
 of the moon between the sun and the earth, each suffers an 
 eclipse from the other. Let us suppose that the snow-clad 
 mountains of our planet are bathed in sunlight, and that the 
 
82 
 
 T>rilliant colours derived from that source, changing with the 
 angles of incidence and reflection, with which they encompass 
 these snow-clad peaks, become displayed beyond the peripheiy 
 of the moon, which has concealed a large part of the body of 
 the earth. N"ow, if an observer could be placed belwcen the 
 moon and the sun, at the period of such an eclipse of the earth, 
 would he not witness displays of light and colour, greatly re- 
 sembling, if not identical, with those which woulcLbe seen by 
 another observer placed between the moon and the earth, as 
 he regarded the appearances about the sun ? What then 
 would l»ecome of the terrific heat of the sun and its incandes- 
 cent gases ? 
 
 “ In the hypothesis of undulations, instead of supi)osing the 
 transport of a material agent to great distances, it is held that 
 the vibrations of luminous bodies are communicated to the 
 atoms of an all-pervading ethereal fluid. These vibrations, 
 propagated througli this fluid, reach the organ of vision, which 
 in time transmits them to the optic nerve. In this bpothe- 
 sis, the nature and transmission of light would be analagous 
 to the nature and transmission of sound, light being produced 
 by atomic, and sound by molecular vibrations.” This idea 
 confines the action of light to animal vision. 
 
 In these cases there is no analogy, for sound has a very 
 limited range of action, with comparatively small velocity, and 
 is only of value to living beings. While light has scarcely a 
 limit as to distance in penetration, and a velocity inconceivably 
 ■great, and is indispensable to planetary existence. 
 
 Two persons hold a table-cloth, twmnty-flve feet long, by its 
 two ends, loosely in their hands — the actual distance between 
 these persons in a -straight line is twenty feet — one of these 
 'persons raises his arms, and, by a strong impulse, shakes the 
 cloth, while the other end is held by the other person firmly, 
 a wave of the cloth is formed, and runs through its entire 
 length, at the extremity of which it is lost. This is called 
 undulation, or wave-making. The cloth rises and falls in the 
 wave, which runs through twenty-five feet, its whole length. 
 The distance traveled by the wave is twentj^-five feet, being 
 five feet more than the distance between the two persons 
 holding the table-cloth. Should the table-cloth be stretched 
 to its full length, no wave could be produced. 
 
 - llow, let us apply this example to the sun and the earth. 
 The luminous ether, as the intervening space between these 
 
83 
 
 two orbs is called, is uiuety-tw'o millions of miles in length 
 and, to admit of its undulation,, must be very loose in its con- 
 sistency. We may safely infer that such undulations as would 
 lie required for the transmission of light from the sun to the 
 earth, would increase the actual distance traveled by the light 
 in its undulations fully ten millions of miles, making the 
 traveled space between the sun and earth to be one hundred 
 and two millions of miles instead of ninety-two millions of 
 miles, the measured distance. ITow, the greatest velocity 
 known is that of lightf which is 186,000 miles per second. 
 We do no injustice to Divine Wisdom when we suppose that 
 this extreme velocity has been imparted to light, in order that 
 it should pass through space without interruption, and that it 
 should reaclr rts destination in the shortest possible space of 
 time — in other words, that it should go directly to its object in, 
 right lines, without any deviation, up or down, or laterally,, 
 which would only retard its progress. Hence we reject entirely 
 the undulatory theory of liglit, as enunciated at the present 
 time. If fhe laws of light arc not comprehended by- scientists,, 
 it furnishes no excuse for resort to absurdities in the effort to- 
 explain them. While light, in traversing inter-stellar and 
 inter-plauetary spaces, is thought to be confined to rectilinear 
 directions, there is nothing incompatible with this idea when 
 it is brought Avithin the influences of our atmosphere, by which 
 its refrangibility, its reflection, its polarization, and its power 
 to develop electricity, magnetism, aud heat are manifested, 
 and its more speedy diffusion through our atmosphere, by 
 these disturbing influences, may furnish a reason for its attri- 
 butes here, which Avould have no application in its passage 
 through inter-stellar or inter-planetary spaces. 
 
 “ Light diminishes in force or intensity in proportion as it 
 recedes from its source. This diminution is in direct ratio to 
 the square of the distance. Thus, the quantities of light at dis- 
 tances 2, 3, 4, etC'., will be 4, 9, 16, etc., times less than at dis- 
 tance 1. Light requires eight minutes thirteen seconds to 
 arrive from the sun to the earth. It travels 11|- miles in of 
 a second, or 186,000 miles per second. It travels alw^ays in a 
 straight line. 
 
 “ Light added to light, by interference, produces darkness. 
 The movement of such rays neutralize each other, and the 
 light ceases to cast any lustre. 
 
 “ Of the thousand rays of variegated shade and refrangibility 
 
 * EKcepting that of electricity, which is 288,000 miles per second. 
 
84 
 
 Avliieh compose colourless (or white) light, those only ueutrali^^e 
 each other Avhich possess co-ordinate colour and refrangihility. 
 Thus a red ray cannot obliterate a green ray. Two win to 
 lights cross each other at a given point, and one time the red 
 ^ay alone will disappear, and the point of intersection will 
 become green — green being Avhitc minus red.” 
 
 Let us see what can he made of the fragmentary knowledge 
 of light that we have so far attained. Tlie white liglit of the 
 sun is composed of seven primary rays, all differing in colour 
 from each other. The first analysis of this white sunlight was 
 displayed to mankind in the rainboAv, whose magnificent 
 beauty Avas admired Avith stupid Avonder, AA'ithout the faintest 
 conception on the part of the beholder of what it meant. 
 After a lapse of ages of tinle, Sir Isaac ISTcAvton, Avith a glass 
 prism, separated the rays of a sunbeam, and developed the 
 primary colours Avhich, in their association, had formed the 
 AA'hite light of the sun. He reunited these primary rays, and 
 thus, hy synthesis as well as analysis, he proved the composite 
 chaz’acter of sunlight. 
 
 Hoav, astronomers have shown that the planets and asteroids 
 of our planetary system each emit a colour peculiar to itself: 
 Mercury, a pale rosy light; Mars, a reddish tint; Yenus, asih^ery- 
 white colour, with occasional streaks of pale blue light ; J upiter 
 gives out a pale yelloAV light ; Saturn, a pale bluish tizit, Avhile 
 its rings are gorgeous Avith a Avhite, silvery colour; the Moon 
 gives out a yelloAvish hue ; Pallas shines Avith a 3 'clloAvish light ; 
 Juno is a reddish star; Yesta has a ruddy tinge, sometimes of 
 a pale yelloAA'ish hue ; the ' Earth emits a red colour. 
 
 Another remarkable feature of these star systems, and jzer- 
 haps the most brilHajit and intrinsicall}^ beautiful phenomenon 
 of astronomy, is the resplendent and gemlike variety of colours 
 by Avhich the binaiy, ternary and other multiple systems are 
 (fliaracterizcd. Here all the colours and intermediate tints of 
 the Spectrum are to be met with, manifested with the richest 
 intensity and the most A’ivid and distinctiA-e strength and 
 fulness ef hue. Thus in y, Andromeda, we have a ternary 
 combination, the brighter star being a rich and full orange, 
 and the two fainter stars green. In a, Cassippeite, we have a 
 liright blue and a sea green star, /5, Cygni, is a pair of stars, 
 yelloAV and sapphire, a, Ceti, is a very fine orange star with a 
 blue companion. * * * 
 
 “In a celebrated cluster of stars, near z of the Southern Cross, 
 there are about one hundred small stars of different colours, 
 from the A*arious reds to all the tints of green, blue and bluish- 
 
85 
 
 green, so crowded together, that they appear in the larger 
 telescopes like a piece of magnilieent celestial jewelry, stmled 
 and flashing in the most superb splendour ^nth the richest and 
 most brilliant gem-light.” * These colours are primary. 
 
 hat becomes of all these primary rays of light unless thej’" 
 are used to compose the white light of our sun, and of all the 
 fixed stars or suns that illuminate the firmament ? TMiatever 
 sunlight, therefore, has fallen upon these planets has been de- 
 composed; six out of the seven primary rays thereof have been 
 absoibed for the use of the planet, and the remaining primary 
 has been emitted by the planet, and sent to the sun to 
 associate in his photosphere with the different primary ravs 
 sent to him from other planets, to form anew the Avhite sun- 
 light, which by him is to be diffused throughout the planetary 
 and stellar Avorld. 
 
 -r- 
 
 ^ iN oy we must not suppose that the orbs composing our 
 diminnti\'c solar system have furnished, or can furnish, to the 
 sun a surticient c|uantity of their respective primary rays of 
 light to supply that luminary with the amount of elementary 
 light which it is his function to combine and to furnish to the 
 universe. _ We must remember, that, from the great deptlis of 
 the infinite expanse, elementary light comes up from every 
 star, nebula, or meteor, seeking its complementary element in 
 the photosphere of the sun, there to be associated as white 
 light, and thence to be reflected from the gray covering of the 
 sun, as a mirror, to all the orbs of creation. This circulation 
 of light, this absorption by the stars and planets of such of the 
 primary rays of liglit as they need for their own support, and 
 the emission,_ severally, of their own peculiar rays, to be reas- 
 sembled again in the various photospheres of the infinite 
 number of suns that stud the firmament, and to be again dif- 
 fused, according to the plan of creation, in endless suc^cessibn, 
 present an image of the wisdom, the beneficence and power of 
 the Creator,_that fills the mind with awe, and teaches man the 
 utter insignificance of his being. 
 
 Our sun is simply a huge reflector of light. The gray 
 covering of his nucleus or body is represented in our miirors 
 by the metallic covering which we place on the backs of our 
 glasses. These transparent glasses are tjiflfied by the trans- 
 lucent photosphere of the sun, and the associated primary 
 rays of light from every luminous object in the universe, 
 mingling together, and reflected from this gray covering of 
 the sun, furnish the white sunlight that illuminates the world. 
 
 *J. A. S, T!ollwyi’-i A«*nn'>ray. 
 
86 
 
 TTeat destroys gravitation. Even our astronomers, -in assert- 
 ing that the lunnnous matter in tlie photosphere of the sun is 
 sliWn by the spectroscope to be composed largely of incan- 
 descent metallic gases, the bases -of winch are among the 
 heaviest matter in the crust of our earth, commit the incon- 
 sistency of supposing that these heavy incandescent metallic 
 vapours or gases are supported by a photosphere of much 
 greater specific gravity, as well as density, than these heavy 
 gases themselves; otherwise these metallic gases coidd not 
 float in the photosphere. Some of these astronomers go so far 
 as to suppose that the body or nucleus of the sun itself is 
 gaseous, and that the density of the sun is much less than 
 the densities of the incandescent metallic vapours which they 
 suppose to float in its photosphere. K^ow, if these incan descent 
 metallic gases are heavier- than the material composing the 
 sun., itself, it is clear that the gravitation, according to l!^ewton, 
 of these heavy metallic incandescent vapours is not towards the 
 centre of the sun; and if not to him, where do they gravitate ? 
 We know Avhat the spccifie gravities or densities of many of 
 the metals on the surface of the earth are, whose incandescent 
 vapours, as revealed by the spectoscope, are supposed to exist 
 in the photosphere of the .sun, and astronomers have calculated 
 that the attraction of gravitation to the sun in its jfiiotosidiere 
 Avould be twenty-eight times as great as the gravitation in the 
 earth’s atmosphere to the earth of bodies of similar weight. 
 
 If, therefore, we suppose that these metallic incandescent 
 vapours in the sun’s photos^phere to be twenty-eight times^ 
 heavier than they aa-ouM be in the. earth’s atmosphere ; and it 
 they nCA'cr fall to the body of the sun, it must folloAV that 
 AA’hat is called graA’itation in the |)hoto.s2:»herc of the' sun ean- 
 not exist, and the Avhole thcoi’y of ISTcAAfion, of centripetal and 
 centrifugal forces, has no substantial existence. Wo knoAV 
 that in our OAAm planet heat destroys gravitation, as the vol- 
 canic action in the interior of the earth, ujihoaVing island.s, 
 mountain ranges, and even continents, abundantly proA^es 
 
 The mean density of the earth is about five times greater 
 than that of water — actually 5.44 times. Water, therefore, 
 rests on the surface of the eartli — penetrates its crust till it 
 encounters the heat radiated from the interior of the eartlp 
 where its further descent below the surface Is arrested, then it 
 is converted into steam by the heat it has absorbed, and it is 
 driven upwards into the atmosphere, heaving u|) tlie most 
 solid and heavy materials of the crust of the eaz’th, that lie 
 
i 
 
 87 
 
 nljove the direction it may take. This expansion of water 
 into steam by heat in the crust of the earth, produced by the 
 repellent affinity of the homogeneous electricity associated 
 with it, is one of the forces of volcanic action, which are con- 
 tinually changing the forms of the outer surface of the earth’s 
 crust. The density or specific gravity of the sun is 0.25136 
 (or nearly one-fourth of that of the earth). In other words, 
 taken in equal volumes, the weight* of the matter which com- 
 poses the sun is scarcely more than one-fourth of the weight 
 which composes our globe. Compared to water, the density 
 of the sun is 1.367 ; that of water being 1. 
 
 How, if what our astronomers tell us of the inconceivably 
 high temperature of the sun be true, there can be no gravita- 
 tion towards iffi centre from its photosphere, its chromosphere, 
 or any of its possible^nvelopes, the heat expanding, rarefying 
 and driving oft' all such material substances. Heat disinteg-’ 
 rates solids, separates their molecules, destroys their densities, 
 and consequently . is opposed to gravitation, which is the 
 attraction, of densities. Alas ! for poor Sir Isaac Hewton and 
 his grand theory of centripetal and centrifugal forces! A ray 
 of light passing through a narrow chink, and through a glass 
 prism, has done the business. .The incandescent nietallic 
 gases and the transcendent intense heat of the sun which has 
 vapourized these metals (the supposed discovery by the narrow 
 chink and the prism), have demolished Hewton and his erratic 
 fancies. Sic transit gloria mundi I 
 
 According to Professor Tyndall, “gravitation consists of an 
 attraction of every particle of matter for every other particle 
 planets and moons are supp)Osed to be held in their orbits by 
 this attraction.” 
 
 “ The earth is supposed to attract to its centre all the bodies 
 upon its surface by Avhat Howton termed centripetal force, and 
 when one of them falls, it is always towards the earth’s centre. 
 Tins force is said to be resident in all the bodies of nature. 
 It exerts its influence upon the largest masses as well as upon 
 the most minute particles of matter. This it is which gives 
 harmony to the univei'se, and explains the formation of bodies 
 of all kinds.” 
 
 Hewton held that “ Bodies exercise attraction in direct ratio 
 to their mass, and that this law was of universal application.” 
 
 Let us examine this. 
 
88 
 
 Ttae circulation of tlie blood in animals is not affected by 
 gravitation, nor are any of the secretions of tbe animal body. 
 Tlie development in growth of animals is upwards, opposed to 
 gravitation, and totally unaffeeted by gravitation. Tbe move- 
 ments of animals in the performance, of their varied functions 
 have no reference to gramtation. So also in the vegetable 
 world ; the sap of plants rises from the roots, is distributed 
 through the branches, ancT enlarges their size irrespective of 
 gravitation ; the trunk of the tree aseends into the atmosphere 
 and extends its huge limbs laterally, as if gravitation had no 
 existence. The smoke from combustion, the exhalations from 
 the earth, and the evaporation of water, all of them material 
 substances, are in opposition to gravitation. 
 
 Light, electricity, magnetism and heat, the vital forces of 
 the universe, all treat gravitation with groat contempt. The 
 atmosphere surrounds and envelopes, the earth. It has wluit 
 is called gravity or weight, but it is not subject to what is 
 called the law of gravitation, since when its lower strata 
 l)ecomo warmed, they ascend into the upper part of the atmos- 
 phere, and do not descend or fall to the earth, as having weight 
 they should do; thus a difference in the relative weights of the 
 same substance, in one condition or another, removes that 
 substance from the influence of gravitation. The vapours or 
 clouds in the atmosphere, which are heavier than air, float in 
 many directions, and do not fall to the earth. A piece of iron 
 will float upon a fused mass of iron, instead of passing through 
 it to the bottom. The inertia of matter is opposed to gravita- 
 tion. Form, which is . a force, ;and is the resultai\t of the forces 
 that have produced it, is antagonistic to gravitation, which Ave 
 illustrate Avith this example : suppose we have a cube of soft 
 iron, Aveighing five pounds; let it be held by the hand OA'cr a 
 pool of AA'ater; release it from the hand, the iron falls directly 
 to the bottom of the pool ; our philosophers Avould say it fell 
 by gravitation. 
 
 Now, take that cube of iron, roll it out into a sheet of iron 
 one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, and again place it over 
 the water horizontally; release your hold upon it; it sinks 
 immediately to the bottom of the pool, Philosopliy says, by- 
 graAutation. Recover it, and holding its edge vertically over 
 the water, again AAuthdraw^ your hand; it descends at once to 
 the bottom. Still by gravitation. Now, again take it_ from 
 the pool, bend its edges up some six inches around it, in the 
 form of a dish; then place its bottom on the surface of the- 
 
89 
 
 \rater, release your hold, and lo ! it does not sink to the bottom 
 of the pool, but it floats upon the surface of it ! It is no longer 
 drawn to the bottom of the pool by gravitation, although what 
 Ave call its weight is unchanged. It still weighs five pounds. 
 Why does it not sink as before ? It is arrested by its form, 
 which is antagonistic to what is called gravitation. G-ravita- 
 tion, therefore, is not universal. It does not ahvays attract 
 matter to matter, in proportion to its mass. What then is 
 the repellent force which pi’CA^ents this iron dish from sinking ? 
 It is magnetism. The water is magnetic, a condition produced 
 by the electricity, whose opposite polarities in the oxygen and 
 hydrogen meeting in conjunction, converted those gases, by 
 . the combustion of the hydrogen gas in the oxj-gen gas, into the 
 lirpiid state of water, and rendering the water at the same 
 time magnetic. The iron dish, in contact with the water by 
 its horizontal bottom, and having vertical sides, became mag- 
 netic by induction from the water — the water and the iron 
 presenting the same' magnetic poles to each other, mutually 
 repelled each other, and the flotation of the iron dish was the 
 result. . 
 
 Flotation, heretofore attributed to the lightness of the 
 floating body compared with the Avoiglit of the liquid in 
 which it floated, is due to magnetic repulsion, and not to 
 ^gravitation. Now let us look at the condition of- this water 
 when it has changed its character by crystalizing into flakes 
 of snow, of whatever diversity of form, or of hall, or of sur- 
 fxce or dense ice. Thes'e forms of water at temperatures beloxv 
 32° of Fahrenheit, are all magnets, and their minutest atoms 
 are all magnets, also; each endowed with its two poles, one 
 at either extremity of the atom, and each Avith opposite, atti'i- 
 butes. 
 
 The commerce of the world, thei-efore,. is sustained on its 
 oceans by the repellent force of magnetism; Avhile the mari- 
 ner directs his course over their trackless Avastes, in darkness 
 and in storm, guided by that opposite quality of the magnet 
 which attracts it to the poles of the earth. 
 
 Noav, when water, owing its form, Avhether liquid or frozen, 
 to magnetism, is exposed to heat, and converted into steam, 
 its magnetic qualities are driven off by the heat, and are re- 
 placed by electricity, AAdiich is the force that rends the strongest 
 fabrics of human skill to pieces, and scatters death and deso- 
 lation in cAmry direction. The electricity of steam is of one 
 
90 
 
 kind, imd is repellent of itself; and its effort to escape from 
 itself and to unite tvitli the opposite electricity of the atmos- 
 phere is so violent and so powerful that it furnishes to man 
 one of tlie greatest forces with which he is accj[uaiuted. 
 
 The forked flashes of lightning, seen ah.ove volcanoes in 
 eruption, are merely the results of the conjunction of the 
 positive electricity of the heated air, steam and lava thrown 
 out of the volcano by violent interior forces, with the negative 
 electricity of the atmosphere above and around the volcano. 
 
 Rotary motion. of an object is antagonistic to magnetism, 
 hy the production of friction with the atmosphci-e by the re- 
 volving object. This friction evolves electricity, which, uniting 
 with tlie opposite electricity of the revolving object, produces 
 heat that expands and disintegrates its molecules, separating 
 them, and removing the magnetism. 
 
 As the heat of the sun (if it has any) cannot pass down- 
 wards through ninety-two millions of miles of ether with a 
 temperature of —-142° of centigrade thermometer, so the heat 
 radiated from the interior of the earth, or proiluced oh its 
 surface, or, in its lower strata of atmosphere, cannot penetrate 
 upwards through the canopy of cold which surrounds the earth 
 at various altitudes froih the snow line of 15,000 feet above the 
 ecpiator, 6000 feet at 45° of north or south latitude, and at the 
 level of the earth at 60° of north latitude. 
 
 Let us admire the ineffable Avisdom of the Creator who, by 
 a barrier of ice in the Arctic aijid Antarctic regions, confiiics 
 the internal heat between them and the erpiator, and tije 
 superficial heat of the earth below the region of perpetual 
 snow in the atmosphere, for the uses intended by Him- of the- 
 planet and its productions 
 
 Rewton’s theory of centripetal and centrifugal attractions 
 and repulsions is fallacious. There can. be no rotation on the 
 centre of a sphere or spheroid, though there may be at the ex- 
 tremities of any of its diameters or axes. ^Yhat is called cen- 
 trifugal force is merely the repulsion from the axis of rotation 
 and not from the centre. So centripetal force is merely axial 
 attraction. Any force is the resultant of the forces which 
 produce it. If there was, therefore, such a force as centripetal 
 in a sphere or spheroid, the opposing forces acting from the 
 ends of the diameters would neutralize each other, and an im- 
 mense heat would result at the centre, which heat would 
 
91 
 
 destroy the very forces which had produced it, and would 
 prevent their continuance. ^ 
 
 "^Hien we consider the repellent forces of the interior of the 
 earth, such as heat and electricity, upheaving by volcanic 
 action immense masses of islands and continents, changing in 
 many places the configuration of the land and the sea, we 
 cannot for a moment accept the theory of centripetal attraction 
 or gravitation. 
 
 The mean density of the earth is said to be about five times 
 greater than that of water. If this be so, why does not this 
 great density or mass of matter bring down the clouds by 
 centripetal attraction or gravitation instantly to the earth? 
 Why docs the atmosphere, still less dense than the clouds, re- 
 main above the earth, when according to the laws of grarita- 
 tion it should be precipitated upon it ? and why should the 
 upper strata of the atmosphere be more attenuated and thin 
 than the lower strata, which besides their own weight have the 
 additional weight of the upper strata upon them ? 
 
 There are no centripetal or centrifugal forces, as hTewton 
 supposed. In the rapid rotation of a sphere or cylinder on its 
 axis, the outer surface, by its friction with the atmosphere, 
 evolves electricity, w'hich, in conjunction with the electricity 
 of the atmosphere, produces heat, which insinuating itself 
 among the molecules of the rotating body, expands'them and, 
 if the velocity of the rotation is sufiicient, this heat loosens 
 their mutual coliesion, and electricity being at the same time 
 imparted to these molecules associated witli the heat, they are 
 attracted thereby to the opposite electricity of the atmosphere, 
 and the rotating body is separated into fragments with great 
 violence, as the molecules of the mass, haring the same 
 electricity, repel each other w^hile they are attracted to the 
 opposite electricity of the outer atmosphere. 
 
 This is the explanation of the bursting of millstones, grind- 
 stones and other revolving bodies at great speed, as well as of 
 meteors, shooting stars and comets, heretofore attributed to 
 centrifugal force, blow, w'hat is there to attract at the centre 
 of anything or to repel therefrom. The centre is an imaginary 
 point, having neither length, breadth nor thickness, absolutely 
 without dimensions, and consequently writhout matter — how 
 therefore can it be invested with force of any kind ? 
 
 There can be no rotation on the centre of any sphere, 
 
oylinilcr, or cone, or other solid or hollow body, as the forces 
 ] ■.•f|aisite to produce the motion, would be antagonistic, and 
 would destroy it, as the attempt might be made — conceive for 
 a moment, that while the earth is revolving on its axis from 
 west to east, you should apply an equal force to make it 
 revolve also from north to south, the rotation would then be 
 from northwest to southeast — now apply equal intermediate 
 fu'ces between northwest and west, and northwest and north, 
 and so on till you have equal forces for every degree of the 
 hemisphere, and equal opposite forces from the other hemi- 
 phere. This would be equivalent to centripetal force or 
 attraction, and as these opposing forces would be equal, rota- 
 tion would cease, the body would remain at rest, and 
 centripetal force or attraction would not exist, consequently 
 there is neither centripetal nor centrifugal force, and we must 
 look therefore to other forces to explain the motions of the 
 planetary and stellar Avorlds. 
 
 It is to Oersted, the celebrated chemist and physicist of 
 Denmark, that we owe the discovery that currents of electricity 
 passing over a conjunctive wire, from one pole of the Voltaic 
 pile to the opposite pole, produce magnetism. The meeting’ 
 of these opposite electricities, he has termed an electrical con- 
 jllclj’^' I sliould prefer ,to call it an electrical embrace, as it 
 more resembles the ardour of lovers, in its attraction, than an 
 attack by. force or. violence. From his experiments he con- 
 cluded that the electric conflict is not inclosed in the conducting 
 wire, but that it has around it quite an extensive sphere of 
 activity, and that it acts l>y a vortical or whirling movement. 
 
 A few weeks after the announcement of Oersted’s discovery. 
 Ampere, by his experiments, discovered that two parallel con- 
 j unctive Avires, from opposite poles of a Amltaic pile, attract each 
 other, Avhen electricity traverses them in the same direction : 
 and that they repel each other if the electric currents move in 
 opposite directions. The sequel of Ampere’s labours shoAved 
 that the reciprocal action of the elements of tAA'o currents is 
 exerted in conformity Avith the line AAdiich unites their centres ; 
 that it depends on the mutual inclination of these elements, 
 and that it Agarics in intensity in the inverse ratio of the squares 
 of the distances. Ampere finally succeeded in establishing 
 that a conjunctive Avire Avound into a helix or spiral curved 
 Tine, AAnth very close spires, is sensitive to the magnetic action 
 of the. earth. For many AA'eeks there AA'as to be seen in his 
 cabinet a conjunctive Avire of platina, whose position A\^as 
 
■PIMIIl L.|, L 'Ill . I| I JLIWIIMII I 
 
 93 
 
 determined by the action of the terrestrial globe. Ampere 
 ivv constructing a galvanic compass, had shown that the forces 
 which act in the magnetic needle are electric currents, and by 
 Ills learned calculations on the the reciprocal action of these 
 curients, he accounted for all the actions which the conjunctive 
 wire of the pile exerts, in the experiment of Oersted, on the 
 magnetic needle. 
 
 M. ^Arago, the eminent French astronomer, associated wit^ 
 Ampere in some of his experimepts, says: coiled coppei’ 
 
 wire for a length of two inches, _ from right to left, into a helix ; 
 fhen an eijual length of wire in the same manner, from left 
 to right ; and lastly, a similar quantitv again from right to left. 
 These three^ helices were separated from each other by recti- 
 linear portions of the same wire. 
 
 “One and the same steel cylinder of a suitable length and of 
 rather more than .04 of an inch diameter, and enclosed in a 
 glass tube, was inserted in the three helices at once. The o-al- 
 vanic current, in passing along the coils of these different 
 helices, magnetized the corresponding portions of the steel 
 cy linder, as if they had been detached and separate from each 
 other , foi I remarhed that at one ot the extremities there 
 was a north pole, at two inches distance a south pole, farther 
 on. a second south pole followed by a north pole ; lastlv, a 
 third north pole, and two inches farther on, or at the other 
 extremity of the cylinder, a south pole.” Thus, by this 
 rnethod, the number of these intermediate poles, which physi- 
 cists ha\ e denominated consecutive points, could be multiplied 
 at pleasure. M. Arago also observed, that “if the intervals 
 comprised between the consecutive helices are small, the parts 
 .of the steel wire oi; cylinder, corresponding to those interns, 
 will themselves be magnetized as if the movement of rotation 
 impressed on the magnetic fluid, according to Ampere’s idea, 
 by the influence of a helix, was continued beyond the extreme 
 spires of the coil.” 
 
 As the conjunction of opposite electricities, according to 
 these authorities, develops magnetism; and as tornaefoes, 
 huriicanes, cyclones, and other atmospheric disturbances move 
 in spiral curves from their respective points of departure till 
 their terminations, and as, according to Ampere and Arago, 
 currents of electricity passed through spiral cjdindrical coils 
 ot wire develop magnetism, we see here the sources of the 
 I supply of magnetism to our planet, its atmosphere, and the 
 
t 
 
 94 
 
 objecta upon or in them. This magnetism, so developed, is- 
 absorbed by every object in nature. Being an imponderable, 
 its presence cannot always be discerned or detected; but it 
 resides in a latent form everywhere, till it is evolved by the 
 opposite attraction or repulsion of some object approached to 
 it which is also magnetic. 
 
 In many parts of the world springs of water exist in which 
 a great degree of magnetic power is manifested. In the state 
 of Michigan there are such springs, in which, if penknives, or 
 small pieces of iron, or steel, should be immersed for a few 
 minutes, they would become highly magnetic. These springs 
 ai’e visited and bathed in every year by thousands of persons 
 for the highly curative influences over diseases that they exert. 
 
 There is no magnetism in the earth pnder the erpiatorial 
 regions, owing to the heat of the interior of the central parts 
 of the planet, which destroys magnetism. This is proved by 
 the magnetic needle losing its dip under the equator. I think, 
 also, it Avill be shown that the magnetic needle has no dip over 
 the G-ulf stream, as under that stream the interior heat of the 
 earth has a flue extending far into the Arctic regions, through 
 Avhich the Gulf stream is warmed, and magnetism in the 
 eai'th about the flue destroyed; the same- vail be found to be 
 true, also, of the Japanese current that runs througli Behring’s 
 strait to the Arctic regions ; and of all other warm currents 
 of water in the oceans. The eA’-aporation of the warm waters 
 of the Gulf stream and of the Japanese current develops 
 electricity, which, being positive as the waters thereof them- 
 selves also are, they are both attracted by the negative elec- 
 tricity^ of the waters of the Arctic oceafi ; and those currents flow 
 in that direction. It will be found that terrestrial magnetism 
 is irregularly distributed in the crust of the earth, and the 
 magnetism of the Northern. Hemisphere being attracted to 
 the South Pole, while that in the Southern Hemisphere being 
 attracted to the Horth Pole, these opposite attractions have 
 increased the . equatorial diameter of the earth twenty-six 
 miles more than the polar diameter; and the earth’s crust 
 under the equator hamng been thickened by the addition of 
 so much material taken from other parts of the sphere, it fol- 
 lows as highly probable that basins filled Avith seas have 
 resulted at the poles of the earth, and that oceanic currents 
 from the North and South Poles, respectively, are produced 
 by the rotation of the earth on its axis, Growing off' the siir- 
 plus of accumulated water at the poles, and thus the circula- 
 
95 
 
 tion of water in oceans and seas is produced, in spiral curves 
 rrom the polar basins. 
 
 I have, in the former editions of this work, sim^ested that 
 the rotation of the earth on its axis is the result of electrical 
 torces within it, excited by the juxtaposition of the materials 
 ot various kmds_ forming its composition, and having opposite 
 electrical polarities. 
 
 • I have an illustration at hand to prove 
 this. A neighbour of mine recently 
 erected in the rear of his house a one- 
 storied dining-room, in which was a 
 chimno}^ which projected some three feet 
 above the roof of the building — which 
 was 12 feet above the groun d — on the top 
 of the chimney he jdaced a sheet-iron 
 cowl in the form of a truncated hollow 
 ellipsoid with spiral flanges from top to 
 bottom of the cowl. ^Vhen there is no 
 fire in the chimney .the cowl is at rest, 
 Avhen a fire is kindled, as the air in the 
 chimney becomes heated and, accompanied by its positive 
 electricity,- rises to the top, it meets with resistance in the 
 flanges of the cowl, which only begin to turn when the gather- 
 ing positive electricity of the warm air attracted by the greater 
 negative electricity of the outer atmosphere forces its .way 
 through the openings and along the surface of the metalic 
 cowl and sets' it in motion, and according as the combustion 
 is more active so is the rotation of the cowl on its axis the 
 more rapid, and the draught of the chimney is so increased 
 that finally the flanges of the cowl can no longer be distin- 
 guished in their rotation. 
 
