Cosmos

This eBook was prepared by Amy Zelmer COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Alexander von Humboldt Translated by E C Otte from the 1858 Harper & Brothers edition of Cosmos, volume 1 -------------------------------------------------- p i COSMOS VOLUME I [p ii is blank] [p iii - not copied; pertains to reprint series] p iv [portrait] p v COSMOS A SKETCH OR A PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIVERSE BY ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY E. C. OTTE Naturae vero rerum vis atque majestas in omnibus momentis fides caret, si quis modo partes ejus ac non totam complectatur animo. -- Plin., 'Hist. Nat.', lib. vii, c. 1. VOLUME I WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NICOLAAS A. RUPKE THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS Baltimore and London [page vi and Introduction to the 1997 edition not copied] p 1 COSMOS VOLUME I [p 2 is blank] p 3 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. -----------------------

H. G. Bohn, "has been somewhat delayed, owing to the present state of public affairs, will comprise the special and scientific development of the great Picture of Nature p 6 Each of the three parts of the 'Cosmos' is therefore, to a certain extent, distinct in its object, and may be considered complete in itself. We can not better terminate this brief notice than in the words of one of the most eminent philosophers of our own country, that, "should the conclusion correspond (as we doubt not) with these beginnings, a work will have been accomplished every way worthy of the author's fame, and a crowning laurel added to that wreath with which Europe will always delight to surround the name of Alexander von Humboldt." In venturing to appear before the English public as the interpreter of "the great work of our age,"* I have been encouraged by the assistance of many kind literary and scientific friends, and I gladly avail myself of this opportunity of expressing my deep obligations to Mr. Brooke, Dr. Day, Professor Edward Forbes, Mr. Hind, Mr. Glaisher, Dr. Percy, and Mr. Ronalds, for the valuable aid they have afforded me.

I have enjoyed an advantage which few scientific travelers have shared to an equal extent, viz., that of having seen not only littoral districts, such as are alone visited by the majority of those who take part in voyages of circumnavigation, but also those portions of the interior of two vast continents which present the most striking contrasts manifested in the Alpine tropical landscapes of South America, and the dreary wastes of the steppes in Northern Asia. Travels, undertaken in districts such as these, could not fail to encourage the natural tendency of my mind toward a generalization of views, and to encourage me to attempt, in a special work, to treat of the knowledge which we at present possess, regarding the sidereal and terrestrial phenomena of the Cosmos in their empirical relations. The hitherto undefined idea of a physical geography has thus, by an extended and perhaps too boldly imagined a plan, been comprehended under the idea of a physical description of the universe, embracing all created things in the regions of space and in the earth.

The effect produced by this small volume has doubtlessly been more powerfully manifested in the influence it has exercised on the sensitive minds of the young, whose imaginative faculties are so strongly manifested, than by means of any thing which it could itself impart. In the work on the Cosmos on which I am now engaged, I have endeavored to show, as in that entitled 'Ansichten der Natur', that a certain degree of scientific completeness in the treatment of individual facts is not wholly incompatible with a picturesque animation of style. Since public lectures seemed to me to present an easy and efficient means of testing the more or less successful manner of connecting together the detached branches of any one science, I undertook, for many months consecutively, first in the French language, at Paris, and afterward in my own native German, at Berlin (almost simultaneously at two different places of assembly), to deliver a course of lectures on the physical description of the universe, according to my conception of the science. My lectures were given extemporaneously, both in French and German, and without the aid of written notes, nor have I, in any way, made use, in the present work, p 10 of those portions of my discourses which have been preserved by the industry of certain attentive auditors. With the exception of the first forty pages, the whole of the present work was written, for the first time, in the years 1843 and 1844.

A character of unity, freshness, and animation must, I think, be derived from an association with some definite epoch, where the object of the writer is to delineate the present condition of knowledge and opinions. Since the additions constantly made to the latter give rise to fundamental changes in pre-existing views, my lectures and the Cosmos have nothing in common beyond the succession in which the various facts are treated. The first portion of my work contains introductory considerations regarding the diversity in the degrees of enjoyment to be derived from nature, and the knowledge of the laws by which the universe is governed; it also considers the limitation and scientific mode of treating a physical description of the universe, and gives a general picture of nature which contains a view of all the phenomena comprised in the Cosmos.

COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Alexander von Humboldt Translated by E C Otte from the 1858 Harper & Brothers edition of Cosmos, volume 1 -------------------------------------------------- p 13 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. ---------------------- Page The Translator's Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 The Author's Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 INTRODUCTION. The Results of the Study of Physical Phenomena . . . . . . . . . . 23 The different Epochs of the Contemplation of the external World . .24 The different Degrees of Enjoyment presented by the Contemplation of Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Instances of this Species of Enjoyment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Means by which it is induced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The Elevations and climatic Relations of many of the most celebrated Mountains in the World, considered with Reference to the Effect produced on the Mind of the Observer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27-33 The Impressions awakened by the Aspect of tropical Regions . . . . 34 The more accurate Knowledge of the Physical Forces of the Universe, acquired by the Inhabitants of a small Section of the temperate Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 The earliest Dawn of the Science of the Cosmos . . . . . . . . . . 36 The Difficulties that opposed the Progress of Inquiry . . . . . . . 37 Consideration of the Effect produced on the Mind by the Observation of Nature, and the Fear entertained by some of its injurious Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Illustrations of the Manner in which many recent Discoveries have tended to Remove the groundless Fears entertained regarding the Agency of certain Natural Phenomena . . . . . . 43 The Amount of Scientific Knowledge required to enter on the Consideration of Physical Phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Object held in View by the present Work . . . . . . . . . . . .

