Elementary Physiography: An Introduction to the Study of Nature |
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Elementary Physiography: An Introduction to the Study of Nature John Thornton No preview available - 2016 |
Elementary Physiography: An Introduction to the Study of Nature (Classic ... John Thornton No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
Antarctic Antarctic Circle Arctic Atlantic ATLANTIC OCEAN atmosphere axis barometer beds bodies bottom calcium carbonate called carbon dioxide carbonic acid causes chalk chemical chemical affinity circle clay coal coast cold compound condensed cone consists coral currents delta deposited depth dioxide dissolved distance earth earth's crust electricity elements equator evaporation fall fathoms feet felspar fissures force formed freezing-point gases glacier glass heat Hemisphere Hence horizontal hydrogen igneous igneous rocks inches iron Islands land latitude lava layers limestone liquid magnetic masses mercury miles mineral motion mountain needle OCEAN oxide oxygen particles pass poles position pressure produced quantity rain rays reef rise river rotation round sand sandstone sediment shows silica solid specific gravity springs stars strata stream substances sulphur sun's surface temperature thermometer Tropic Tropic of Cancer Tropic of Capricorn tube valley vertical volcano water vapour weight winds
Popular passages
Page 7 - Every particle of matter in the universe .attracts every other particle with a force whose direction is that of the line joining the two, and whose magnitude is directly as the product of their masses, and inversely as the square of their distance from each other.
Page 225 - Newton generalized the law of attraction into a statement that every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force which varies directly as the product of their masses and inversely as the square of the distance between them; and he thence deduced the law of attraction for spherical shells of constant density.
Page 210 - When a straight line standing on another straight line, makes the adjacent angles equal to one another, each of these angles is called a right angle ; and the straight line which stands on the other is called a perpendicular to it.
Page 176 - From ita purity it shows a splendid blue, like that of the sky, only with a greenish hue. Crevasses in which pure ice is visible in the interior occur of all sizes; in the beginning they form slight cracks in which a knife can scarcely be inserted ; becoming gradually enlarged to chasms, hundreds, or even thousands, of feet in length, and twenty, fifty, and as much as a hundred feet in breadth, while some of them are immeasurably deep.
Page 174 - Glace; this stretches as an ice-current 2,600 to 3,000 feet in breadth down into the valley of Chamouni, where a powerful stream, the Arveyron, bursts from its lower end at k, and plunges into the Arve. The lowest precipice of the Mer de Glace, which is visible from the valley of Chamouni, and forms a large cascade of ice, is commonly called Glacier des Bois, from a small village which lies below. Most of the visitors at Chamouni only set foot on the lowest part of the Mer de Glace from the inn at...
Page 174 - Fig. 14 a map of the Mer de Glace of Chamouni, copied from that of Forbes. The Mer de Glace in size is well known as the largest glacier in Switzerland, although in length it is exceeded by the Aletsch Glacier. It is formed from the snow-fields that cover the heights directly north of Mont Blanc, several of which, as the Grande Jorasse, the Aiguille Verte (a, Figs.
Page 176 - This similarity, however, is not merely an external one : the ice of the glacier does, indeed, move forwards like the water of a stream, only more slowly. That this must be the case follows from the considerations by which I have endeavoured to explain the origin of a glacier. For as the ice is being constantly diminished at the lower end by melting, it would entirely disappear if fresh ice did not continually press forward from above, which, again, is made up by the snowfalls on the mountain tops....
Page 187 - Andes receive the sun's rays as obliquely as they fall in our latitudes upon the earth's level surface, — nay, as obliquely, perhaps, as they fall in summer upon the level surface of the snows of Spitzbergen ; while the Alps encounter on parts of their southern slopes as direct a heat as that which burns up the desert of Sahara...
Page 176 - ... observation we may convince ourselves that the glacier does actually move. For the inhabitants of the valleys, who have the glaciers constantly before their eyes, often cross them, and in so doing make use of the larger blocks of stone as sign posts — detect this motion by the fact that their guide posts gradually descend in the course of each year. And as the yearly displacement of the lower half of the Mer de Glace at Chamouni amounts to no less than from 400 to 600 feet, you can readily...
Page 176 - Crevasses in which pure ice is visible' in the interior occur of all sizes; in the beginning they form slight cracks in which a knife can scarcely be inserted; becoming gradually enlarged to chasms, hundreds or even thousands, of feet in length, and twenty, fifty, and as much as a hundred feet in breadth, while some of them are immeasurably deep. Their vertical dark blue walls of crystal ice, glistening with moisture from the trickling water, form one of the most splendid spectacles which nature...