Excerpt from Popular Essays on the Movements of the AtmosphereIntroduction. - The earth is surrounded on all sides by an exceedingly rare and elastic body, called the atmosphere, extending with a diminishing density to an unknown distance into space, but pressing upon the earth with a force equal to that of a homogeneous atmosphere five and a half miles high. It is also partially surrounded by the ocean, which is of a very variable depth, and known to be, in many places, more than four miles. If the specific gravity of the atmosphere and of the ocean were everywhere the same, all the forces of gravity and of pressure which act upon any part of them, would be in exact equilibrium, and they would lbrever remain at rest. But as some parts of the earth are much warmer than others, and air and water expand and become rare as their temperature is increased, their specific gravities are not the same in all parts of the earth, and hence the equilib rium is destroyed, and a system of winds and currents is produced. It is proposed in this essay to inquire into the effects which are produced, both in the atmosphere and in the ocean, by this dis turbance of equilibrium, and by means of a new force which has never been taken into account in any theory of winds and currents, to endeavor to account for certain phenomena in their motions. Which have always been a puzzle to meteorology and hydrology. As there are some uncertain data connected with the subject, such as the amount of the disturbing force, the effects of continents. Friction, etc., which render a complete solution of the problem impracticable, we shall aim at giving a popular explanation of observed phenomena rather than a complete solution of the problem, yet we shall give the result of some calculations, based upon known data, or at least upon very reason able hypothesis, which will show that the causes which we have given are adequate to the effects which are attributed to them. We sha'l divide the subject into two parts, and treat, first, of the winds, and secondly, of the currents of the ocean.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.