800 



on the plains of the, 587 ; raft-islands 



at mouth of the, 593 ; Otomacs of, 



597. 

 Orion, constellation of, 2 ; is visible 



all over the habitable globe, 154 ; its 



position in the heavens, 154 ; was 



known to and dreaded by the ancients, 



154 ; number of stars in the trapezium 



of, 158. 

 Ornithichnites, or stony bird-tracks, 



714. 

 Ortler Spitz Mountain, ascent of the, 



203 ; view of, 547. 

 Osteolepis, the, 689. 

 Otomacs, an earth- eating tribe of South 



America, 597. 

 Ovid quoted, 271, 615, 61C ; his 



Epistles from Pontus, 508. 

 Owen, Captain, his surveying voyage, 



472. 

 Owen, Professor, 713, 722, 726, 730, 



757. 



Ox, the, 587, 508, 600, 601, 605, 606. 

 Oxford stone, the, 620, 726 ; clay, 726, 



727. 

 Oxidation, hypothesis of subterranean, 



433. 



Oxide of iron, found in basalt, 652. 

 Oxus, the river, 423. 

 Oxygen, with nitrogen, composes the 



principal part of the atmosphere, 



622 ; with hydrogen composes water, 



622 ; combines largely with earth and 



metals, 622. 



Pachydermata, tribes of the, 592, 744. 

 Pacific ocean, 355, 361 ; gale in the, 

 illustration of a, 335 ; winds in the, 

 439 ; isles of the, 592, 593. 

 Paderborn, spring at, 238. 

 Palaeosaurus, the, 713. 

 Paloeotherium, the, 744, 745. 

 Palaeozoic period, 638. 

 Palestine. See Judea. 

 Paley, Archdeacon, his question re 

 garding the laws of nature, 182. 

 Palitzch, George, a landowner and 



astronomer, 114, 170. 

 Pallas, the planetoid, 92, 190. 

 Pallas, Professor, 136, 605, 753, 755. 

 Palma, volcanic isle of, illustrated, 779, 



780. 



Palmse, or palm tribe, the, 556 ; view 

 of a forest of, 556 ; description of a 

 palm-grove, 557 ; luxuriance and fer 

 tility of different species, 557. 

 Palmer's Cairns, view of, 680. 

 Palmir, or " Roof of the World," table 

 land of, 216. 



Palmyra, or Tadmor in the desert, 228. 

 Paludina, 746. 



Pampas of South America, account of 

 the, 233 ; pamperos, or hurricanes in 

 the, 451 ; of Buenos Ayres, 451 ; 

 bones in the, 472. 

 Panama, Isthmus of, 440. 

 Paraguay, animals of, 600. 

 Paraguay, river, descent of the, 281. 

 Parallax, 1, 9, 10 ; what it is, defined, 

 with a diagram, 161 ; annual, of the 

 fixed stars long a desideratum, 162 ; 

 now ascertained by Professor Bessel, 

 162. 



Parallelism of strata, 630. 

 Paramatta, observatory erected at, 157; 

 nebula sketched at, by Mr Dunlop, 

 183. 



Paraselenae, or mock-moons, 532. 

 Parasitic and pseudo-parasitic plants, 



550. 

 Parhelia, or mock-suns, 530532 ; view 



of, 631. 



Paris, climate of, 492 ; temperature in 

 the substructions of its observatory, 

 501 ; built on tertiary strata, 739 ; 

 basin, 743; animals of the, illus 

 trated, 745. 



Paris, Matthew, citation from his his 

 tory, 531. 



INDEX. 



Parish, Sir Woodbine, 472, 757. 

 Parkinson, Mr, observation on fossils 



by, 642. 

 Parliament, stone of the new houses of, 



620, 711. 



Parnassus, Mount, 260 ; view of, 737. 

 Parrot, Professor, the Russian travel 

 ler, 204, 239, 488. 



Parry, researches of Captain, 341, 344, 

 361, 450, 506, 525, 528, 529, 531, 532, 

 534, 547, 588. 



Patagonians, stature of the, COS. 

 Peach, introduction of the, 568. 

 Peat, formation of, 768, 769. 

 Pendulum, the, of clocks, an important 

 acquisition to practical astronomy, 

 32 



Pennant, Mr, 593, C06, 661, 664, 665. 

 Pennsylvania, State of, rich in coal, 



620, 702. 



Pentacrinites, 676 ; Caput-Medusoe, 678. 

 Pentland Hills principally felspar, 623. 

 Perca scandens, the climbing-fish, 578. 

 Perfection, gradual, of the same animal 

 and vegetable species, an illusive 

 theory, 639. 



Periods of appearance, the successive, 

 of past and present auiinal and vege 

 table races, C40, 641. 

 Peripatetics held the earth to be the 

 centre of the universe, 7. See Aris 

 totle. 

 Permian and Triassic systems, 638 ; 



chapter on, 707 716. 

 Peroul, ebullient spring at, 274. 

 Perturbations of the planets, 40. 

 Peru, mountain districts of, 645. 

 Petcheres, miserable race of the, 597. 

 Peter Botte Mountain, in the Mauri 

 tius, view and description of, 202. 

 Petersburg, city of St, its perilous site, 

 293 ; falls of rain at, 470 ; snow of, 

 474. 



Petrifactions, how formed, 277, 399. 

 Petroleum springs, 275. 

 Peveril of the Peak's castle and cavern, 



view of, 243. 

 Peyronnel, M. de, his researches on 



corals, 380. 



