. The Annual of scientific discovery: or, Year-book of facts in science and art. Industrial arts -- Yearbooks; Science -- Yearbooks. 350 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. Boussingault, during the winter of 1841-2, found that a thermom- eter plunged in snow to the depth of a decimeter (about 4 inches) sometimes marked 9° of heat greater than at the surface. Meteoric Theory. — Sir John Herschel has recently advanced the theory, not wholly new, but never before supported by well-known facts, that meteoric showers are simply the light caused by the collision of the earth's atmosphere with the tenuou
. The Annual of scientific discovery: or, Year-book of facts in science and art. Industrial arts -- Yearbooks; Science -- Yearbooks. 350 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT. Boussingault, during the winter of 1841-2, found that a thermom- eter plunged in snow to the depth of a decimeter (about 4 inches) sometimes marked 9° of heat greater than at the surface. Meteoric Theory. — Sir John Herschel has recently advanced the theory, not wholly new, but never before supported by well-known facts, that meteoric showers are simply the light caused by the collision of the earth's atmosphere with the tenuous substance of a comet. Prof, Adams, who shared with Leverrier the credit of discovering the planet Neptune, accepts this theory. Those who have read Prof. Tyndall's work on heat may find in this theory an additional reason to accept the learned writer's hj'pothesis as to the orio;in of the sun's light and heat. Color of the Clouds. — The varied colors which the clouds assume at various times, especially at sunrise and sunset, are explained on the principle that the clear, transparent vapor of water absorbs more of the red rays of light than of any other, while the lower strata of the atmosphere offer more resistance to the passage of the blue rays. At sunrise and sunset the light of the sun has to pass though about 200 miles of atmosphere within a mile of the surface of the earth in order to illuminate a cloud a mile from the ground. In passing through this great thickness the jjlue rays are absorbed to a far greater extent than the red, and much of the yellow is also removed. Hence clouds thus illuminated are red. When the sun is higher above the horizon, the yellow light passes more readily, and the clouds become orange, then yellow, and finally white. Clouds in different parts of the sky, or at different elevations, often sliow these various colors at the same time. Determining the Colors of the Stars. —To the astronomer this is a subject of much interest, and differ
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