 So in the interior of the earth the intense positive electricity 
 evolved there, in conjunction with the negative electricity 
 also there in great quantities, produces enornaous heat, which 
 fusing metals and disengaging gases of great volume and 
 expansive power, forces them against the irregular surfaces of 
 the interior of the crust of the earth, and sets the ball in its 
 rotary motion on its axis. ‘ 
 
 Similar causes produce like effects in the interior of the sun 
 and of all the planets, giving them all the rotation on their 
 respective axes that we know they have. With the electricity 
 thus evolved and escaping as it is formed at their respective 
 
96 
 
 poles, currents of magnetism arc evolved at right angles to the 
 earrents of electricity and. cause the revolutions on their axes 
 to be from west to east. 
 
 There is no necessity, therefore, for our .^astronomers to 
 suppose that the Almighty has created the sun to he an 
 incandescent body, whose combustion is to he fed by half a 
 world to illuminate the remainder.' The sun, in fact, is proba- 
 bly only a huge reflector or mirror, receiving the rays of light 
 from every orb, which rays themselves are of various tints, ns 
 every planet and star has a colour peculiar to itself, and the 
 groupings of these primary, colours in the sun, and their re- 
 flections from him constitute the white light that we call sun- 
 light. This explanation is in harmony wnth our ideas of the 
 Divine economy, which imyer wastes any of its material. The 
 siin is a great magnet, and regulates and controls by magnet- 
 ism and not by gravitation all the planets of his system, which, 
 consequently, are severally all magnets. The system is held 
 in its place and conforms in its movements by its magnetism 
 to the movements of all the ox'bs which exist in space. 
 
 As these pdanets are all magnets, they can have no other 
 heat than their own internal heat, which is simply sufficient 
 to produce their respective rotations on their several axes, as 
 heat in intensity destroys magnetism. 
 
 The reversal of the tails of comets in their approach to the 
 sun and departure from hiiUj is due to the attraction and 
 repulsion respectively of their magnetic poles — by induction 
 from the greater magnetism of the sun itself. 
 
 Winds are simply currents of electrified air, repelled from 
 their points of departure by air similarly electrified, and 
 attracted in their various directions by air at rest or in motion, 
 as it may be, with opposite electricities. These repellent and 
 attractive electricities acting on a strong current of air, cause 
 it to be deflected from its rectilinear direction, and to assume 
 a spiral curve in its course, continually contracting towards 
 its centre, till the opposing electricities equalize each other, 
 •when the electrical equilibrium is restored, and a calm ensues. 
 During the continuance of the movem'ents of the oppositely 
 electrified currents of air in these spiral curves, magnetism is 
 developed, and this is the source of magnetism in the atmos- 
 phere. 
 
 Magnetism in the crust of the earth is, likewise developed 
 
9? 
 
 ^ there ] ;^ r’.r: -onjmictiois of opposite electrkal_ cur. ents cir- 
 ^ ciilatm^ cieev i;aily throij^h *t !Ci«s magnetism permeates % 
 ^ tlu’ougii its various molecules, elippijiog them with .c!!.'- :etic 
 attractiovt aco rcpnlsion, aud chus Tr aLcef, from its a-'i - opti- 
 . bility 01 hococ dig magnetized, assumes the power ot’eUrao- 
 • tion atfribni-ed to gravitation. 
 
 Having thuB. shown the source froni which atmospheric as 
 j 'well as terreeirial magnetism is derived, we proceed to men- 
 'f. tiou some of i 's attributes. 
 
 The terra niagiietism, which is^ applied to the science that' 
 
 I' describes the rnodcs and properties of a remarkable force pos- 
 r/ repellent qualifies, is derived from a 
 magnetic i''oii ore, .that was first noticed near Magnesia, and 
 il; hence was. named by the ancient Greeks, 3 Iagnes. It had. the 
 I'. |>eculiar property of attracting iron. This force is not con- 
 fined to the mineral, but seems to pervade all' nature. It is 
 produced by ine meeting of currents of opposite electricities 
 in the- crust of the earth aud in our atmosphere. Its exioteneo 
 ‘ in the fixed stars, in the infinite number of orbs, in the firma- 
 
 j, ment, in the nebulas, comets, meteors, &c., may be attributed 
 
 5 to a similar origin. The primary rays of light from these 
 
 f illuminated orbs, of greatly diversifica colours, passing with 
 
 > almost incredible velocity from them to our sun, through 
 
 ■ interstellar and interplanetary spaces whose temperature is 
 
 i . inconceivably low, and consequently associated with negative 
 electricity, developing as they pass through this attenuated 
 t etlier,^ wliieii. fills these spaces, by friction therewith, negative 
 f electricity, pisj be supposed to enter the photosphere of the 
 r sun charged with negative electricity. This negative 
 
 . .. clectridtv b. g homogeneous, of immense volume, and great 
 
 >; iuteneitj, rep-f .. these commingled primary rays of light, by 
 
 I", reflection trom the body of the sun on their impact with it, 
 
 with the ei -ormous velocity which belongs to light. The 
 mixture of these primary rays of various colours produces the. 
 
 . white light of the sun, or, as we call it, sunlight. This sun- 
 light, negatively electrified, driven wb h this immense speed 
 to the most distant orbs of creation, encounters -in their atmos- 
 i. phere, when such exist, and by impact with the bodies of 
 i these orbs themselves, which have each a greater density than 
 t: has^ the ether through which it had passed, great resistance. 
 This impact produces friction, and friction electricity. 
 
 r The friction of matter having a temperature above 32° of 
 
98 
 
 ITahr-iulioit evolves positive electricity, wliile tliat of matter 
 whose temperature is below 32° of Faliroiiisit evolves nega- 
 tive '.‘Icefricity. When two blocks of iee are iol>bed together 
 they iulberc by their contiguous- surfaces v, ii’' a foret; greater 
 than cliiit by which the molecules of either u'-'cle (if ice are 
 held together, and a Tracture of the ice wiU or. ur anywhere 
 in tiii; Idocks before it will at their jun'-tiori. A notable 
 illusi ranon of the fricticin of matter, belov 32 ’ ot Falirenheit, 
 prodo.iug cold and its associate negathm eh ctricity, is 
 furni ; lied every day in the manufacture of icnl .roams and 
 juices of fruits. The cylinder contain mg the mr.ojiul to be 
 frozen is placed in another vessel, surron mb d I',/ a iVeezing 
 mixture of broken ice and common sahg ny iuruiug this 
 cylinder rapidly in this mixture friction ie produced, which, 
 in abstracting the heat from the cream ;u jirrees of fruits to 
 be frozen, reduces, their temperature, and die cold of the 
 freezing mixture, with its negative electricity, is transferred , 
 to the cream or juices of fruits. 
 
 We may infer an analogy between the composition of these, 
 distant orbs of the hrmarnent and that of oar own planet, and 
 tliat an opposite electricity to that of sunlight exists in them. 
 The conjunction of thep opposing eloctriciti <ck devel ops magnet- 
 ism, which at once seizes upon the matter ot wirich Buch orhs are 
 composed and imparts to it the attractive and rirgohocit ;[ualities 
 that itposscsses. The orb assumes the to rm of an cbhite sj >horoid 
 or an ellipsoid, with its equatorial diameter longer than its polar 
 diameter, thickened at its equator and ilattcuc<l at its poles. 
 This form imposes on, it an .elliptical orbit in -whi -h it revolves 
 around its local attraction. This' form in tlie planets and pro- 
 bably the fixed stars, as in the earth, -s derived fr(im the 
 opposite attractions and repulsions of matter iuAhdr different 
 hemispheres — that in their northern hemisphere !;cing attracted 
 to the south polo, and that in the southern hemisphere being 
 oppositely attracted to the north pole — and thus meeting at 
 tlmir respective 9 quators, where these opposite attractions 
 neutralize each other, they become thickened there at the 
 expense of the matter at their poles respectively. The force 
 which drives the sunlight from our sun, after its reflection 
 from its body, is probably negative electricity, for we cannot 
 ce^nceive of any other force adequate to produce such an effect. 
 
 It is this force of magnetism of which Newton in his day, 
 had some dight knowdedge, hut not comprohciMling dt as it 
 exists, he assigned sudh of its qualities as ho had discovered 
 
99 
 
 erroneously to matter, and gave it the name of gravitation, as 
 if a planet, if such could be made, of cotton, ric;;, tobacco, 
 butter, cheese and molasses, would revolve upon its axis from 
 its own -weight and travel in an orbit around the sun. 
 
 This force magnetises all things, imparting to them its at- 
 tractions and repulsions, and thus regulates and controls the 
 movements throughout the universe. 
 
 Let us notice some of the pecularities of this force. ‘‘ Some 
 iron ores are natural magnets; steel rods, straight, or curved 
 like horseshoes, to which magnetism has been imparted, 
 as also steel needles similarly treated, are artificial magnets. 
 The magnetic force is greatest at the ends of the rods or 
 • needles, attracting there. steel or iron filings, but diminisbincr 
 in power as the distance from the extremities is increased, an^ 
 ceasing altogether midway between their ends. The ex- 
 tremities of the rods or needles are called its poles midway 
 between them, where the force ceases, is called their magnetic 
 equator. -A light needle magnetisech such as is used 'n the 
 mariner’s compass, properly balanced and suspendet. by its 
 centre is called a magnetic needle. When not restrained it 
 ranges itself nearly parallel to a line joining the north and 
 . south poles of the earth, one end of the needle pointing to the 
 north, the other end directed to the south pole. Tur.r,ed from 
 its direction and then released, it resumes again its natural posi- 
 tion of pointing north and south. These ends or poles of a 
 -magnet arc respectively attached to the poles of the earth to 
 which they point, and are repelled from the opposite poles 
 reciprocally. In two magnets the corresponding poles, if ap- 
 proached to each other, would each repel the other and attract 
 the opposite pole of the other magnet.” It is to this attribute 
 of the magnet that the earth owes its form of an oblate 
 spheroid. The. earth being a magnet, the materials composing 
 its crust ii, i.m northern hemisphere have been attrai-ted to- 
 wards the sonth pole, and the matter in the earth’s crust in 
 the southern hemisphere, being also magnetic, have been at- 
 tracted towards the north pole. These forces being equal 
 and having ceased at the equator, the matters brought by them 
 respectively from their several hemispheres have been 
 accumulated and deposited in the equatorial regions of the 
 earth, which mass of matters has so much increased the 
 equatoi'ial diameter of the earth that- it exceeds the polar 
 diameter in length 26 miles. It is probable that the material 
 thus removed from the Doles of the earth to its equator, have 
 
ICO 
 
 so Ijollowed out the crust of the earth at the poles into haains 
 thiit seas have been formed in them, which have been filled 
 wi r b water from the Pacific ocean through Behring’s straits, and 
 Atlantic ocean by the Gulf fcitream. As the planets are all 
 dor ;>tles3 formed upon the same principle aa those on which 
 the earth is established, and as we know that similar ditfer- 
 ences exist between the eqxvirtorial and polar diameters of 
 tVcrxe orbs to the extent of 25 miles in Mars, 6000 miles in 
 Jupiter- and 7500 miles in Saturn, we may reasonably infer 
 that magnetic attraction and repulsion have increased their 
 erpiatorial diameters at the expense of their polar diameters 
 ir. tb.e pi'oportions mentioned, and that like the earth they are 
 all magnets,, and owe tlieir axial and orbitual rotations to 
 magnetism, and not to gravitation. In this increase of matter 
 in the equatorial regions of these planets of our system, we 
 have the most conclusive evidence that the attraction of mat- 
 ter in- these orbs is to their respective equators, and not to their 
 respective centres as Newton supposed. 
 
 "When we regard these immense differences in the equatorial 
 and polar diameters of the planets, Jupiter and Saturn — ^that of 
 Jupiter being 6000 miles, and that of Saturn 7500 miles, 
 we begin to comprehend, in a sligiit degree, the idea of the 
 Creator in placing these planets at such immensely great 
 distances from the sun, while He invests them with a magnet- 
 ism so transcendantly pO’iverful in its attractions and repulsions, 
 that their revolutions' around the sun are performed with a 
 marvelous certainty and exactitude. The law of magnetic 
 attraction and repulsion between objects being inversely as 
 the square of the distance, those distant orbs must have a 
 propelling or repellent power at their greatest distances from 
 the sun of almost infinite magnitude, to bring them within 
 the attractive power of the sun, so as to pass over such 
 immense spaces in their allotted .times. It is the repellent 
 power of magnetism that returns them towards the sun. 
 
 “Similiar poles of a magnet repel,, and contrary poles 
 attract one another ; magnetic poles always occur in pairs. • If 
 a magnet be broken into many pieces, each fragment is found 
 to have its north and south poles. 
 
 “Magnetic attraction and repulsion vary inversely as the 
 square of the distance between the magnet and the body 
 attracted or repelled. 
 
 “ If in two magnets of equal strength, the north polo of one 
 
of thera be placed in contact with the south pole of the ott er 
 magnet, all attractive force will disappear. Remove tl.e 
 contact, and the magnetic force is restored in each of the 
 magnets. . 
 
 “ If a pole. of a permanent magnet is placed near to the end 
 of a bar of soft iron, this bar will be magnetized by induciion-, 
 the end of the soft bar next to the pole of the mac-net bavilic 
 there an opposite pole to tliat of the magnets, while at the 
 othei end of the iron bar will be found a contrary magnetic 
 pole. Magnetization hy induction, he efFected^throug-h a 
 plate of glass, wood, metal, &c., without detriment. This 
 condition ^nnishes as soon as the magnet is withdrawn. 
 
 “Besides iron and steel, nickel, cobalt, manganese, chro- 
 mium, platinum, oxygen gas and inany other substances, suffer 
 attraction by a inagifft. Heat powerfully inflrpcnces magnet- 
 ism. A magnet if heated to redness, loses all its magnetism, 
 and a red hot ball is not atttracted by a magnet. 
 
 “ Every-.magnetic substance has its limit of temperature; 
 thus cobalt does not cease to be attracted at a white heat: iron 
 ceases to be_ attracted at a red heat; chromium just below a 
 red heat; nickel at 350° Fahrenheit; and manganese ic not 
 attracted on a warm summer day. Hence it is probable that 
 certain substances which do not appear, under ordinary cir.- 
 cunistances, to be attracted by a magnet would be attracted if 
 their temperature was reduced to a sufficiently low degree. 
 
 “A magnetic needle tends to set itself in -a line with the 
 poles of the earth, and if moyed from this position returns to 
 it, as if it was in the presence of another magnet. This is due 
 to the magnetism of the earth— in fact, the earth is a huge 
 magnet, the poles and equator of which do not coincide with 
 the geographical poles and equator. 
 
 “ The magnetic meridian of a place is a yertical plane which 
 passes through the two poles of a horizontally suspended 
 magnetic needle at this place, and which being continued in 
 both directions will, of course, pass through the magnetic 
 poles of the earth.^ The magnetic meridian of a place will 
 not coincide with its geographical meridian, and the ano-le 
 formed by the two meridians is called the magnetic deviation, 
 variation or declination, at this place. 
 
 “ The yariation of the needle does not hlways remain the 
 same. In the year 1580 (the first year in which accurate 
 
102 
 
 
 . . 'ions were made) the north end nf tlm needle deviated 
 11 ' ' to the east of the true north in London. In 1G22 the 
 
 deviati >r. was 6° east of the north, and in IGGO the magnetic 
 iiortli ’ ■■>(6 coincided with the' gcograpl'ieal north pole. In 
 1G0*2 ii had passed to G^ west of noi'th. In 1TG5 it was 20° 
 west ; fU' i in 1818 it attained its maximum westerly deviation — 
 24° 41 . It is now returning to the north. In 1850 the 
 westerly deviation was 22° 30'; and in Oetoher, 1871, the de- 
 viation observed at the Kerr Observatory war 20° 18' 7''. 
 This i: the secular variation of tlie magnevic needle. A deli- 
 cately suspended magnet may be obsevsed to undergo an 
 annual, daily, and even hourly variation. 
 
 “ If a steel needle be accurately balanced about a horizontal 
 centre, and be there magnetized, it will no longer be in hori- 
 zontal -<|uilibi'ium. In'Loridon the north end of the needle 
 will G’. :> down, forrning an angle of more than 60°, wnth a 
 horizor.tul plane. The angle which a magnetic needle, 
 capabii- c>f vertical movement, [dipinng needle,) makes with a 
 horizo?; cal plane is called the angle of inclination or dip. The 
 vertical ]dane in which the needle moves must coincide ^vith 
 the ma .luetic meridian of the place. 
 
 “Tlw dip varies in different parts of the world. If we 
 convi'y a dipping needle north of London the dip increases-; 
 if, ori" the other hand, w^e go south of London the dip 
 diminishes; at the magnetic equator there is no dip, the 
 needle 's perfectly horizontal ; and south of the equator the 
 south ■'■'ie of the needle begins to dip, and the dip increases 
 as w'c i ■ ' further south. Thus the dip at Peru is 0°, at Lima 
 1G° 3C'h at the Capo of Good Hope 34°, and at Hudson’s Bay 
 behvec--; 89° and 90°. 
 
 “•T'h' 'magnetic 'poles of the earth are those points on the 
 earth's surface at wLich a dipping needle assumes a vertical 
 position. The north magnetic pole. W'as discovered by Sir 
 James Loss, in 1830. It is situated in longitude 96° 43' west, 
 latitude 79° north. The south magnetic pole, is as yet, 
 unknowii. 
 
 “The magnetic equator of the earth is a line connecting all 
 those places on the earth’s surface, at wdhch there is no dip. 
 It is an. irregular closed circular line cutting the terrestrial 
 equator at four points. The dip of a magnetic needle is 
 subject to both 3«cnlar and periodic changes. Thus in 1576 
 it was 71° 61' in' London; a hundred years later, it was 73° 
 
103 
 
 r 
 
 30', and in 1723, it readied a maximura of 74° 42'. In 1800, 
 it had decreased to 70° 35', and in October 1871, the dip 
 registered at the Ivew Observatory rras 67° 56' 3". The dip 
 also undergoes annual and daily changes. 
 
 “If a horizontally suspended magnetic needle be moved 
 from its position of rest, it returns to it, passes it, and oscil- 
 lates backwards and forwards across the final positioii of rest 
 in the magnetic meridian of the place; in fact, it beconies a 
 horizontal peiKlrdum" oscillating under the intluence of the 
 earth’s magjietism. It has been proved that the intensity of 
 the earttds magnetism, at any two places, is proportional to 
 the square of the number of oscillatious made by the same 
 magnetic needle at these places. 
 
 “ Yarious determinations of the intensity of the earth’s 
 magnetism prove that the force increases as we pass froin tho 
 CHjuator to the .poles, as in an ordinary magnet. Thus if tlie 
 intensity at Peru' he taken as unity, the intensity in London 
 will be represented by 1.369, and at Baffin’s Bay by 1.7U7. 
 
 ■ “All matter is affected by a powerful magnet, hut while 
 many substances (iron, nickel, manganese, oxygen gas, &c.,) 
 are attracted, other substances (bismutb, copper, hydrogen, 
 &c.,) are repelled by both nolcs of the magnet. 
 
 “- If a email bar of iron or other attracted substance, be sus- 
 pended iioLweeu the poles of a magnet, the bar will set itself 
 axkdbj, that is with its length in a line joining the two poles. 
 If on the other hand a bar of bismuth or other repelled sub- 
 stance bo suspended in a like position, it ^vill set itself oj'iatorb- 
 ally, that is at right angles to a, line joining the poles of tfio 
 magnet, because as it is repelled by both poles, it will 
 endeavor to ki'cp as far away from them as possible. Such 
 bodies are called dia- magnetic” 
 
 In Professor Tyndall’s introduction to bis “Besearcbos on 
 Bia-^Magnetism.” writing of Professor Faraday, be^ state^ 
 “ That having laid hold of the fact of repulsion, he_ immedi- 
 ately expanded and multiplied it. He subjected bodies of the 
 most various qmdities to the action of his magnet; mineral 
 salts, acids, alkalies, ethers, alcohols, aqueous solutions, glass, 
 phosphorus, resins, oils, essences, vegetable and animal 
 tissues, and found them all amenable to magnetic influence. 
 N"o known solid or liquid proved insensible to the magnetic 
 power. When developed in sufficient strength, all the' tissues 
 
104 
 
 of f he hu.Vian body, the blood — it coi.t.d;! ; iron-^ 
 inclviuud, .voi'o proved to be dia-ma^notic, so !lt.u d’y .u could 
 suspend ft onar. between the poles of a magnet, 'his extrenuties 
 ' would retreat from the poles, until his length dei iioic ecpiato- 
 rial,” tliat is to say, horizontally peroendicular to the magnetic 
 merhlian.. 
 
 From the dip or inclination of the magneti(- needle on 
 various jiarts of the e/u'th’s surface — as magnetism is a dual 
 force — we infer that one of its poles is jiitraiitcd by the 
 ■magnetism existing in the upper atmosphere, wldlo the other 
 is attracted to, the magnetism in the crest of the earth 
 beneath. At Peru the dip is 0°, owing itrobably to the 
 heat, in the interior of the earth under 1‘fwu, Avhich is 
 freqncrddy manifested in the most violent carilvi'mices and 
 volcanic action, and heat we know destroys mar'-ruitir-m. As 
 the dip of the needle in either hemisphere increases from the 
 magnetic equator toward, the poles, it is obvious that the 
 magnetism in the upper atmosphere, as well 'as in the crust of 
 the earth, also increases in a like proportion, attrilmtablo 
 <loul)th'S8 to the increased cold, both of the up|>cr atmosphere 
 and' I he crust of the earth in high latitude, and as negative 
 clectriciiy and magnetism arc both associated witli extreme 
 cold, we find herein an 'Explanation of the dip of ibo im.ignetic 
 needle. 
 
 In the .attraction and repulsion of the mag.e.etic needle, 
 horizontally, at the magnetic, equator towards tlm north and 
 south ])o1g 3 of the earth, we have a dual horkionta! force. In 
 the deviation of the needle cast or west of imrili or south, we 
 ha.ve another dual force acting horizontally. Iii the class of 
 siiiiiccts called din-magnetic, which arrange themselves at right 
 angles to the magnetic meridian, or equatorlaliy as it is 
 termed, -we have -another dual force acting horizontally. In 
 the dip of the needle, which is nothing at the _ magnetic 
 equator, hut whose angle with the horizon hicreasing there- 
 . from as we advance towards either pole till it reuchos 90 ° or 
 a quadrant of a circle, we . find another dual force with one 
 set of poles in the frozen crust of the earth, wlnle an o}>posite 
 set of poles is in the equally frozen regions of the arctic and 
 antarctic upper atmosphere of our planet. 
 
 These forces, with electricity and heat, all developed by 
 light and controlled by the omniscient wisdom of the 
 Almighty, are the powers which regulate the, motions of our 
 planet and preserve it in its integrity. 
 
105 
 
 TVe ■■•-y --ell dispenso^ therefore, w’"i' the wh.Me uieory or 
 f centri i 1 : 1 iiii 'lcentrifiiejal forces, and of tlieaitracrt on of matte., 
 r by wt •..!.■! I.-', 'doh continually is being change;: with tire fovihs 
 
 ^ and l'- it assumes, the same subsrauce heing at ononme 
 
 solid .!■’ : 'fixed to the earth, then liquid and tnoval.fie ou its 
 
 ; surface ana again- gaseous and floating in its atia.Ocphere. 
 
 I above It. 
 
 In c.-nnoction with this subject of magnetism, b is ourioiib 
 to ob: Li'. e that in the animal and vegetable ki gdoms the 
 forms ->f -be productions all conform, in a groa;' ‘ :u;ie?f -v 
 degree, b. ’he typical forms of ellipsoids, or oblate sphoroir..ir, 
 as maniicsied in the planets. Examine the forms o'houi 'rees. 
 Vcrtic;h cc; horizontal sections, when they a-’e in ;u)’ leai^ 
 would dis' ir)i?A curved lines, which, if tangeutiai to tno ox- 
 tremi: ■ < -f their leafy branches, would represent the cl nnents 
 of an - -■ — in some cases elongated, in others nppr o'; hing 
 
 p nearly O'- he form of 'a circle. So with thf.ir lcave«, l.-ov, over 
 K- 'long and narrow tliey may be, the elemental character of. the 
 ■ellipse is" .'oi.arent in them. The fruits they bear have >1’. 
 similar ':;.;:::ieteristics. The apple, the peach, tho p'.ui, the 
 £ apricor, ti'C nectarine, and indeed all the stone f-uits, haYO 
 
 S. shapes -orresponding nearly to the ellipsoid. The nut-lx-ariug 
 
 g trees, from the coeoa-iiut through the walnuts, hieko-ie-S, 
 
 S pecan n^r.ei, chestnuts and beeches, all produce fruits which, 
 
 S; in tbeir ou c •f'orma, piartake of the character of ellipr oid-Y or 
 
 By. ■ oblate sj-;.ciY>his. The coffee-berry, the olive, the tig, the date, 
 j all cogi espY.. •;! in their general forms to the sfime type. A moiig 
 
 W ‘ what r;re cal -od vegetables, from the enormous mclnn, in' ail 
 Ei. its varir it 8, Tlirottgh the pod-beariug plants,- the eabljago. ,&c., 
 t tlie same tvjie is visible. So in the roots and tabciY,; the 
 jt turnip is vn ublate spheroid, the potato commonly an cllip- 
 r sold, as -y'y also the carrot and the parsnip. • In the seeds of 
 
 t. the faTaily or grapes, as well as in their leaves, the same Ibrrms 
 
 ' are fou . a The bunches of grapes, as well as their berries, 
 
 t; are all t : In, same characteristic form. Take even the grh?..os 
 
 -—in M’;i- 1:, nsny he included the cereals. Their long aed iiai 
 t row h ■ . - Y n -.e all elliptical in form, though they may, in some 
 i cases, be [-.T -ted at their outer extremities. TJiese long ieaves 
 ' assume the ■'•rni of a eemi-ellipse, in their curvature iiom the 
 stem er i^r-YYohes, from which they grow, towards the ground. 
 
 ; So it is yvkh tl=e long blades of maize or Indian corn, the ^ugar 
 
 > cane, and sorghum. The leaves, fruits and branches of trees, 
 
 Y for the most part," have an inclination towards the earth, and 
 are commonly pendant. Their tops are attracted upwards, 
 
 I' 
 
106 
 
 a'^: i are fro<jnently vertical. Wliy 'do their brancTics extend 
 lu ''ail v' and downwards, while their trunks ■ and sanimits 
 , sr.oK,l vo vticnlly in the atmosphere? And why do their 
 li ’’cs an d d aits hang downwards ? Is it not hcca asc of their 
 magnetic '•^oivlition ? Kow, the leaves, fruits. and, branches of 
 trees, ’.vhi di van’Kue horizontal, or slightly inclined directions, 
 may he. 8n;)V>')sed to be dia-magnetic, and nnder the i'dluence 
 o>.' the horizontal currents of magnetism that set aonatorially 
 to the magnetic meridian; vddle the trunks a)' i ■■i..i:)iaits, re- 
 psllcd by the rnagnetism of the earth, are attracted h}' the op- 
 posite magnetism of the upper atmosphere, and ?Ae % orticallj. 
 These t^^'o forces, varying in intensity, produce ali iho re.sultaut 
 directions wldch their hVanches assume in theu development. 
 Fruits of trees, being ellipsoidal in form, (which, is the^ com- 
 mon form of simple magnets,) and generally pen <lant vertically, 
 when they fall to the ground are attracted the ro hy the supe- 
 rior magnetism of the earth, and remain on it hy the, same 
 attraction, unless removed from.it hy a superior force. 
 
 If there is any truth in the story of Sir Isaac iN ovv fcon hav- 
 ing.heen led to the adoption of his theory of gravitation, and 
 of '^centripetal and centrifugal forces, by the sight of au apple 
 falling from its tree to Jhe ground, it is to he lanicn/u.; i that he 
 did not investigate the force which expanded tlic seed, c.aused 
 its germination, pushed it from the soil, (whcr.e ! y gra citation 
 it should liavc remained,) and directed its iico'c.ly'y^mcnt up- 
 wards and laterally, forming its fruit-bud, hlossc-ra mid fruit, 
 and holding the biter suspended hi the air, uuuh.hcu:d by raih,_ 
 hail or wind, till in its maturity, its growth covapicteh, it fell" 
 to. the earth, liy the attractive power of the'samo iorcc which 
 bad repelled its parent tree from the soil. Had ho done st>, 
 we might not now he compelled to begin anew the siudy of 
 terrestrial, physics, after liaving abandoned the learned speeu 
 lations of this celebrated philosopher 
 
 How, in the animal kingdom, we will begin with man, wht», 
 we flatter ourselves, is the highest development of animal lift. 
 As he stands erect upon his feet, if wc suppose a vertical jdanc 
 to he passed through his person laterally, the curved Hue so 
 produced, tnngentiid to his prominences, would bo an ellipse. 
 The revolution of that ellipse, on its longer axis, would pro- 
 duce an ellipsoid. How, that ellipsoid is, during the life ol 
 the man, a magnet, with opposite poles at its licad and feet, 
 and various parts of his body arc , also separate magndts, but 
 in harmony with the chief magnet. His legs arc a horse shoe 
 
107 
 
 magnet, with the poles in the feet, and the five toes on each 
 cf his feet constitute, for each foot, four horse shoe - mag- 
 nets. AVhen, from disordered health, the magnetism is. either 
 leg is no longer produced, paraij’sia of that limb v - ralfs, and 
 the contractile and expansive power of the muscf?,- is no 
 longer acted upon by the electricity of the system^ d no arms 
 furnish another horse shoe magnet, and the five fingers jf each 
 hand constitute, each, four horse shoe maguets, w tU f:. poles 
 at the extremities.- The optic, nasal and auditory n- rves,- in 
 each pair respectively, constitute a horse shoe magn j;. The 
 genital organs are each a separate, hut very powert^ui anagnet, 
 and are ellipsoids in forrd. 
 
 In quadrupeds, the fore legs are a horse shoe magnet, as also 
 are the hind legs. The split hoofs of the ruminants a -e also 
 horse shoe magnets; so are the rounil hoofs of the ao-i’f.e, the 
 ass, the mule and the zebra, with their poles pointing to the 
 rear, instead of to the front. A lateral horizontal sec'l of a 
 quadruped through bis head, neck and body, wov-ld o.^^elop 
 an elliptical curve. . The jaws of animals are horse 
 
 shoe magnets. A seipent, which is also an ellipsoich is a mag- 
 uet, and when it is coiled, each of its coils preserves i' c elli^ 
 soidal form. The same type runs through the feathei cd tribes, 
 and the forms of the fishes everywhere partake, more or less, 
 of the elementary character of the ellipsoid. 
 
 In the investigation of this subject it will he found that the 
 attachment of animals to the earth, and theiiTocomotiou upon 
 it, are due to magnetism, and not to gravitation. . It will he 
 observed, that in all animals, their bodies, which are their 
 l.eaviest parts, are the farthest removed from the surface of 
 the earth, which coiild not he the case if they were held to the 
 earth by the attraction of their weight or gravity. As Kew- 
 ton’s rule is that the attraction of gravitation, is proportional to 
 the mass or weight, and, as the head, neck, body and thighs 
 are the heaviest parts of the animal, they should bo nearest" to 
 the earth, which it is known, they are not. 
 
 ■ Fow, why is this type so universal — as well in planets as in 
 whatever that has life upon them? Is it not because of mag- 
 netism, that has developed this form and its modifications? 
 Does hot the magnetism of the atmosphere control the move- 
 ments of birds by its attractions and repnlsious; of the sea, 
 which is highly magnetic, those of the fishes and marina 
 animals which inhabit it; and of both the air and the land, 
 those of the animals who live upon the land, and of the plants 
 
108 
 
 which oro dcvolopc-fl in its soil? Magnetism, therefore, is an 
 element of lito, in -plants and animals, and is one .of the motive 
 powers of phinetary ami stellar -movemeuts in the universe. 
 
