790 



view of, 488 ; varying climate of, 489 ; 



vegetation of, 557. 

 Ariatus, 144. 147. 

 Araucaria, fossil, 706. 

 Arbela, battle of, its date determined, 



59 ; site of, 308. 

 Arcadia, view of limestone mountains on 



the coast of, 617. 

 Arched forms of strata, 628. 

 Archipelago of the Mediterranean, 347. 



Arctic region, animals of, 588, 589; intense 

 cold in, 597 ; flora, 560. 



Arctophylax, the Bear- keeper. (See 

 Bootes.) 



A returns, the star, 176, 177. 



Arethusa, fountain of, 259, 260. 



Argali, the, 606. 



Argo, constellation of the ship, 155. 



Aries, or constellation of the Ram, 149. 



Ariosto, a noted saying of, 619. 



Aristarchus, of Samos, his ingenuity, 9, 

 10. 



Aristotle, 2, 3 ; astronomical physics of 

 founded on false data, 13; is not an- 

 swerable, however for the vain inven- 

 tions of ;.ll who called themselves Aris- 

 totelians, 14 ; mentions an occultation 

 of Mars and the moon, 14 ; speaks of 

 mirrors being used in his time for ob- 

 serving eclipses, 16; cited, 527. 535. 

 571. 



Armillary spheres, early used by the Alex- 

 andrians, 16. 



Aromatic plants grow best in the central 

 lands of the tropics, 554. 



Arran, isle of, 647. 652, 653. 655. 



Artesian wells, account of, 265, 266. 



Ascension Island, 379. 



Asia, south-western, great levels of, were 

 the birth-place of astronomical know- 

 ledge, 2 ; that district possessed many 

 advantages therefore what they were, 

 2; granite mountains of, 645; fossil 

 elephant of, 753 ; mastodon of, 755. 



Minor, view of the coast of, 398; elec- 

 trical phenomena in, 517 ; the cradle of 

 the human race, 594; population of, 596; 

 intense cold in the north-east of, 597. 



Ass, native country of the, 588. 



Asterias, fossil, 721. 



Asteroids, the, 91 ; their anomalous move- 

 ments, 92 ; their fragmentary appear- 

 ance, 93. 



Asters, botanical region of the, 561. 



Astrolabes, or armillary spheres, early 

 used at Alexandria, 16; were improved 

 and enlarged by the Arabs, 16. 



Astrology, judicial, origin of, 3. 



Astronomers royal, different, 36. 



Astronomical discovery, history of, 1 



Astronomy the most perfect and ancient 

 of all sciences. 1. 



Atchabalaga, great raft of the river, 593. 



Athos, Mount, 326 ; promontory of, 661. 



Atlantic ocean, the, 329. 337. ; coasts 

 of the, 345 ; basin of the, 346 ; sea- 

 weeds in the, 348 ; current of, 359. 361, 

 362 ; trade winds of the, 438, 439 ; gales 

 of the, 473. 



Atlas, range of Mount, 203. 



Atmosphere of the earth, 75 ; of the moon 

 doubtful,81 ; of the earth and its currents, 

 chapter on the, 435460; its height, 435; 

 weight, 436 ; movement, how caused, 

 436 ; velocities. 437 ; trade winds, 438, 

 439442; monsoons, 442 444; landand 

 sea breezes, 444446 ; Etesian winds. 

 447 ; Khamsin. Samiel, Simoom, Har- 

 mattan, and Scirocco, 447450 ; Mis- 

 tral, Autun, Bise, 450, 451 ; hurricanes, 

 451-456. 458, 459; land storms, 456 

 457 ; waterspouts, 457, 458 ; winds of 

 Great Britain, 459, 460 ; is principally 

 composed of oxygen and nitrogen, 622. 



Attica, ignorant pride of its natives, 



Attraction, that between bodies mutual 

 and proportioned to size and distance 

 40 ; causes perturbation, 40 ; its action 

 is inevitable and universal, 182. 



Augite, the mineral, 623. 645. 652. 



