THE ATMOSPHERE. 19 



to continent, that the noxious vapors of cities are removed 

 to give place to an atmosphere more fresh and pure, and 

 that it constantly preserves, amidst all the contaminating 

 influences to which it is exposed, its salubrious and vital 

 energies. 



In a general view of the properties, powers, and uses 

 of the atmosphere, of the essential ingredients which 

 compose it, and the various other substances it absorbs 

 and wafts in its currents, the numerous odors constantly 

 meeting us, ought not to be overlooked. This class of 

 bodies is almost infinite in variety, which are divided into 

 atoms so minute, that the fragrance of a flower diffuses 

 its agreeable odor into every particle of atmosphere, to a 

 great extent around it, and by this, adds to the beauty and 

 sprightfulness, the sweetness of spring. 



Such is the power of the atmosphere, and the great 

 divisibility of matter, that it sometimes takes up, and 

 carries from place to place, substances of the greatest 

 density. Even the heaviest metals, such as gold and 

 platina, are capable of being reduced to so fine a powder, 

 as to be supported in the atmosphere, and inhaled by the 

 lungs. 



The limits to which we are confined in our view of a 

 subject so vast and so various in its applications and uses, 

 as the ocean of air which envelopes our globe, have re- 

 quired us to be brief. In many cases we have been per- 

 mitted merely to hint at a subject, whose importance 

 seemed to require a large expansion. In none have we 

 been able to make that full, minute, and varied application 

 to practical and common concerns, and especially to the 

 moral developement, which give to science its greatest 

 utility, interest, and sublimity. Partially to answer these 

 important purposes, to which every science and every 

 kind of knowledge ought to be applied, this tract will be 

 closed by a few questions relating to the subjects present- 

 ed in the preceding pages. 



1. Has the atmosphere received greater or less atten- 

 tion in systems of instruction than its importance de- 

 serves ? 



2. Has a knowledge of the ingredients and properties 