 Let no\v rctuni to Moses and his book of Genesis. In 
 i.lie 2(1 clmptor and 7th verse, he says: “And the Lord God 
 formeti. muir of the slime of tiie earth, and breathed into Iris 
 facet!)'.; i)! oath of life; and man became a living soul.” And 
 ‘u the 2l - t verse, “ Tlxen the Lord God- cast a deep sleep upon 
 Adam, aiiti wiioa ho was fast asleep, ho took one of his ribs 
 and fio. ' uj) liosh f;.)r it.” And in the 22d verse, “.And the 
 Lord i'(d built tiic rib wliich he took from Adam into a 
 woma r;, n"d brought lier to Adam.” '\V'’hen wo remember the 
 history o.f Misses, his birth of Israelitish parents, in the pro- 
 vince of Goslu'u, bordering on the Delta of the river Nile; 
 the at:. ‘mid of Jils motlicr to save him from the destruction 
 decrc Oil 1) v" riiairu th against all the male children of the Hebrews, 
 by plaei'tg :urn on the river ITile, in a water tight cradle made ■ 
 of pai:yrr/s, among the water plants of that stream; his dis- 
 covery bv li/liaraoh’s daughter as slie Avas proceeding to bathe 
 in tlm ri-'mr near by; his delivery to his mother to be nursed 
 and rc ir.id, till ho should be old enough to ho educated as the 
 adept ‘d s >u of the I’riii^coss, who had 'discovered him iu the 
 river; ids education by the priests, Avho at that period, as a- 
 class, Avoro the iii.-yst learned persons in Egypt; his subsccpient 
 aband.nim.ant of the court of Pharaoh, and flight into the 
 desert, wlicri' ho passed forty years of liis life; his selection aa 
 leader of bis -jieople in their llight from Egypt, and his resi- 
 dence arrmng taom for. the last forty years of. liis life ; avo are 
 not .sumo Iso'i that so learned a man, of such Amricd experi- 
 ences, sf' aid have hocn chosen to conduct such a people as 
 the Isr:.( ff)tc 3 out. of bondage, to a laud flowing Avith milk and 
 honey. 
 
 dn tbe l.cmplcs of Egypt, he had doubtless seen the priests 
 oftciitiim-.i engaged in making their idols out of the slime of 
 the I'iA'vi* mile. Perhaps he himself may have assisted in their 
 man a fv.; rare. Ho must have had the lustory of his life im- 
 parted t;,! blm, and the ooze of the river on AA'hich his cradle 
 had re.itod must have been to him a familiar object. He kiieAV 
 the p] art ic' character of its slime, hoAV easily it could be made 
 toassaruo any form. And he AAms probably acquainted Avith 
 the quahrios of the various materials composing it, A’iz : the 
 cjarhonate of lime, from the bed of the river, the remains of 
 flsh and reptiles, replete aauUi phosphates, and the vegetable 
 

 tv. / 
 
 • 109 
 
 matter, in almoa,t every stage of decomposition.' When, there- 
 for*!, it was revealed to lam by the Almiglity that he had 
 formed man out of the slime of the cartlx, he could readily 
 understand that Divine power could faslxion^a mail our, :.f such 
 luateuials, but the investing this man of ilesh mad ;l:' clay 
 with life, by simply breathing into his face, was eucd ;i mn,ni-^ 
 iestacion of power as must have confounded all his rensoning 
 faculties. 
 
 Let us see if we can form any idea of how this vitabzat’or- 
 of the first man was efiected. Remember that this irj a reve- 
 lation of a physical fact, and in communicating it to - ankind 
 through the medium of Moses, the Cjroator did not ; can to 
 make any secret of it, but has left it to us to -disco vcir if we 
 can, without discrediting the act, or disbelievirg thr revela- 
 tion. Let us suppose the first man to have boon made out of 
 the materials mentioned, lie is complete in all his organisms ; 
 they are all prepared; and ready to work. as soon as sdtality 
 shall be imparted to them. This is done by “ breathi xg in his 
 face the breath of life,” and “the man becomes a living souL” 
 iNow, the first inquiry is, what is the breath of life ? Accord- 
 ing to Moses, light had been created, the earth had received 
 its form, the three kingdoms, animal, vegetable and x nnoral, 
 were defined, and their functions were being performed, an 
 atmosphere existed, and we may suppose that it ivas consti- 
 tuted to fulfil all the conditions which appertain to it at the 
 present day. Its elements were the same then as now. Light, 
 which from the beginning had been passing through intersteh 
 lar and interplanetary spaces, with its inconceivable velocity, 
 had, on entering the denser medium of the atmosphere, pro- 
 duced enormous friction, by which electricity, and subse- 
 quently magnetism, had been evolved to perA’cn the parts 
 assigned to them in the Divine economy. T. f eu Adam, there- 
 fore, was finished in his structural condition, and tlio blood 
 lay in his heart and lungs, arteries and veins, without motion, 
 but ready for use, all that was necessary was to fill his lungs 
 with atmospheric air, negatively, electrified, and life at once 
 became established in his system. This was done by breath- 
 ing in his face the breath of life, that is to say atmospheric air, 
 which, conducted by the nostrils and the mouth through the 
 windpipe to the lungs, and through the eyes and ears do the 
 brain, and meeting there the blood oppositely electrified, the 
 conjunction of these opposite electricities produced heat, which, 
 eonsuminw the carbon of the blood in the oxygen gas of the 
 atmospheric air, formed carbonic acid gas, thus purifying the 
 
110 
 
 blocd .v^ It'S carbon, imparting to it a beat of 100° of temperntnre, 
 pof itl ; 0 ' -lectrificd, and expelling from the lungs, through the 
 movii'- ' nostrils, the carbonic acid gasAvhich has been ihus 
 formo L The blood, after having been thus purified, rushed 
 into iieart, driven by the positive electricity of the lungs, 
 and fr<r;' tue heart forced into the arteries, from whicl: it Avas 
 distriimteo to all parts of the system for its renovation and 
 Euppto u This arterial blood, starting fi’om the heart Avith a 
 temperature of 100° F., rolls in the arteries, producing friction 
 and cvrii vij.g electricity, supplying all the organs of the body 
 vrith : ariouc materials for their renovation and nutrition, and 
 dovelc-r ‘;g :-agnetism, but losing more heat than it generates, 
 80 ti: o hy ine time this arterial blood has passed througl' the 
 capillcric.u a‘i sd has entered the veins to return to the heart, it.has 
 lost t .v o degrees of temperature,' and it i-eturns to the heart as 
 vonour ir ood, Avith a temperature of 98° F. This loss of tAvo 
 degrees of heat in traversing the body, changing the elec- 
 tricity of the blood, by induction, from ijcing positive to being 
 negabve; in the heart it becomes again posithm, and rushes 
 info tlic lungs to meet the negative electricity of the atmos- 
 pheric ■^d.r, AAdierc the same process of burning the carbon of 
 tlie blood ir. the oxygen gas of the atmospheric air, puri tying 
 the b ‘ou, driving it b«^ck again into the heart and tiience 
 throuo-h the arteries throughout the system as before, and so 
 Oil AA^irdo li fe exists in its normal condition. This is, probably, 
 the pl'-ysical life of man, as described in the 2d chapter and 7th 
 verse c- ihe book of Genesis; and Ave find that electricity, 
 heat, and magnetism, are essential elements of it, and that 
 without tnem it cannot exist 
 
 i)r. b !rc, in his celebrated experiment, of convepng currents 
 of electricity along the spinal nerves of the recently executed 
 malefactor, '^Clydesdalc, while the body was still warm, tliough 
 life was extinct, produced a horrible caricature of the operations 
 of life, liy calling into violent contractions the muscles of the 
 face. All the expressions of i*age, hatred, despair and horror 
 wore depicted upon the features, producing so revolting a 
 scene tluit many spectators fainted at the - sight. In like 
 manner uauscular contractions and expansions of the limbs, 
 imitating the movements of actual life, Avere exhibited, to tile 
 astonishment of beholders. , 
 
 The ingenious physicist. Fitter, of Munich, in Bavaria, cele- 
 brated for his experiments in gahmnisin, has, through them, 
 among other' things, established the fact, that a constant de- 
 

 111 
 
 
 I velop!. . .:'■ ' ■ electricity accompanies all the ph-.-norncTi^. 
 
 ^ ^y; u-i :'i-agnetism is developed by cutront--- of elec-ii- 
 
 city, it iV'i SOU'S, iiuit in iv.oviog-the legs of aniiv!;'.’!.'. t’l.e expan- 
 -sion a-iil c>o vractioa of their muscles prodyr-e fVh'ijiSn and 
 ! evolve nu ei^^etricity opposed to that which Las fu t Mmm hi 
 motioti, a- -:, ;n. the same time, the conjunctic- «L' Lie- - oppo- 
 site eh- : Iiioji aloo develops magnetism, wL'-ii once is 
 
 acted voou p;, the superior magnetism of the eani<, ao i hen. e 
 you ha, r a ;> g lifted from the earth. and anidhor pt ; - i upon 
 it, in 1 cori -o ion, hy the force of magnetism, m l tb;.;. is ',‘e- 
 peatui 0 ’ ; : : en aemued at the will of "the tuiinud. 
 
 The cf -rhro :-od naturalist. Prof. Louis Agassiz, in Ids 'ecturea 
 onEmijj , olOoV; stated, that tlio beginning of any o; l :ife vras i;i 
 an egg. ).a - see if we can co nprehendits traotM-rotar.-on in:a 
 > life. "Hie sevos are oppositely electrified. In tin,: Li-oton race 
 the femaiesgirum .the positive and persistent ci'f' r-iotr.r of ihoir 
 demands, may he termed positively electrif-a. TLo ma-es, 
 
 . ■ from ti>eir h;ihit of negation or denial of the t o-mia of -he 
 females, JP. I ih h is of too couimon occurrence, ji'av be terme i 
 negatively electrified. These -opposing cordoions crer isi 
 sexual attmet ion ; when a coumnetion of these eiM.op.'te ewe- 
 tricities oc-oiirs in the act of coition, a certain d( - ci heat is 
 developed, am] magnetism is ai lo evolved— the - , ler. gaged 
 from the oveiri im is magnetiziol and positively J. t; - n- d, aud 
 through tiie Eallopian tubes, enlarged by be .^, 1 ,'; of the 
 coition, is carried into the uterus, prepared to receive if,' 
 Thus, viiahond by the electricity and magnetir-m noo: 
 been imparted to it, its own heat, and that of lim ohorus, ni 
 which it is deposited, continue to preserve tho hfe which Las' 
 i ■ thus been culled into being. Such, also, is the commence- 
 y meut of animal magnetism. 
 
 I Du Bois Tleymond states “that the electricaf o-.-r-rent man:- 
 I fests itself in different directions, in the im.-i.a ; - different 
 h animals, and with greater intensity in some . duinlr than m 
 §. others. The electro-motive forces thus operating in the m:-.-?- 
 cles depaud upon the opposite electrical [? mam- ■n-'’ oondi 
 tions exim: eg between their longitudinal and tw^c .v^foe sum 
 y tions.” fcv;- duo, with respect to the nervous 8ysv:on, he stati s 
 that the nerves are subject, in their sectional arrangoruents, to 
 the same law as the muscles. This must he understood, hov- 
 fV ever, with reference only to the exercise of their inherent elec- 
 
 > tro-motive fcirces. In transmitting the miiscuiar current the 
 
 . nerves perform the part of inactive conductors. It ,8 not in 
 fe .the whole, or a large part of a muscle, that an electrical cur- 
 rent can alone he shown to exist, but that every nu.rticle, the 
 
iDorest or fragment, _ evorr what_!i»ay hr 
 
 luio V . IB eg’icvily obedient to eJeetrical 
 
 i'jverv rnovemoet; look or gcstnre, every 
 I'aii or pieuBure, every en)otion however tranvo-i 
 lians ovf' V tltought nhexpressed, or word uttered, v-. 
 ed'v at fomitanied by tbo msturhunoe of e)eeir..-pu 
 TiicBe, ii' Avevcr, are so much more feeble rlia<\ any 
 wr have hitherto become acquaiuted, ihat in the ’ ^ 
 roosc active, during a week, or perhaps a moty •, 
 lativa etfects may not be equal to those evolved : j 
 Mow of the hand upon a table.” 
 
 CO 
 
 .1,' ,j; 
 
 ' 
 
 i I i ' i 
 
 ai\' 
 
 ^vil 
 : a! 
 i;ci 
 
 ii/idcrcd 
 
 ition of 
 ,iid per- 
 r '1 assur- 
 e ibrees. 
 li which 
 I lest and 
 r cumu- 
 !<:■ smart 
 
 Much specnlation has been evoked and varinas ,:pc:’uuents 
 at. different times instituted, to discover and e>q bv- * i !k- cause 
 of the uniform normal heat of the body of a heaitby tViclt per- 
 30U, hut heretofore with unsatisfactory results. hTotvy it "jeems 
 V - me that the exi'ilanation is not a difficult one. .u ^yul be 
 f=duudod that the relative capacity of the lungs -o farmsh at- 
 mospheric air to oxidate the hlood_, and of the bieart to supply 
 the proper quantity of blood to lie so oxidated in dio tiuigs, is. 
 constant V;; a healthy adult. When, therefore, the lungs are 
 filled to their greatest capacity, with blood ami atmosphonc 
 air in diffusion through it, the meeting of the imgalme elec- 
 tricity of the air with the positive electricity of tae bnood in 
 the lungs, develops heat and magnetism, and fho omdated 
 blood becomes positively electrified; the carbon of the blood 
 unites with a portion of the oxygen of the air in iiie .amgs, 
 and becomes carbonic acid gas, also positively eioctrifiect. 
 This change also develops heat and magnetism, having^ been 
 produced by the meeting of opposite electricities: a portion of 
 the water of the blood, separated from it during these clianges 
 is taken np hv the carbonic acid gas; and the carbonic acid 
 £ras and the oxidated blood, both being positiv(dy electrified, 
 romd each other— the blood back to the heart, to be thence 
 diff rihuted by the arteries through the system, ivhim the car- 
 bonic acid gas, and the. -watery vapor it contains, are expired 
 from the lungs through the mouth and nostrils into the atmos- 
 phere. This repulsion of the, carbonic acid gas and watery 
 vapor from the lungs is obvious to every one. For who is 
 there that can hold his. breath even for a single moment t A. 
 greater poiPer than man’s will forces them from tlie 
 that is the repellent power of positive electricity. Ihe oxi- 
 dated blood is driven into the heart by this same repellent 
 
 force. ■ 
 
 It is the electrical action, therefore, in the lungs of the at- 
 mospheric air and the blood intermingled in constant relative 
 
113 
 
 ^| iAnatios, that produces the unilbrm temperature, in all Ltl i 
 r !3, of 98° Fahrenheit in a healthy adujl person. , 
 
 Electricity is the cause of the fluidity of the blood in th' 
 and arteries. Venous blood taken fronx the veins, ami 
 eft to itself becomes solid, and separates into two distincx 
 par.::; tlie serum, or watery, being over and' upon the clot or 
 o igalum. The serum is chiefly water, holding albumen in 
 sol*; iion and the salts of the blood. The clot contains fibrin 
 cokring matter, a little serum and a small quantity of salts. 
 Pi k't- a finger with a needle, a small drop of blood exudes. 
 
 ' It i ^ negatively electrified ; on being exposed to the air its nega- 
 tive electricity instantly unites with the positively eleetritr.u . 
 uiv in contact, with the warm surface of the finger, heat is 
 p-oduecd by their conjunction, the watery part of the scnini 
 is. evaporated ‘by the heat and the distributing electriciiii.s ; 
 M.i-d the clot remains to cover the puncture made bv tlie' 
 needle, and to protect the blood in the vein from further 
 injury by the action of the air upon it. How many lives have 
 been saved after unconsciousness, from the loss of blood, in 
 woixnds, has seized upon the sufierer, l)y the escape of th; 
 svnvn of the blood through evaporation from electricity, anu 
 hio deposit of the clot upon -the lips of the wounds, closing 
 toeru and preventing the further flow of the blood throngh 
 them, and thus allowing nature to gather up its remaining 
 strnngtu, and to restore the patient. How thankful we should 
 be ro the Creator for this siiiiplc, wise and benevolent proA'.i- 
 siou for our safety in the occurrence of blood-letting injuries ! 
 
 A?i, eminent surgeon of my acquaintance has informed me . 
 in cases of death’ produced by lightning, the blood ro- 
 feiaiurA fluid in the veins for several days afterxWds-; whereas. 
 gsesB of death from disease, tlie blood coagulates soon aitor- 
 ar.l,;. He has known a ease in which the blood remained 
 in the veins four days and several hours sub.sequent to* 
 i,yi_eath of the man by lightning. This- ^oos to show that in 
 opco of_electricity from the blood, its flow in the arte- 
 Mtid veins becomes retarded, and its coagulation, or cx en 
 " ening, would suddenly terminate the life of an animal in 
 <ih,it had occurred. This, no doubt, is the cause of para ; vsi, 
 ■’idd'vpoplexy. The treatment in such cases, therefore, shoubi 
 ■■ ■ th*- introduction of the opposite electricity in the, veins ami 
 artvriesrto restore the electrical equilibrium and consequem 
 the blood. ■ 
 
 I have somewhere met with the folloAving anecdote of the 
 Ut*. ^*®Qperor dsicliolas I,- f Tfussia, xvhich, as it is pertinent tv* 
 ;he ^ csent discussion, may be introduced hero. It is as folio vs ■ 
 
114 
 
 u^b; 
 
 r ar- 
 
 H jiivC: y.-ars Buico a very tliBtingnisbod Freneb actrocn. b 
 r;i ''■ii"’ciaent at tlie IiTipcvial Ibeatre at Si- Pot-M ' ! 
 
 I 'M-iv-od There at tlie^oglrmhig of Avintcr. Sooa atter :i ^ 
 rl\ al in ^^ompany with a gentleman of her party, slie proceoueu 
 to t he grounds of the 1V-intcr Palace for walking ^cxc'-cise. 
 Pointer had arrived and the ground was covcrcu vat 
 Bomc of which had recently fallen. The air was ciilra and tne 
 weather very cold. • 
 
 In the course 'Of their walk, their attention was attracted by 
 fm appearance of a gentleman of very distingund:ei! vmon, 
 who -vas also walking.' He was very tall and renairrcaWy 
 handsoi-ne, and was approaching them .rapidly; very imv-.-h ira- 
 pressed by his appearance and manner, tliey were rvy-irding 
 hhn .'crv fixedly, when as be came near to tbein they s-.lw him 
 take oft'rrom hif^hand a glove, and stooping low^ho_grarped a 
 handf'''l of the light and newly fallen snow. T’us i-.'ralige 
 movement so fully occupied their attention, that they were 
 almost unaware of his having reached W 
 
 before tlic.lady, he very abruptly claiiped liis;han<' h.c-.il wp.: , 
 snow non her nose, and began to rub it vigorously at the 
 came time saying to her in French; “Madame, yon- > oso is 
 fimec-’ Her attendant, astonnded by what at first re U nught 
 
 was intended as a.grek indignity to the lady, war a..oMy,o re- 
 sent it when he heard the explanation whicli accomp:.Vi^l m. 
 .The Emperor Nicholas; for k was he, ^^f’lto.ruo hn..ry 
 nr, 30 and hice of the lady with his hand filkd wndi sno-r to re- 
 store, by h’iction, the proper; circulation of the blovu end thus 
 prevent the great injury to the lady’s face whnhi the luss O' 
 her nose would occasion. lie spoke encouragingly to a-n’, aiii... 
 calhng an attendant he sent for his surgeon, and atten mo cir- 
 culation of the blood in ber face was rc-cstabiished, she wa^ re- 
 turne;l to her apai’tments, wliere she received e’ on ati-ntiou; 
 ■bv the Emperor’s orders, and'in a little while she was- oplirely 
 
 restored 
 
 VXVJ. w . 
 
 Iow,'.why did the Emperor rub her nose 
 
 .... 1 face 
 is iiand 
 
 with snow ; and why did he take off- ms glove fnmi 
 ta perform that office ? 
 
 It has been long known, that frozen limbs can be restored 
 to tliCir normal condition .of healthy vigour by the applicatioii 
 of snow or pounded ice to the part^ aflected, when quickly 
 rubbed with the human hand ; but it is not so well knov n why 
 such an effect is thus produced. Let us essay an explanation 
 of it When a limb, or member is frozen, _ the carcuiation of 
 the i)lood in it ceases, and the life of the Imib or niem^ier is 
 suspended; and unless its healthy action is speedily rcsiored. 
 
fill I >.J I *111'/ i^v|^PW>^'i'^i||,iPiJimMi9WUI^ 
 
 tlio part -afFectcd loses its vitality, gangrene sets in, and ampu- 
 tation becomes necessarjn The .animal electricity tlmt it con- 
 tained has disappeared. I^ow, the human hand has one kind 
 of electricity; snow or ice has the opposite kind of electricity. 
 When these opposing electricities are brought together in con 
 tact by frictiop, as they were in this instance, heat and mag- 
 netism were evolved, wliich Imat warmed and expanded the 
 i’rozen nose, and associated with the magnetism that had been 
 developed, excited air electrical current in the coagulated 
 l.)lood. in the veins of the nose and face, which then began to 
 How in its natural course. When this friction is thus con- 
 tinued for a sufficient time, the health of the limb or member 
 is restored, Now if heat from combustion had been applied 
 in tins case, instead of heat from electricity evolved by fric-. 
 tion, as above described, it would have resulted in the morti- 
 fication and loss of the lady’s nose. 
 
 It has been abundantly shown, by experiments made by 
 distinguished scientists, that, under the iniluence of weak cur- 
 rents of electricity, salts can be resolved into their component 
 elements. In this way a compound can bo separated into its 
 constituent acid and base. It has also been shown, by Becquercl, 
 that if an acid and alkaline solution be so placed that their 
 union is effected through the parietes of an animal membrane, 
 or, indeed, of an}^ other porous diaphragm, a current of elec- 
 tricity is evolved. This has been found to be true with all 
 acids and soluble bases. Now, Dr. Golding Bird asserts, that 
 with the exception of the stoniach and ccecum, the whole 
 extent of the mucous membrane, is bathed with an alkaline 
 mucous fluid, and the external covering of the. body is as con- 
 stantly exhaling an acid fluid, except in the axillary and 
 pubic regions. The mass of the animal frame is thus placed 
 between two great envelopes, the one alkaline and the other 
 acid, meeting only at the mouth, nostrils and anus. Donne, 
 has 'shown that this arrangement is cjuite competent to the 
 evolution of electricity. ■ ’ 
 
 . The blood in a healthy state, exerts a well marked alkaline 
 action on test paper — but a piece of muscular flesh containing 
 a large proportion of alkaline blood, wdien it is cut. into 
 small pieces and digested in water, the infusion thus ob- 
 tained is actually acid to litmus paper. This curious circum- 
 stance is explained by the fact announced by Liebig, that, 
 although the blood in ■ the vessels of the muscle is alkaline 
 from the tribasic phosphate of soda, yet the proper fluids or 
 I secretions of the ■ tissues exterior to the capillaries are acid 
 
ns 
 
 from the presence of free phosphoric and lactic acids. Thus 
 in rvciy mass of muscle, we have myriads of electric currents, 
 arising from tlie mutual reaction of an acid fluid exterior to 
 the vessels or their alkaline contents. It is thus very remark- 
 able, that a muscle should be an electrogenlc ap'paratus, and 
 
 ■ that we should have two sources of the clegtricity of the 
 muscles — the eJEFccts of metanuvphoses of eflhte fibres’ on the 
 one hand, and on the other the mutual reaction of two fluids 
 in different chemical conditions. The agency of a muscle 
 iugenerating electricity can no longer bo denied. 
 
 In the course of twenty-four hours a considex'able propor- 
 tion of watery vapour exhales from, the surface of the body. 
 This has been differently estimated, and is liable to great va- 
 riations — but from 30 to 48 ounces of water may_ thus bo got 
 rid of from the system; The evaporation of this amount of 
 fluid is sufScient. to disturb the electric equilibrium of the 
 body, and to evolve electricity of much, higher tension than 
 that set free by chemical action. This evaporation may proba- 
 bly account for the traces of free electricity generally to be _de- 
 tected*m the body, by merely insulating a person and placing 
 him in contact with a condensing electrometer. Pfaft’ and 
 Ahrens generally foupd the electricity of the body thus ex- 
 amined to bo positive, especially when the circulation had 
 been excited by partaking of alcoholic stimulants. Ilepmler, 
 another observer, found that in 2422 experiments on himself, 
 his body was positively electric in 1252, negative in 771, and 
 neutral in 399. The causes pf the variations in the character 
 of the electric conditions of the body, admit of ready ex- 
 planations in the varying composition of the perspired flxiid. 
 P' 'r if it contains, as it generally does, some tree acid, it, by 
 its evaporation, would leave the body positively^ electric; 
 whilst if it merely contains neutral salt, it would induce an 
 opposite condition. The accuracy of these statements can bo 
 .ea-sily verified by ?neans of the electrometer.” 
 
 o It is an established fact that, independently of combustion, 
 chemical action. or evaporation, the mere contact of heteroge- 
 neous organic rnatters is competent to disturb electric equi- 
 librium.” 
 
 AVhatever may be the influence of electricity as an agent 
 in exciting the function of digestion,' it is now pretty distinctly 
 . .made out that the function of digestion. in the stomach is an 
 action allied to simple solution, of which water — a' proper 
 temperature, [always associated with eleeti-icity] — and a free 
 acid, the hydrochloric, phosphoric, or both, are' the active 
 
117 
 
 audits. TT^e possess sufficient evidence to induce us to resrard 
 a current of electricity as tlie means by Avhich the saline 'con- 
 stituents of the food ‘are decomposed, and their constituent 
 acids, the real agents in digestion, set free in the stomach, the 
 soda of the decomposed salts being convej'ed to the liver to 
 aid the metamorphosis and depuration of the portal blood, and 
 cause the separation of matter rich in carbon in the form of a 
 saline combination in the bile. • It also appears, from various 
 expteriments, that in all cases the secreted matters are ahvavs 
 in an opposite electric condition .from that of the blood from 
 which they were generated.” 
 
 Chemical action is merely a synonj-m for electrical action, 
 hence in all tlie functions of the animal body from its birth 
 till its dissolution, we may observe the influence of electrical 
 currents, the development of magnetism by the conjunction of 
 them, oppositely electrified, and the production of heat. In 
 the first inspiration of atmospheric air into the lungs where 
 it encounters the blood oppositely electrified, lleat and 
 ■ raagnctism.are evolved, and the purified blood has one' elec- 
 tricity which .repels itself into the heart, and thence *v the 
 arteries through the system. When it reaches the capillaries 
 it has lost more than two degrees of its temperature, and being 
 forced through the capillaries into, the veins as well by the 
 repulsion of the electricity of the arterial blood, as attracted by 
 the opposite electricity of the veins and the blood they contain, 
 die temperature is increased till it reaches 98° of Fahrenheit’ 
 which it carries -with it to the heart. 
 
 Muscular exercise actively employed by the contraction and 
 expansion of the muscles, and by their 'friction among them- 
 selves, develops large quantities of electricity, which requires 
 a corresponding quantity of the opposite elckricity of the air 
 •to neutralize it, hence the inspiration of atmospheric air into 
 the lungs becomes more rapid in proportion to the activity of 
 the exercise, great heat is developed in. the body by' the con- 
 junction of the.se opposite -electricities, which expanding all 
 the tjssues of the body’, liberates the water contained in them 
 and in tiic viscera by exos mosis, which then exudes throngh 
 the pores of the skin, as perspiration, carrying off the surplus 
 e|ectrieity that has been produced by the violence of the exer- 
 cise, and relieving the body from the further inconvenience of 
 its increased heat. This perspiration is acid in some parts of 
 the body and alkaline in other p>arts, and. furnishes the most 
 iramodiate means of getting rid of the excessive, free currents 
 of electricity of the body , at all times. 
 
 
IIS 
 
 Dui'lr.g an attack of fever, vliilo the patient is sufiering 
 from tlie great interior lieat of his body from disturbed elec- 
 trical action, why does lie continually ask for cold water ? It 
 is because the cold Avatcr, oppositely electrified to the over- 
 heated organs and viscera of his body, is demanded by the 
 instinct of his nature, which requires it, so that the increased 
 heat developed. by the conjunction of these opposite electrici- 
 ties rr;ay still more expand the tissues and viscera and liberate 
 the water therefrom which, mixed with the water drank, 
 would carry otf in perspiration the excess of electricity and 
 restore the body to its normal condiiion. For this ycasop, 
 cold water in largo quantities should always be prescribed in 
 cases of fever, to carry off the surplus electricity, by the 
 perspiration it induces, as Avell as to supply the material for 
 the very perspiration that it is intended it should produce. 
 Warm saline or acid baths, by expanding the pores of the 
 skin, and thus promoting perspiration, are natural remedies 
 in cases of fever or of violent inflammation. Perspiration, 
 therefore, alkaline or acid, is the remedy for excessive elec- 
 trization — and just as the perspiration is either alkaline or 
 acid, in those places of the body where in its natural state it 
 should be the reverse, ought the X'hysician to be able to diag- 
 nose the causes of this abnormal condition, and to restore the 
 electrical equilibriuiu in the system. 
 
 The sexes are oppositely electrified— -hence their mutual at- 
 traction for each other. Fowgive them the s;n iv; clectrieitiLS,- 
 and runtuai reqmlsion immediately results. Let us ponder 
 avs'hi’o oil this subject. Every one must have observed iu the 
 prers of this country, alrn(i.st daily, and iu every jaart ot it,^ 
 acemauts of the most outrageous, cruel, and in some ca.sos ot 
 diabolical attacks of men upon woinen, and occasionally, of 
 women uxion men, generally wl len they bore toward caeli 
 other the relation of husban'd and ivifo. V\^ben they have been 
 first acquainted with, each other, their electricities being oiq>o- 
 sitc, they were mutually attractctl to each other, their acquaint- 
 ance grew into esteem, and ripened into affection and love, 
 and they became man and wife. The animal systeni develops 
 electricity, magnetism and heat in its functional aefions— the 
 kind of electricitv and magnetism are ' dependent upon-- the ' 
 habits of life, the diet, the occupation and association of the indi 
 vidnal. 'When these are similar similar electric and magnetic 
 conditions of the liody will result. It has been shown that the 
 ne»-ative or masculine electricity of the man is. reversed, ami 
 becomes positive like that of the woman under the excitement 
 of alcoholic stimulants— in other words, for the time being, 
 
119 
 
 the TTifi.r l>r-eomos a woman, and is converted into the onl >" 
 thing wi h lx the British Parlianie'nt, in all its great potentialitv, 
 could not do, viz ; make a man a woman, .or a woman a nia::. 
 This, alcoholic stimulants have always done, and are now doin'.; 
 ever}’ 1 ry. dTien this change in the condition of his electricity 
 has :-'r'‘iTed, his attributes become feminine; he is irritable, 
 irrationa', excitable by. trivialities, and when opposed in hi:) 
 opin' n; 8 or conduct, becomes violent and o'ulrageous, and if, 
 
 ■ in thi ; n, ;.;>d, he meets his .wife, whose normal condition of 
 electri'.ily is like his present condition, 'positive, they repel 
 each >. ‘d': r, become mutually abusive, engage in' conflict and 
 deadly ; i rii-b and tbe newspaper of tbe next day announces tho- 
 verdi : -. c - tiw coroner’s jury on the case How many such, in- 
 ly cidcio c are occurring dai ly in almost eveiy part of our extended 
 country - and wbo would expect to find tbe discover}" of- the 
 moving cause, of all, tbesc terrible crimes in the persiflration of 
 . the c’ir..iiuari, and yet science has shown that, the metamor- 
 phosis of a tvian into a Woman by changing the negative coh- 
 ditioii of his electricity into the positive clcctricrity of the 
 women, witli. all its attributes, is disclosed by the character of 
 his superinduced by the use of alcoholic stimu- 
 
 iaiits ’ .Xt is a very curious thing to note, that among the Per- 
 sians, mcjlkthc most ancient of peoples, the ordinary saluta- 
 i.iou cr ' bo meeting of friends, is, not as among the English, 
 
 ■ H-v.: ? o you -bo ? ” as if your. life was one of incessant labor, 
 or as i-wong tf>e Prencb,.‘‘ Comment vous portez-vous ?” How 
 do y carry yourself? ” as if it wws a. great exertion to move 
 at ab — i,ui: 'Ebow do you perspire? ” In the lapse of ages, :i 
 :vst O'- i of knowledge useful to a people, is neoessarih- ac- 
 re ynired-fy iboir experience, personal as well- as nation a.!, jn 
 
 dm hoi: and arid climate of Persia, the people sufler, and bavo 
 
 ■ aPwv ■ sufibred, greatly from tbyers, eruptive disease;: of iho 
 skiU; as we!i as from those of a dysenteric and choleraic char- 
 
 fl, acter. Their experieuco has taught them, in . their dhioases, 
 that rfc frst relief from sufiering that they felt, was h-- the re- 
 turn of their perspiration to their skin, and as long as ihat 
 perspir-ation .could bo maintained, just so long was tlicir relit f 
 ’ continued—pb cr.ee they came to regard it as synonymous with 
 a state of g'.iod health, and the salutation among friends on 
 meeting was inti’oduced and became common among the 
 b people. , 
 
 Lot no woman, hereafter, delude herself with the idea that 
 * she cab rotf.rm a man addicted to the use of alcoholic, stimu- 
 lantr. by marriage. Should she attempt it, she will fall a 
 victim to bie deiusion, as many of her sex have done before 
 
120 
 
 ' or, as f lio willlind that her wiil is controlled by her r: r.pr-n' 
 ■lositive oleclricity, wliich is of* the same character iis tliat bt the 
 lann, her husbancl, and that, in spite of herself, the two w’U e- 
 nintually repellent, and their association as man and wife will 
 he utihappy in the extreme. 
 
