TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH

OF

CAMILLE FLAMMARION.

EDITED BY

JAMES GLAISHER, F.R.S.,

SUPERINTENDENT OF THE MAGNETICAL AND METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT

OF THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY AT GREENWICH.

WITH TEN CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHS AND EIGHTY-SIX WOODCUTS.

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

THE following work is translated and abridged from M. Flammarion's L'Atmosphère, Paris, 1872. That some curtailment of the text of the original work was requisite will be apparent when it is stated that the French Edition contains 824 large pages of closely printed matter, and is of more than twice the extent of the present volume. Not only was some compression necessary in order to bring the work within a reasonable compass, but, independently of this, one or two chapters, such as that on the Respiration and Alimentation of Plants, appeared to have so remote a connection with the subject of the work-the Atmosphere -that their omission would in any case have been desirable.

Every one who has any acquaintance with French popular works on Science is aware that very many exhibit a tendency to imaginative, or, to express my meaning colloquially, "fine" writing, which ill accords with the precision and accuracy that ought to be a characteristic of scientific information, even when expressed in language free from technicalities. There is a good deal of this exalted kind of composition in M. Flammarion's book, which-even in the French not very agreeable to an English reader becomes, when translated, intolerable. I have, therefore, omitted these rhapsodies very freely, though traces enough of them will be found here and there to betray the French origin of the work.

I may add that the task of editing has not been a light one; besides the necessity for compression and the consequent selection of the matter to be included, I have been obliged to exercise some sort of censorship over the facts contained in the work. It is impossible for any one man to have a complete knowledge of so great a variety of subjects as are treated of by M. Flammarion, and the compiler of such a book must include many things taken from others, of the accuracy of which he is not fully competent to judge. In cases where a statement contained in the original work appeared to me clearly erroneous, I have corrected it,

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PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

appended a note, or omitted it altogether; and in cases where I have been doubtful of the accuracy of a passage, or have differed in opinion from the author, I have not considered myself justified in making an alteration, so long as there was no strong prima facie presumption that the original was incorrect. In spite of obvious blemishes, inseparable from a translation, and a certain want of continuity in a few places, which is due to the omission of portions of the book as originally written, I believe the volume will be found to be readable, popular, and accurate, and it covers ground not occupied by any one work in our language.

The work treats on the form, dimensions, and movements of the earth, and of the influence exerted on meteorology by the physical conformation of our globe; of the figure, height, color, weight, and chemical components of the atmosphere; of the meteorological phenomena induced by the action of light, and the optical appearances which objects present as seen through different atmospheric strata; of the phenomena connected with heat, wind, clouds, rain, and electricity, including the subjects of the laws of climate: the contents are therefore of deep importance to all classes of persons, especially to the observer of nature, the agriculturist, and the navigator.

The whole is explained in a very popular manner, and as free as possible from all technicalities; the object having been to produce a work giving a broad outline of the causes which give rise to facts of everyday occurrence in the atmosphere, in such a form that any reader who wished to obtain a general view of such phenomena and their origin would be readily enabled to do so. The great number of subjects treated of will thus, to the majority of readers, who merely desire an insight into the general principles that produce phenomena which every one has seen or heard of, be found to be rather an advantage, as the whole range of atmospheric action is thus displayed in the same volume in moderate compass, without so much detail being anywhere given as to make the book other than interesting to even the most casual reader.

The translation was made by Mr. C. B. PITMAN.

January, 1873.