358 



COSxMOS. 



valuable translations from Greek, Syr- 

 iac, Indian, &c., 215, 217 ; their botanists 

 and school of medicine, 216 ; chemistry 

 and pharmacy, 218-220 ; astronomy, 

 221-224, 287 ; algebra, 225-227 ; general 

 results of their scientific researches, 

 227, 228. 

 Arago on the magnifying power of Gali- 

 leo's telescope, 303; true method of 

 writing the history of science, 320 ; 

 treatise on changing or periodic stars, 

 330 ; discovery of colored polarization, 

 332 333. 

 Archimedes, 179, 190 ; his " Catoptrica," 



193. 

 Argonautic expedition to Colchis, elucida- 

 tion of the myth, 144. 

 Aristarchus of Samos, his correct knowl- 

 edge of the Earth's structure, 109 ; of 

 astronomy, 177 ; acquaintance of Co- 

 pernicus with his writings, 310-313. 

 Aristobulus, 156, 158. 



ArUtotle, noble passage on the effect of 

 natural scenery, 29 ; on Empedocles, 

 30 ; on Rameses the Great, 126 ; his idea 

 of the proximity of India to the Pillars 

 of Hercules, 152 ; on the advantages of 

 political unity, 154 ; his doctrines and 

 expositions, 160 ; Dante on, 160 ; his 

 "Historia Animalium" and "Meteoro- 

 logica," 160-163, 192, 196 ; his zoologic- 

 al specimens and collection of books, 

 163 ; anatomical dissection, 162 ; his 

 school and leading followers, 163, 164 ; 

 important results of his teaching, 174, 

 175, 176 ; on the weight of the atmos- 

 phere, 194; Arabic translations of, 215; 

 letter of the Emperor Frederic II. on, 

 215, 216 ; influence of his philosophy in 

 the Middle Ages, 242, 243 ; imperfect 

 ideas on attraction, 309, 310 ; inventor 

 of retrograde spheres, 315. 



Aristyllus, early Alexandrian astronomer, 

 177, 178. 



Aryabhatta, Indian mathematician, 187. 



Astrolabes, use of, in navigation, 255-262, 



Astronomy, knowledge of, by the Chalde 

 ans, 167, 168 ; Greeks, 166, 167, 176-179 

 Arabs, 220-223 ; observations by the dis 

 coverers of America, 285-294 ; applica 

 tion of, to navigation. 255-262, 291-295 

 brilliant progress from the discovery of 

 the telescope, 301-307. 



Augustus, his collection of fossils, 195. 



Ausonius. descriptions of nature in his 

 poem " Mosella," 35. 



Austraha, discovery of, 272, 273. 



Avicenna, Zoological History of, 216; 

 work on Materia Medica, 217. 



Avienus, Festus, writings of, 134. 



Bacon, Lord, " Instauratio Magna," 316 ; 



conjectures on atmospheric currents, 



339. 

 Bacoii, Roger, 43, 229, 241, 243, 318; his 



Scientific writings and their influence on 



the extension of the natural sciences, 



244-246. 

 Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, his navigation of 



the Pacific, 266-269, 271. 



Banana (the), the ariena of Pliny, 159. 

 Barometei-, invention of, 338 ; hypsomet 



rical uses, 339. 

 Barros, Johannes, Portuguese historian, 



writings of, 240. 272, 291, 293. 

 Basil the Great, simple and beautiful de- 

 scription of Nature in his letter to Greg- 

 ory of Nazianzum, 40, 41 ; his Ilexse- 

 meron, 41. 

 Behaim, Martin, of Numberg, 239, 255, 269, 



291. 

 Bembo, Cardinal, his ^tna Dialogus, 34, 



64 ; Historise Venetse, 64. 

 Berghaus, Professor, on the extent of the 



Roman empire, 181. 

 Beriguardi, Claudio, first observed the 

 pressure of the atmosphere at varying 

 altitudes, 338, 339. 

 Bernaldez, Andres, MS. writings of, 265. 

 Bhatti-Kavya, Indian poem, 53. 

 Bles, Henry de, Flemish landscape paint- 

 er, 88. 

 Boccaccio, a reviver of the study of clas- 

 sical literature, 248. 

 Bockh on the " Adonis Gardens" of the 

 ancients, 91 ; on the knowledge of the 

 Pythagoreans of the " precession," 178. 

 Bodner, Carl, fidelity of his drawings to 



nature, 93. 

 Boethius, Geometry of, 225. 

 Boiardo, smaller poems of, 64. 

 Boreas, meteorological myth of, 147. 

 Botanical knowledge of the Arabs, 211, 



216; of the Mexicans, 274, 275. 

 Brahmagupta, Indian mathematician, 187. 

 Brahmins and Brahminical districts, 169. 

 Breughel, Johann, his fruit and flower 



pieces, 90. 

 Brewster, Sir David, on Kepler's method 

 of investigating truth, 327 ; important 

 discovery of the connection between 

 the angle of complete polarization and 

 the index of refraction, 332 ; on the date 

 of Newton's optical discoveries, 333. 

 Breytenbach, Bernhard von, early travel- 

 er, 78. 

 Bri:l, Matthew and Paul, Flemish land- 

 scape painters, 88. 

 Brongniart, Alexander, palseontological 



researches of, 348. 

 Bruchium, Libi-ary of, 175. 

 Bucolic poetry, its characteristics, 26. 

 Buffbn, 75 ; deficiency of personal observ- 

 ation in his writings, 75. 

 Bun sen , Chevalier, note from his " Egypt," 



125. 

 Byron, Lord, his poetry, 76. 



Cabot, Sebastian, voyages and discoveries 

 of, 264, 265, 279, 280. 



Cabral, Alvarez, 240, 263. 



Cabrillo, Rodriguez, 230, 272. 



CiFsar, Julius, writings of, 35, 38, 196. 



Calderon, dazzling description of nature 

 in his writings, 73. 



Callimachus, gloomy descriptions of Na- 

 ture in his " Hymn on Delos," 26. 



Callisthenes of Olynthus, 163, 164, 166. 



Camoens, faithful individuahty of nature 

 , in his " Lusiad," and its inimitable de- 



