Foreign Literature and Science. 379 



Before the end of June, the shoals of ice are usually di- 

 vided and scattered ; and the temperature of these icebergs 

 is evidently lower than that of the surrounding water, and 

 will therefore impart a corresponding influence to the air ; 

 therefore, the atmosphere resting on the interrupted surface 

 of the ocean, will be warmer than that in the immediate vi- 

 cinity of the icebergs. This cooling influence too, in con- 

 sequence of its elevation considerably above the sea's sur- 

 face, will be diffused, not only by radiation upwards, but 

 horizontally into the surrounding air. The portion of at- 

 mosphere between two or more neighboring pieces of ice, 

 will necessarily be, in the middle, of higher temperature than 

 in the immediate vicinity of the ice, which must present con- 

 siderable inequalities of temperature, affecting the surround- 

 ing air ; of which numerous examples are found in accounts 

 of Polar voyages ; and Captain Franklin, particularly, re- 

 marks, " the temperature of the surface of the water was 

 35° when among the ice, 38° when just clear of it, and 41° 

 S' at two miles distant," consequently, such unequal distri- 

 bution of temperature will produce the effect stated, and 

 the density of such mist or fog, will depend on the quantity 

 of vapor contained in the air, and the differences of the in- 

 termingling temperatures. 



The elevations of the mist will also be regulated by the 

 height of the masses of ice ; and, accordingly, Capt. Ross re- 

 marks, " the fog was extremely thick upon the surface of the 

 sea, but at the mast-head, and at the top of the iceberg it was 

 perfectly clear" Capt. Scoresby too, in his paper read be- 

 fore the Wernerian Society on the fogs of the Polar Seas, al- 

 ludes to this definite elevation, and to the clearness of the 

 supervening sky. Two icebergs may, however, be so sit- 

 uated, that their reciprocal horizontal radiations may cool the 

 air between them, and reduce it to nearly a uniform tempe- 

 ture, thus preventing the formation of mist. 



16. Mode of preserving wooden buildings from the effects 

 of fire, invented by Dr. Fuchs, Professor of Mineralogy 

 in Munich. — The following is the process; ten parts of potash 

 or soda ; fifteen parts of quartz (sand,) and one part char- 

 coal, are melted together. This mass, dissolved in water, 

 and either alone or mixed with earthy matters, applied, to 

 wood, completely preserves it from the action of fire.— Ed- 

 .Phil. Jour. 