 Observe a drnnken man with a male companion wlio is 
 sober; their electricities are opposite ; how loving the drnnken 
 ' man is tb his friend ; he caresses him; locks his arm in that' 
 of his companion ; hugs him ; in France he would klsr him; 
 jirattle.to him- with the simplicity of a child; talks iK .wcnse 
 yrith the incoherence of dclirinm ; and is as good hui-norc'- 
 raid amiable as possible. Ilis. wife appears on the scenr ■ his 
 nianncr changes instantly; she tells him he is wanted atimnn:; 
 and asks him to. accompany her there ; ‘he replies, “ yon go tz 
 yn ass, don’t you see I am with George,” naming his con pauion. 
 The wife urges him to go home, and not expose himself in nie 
 - public streets in his bo'ndition. He is ■ exasperated ; tlio^o re- 
 pellent electricities are in action; they become angry; vio- 
 lence probably ensues, and the police interfere. Let no woman 
 ever venture to remonstrate wdth a drunken nian ; her own 
 electrical condition forbids it ; such remonstrance irritates the 
 man, develops bis anger, and leads to violence ; and whm it 
 is remembered that woken arc particularly the objects of bratal 
 r.ttack by drunken men, as is made manifest by the pul;!" cation 
 in the daily press of the country, of crimes that have been 
 committed, it is obvious that their safety will be jprometed by 
 their silence. . ■ 
 
 The remarkable variations in bis own electrical condition, 
 
 ■ reported bv the observer, Ilcmmcr, as' deduced fromjns e^xTcri- 
 ments upon bis own body, go to show that every iiKudouj in 
 • human life might be trace'd to its electrical condition ; all the 
 passions are excited by it, and are skhdued by its reversal: all 
 tlie emotions are necessary consequences of it, and it not 
 probably going too far to say that the intellectuality of man is 
 
 largely 'due to'his electricity and maghetism. 
 
 ■ We have thus shown that from the impi;egnation of the ovum 
 of the warm-blooded animal, through its whole existence, clcc- 
 tricitv, maqmctism, and heat, arc the essential, elements^ of its 
 vitality; and that starting from the first man, Adam, it,. was 
 not until the Creator had “ breathed into his face the breath 
 w f life;” or, as We. interpret it, had brought together the atmos- 
 ikeric air and the blood in bis luipgs, oppositely electrified, 
 I'V breathing that atmospheric air into bis face, t rough his 
 uioutb, nostrils, and eyes, and thus bringing it into contact 
 
121 
 
 vfitli the oppositely electrified blood, that life in Adam ^<"3 
 cstabh - lied, and the law of life made universal for all li‘ 
 descendanta. 
 
 It is curious to observe tbe marvelous provisions ma^ie by 
 tbe Jreator to relieve tbe human animal from the ex. oss of 
 elcciric-al action in his system from whatever cause. The bral 
 being tbe most important of the organs, and contained in a 
 bony structure called the cranium, or skull, composed of severed 
 par:s united bj" serrated edges, and subject to a certain degree 
 of mobility at those edges, to protect the skull from fracture 
 by t) i ial, accidental blows, or pressure, is the first organ lo h-i 
 relic.'cd from increased heat in the blood v:hich circulates 
 there.- Perspiration first breaks out on the forehead, r cur tbe 
 temples; then at the uppermost suture, or serrated edge, =>n 
 the top of the skull ; then along the temples ; then behh-d - he 
 cars, i;o relieve the cerebellum and the organs of hearing; th en 
 abo> o and below the eyes, for the relief of those orga'is; tb m- 
 along the nose and corners of the mouth ; then under t ae jbie o 
 to re'^eye the glands of the mouth and throat; the ihornx, ur 
 chest, where the greatest activity of the circulation of the 
 bloi; ■ occurs, is relieved by the perspiratior- in the armpi'-Sr 
 unde, the shoulders; while the abdominal region is protected 
 by iivi exudation in the loins and groins, and the pelvis and 
 Lips have their guardian in tbe pubic region; the u->per log io 
 the angle behind the knee, w’heii it is bent ; the lowc- log and 
 foot find their security in the perspiration that exudes bet\veen 
 tbe toes, as the lower arm and hand are protected by it, -'is it 
 escapes between the fingers and in the palm of the hand — ^^ail 
 these sal utary provisions are independent of the wfill of the 
 indi ^'idual, and are so many safety valves for his preservation 
 from ivjjury, in too many cases, from his own in^rudcnce an 
 folly. . 
 
 It is to the female of ever}' species that the Creator ha.: 
 conib.-ou the care and perservation of the young anin'vl, n.a 
 well as the continuance of the species to wlricli she m \v be- 
 long. ~We all know how pow'erful is the emotion of matorna' 
 instinct ; it needs no illustration. 
 
 Am*!iig all animals'but man the season of reprod'icrio;-; ir 
 deper,f:ent upon climatic infiucnces— upon the temperature of 
 the season, w'hcn the young animal is to he ushered into li fo, 
 and ;m the products of the earth necessary for the nn-thrr’ 
 during the period of its dependence upon her for sustenancin 
 as well as for its owm support afterwards. 
 
 W e will illustrate by a common example. . We will suppose 
 
 
122 
 
 • l il season for rcproclnetion with the domestic c^.c has 
 'veil: Kpe is at pastime, and unconscious of the clianicc in 
 i.er CL'ftilition which is about to happen. Suddenly, there 
 yins to he given out from her body a strong effluvium — it 
 e ii roucs'ls her and accompanies her in evcrymiove.ment. It 
 fills the atmosphere near her — ^ivafted by the wind it is ( arried 
 t a great distance. A mile or more to the leeward the 
 < . \v, a bull is feeding among a hundred cows, in tl;e pricturo 
 field; grazing quietly he is observed to turn his head towards 
 t‘je direction from which the wind is coming. It marlcs tho 
 fret approach of the effluvium; he turns qnickl/ around 
 towards the' wind, raises his head high above hi-- fody and 
 drav's a long inspiration of air. lie recognizes the tVagi ance, 
 it is to Idrn an invitation. He sets out in a rapid walk in the 
 direction from which tho wind is coming; then he quickens 
 bis pace into a fast trot, and, as the welcome perfume incrcasos 
 in strengtli, he breaks into a gallop, and then into a fidl 
 A rbneo, a barrier, intervenes ; raising liimscU' on liis 
 l.biid IjcoIs ho throws bis forehand on the fence and breaks it 
 ic the groin id. Eenewing bis speed bo arrives in the iicld in 
 wliieh Ibo cow ds quietly grazing — among a tbousatid cows. 
 Ho follows the fragrance directly to the object of hi:- visit. 
 How, V'hat docs this ba^te mean? "Why docs be loavdii ' own 
 Tomtui-c, a mile or more away, to rush with such sf cod to 
 (vriie ■ fKlds ? Tlccausc a new life is to be developed, and the 
 muis; >ci-co]e elements of it are heat, electricity iuiu mag- 
 uetdr u The exercise of his muscles in running has prodncecl 
 tVktion, .fdetion has developed electricity, positive, ivldcli de- 
 rnouds negative electricity from increased inspiration of the- 
 atiric-sjhere. His imagination has been excited by trie pun- 
 gcncT of the -grateful aroma he. has breathed, lie arrives' at 
 ti:G co-=v, dra."s u long inspiration, licks heron the iicckwith 
 ],.$ rough. f.»ugue, and upon her loins, and makes an ofFort, as 
 b upitcr is said I o have done to Europa, after crossing the Bos- 
 phorus. The cow recedes from him, and he is disc pixuiitcd — 
 sb.' is p.ot ready. Again and again -he proffers his divotion — 
 Ft’ll rqicetcd. "The cow, in tlie meantime, recedes from him a 
 : paces, aiid\hegins again to graze. ^ Every momeut, how- 
 ever, her maturity of passion is approaching, the circulation 
 of her blood increases, stimulated by his proximity a ad the 
 oxlour given out from his body. Heat and electricity iu her 
 V»ody aro developed by a quickened circulation, and when tho 
 instinct of her aiatiire has been fully aroused she coinmuui- 
 cates to him, iu a mysterious way, her readiness to receive, iu 
 
ii'O *angTiagG of the Latin poet, “ taurum ruf.ntetn in 
 ilic eleinents of life are there, cl cctricitT, magnetism ancL -icat, 
 and at the end of the period'of gestation, a new life is added 
 to tlie herd. . 
 
 Among birds and ponltr}', the requisites for reprednetion 
 are similar. In the poultry yard observe the gallant cock. 
 Scriitchingon the ground he finds a grain of corn, br.potdianco 
 an insect; he gives a chuckle and one of his hens api>roarhc -3 
 to receive it. She picks it u]\ and comprehend:' ’n the 
 generous motive of the gallant bird, she starts off in s’ r^m to 
 enjoy the gift. The cock piu'sues, and after a si— y and 
 quick race, in Avhich friction, electricity, heat and mn o', q.siu 
 are developed in each of them, slic .suddenly stops, an en'to-a'-.o 
 follows, and an egg .is impregnated, which in due tirue- is 
 hatciicd into a chicken. 
 
 SoTnetimes, the cock pretending to have found some choice 
 niorsel when in fact he has not, calls a hen, who on aj-oroac*;- 
 ing him discovers the cheat and starts from him on a rnn to 
 be purlued by him as before, and with precisc’y a -bnilar 
 rysnlt to the last mentioned. So that to be a gay docif ■, cr of 
 ■the female is not confined to base man. 
 
 ■ In the reproduction of all the varieties of animal life from 
 the enormous whale to the firefly, wldoli in the Icvguage of 
 Tola Moore, ‘Mights her mate to her cell.” and frondi*: f b the 
 tiniest insect, the like conduct prevails^ viz': theexerei: v i f the 
 rriu-' Ics producing friction, and evolving clcctriei fy, magr;etism 
 and heat, to vitalize the ovum in its impregnation. 
 
 The whale requires three-quarters of an hour to be • -sod 
 in sportive dalliance around his mate, before a su". ient 
 degree of electricity, magnetism and heat can be attu . ,d to 
 impregnate the ovum of the female. 
 
 I have been credibly informed by a very intelligent man, 
 wiio was for many years ‘ engaged in the whale ti.sher;- ::c tlie 
 Southern Pacific ocean and Australian seas, that while cruis- 
 ing for whales off the coast of Australia the boats of Lis ship 
 pursued and captured a large sperm whale that made :*0 bar- 
 rels of oil. That when first struck with the harpoon lie went 
 down with great velocity, carrying with him an immense 
 length of line, and that befoVe he arose again to the suj-face 
 “ to blow ” one hoxir and iioenty-three minutes by the shijr -- chro- 
 nometer had elapsed, which fact proves that it is not iiecessury 
 
124 
 
 for a Tvhale to come to the surface of the water at ^hovr 
 iutervals of time to breathe, as naturalists suppose, ti.- 
 from the lapse . of time mentioned while he was under 
 the water he evidently had supplied himself with atmos- 
 pheric air for breathing purposes from the water, as it was 
 impossible that any pair of lungs could have inhaled and re- 
 tained sufficient air before he went down to sustain him for 
 60 long a time under water. The true explanation; probably 
 is, that the whale came to the surface to blow off, with his car- 
 bonic acid gas and watery vapour from his lungs, the 
 Bur[du 8 electricity that liad been evolved in his system by the 
 imiuense muscular action he had displayed in his descent 
 from, and subsequent ascent to the surface, as ' by no other 
 method could he have gotten rid of it. 
 
 Among terrestrial animals nothing is more common during 
 the beats, of summer,' wheii so much electricity is evolved 
 will tin them by their inspiration of air, the circulation of tlieir 
 "blood, their digestion, secretions and muscular action, than b:. 
 see them in herds standing in Avater up to or aboA^e their 
 knees to relieve themselves of their surplus electricity by the 
 conducting power of the AAmter and thus to cool their bodies, 
 whose heat must ascend into the air, and could not be con- 
 ducied to the earth Avhili^ their electricity could, by the AA^ater 
 in Avlnch they stood, be rapidly conducted from their bodies 
 to the earth. 
 
 Such is likcAvisc the cause of the habit of AvalloAving in 
 muddy Avater of all the pachydermata, tfora the mammotu 
 through the elephant, rhinoceros, down to the common pig. 
 
 All fatty or oleaginous substances being anti-frictional, as is 
 illusi rated in every day life in the .axles of our vehicles and in 
 machinery having*^ any rotating associations, prevent the ca’-oIu- 
 .tion of electricity, aiid consecpiently of he, at. Hence soino 
 extraordinaxy faks -appear in the animal economy.' It is 
 known that the Avhale, one of the A^arieties of the cetacea, 
 nurses its young from its teats, AAdiieh arc external on its body. 
 It is therefore classed, by naturalists, Avith the mammalia, to 
 which the human species belongs. The Avhalc inspires atmos- 
 pheric air, Avhen floating on the surface of the Avatcr, and also 
 abstracts it from the Avater itself AAdien swimming beneath its 
 surface. The Avhalcs are Avarm blooded, and the conjunction 
 of the negative electricity of the atmospheric air they have 
 .inspired, with the positive electricity of their blood, produces 
 heat. This heat and the accompanying electricity, Avhich is 
 
125 
 
 d.'ri‘/ed from tlie friction of their blood in circulation, and of 
 tiu;ir muscles in exercise while in motion, would all he rapidly 
 V inducted from their bodies by the water of a loAver tempera- 
 L-'i’e, ill which it moves and lives, but for the great thickness 
 of the blubber or fit Avhich encompasses them respectively, 
 and the immense quantity of oil contained in their skulls, that 
 arc- non-conductors of electricity, and serve to insulate it as it 
 is ovoh^ed. How then, in the rapid passage of a whale 
 t: rough the Avater,-is the enormous quantity of electricity 
 evolved by the friction of its organs, muscles and blocl, in 
 t’'.eir respective motions, to be got I’id of since it cannot • cape 
 frma its body on account of the non-conducting power of die 
 robe of blubber which encloses it ? The whale, in breathhig, 
 takes in a large quantity of Avater containing atmosphee'e air, 
 Avhieh air, having one electricitj^, is received into its respira- 
 tory system, where it meets AAuth the blood oppositely electri- 
 fied. This blood it oxygenates, and by the positive electricity 
 of its lungs and heart, this blood, similarly electrified, is 
 drh'cn Jhrough the arteries, to carry to every, organ of its body 
 its renoAmting and vitalizing material. Changing the character 
 of its electi’icity by induction as it -.passes into the veins, 
 through the capillaries, it is taken back to the heart and 
 thence to the lungs by the attraction of the positive electricity 
 of those organs, to maintain the life of the animal, and this 
 process is continued during its existence, How the air Avhich 
 the AAdiale has inspmed, AA^hether from the atmosphere iiicctly, 
 
 <<r by abstraction from the Avater- in Avhich he lives, aker it 
 has been, used to oxidate his blood, is to be gotten rid of. 
 But how ? This air being Avarm carbonic acid gas, and asso- 
 ciated Avith Avatery vapour produced by the heat of opi ortlh; - 
 elcctricitias in conveiting tlie carbon of the blood i to car 
 Imnic acid gas during the act of breathing, is positively elec- 
 trified, and is repelled from the lungs by their positive eiee- 
 P icity, into the atmosphere negatively electrified, thruvgh ‘rg 
 bbw- holes or spiracles, and thus the act of breathing among 
 animals is nothing more or. less than the action of electricities 
 ici their opposite condition of attraction and repulsion, wnen 
 associated Avith inspired and expired atmospheiic air. 
 
 ■Professor Matteucci has incontestably proved, ‘‘that eu^Tents 
 of electricity are ahvays circulating in the animal fi’cme, and 
 are not limited merely to cold blooded reptih^H, hut are 
 common to fishes, birds and mammalia.” He has shown ti --!t n. 
 '■‘current of positive electricity is always circulating from .'he » 
 interior to the exterior of a muscle, and that muscular cem- 
 
126 
 
 trroti : iS am developed in the animal machine bj.a fluid wln.h 
 i -5 CO'- d .Kded from the brain to the muscles.” 
 
 The -;ontraction of a muscle is produced by an electric cur- 
 rent -i' one kind. The extension of it is occasioned by 
 anotl ; , :r current of opposite electricity. These alternate forces, 
 applied to, the muscles of an animal, keep tliern in healthy 
 cxoi'c . and occasion all their movements, whether voluntary 
 ai diri:ct('d by the will, or involuntary as independent of it. 
 V.dio a ])Crson, therefore, is immersed in water, particularly 
 in sea .vater, ho is apt to be drowned; for the po.sitive elcc- 
 tricit.c vv'hich flows from the interior to the exterior of his 
 mused -M, extending them, is carried off rapidly by the negative 
 elect ieity of the water in which he is immersed, leaving the 
 negab re electricity flowing from the brain to the muscles, to 
 condi-act them in cramps, which he is not able to overcome, as 
 Iic l)us lost the power to extend his limbs by the escape- of his 
 imsiuvo electricity into the water. This is the cause of the 
 frccmciit drowning of pei’sons; even the best swimmers are 
 Bomciones drowned ifrom this cause. The Creator has^ pro- 
 vided a remedy against this loss of positive electricity in 
 aciua'ii -3 birds; covered with down and outside featheis, they 
 sccrcl.c a certain oily ipatter with which these birds, punc- 
 turing with their bills the vesicles containiiyg it on the surface 
 of t'.'-v-r bodies, and Ailing their bills wnth it, anoint their 
 feathers, rendering them impenetrable by the water in yhich 
 they swim, and thus they retain not only their electric- ities 
 but idso the necessary temperature of their bodies which the 
 union of these electricities in their bodies develops. The 
 ■womciJ of the South Sea Islands, in the 3?acific Ocean, ha^ ing 
 taken the hint from these birds, wnthout comprehending its 
 reason when they go to swim anoint’ their bodies with palm 
 or cocoanut oil, an^ boldly plunge into the sca,_ swimming a 
 mile l.'cvond the breakers w^hich surround their island homes, 
 and tiilving with them a piece of hoard, sufficient to bear their 
 weight, on which they monnt, and then standing on the 
 boar-1 on one foot, balancing their bodies upon it, they allow 
 •ffie bnrnenso rollers from the ocean to bear them with great 
 rapidity to the breakers, where thrown from their boards by 
 the violence of their motion they swim to the shore, repeating 
 in this manner their sport for hours, defying cramps, pre- 
 serving'- their electricities, retaining the natural heat of their 
 bodipsCand revelling in the joyous excitement of their danger- 
 ous sports. This practice of the South Sea . Islanders, _it is 
 said, has been recently imitated by the English Captain ys- ehb, 
 in his successful attempt to swim across the Straits of Dover, 
 
127 
 
 I>o luiving anointed Ms person before starting vritb the oil of 
 p^i’poises, wliicli enabled Mm to retain bis electricity and beat 
 in bis body, and thus to accomplish bis feat. ISTow, in cases 
 of shipwreck, it is obvious that when people are thrown into 
 the water, no mere floating apparatus, called “Life Pre- 
 servers” arc of any value to prevent the escape of the elec- 
 tricity and beat of the floating person ; but that be is liable to 
 bo drowned in a very few minutes by the escape of those 
 elements, of life from his bodjy notwithstanding he may con- 
 tinue to float for hours afterwards. The’ Esquimaux and 
 other Arctic tribes of people delight to eat oils, blubber, and 
 other flitty substances, having, been taught by their instinct 
 that this fatty diet serves to retain within them the heat of 
 their bodies-==^but how? All fatty substances are aiiti-fric- 
 tional, and non-productive of electricity. The viscera and 
 tissues of these flit eating people become invested wdth fat, 
 retarding- the evolution of electricity in their system, and by 
 thus diminishing their interior heat, preventing the secretion 
 of excessive perspiration, by winch their electricity would be 
 carried'dff frorh their bodies, and the consequent reduction of. 
 their temperature. 
 
 The people along the shores of the Mediterranean sea, in 
 the south of France, Spain and Portugal, delight also in oily 
 foods, as a preventive of the excessive secretion of perspiration, 
 without however understanding the rationale of their diet. 
 
 The first Jfapoleon, in a ■ conversation with Corvisart, his 
 chief physician, said, that “ he had no faith in the art of medi- 
 cine; but that he placed a high value on surgery. Anatomy 
 had developed a knowledge of the human organization, and 
 post mortem dissections had displayed the effects of disease, 
 or of injuries to various parts of the human sj^stem, by which 
 the surgeon could .profit, but that no such valuable ^^aid was 
 offered to the physician, who had to grope his way as best he 
 could, in his attempts to discover the cause and the seat of the 
 disease, and then to adopt an experimental treatment ti.> 
 remove it.” 
 
 “P>ut,'’ said Corvisart, “ Does your Majesty never take medi- 
 cine?” “Ko,” said ITapoleon; “When T am disordered, I 
 abstain from food, mount my horse, and ride rapidly sixty 
 miles — on my return I bathe, sleep soundly, and the next day I 
 am well.” The rationale of this treatment is as follows, viz : 
 The OvCtivo exercise on horseback produced friction in many 
 of his muscles, which friction evolved positive electricity : thi.s 
 required renewed inspiration of atmospheric air, negatively 
 
' 128 
 
 % 
 
 olectrified, to restore the electrical equilibrium ; the union of 
 tliesc electricities developed heat and magnetism, Avliich con- 
 ducted to the stomach' and intestines served to digest the food 
 previously talcen, and which, having remained undigestO'i, had 
 occasionJd his disorder. If any excess of electricity remained 
 i,: his svstem after his return to the palace, the warm bath 
 conducted it from him, and soothed him to sleep. 
 
 Solomon, the wisest of men, has left, as one of his legacies 
 to -mankind, the maxim, “spare the rod and spoil the child.” 
 
 Now let us examine this. Wheu_ children were misbehayod, 
 were destructive in their inclinations and conduct, rebellious 
 to authority, and were otherwise troublesome to parents or 
 others having the charge of them, Solomon, being a keen 
 observer, of effects, recommended personal chastisement with 
 tl’iC rod, and naturally attributed their better deportment 
 after the punishment, to the fear of the child of its repetition, 
 and perhaps with greater severity. This was possibly a natural 
 r onclusion on his part, at the age in which he lived, and may 
 be so considered even at the present time, but there is another 
 explanation, more philosophical and more scientific. It is as 
 follows, viz : 'Whou people are in good health, they are usually y 
 
 cheerful, in good humqur with themselves, and amiable to ;| 
 
 those around them; they do not think of or attempt to per-' | 
 
 T.etrate mischief to others, their electricities are in equilibrium, | 
 and they deport themselves properly. Now let one or other ' f 
 of their electricities be in excess, irnmediately their disposi- | 
 
 ■^ions bectime changed; no longer amiable, they see every thing | 
 
 and person through a disturbed medium; they become sullen, | 
 
 cross, crabbed, quarrelsome and disagreeable; the least dis- ,| 
 
 appointment ruffles them, and they proceed- to behave ill. ■ | 
 
 Now wiih children, when the rod is applied vigorously to their | 
 rw'.rsons the friction produced by the blows evolves electricity 
 <u' the ki nd necessary to restore the healthy electric equilibrium | 
 
 of their bodies. \Vhen that is re-established theie is an end | 
 
 of the trouble: they become amiable and gentle. This salutary ^ 
 
 method of correcting “ les enfans ierribles,” has greatly fallen | 
 
 into disuse in oqr times, from the overweening maternal in- f 
 
 stiiict of mammas, which is horrified by the cries of the suffering | 
 
 little ones, and hence they decry against it. 
 
 This punishment is also well adapted to the adult human 
 animal, if we are to believe a statement recently made in some 
 of the liiondon newspapers. It seems that the Biltish Parham • ; 
 
 ment within a few years past, had re-established corporeal t 
 
 punishment with the cat-o’-nine-tails at a whipping post for a f 
 
120 
 
 certain ^ c i ci 'minals, whose crimes had become nlai inino-lv 
 numerous.- Hmee ^tlie re-introduction of the whii:;p'uc’ rwst 
 and its accompa lying punishment, these' crimes have * Imost 
 ceased to exist . Let other people profic by the exaiLrp v,^ 
 
 It is remarkable that three such eminent men as Solomon 
 -Nichy. iS I, ot llussia, and J^Iapoleon Bonaparte, si- vuid each 
 nse.m a diilerent way the powers of electricity sr, :iiv. 
 and yet he ignorant of the powers they were d ' .-in^ 
 Solomon by his rod correcting the wilful caprices or hi- ’ oo§- 
 Lieholas I, removing the efthcts of frost bites, and deon 
 re^oririg Imhmlf to health, each by the evolution of ok-id -i.-ity 
 
 Let us tirm now to the fourth class of vertebrate a -Imals’ 
 winch as a general rule live iu the water, and prominent in 
 tins cia.-,s are fishes. .“ A fish breathes by means, of He gills, 
 extraetiog the air from the water in which it lives, emd T-eject- 
 ing tiie water, which carries off wdiatever positive eloc-v'icity 
 mat may have been evolved^ by its muscles in its inotions.’' .- 
 ilns leaves the fish, in a condition of negative electd-itv. like 
 that of the water in wdiich it lives, and having but one elec- 
 • tricity, it iv cold ulooded — ^w'arm blooded animals haw.np their 
 , y union or conjunction of opposite 
 
 electricities. “Fish are nearly insensible to pain, fioni the 
 same cause,” as all pain iu animals results from a disturbance 
 ot the electrical equilibrium of their bodies. “ The tempera: 
 ture ot fish is only 2° warmer than fhat of the water in which 
 they live. They have small brains in comparison to the sme 
 ot them bodies— considerably smaller in proportion tliar. they 
 are in birds or mammalia.” This accounts for their insensi- 
 bility tc pain, “ but the nerves communicating with the brain, 
 are as large in fish proportionately as in either birds or mam- 
 stmses of sight and hearing are well developed 
 in fish, as are am-:’ those of smell and taste, particn lari v that 
 of smell, wliich chiefly guides them to their food. This “sense 
 IS very keen, more so than in many other animals, and thus it 
 is that strong smelling baits are so^successful in fishing.” 
 
 Fish are remarkably fecund. There is noth! :g in the 
 animal world that can be compared with them, unless it be 
 some species of insects. The codfish- yields its eg<^s in 
 millions, from a sturgeon have been taken seven millTons of 
 eggs, flounder produces 1,200,900, the sole 1,000, 000. iuackerel 
 500,000, and so on. These eggs, if they be not viviAle<i by the 
 milt ot the maie fish, just rot away in the sea, and nv'vjr come 
 to lite at all, and are of no value except perhaps , v food to 
 some minor animals of the deep. ' . , 
 
130 
 
 It i,^ now well k-^own, that the impregnation of h.sli eggs is 
 a P *n eiv external act to their bodies, iish having no organs 
 -jf fr.: v:\:rntinn. It is this wonderfully exceptional principle in 
 tluTiiib of lish,that has given rise to the artof piseicnltnrc,<. e. 
 ■the artiticial impregnatiou of-the eggs of iislg lord fly exuded 
 from their bodies, "which arc. brought into contact v’ith the 
 milt of the male lish iudcpenciciit altogether of tlie animal. 
 
 ‘The principle of fish life which brings the male and female 
 fish together at the period of spawning is nuknown. Some 
 uatnValists have supposed that the fish do 3) >r gatlicr iuto^ 
 shoals till they are al)Out to portorm the gTan'*.st action ot 
 their nature, and that till then each animal hves a separate 
 and iridividual life; but this does not suggest the attraction 
 wliich, brings them into this association. 
 
 I will venture upon an explanation. Their instinct teaches 
 them that tlioir eggs, wdmn ready to he discharged from their 
 bodies, must be deposited in warmer water thuTdtliat in 
 which they habitually swim. Having but one electricity, fh^ 
 netrativc; which is the same as that iu wdiich they live, no vivi- 
 ficriuoa' of fheir eggs could take place if duly cornininglcd 
 with the milt of the male fish in mid ocean, but attracted by 
 the warmer waKu' of' rivers, at their sources, or iu lochs or 
 haws sliclterod from the waves of the sea, where iu their 
 shallows.vegctablo food is always growing at liotto.m for 
 the support of the young fry,' when they shail be hatched, 
 they hasten in immense shoals for mutual protection from, 
 their cne.mics, to these lyin-gdn places, where the eggs or roc 
 of the female, and the rnilt of the male are contiguously 
 deposited on the rocks ov in the gi-avcl at the bottom. The 
 positive electricity of the warm water derived from the fric- 
 •tioiud action of suidight upcm the rocks an:.l sand on the 
 . bottom of the shallow waters iu -which the eggs of the fish 
 have been deposited, as w'oll as upon the eggs themselves 
 . coniiug in contact with the negatively cloetrjlad eggs and 
 miit evolves heat, and Avith it magnetism, and iu dne time 
 the young fry m'c fully .developed, vhfified liy those elements 
 of life, breaking thc outcr membrane or shell of the eggs con- 
 taining them, already distended and thinned l>y -the growth 
 of the erabr}-© within, emerging into full life into the elemeut 
 where they are to have their being. Of course, the hatching 
 of the eggs of fish is not unifonm as to time in ditferent species, 
 some requiring a longer period than others to attain the 
 maturity of their development. 
 
 Here we have a rcmarka,blc illmstratiou of the production of 
 
131 
 
 I,', 
 
 ? 
 
 [ 
 
 !■ 
 
 
 life by electricity and magnetism, outside of the bodies of the 
 parent fisli ; while perliaps in almost every other class of animal 
 life it is developed within, the body of the female, after ipipreg- 
 nation by the male animal, showing most conclusively that these 
 imponderables are ahvays present as' well at the commence- 
 ment of life as daring its continuance, while it has Ijccn 
 demonstrated time and again, that whatever decreases the vis 
 vUce ,o£ an animal diminishes also the evidence of the eiec- 
 tincity within it, until after death it ceases altogether. Are we 
 not riglit, therefore,' in concluding that electricity, magnetism, 
 and heat arc, in.ccrtaj.n relations to each other, elements of 
 every life ? ‘ 
 
 Oxygen gas'is a supporter, of combustion, as it also is of life, 
 which in fact is one. form of combustion. It. is negatively 
 electrified, and it is hecause it is so electrified that it supports 
 both life and combustion. Let us illustrate this.- The atmos- 
 phere, composed of nitrogen and -oxygon gases for -the most 
 part, with a slight admixture Of other gases and watery vapour, 
 which last contaius a largo portion of oxygen gas, is nega- 
 tively electrified. Wood, coal, and vegetable substances, iii a 
 dry state, are positively electrified. Kow when wo have on 
 our hearths wood as fuel, aud from the condition of the wood 
 'as Aveil as that ot the atmosphere the combustion of the wood 
 is slow and sluggish, wo apply a pair of bellows to hasten it 
 the common explanation of tliis use of .the bellows is, that it 
 brings more oxygen gas into contact with the slightly kindled 
 wood. than tie atmosphere naturally furnishes, aud hence the 
 combustion is quickened. This is' true, hut it also brings 
 associated with the oxygen gas its negative .electricity, which 
 coining into union with the positive electricity of the fire aud 
 the wood already slightly heated, produces increased heat, 
 W'hich the additional oxygen gas thus supplied nourishes into 
 flame, and the fire is properly kindled. Potassium thrown 
 into a vessel of oxygen gas, hursts into the most brilliant 
 flame from the same cause, the potassium being positiv'oly 
 electrified in a high degree and so it is, hut in a lesser uegroo, 
 with the other metalloids. 
 
 In regard to the non-produciug and non-conducting powers 
 of electricity by fatty or oleaginous substances, a very ren7.ark- 
 ahlo fact. has been developed in relation to the' human family. 
 
 It has for a long time been observed that in countries where 
 the sugar caue has been cultivated, aud where sugar has h.'cu 
 
132 
 
 Titminfiictured from its expressed juice, the negroes cmploved 
 ill ]l^^llvillg it groAr enormously fat from the unrestricted rise of 
 tlie w:anu juice of the expressed cane during the process of 
 hoiling. From this food, like the whale, they become sur- 
 rounded by an envelop of fat, as do also the .interior organs 
 of iheir bodies. This fat is anti-frictional and pr.events the 
 ev'/oition of electricity, which in the absence of the fat vrould 
 be developed. Hence these labourers could no longer be pro- 
 crea':'';e, and as their labour was A'cry exhausting, the neces- 
 sity for a new gang of labourers every four or five years be- 
 came established on sugar plantations. This fact, in sugar 
 producii;g countries, has kept alive and continued th.e negro 
 slave trade to this day — and where it has been abolished and 
 the cciolie trade substittited for it, the same results obtain. 
 dSTo ux;.men are sent to the plantations with the coolies, for 
 they become like negroes, virtually emasculated by . the 
 absence of their electricity. So that Ave may attribute to the 
 loss of electricity in the producers of sugar the great obstacle 
 to the abolition of slaA'cry for so long a time in the British 
 West indies, and at the present moment in the Spanish Islands, 
 in Brazil, and elscAvhefe as it exists. 
 
