TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER I.

Heat and moisture are indispensable to the fertillity of the earth—Arrangements exist for their diffusion and distribution, and all the phenomena of the weather result from their operation—Heat furnished or produced mainly by the direct action of the sun’s rays—Manner in which it is diffused over the earth—Other causes operate besides the sun’s rays—The earth intensely heated in its interior—Heat derived from the great Oceanic currents, and the aerial currents which flow from the tropics to the poles, and from magnetism and electricity—Water distributed by an atmospheric machinery as extensive as the globe—Evidences of this—Its distribution over the continents of North America—Explanation of it—Source from whence our supply of water is derived, and from which our rivers return1

CHAPTER II.

Our rivers return in the form of clouds, and in storms and showers—Definition and character of storms—Differences in the character of the clouds which constitute them—Nomenclature of Howard—Its imperfections—New order of description—Low fog—High fog—Storm fog—Storm scud—N. W. scud—Cumulus—Stratus—Cirrus—Compounds of the two latter—recapitulation in tabular form24

CHAPTER III.

Our rivers do not return from the North Atlantic—All storms and showers move from the westward to the eastward—Seeming clouds seen moving from the eastward to the westward are scud—They are incidents of the storm, and not a necessary part of it—The storm clouds are above them, moving to the eastward—Occasions when this may be seen—Admitted facts prove it—Investigations prove it—May be known from analogy—From the fact that there is an aerial current pursuing the same course in which the storms originate—Character of this current—Its influence upon our country—Importance of a knowledge of its origin, cause, and the reciprocal action between it and the earth—To this end necessary to go down “to the chambers of the South”43

CHAPTER IV.

The trade wind region—Its extent and arrangements—Its belt of daily rains and movable character—The trade winds—The extra tropical belt of rains—Connection between them and their annual movements—The counter-trades—Their origin and situation—One of them constitutes our aerial current—It originates in the South Atlantic as a surface-trade—Anomalies of the trade wind region—Dry seasons—Humboldt’s description of them—Exist where the surface trades are situated—The rainless countries—Concentrated counter-trade—Monsoons—Received theory in relation to them a fallacy—Cause of the great central phenomena—Calorific theory a fallacy—Land not hotter under the belt of rains, nor sea materially so—Theory should be abandoned52

CHAPTER V.

The agent, magnetism—Its character and currents—Oxygen magnetic—Precipitation at the belt of rains occasioned by depolarization—Storms originate in this central belt, and move toward the poles82

CHAPTER VI.

Course and functions of the counter-trade—Ours come from the South Atlantic—Reason why it can not come from the Pacific—Mistake of Mr. Redfield and Lieutenant Maury in regard to it—All our storms originate in it—Proofs of this—State of the weather, whether hot or cold affected by it—Proofs of this—All our surface winds are incidents of it, and due to its conditions and attractions—Proofs of this—Character of the different winds—Anomalies of Mr. Blodgett accounted for—Received theory in regard to sea and land breezes a mistaken one—Proofs of this—Peculiar character of the N. W. wind—Identity with the winter Mexican northers—Character of the West India hurricanes—Of the thunder-gust—Of the tornado—Sundry particulars in relation to the latter—Due to currents of electricity—Proportions of winds in different localities—Examination of the work of Professor Coffin upon that subject—Examination of Lieutenant Maury’s theory of the monsoons92

CHAPTER VII.

Height of the counter-trade in different latitudes—Cause of the Calms of Cancer—Influence of mountains upon the counter-trade—Reports of Herndon and Gibbon—Focus of precipitation in the extra-tropical belt north of its southern line—Evidences of this—The elevation of the counter-trade above the earth varies in the same latitude with the variations in the phenomena of the weather—Temperature of the counter-trade—Rain dust, its origin and indications—Volcanic ashes—How far they indicate its course of progression—Question whether there is an eastern progression of the body of the atmosphere above the machinery of distribution179

CHAPTER VIII.

Important to understand the precise character of the reciprocal action between the earth and the counter-trade—Connection between the width and movements of the belt of inter-tropical rains and the volume of the trades—Its peculiarities over Africa, the Atlantic, and South America—The magnetic equator—Character of the storms which originate in the inter-tropical belt indicate local magnetic action—Supposed influence of volcanic action—Gulf Stream changes its position—This the result of magnetic action—Alternating contrasts of heat and cold, and rain and drought—Dr. Webster’s history of the weather—Spots upon the sun—Their character and influence—Cold or warm periods during the same decade, and during different decades—Connection between the spots and magnetic disturbances and variations—Influence of the moon upon the weather—No decisive inference to be drawn from these facts, and a more critical examination necessary204

CHAPTER IX.

Examination of existing theories—Calorific theory the prevailing one—Lateral overflow of Professor Dove—Absurdity of his views in relation to them—His theory of hurricanes—Its absurdity—A new theory by Mr. Dobson—Three theories advanced by meteorologists of this country—Professor Espy’s theory—Mr. Bassnett’s theory—Mr. Redfield’s theory—Extended examination of the latter—His theory in relation to the fall of the barometer contradictory in its character—Philosophy of the barometric change—No aid to be derived from these theories232

CHAPTER X.

Further inquiry in relation to the reciprocal action between the earth and the counter-trade—Terrestrial magnetism, and what we know of it—Its elements, and their variations—Their connection with the variations of atmospheric condition—Magnetism acts through its connection with electricity—Character of the latter and its variations—Their connection with atmospheric conditions—Electricity as well as magnetism in excess over this country—Effects of it upon our climate—Closer consideration of the atmospheric phenomena—Their diurnal changes and connections compared with those of magnetism and electricity—Grouping of all the diurnal variations—Particular and separate examination of them—Classification of storms—Examination in detail of the several classes and the primary influence of the earth or counter-trade in relation to each285

CHAPTER XI.

Prognostics340