Rafintsqut on Altnospheric Dust. 397 



is sufficient to entitle them to the lasting gratitude of our pro- 

 fession. It was one of the merits of that illustrious physician 

 of our own time and country, Dr. Rush, that he seized with 

 avidity every fact, from whatever quarter it might be drawn, 

 to elucidate his favourite science. If ever medicine shall attain 

 to the elevation of a truly philosophical science., it must be ac- 

 complished, in part at least, by imitating his example, and by 

 developing the infinite and diversified associations which exist 

 between it and the other sciences. 



Art. XIV. Thoughts on Atmospheric Dust, By C. S. 



RafinesquEj Esq. 



1. W HEN we find the ruins of ancient cities buried 

 under ground ; when the plough uncovers the front of pa- 

 laces and the summit of old temples, we are astonished : but 

 we seldom reflect why they are hidden in the earth. A sort 

 of imperceptible dust falls at all times from the atmosphere, 

 and it has covered them during ages." 



2. These are the words of the worthy and eloquent philo- 

 sopher ViREv, in his article Nature, Vol. XV. p. 373, of the 

 French Dictionary of Natural History. Even before reading 

 them I had observed the same phenomenon, and I have since 

 studied their effects in various places. I could quote one 

 thousand instances of the extensive and multifarious operations 

 of this meteoric dust : but I mean to give the results merely 

 of those that fall daily under notice, and are yet totally ne- 

 glected ; wishing to draw on them the attention of chemists, 

 philosophers, and geologists. 



3. Whenever the sun shines in a dark room, its beams dis- 

 play a crowd of lucid dusty molecules of various shapes, 

 which were before invisible as the air in which they swim, 

 but did exist nevertheless. These form the atmospheric 

 dust ; existing every where in the lower strata of our atmos- 

 phere. I have observed it on the top of the highest moun- 



VoL. I.. ..No. A. 31 