 The same deteriorating iiiTucnces upon their organization- 
 -from fatness, in other portions of the human race, appear in' 
 various parts of the world, preventing the development of 
 their electricity and magnetism, by which their animal 
 fuiictions are impaired, and their intellectual faculties greatly 
 weakened. The Esquimaux, Fins, Laps, and all inhabitants of 
 high northern climates, I'equiring a fatty and carbonaceous 
 food, are examples of this character. The inference to be 
 draAA'n from this remarkable fact is that such persons as arc 
 opposed to an increase of population, and who resist the in- 
 junction to the Patriarchs of “going forth, multiplying and 
 replenishing the earth,” should select for their companions in 
 life the fattest persons of the opposite sex that they can find, 
 and they will be rcAA'arded by an immense reduction in their 
 household and educational expenses when compared Avith 
 those of their neighbours 'AA'ho chance to be of a lean kind. 
 
 In connection with this subject of continuing a species of 
 animal, I may mention that in Europe, as Avell as in this 
 country, a A'ery mistaken notion exists as to the best as^e at 
 which cattle should be propagated. The prevailing 
 
 idea is that heifers should not be allowed to bear their off- 
 spring before they are- four years old, and in the state of Penn-' 
 
133 
 
 svlvania they are not taxable before they have attained that 
 age. Ihov', this is a fallacy, asJ have al>undantly tested dur- 
 ing thc last twenty years. I have thought that nature wtis the 
 best guide in such cases, and accordin^dy, as iny animals are 
 always well eared for, my heifers are sufficiently developed 
 ■and matured when nine months old to receive the mas -uline 
 im]U’Cgnation, and to undergo, afterwards, a 'healthy gestation, 
 and to produce their young when about eighteen months old. 
 
 system of breeding, there is a saving in the expense of 
 supporting young heifers during two years and a half o^-er th e 
 conimou method. My'hertl of cows thus produced will com- 
 pare favorably in size, produce of milk, cream and butter, and 
 hcalthfulncss with any herd of similar numbers of cows in tiiis 
 country. I (do not remember to have had a sick cow or h-eildr 
 during the last twenty years. But I have exceeded even this 
 early_ propagation of their species. Last year a tmung heifer 
 of mine, only four months old, manifesting a desire for copu- 
 lation, w'as permitted to receive the male impregnation. Khe 
 duly eoireoived, and before she was fourteen unonths old she 
 bore a healthy male calf. The heifer herself, appareiitlv, was 
 not incommoded by the event, and continued to enjov'cxcc -- 
 lent health; aud.some six weeks after the birth of her l-.dtsl.j 
 again received the male impfeguation. This heifer was r-jaro I . 
 uu(ler the stimulating influence of the associated hlin^ ami ' 
 plain glass, wdiich had hastened its development three years 
 and a half. liTow, apply this discovery to the rearing of d o- 
 mestic . animals throughout the world, and begin to eshmaic 
 the benefit to mankind to he derivecl from the reduced ex- 
 penses in producing them and the great gain that will reside 
 in hicreasing the number of animals to h*e raised in any given- 
 period of time, and some faint idea may be formed of the gre-at 
 value of this discovery in this single branch ' of human in- 
 dustry. 
 
 A wide-spread error in agricixlture exists in Europe, as well 
 as ill this country, and has'' even hoen vi^diitaiued in hooks of 
 science. It is “ that underneath large trees vegetation droopts 
 and languishes, oven ivhen the shade is not v'ery iuteiisc.” 
 Some years ago I had occasion to p)lough up the sod which 
 covered a small orchard of apple and chestnut trees ou my 
 farm. All the trees Avere old and large. I caused the field to 
 he AA-ell manured, even to the bottom of the trunks of all the 
 trees. 'When the ground Avas well broken up, I directed my 
 farmer to mark out di-ills for sugar beets, and to plant the seed 
 
134 
 
 cio;-:':' up to the trunks of all tlic trees. He looked at me with 
 astonVshment, and said : “ Why, sir, plant so close to the trees ? 
 
 ever grows under tlVe shade of trees!’’ I replied ' 
 that I iiad heard such a statement hoforc, hut that I did not 
 tbirdc it' to he well founded. I had seen too many weeds, 
 sucioTS and hramhlcs growing luxuriantly uiuler trees all over 
 the ( . .nntry to attach any credence to it. “ Do as^ I tell you 
 phiei: ihe seed close to the trees, and leave the result to take' 
 can : ‘ • t itself.” My farmer v/as so much astounded hy what he 
 comidered my foolish directions, that he went over to' some 
 fanie-'rs who were planting tlicir seed in neighhouring Holds, 
 and rdd thonr of the ahsnrd directions I' had given him. In 
 the fulness of their nciglihonrly kindness, they came over to me 
 +0 oulighten me. on the subject of farming. “Your man tcHs 
 us s;nd one oftlicm to me, “that you have told him -to plant 
 su’wrr beet seed close to the trunks of your big clmstnut trees. 
 Wo have come over fo tell you^ -what ;)X)U may not knopp that 
 no p'anfvvill grow under the .shade of trees, and to dissuade 
 yodi t'r-om attempting to make them grow there. ^Vo have . 
 hcon [arming 2,5 yca 3 .’s, and our fathers bcforc.us all their lives, 
 anu v-c have never heard of such a thing as_ planting for a 
 crop under the shade of trees. Pray don’t trypt.” I thanked 
 tholu for their solicitude, hut told them that “ it\vas an c.aperi- 
 mcai : if it should fail, the loss of a few seed and a little labour 
 were ^.11 that would ho involved in it; and if it should succeed, 
 it ^ ••■■dd explode and banish a very mischievous ami expcmsivu 
 falhu-v in agriculture;, little hurm was to he appreheuded from 
 it.” 'The tanner tiiidiug mo kctcrniiiied, said, “You gcutlo- 
 m'on from the city, come into the country, buy land,^ p'cet 
 exiiiu sive huildiugs, purchase high priced stock of all kinds, 
 and '' “. cry new tangled tool or labour saving machine that is 
 advertised, hire people and go to Avork, and think yoiv are 
 fame rs; hut I have never known one of you to make CA'cn 
 his expenses out of his farming. You had all much hotter do 
 as^A'cmr ncighl)ours do than strike out into new paths.” I 
 said him^ “your robuke is just, and what you say is no 
 doub.t true; I acknowledge it to he true in my ease. I knoAV 
 Tcrv iittle of anything, hut I could not think for a mpmeut of 
 takin ^'- up the time of my farming neighbours by asking them 
 how Ui manage my farm; I must learn it as host I canAvitliout 
 taxing their nciglihonrly kindness, and this experiment of 
 mine^is one of my early lessons in farming.” Piuallj, these 
 0 -ood people took their leave, and my beet seed AA-ere planted 
 Iccm’dmo- to my directions. In due time they germinated, 
 
and 1?ogan to grow, and to the surprise of my farmer tlvo 
 plants as tlv'y grew became stronger and larger at. the l.»ottom 
 of the tr ui ilc-'’ of the largest frees than the other plant.s were 
 in the o[)ei\ spaces in other parts of the field. This ditference 
 continued to increase as the season advanced, and when the 
 time, had arrived for gathering them, the greatest contrast, 
 was pciceptible between those that had grown under the 
 shade of the trees, even of the largest, and those which had 
 grown in the open sunlight. 
 
 At thi.' tinm the same Idnd neighbours who had visited me, 
 in the previous spring to advise me against planting my secd. 
 undcr the shade of the trees, Avere gathering their an tumn 
 crop>s in the adjacent fields. T went over to them and a^ked 
 them if tiio.y would like to sec my beet crop, and on tlfclr ex- 
 pressing a desire to-see it, Ipnvitcd them to accompany me, 
 and Wo proei o.dcd to the field. Gn otu* way I asked them 
 whcr<; thoY thought the best hccts avouM he found. . “ In the 
 open snn.l>gb.t to he sore,’’ was .the ansAA^er; “nothing ever 
 groAvs nttder the shade of trees I” I madeyto reply, and soon 
 after avo entered the field. As avo passed along I Avas amused 
 at the astonishment depicted on their countenances,. as .they 
 exaii.d.u'-d. the beets in different- parts, of the £cld. Presently 
 ofie oi tuexa^ nu<lging another, said in a Ioav Amice ; “ (Teorgo, 
 did you. ever see any thing like that before? Avhy, there ai’o'no. 
 beets in the' sunlight, and ' the big ones are under the ■leos.” 
 This AVU.S .rhc fact; the plants in fbe sunlight Avero fev:, seatr 
 tered and spindling in their groAvtb, having a long shnidci' 
 taproot and were valueless for food, Avhilc there aaocs .a: 
 luxuriant growth under the trees of large sized and eycellont 
 quail iv. After examining attentively the Avhole ficl(i,, and 
 declariiig that they had never seen or heard of the like, and 
 Avould not haA’e bclioA’od it had they not seen it them s:- 1 yes, 
 they came to me and asked me if I could explain so unheard 
 of a ].lionomenon, I replied, “'you knoAV 1 am fimni t;m city, 
 how then can I ho- expected to know anything about fu; nr’iig? 
 If you Aviio have been farmers all your lives, and your fathers 
 before a'ou lli.e same, cannot explain this Avhy should y :>!7 ex- 
 pect mo Avho have no experience in farming, being fr nn the 
 city, to do it ? I knoAv nothing about it, hut I Avill toll you 
 what I think. ' I AAdll illustrate my meaning by an ex:.rn,plo : 
 suppose you should take t.AVO men, both healthy, strong and 
 vigorous, and both very hungry — one of them is six feet tall 
 and very broad and muscular — the other man is five foot six 
 inches 'high, and also muscular. Suppose you place them at a 
 
) 
 
 .136 
 
 table ami -j iut before tlieni food sufficient only fox* ono X ixat: of 
 {ivcvsge si/'.c and sti*engtb, and tell tbcm to cat, Isow x'lincb of 
 the food ; do you'thinkthe little 'man rronhl got?” “ Y.'ell, I 
 ' gues.s not a great deal of it,’’ said one of the nxen ; to ^^■l;icil the 
 others fisKoited. “Xow, suppose youhadput outlie i able xaiough 
 food tor br)th, would they not fisc from the table refreshed 
 and rein vigoratod, and ready for their woi’k ?” I said to them. 
 “ Well, ye.s, I should think so;” Avas their answer. ‘‘hTow,” 
 said I to them ; “the first supposition illustrates your mode 
 of farviting. Yon -manure your land lightl} , furidjdiim': food 
 enough only for your ci’op, and nothing for your hnn<n’y trees,, 
 if YOU' should happen ■ to have any npou your land. The 
 trees, neglected and hu.ngry, take all the fo(?d wntjnn reach of 
 their root', and nothing grows, therefore, nndcu' tlicir shade — 
 hence your proverb that plants. Avill not grow uxidernealh the 
 shade' of large trees oven when dt is not very inteixse. In 
 my experiment I had placed sufficient food hefor'i the 
 largo tf cos, and the. smair plants. The tree digests its food, 
 .and can take no more food at givcii. time than ca.n any 
 ■ animal, relatively— consequently Avhat is left m'er after fi;eding 
 the tree g'-ws tO' feed the ■small plants and it also gets its fill 
 of untrition, 'SO * at both thrive and grow Ijoaltl/fiiUy. How, 
 there is another reason jvhy small plaxits should groAv better 
 and fa.'-'vcr laader the shade., of. large trees than ax ;y\vh't? ro else, 
 and it is this. The dew late in the afteiaioon beop-.s to settle 
 upon the leaves of plants under the shade of trees an hour or 
 more before it does out in tlie sunlight, ami iii the morning 
 after the sun has risen, the shade of the trees x^T'otoots the 
 plants under- them from losing the dew upon them by evapora- 
 tion, till ton o’clock, A. M. So that the plants under the 
 shade of tlxe trees have the adA'antage of, four or xnoro hours 
 of moisture, *in the dew that rests ux>bn them, than other plants 
 iu.the sunlight AA’hich haA’e no such -xjrotcctio)! — and you know 
 that m6islui;e is necessary to the grcAAdh of plants,” They 
 thanked me for my ex'planation and went tlioir vviy con-' 
 fouxided. Since then I liaA^e cultivated under AU-ry large trees 
 on nxy hiwn, plants and flowers of many discrijAtions Avith great 
 succc.sa, and the cultivation has greatly benefited the trees 
 thcxnsc lves. I would recoxnmend to all having trees on their 
 lawixs to eultiv’ate the soil at their bases iiV floAvei’ing x^lants, if 
 they desire ornaments, or in vegetables if they need them for 
 food. To holders of small patches of land, this information 
 may ju’bve to he of great comfort and convenience. 
 
 This little narrative brings me to the mxhject of the forma- 
 
 V. 
 
137 
 
 tion of dew, wdiich I do not attribute to condensation of the 
 atmosphe:’e bolding it in suspension, but to tb.e ; 
 opposite cau.,c, viz; the expansion and rarefaction -f flic 
 atmosphere by heat, its ascent upwards andpts abandomnen' 
 of the water ivliich it had previously held iii suspension. 
 
 When, in ihe rotationmf the earth upon its axis, any e'ivcr 
 area of its surface is -no longer illuminated by the su n s ra -,,-,, 
 
 ■; or, as iji common language, it is said; -“It is sunset;'’ the ■’avs 
 of sunlight do not illumine the atmosphere that is over such 
 an area of the earth’s surface, and, as' the night advances, thof 
 atmosphere becomes colder and more magnetic with hr- 
 increase of cold by induction. Columns or. volumes or th:e 
 cold air are th.cn attracted to the earth by its 6-y ;ofth.i 
 .magnet!; ng and descend towards it. At the same tinle the 
 in couto'd \_dth tpid just above the eaith’s surface, liovinn l;?er; 
 heated during the clay by the electricity evolved by surhli-hr. 
 and being, positively electrified, ascends to meet the eohr aii-’ 
 descending from above, negatively electrified and epposltcdv' 
 magnetic; the conjunction of these opposite elevh-ioifo- ■ 
 produces^- addif tonal heat which so warms the air ftchghtoh 
 with mqlstUro that is. descending from above, that its enfian- 
 sion ana rarefaction wll no longer admit of its hoiditii’ ;,■> 
 suspension too watery vapour that it was bringivu’ down wig; • 
 it; it conserniently ascends alone, leaving the globules of v;afer 
 which it contained to be carried to the earth by their nv.ignec- 
 i-sm, anu to insensibly settle upon the grass, leaves, eax il;. &c., 
 and torn': what wo call dew, hoar frost, &c-, according to t'U' 
 temperature of the earth’s surface at the time of sucirdcposi- ' 
 tion. This occurs iu a cloudless sky. 
 
 • Wlien ihe clouds are floating above us, there is no dew, not 
 because, as we have been tan^t, that the radiated heat fro.-^ 
 the earth is reflected by the lower surface of the clouds to the 
 eai’th, thnsbkeoping the air in contact with the earth too war :n 
 to deposit its water as dew, as that is an absurdity, since hear 
 reaching- the lower part of any gaseous or vapomy fluid, woua.l 
 at once peiictrate and permeate such gases, vapours or clouds 
 and expand, rarefy and disperse them ; hut because the inter- 
 posing clouds would prevent the descent of the volumes of 
 cold . air freighted with moisture above them to the earth 
 below, and consequently there could he no deposition of water 
 or dew from them. Cold does not condense the atmosphere, 
 for if it did the density of the air would be much gre:aer in 
 winter than in summer, which we know is not the case. Be- 
 
138 
 
 sides, ti\o rarity and tenuity of tlie air at great elevations, 
 vrlicro evtreme'cold prevails perennially, contradicts this as- ' ’ 
 sumption. Nor has the air any weight— gravitatioms sui> . 
 
 pofi'd to act only in one direction, viz : towards the centre ot 
 the earth while it is known that the air presses erpmlly m all 
 directions, upwards from, below, laterally and downward from 
 above, hcaee it cannot he’ acted npoii hy grayitahon.^ xhe . 
 harometric pressure of the atmosphere iii its variations, is clue 
 in all m-ohahility to magnetic attraction and repulsion between 
 the atmosphere and the earth. The same reasoning appUes to 
 the waters of the oceans. They are fluids xn'essing Jihe thearr 
 hi all directions, npivards from below, laterally and down- 
 wards and rest upon the earth hy the attraction of tuo earth s 
 ma-^-nctism, and not hy gravitation, since their ..upward and 
 latclral pressures are antagonistic to the attraction, of gravi- 
 tation. Every drop of water is a magnet. When the globules 
 n>'o vertical their poles are at tho-toci of their forms, the 
 lovmr polo attracted hy the • magnetism of the air above 
 and its upper pole attracted towards the maguetisui of the 
 earth below. These dowmvarcl and upward attractions 
 corresponding repulsions dislocate, from their great .mobility, 
 other ^dohnles of the water, and force their polar magnetic 
 
 or 
 
 ressures 
 lljnough- 
 ■, iih each 
 . These 
 ;o water, 
 the con- 
 
 av^s hriio horizontal 'or dia-magnetic, ancl.tlpe 
 e-ervvd - ere varying in tension, develop magnetic.for/;e.-: 
 out ihc mass of water, acting at every possible angl e ^ 
 other and producing everywhere opposite rcsistaim.^ 
 rriao-notic cluumes induce electrical disturbances . ,ui t 
 residing' in the development nf heat hy fnetion a-nd 
 innetion of opposite electricities, causing ni all latirudos those 
 iurrmits of evaporation associated with electricity, which we 
 find af' dbmcratcd in the atmosphere as masses ot clouds, fogs, 
 mists These masses of clouds acquiring their electricities 
 
 bv induction, become oppositely electrified accordmg to tlieir 
 elevation in the atmosphere above the earth, and as they 
 armi'oaeh each other in their movements, an electric discharp 
 takes place, a decomposition of the watery vapour oeenrs, the 
 Imlro-cn ^s is burnt in the oxygen gas ot the decomposed 
 i?abw°di«pWing that bright yellow light peculiar to hydrogen, 
 in flashes so dazzling that if they were not so eyaneseGnt no 
 
 w 
 
forces of the atmosphere, descend to the earth as s -' I'ncal 
 drops to meet and mingle with the magnetism of t'e* ■: u’tli. 
 These drops of water are what we call rain. 
 
 . If it were not for the upward pressure oftlio v^-atcr- c the 
 'ocean from their lowest depth, how long would the ci ;; h of 
 earth beneath them, (computed by physicists to be rcho :-. ir to 
 tlic mass of the earth no thicker than aji egg sir 'll iss as lien 
 compared to the mass of albumen that it contains,) he a ble to 
 sustain the pressure dowiiAA’ards of a mass of water fi'oui five 
 to ten miles in depth as it moves in its tides, its currm-rs, and. 
 the rotation of the earth upon its axis, and as it rolls, in it:: rbit ? 
 AVould not the momentum of such a ma.ss.of Avators b ^ , put 
 in motion, in the course of time tliat has elai> -cd sii; ' they 
 Avero gathered in seas and oceans, Avear aAvay so m uc : c * the 
 earth’s crust as to allow” the Avatets to flood the iutc ri •: Arcs 
 of the earth, aod produce explosions that would slii -o t the 
 planet into thou.sands of fragments? Ami does m tliiB 
 lurnish^another argument against the d.oetrir-o of grav'; . . .ion? 
 Tlie same principle apjilies relatiA'e to the upvT.rd pr >; i.re of 
 the atmosphere. In the cases of the waters of tbc v ^ and 
 the atmosphere — both being fluids, difiering ho w . V‘ r • Tielr 
 tenuity, their molecules havei great mobilityam oug ;-.h..':..;o...]ves 
 rcspcctiAxdy, and. from the irregular and unequal lip'; ... .1 and 
 doAs'uward magnetic attractions and repulsions, tbe.'e mole- 
 cules are displaced and turned aside, changing Iho uiv. ctions 
 ot their poles and their axes, and thus becoming din-m ignetia 
 or horizontalh'' magnetic, creating thns: the lateral prV -sures 
 exi.sting both in the Avater.and the atmosphere. 
 
 d\’'lieu, from the mobility of the molecules in the crust of 
 tlio earth at the period of- the planet beiiig lauiiobo'l into 
 space in its rotary motion on its axes, ai;d its pvogr.-sjivc 
 motion in its orbit, the ecpiatorial diameter Avas, by m 'uuetic 
 attraction and repulsion, increased tAventy-six miles nr tro rhan 
 the polar diameter, the same influences repel) c^d tfom the 
 polos respectively and attracted to the respective opjiosite 
 poles the waters in the arctic and antarctic basins till they 
 met in the tropics. . . 
 
 The upward pressure of these waters, their polar currents 
 of, cold Avater at great depths, and the rotation of tlte earth . 
 on its axis from west to. east, haA’e united in forcing the 
 masses of oceanic waters to the AvestAvard till they impinged 
 upomthe eastern coasts of America and of Asia— aet’ou and 
 
140 
 
 re-action lioing equal; those waters, after their impact' with 
 these cuijstf! uixd. tlieir coutiguous ialands, were reflected hack 
 again ::.>v:!ird 3 the western coasts of Europe and Africa, and 
 mooting uiidway .in oceans, the- succeeding waves of those 
 waters have risen above the general level of the oceans a few 
 feet, which has been called a tide, and which has been 
 attributed erroneously to the attraction of the sun and moon 
 instead of to the forces which I have mentioned above. 
 
 The impact of these waters in mid-ocean throws back to the 
 Europoau and African waters, coming from thence and to 
 eastern h.tucx’ican and Asixxtic coasts, the waters attracted 
 there by die' rotary motion of the earth on its axis — and thus 
 they f(vrc(>back in all these continents the waters of the rivers 
 emptying iiicmsolves into the oceans, creating in them the 
 tides,' the causes ofl which never before have been satisfactorily 
 explained. These tides, therefore, are the results of the 
 magnetic attraction and repulsion of the waters and the coasts 
 of 'the continents where they are seen and felt — and are not 
 affected at all, either by sun or moon. ' 
 
 The *cxi.iTent8 of the , Mediterranean sea — ^the upper one 
 inwards is the result of the pressure of the Atlantic ocean in 
 its roiiux from the mid ocean impact of the oceanic waters, 
 the lower current running into the Atlantic ocean— is pi’o- 
 duced by the upward pressure of the Mediterx’anexxn waters 
 and tli'.- niagnetio attraction of the colder polar current at great 
 depth tow ards the equatoi’. 
 
 The heat of the earth ascends perpendicularly to the hori- 
 zon.' It cannot, therefore, be deflected to any considerable 
 extent in producing winds or cui’rents of air. These result 
 from electrical ^and magnetic attractions and repulsions — the 
 upward pressure of the air, which is nothing more than the 
 magnetic repulsion of it from the earth — having their similar 
 poles of magnetism adjacent, until .by induction the polai-ity 
 of the air is changed in the higher atmosphere, where, heiiig 
 intensely, cold, it is attenuated by the repellent qualities of its 
 Eomqgeueous magnetism, and not by the low degree of its 
 temperatufo,- which happens to be coincident wuth its mag- 
 netism, but is incapable of condensing the molecules of the 
 atmosphere. 
 
 '"SYlieix we remember the law of attraction and repulsion of 
 
141 
 
 ms'gnefism, viz: that it acts irsversely as the sq.vii’c of the 
 ch.si-anec, and that the earth, its oceans and- its' atmcsph ove. are 
 all magnetic, and mutually attract and rep-1 each otiier accord- 
 mg to this_ law— which, by the way, is the-.sanie -aw that 
 ^ Is ewtou assigned to the gravity of matter— and Avh ai we fur- 
 ther remember that they are all in contiguity with ea';I v'xer 
 v/e cannot fail to conceive that thi^ planet hr.=< .,1 the 
 forces within and around it that are necessary fcu' ti,e per- 
 formance of all its functions without attributing tliem to the 
 actions of such distant orbs as the sun and the moon. If the 
 moon, as our astronomers assert, exerts a greater isifluence 
 upon the tides than. does the sun, owing to the giaruor dis- 
 tance of the sun from the earth, by a parity of reason in cq how 
 much more influential must the earth itself he w‘nh is in 
 contact both with its waters and its atmosphere. Aii fluids 
 Tvben acted upon by unequal forces assume a spiral c-.nrse, a 3 
 witness the whirlwind in the atmosphere, aiid the vllrlnool 
 and eddying currents in the waters. The currents of the 
 oceans are spiral curves modified in their curvatures by the 
 fixed as- well as movable obstacles they encounter in their 
 several courses. 
 
 When a wave at sea has reached its crest, why does it curl 
 over and break into spray, as it descends into the :>-f>ugh of 
 the sea? If the moon lifts it up why does not the ’nocirfhold 
 if up ? Wlieu a wave breaks on the shore, why does It cling 
 to the 'eai’th, and recede in contact with it as thoundertow,fre- 
 quently carrying with it to destruction the- incautious or un- 
 skilful swimmer ? Why does not the moon keep tlds water 
 cn the surface instead of suffering it, though it he warmer 
 tlian the water at greater depths, to seek its company 
 against an assunied law of physics, that the warmer fluia floats 
 upon the colder ? 
 
 Wliy, in the whirlpool, does the warm surface water rush 
 down its spiral coils to meet and mingle with the colder water 
 of the greater depths ? And why does this cold water ascend 
 ill counter spirals to meet the descending warmer water? 
 This action is not caused by gravitation ; it is magnetic, and 
 so it is also in the whirlwind. The warm air of the lower 
 atmosphere, in contact with the earth, is taken up in its spiral 
 coils, attracted by the opposite magnetism of the upiier air, 
 which descends in opposite spiral coils to meet it in its* ascent, 
 and together the column of whirling air, repelled from its 
 
142 
 
 Gom’cc and carried over the surface of the earth, but in con- 
 tact V, itli it, vii h a resistless impetuosity, by the electrical 
 curi\ 111 v/liich lias developed the magnetism of the column, 
 devasmres and -^c^>t^ln7S every obstacle that lies in its course, 
 till the magnetic equilibrium is again attained, -wheu a calm 
 ensues. In tlicse hsstances of the whirlpool and tlie whirl- 
 wind, the assumed law of gravitation is violated by the ascent 
 of tVic. Avarm air into the colder upper atmosphere, as well as 
 hy tl e descent of the warm surface water to the deptlis holow; 
 thus proving that the motions of fluids, whether gaseous or 
 liquiO; are controlled hy magnetism. 
 
 A balloon charged with hydrogen gas, and released from its 
 fasten.: /ig to tlie earth, ascends rapidly into the upper atmo- 
 sphci c — the region of intense cold, wdicre, as we arc taught in 
 the scnools, it should he condensed, and the sides of the 
 halh‘ >1: should ho^ioose and pressed inward by the condensing 
 power of tlic cold in that elevated region. x\ccording to the 
 doctrii c of gravitation it has ascended because it was filled 
 with iiVdroL’on gas — the lightest • substance in nature — and 
 evorv light substaucc floats upon any other substance heavier ■ 
 than itself. 
 
 Inow, let us sec what'actually takes place in the balloon, 
 
 jPp’S', The hydrogen gas is positively electrified, and is at- 
 tract al to tiio upper atmosphei ’6 hy 'its opposite electricity, 
 which is negative. , 
 
 (SW-c-.v/i, 'The balloon itself is painted and varnished with 
 giimo to retain the hydrogen gas, which pigments and varnish 
 are ai jo positively electrified smd assist in raising the balloon. 
 
 Third, The higher the balloon ascends- the greater is the at- 
 traction of the negative electricity of the upper air for it. 
 
 Presently a conjunction of these opposite electricities of the 
 upper vir .Ind the positively electrified gummed surface of the 
 halhroo ocimrs, heat and magnetism are evolved, the canvas 
 of tl: balloon begins to expand, and within it the hydrogen 
 gas also expands to fill and to tighten the canvas. The at- 
 traction from without and the expansion of the hydrogen gas 
 within distend the canvas to its fullest extent. Should the 
 ^eroiiiiat not. at once opcji the safety valve of the balloon, and 
 'liberate a portion of the hydrogen gas within it, these forces 
 would burst the canvas and precipitate the unlucky aeronaut 
 
143 
 
 -to tlio o n-th, a catastroplic whicli reallj happened in J£ri.e;., 
 only a few days since. 
 
 TIio ascent, of the halloon, the expansion of its canvas an i 
 oftlie hydrogen gas within it instead of their condensation bv 
 •the extreriie cold of the upper atmoopherc, the bursting of d*e 
 halloujx — ail contradict the 2s'cwtoniau theory., 
 
 "We will now explain why the temperature on the surih 's 
 of tlie earth is greater during sununer, though the sun ns 
 then -at its greatest distance from the earth, than it is in 
 winter, v.hen the distance between the earth and the sun is at 
 the least, being three millions of miles lees than it was at the 
 sumnier scdstice — viz: June 21st. On this day the ravs ot 
 sunlight, vertical at the tropic ot Cancer, impinging'through- 
 the ann ' -phere upon the surface of the earth, with a velocity 
 of 18hyt ) luilcs per second, produce groat friction. This 
 friction is the result of the impact of all the rays of sunlight 
 upon tiiC earth’s surface. This friction evolves ,mor'o elec- 
 tricity in the contact than it docs in winter, when the ang!-j 
 of iiic; .leuce of the rays of light is very much m-uc acute, 
 and a 'hoi-ge portion of the rays of light arc at >hat tirne 
 reliecicd and refracted into planetary space, witliout •deveiop- 
 ing tho electricity either in quantity or tension, winch- tho 
 whole quantity of rays of light would do if they reached tlie 
 earth directly. Consequently as the electricity evolved is less 
 in wintor, tlie heat which +his electricity produces in coujnnc- ' 
 tioii witi-; the opposite electricity of the earth’s surface is much 
 loss, and the temperature is therefore lower iu ’.yiuter than- in 
 summer. - , 
 
 Besides, the vertical impact of matter upon matter, as of ligur ' 
 upon t: ic -dmosphere, or upon the surface of the earth, is always 
 more vit .[eiit, and produces more friction than its impact from a?? 
 acute angle, or as it is called a “ glancing blow,’’ would do, 
 hence more electricity results from the friction produced l>y 
 the vertical impact of light, than there -would be frou- its ini~ 
 pact ox tin acute angle. The.declinacior. of the sun, th ' o- fore, 
 by coii.^tautly changing the angles of incidence of iis ligiit, as. 
 
 It entt^rs our atmosphere, and impinges upon the eartli’.- s; "- 
 face, iS the cause of the changes of the terrestrial temperature 
 at the several seasons of the year. Hence the more vertical 
 the light, the more friction is developed in its impact with-cho 
 earth, and the more electricity thus evolved, and the more - 
 heat produced by the conjunction of the opposite electricities 
 from the light and earth. 
 
144 
 
 •\t the height of five miles or more above the earth, when 
 of clouda oppositely electriiied come together, great 
 I'eat is evolved by tlie union of these electiicities, and with it 
 is also developed magnetism ; the air of the cloud thus heated 
 becomes positively electriiied, aud greatly expanded by the 
 l:i;.it, it rushes upwards attracted by the negative electricity of 
 I’iC atmosphere above it, abandoning the watery vapour it had 
 •.•ontained in suqjcnsiou,' and which absorbing tlie magnetism 
 developed by the union of the opposite electricities begins to 
 irill towards the earth, not by gravitation but by the magnetic 
 repulsion of the surromiding air, and the magnetic attraction 
 < f the earth itself and the waters on its surface. At the same 
 time, wben this conjunction of opposite electricities occurs, 
 much of the watery vapour that the clouds hold in susponsiou 
 is decomposed by the superior attraction of the intense elee- 
 tneity for the hydrogen gas of the water, which is immediately 
 burnt in the oxygen gas that had been liberated by the 
 de composition of the watery particles of the clouds in the first 
 place. This inflamed hydrogen burning with a yellow light, 
 rushes to ' embrace again, its lover, oxygen gas, pursuing it iu 
 those brilliantly illuminated zig-zag courses which we call 
 flashes of lightning. 
 
 Xow as these conjunctions of opposite electricities arc suc- 
 cessive in a storm, we see the frequent flashes of lightning 
 aud hear the rolling of the thunder, (which latter is merely 
 1b 3 noise of the explosions of oxygen aud hydrogen gases, 
 v'hen acted upon by a current of electricity passing through 
 them,) as they dart or roll through the atmosphere. The 
 v.uucr thus formed, starting in sheets or columns as it may be, 
 is at once disintegrated, by the repulsion of the magnetism 
 winch it has absoi-bed, into atoms or globules, each ofwhich- 
 is a separate magnet. These arc repelled by the mugnetism 
 of the upper atmosphere, and arc attracted by the opposite 
 magnetism of the earth aud its waters, and continue to descend 
 to^vardc the earth, but the molecules of atmospheric air are 
 also magnets, and repel and retard the descent of the rain 
 drops as they fall, and these force's continue to dimmish their . 
 sizes, till, on approaching the earth, they arc so comminuted, 
 that frequently they become absorbed by the atmosphere and 
 appear as mist and fog. 
 
