370 Foreign and Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



broad, with small particles swimming in it ; and if we consider their 

 motions magnified to an equal degree, the phenomenon ceases to be 

 wonderful, without, however, losing anything of its interest *. 



5. EXACT MEASURE OP A DEGREE. 



Ten thousand rubles (upwards of 1500/.) a year have been granted 

 by the Emperor of Russia for the continuation of the investigations 

 undertaken to obtain the exact measure of a degree. This work, 

 which, it is said, will last for ten years, is confided to the charge of 

 M. Struve, of Dorpat. Two staff officers, natives of Finland, Messrs. 

 Rosenius and Aberg, are already gone to their country for the pur- 

 pose of discovering the mathematical points of union between Hoch- 

 land and Tornea. M. Struve has projected a journey abroad, in 

 furtherance of this great undertaking f. 



6. SvANBERG ON THE TEMPERATURE OP THE PLANETARY SPACE. 



M. Fourier obtained, as one of the results of his important investi- 

 gations of the temperature of the earth, &c., that the temperature of 

 the planetary space was equal to 50 C., or ( 58 F.), and arrived 

 at the conclusion also, that the earth has arrived at its lowest degree 

 of temperature, or that point below which it could not sink. M. 

 Svanberg has arrived at a result so nearly the same, as to be very 

 remarkable, especially considering that his mode of investigation 

 was altogether of a different nature, and had for object atmospherical 

 refraction. He wished to examine completely the problem of atmos- 

 pherical refraction, and also the various hypotheses which have been 

 put forth to determine its quantity. Some of these appeared sufficient 

 for astronomical purposes, but having concluded their investigation, 

 M. Svanberg wished to view the subject in a physical point of view, 

 and then arose the difficulty of being able to determine, for each 

 temperature observed at the surface of the earth, the law of the 

 corresponding distribution of heat in the atmosphere, under the 

 hypothetical condition of perfect equilibrium, and also the law accord- 

 ing to which the temperature diminishes at different elevations above 

 the level of the sea. 



','In this examination, as in others (says M. Svanberg) where a 

 greater or smaller number of natural phenomena are to be subjected 

 to a mathematical formula, great inconvenience occurs, from the 

 circumstance that an infinity of functions of various forms are capable 

 of representing a finite number of observations, and that the real 

 accuracy of the formula adopted can only be judged of by the ac- 

 cordance which it presents with those observations which have not 

 served for the determination of its constants, by the number and the 

 nature of the observations to which they may apply. Hence it 



* Jameson's Journal, 1830. f Bull, Geog. xiii. p, 30G. 



