COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 | Page 9

spheroid, surrounded by air and water, and finally, proceeds to the consideration of the form of our planet, its temperature and magnetic tension, and the fullness of organic vitality which is unfolded on its surface under the action of light. Partial insight into the relative dependence existing among all phenomena. Amid all the mobile and unstable elements in space, 'mean numerical values' are the ultimate aim of investigation, being the expression of the physical laws, or forces of the Cosmos. The delineation of the universe does not begin with the earth, from which a merely subjective point of view might have led us to start, but rather with the objects comprised in the regions of space. Distribution of matter, which is partially conglomerated into rotating p 17 and circling heavenly bodies of very different density and magnitude, and partly scattered as self-luminous vapor. Review of the separate portions of the picture of nature, for the purpose of explaining the reciprocal connection of all phenomena.
I. Celestial Portion of the Cosmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 83-154
II. Terrestrial Portion of the Cosmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 154-359
a. Form of the earth, its mean density, quantity of heat, electro-magnetic activity, process of light -- p. 154-202.
b. Vital activity of the earth toward its external surface. Reaction of the interior of a planet on its crust and surface. Subterranean noise without waves of concussion. Earthquakes dynamic phenomena -- p. 202-217.
c. Material products which frequently accompany earthquakes. Gaseous and aqueous springs. Salses and mud volcanoes. Upheavals of the soil by elastic forces -- p. 217-228.
d. Fire-emitting mountains. Craters of elevation. Distribution of volcanoes on the earth -- p. 228-247.
e. Volcanic forces form new kinds of rock, and metamorphose those already existing. Geognostical classification of rocks into four groups. Phenomena of contact. Fossiliferous strata; their vertical arrangement. The faunas and floras of an earlier world. Distribution of masses of rock -- p. 247-384.
f. Geognostical epochs, which are indicated by the mineralogical difference of rocks, have determined the distribution of solids and fluids into continents and seas. Individual configuration of solids into horizontal expansion and vertical elevation. Relations of area. Articulation. Probability of the continued elevation of the earth's crust in ridges -- p. 284-301.
g. Liquid and aeriform envelopes of the solid surface of our planet. Distribution of heat in both. The sea. The tides. Currents and their effects -- p. 301-311.
h. The atmosphere. Its chemical composition. Fluctuations in its density. Law of the direction of the winds. Mean temperature. Enumeration of the causes which tend to raise and lower the temperature. Continental and insular climates. East and west coasts. Cause of the curvature of the isothermal lines. Limits of perpetual snow. Quantity of vapor. Electricity in the atmosphere. Forms of the clouds -- p. 311-339.
i. Separation of inorganic terrestrial life from the geography of vital organisms; the geography of vegetables and animals. Physical gradations of the human race -- p. 339-359.
Special Analysis of the Delineation of Nature, including References to the Subjects treated of in the Notes.
I. Celestial Portion of the Cosmos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 83-154
The universe and all that it comprises -- multiform nebulous spots, planetary vapor, and nebulous stars. The picturesque charm of a southern sky -- note, p. 85. Conjectures on the position in space of the world. Our stellar masses. A cosmical island. Gauging stars. Double stars revolving round a common center. Distance of the star 61 Cygni -- p. 88 and note. Our solar system more complicated than was conjectured at the close of the last century. Primary planets with Neptune, Astrea, Hebe, Iris, and Flora, now constitute 16; secondary planets 18; myriad of comets of which many of the inner ones are inclosed p 18 in the orbits of the planets; a rotating ring (the zodiacal light) and meteoric stones, probably to be regarded as small cosmical bodies. The telescopic planets, Vesta, Juno, Ceres, Pallas, Astrea, Hebe, Iris and Flora, with their frequently intersecting, strongly inclined, and more eccentric orbits, constitute a central group of separation between the inner planetary group (Mercury, Venus, the Earth, and Mars) and the outer group (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). Contrasts of these planetary groups. Relations of distance from one central body. Differences of absolute magnitude, density, period of revolution, eccentricity, and inclination of the orbits. The so-called law of the distances of the planets from their central sun. The planets which have the largest number of moons -- p. 96 and note. Relations in space, both absolute and relative, of the secondary planets. Largest and smallest of the moons. Greatest approximation to a primary