 . IS'ow,, if rain falls by gravitation, beginning,' at that great 
 height of five dr more miles, to descend in the first second of 
 time IG.l feet, in the next 32.2 feet, in third second C4.4 feet, 
 
14o 
 
 in the fourth second 00.6 feef, increasing, its velocity as4he 
 time of descent and the space through which it passed as the 
 square of the time, it would be found tliat its velocity and 
 momentum, when it reached the earth, would be so ei-eat as 
 to wash the soil into the seas, deuu<''r.g mountains and dis- 
 integratino^ rocks, and destroying every living object on the 
 planet. We see on a small scale the devastating power of a 
 waterspout that breaks and discharges its contents when 
 traveling only a short distance above .the earth. Besides it is 
 P. to see the retardatory effect of magnetism upon 
 
 the Hakes of snow as they fall lazily to the earth, each crystal 
 Ot the snow flake, or frozen water, being acknow]cci^>-cd as a 
 magnet endowed with its full proportion of m.^cnetic power. 
 
 These facts, prove that neither the cTouds, that float in the 
 atmosphere nor the waters thcv contain, which have been 
 taken up by ovaporatiou from the rivers, lakes and seas, and 
 winch .are again returned to them in rain, snow and hail, are 
 aiiected by the so-called laws of gravitation. Conceive for a 
 moment that the volume of w'ater of the it^iagara river which 
 passes over the falls, should, by gi’avitation, descend from a 
 height offwo, three or five miles- above the earth, the eoramoii 
 height of clouds; then imagine the destruction that wmuld 
 follow^ such a descent; and ;)X't vrater from clouds start in their 
 courses- towards the earth in masses so gx-eat as to divindle 
 111 comparison the mighty stream of Magara at the falls, and 
 yet only benefit results from' the rainfall. Why, then, docs 
 the water from the clouds not continue to fall, as it has started 
 in these enormous masses? It is because the Creator has 
 beneficently provided against' such a calamity by investino- 
 water with magnetism, %vhen its constituents, oxygen and 
 gases, are combined by^hc passage of a current of 
 electricity through them, iu the formation of water,, and the 
 atoms or globules of w-ater, being each magnetic, repel each 
 other, and are repelled from the upper atmorohere — also 
 magnetic -and are attracted to the earth by its opposite ma^^- 
 netism, allowing rain, snow and hail to fall gently and m 
 small particles to the earth, lienee the greater the height of 
 the clouds from which the rain falls, the smaller and "more 
 attenuated wfiU be the rain drops in arriving at the earth. 
 Mists and fogs, therefore, are as frequently the results of raiii 
 falling from very high clouds, as they are from evaporation at 
 the surface of the earth or oceau. 
 
 Melted lead oa the top of a shot tower is positively electri* 
 
 #- 
 
fled— the air around it negatively electrified. The lead in 
 ■falling repels itself ami is attracted Ijy the opposite electricity 
 of the_^air, causing it to separate and to assume the spherical 
 form of shot on reaching the vessels to receive it at the bottom 
 of the tower. So that we may attribute the spherical or 
 spheroidal forms of rain drops, of meteors, and of the planets 
 themselves, to the forces of magnetism. 
 
 . Let us take a east iron spherical shot of the calibre of twenty- 
 four pounds, and heat it to a nearly white heat; then let us 
 select the lightest down from the common thistle that we can 
 find ; we will then sliake some handfuls of it over the hot shot 
 at the distance cf three feet above it. It will he found that 
 notwithstanding what is called the attraction of gravitation, 
 not only of the heavy shot but also of the still heavier earth 
 on wdiich it is supported, the down will he carried upwards 
 into the atmosphere fiy the current of heated air radiated from 
 the hot surface of the shot, instead of falling either upon it or 
 ■on the earth immediately adjacent to it. If, therefore, this 
 heated shot repels some of the lighest flocculent matter of which 
 ■we have any knowledge, and will not allow it to fall upon the 
 earth in opposition to 'the radiating power of its heat, what 
 becomes of the gravitati,on of the earth and of the other })lanct?, 
 and of cemetary matter, &c;, to the sun, if this latter is an 
 'incandescent body of a temperature so high that wo cannot 
 really, conceive of its actual intensity? If the lightest sub’^ 
 ■stance, so-called, cannot be attracted by it through such 
 .excessive radiation of its heat, how can it attract the lieaviest 
 •planets ? "VVhat also becomes of its magnetism in the presence 
 of. such intensity of heat? It is evident that this great heat 
 could not co-exist with the magnetic forces of the sun, ■which 
 ' are thought to control the movements of our solar system. 
 
 Let us observe a l)oy on an August day, when the ther- 
 ■mometer indicates 98° of Fahrenheit, in a room with closed 
 •doors and window sashes so as to admit no disturbing currents 
 of air, while he amuses liimself with blowing soap bubbles 
 from the bowl of a clay pipe. "When the bubble is formed, 
 and it is sufficiently thin, lie throws it ofl“ from the bowl of 
 •his pipe. The circumference of the bubble interrupted by the 
 bowl of the pipe, as soon as it is- detached therefrom, closes 
 upon itself by magnetic attraction, and forms a nearly perfect 
 sphere, while it ascends rapidly towards the ceiling of the room. 
 Mark the play of iridescent colours on its surface as it receives 
 the light from a window, just as the suu receives the separate 
 
147 
 
 rays of light from the stars and. reflects them to the earth, ke. 
 Now why does this bubble ascend in ^;he atmosphere ? The 
 water and the soap of the bubble, as wel.l as the component 
 parts of the soap are eachvheavier than the warm air of the 
 room. _ The gas that fills its interior, composed of vapour and 
 carbonic acid^gas from the lungs of the boy, is also in its com- 
 ponents heavier than the same air, and is also probably of a 
 lower temperature than the air, which is 98° of Fahrenheit, 
 and yet the bubble, in defiance of the so-called laws of gravita- 
 tion, ascends to the ceiling, instead of descending to the floor. 
 
 If what astronomers tell us is correct, the density of the sun 
 is about one-fourth of that of the earth, and cannot relatively 
 be so great, volume for volume, as that of this soap bubble. 
 Water is the standard measure of density; potash and soda in 
 salts, component parts of this soap bubble, have each a greater 
 density than water, while the oil associated with them'^in the 
 soapy water is perhaps less than that of water, while the 
 density of the soapy water is greater than that of the sun. 
 Now the earth, with all its power of alleged gravitation, could 
 not prevent this soap bubble from asgending'in the air. Xow 
 why Avas this ? The globules ■ of soapy water Avere held 
 together in the bubble by the viscous character of its oily par- 
 ticles, which having an "opposite electric condition to that of 
 ■ the Avater, attracted it to complete the circumference of the 
 bubble when it wvas detached from the bowl of the pipe, while 
 the magnetism of the whole bubble, repelled by that of the 
 eai-th, caused it to ascend into the upper air by the attraction 
 ■of the magnetism existing there. 
 
 Now conceive of a soap bubble 1,400,000 times greater in 
 its dimensions than the earth, to be placed in one of the foci 
 of the earth’s orbit, and then imagine it to exert its gravitatino’ 
 power upon the earth, and estimate the result. If the earth 
 could not attract by gravitation this soap bubble in the room 
 referred to, what power would the big soap bubble have to 
 attract the earth by its gravitation, when their positions Avould 
 be reversed ? ’ 
 
 The undulatory theory of light is faulty in this, that every 
 wave requires a resisting medium to lift it above the common 
 level. In water, when any force disturbs its surface, the 
 inertia of the water, against which the surface water is driven, 
 offers a resistance by which the surface water is raised into a 
 wave, but in all such cases the velocity of the force is small ; 
 
148 
 
 wlion tho velocity of the wiml, for instance, is one hundred 
 and fifty miles per hour, it carries off the surface water into 
 spray, until sufficient time has elapsed to allow the inertia of 
 the mass of water to resist the impulse of the wind, when 
 waves are formed. Kow if tho ether of interplanetary and 
 interstellar spaces furnished such a medium of resistance it 
 would not admit of the passaj^e of light through it, with its 
 inconceivable velocity of 186,000 miles per sc'crmd. If tho 
 ether itself was luminous, some force of very low velocity must 
 impinge upon it to. make its undulations, and to be undula- 
 tions they must meet with resistance to become such ; besides 
 all undulations occur on the surfaces of fluids, and extend but 
 a short distance below the surfaces ; but ether of space has no 
 dimensions, it is illimitable: no one- can say where is its 
 surface; neither words nor figures can define its depth, width 
 or height, and as all niotions through it are of inconceivably 
 high velocities, it follows that there can be no undulations in 
 it, as they arc produced by low velocities. 
 
 Sunlight, on a bright July day, falling in its greatest in- 
 tensity upon the calm and placid siirface of an expanse of water, 
 piuictrates it and descends- to very great -depths below it, 
 Avithout producing the ^slightest undulation on its surface, or 
 movement wdthin its masses. .'Its velocity is so great that no 
 ap[ireciablc time is afforded for the disturbance of the inertia 
 ot ibc Avater. So it is A\'itli the ether of interstellar and inter- 
 planetary space. Thin, subtle, and attenuated, as this ether 
 may be supposed to be, the vcl()city of light in passing through 
 it is so transcendently groat that there Is no time for the dis- 
 turbance of its inertia, and consequently its motion is instantly 
 absorbed by the masfe of the ether, without producing any 
 undulation whateA’er, jSToav undulation is a superficial act. 
 There is no Avave at sea of a greater depth below the surface 
 than forty’ feet; all beloAv that depth is unaffected by AA'hat- 
 cver, cause that may have produced the, superficial Avavc. 
 The great Leviathan of tho deep, ninety or one hundred ’feet 
 long and of other corresponding dimensions, plunges beneath 
 the surface of the ocean when struck by a .harpoon, and Avith 
 inconceivable speed rushes into tho depths below, yet he leaves 
 no Avave, no ripple, to indicate the course he has taken, and 
 the whalemen in his pursuit have to scan the horizon in every 
 direction to ascertain the place, sometimes a great distance off, 
 where he has risen to the surface of the ocean to blow off his 
 surplus electricity and carbonic acid gas generated in his 
 lungs. So it is Avith all the fishes and marine animals that 
 
 
149 
 
 i 
 
 ;v,. inhabit the great deep. Their motions, however slow or swift, 
 
 p ; develop no undulations beneath the surface, and consequently 
 
 ■ none appear on the surface; there are, therefore, no undula- 
 I tioiis below a depth of forty feet from the surface. 
 
 Geographers inform us that three-fourths of the outer crust 
 of the earth are covered by water, only one-fburth bein^ dry 
 |> land. Of this fourth part but a small portion is habitahie by 
 ^ ■ animals, and a still smaller part thereof is actuallv occupied 
 
 J . by them, while the waters of the earth are teeniing every- 
 
 ■ where with animal life. Innumerable myriads of fishes, marine 
 , ■ animals, and sea monsters are^ known to’ exist beneath the 
 surface of these waters; their speed in pursuing qr avoiding 
 b each other, as they rush madly through them, should greatly 
 disturb their even surfaces, but whatever agitations may occur 
 F in the depths of the ocean from these causes, no trace of tliem 
 f ever is seen on its surface; there is no undulation from such 
 
 ^ causes. ^ 'Why? The reason is obvious. Fluids press equally 
 
 j. in all directions. The inertia of the great mass of waters is 
 
 'v not to be disturbed by the passage of even ‘innuraeralde 
 
 i _ objects of small dimensions at whatever speed they may attain. 
 
 The same principle obtains in relation to the ether of planetary 
 space. This planet rolling in its orbit with a velocity of sixty- 
 ^ - eight thousand miles per hour, through this ether, does not 
 
 ; aud eannot disturb the inertia of the whole ether of space ; the 
 
 r motion of the part displaced by the earth and its atmosphere 
 
 ^ . is absorbed at once by the whole mass, and its inertia remains 
 
 [ unaffected;, and so it is with all the planets, and even the sun 
 
 : itself. The sun’s motion in its orbit being 14,400 miles per 
 
 hour, the moon advaucing in her orbit at the rate of 65.000 
 t miles per hour, and so on with the rest of the planets, their 
 
 y enormous velocities will not- admit of the disturbance of the 
 
 h inertia of the ether of space before the planet has left the ether 
 
 b far behind through which it has passed. The retardation of 
 
 I eometary matter in its course is not due to the resistance of the 
 
 h 1 through which it 18 passing, for if it was it would be 
 
 y uniformly and continuously retarded in its whole course, and 
 
 > ' not merely as it is approaching or leaving the neighborhood 
 of the sun, but it is owing to the magnetism of the sun and 
 s the planets, as well as of the opposite magnetism of the ether 
 ^ acting upon its oivn magnetism, that such variation in its 
 iv velocity has been observed. This r^ minds me, that when a 
 planet is at its nearest point to the sun, it is moving with its 
 ^ greatest rapidity in its orbit ; and when at its remotest point 
 
 b from the sun, it is proceeding at its slowest rate of speed in its 
 
150 
 
 orbit; but yet the orbit throughout its entire course is so 
 bahinced that the rapidity is exactly proportional to the near- 
 ness, and the slowness to the distance in reference to each, so 
 that equal areas of the space included in the orbit are describcii 
 by the planet in equal times, which is Kepler’s celebrated 
 second law. 
 
 The friction of the atmosphere with the ether in its passage 
 through it evolves negativ'e electricitjq which is taken up by the 
 atmosphere by induction, and thus it becomes negatively electri- 
 fied. If the planets cannot, in their rotation around the sun and 
 on their respective axes, disturb the ether of space in its inertia, 
 how can it be supposed that rays of light passing throuj^h it 
 with its velocity of 186,000 miles per second, can cause it to 
 undulate ? Time is an element in the production of a wave, 
 and in the passage of light through ether there is not tirne 
 enough to resist the passage of light, in order to produce it. 
 A musket ball with the initial velocity of 1500 feet per second, 
 when shot from a musket will perforate a door hanging on its 
 hinges without moving it, as there is not furnished sufficient 
 time'to disturb its inertia before the ball had passed through 
 the door. So in like manner a tallow candle discharged from 
 a musket will pass through a door without disturbing its 
 position, while if it should be thrown from the hand against 
 the door at the distance of ten feet from it, its momentum at 
 such low velocity wmuld push the door back to its frame. 
 
 Kavs of sunlight, in passing through the ether of space, 
 cany with thenrtbe negative electricity with which they wore 
 repelled from the sun’s photosphere, and continue to be 
 repelled by the negative electricity of the intensely cold 
 ether itself through which they are passing, _ Now interpose 
 a glass prism to the passage of a beam of this sunlight after 
 it '"has reached us on the surfoce of the earth. This white 
 beam of light is then refracted and decomposed, and each colour ' 
 leaves the prism, diverging not only from the original ray of 
 white light of wffiich they are the elements, but also from each 
 other, as may be seen by observing the spectrum which they 
 fonn. This spectrum exhibits these colours in the order of 
 their susceptibility of refraction, the red being refracted 
 least and the violet most. From its appearance. Sir Isaac 
 Newton, wdio first analyzed it, thought that there w^ere 
 actually seven primary or distinct colours in the composition 
 of lia;ht, but since his day investigation and analysis have 
 determined that there are but three primary colours, viz : 
 
151 
 
 red, yellow and blue, and that Ibe orange, green, incligo and 
 violet, result from a commingling of the primary colours in. 
 ditferent degrees of intensity, as they form the spectrum. 
 Iv ow, let us see what causes this refraction and decompofition 
 of light by the prism. The glass prism was positively electri- 
 fied when the sunbeam was thrown upon it; the opposite 
 electricities of the ligh.t and the glass were brought into 
 contact; heat and magnetism "were evolved by their union: 
 the glass was expanded by the heat, which was immediately 
 absorbed by the air ; the rays of light, changing their electri- 
 cities by induction, become p:>ositively electrified and magnetic 
 and repel each other, forming Newton’s seven primary rays, 
 according to the diflerent degrees of positive electrizatior. and 
 magnetization they have absorbed. This explanation will 
 also account for the invisible beat rays outside of the spectrum, 
 which hf some philosophers have been erroneously supposed 
 to have come directly from the sun, associated with its light. 
 Again, let us take two pieces of flannel made of wool, yf the 
 same texture and' size; let one of them be white flanue], the 
 other black flannel. Now white flannel has the same electri- 
 cal condition as white sunlight, tliat is, negative. It conse- 
 quently reflects or repels the sunlight, according to electrical 
 laws. For this effect it is extensively used by the people of hot 
 countries for articles of outside clothing to keep them cool 
 during sunshine. Suppose we place these tw’o pieces of 
 flaunel. in the winter time, on the snow, one hundred feet 
 apart, the temperature of the air being at zero of Fahrenheit, 
 and the sim shining brilliantly through a clear atmosphere, 
 and let us watch tlie effect. In a littre W'hile it will be seen 
 that the piece of white flannel is frozen tight to the snow, 
 while the black flannel, haying absorbed all the rays of the 
 sunlight from its opposite electrical condition, has become 
 heated by the development of the heat 'from the union of these 
 opposite eleetricites, and the snow has become melted under 
 the black flannel. This experiment proves that heat is the 
 result of the union of opposite electricities as in the associated 
 primary rays of light, for the material composing the two 
 pieces of flannel was similar, while the negatively'electrified 
 white flannel repelled the negative white sunlight, absorbing 
 the cold of the snow beneath, and becoming frozen to it, as 
 the positively electrified black flannel attracted the negatively 
 electrified wbite sunlight developing the heat wdiicb miclted 
 the snow. Now as fevery object in nature has a colour of some 
 kind, when the sunlight falls upon it, we can understand 
 that the variations of temperature on tlie surface of the earth, 
 
152 
 
 are the immediate results of electrical action upon it hy the 
 ravs of light us light and. not hy rays of heat from the sun. 
 
 We have thus shown you, that from the attributes- of heat, 
 it is i)hvsically impossible for it to be transmitted to_ this or 
 any other planet from the sun through an almost infinite sp-.ice . 
 of ether at a temperature of —142° of centigrade thermometer. ■ 
 
 We have shown you that the negative electricity of our 
 atmosjfiiere is derived by induction from this very cold ether 
 in the rotation of the earth on its axis, and in its motions in 
 its orbit, carrying Avith it its atmosphere in its course. 
 
 Wo have shown you that the atmosphere is held hi its pl-aee 
 around the earth hy its magnetism- and dia-magnetisni, -\vliieh 
 have hcen developed hy currents of opposite electrlc'ities in 
 v'onjnnction, produced by the passage of rays of light thr(Uigh • 
 the atmosphere, cvolvihg by their friction with it electrnnty 
 of one kind, while the opposite kind of electricity has been , 
 produced by the impact of rays of light upoii the more solid 
 parts of. tlie earth’s crust and upon its waters as it developed 
 ■iheir- evaporation. 
 
 We have shown that the attraction of matter on or above the 
 earth, is through magnetism to the poles opposite respectively 
 10 the hemisphci-es of the earth, that it is confined' to the crust 
 of the earth, and that it is not the attraction of gravitation. 
 
 We have shown that the upward pressure of all fluids, from 
 capillary attraction in tubes to tbe upivard pressure of tbe' 
 waters of the ocean that float tbe tonnage of the world, to that 
 of tbe atmosphere which- holds it suspended above. the surface 
 of the earth, is strictly magnetic. We have shoivn that the 
 variations of the barometer at the level 'of the sea are. not 
 occasioned by the varying -umight of the atmosphere, but by 
 its magnetic condition, as those, of the thermometer are pro- 
 duced by currents of electricity, ivliich permeate the glass 
 tubes that contain the thcrmoinetric fluid. 
 
 We have shown that .all terrestrial heat is derived from^ the 
 conjunction. of oppoc.ite electricities, whether proceeding from 
 tbe combustion, of inflammable substances, from friction, or 
 from the contact of currents of air or of gases oppositely elec- 
 trified. . . ' 
 
 We have shown that friction of substances of low tempera- 
 tures produces negative electricity, and increases the cold by 
 
153 ' 
 
 tlieir union, illustrated by two blocks of ice rubbed logetb ■? 
 a!ul uniting more firmly at tbcir junction than in any otln r 
 of tbeir parts. And tlien we have shown that positive el'i'C- 
 trici ty is_ always associated with heat, and the opposite elec- 
 tricity with cold; that their eonj unction produces heat or cold 
 according as one or the other of the electricities predominates 
 ,at the moment of their union ; that magnetism is also evolved 
 by their conjunction, and that if much’heat is developed, the 
 magnetism disappears and takes refuge in the nearest greater 
 cold; that magnetism is therefore the antagonist of heat, and 
 is found in its greatest intensity in extreme cold, in the 
 highest part of the atmosphere, and in the Arctic and Antarc- 
 tic regions. 
 
 If the atomic theory he true, and the atoms of etlier bo 
 spheres or oblate spheroids, we may imagine that light passino- 
 in rays through the intensely cold ether, develops negative 
 eloctrinity by its friction with the ether, and that this nega- 
 tive electricity resides in the interstitial spaces between the 
 atoms -of the ether until attracted by positive electricity of 
 greater or lesser volume and tension, their conjunction would 
 produce magnetism which wmuld find a habitat araoug those 
 interstitial spaces, of the atoms of ether in the poles' of the 
 atoms themselves. 
 
 From tne mobility of the particles of fluids, whether liquid 
 or gaseous, it appears that their tendency is to move in spiral 
 curves. In the currents of ocean, 'sea, lake or river waters, 
 
 • the frequency of their curved direction is everywhere matdfest, 
 any obstruction to the general direction- of their currents, 
 whether superficial, or at varying depths below the >:urntce, is 
 sufficient to determine them into spiral curves of greater or 
 lesser curvatures. It would seem that this attribute of fluids 
 was intended by the Creator for the evolution of currents of 
 electricity by the friction of these T.)articles of the inner curves 
 of the spirals, and of magnetism by the passage of this electri- 
 city along the spirals of the fluids themselves. This is an 
 origin of magnetism, as well m the waters as in the atmos- 
 phere. The great currents of the ocean, swmepiug in curves 
 greater than a great circle of the earth itself, are only elements 
 of immense spirals. The circular motion of an infusion of 
 tea in a cup when stirred by a spoon to hasten the solution of 
 the accompanying sugar, is hut an illustration of the same 
 principle, and so it is with gaseous fluids. The tiny whirlwind 
 that raises the dust in summer in our country roads, is but a 
 
154 
 
 ;?f in : currents of atmosplaerie air, from tlio gentle breeze 
 ( : 't flvi's 1:8 ill the summer beats to the tornado, hurricane, 
 find miuhiy cyedone that desolate the oceans and islands in 
 iii;;eiti opical regions. Thfs form, therefore, in which these 
 fLu’ds are continually moving, is among the means adopted hy 
 the Creator to develop electricity, magnetism and heat, oir 
 and above the surface of our planet. 
 
 “Let us for a moment consider the action of the two great 
 currents of warm water on the opposite' coasts of K'ortlr 
 America. The Gulf Stream and the Japanese current through' 
 Behring’s Straits to the Arctic Ocean. Let us consider the 
 Gulf Stream. On the Equator, in the Atlantic Ocean the 
 mean temperature of the surface of the sea, according to 
 Ifamtz,. 13 78.6°, the average maximum in latitude 6° north, is 
 80.3°, the highest observed temperature in 8° 1', iiorth,^ 
 according to Kotzebue, 84.6°, and the mean temperature of 
 the oea between the parallels of 3° north and 3° south, accord- 
 iag to Humboldt, was from 80.1° to 82.4°. The mean tempera- 
 ture of the air in the equatorial belt of the Atlantic Ocean 
 between 10° north and 10° south, according to Lentz, is 78.8°.' 
 Here' you have the surface water of the oceau in the 
 Equatorial belt of the Atlantic Ocean hotter by 3.8° than air 
 just above it. Kow, if. these respective temperatures were 
 produced l>y emanations of heat from the sun, their condition 
 of temperature should ho reversed, the capacity of the air to 
 absorb heat being so much greater than that of water. This 
 fact proves that it is not solar heat that produces the tempera- 
 ture either in the air or water. 
 
 “In July, the course of the Gulf Stream, in latitude 38° 
 north, .shows the form of a tongue ot temperature of 81.6°, 
 (at some places even 84° was observed.) This hot stream pro- 
 duces itself as a double tongue, with a mean temperature of 
 from 77° to 81.5° of Fahrenheit, (20° to 22° of Lcaumur,) to- 
 wards the north as far as the 40° of latitude, and towards 
 the east to the 43° of longitude west of Greenwich, that is, 
 far beyond Newfoundland. In January, the tongue of 77° 
 of Fahrenheit, (20° of Keaumur,) reaches to latitude 37° north 
 and longitude 70° 30' west, and at the place where tiie east 
 end of this tongue of 77° of Fahrenheit terminates in July, 
 we find in Janviary a temperature of 62.5° and 62.8° of Fah- 
 renheit, (14° and i5° of Keaumur.) 
 
 “ Up to the meridian of the eastern end of Newfoundland, 
 the Gulf Stream proceeds first in an east noi’theast, and then 
 in an east direction parallel to the American coast, with aju 
 
average temperature in July of 77° to 83.8° Fahroalieit, (20° 
 to 23° Reaumur,) and in Januaiy, of 68° to 77° Fahi'enheit, 
 (16° to 20° Reaumur.) The highest temperature of the air 
 ^frica in the same parallel ot latitude in January, is only 
 59°. - 
 
 ■_ “At Newfoundland, the Gulf Stream comes in violent collR 
 siou with the Polar Stream of Labrador, which nearly at a 
 right angle sets against and penetrates into it like an immense 
 wedge._ On the eastern side of the Grand Bank it is so 
 powerful that, according to the surface isotherms, it pene- 
 trate^ into the Gulf Stream from 150 to 200 miles southward'- 
 of its general limits, and therefore entirely intersects the 
 surface waters of the easterly stream for that breadth, which 
 is the most important part of its course. The Gulf Stream, 
 800 miles northeast of Newfoundland bank, after having 
 passed beyond this polar current, is loarmer than it is south of 
 it. The influence of the temperature of this polar steam is 
 le^s in January than in July. 380 miles eastward of Newfound* 
 land, on the 50° of north latitude, the Gulf Stream has a 
 surface temperature of 68° Fahrenheit in July, while in 
 January, the Gulf Stream on the 50° degree of north latitudn 
 has a temperature of 54. o° Fahrenheit j the thermometer 
 shows at the same time at Prague, or at Ratibor, (in Silesia,) 
 on the same parallel of latitude, temperatures of minus 24°, 
 and sometimes still lower ones. The isothermal line of 54.5° 
 Fahienhcit, (10° of Reaumur,) runs up in July towards 
 Iceland and the Faroe Islands to the 61° of north latitude. 
 There it meets for the second time the polar stream which on 
 the east coast of Iceland again threatens to block up its way 
 and to destroy it. In J uly, temperatures were observed on 
 the north coast of Iceland of 45°, 47° and 49.3°, (l)y Lord 
 Dufferin, 46°,) while off the east coast for six degrees of lono-i- 
 tude, none higher than from 40° to 42.6° w'ere found. ° 
 
 “According to Irminger’s data, and Lord Dufferin’s observa- 
 tions, the Gulf Stream setting towards the north preponderates 
 in July on the north and west coasts of Iceland, but on the 
 oast and south coasts the polar stream coming from the direc- 
 tion of Jan Mayen. 
 
 “ Between Iceland and the Faroe Islands, the Gulf and polar 
 streams are contending ngainst each other, and the result of 
 this struggle is a sea divided into a great number of hot and 
 cold bands, which fact is demonstrated clearly by Lord Bui- 
 ferin’s cruise from Stornoway to Reikiavik in 1856, and fully 
 corroborated by 'W’allich in the Bull Dog Expedition of 1860. 
 
156 
 
 ‘‘ Tlie fact that the two streams in their contest appear as 
 many bamls anJ- strata alougsitlCj ovcraiul beneath each othei,^ 
 is proved not only hy the obsQi’vations of the tcmpeiatnio ot 
 the surface of the sea by Irminger and Duffcrin, bat also by 
 the researches of AVallicli in regard to the nature of the bot- 
 tom of the sea. The latter found there volcanic stones point- 
 ino- as to their origin to Jan Mayen, and at other places 
 ophiocomfe of two to fve inches in length which could have 
 beo-i carried there only hy the warm Gulf Stream. Besides, the 
 drift ice penetrates here further to the south than anywhere 
 else east of Iceland. * *' * * But here the Gulf Stream 
 comes away erpially intact from its struggle with the polar 
 stream as at Isewfouudland. ^Ye now know its further 
 course in the summer from many direct observations as far 
 north as Sphzhergen and 2Iova Zembla,and beyond the 80° of 
 north latitude. . 
 
 “ The mild Avintcr of the British Isles is well known. The 
 mean temperature for January in London is 37.4°; at Eoin- 
 bnr<^h the same; at Dublin 40.5°. ^ The further we go from 
 cast to west or. from south to nortn, or, in other woids, the 
 nearer to the Gulf Stream,the higher we find the temperature. 
 At Dust, on one of the Shetland Islands, 500 miles north from 
 London, the mean temperature, of the air in January is 40.3°, 
 and that of the sea 45.5°, (East Yell.) The warm current 
 of the sea is tempering the air. The lowest temperature 
 observed in London was —5°, at Penzance on the west coast, 
 fit Saudwick ou tlie Orkney Iskuids Madrid 
 
 -1-13.3^ liaa been observed, and H-27.5^ at Algiers, Avhicli 
 provides Europe with cauliflowers in .winter. 
 
 “ On the morning of Feh. 8, 1870, the telegraph announced 
 the temperature at llatihor, (in Silesia,) to be 25.4°, ’^'Lilo 
 northwest of it, at Breslau, it was — 13°, at Berlin 0.4 , at Iviel 
 4-10.6°, and at Ghristiansand, on the south of Norway, 8° of 
 latitude north of Katihor, + 30.7°. So high a temperature 
 w’ould be impossible in Norway if the winds did not bring it 
 from the high temperature of the Gulf Stream to the westward. 
 
 “ Many persons suppose because the summer in Iceland is 
 rou.o’h and cold that the winter must be dreadful iu its .severity 
 of ?bld, but exactly the contrary is the case. Dr. Hendersou 
 states, that ^ really shuddered at the thought of living through 
 the winter in Iceland. How greatly was I astonished when I 
 found the temperature not only higher than in Denmark, 
 
157 
 
 ^here I had^Tieen during tho preceding winter, but also that 
 tlio \Mnter m Iceland was hy no means more se\mre tlmn the 
 
 ►-n cden Sheep and horses have to tak« care of themselves 
 durmg tne entire year in Iceland; only cattle and the more 
 valuable sadd e horses are fed in the stable during winter. 
 How mipossible would It be in Germany to Idave any domestio 
 animal in midwinter without shelter even for a few days only. 
 
 It IS not to be wondered at that such is the case, because 
 tne warm Gulf Stream provides Iceland with heat. Its mean 
 temperature there is, even in January, 34.7° above zero, and 
 tlie lowest iemperature noted during iwenUj years was onhi ^8:6°. 
 Iceland is situated close to the Arctic circle, and in the lati- 
 tude of Siberia. . 
 
 Wjiile on the western side of the north Atlantic ocean, the 
 polar ice reaches down to latitude 36° north, (the parallel of 
 Gibraltar and Malta,) and the name Labrador is sufficient to 
 climatic qualities of ail the land between 50° 
 anti 60 north, there exists on the east side of the ocean alon «> the 
 Is orwcgian, coast cultivated land up to 71° north, the nortlTern- 
 most land of the world, in which, under the influence of the ‘ 
 Gan btt^am, agriculture is the main occupation of the inhabi- 
 tants. W heat IS grown up to luderoen, in latitude 64° north “ 
 bai ley up to Alten, in 70° north, where sowina^ generally is done 
 between the 20th. and 25th of J une, yielding in the short space 
 of eight weeks to the 20th or 30th of August, in the average 
 SIX or seven fold; the potato yields at the same place on the 
 average seven or eight fold, in favourable seasons even twelve 
 to htreen fold ; it thrives on the coast as far east as Vadso, on the 
 J^aissian boundary line. _ At Alten (70° north) relishable cauli- 
 liOiver 13 raised even in less favourable summers. Where 
 washed by the polar current, there are, as shown by the various 
 rankliu expeditions, under 70° north, but desolate ice deserts 
 without any cultivation. There is on the eastern side of the 
 ocean the flourishing and busy little town of Hammerfesf 
 where only once the temperature has been as low as 4-5° and 
 generally is not less than 9.5°, while, on the western side of 
 the ocean there are only the poor snow huts of the ^Isquimaux 
 in ^0° north. ^ 
 
158 
 
 "Wliile Germany has to suffer the frigid air of — 24° and 
 sometimes more intense cold in winter, at that same time 
 !N"orway gathers a rich harvest under the Arctic circle, uot 
 from its acres, hut in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, as 
 for instance at Ansvaer, in the direction of the vortex of the 
 Gulf Stream ; there the herring makes its appearance aboutlho 
 10th day of December, remaining until the first days of Janu- 
 ary, and then about 10,000 people congregate, and haul about 
 200,000 tons of these fish of a value of more than one million 
 of dollars.” 
 