Phsenogamic plants, 550. 

 Phascolotherium, the, 726. 

 Philippine Islands, 610. 

 Phillips, Professor, his table of British 

 fossiliferous rocks, 637 ; notices by, 

 658, 660, 665, 681, 719, 735, 772, 777. 

 Philolaus, 7, 8. 



Phlegrsean fields, the, 403, 404. 

 Phocse, the, or seal tribe, 517, 578. 

 Phoenicians, the, 348 ; the reputed in 

 ventors of nautical astronomy, 144. 

 Phormium tenax, or New Zealand flax, 



562. 

 Phosphorescence of the sea, its cause, 



333, 575. 

 Physical nature, general analogies of, 



103 ; diversities of, 104. 

 Piazzi's catalogue of the stars, Sir J. 



Herschel's observations on, 143. 

 Pichincha, Mount, 645. 

 Pickering, Vale of, 727. 

 Pigeons, enormous flock of passenger, 



684. 



Pike, longevity of the, 575. 

 Pillars of Hercules, 347. See Gibraltar. 

 Pindar mentions the eruptions of Etna, 



212. 



Pine tribe, the, 652. 

 Pinna marina, the, 572. 

 Pisces, or constellation of the Fishes, 



152. 

 Pitchstone, a bituminous basalt, 653 ; 



porphyry, C54. 

 Pits of coal, British and foreign, 696, 



et scq. 



Plains, great, of Europe, 223225, 235 

 238 ; of the Caucasus, 224, 225 ; of 

 Peru, 225 ; of South America, includ 

 ing the llanos, selvas, and pampas, 

 230, 233 ; of North America, 233 



235 ; of Thebes, view of, 422 ; of the 

 Himalayas, 487 ; of Africa, 590. 

 Planetoids, the, 91 ; their anomalous 

 movements, 92 ; lists of, 92, 93, 190, 

 192 ; their fragmentary appearance, 

 93. 



Planets, 189 ; what they are, 63 ; are 

 primary and secondary, 63 ; their 

 courses, 63; are superior and inferior, 

 63 ; their symbols, 64 ; their paths 

 are elliptical, 64 ; their distances 

 from the sun, 64 ; orbits of the dif 

 ferent, 64 ; those technically called 

 "superior" (properly exterior), the 

 phenomena they present, 89 ; con 

 tents and area of the Earth, Jupiter, 

 Saturn, and Uranus, 102 ; extent of 

 combined surface of, 102, 103 ; orbits 

 of, 103; analogies between the planets, 

 104 ; relative distances from the sun, 

 and size of, 105 ; length of day and 

 year of each, 105 ; form and magni 

 tudes of, 105, 106 ; density of the 

 various, 106 ; general observations on 

 the, 107. 



Plantain, or banana, the, 557. 

 Plants, chapter on the geographical dis 

 tribution of, 546 571 ; their wide 

 dispersion, 546 ; their aggregate 

 numbers and general division, 54S 

 550; their relative numbers and re 

 spective localities, 650, 551 ; in 

 northern latitudes, 551 ; in tempe 

 rate regions, 552; in torrid, 553 

 655; in America, 555557; eleva 

 tion of places of growth, 557 ; marine 

 plants, 558 ; local species, 558560 ; 

 regions of the various, 560 563 ; 

 sources whence all varieties sprang, 

 also their means of dispersion and 

 reproduction, 564 571 ; fossil, list 

 of successive, 640, 641 ; sometimes 

 perfect in form, and sometimes bitu- 

 minised, 642. 



Plastic-clay formation, 739, 741. 

 Plata, La, or Plate River, 230, 518, 588, 



601. 



Plateaus, or table-land, 214216. 

 Plato, 6, 8. 



Playfair, Professor, 656. 

 Pleiades, the, or starry group in the 

 neck of the Bull, 2, 5 ; supposed deri 

 vation of the term, 144; ancient 

 fable concerning, 150 ; constituents 

 of the group of, 159. 

 Plesiosaurus, the, 723, 724, 729, 731. 

 Plica polonica, the disease of, 609. 

 Plinlimmon, 639, 662. 

 Pliny the elder, his account of a river 

 in Judea, 267; on tides, 352; his 

 death, 423. 



Pliny the younger, 11 ; his description 

 of the Caucasian defiles, 215 ; of the 

 Grotto del Cane, 258 ; of the Lariau 

 spring, 266 ; fount of Arnmon, 271 ; 

 strange omission of, 273 ; his 

 notices of Dodona fountain, 275 ; his 

 relation regarding Claudius, 313 ; his 

 letter to Gallus, 318 ; observation of 

 oil stilling waves, 351 ; on the Anio 

 floods, 416 ; of the eruption of Vesu 

 vius, 423, 424 ; his assertion regard 

 ing Tullus Hostilius, 521, 522; and 

 aerial illusions in Scythia, 535 ; of the 

 introduction of cherries, 568; on 

 obsidian, 781. 



Pliocene tertiary period, 638, 750, 751. 

 Plot, Dr, his History of Oxford, 535. 

 Plumbago, or graphite, a carburet of 



iron, 624. 



Plutonic or igneous rocks, chapter on 

 the, 643656 ; their nature and how 

 classified, 643; granitic, 644 C49; 

 foreign bodies found in granite, 649 

 651 ; trappean rocks, 651 655 ; vol 

 canic rocks, 655, 656. 

 Po, the river, 400. 

 Poikilitic system, 708. 

 Pole, the, magnetic, 523. 



