SEARCH
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Prev | Current Page 646 | Next

Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859

"COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1"

018 of a millimeter, while
eleven years' observations at the same place show the mean barometric
oscillation, from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M., to be 0.756 millim., and from 3 P.M. to
9 P.M., 0.373 millim. See 'Memoires de l'Acad. des Sciences', t. vii.,
1827, p. 267.

2. 'Climatic distribution of heat', which depends on the relative position
of the transparent and opaque masses (the fluid and solid parts of the
surface of the earth), and on the hypsometrical configuration of continents;
relations which determine the geographical position and curvature of the
isothermal lines (or curves of equal mean annual temperature) both in a
horizontal and vertical direction, or on a uniform plane, or in different
superposed strata of air.
3. 'The distribution of the humidity of the atmosphere'. The quantitative
relations of the humitidy depend on the differences in the solid and oceanic
surfaces; on the distance from the equator and the level of the sea; on the
form in which the
p 314
aqueous vapor is precipitated, and on the connection existing between these
deposits and the changes of temperature, and the direction and succession of
winds.
4. 'The electric condition of the atmosphere'. the primary cause of this
condition, when the heavens are serene, is still much contested.


Pages:
634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658