 ■ The warmer air of the land near large bodies of water, 
 whether of lakes, seas or oceans, is due to the difference of 
 temperatures between that of the atmosphere and that of the 
 waters, which being in contact at the surface develops one 
 kind of electricity, which meeting with the opposite electricity 
 of the air evolves heat and renders the climate of such localities 
 mild, healthful and agreeable. 
 
 “ East of the !North Cape, distant from it about 120 nautical 
 miles at Vardoe,. the temperature of January is ; 
 
 while at St. Petersburg, 620 miles south of the former, it is 
 4-15.1°, or 3.4° colder. Put the most important fact, testify- 
 ing to the existence and the great volume of the Gulf Stream 
 at the North Cape, appears to me to be the temperature of the 
 sea at Fruholm, which in January is in the mean still -f37.9°. 
 Fruholrn is on the same parallel ot latitude as Ust-Jansk, lati- 
 tude 70° 55' north, in Siberia, and Point Barrow, in North 
 America. The former has a mean temperature in January, of 
 —38.6°, the latter of — 18.6°. Meran, in Tyrol, of world 
 wide celebrity, on account of its mild and temperate air, 
 nearer to the equator by 24J°, has in January a temperature 
 of the air of 31.8°, Yenice, 36.3°, Vevay, 33.1°, Paris 
 35.4°, New York, 29.5°, Washington, 31.5°.” 
 
 We will not pursue this subject of the surface temperature 
 of the Gulf Stream to its ultimate northern development, but 
 we will turn our attention to the temperature of the Gulf 
 Stream, at its various depths in its course, as well as of the 
 sea itself. 
 
 “North of the isothermal line of 89.4°, (3.3° of Reaumur,) 
 toward the pole, the temperature generally increases with the 
 depth, while southward, toward the equator, it decreases. 
 There is, however, no uniformity in this, : as Lieutenant 
 Rodgers, in lS55,.foun.d in the Asiatic part of the Arctic Ocean 
 there is on the surface a warm "current, with water of a low 
 
159 
 
 Bpccifie gravity, bencatli it a cold current, and tlion again a 
 warm cuiTcnt of licavier water, and all these strata ruuniug 
 in opposite directions. , 
 
 In entering upon the question of temperature of sea water 
 at .diftereut depths, it must be home in mind that water is 
 densest at a temperature of 39.2°, and that it arranges itself 
 in the various depths according to the specific gravity in 
 strata, either above and beneath, or alongside each other. 
 From the place where the sea shows at the surface a tempera- 
 ture of 39.2°, it will lose in temperature toward the pole, 
 while in general, it will gain with the, increase of depth, but 
 toward the equator the temperature of the surface will increase 
 while it will decrease downward in proportion. 
 
 Parry, in latitude 57° 51' north, longitude 41° 05' west of 
 Greenwich, on June 13th, 1819, observed the sea to have a 
 temperature on the surface of 40.5°, and at a depth of 1410 
 feet, m the Gulf Stream, 130 nautical miles southeast of Cape 
 Farewell, a temperature of 39°. 140 miles northeast of this 
 
 place, in latitude §9° 35' north, longitude 38° 6' west of 
 Greenwich, Captain lluudsen, on the 30th of June, 1859, found 
 the temperature of the surface 44.6°, and at the depth of 1800 
 feet, 43.4°, wliich corresponds with Parry’s measurements. 
 
 ITallick remarks that on the parallel of latitude 63° north, 
 not far from the south coast of Iceland, the temperatures on the 
 surface, and at a depth .of 600 feet, differ in the average not 
 more than 3.8°, and that consequently the Gulf Stream does 
 not essentially lose in temperature to that depth. 
 
 ^ On Irmingcr’s chart of the currents and ice drifts around 
 Iceland, there is, in Brede Bugt, (Broad Bay,) in latitude 65° 
 17' north, longitude 23° 25' west of Greenwich, a temperature 
 recorded of 46° at the surface, and of 45.5° at a depth of 300 
 feet, showing that the Gulf Stream at this place in the vicinity 
 of the Polar Circle has lost in that depth only .5 of a degree 
 of temperature. " 
 
 “ Scoresby remarks, ‘ that the temperature of the sea near 
 Spitzbergen is six or seven degrees warmer at the depth of 
 from 600 feet to 1200 feet than it is at the surface.’ 
 
 “ From the results obtained by the British Sounding Expedi- 
 tion, from May 31st to September 7th, 1869, in the Horth 
 Atlantic Ocean, between the Faroe Islands and Spain, it 
 
IGO 
 
 iiiiyiearfj that the Gulf Stream has, between Ireland and Spain, 
 a lajiih of aOQ fathoms or 5400 feet, and equally as mn<‘]i near 
 th:' Ivockall rock, west of the Hebrides. Between lioclcall 
 :'!)d the Faroe Islands, near the parallel of latitude 60‘^ north, 
 k reaches ! 6 lhc bottorn of the sea, w])ich has a-depth there of 
 7i'7 fathoms, or 4G02 feet, and at that depth the Gulf Stpvam 
 le.-s still a temperature of 41.5°. It has also been found that 
 uu AntorcUc current of cold water, directly over the buttom of 
 the son. (dear up to the Irish and Scottish coasts,’ exists, meeting 
 tl yre an Arctic stream. In the notes of Professor Thomson,- 
 the stx'atum at Bockall, from 900 to 1400 fathoms bAow the 
 surface, is designated as cold indraught, Arctic and Arrtarctic, 
 “ (Temperature"*39.2° to 37.4°,) and the stratum between 900 
 and 2435 fathoms, between Ireland and Spain, as indrauglit ” 
 of cold water, probably mainly Antarctic, (temperature 39.2°’ 
 to 36.5°.) ■ ' 
 
 “ It is demonstrated by figures and facts, that the hot sonrcc 
 and . cove of the Gnlf Stream extends -from the straits of 
 Florida along the Horth Ameidcan coast at all times, day and 
 night, in winter as in summer, even ]n January, with , a 
 temperature of 77° and more, np to the 37° ^of north latitude, 
 while at the same time gnd in the same latitude in Tunis, in 
 Africa, the temperature of the air is hut 53.4°. The Gulf 
 Stream transports and develops still in this latitude higher 
 teniperature than either water or air possesses in the, Atlantic 
 ocean, even under the equator, on which neither in duly nor 
 in January the temperature is Cver as high as that of the .Gulf 
 Stream in latitude 37° noi’th. . 
 
 ‘‘ TJndor the 37° and 38° of northern latitude, the hot core of 
 the Gulf Stream turns away from the American coast towards 
 the east beyond the meridian of Newfoundland and its hank 
 to 40°. of longitude west of Greenwich, where it still possesses 
 a temjmrature in July of about 75°, and in January of about 
 06°. From there it proceeds to the northeast, diffuses nearly 
 across the entire Atlantic, and snrronnds the whole of Europe 
 to the Arctic region and the White Sea of Arckangol, with a 
 ’lu'oad and pennaneut warm water course, without which 
 England and Germany would he a second Labrador, and 
 Scandinavia and Russia a second Greenland, buried beneath 
 glaciers; whereas, in Fruholm, (71° 6' north,) the sun does 
 not rise at all above the horizon during the entire month of 
 January, in a latitude in which, in Asia and Ameiica, the 
 mercuiw remains frozen for months — there the Gulf Stream 
 
preserves for the sea a temperature of 37.8°. Wliile the sun 
 in tbc short days of winter sends forth his rajs of lijjht and 
 wanntli hut for a few hours, and the influence of the latter is 
 quickly lost again in the long nights, the Gulf Stream does 
 not cease, day or night, to he the source of warmth. 
 
 “ The Gulf Stream carries more heat to the north than is 
 carried hy all the warm air currents from the entire periphery 
 of the equator towards the ISTorth Pole and towards the SoutK 
 Pole. The southwest winds receive their liigh temperature 
 from the Gulf Stream, and only through the ocean — not hy the 
 winds — can warmth he carried into ikitudes as high as those 
 of the European coasts are. 
 
 ‘"From the soundings obtained so far, the Gulf Stream must 
 he, up to the Arctic ocean, a deep and voluminous water 
 course. If it should not he so, the polar ice would reach also 
 the European coasts. In the Antarctic ocean the polar ice 
 drifts all around the glohe as far at least as latitude 57 ° 5 ' 
 south, in many places to 50° and 40°, (latitudes corresponding 
 respectively to those of the British Channel and the Mediter- 
 ranean Sea,) on some even to 35°, (corresponding to the 
 latitude of Morocco,) hut not the smallest particle of northern 
 polar ice has ever reached even the northernmost cape of 
 Europe. The Gulf Stream in its course is more powerful and 
 steady than all the winds ; only the the polar ice and polar 
 currents hi spring and summer exercise a great influence over 
 it. The polar stream presses at three places against it: first, 
 from the northwest, east of Newfoundland, then from the 
 northeast of Iceland ; at both these places the polar stream is 
 buried and proceeds beneath the Gulf Stream, after having 
 pushed it off laterally to . the southeast. But for the third 
 time, at Bear Island, the polar stream comes directly against 
 the Gulf Stream from the northeast, splits it into two or three 
 branches,^ and in places even presses it beneath its own waters 
 at least in July. Under the lee of Spitzbergcn, this latter 
 branch rises again and proceeds on the surface according to 
 Parry’s observations to latitude 82|° north. The main branch 
 east of Bear Island, has been traced by Dr. Bessels to latitude 
 76° 8' north, where in August, 1869, it had still a temperature 
 of 41.2°. 
 
 “ The polar streams, in conformity with the general laws of 
 nature, are less powerful in winter than in the summer. The 
 polar ice does not drift as far southward ; it makes fast more 
 
162 
 
 or less lo fhe Arctic coasts and islands ; in spring and sum- 
 raer, on the contrary, it drifts along similar to the glacier 
 tongues, in Alpine mountains, or the ice in our rivers. The 
 Gulf Stream is in winter more powerful than in summer, 
 while the polar stream's, so to say, set at rest in some measure, 
 withdraw their ice and concentrate it around the land. The 
 relations of the temperature of the Gulf Stream within them- 
 selves, are about the same in January as in July, the fluctu- 
 ation between its maximum and minimum temperature, (July 
 and January, or August and February,) would be on the 
 average only about 9°(of Fahrenheit, ( 4“ of Reaumur.) 
 
 “ What immense contrast to this extraordinary temperature 
 is offered by the temperature of the air on the mainland! 
 From the sea and air isothermal .line of 36,5® Fahrenheit, 
 (2° of Reaumur,) at Philadelphia, to. Northumberland Sound, 
 With — 40°, the distance is 2280 miles nearly due north, 
 There is, therefore, in about each thirty miles a fall in temper- 
 ature of one degree, as you go north. From the same p^v.at 
 at Philadelphia to the Gulf Stream, east of Fruholm, on the 
 same isothermal line of 36.5° Fahrenheit, (or 2° of Reaumur.) 
 there are in the direction of the Gulf Stream, in an air lino, 
 about 5400 miles, in which distance there is no fall at all in 
 the temperature of the Gulf.Strcam. There, one degree of fall 
 in each thirty miles; here, the same temperature aloiig 5100 
 miles in a northeast direction. Such is the influence and 
 po-wer of the Gulf Stream. In the latitude of Berlin, which 
 has a mean temperature of the air in January of 28°, the 
 Gulf Stream .has 50°; at the Faroe Islands it has still 42.1° ; but 
 in-Jakutsk, in the latitude of the Faroes, the air is 40° below 
 zero, a difference of 82.1°.” 
 
 Scorcsby remarks : “ In some situations near Spitzbergen, 
 the warm water not only occupies the lower and mid regions 
 of the sea, but also appears at the surface ; in some instances, 
 0 Y'cii arnong ice. the temperature of the sea at tlie suificc lias 
 been as high as 86°, or 38°, when that of the air has been 
 several degrees below freezing. This circumstance, however, 
 lias chiefly occurred near the meridians of 6° to 12° east of 
 Greenwich, and ive find from observations that the sea freezes! 
 less in these longitudes than in any other part of the Spitz- 
 bergen sea.” 
 
 “ The hot source and core of the Gulf Stream extends from 
 the straits of Florida, along the North American coast at all 
 times, day and night, in winter . and summer, even in January, 
 
vritli a temperature of 77®, and more, up to the 37® of norfh- 
 ■ era latitude, while, at the same time, and in the same latitude, 
 in Africa, (Tunis,) the temperature of the air is but 63.4°. 
 The Gulf Stream transports and develops still, in this lati- 
 tude, a higher temperature than water and air possess in the 
 Atlantic ocean, even under the equator, on which neitlier in 
 Julv nor in January, the temperature is ever as high as that 
 of the Gulf Stream, in latitude 37° north.”='= 
 
 'Why is this? We have shown that heat could not be. 
 forceifdown by the sun along tlie line of the Gulf Stream, by 
 any power of which we have a notion. If this heat could be 
 derived from the sun, it is clear that the temperature of the 
 ocean under the equator should be at least a.s great, if not 
 much greater, than it is in the straits of Florida, or up to the 
 37° of north latitude; but we know, experimentally, that this 
 is not the case, but that the heat is actually less either on land 
 or ocean under the equator, than -it is in that portion of the 
 Gulf Stream from the straits of Florida to the 87° of north 
 latitude. Therefore solar I’adiation of heat is out of the ques- 
 tion. ISTor could the great heat at the immense depths of the 
 Gulf Stream, penetrate thereto, even if it were possible for 
 heat to descend to our planet from the sun, for the tendency 
 of heat is everywhere to ascend into the. atmosphere, and it 
 could not remain permanently at those depths in opposition ■ 
 to that tendency. We must therefore seek the cause of tins 
 marvellous heat in the waters of the Gulf Stream, somewhere 
 else than in the sun. 
 
 We are told by our geologists that very great heat e.xists in 
 the. interior ©f our earth — and the existence of volcanoes in 
 many portions of the globe which are now active, as well as 
 those which have been quiet for a period of time unknown 
 to man, all attest the truth of their assertion. These volcanoes, 
 past and present, have subterranean and submarine communi- 
 cations with each other, which permeate large portions of the 
 interior of the earth and serve to transmit any excessive ac- 
 cumulation of heat from its immediate source to even the 
 most distant parts of the earth’s interior, for radiation to the 
 surface of the earth. These communications are simply flues 
 for distributing the interior heat of the earth to its various parts. 
 The greatest heat is and always has been under the equator, 
 and these flues are for the most part submarine. If you will 
 
 * From Dr. A. Peterman’s Essays on tlie Extension of tbe Gulf Stream. 
 
1 
 
 16 i 
 
 take an atlas of physical ^ography and cast your eyes upon 
 the map showing the distribution of volcanoes and the regions 
 subject to earthquakes, you will discover that the southern part 
 of Mexico and the isthmus, connecting the two Americas arc 
 studded with volcanoes, while the Caribbean sea is filled with 
 them. These volcanoes are doubtless connected by flues which 
 are united into many proximate flues in the straits of Florida, 
 through which the surplus heat of the interior of the earth under 
 the American continent and a part of the Atlantic ocean ami 
 the Gulf of Mexico is transmitted to the Arctic regions, warm- 
 ing the -waters of the Gulf Stream through its wdiole length, ^ 
 and thus moderating the climates of the western parts of’ 
 Europe. Another system of volcanoes will he observed almost 
 on the same meridian, extending from Tristan d’Acunhain the 
 southerm Atlantic ocean though Trinidad, St. Helena, Ascen- 
 sion, Cape Verd Islands, Canary Islands, Azores, Iceland and 
 Jan Mayen, to the Arctic regions. These volcanoes attest 
 a central heat, forciiig a passage by the repellent a-ffinity of 
 positive electricity with which it is associated in the direction 
 of the polar axis of the earth, to outlets at either pole.' 
 When obstructions are met with in the passage of this heat 
 and electricity towards the polos in the interior of the earth 
 volcanoes are formed, the superincumbent crust of the earth 
 is upheaved and a vertical flue or chimney instead of the origi- 
 nal horizontal or inclined flue is developed, and an eruption 
 of matter is thrown out to form an island, -which in a series 
 of ages may become a continent. 
 
 These two systems of submarine' flues carrying the heat of 
 the central portion of the interior of the eai’th under the 
 Atlantic- ocean, a part of the American continent, the Carrib- 
 hean sea, Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles, meet under the' 
 Atlantic ocean to the southeast of tlie island of Iceland, each 
 furnishing its supply of heat to maintain the temperature of 
 the Gulf Stream, as well in its greatest depths as_ on its 
 • extended surface. As heat ascends from its source into the 
 atmosphere, it passes upwards from the bottom of the Gulf 
 Stream through it to its surface, a.ssociated with Us positive 
 electricity, where it encounters the negative electricity of the 
 atmosphere, and by conjunction with it, increases the heat of 
 the air above the water, which air, thus warmed, attracted by the 
 colder air negatively electrified of the land that is nearest to it, 
 flows in a steady wind towards it, ameliorating its climate and 
 promoting the health and happiness of its inhabitants. 
 
165 
 
 ■ All 'srarm currents of water, wherever they may be situated ' 
 have a similar origin in the heat developed in the interior of 
 the earth.^ The islands of the Pacific ocean may be all regarded 
 as volcanic. The western coasts of America from Cape Horn 
 to their noithern limits, furnish a corresponding proportion of 
 volcanic action, and the warm Japanese current through 
 Behring’s straits and along the coast of Asia, evinces a similar 
 origin in submarine flues conveying heated air under the 
 ocean to the Arctic regions on that side of the globe. ' 
 
 “ The British expeditions for deep sea soundings ascertained 
 the temperature of the water of the Gulf Stream, at a depth 
 of 6000 feet, (being more than one mile,) to be 38.1°, and at 
 14,610 feet, (being nearly three miles,) to be still 36.5°. Com- 
 pared with this, the deep sea temperature of the Gulf of 
 Arabia, and eveu of the water under the Equator, will he 
 found veiy low, sinking to 34° j in general, the deep sea 
 temperature of the tropical oceans is lower than that of the 
 Horth American basin. 
 
 ■ J'lii the northern Atlantic ocean, between 50° and 60° of 
 latitude, there are certain hands of water of a high tempera- 
 ture interposed between bauds of water of a lower temperture. 
 
 “ T/iese lands of a higher temperature art to be founds more or less, 
 where a warm current and a cold current converge, as, for instance, 
 east of Iceland.^ The two principal bands alluded to by Admi- 
 ral Irmiuger, in his memoir, in about 60° of north latitude 
 between the Shetland islands and Cape Farewell, are, doubt- 
 less, the two convex vertices- of the. Gulf Stream in that 
 region. 
 
 The fact that the entire sea between Scotland and Iceland 
 consists of a great number of such warm and cold hands of 
 water, adjoining each other, is best proved by the cruise of 
 Lord Dufterin, who, sailing from Stornoway, in the Hebrides 
 to Reikiavik, between the 13th and 20th of June, 1856, ob’ 
 served the temperature of the surface of the sea every, two 
 hours— -in all, ninety times— and found, it to change hot less than 
 forty-four times, or, in the average, once in fourteen nautical 
 miles, the change fluctuating between 52,9° and 43° ; for the 
 most part, however, between 50° and 47.8°; while on starting 
 from Stornoway, the temperature was observed to be 48°, and 
 on arriving at Iceland again 48°. 
 
 “ There are hands, where the water is of a higher temperature 
 close to one where it is of a lower temperature, and such 
 
I an ’s ai’c found on cacli passage across the Atlantic, l>ctwocn 
 Faii-liill and Greenland. TlLc'’d'drereuce between tho highest- 
 and tlio lowest tenipej atiii’cs of the sea observed on tliis line 
 of the Atlantic ocean is 10.8°, up to 30° or 40" west of Green- 
 wich ; to the west of this meridian, the temperature fell more 
 rapid! j, the naoro so the nearer to Greenland. The tempera- 
 ture of the warmest bands is defined frequently pi’ctty sharply 
 against the waters which run through them. This high 
 tcmpci’titure of the sea at its surface, cxtcmls 30 degrees of 
 longitude, or at least 900 nautical miles Avest of Fairhill. 
 
 “Findlay mentions that the temperature at the depth of 
 1200 feet Avas found to be only o5°, Avhilo on^tho surface of 
 the Gulf Stream it reached 77.4°. In the Florida straits, 
 Avhere the velocity of the Gulf Stream is greatest, the tem- 
 perature at 4800 feet Avas found to bo only 33.1°. 
 
 “ The AA-ai-m water of the Gulf Stream is not found at consider- 
 able depths, much of the heat of the lower strata escaping to 
 the surface. It is, besides,, a fact, that this Avarm water is but 
 little apt to mix Avith the adjoining sea-water. 
 
 “Above the broad Atlantic ocean, in high latitudes, in the 
 colder seasons there is a relatively high temperature, which by 
 the prcAmiling Avcstci’n gnd southAvestern Avinds is carried to 
 the coasts of Europe.” 
 
 Let us now consider, some of the recognized laAvs of 
 heat and electricity. It is knoAvn, that Avhore tAvo adjacent 
 .difi'erent temperatures exist there electricity is cvoh'od. 
 iSloAv thcAAmters of the Gulf Stream, the Japanese current, and 
 of other hot streams existing in the oceans and along coasts, 
 deriving tbeir heat in the first place from the submarine lines 
 connecting subterranean and submarine volcanoes Avith the 
 Arctic and Antarctic regions, admit of the passage of tins beat 
 through their globules to their upper surfaces, iu conformity to 
 the attraction of heat from 1110 surface of the earth to the upper- 
 atmosphere. This ascent of heat from the bottom of these' hot 
 streams through their AA’aters to tlm atmosphere, iu conuoetioa 
 with the indra'ught of cold Arctic and Antarctic Avaters flowing 
 over the bottom of the oceans, is the cause of the low tempera- 
 turc always found at such depths in those waters-s-while in- 
 termediately from the bottom of the -ocean to the surface in 
 such hot currents of water, the temperature varies tillit comes 
 nto contact Avith that of the atmosphere, and that of the ocean 
 water encompassing these hot currents of water through iheir 
 whole extent. The contact of these different temperatures 
 
167 
 
 ,-volvos electricity, which is positive whore the hi,j?h tempera- 
 ture of the water pervades its greater volumes, ^id negative 
 clectricitj’' where the cold Arctic and Antarctic waters exceed in 
 volume, below the surface, the waters of the hot stream. The 
 conjunction of these opposite electricities evolves heat, which 
 being absorbed by the water where they meet serves to supply 
 a continuous source of heat to the farthest extremities of such 
 hot currents of^water to the Polar regions — and this is why 
 tiiis- great heat is maintained from its original source in the 
 Florida straits to the high latitude where it is observed. The 
 cause of the hot waters of the Grulf Stream not mixing readily 
 with the colder waters of the IS'orthern Atlantic ocean, will be 
 in the junction of these opposite electricities, pro- 
 ducing heat where these hot and cold watei’s meet. 
 
 Ill ascending from the earth in a balloon, aeronauts have 
 .discovered the same law to prevail among gaseous fluids as 
 among liquid fluids on the earth, and that strata of heated air, 
 even at groat elevations, are as it were sandwiched between 
 . others of far lower temperature ; the contiguity of these strata 
 Oi warm and cold air develops heat and electricity as well as 
 rnagnetisra in the atmosphere, as is done also in the waters of 
 the ocean by corresponding columns of warm and cold water 
 in juxtaposition. These attributes of fluids are, therefore, 
 among the great sources of the evolution of these impondera- 
 ble powers. 
 
 The cold Arctic and Antarctic currents of water, in motion 
 to the Equator from the poles while currents of warm water 
 Irom the tropics to the poles are. moving- beside them in a 
 directly opposite direction, are conclusive evidences that they 
 are impelled hj' magnetic^ attractions and repulsions in the 
 crust of the earth, and so it is also with the aerial currents of 
 tne atmosphere. Those of a great elevation, having a very 
 low temperature, are attracted towards the Equator and down- 
 vrards to the earth by its magnetism, wdiile the warm equato- 
 rial currents, repelled from the earth by the same magnet- 
 ism which has attracted the cold upper current downward 
 towards it, ascend to the upper regions of the atmosphere 
 attracted by the opposite magnetism existing there, and in 
 both cases in opposition to the supposed law of gravitation, for 
 tire air descending to the earth from the elevated regions of 
 the atmosphere is much thinner and more attenuated than the 
 air beneath, and the ascending warm air is much denser th.an 
 the air of the regions that it seeks. The diagonal and spiral 
 
 
168 - 
 
 raotions of either the descending or the ascending currents of 
 the atmosphere are produced by the ’magnetism of those portions 
 of the atmosphere, through which they are respectively 
 passing. 
 
 When our attention is directed to the fact of the Labrador 
 and Polar, or Arctic currents running towards the Ecpiator, 
 while by their sides the Gulf Stream is running towards the 
 Arctic regions in an opposite direction; and when it is dis- 
 covered 15}' the deep sea soundings', that there are currents of 
 water of varying temperatures at great depths which also run 
 side hy side in opposite directions, at whatever depths, we are 
 forced to the conclusion thg,t no eoncei^mhle system of gravita- 
 tion can he devised to explain the anomaly. But if we apply 
 the law of development of heat and magnetism, hy the con- 
 junction of opposite electricities, which arc ahvays associated 
 with differences of contiguous tem}.)erature3, the solution of 
 the phenomena referred to becomes comparatively easy. The 
 electro-miagnctic condition of the warm water of the Gulf 
 Stream is repelled from the Equator, and attracted hy the 
 opposite electro-magnetic condition of the waters and atmos- 
 phere about the North Pole, while the cold waters of the 
 Labrador and Arctic currents are repelled hy the similar 
 electro-magnetism of the waters at their starting point, and 
 are attracted towards the Equator by the opposite electro-mag- 
 netism of the wmrm waters there. Similar causes produce 
 similar effects in the southern hemisphere, and similar electro- 
 magnetic forces dominate in the atmosphere all over the 
 planet. Hence we find there, horizontal winds blowing in 
 opposite directions, one above the other, and it is hy.this wise 
 arrangement of oppositely electrified currents of air that the 
 rainfall is scattered and distributed' over vast areas of the 
 earth’s surface, modifying the temperatures and furnishing 
 to the parched and arid soil those supplies of water for irriga- 
 tion, so indispensable to the support of animal and vegetable 
 life upon it. 
 
 In the year 1828, 1 was detailed with two other officers of 
 the army^ by the Secretary of "War, to make a survey of the 
 mountainous region in the states of North and South Carolina, 
 Georgia, and Tennessee, lying between the head of navigation 
 on the Savannah river, at the eastern foot of the Blue Bidge 
 mountains, and the head of navigation on the Tennessee 
 river, on the w:esteru side of the same mountains. The object 
 
 I 
 
 
 y, 
 
 4 
 
169 
 
 of the survey was to ascertain the practicability of construct- 
 ing a navigable canal on the mountains, to bring the produce 
 of northern Alabama and eastern Tennessee to Charleston, 
 in South Carolina, and Savannah, in Georgia, instead of send- 
 ing it to Mobile and New Orleans, and thus it was hoped by 
 the administration of the Government to reconcile the people 
 of South Carolina and Georgia especially, to the policy of 
 having thp internal improvements of the country to be made 
 by the Federal Government instead of by the State Govern- 
 ments. 
 
 On reaching our destination, I was directed to run a line of 
 levels fronr the head waters of line Savannah river over the 
 mountains to those of the Tennessee river, a distance, if T 
 remember rightly, of some ninety miles. I had under my 
 command eleven men — mountaineers — stout, strong, active, 
 and hardy fellows. The other officers Avere employed in 
 prospecting for other routes across the mountains,, at consid- 
 erable distances from that I was pursuing. The country was 
 then very thinly settled, and a portion of my route bordered 
 on the lands occupied by the Creek or Cherokee Indians, then 
 living in the state of Georgia. Of coursej we had to carry all 
 our supplies with us, the country furnishing little or nothing. 
 We were occupied on this duty some five months, from July 
 till December. Frost appeared in the latter part of Septem- 
 ber, on the parallel of latitude of Charleston, in South Caro- 
 lina, and thin ice was formed on the streams almost nightly 
 after October 15th. In the latter part of October my party 
 was benighted in the valley of the Little Tennessee river, far 
 away from any human habitation, on a narrow alluvial bottom, 
 overhung by a precipitous and lofty mountain. The man 
 detailed to bring to Us from tlie mountain ridge our supplies 
 for the day and night, had missed his w^ay, and had descended 
 to, the river, at a place that Ave had left several miles behind 
 us. He had not observed our trail, and supposing that we 
 had not passed the spot which he had reached, he kindled a 
 fire, and remained there all night awaiting our arrival. After 
 sending men in every direction in search of him, who returned 
 without success, I began to make arrangements for the night. 
 The air was cold and humid, ice being formed of the thick- 
 ness of a quarter of an inch on the still waters of a portion of 
 tlie river, a heavy growth of timber in the valley of the river 
 where I had halted rendered the ground, as well as the air, 
 very damp. The men, like myself, were all dressed in light 
 
170 
 
 ’timer clotliing', and fire, therefore, became a prime necessity, 
 Viiit tlie question was, how to obtain it. At that period, 
 iu'ufer matches, if they had been invented, could not be 
 procured where we were. My arms and ammunition, 
 with the -rest of our supplies, were with, my wagon, 
 rmd where it was we had not been able to discover. 
 It occurred to me to procure fire by friction, for at that 
 day it was thought that heat was evolved by friction. So I 
 divided rny ten men into five reliefs of two men each, and 
 directing some of them to gather the driest pieces of wood ' 
 they could find, I notched, the pieces so as to make the 
 greatest rubbing surfaces possible in them, and then I set two 
 nien at a time'' to rub the pieces of wood together.' Having 
 some pieces of dry paper in my pockets, I hoped to be able to 
 kindle a fire with them, when sufficient heat should be 
 developed by the friction of the pieces of wood. The men 
 relie'ved each other every five minutes, after having rubbed the 
 pieces of wood together, vigourously and rapidly; the wood 
 became blackened, and much smoke was given out, but no 
 fire could be produced. The^vood itself was not sufficiently 
 dry, and none more suitable could be procured. _ The evening 
 air was cold and damp and carried off as fast as- it was evolved 
 the positive ' electricity which flowed from the friction pro- 
 duced on the wood by the active rubbing of the men. One of 
 the elements therefore to develop the heat, viz : the negative 
 electricity of the atmosphere that we needed, was wanting. 
 After having kept these five reliefs of the men continually busy 
 in rubbing these pieces of wood for two- consecutive hours, 
 I gave up^the effort in despair, and we submitted ourselves to 
 the circumstances of our situation, and passed a dismal night 
 of great suffering. Had the wood and the night air been dry, 
 we should have kindled , a fire in fifteen minutes with such 
 an amount of frictional electricity as was developed by the 
 rubbing of the wood by the men. The experiment satisfied 
 me that heat is only developed by the proper electrical condi- 
 tions and not by friction of itself. As it was, all the friction 
 we could produce did not prevent us from passing two 
 days and nights in these mountains without food or fire, the 
 rvater on the river, in its tranquil parts, having heen frozen a'f 
 night of the thickness of a quarter of a dollar or an English 
 shilling. 
 
 Every housewife in the country knows that if she suffers 
 the sunlight to fall upon the burning fuel on her hearth, the 
 
171 
 
 combustion of tlie fuel uull be clea.'lene<I by it, and if allowed 
 to continue long, it will be extinguislied, Tliis is owii'o" to 
 the demx'jdizing power of the blue ray of the sunlight, wfiieb 
 separating the oxygen gas from tlie atmospheric air in the 
 chimney, jjrevents the combustion of the fuel from the 
 absence of oxygon gas. hoever lias seen one of our western 
 piaiiies on hre, must have observed, in the stillness of the 
 . inoruing-air and in the bright sunshine, that the cumbustion 
 of the dry grass and herbage was slow, the flame lazily creep- 
 tug fi om. one stallc to another till a canopv of smoke intercept- 
 ing the sunlight, allowed a current of air to. be formed 
 beneath the smoke, which fanned the combustion into active 
 flame. These results were from the removal of the oxvo-en 
 gas trom the air in the first place, bv.the blue ray of the^suu- 
 ligbt de-oxydizing -it, and in the second part, obscurimr the 
 sunhght by the canopy of smoke, which permitted the oxvo-en 
 gas in the atmosphere to be re-united to the air beneath* it, 
 and to supply the oxygen gas to support anew the combustion 
 on the praii’ie. 
 