Augustine, St., 574. 



, Aurora Australis, 526, 527 ; do sounds 



accompany the ? 528, 529 ; elevation of 



j 



INDEX. 



Aurora Borealis, 523-526 ; views of, 524. 

 526 ; phenomena of, 527529. 



Aurora Island, 326. 



Australia, or Oceanica, animals of, 591, 

 592 ; population of, 596 ; contains pe- 

 culiar forms of insects, 573. 



Author of the universe known only to 

 man, 595. 



Autun, synonym of Bise, vfitcn see. 



Auvergne, extinct volcanoes of, 427429. 

 656 ; geology of, 619. 



Avalanches, their formation and devas- 

 tations, 207 ; their effects, 412, 413. 



Avernus, lake of, 403. 



Avon river, at Bristol, tide of, 358, 359. 



Aymestry limestone, 678. 680. 



Azara, senor, 600,601. 



Azof, sea of, or Palus Maeotis, 371. 



Azore islands, the volcanic, 375, 376. 



Back, Captain, 318. 322. 



Bacon, Lord, 613. 



Baden, grand duchy of; its hot springs, 



'270. 



Bagnes, Val de, inundation of, 413415. 

 Bahamas, the, 333. 348. 

 Baiae, territory of, with illustrative chart, 



403 ; view, 773. 

 Bahr Assal, lake of, 317. 

 Bailey, Professor, 776. 

 Baikal Lake, Siberia, 311. 318. 320, 321. 

 Baily, Mr., discovers letters of Flam- 

 stead, 37. 



Bakewell, Mr., 270. 412. 428. 647. 651 . 729. 

 Bala limestone, 662. t>64. 

 Bala-pool, or Pimble-Mere, 325. 

 Balbi, Signor, 596. 

 Baltic, waters of the, 328, 329 ; has 



scarcely any tides, 357 ; climate near 



the. 506. ' 



Banda Oriental, the, 569. 587. 

 Banana, or plantain, the, 557. 

 Banyan, or pagod tree, account and view 



of the, 554. 



Baobab, the gigantic tree, 550. ,562. 

 Barbadoes, hurricanes in the island of, 



454, 455. 

 Bareges, 6G3. 



Barren Island, 375 ; view of, 788. 

 Barrens of North America, 234. 

 Barrow, Mr., 332. ^ 



Barrow's Strait, 589. 

 Basalt, peculiarities of, 62G, 627. 652 



654 ; illustrations of its forms, 626653. 

 Bases of earths, alkalies, and alkaline 



earths, 623. 

 Basin, the great European geological, 



Basins, tertiary, of Europe, 739. et al. 



, three grand, in which the oceanic 



waters are divided northern, western, 

 and south-eastern, 197. 



Bass rock, view of the, 370. 



Bath, city of, its thermal waters, 269. 



, stone of, 725. 727. 



Bats, order of, 590. 



Bauhinias of the tropics, 555. 



Bauhman's Hohle, in the Hartz. 254. 



Bayer, John, his Uranometria, 146. 



Bayonne, port of, 402. 



Beachy-head, land-slip at, 392. 



Beads, St. Cuthbert's, 677. 



Bear, constellation of the Great, or Ursa 

 Major, is the most conspicuous in the 

 northern hemisphere, 152 ; sometimes 

 called Charles's Wain, 152 ; and Helice 

 153, 154; its place in heaven, 153; in- 

 dicates the Pole-star by its Pointers. 

 153 ; is important in navigation, 153 ; 

 diagram of its movement around the 

 pole, 153. 



, the polar, 588, 589 ; common. 589. 



Bearings of strata, 627. 



Beaufort, Captain, 397. 



Beaver, the, 589. 



Becceria, 130. 



Beche, M. de la, 657. 721. 



Bed of the ocean, 326; upheavings of 

 374385. 



Beds, successive, of the new red sand- 

 stone system. 708. 



Beech-trees said to be safe from light- 

 ning, 521 ; habitat of, 553. 