49 The Nature of the Study of the Cosmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 The special Requirements of the present Age . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Limits and Method of Exposition of the Physical Description of the Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Considerations on the terms Physiology and Physics . . . . . . . . .58 Physical Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Celestial Phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Natural Philosophy of the Ancients directed more to Celestial than to Terrestrial Phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 The able Treatises of Varenius and Carl Ritter . . . . . . . . .66, 67 Signification of the Word Cosmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-70 The Domain embraced by Cosmography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Empiricism and Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 The Process of Reason and Induction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 p 14 GENERAL REVIEW OF NATURAL PHENOMENA. Connection between the Material and the Ideal World . . . . . . . . 80 Delineation of Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Celestial Phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Sidereal Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Planetary Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 Comets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Aerolites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 Zodiacal Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Translatory Motion of the Solar System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 The Milky Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150 Starless Openings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Terrestrial Phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154 Geographical Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161 Figure of the Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163 Density of the Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Internal Heat of the Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Mean Temperature of the Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175 Terrestrial Magnetism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Magnetism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183 Aurora Borealis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .193 Geognostic Phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Earthquakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Gaseous Emanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Hot Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221 Salses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224 Volcanoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227 Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247 Palaeontology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270 Geognostic Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Physical Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Meteorology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .311 Atmospheric Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Climatology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317 The Snow-line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329 Hygrometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 Atmospheric Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335 Organic Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 Motion in Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 Universality of Animal Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .342 Geography of Plants and Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .346 Floras of different Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .350 Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .352 Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .353 Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Conclusion of the Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .359

Subjects embraced by the study of the Cosmos or of physical cosmography. Separation of other kindred studies -- p. 56-62. The uranological portion of the Cosmos is more simple than the telluric; the impossibility of ascertaining the diversity of matter simplifies the study of the mechanism of the heavens. Origin of the word 'Cosmos', its signification of adornment and order of the universe. The 'existing' can not be absolutely separated in our contemplation of nature from the 'future'. History of the world and description of the world -- p. 26-73. Attempts to embrace the multiplicity of the phenomena of the Cosmos in the unity of thought and under the form of a purely rational combination. Natural philosophy, which preceded all exact observation in antiquity, is a natural, but not unfrequently ill-directed, effort of reason. Two forms of abstraction rule in the whole mass of knowledge, viz.: the 'quantitative', relative determinations according to number and magnitude, and 'qualitative', material characters. Means of submitting phenomena to calculation. Atoms, mechanical methods of construction. Figurative representations; mythical conception of imponderable matters, and the peculiar vital forces in every organism. That which is attained by observation and experiment (calling forth phenomena) leads, by analogy and induction, to a knowledge of 'empirical laws'; their gradual simplification and generalization. Arrangement of the facts discovered in accordance with leading ideas. The treasure of empirical contemplation, collected through ages, is in no danger of experiencing any hostile agency from philosophy -- p. 73-78.

[In the notes appended to p. 66-70 are considerations of the general and comparative geography of Varenius. Philological investigation into the meaning of the words [Greek word] and 'mundus'.] Delineation of Nature. General Review of Natural Phenomena. . . . . p. 79-359 Introduction -- p. 79-83. A descriptive delineation of the world embraces the whole universe ([Greek words]) in the celestial and terrestrial spheres. Form and course of the representation. It begins with the laws of gravitation, and with the region of the remotest nebulous spots and double stars, and then, gradually descending through the starry stratum to which our solar system belongs, it contemplates this terrestrial spheroid, surrounded by air and water, and finally, proceeds to the consideration of the form of our planet, its temperature and magnetic tension, and the fullness of organic vitality which is unfolded on its surface under the action of light. Partial insight into the relative dependence existing among all phenomena. Amid all the mobile and unstable elements in space, 'mean numerical values' are the ultimate aim of investigation, being the expression of the physical laws, or forces of the Cosmos. The delineation of the universe does not begin with the earth, from which a merely subjective point of view might have led us to start, but rather with the objects comprised in the regions of space. Distribution of matter, which is partially conglomerated into rotating p 17 and circling heavenly bodies of very different density and magnitude, and partly scattered as self-luminous vapor. Review of the separate portions of the picture of nature, for the purpose of explaining the reciprocal connection of all phenomena.

I. Celestial Portion of the Cosmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 83-154 II. Terrestrial Portion of the Cosmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 154-359 a. Form of the earth, its mean density, quantity of heat, electro-magnetic activity, process of light -- p. 154-202. b. Vital activity of the earth toward its external surface. Reaction of the interior of a planet on its crust and surface. Subterranean noise without waves of concussion. Earthquakes dynamic phenomena -- p. 202-217. c. Material products which frequently accompany earthquakes. Gaseous and aqueous springs. Salses and mud volcanoes. Upheavals of the soil by elastic forces -- p. 217-228. d. Fire-emitting mountains. Craters of elevation. Distribution of volcanoes on the earth -- p. 228-247. e. Volcanic forces form new kinds of rock, and metamorphose those already existing. Geognostical classification of rocks into four groups. Phenomena of contact. Fossiliferous strata; their vertical arrangement. The faunas and floras of an earlier world. Distribution of masses of rock -- p. 247-384. f. Geognostical epochs, which are indicated by the mineralogical difference of rocks, have determined the distribution of solids and fluids into continents and seas. Individual configuration of solids into horizontal expansion and vertical elevation. Relations of area. Articulation. Probability of the continued elevation of the earth's crust in ridges -- p. 284-301.