Rotation. The motion of a body round an axis. Sauri or Saurians. Reptiles of the lizard kind, as crocodiles. Secular inequalities. Variations in the motions of the heavenly bodies, requiring many ages for their_accomplishment. Sidereal day. The time included between two consecutive transits of the same star at the same meridian. Sidereal year. The time included between two consecutive returns of the sun to the same star. Sine. The perpendicular drawn from the extremity of an arc to the diameter of a circle, c D, (fig. 5,) is the sine of the arc с в. Solstices. The points in which the sun is farthest from the equator. Solar spectrum. The colored image of the sun refracted through a prism. Space. The boundless region which contains all creation. Species of plants. Plants of the same kind. Sphere. A solid formed by the rotation of a semi-circle about its diameter. Spheroid of revolution, or Ellipsoid. A solid formed by the revolution of an ellipse about one of its axes. The spheroid will be oblate or prolate, according as the revolution is performed about the minor or major axis of the ellipse. Spheroids are sometimes irregular in their form. Spiral. A curve like a watch spring. It may be circular, like a thread wound about a round rod; or elliptical, like a thread winding about an oval stick. Stratum. A layer. Subtend. To be opposite. In fig. 5, the arc с в subtends the angle C A В. Sulphate of lime. A mineral capable of being split into thin transparent plates; it consists of 327 of lime, 46.3 of sulphuric acid, and 21 of water. Synodic revolution of the moon. The time between two consecutive new or full moons. Syzygies. The points in the moon's orbit where she is new or full. Tangent. A straight line touching a curve in one point, as T t in fig. 2. Tangential force. A force in the direction of the tangent. Time, true. Time shown by a dial, or apparent time. Time shown by ordinary clocks and Time, mean. watches. Thermo-electric currents. Streams of electricity, excited by heat. Transit. The passage of a body across the meridian of a place. Transit of Venus and Mercury. The apparent passage of these planets across the sun's disc. Trigonometrical measurements. Mensuration of the surface of the earth by a series of triangles. Tropical year. The period between the consecutive returns of the sun to the same tropic or solstice. True distance. The actual distance of a body from the sun, or of a satellite from its planet. Undulation. A wave. Undulatory theory. The mechanical principles of the motion of waves. Vapor. Steam. Variation. A periodic inequality in the motion of the moon. Variation of the compass. The deviation of the compass needle from the true north. Vertical. The direction of the plumb-line. Vertical plane. A plane passing through the plumb-line, consequently at right angles to the horizon. Vesicles. Small hollow spheres of water. Visual ray. A ray of light coming from any object to the eye. Volta-electric induction. The disposition of electric currents to produce similar currents in bodies near them capable of receiving them. INDEX. ABERRATION of light, 28 Amazons, river of the, 94 Arabian science, 87 Arago, M., 108, 172, 264 Astronomical tables, 57 - and repulsion, electrical, -, capillary, 100 Barometer, the, 104 galvanic, 237 Biot, M., 168, 269 Black, or Negro, 221 Bradley, Dr., 77 Calendar, 80 Caloric, rays independent of from all substances, 187 -combustion, 188 Catalogue of stars by Herschel, Celestial bodies now seen, 130; Centrifugal force opposed to the Chaldeans, observations by the, Chimborazo, Mount, 47 Climate, 200, 211, et seq. Conjunction of planets, dates of, 39 Connection of the physical sci- Crystal, 165 -, divisions of, 80, 86 phenomenon of, 187 Fresnel, M., 169, 171 Geology, 68 Glass, musical vibrations of, 125; Diameters of the sun and plan- prismatic phenomena, 138, 154; ets, 56 Diaphanous bodies, 180 Distances in the universe calcu- Eclipses, comparison of, 32, 36 polarization of light by, 160; -, Sir John, 117, 289, 298, 304 Herschel, Miss Caroline, 306 -of Jupiter's satellites is Horizon, its density of atmos- chronometrical, 27 Ecliptic, the, 75, 82 variation of the, 20 equator, 41, 49 medium, the, 145, 170 Eudoxus, 85 Faraday, Mr., 233, 252, 260 Figure of the earth, 41, 47, 85 Flora, reign of, 212 phere, 135 Horoscopes, accordance with as- tronomy, 85 Humboldt, Von, 98, 106, 209, 216, 269 of, 57; density, 78 Kater, Captain, 86 Fluids, properties of, 168, 172, Kepler, theory of, 10, 18, 54, 61 Forests, influence of, 206 Grange |