B t e h 7oV ^ tain ' his rese arches, 384, 



ooo. 0.6O. Ozy. 



Behemoth, the, 756. 

 Belemnites, 720. 



Beloochistan. 484 ; plains of, view of the, 

 485. 



Belus, temple of, 2. 



Ben Lomond, view of, 646; outline of, 

 647 ; Lair, 659. 



, atmospheric apparitions seen from, 



541,542. 



Bennachie. mount of, 648. 



Ben Nevis not our highest mountain, 

 204 ; electrical observations made on, 

 517. 



Benares, annual rain-falls at, 471. 



Bengal, annual rain-falls at, 471 ; bay of, 

 579. 



Bennet and Tyerman, Messrs., 482. 



Benzenberg, Professor, 131. 



Berg-mehl, 776. 



Bernard, hospice of Great St., the highest 

 fixed habitation in Europe, 215 ; its 

 dogs, with an illustration, 477. 



Bex, salt-mines of, 712. 



Bible, the, a book for general use, and 

 therefore adapted to popular compre- 

 hension, 31 ; wrong conclusions have 

 been drawn from it in past times and 

 present, 32. 



Biela's comet. 111. 



Bifurcation of streams, 299. 



Bimana, order of, 595. 



Biot, M., his accouut of the Fata Mor- 

 gana, 540. 



Birch-tree, regard of Linnaeus for the, 

 552. 



Birds, the class of, 580584 ; are natu- 

 rally divided into the three orders of 

 aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic, 580 ; 

 bird-rocks of the northern seas, 580, 

 581 ; lameness of many kinds, 581, 582; 

 singing-birds, 582; locomotive powers 

 of birds, 582, 583 ; localities of birds, 

 and their migrations, 583, 584 ; distri- 

 bution of the varieties of, 592 , fossil 

 remains of, during the several periods, 

 638, 639. 



, great dispersers of plant-seeds, 547. 



566, 567. 



Birs Nimrood, the earliest supposed as- 

 tronomical site, 1 ; ruins of, 2. 



Bise, Mistral, or Autun wind is salu- 

 brious, 450; but causes tempests in 

 France, 450. 



Bison, or buffalo, the, 589. 598. 



Bituminous, or pitch springs, 275,276; 

 fossils, 640 ; matter, 778. 



Blanc, Mont, description of, and ascents 

 to, 203. 



Black Sea, 347, 366 ; was once united to 

 the inland Asian seas, 578. 



Blisson, Mr. , his researches regarding 

 the ign'"s fatuus, 544, 545. 



Bloomfield, Robert, 467. 



Blue John Mine, description of, 248; 

 view of" organ " stalactite in, '249. 



Blumenbach, professor, 601. 604, 605, 

 606. 753. 



Boa constrictor, the, 579, 580. 



Bode, professor, his observation of the 

 planetary system, 46 ; his catalogue of 

 the stars, 158. 



Bodies, the heavenly, were anciently 

 objects of superstitious regard and 

 fear, 3. 



, Jinimal and vegetable, contain car- 

 bonate of lime, 624. 



Body, the human, can bear great ex- 

 tremes of heat and cold, 484 ; its bones 

 and tpeth contain much carbonate of 

 lime, 624. 



, diversities of the human, in diffe- 

 rent races, <i05, 606 ; its growth, decay, 

 and diseases the same in all races, 

 608. 



Bohemian coal-mines, 702, 703. 



Boleslaw lake, in Bohemia, 320. 



Bolton and Manchester Railway, fossil 

 trees on the, 705. 



Bombay, annual rain-falls at, 470, 471. 



Bone, how to petrify, 640. 



Bone Well, view of the, 667. 



Bones principally composed of carbonate 

 of lime, 624. 



Bonpland, Aime, 518, 576. 



Bootes, the headsman, or bear-keeper, 

 constellation of, 6. 153 ; apparently 

 pursues Ursa Major round the pole o'f 

 the heavens, 154. 



Boothia, western coast of, 523. 



