Popular Scientific Recreations in Natural Philosphy, Astronomy, Geology, Chemistry, etc., etc., etc.

It may at the first glance appear paradoxical to combine Science and Recreation, but we hope to show that true scientific recreation is anything but the dry bones of learning. T...

Some years ago we were staying in Normandy, not far from the town of C——, enjoying, in the midst of most cordial hospitality, the peacefulness of country life; and my kind hosts...

Having now introduced our readers to Science which they can find for themselves in the open air, and the pursuit of which will both instruct and amuse, we will proceed to invest...

Those who have followed us through the preceding pages have now, we hope, some ideas upon Gravity and the Forces of Nature. In speaking of Forces we said “Force was a cause of M...

We have more than once referred to the pressure of the air which exerts a great influence upon bodies in motion, but a few experiments will make this more obvious, and clearly d...

At present we will pass from Air to Water, from Pneumatics to Hydrostatics and Hydraulics. We must remember that Hydrostatics and Hydraulics are very different. The former treat...

Heat is now believed to be the effects of the rapid motion of all the particles of a body. It is quite certain that a heated body is no heavier than the same body before it was...

We have considered the effects of heat upon water, and touched upon one or two kindred experiments. But we have some other subjects to discuss, two in particular; viz., _Specifi...

The subject of Light and the science of Optics are so interesting to all of us that some short history of light is necessary before we can enter upon the scientific portion of t...

The eye is an optical instrument that may be compared with those constructed by physicists themselves; the _media_ of which it is composed have surfaces like those which enter i...

We shall now continue the subject by describing some illusions more curious still—those of _ocular estimation_. These illusions depend rather on the particular properties of the...

The enumeration of optical illusions is so considerable that we have no intention of describing them all, and will merely cite a few other examples. The following facts have bee...

The eye and vision are such important subjects to all of us that we may be excused for saying something more concerning phenomena connected with them, and the instruments we use...

We have already given numerous examples of the effects produced by impressions on the retina by mechanical appliances. We can now in a short chapter speak of the cause of many s...

Before entering upon the science of ACOUSTICS, a short description of the ear, and the mode in which sound is conveyed to our brain, will be no doubt acceptable to our readers....

We propose in this chapter to give as shortly as possible a description of the various instruments lately come into use, by means of which, and electricity, sounds can be carrie...

We cannot close the subject of Sound without some mention of the Musical Pitch, and various instruments and experiments which have from time to time been made to discover the pi...

We have now briefly and of course imperfectly reviewed the phenomena of Vibration, as exemplified in what we term Heat, Light, and Sound. We now come to a most mysterious servan...

We are now acquainted with many facts concerning electricity, and have seen that electrical phenomena can be produced by the Electric Machine and the Leyden Jar. (An insulating...

Galvanism owes its origin to the researches of Galvani, the celebrated professor of Bologna, and we are indebted to what was a mere “accident” for our knowledge of this science.

We have already mentioned some of the properties of the loadstone or magnet; but as we are now about to enter more fully into the considerations of its attributes and of the com...

THE ELECTRO-MOTOGRAPH—although perhaps even yet scarcely developed—has already proved a very useful invention. The idea of it first occurred to Mr. Edison in 1873, when he was p...

In the first part of this volume we entered into the circumstances of air pressure, and in the Chemistry section we shall be told about the atmosphere and its constituents. We k...

Chemistry is the science of phenomena which are attended by a change of the objects which produce them. We know that when a candle burns, or when wood is burned, or even a piece...

We have already pointed out the possibility of going through a course of physics without any special apparatus, we shall now endeavour to show our readers the method of performi...

We have in the foregoing pages given some experiments, and considered several of the metals, but there are numerous very interesting subjects still remaining; indeed, the number...

Oxygen is certainly the most abundant element in nature. It exists all around us, and the animal and vegetable worlds are dependent upon it. It constitutes in combination about...

Chlorine (Cl.) is usually found with sodium in the mineral kingdom, and this chloride of sodium is our common salt. Chlorine can be obtained by heating hydrochloric acid with bi...

We have learnt that the elements are divided into metalloids and metals, but the line of demarcation is very faint. It is very difficult to define what a metal is, though we can...