 It is therefore a mistake to suppose that friction produces 
 heat. ^ It evolves electricity, 'which, uniting Avith opposite 
 electricity, develo[)s sometimes heat and sometimoe c«’d, as 
 one or other of the electricities is predominant in Amlume and 
 tension at their eonjunetion. This is illustrated hy the 
 passage of sunlight through two adjacent pmies of glass, one 
 being blue, 'the other colourless and trans|i)arent, at the same 
 angle of incidence. Glass is known to be a feeble conductor 
 ot heat as well as of electricity, for we use glass in our 
 windows to confine within our rooms the artificial heat prp- 
 clueed within. them during winter, and in northern regions 
 double sashes are used in the windows, the outer sash to 
 prevent the cold from penetrating through them,, and the 
 inner sash to confine the warmer air within the rooms; and in 
 electrical experiments, glass handles are used to insulate 
 currents of electricity intended to be passed from one pole of 
 the battery to the other. 
 
 HoAv when sunlight with its enormous velocity fldls thus 
 upon two such adjacent panes of glass, it will be found that 
 the plain transparent glass is cold to the touch of the handl 
 while the blue glass is hot when so touched. If friction pro- 
 duced heat, both of these surfaces should have the same tem- 
 p^ei ature, • but such is not the case. The reason is obvious. 
 The sunlight passes through the plain transparent glass, only • 
 
172 
 
 sliglitly retarded by its density, which is greater than that of 
 the atmosphere, but subject to its refraetjou — while six of the 
 primary rays of the sunlight that impinges upon the blue 
 glass, are suddenly arrested by the impact with it, wdiich 
 shatters the composite rays of indigo, violet and purple into 
 their component parts, and only admits of the passage of the 
 blue ray through it.' This sudden stoppage of a velocity of 
 186,000 miles per second of six of these primary rays of sun- , 
 light produces enormous friction, which evolves negative 
 electricity from these rays, which coming in contact with the 
 vitreous or positive electricity of the glass evolves heat, that 
 .expanding the molecules of the glass allows the heat thus 
 developed and a current of electro- magnetism, produced at 
 tiie same time hy this conjunction of opposite electricities, to 
 pass through the glass, and to produce the marvelous results 
 upon animal and vegetable life that we have announced. 
 This, then, is the theory that explains the- almost magical 
 effects that are produced in life by the impact of sunlight upon 
 the adjacent surfaces of plain transparent glass and blue glass. 
 
 The, facts are in such harmony with the explanation of 
 them, that as we cannot deny the facts we are hound to 
 accept the. theory that elucidates them. This will relieve the 
 Bcieutific mind that is always bothered to accept a new fact or 
 to comprehend a new theory. 
 
 Light is diffusible. This is apparent everywhere in our illu- 
 minations. It is also compressible, as illustrated by the con- 
 centration of sunlight through a common lens or sun glass into 
 a 'focus, by which a boy lights his segar or inflames a squib of 
 gunpowder. This shows that rays of light move through 
 ether, and our atmosphere, without touching each other, and 
 that when they are compressed together, as in this lens, their 
 tangency produces friction, and this friction evolves negative 
 electricity, which has caused their separation, which negative 
 electricity brought into contact with the vitreous or positive 
 electricity of the glass of the lens, develops heat of extraordi- 
 nary intensity. Now, when we come to apply these attributes 
 of light to the physical condition of our planet, we are r.t no 
 loss to assign the variations of our temperature throughout 
 our seasons, directly to the action of light upon the various 
 solid, liquid or gaseous constituents of the planet, which at 
 certain times and in certain conditions are oppositely electri- 
 fied to the rays of light. 
 
 There is no atmosphere about the moon and. consequently 
 
173 
 
 It has no heat, as the rays of light which fall upon the moon’s 
 surface being negatively electrified as they pass through the 
 cold ether of stellar and planetary space, on reachiim the 
 moon at a very small angle of incidence- from the sun are in- 
 •stantly ^fleeted from its surface upon the earth and into 
 space. ^ The moon itself being negatively electrified by its con- 
 tact with this ether m its career in its orbit, this negativelv 
 electrified condition of the moon’s surface repels the rays of 
 light therefrom,, and hastens their reflection. The rotation on 
 Its axis is the efiect of electrical forces in its interior, and its 
 motion around the earth, and with it around the sun, results 
 Irorn the magnetism contained witliin its crust, and in the 
 earth and Its atmosphere, as avgII as in the planets, the sun 
 and the ether of space. 
 
 one impulse could possibly send light from its various 
 sources in the firmament through space with its constant 
 velocity of 186,000 miles per second. It is impelled throuo-h 
 space with its own concomitant forces, as a rocket fired froln. 
 Its stand is continually driven forward by the forces evolved 
 r composition, till it is extinguished, 
 
 bo light IS repelled from its sources in the firmament by its 
 negative electricity, and its velocity is maintained by the assist- 
 ance ot the negative- electricity of the ether through which it is 
 passing, continually driving it forward. This" condition of 
 negative .electricity in light being constant, and its velocity 
 umtorm, its rate of speed is maintained till it enters our atmos- 
 piiere, where it encounters electrical disturbances of opposite 
 as well as similar conditions, producing its refraction, its re- 
 flections, its polarization and its absorption. On reaching the 
 suitace of the earth, which at every moment presents a new 
 to the action of light, all the phenomena of day, 
 tw ilight and night, of heat and cold, of dryness and moisture, of 
 atmospheric and climatic changes, are developed. Seasons suc- 
 ceed ea^ other, according to the angles of incidence of the sun’s 
 iiglit. vv hen it falls in the summer on certain parts of the' earth 
 alrnost vertically, no rays of light are reflected from it, they 
 alt impinge upon it with their inconceivable velocity, develop- 
 vJ their friction with the earth an opposite electricity to 
 their own and that of the atmosphere, whose union produces 
 
 111 winter, though the earth is three 
 millions of miles nearer the sun than it is in summer, yet the 
 angle of incidence of the sun’s rays of light is so small and- 
 acute, that a large proportion of theiri are reflected into space 
 without producing the friction with the earth which is neces- 
 
174 
 
 sary to evolve an opposite electricity and lieat consequent 
 upon the union of the two electricities; hence the temperature 
 of the winters in such parts of the earth’s surface is low, and 
 cold prevails. The intermediate seasoris make an average 
 between the extremes of summer and winter, from the cor- 
 responding angles of incidence of their light. 
 
 One of the most beautiful illustrations of the remarkable 
 power developed by the compressibility of light is furnished 
 in the celebrated exploits of Archimoctes, the Syracusan, the 
 most learned of the mathematicians of antiquity, in destroying 
 by means of reflecting mirrors. the fleet of the Komans, who, 
 investing the city of Syracuse by land, Avere blockading its 
 port with a numerous fleet, which was preparing to batter the 
 sea Avails of the city Avith battering rams and catapults. 
 Archimedes conceiAmd the idea of destroying this fleet, Avhich 
 Avas unapproachable by any adequatic force under the control 
 of the Syracusans, by concentrating upon it the light of the 
 sun, reflected - from mirrors into foci, successively thrown 
 upon the several ships of the fleet, at the distance of an 
 arrow’s flight from the shore, or from 150 to 200 feet. 
 
 The two ancient authors who have furnished the clearest 
 account of this extraordiuai'y feat in warfare, arc Zonaras and 
 Tzetzes, aaAio each lived in the twelfth century of the Christian 
 era. The passage indho history of Zonaras does not enlighten 
 us in regard to the construction of the mirrors used by 
 Archimedes, it simply states the fact, and in another passage 
 the same author says, that under the empire of Anastasius, in 
 the year 514, A. D., Proclus with burning mirrors burnt and 
 destro}’ed the fleet of Vitalien, AA’ho Avas besieging Constanti- 
 nople, and he added, their invention was ancient, and that Dion 
 ga\Te the honour of it to Archimedes, avIio had used it success- 
 fully against the Eomans at the siege of Syracuse. 
 
 The historian Tzetzes, enters more fully into the description 
 of the mirrors used by Archimedes, which he said Avere com- 
 posed of a central hexagonal mirror, surrounded by others ot 
 a smaller size, which by the aid of hinges and metallic plates, 
 could he so exposed to the sun, that its raj’S of light falling 
 upon them wmuld be reflected and then concentrated into a 
 common focus, developing so great a heat that the ships of 
 the Komans were burnt by it, even at the distance of an 
 arrow’s flight. 
 
 Among the moderns, Kircher has written that Archimedes 
 had been able to burn, at a great distance, AAuth plane mirrors, 
 
experience liaving taught him that in assemhlino- in this 
 manner the imag-es of the sun, a heat could be produced at a 
 
 Glut Where these images were united. 
 
 _ Mr. Du Fay, a member of tbe Eoyal Academy of Sciences, 
 m a memoir printed in 1716, stated that the image of the sun, 
 reflected by a plans mirror more than 600 feeCupou a con- 
 cave mirror with a diameter of 17 inches, burned inflamma- 
 ble substances at the focus of this concave mirror. lie more- 
 over added that some authors had suggested that a' mirror, 
 with a very long focus, could be formed by using a larcte' 
 number of small plane mirrors, which might be held in the 
 hands ot as many persons, and so directed by them as to 
 throw, by reflection, all the images of the sun upon a given 
 point, thus developing great heat; but at the same time be 
 treated the story of Archimedes burning the Roman fleet at 
 byracuse as the veriest fable, and worthy of all ridicule. 
 
 It is very singular that men will frequently believe state- 
 ments or the most improbable and even impossible character ' 
 trho, atthe same time, will reject the best established historical 
 tacts when they happen to be outside their 'circle of know- 
 ledge. Such has been the fate of the history of the bnrnim>- 
 mirrors tvith which Archimedes destroyed the Roman fleet at 
 bvracuso. Tins fact, related by many historians, believed, 
 without question, during fifteen or sixteen centuries, was, iii 
 the seventeenth century, not only disputed, but was treated 
 as a silly fable by many of the savans of that period. Even 
 tae illustrious Des Cartes openly denied its possibility and 
 we must acknowledge that with the then received opinions on 
 iJioptrics Des Cartes was excusable for not believing the 
 mirrors of Archimedes ever to have existed. 
 
 This incredulity, on the part of many persons claimin'^- to 
 be scientists, excited the interest of M. de. Buflbn, the cele- 
 brated naturaast, at the time the Intendant of the Jardin des 
 1 iantes, at Paris. He determined to test the question practi- 
 cally, and for this purpose constructed a system of reflect! n a- 
 plane mirrors, by wEich he attained complete euccessi He 
 be^an^ by measuring the loss of illuminating power in the 
 reflection of the sun’s rays from metallic mirrors of the finest 
 polish, w’hen compared \vith the loss so sustained by reflec- 
 tion trom plane glass mirrors covered on their backs with tin' 
 found that the glass mirrors lost less light bv 
 reflection than the metallic mirrors did, hut that it required 
 two plane glass mirrors of the same dimensions to produce,; 
 
176 
 
 at a givoa distance, an, illumination equal to that from the 
 samelinobstructed beam of sunlight passing into an obscure 
 roor.i through an aperture in the window shutter, and conse- 
 quently, that the number of his_ glass mirrors should be largely 
 increase^) to produce any sensible effect on combustible sub- 
 stances. After studying his subject iu its.various relations to 
 the laws of light and heat, as thou understood by scientific 
 men, M; de Buffon constructed Ids mirror of 168 pieces^ of 
 plane glass, covered on the back with tin foil, each piece-being 
 ■six inches wide by eight inches long, separated, from each 
 other by four Hues, and mounted on a stand, which was sus- 
 ceptible of being moved in every direction;, each of these 
 glasses had a separate setting, so that it could be separately 
 •moved in every direction, independent of the movemouts of 
 the other glasses. It required about half an hour to adjust 
 the reflected images of thesuu froru these mirrors into a com- 
 mon focus. When the glasses were properly arranged, and 
 the focus adjusted, a board of beech wood covered with pitch, 
 was set on fire by 40 of these glasses at the distance ot 66 teet, 
 with 98 glasses, a board covered with pitch and sulphur was 
 set on fire at the distance of 120 feet. A slight combustion was 
 produced on a hoard covered with wool cut very fine, by 
 employing 112 glasses, at the distance of 138 feet, with a very 
 pale sun. At 150 feet of distance, a board covered with pitch 
 was made to smoke with 154 glasses, and it was thought that 
 it would have been burnt if the sun had not become overcast 
 with clouds. With a still feebler sun, chips of pine wood 
 covered with pitch have been set on fire in one minute and a 
 half, at the same distance, with a like number of glasses. 
 With- an unclouded sun, a pine board, covered with pitch, at 
 the same distance, has been quickly set on fire ^'"dh 128 
 glasses, and the fire has caught the whole surface of the focus, 
 V hich was 16 inches in diameter, at that distance. Finally, 
 the focus having been shortened to the distance of 20 feet, 
 with 12 glasses' the substances easily combustible were set 
 on fire. With 45 glasses a tin canister, weighing ^six pounds, 
 has been quickly melted with 117 glasses. Thin scraps of 
 silver have been melted, and a sheet of iron has been made 
 red hot ; and there was reason to believe that if all the glasses 
 of the mirror had been used, metals could have been as easily 
 melted at 50 feet distance as at 20 feet. 
 
 These experiments have been .made with a sun of a spring 
 time, and without much power, having been enfeebled by 
 atmospheric vapours, If then, with these disadvantages, wood 
 
177 
 
 could be burnt at 150 feet distant, we may wfell tliink, that: 
 with a summer’s sun, it could be readily burnt at 200 feet 
 distance, and with three similar miVrors it could be set on 
 fire at 400 feet distance. M. de BufFon thought that with 
 mirrors similar to his own, combustibles- could not be inflamed 
 beyoiid a distance of 900 feet. 
 
 Let us attempt an explanation of these phenomena. The 
 enormous veioeity of rays of light in coming to our planet, 
 establishes the'flict that they cannot touch each other in their 
 passage, since if they jostled each other their velocity would 
 be greatly diminished. Repelled from each other, therefore, 
 by their own negative electricity, as well as by that they have 
 received from the cold ether through which they have passed, 
 they are attracted to the glass of tlie mirrors and their metal- 
 lic backing, by-the vitreous or positive electricity of those sub- 
 stances. "On striking the glass, these rays pi’oduce friction, 
 which evolves positive electricity, the junction of these oppo- 
 site electricities evolves heat and magnetism, the rays of heat 
 thuS' developed follow the same laws as do those of light, and 
 iogether, both are reflected from the mirrors and are directed 
 to the ecmmon focus, where their co’uceutration sets oh fire 
 combns'dJhe substances, and melts and vaporizes those of a 
 more obdarate asid intractable character. The refraction and. 
 rcflectioic as v','cll as the polarization of light, are due to the 
 repellent aiflaity of electricity. 
 
 When we are told that on many parts of the earth’s surface 
 mountains have been upheaved till their peaks and ridges, at 
 distances varying from 16,000 to 28,000 feet above the level of 
 the sea, appear to be covered with snow, which from year to 
 3 'ear, and from century to century, continues to cover them, 
 no matter in what latitudes they may exist, nor in wliat sea- 
 son of the year they may be examined, we naturally ask our- 
 selves, wiry is this? How does it happen, that these snow- 
 capped peaks and ridges, at such great elevations above the 
 sea, far above the region of the atmosphere in which clouds 
 aud vapours habitually love to roam as it were at will, bask- 
 ing in a resplendent and brilliant sunlight, receiving all tiro 
 supposed emanations of heat from tiro sun, that philosophers 
 of every age Jiave innocently conjectured that that luminary, 
 like a Imman spendthrift, was lavishing upon infinite space, 
 in all directions, that a small portion of it might reach our 
 pljauet, should preserve their mantles of perpetual snow, in all 
 sea^rus, .iu all climatic changes that are -occurring every 
 
moment thousands of fpet beneath them, and thus continue 
 defying, as it would seem, the mutability of all other earthly 
 things ? Some of our philosophers of the highest distinction, 
 have gone into the most elaborate calculations to show what 
 enormous columns of ice, of the greatest density, could be 
 melted by the heat of the sun, in its constant emanation, in 
 the smallest spaces of time, in the face of the fact that the 
 enow clad mountains, that happen to be the nearest to the 
 6un, have been from time immemorial, unaffected in thd 
 slightest manner, by any heat derived from that great lumi- 
 nary. Let us attempt an explanation of tiiis wonder. The 
 colour of snow is white. It has a low temperature. Its elec- 
 trical condition is negative, as is the white colour of sunlight, 
 as arc the rays of sunlight which reach us through the nega- 
 tively electrified ether of space, also intensely cold, and the 
 intensely cold upper strata of our atmosphere. As a conse- 
 quence, white sunlight, negatively electrified, falling upon the 
 white snow capped mountains, also negatively electrified, as 
 are also the strata of our atmosphere into which these moun- 
 tains lift their heads, these similar electricities repel each 
 other. The white sunlight is reflected into space from the 
 snow covered mountains, which remain undisturbed, and no 
 trace of the action of heat, as derived from the sun, is any- 
 where visible upon them. 
 
 If the sun is a great magnet, it must have its magnetic poles, 
 with their reciprocal attractions and repulsions. The plane of 
 the sun’s equator is said to be neither perpendicular to nor 
 coincident with that of the ecliptic. Its magnetic poles may 
 therefore be differently situated in it to the positions occupied 
 in the earth by its magnetic poles. From the supposed enor- 
 mous volume and intensity of magnetism in and about the sun, 
 we may infer that the velocity of the planets and of cometary 
 matter in their respective progress in their orbits, would bo 
 checked when in their several perigees or nearest points to 
 the sun, from its great magnetic attraction, and that as they 
 severally I'eccclod therefrom, those velocities would be in- 
 creased from the loss of the sun’s attraction by increase of 
 distance from it, and the nearer approach to their apogees, or 
 greatest distance from the sun, where the sun’s attraction 
 would be the least, and the opposite magnetic attraction of 
 the ether of space would be the greatest. If it were not for 
 the interior forces of the planets, &c., causing their rotations, 
 on their axes, we might suppose that their movements around 
 the sun might be stopped entirely, when they had severally 
 reached their perigees by the magnetism of the sun. 
 
179 
 
 Wlieiitvro magnets of different magnetic volumes and in- 
 tensities are brought near each other with similar poh'S 
 towards each other, the greater magnet will repel the lesser 
 if their opposite poles approach each other, the feebler will be 
 attracted by the stronger. Now the sun having much greater 
 magnetic power than the earth, when the latter is at its peri- 
 gee its velocity must be retarded by the greater attractive 
 magnetism of the sun, which would hold it fixed when in peri- 
 'gee, but for the rotation of the earth on its axis, driving it’ 
 forward, and that, retardation or holding it back after it had 
 passed its perigee would continue until the earth had receded 
 so far from its perigee as to have reached the attraction of the 
 opposite magnetism beyond its apogee. 
 
 . The sun exhibits every characteristic and evidence of a bodv 
 enveloped in two atmospheres, so to state, the one in contact 
 with it being the region of white light, called the 'photosphere, 
 and outside of that, a region in which coloured light is some- 
 times manifested, especially along' the edges of the solar disc, 
 and which last region is called the chromosphere. The. spots 
 on the sun are supposed to be holes of various forms and 
 dimensions in the region of white light, through which the 
 dark body of the sun itself has been seen. These spots or 
 holes are liable to variations, and are analogous to the spots 
 of sunlight on the surface of the earth, which are sometimes 
 seen to be surrounded by the shadows cast upon the earth 
 by the clouds above it. Nasmyth, in the year 1866, made the 
 aiscovery that the luminous portion of the sun’s disc is not 
 composed of light of equal or homogeneous intensity, but 
 consists of a minutely divided series of luminous streaks, 
 which he described as like willow leaves, around which the 
 light is less intense, or rather the photosphere is more trans- 
 parent. These willow leaves appeared to cross each other in 
 all varieties of directions, and their average magnitude w’as 
 about one thousand miles long, by a hundred miles broad ; 
 other observers have preferred to describe these appearances 
 as “granulations,” “rice grains,” and “shingle beach,” and 
 as having elliptical forms, and of much smaller proportions. 
 
 The moon, we know to be a reflector, of light without the 
 emission of any accompanying heat. The picture of the face 
 of the moon exhibited to us, represents great irregularities in 
 its surface, depressions, as if they were craters of extinct vol- 
 canoes, and elevations of great altitude, conveying the idea of 
 volcanic mountains; but the general colour is that of a litrht 
 
• > i ' 
 
 180 
 
 grey, not unlike to sheets of zinc, or tin foil,' the latter of 
 which we use as hacks or reflecting surfaces in our glass 
 mirrors. 
 
 If we thus get our nocturnal light from the. moon, unac- 
 companied hy heat, why should we insist upon violating the 
 well established laws of heat in its radiations, and declare the 
 sun to be an incandescent body, continually in active com- 
 bustion, requiring inconceivable masses of fuel of sOme kind’ 
 to maintain it, and surrounded on all sides by an immensity 
 of ethereal space of so low a temperature that any radiation 
 of heat from the sun must necessarily be absorbed and neu- 
 tralized as soon as it should leave the body of the sun ? We 
 therefore, for the reasons stated in this book, reject entirely 
 the theory of the incandescence of the sun, and of its lumi- 
 nous metallic vapours of great intensity of heat. 
 
 We have shown in the body of this work, that the- colored 
 lights constituting the primary rays of light, which are 
 emitted from the various orbs of the firmament, negatively 
 electrified, and arc propelled by the cold negatively electrified 
 ether through which they are continually passing to the 
 sun, and through its transparent or translucent chromosphere 
 to the photosphere of the sun, are there commingled to 
 prodfice its white light, which then is repelled or reflected 
 from the grey “ willow leaves,” “granulations,” “ rice grains,” 
 •or whatever they may be, into ethereal space by the same 
 negative electricity, which has been, associated with them 
 throughout, . a portion of which comes to us as the white light 
 of the sun. 
 
 This shows the synthesis or formation of the white light of 
 the sun, and that it is merely an associa'tion of the primary 
 rays of light thrown together by electrical and magnetic 
 attra'Ctions and repulsions in the photosphere of the sun, and 
 so easily separable that the slightest change in the angle qf 
 incidence of the white light of the sun, as it falls upon vapours, 
 clouds, or gases will excite their repellent affinities, and resolve 
 them into the varied and brilliant tints of primary and com- 
 posite colours, which everywhere in the temperate regions, 
 serve to excite our astonishment, wonder, and delight. These 
 changes need no accompaniment of heat, and as they are 
 without it, we return to the declaration of Moses, that “ God 
 made two great lights, a greater light to rule the day, and a . 
 lesser light to rule the night and the stars. 
 
181 
 
 “ And L.e set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon 
 the earth, and to rule the day and the night, and to divide the 
 light and the darkness ; and God sa-w- that it was good.-’ 
 
 Among the fallacies of science, as taught in our schools, to 
 some of which I have alluded in this book, there is not one 
 more surprising than the statement made by our astronomers,, 
 that the earth, the planets, and the sun itself continually 
 'revolve on their respective axes, and in their orbits from west 
 to east. We are also told that these orbits are elliptical 
 curves which return into themselves. . Ifow we will illustrate 
 this movement by supposing that a man has started from San 
 Francisco, on the Pacific Ocean, to travel on the same parallel 
 of latitude from west to east around the world. After he has 
 travelled one hundred and eighty degrees on this parallel of 
 latitude, he finds that he has reached the east cardinal point 
 from San Francisco, and if he should continue his journey, he 
 must travel westward, which course will bring him in time back 
 again to San Francisco. How is it possible, therefore, in a 
 curve which returns to itself to travel always in the same 
 direction ?. There can be no fixed cardinal points in any solar 
 or stellar system which is always in motion. In regard to 
 the diminutive planet which we inhabit, the curvature or 
 annulus of magnetic poles, north and south, is. sufficiently 
 stable and fixed to furnish cardinal points of the compass, to 
 regulate our journeyings upon it; but with planets, stars, and 
 suns, it is different. They have no fixed points in the celes- 
 tial sphere, of which we have or can have any knowledge, to 
 which ti!e direction of their movements can.'be referrech 
 it is simply an absurdity to attempt to assimilate planetary 
 and stellar motions to those of mankind on our earth. 
 
 The planes of the orbits of the planets are neither coincident 
 with, parallel, nor perpendicular to each other, but they are 
 supposed to intersect each other in such a manner that the 
 sun shall always be in a focus, common to all of these ellipti- 
 cal orbits; consequently any perpendicular line or plane to 
 any one of those orbits, cannot be perpendicular to any other 
 of them; and hence, there can be no cardinal points common 
 to them all, and their motions cannot be from west to east. 
 
 My task is finished. When, in the beginning of this cen- 
 tury, It was announced that the primary rays of light had dif- 
 ferent attributes, and among them, that the blue ray stimulated 
 vegetation in a remarkable degree, many persons on the con- 
 
182 
 
 tlncnt of Europe, as well as in the British Isles, instituted 
 experiments, with a view to utilize these rays. Their experi- 
 rnenls were failures, as- they were made with homogeneous 
 tinted glass, each of the primary rays having in this w;ay been 
 somewhere tested, but without' satisfactory results. A know-, 
 ledge of these failures induced me to examine the subject of 
 ve^table growth in its natural conditions. I soon discovered 
 that where vegetation was most luxuriant, and- exuberant, 
 there the brilliant sunlight was always associated with the blue 
 light of the firmament. That during the torpor of winter, the 
 rays of sunlight fell upon the earth, owing to the declination 
 of the sun, at such acute angles of incidjpnce,^ that many of 
 ■ them were reflected into space without stimulating life on this 
 planet, while, at the same ti.me, the blue .colour of the sky was 
 intercepted. from our vision by the watery vapours and clouds 
 that were constantly floa ,\ng. in the atmosphere. The absence, 
 therefore, of the blue colour of the sky, and many of tlie rays 
 of sunlight at this season, together with its low temperature, 
 convinced me that the Creator intended it to be a season of 
 rest for vegetable and animal life, a sort of Sabbath, in which 
 life, though existing in plants and animals, was reposing from 
 its activity, to be aroused into exercise on the return of the 
 season of spring,' when from the less declination of the sun, 
 mor^ of its light would he thrown upon the earth, associated 
 with the blue colour of the sky, then unmasked by the dis- 
 sipation of the clouds and watery vapours which had con- 
 cealed it during the winter just. past. I said to myself, “ here 
 is the secret of the failures of these European experiments 
 with the primary rays of light. I will follow the guidance of 
 the Creator in cultivating iny vines. . I will associate the sun- 
 light with the blue colour of the sky, intensifying the latter. 
 I will make a tropical clirnate and atmosphere in the temper- 
 ate zone,” The results are... before you. The reflections I 
 have made on this subject have induced my investigation into 
 the Physics of Nature. I have not been satisfied with what I 
 -have been taught iu the schools. Their explanations are not 
 consistent with the known or presumed facts. I have ven- 
 tured, therefore, to form nay own conclusions, irrespectivemf 
 dogmas that have been thrust upon mankind for centuries. 
 I do not profess to teach any one, but as a human atona 
 among the masses of mankind, for whom all knowledge should 
 he disseminated, I venture to impart to the public the conclu- 
 sions to which I have arrived on these subjects, and that pub- 
 jlc may attach to them whatever value they please. 
 
APPENDIX TO PAET IL 
 
 P-] 
 
 A very remarkabl.e confirmation of my theory of the forma- 
 tion of the- equatorial diameter of the earth, as well as of those 
 of the other planets, by magnetic attraction and repulsion from 
 their respective poles, thus increasing those diameters in 
 various proportions over their several polar diameters, has 
 unexpectedly appeared in a paper read before the American 
 Academy of Sciences, at their meeting in this city held on 
 Thursday last, November 4th, 1875, and sent to it by Professor 
 Joseph Le Conte, of the University of California, a synopsis 
 of which was published in the supplement to the Public Ledger^ 
 of this city, on Saturday, November 6th, 1875. The paper was. 
 entitled “ On the Evidence of Horizontal Crushing iir the 
 Formation of the Coast Range of Mountains in California,” 
 being the result of recent observations by the author. Tiis 
 theory is, that mountains are formed wholly by a yielding of 
 the crust of the earth along’ certain lines to horizontal pres- 
 sure, not by bending into a convex arch filled and sustained 
 by a liquid beneath, but by a mashing together of the whole 
 crust Avith the formation of close folds and a thickening or 
 SAvelling upwavd of the squeezed mass. The author walked 
 sIoAvly through the-cut made by the Central Pacific Railroad, 
 from the plains adjoining the bay of San Francisco through 
 the Coast Ridge mountains to the San Joaquin plains, a dis- 
 tance of thirty miles. Both the sub-ranges into which the 
 range is divided are composed wholly of crumpled strata, 
 those of the Avestern sub-range being crumpled in the most 
 extraordinary tnanner. The sub-rswige nearest the bay is ex- 
 ceedingly complex. From measurements of the aiigles of dip 
 the actual length of the folded strata is two and one-half 
 •to three times the horizontal distance through the mountain. 
 There must have been fifteen to eighteen miles of original sea 
 bottom crushed into six miles, with a correspon4ing upswell- 
 ing of the whole mass. 
 
 183 ) 
 
184 • 
 
 To anticipate inquiry and satisfy curiosity respecting the 
 history of the author of the experiments mentioned herein, 
 and of the hook itself, his civil and military history is as fol- 
 lows, viz : 
 
 ATJGUSTIJS JAMES PLEASOFTOEr, horn in the city of 
 JVashington, in the District of Columbia, January 21st, A. D. 
 1808. He was the second son of Stephen Pleaspnton, of the 
 state of Delaware, and Mary Hopkins, his wife, of the county 
 of Lancaster, state of Pennsylvania. His father, Stephen 
 Pleasonton, entered the service of the government of the 
 United States, in the State Department, in the year 1800, and 
 continued to serve it till his. death, which occured in the year 
 1854, after a service of more than fifty years. He was Eifth 
 Auditor of the Treasury Department, Acting Commissioner 
 of the Kevenue of the United States, and Chief of the Light 
 House Department, for many years. He was of Forman ex- 
 traction. 
 
 Eis wife was the third . daughter of John Hopkins, a sub- 
 stantial fanner of the county of Lancester,. in the state of 
 Pennsylvania, who for very many years represented his county 
 in the Senate of Pennsylvania. Her ancestry was English. 
 Their son, Augustus, was appointed a Cadet of the United 
 States Military Academy at West Point, from the District of 
 Columbia, July 1st, A. D. 1822, continued as such till July 1st, 
 1826, when he was graduated and promoted in the army, to 
 Brevet Second Lieutenant of the Sixth Eegment of Infantry 
 July 1st, 1826, Second Lieutenant Third Artillery June 1st, 
 1826. Transferred to First Artillery October 24th, 1826. 
 
 Augustus James Pleasonton, served in garrison at Fortress 
 Monroe. Virginia;' at the Artillery School of Practice in the 
 years lo26 and 1827, and on Topographical duty, from June 
 16th, 1827, till January Hth, 1828, and from June 14th, 1828 
 till June 30th, 1830. Resigned his commission in the army 
 June 30th, 1830. 
 
 Hrs CiviSi.. History. — Counsellor at Law at Philadelphia, 
 Penn., since the year 1832. Brigade Major in Pennsylvania 
 Volunteer Militia in the years 1883 and 1835, Colonel of 
 Volunteer Artillery, of Penn., from 1835 till 1845, being 
 severely wounded July 7th, 1844, with a musket ball in the 
 left groin, while commanding his regiment in a desperate con- 
 
185 
 
 liict, with a Ibrmidahle body of rioters, armed with muskets 
 and cannon, in Southwark, Philadelphia county, Penn, As- 
 sistant Adjutant General and Paymaster General of the state 
 of Pennsylvania from December 11th, 1838 to October G 1th, 
 1839, during political disturbances at Harrisburg, Penn.’ 
 President of the- Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mountjoj and 
 Lancaster Railroad Company, of Pennsylvania, in the ve-vs 
 1839 and 1840. ' 
 
 His Military History.— Served during the Rebellion of 
 the seceding states- froin. the year 1861 till 1866 as Brigadier 
 General of Pennaylvanir Yolunteer Militia. Appointed May 
 16th, 18.61, under an act of the Legislature of the state’ ot 
 Pennsylvania, to organize- and command -a Yolunteer Army 
 Corps of 10,000 men of Artillery, Infantry -and Cavalry, as a 
 Home Guard for the defence of the city of Philadelphia, 
 Penn. 
 
IT