The Glaciers of the Alps. John Tyndall
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Curtain; the Mer de Glace in Winter; the first night; "a rose of dawn;" Crimson Banners of the Aiguilles; the stakes fixed; a Hurricane on the glacier; the second night; Wild Snow-storm; a man in a crevasse; calm; Magnificent Snow Crystals; Sound through the falling snow; swift descent; Source of the Arveiron; Crystal Cave; appearance of water; westward from the vault; Majestic Scene; Farewell
PART II.
What is Light?—notion of the ancients; requires Time to pass through Space; Römer, Bradley, Fizeau; Emission Theory supported by Newton, opposed by Huyghens; the Wave Theory established by Young and Fresnel; Theory explained; nature of Sound; of Music; of Pitch; nature of Light; of Colour; two sounds may produce silence; two rays of light may produce darkness; two rays of heat may produce cold; Length and Number of waves of light; Liquid Waves; Interference; Diffraction; Colours of Thin Plates; applications of the foregoing to cloud iridescences, luminous trees, twinkling of stars, the Spirit of the Brocken, &c.
2.—Radiant Heat. 239
The Sun emits a multitude of Non-luminous Rays; Rays of Heat differ from rays of Light as one colour differs from another; the same ray may produce the sensations of light and heat
3.—Qualities of Heat.241
Heat a kind of Motion; system of exchanges; Luminous and Obscure Heat; Absorption by Gases; gases may be transparent to light, but opaque to heat; Heat selected from luminous sources; the Atmosphere acts the part of a Ratchet-wheel; possible heat of a Distant Planet; causes of Cold in the upper strata of the Earth's Atmosphere
Application of principles; the Snow-line; its meaning; waters piled annually in a solid form on the summits of the hills; the Glaciers furnish the chief means of escape; superior and inferior snow-line
5. 249
Whiteness of snow; whiteness of ice; Round air-bubbles; melting and freezing; Conversion of snow into ice by Pressure
6.—Colour of Water and Ice.253
Waves of Ether not entangled; they are separated in the prism; they are differently absorbed; Colour due to this; Water and Ice blue; water and ice opaque to radiant heat; Long Waves shivered on the molecules; Experiment; Grotto of Capri; the Laugs of Iceland
Newton's idea; Goethe's Theory; Clausius and Brücke; Suspended Particles; singular effect on a painting explained by Goethe; Light separated without Absorption; Reflected and Transmitted light; blueness of milk and juices; the Sun through London smoke; Experiments; Blue of the Eye; Colours of Steam; the Lake of Geneva
Glacier loaded along its edges by the ruins of the mountains; Lateral Moraines; Medial Moraines; their number one less than the number of Tributaries; Moraines of the Mer de Glace; successive shrinkings; Glacier Tables explained; 'Dip' of stones upon the glacier enables us to draw the Meridian Line; type 'Table;' Sand Cones; moraines engulfed and disgorged; transparency of ice under the moraines
9.—Glacier Motion—Preliminary. 269
Névé and Glacier; First Measurements; Hugi and Agassiz; Escher's defeat on the Aletsch; Piles fixed across the Aar glacier by Agassiz in 1841; Professor Forbes invited by M. Agassiz; Forbes's first observations on the Mer de Glace in 1842; motion of Agassiz's piles measured by M. Wild; Centre of the glacier moves quickest; State of the Question
10.—Motion of the Mer de Glace.275
The Theodolite; mode of measurement; first line; Centre Point not the quickest; second line; former result confirmed; Law of Motion sought; the glacier moves through a Sinuous Valley; effect of Flexure; Western half of glacier moves quickest; Point of Maximum Motion crosses axis; Eastern half moves quickest; Locus of Point of Maximum Motion; New Law; Motion of the Géant; motion of the Léchaud; Squeezing of the Tributaries through the Neck of the valley at Trélaporte; the Léchaud a Driblet
11.—Ice Wall at the Tacul—Velocities of Top and Bottom.289
First attempt by Mr. Hirst; second attempt, stakes fixed at Top, Bottom, and Centre; dense fog; the stakes lost; process repeated; Velocities determined
12.—Winter Motion of the Mer de Glace. 294
First line, Above the Montanvert; second line, Below the Montanvert; Ratio of winter to summer motion
13.—Cause of Glacier Motion—De Saussure's Theory. 296
First attempt at a Theory by Scheuchzer in 1705; Charpentier's theory, or the Theory of Dilatation; Agassiz's theory; Altmann and Grüner; theory of De Saussure, or the Sliding Theory; in part true; strained interpretation of this theory
Character of Rendu; his Essay entitled 'Théorie des Glaciers de la Savoie;' extracts from the essay; he ascribes "circulation" to natural forces; classifies glaciers; assigns the cause of the conversion of snow into ice; notices Veined Structure; "time and affinity;" notices Regelation; diminution of glaciers réservoirs; Remarkable Passage; announces Swifter Motion of Centre; North British Review; Discrepancies explained by Rendu; Liquid Motion ascribed to glacier; all the phenomena of a River reproduced upon the Mer de Glace; Ratio of Side and Central velocities; Errors removed
15. 308
Anticipations of Rendu confirmed by Agassiz and Forbes; analogies with Liquid Motion established by Forbes; his Measurements in 1842; measurements in 1844 and 1846; Measurements of Agassiz and Wild in 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1845; Agassiz notices the "migration" of the Point of Swiftest Motion; true meaning of this observation; Summary of contributions on this part of the question
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