In the introduction to these brief chapters upon Chemistry, we said that the science was divided into two sections, the first section consisting of the simple combinations, and...

MINERALS are constituent parts of the earth. All parts of minerals are alike. There are simple minerals and mixed. The former are the true minerals, and are generally considered...

The kite, known from the earliest times, and constructed by a number of people, is a very familiar object, which we shall not describe; for we will now speak of some similar app...

Astronomy is the science which treats of the heavenly bodies and the laws which govern them. The term is derived from two Greek words, _astron_, a star, and _nomos_, a law. It m...

We must say a few words respecting the various instruments and aids to astronomical observation before proceeding, for astronomy requires very accurate calculations; and though...

GRAVITATION is the force which keeps the planets in their orbits, and this theory, perfected by Newton, was partially known to Kepler. Newton brought this idea into practical sh...

Suppose that we rise early in the morning we shall, as the reader will say see the sun rise—that is, he appears to us to rise as the earth rotates. By the accompanying diagram (...

We have learnt from our books on Geography that the earth is shaped like an orange,—that is, our globe is round and flattened slightly at the “poles,” and we can easily see that...

From the early days of childhood every man and woman has been familiar with the moon. This satellite of earth has been domesticated, so to speak, amongst us; and while the sun a...

Including our own globe there are eight principal planets—viz., Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The two first-named being between us and the sun, are...

We have been considering the planets so far as they are known to astronomers, but no doubt we shall find out others some day beyond Neptune in space, for it must be assumed that...

Although not very clearly visible to the naked eye, there are in the sky some pairs of stars very close together apparently; but when these double stars are examined with a good...

Having said something concerning astronomy, we will give a few instructions respecting the instruments not already described, and make some observations, supplementing our direc...

When we were at school, and learnt the various countries of Europe, we had maps showing us the several divisions of one realm from another; the mountains, lakes, and other promi...

The crust of Great Britain has been carefully examined, and from the results of investigations at various periods, the earth has been divided into a series of strata which follo...

We trust that the general reader has gleaned from the foregoing chapter some few ideas concerning the growth of plant and animal life in the early periods of the world’s existen...

In the foregoing pages we have chiefly considered the stratified rocks, but we are now approaching another branch of our subject—viz., “Physiography,” which, as distinguished fr...

From our childhood the sea has been the companion and playmate of thousands, the seashore their playground. Men have selected it for their professional training and livelihood....

Under this heading we shall find the atmosphere playing a very important part. The air is composed of oxygen and nitrogen with some carbonic acid gas and aqueous vapour. We have...

There are a great number of interesting, and to inhabitants of these islands uncommon,—perhaps we might say fortunately uncommon,—phenomena, which overtake the traveller in othe...

It is usually considered a sign of a paucity of ideas when one begins a conversation about the “weather,” but there can be no doubt that there is no more interesting question in...

BIOLOGY is derived from the Greek word _Bios_, “life,” and _logein_, “to speak,” and constitutes the science of ORGANIC LIFE. This science is divided into two branches: BOTANY,...

Some of the simplest plants are propagated by _spores_, which are detached, and fall upon the ground to vegetate; but in the case of the higher orders the reproduction of specie...

There are certain arrangements and mutual relations of the various portions of the flowers which we have mentioned that it is useful to consider. The _floral axis_ refers to the...

Zoology treats of life—of organized beings which are capable of voluntary motion. Plants exist, animals live and move. Both are organic beings, but the latter possess the facult...

The ECHINODERMATA or spiny-skinned, are most commonly represented by the sea-urchins and star-fishes of our coasts. In some of the classes locomotion is performed by means of th...

We will now proceed to draw our readers’ attention to several experiments very famous at a former period, but which our own generation has completely overlooked. We refer to the...

We will not do our readers the injustice to suppose that they are not familiar with the ordinary top,—the delight of all school-boys and young people,—of which, therefore, we fo...

At the beginning of the seventeenth century there was at Lyons a very remarkable mansion built by a man named Nicholas Grollier de Servière. This house was filled with all the m...

All branches of applied science are capable of giving us important hints and rendering us great service in all the conditions of our daily life, and as we have at various times...

We have already noticed some novel means of locomotion in the water and in the air, and now a few of the means whereby locomotion is attained as a recreation or as an exhibition...