A NEW TREATISE ON THE USE OF THE GLOBES; OR, A PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF THE EARTH AND HEAVENS: COMPREHENDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIGURE, MAGNITUDE, AND MOTION OF THE EARTH; WITH OF METEOROLOGY AND ASTRONOMY. PRECEDED BY AN EXTENSIVE SELECTION OF ASTRONOMICAL AND OTHER DEFINITIONS; QUESTIONS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE STUDENT, ETC. ETC. Designed for the Enstruction of Youth. BY THOMAS KEITH. A NEW EDITION, GREATLY ENLARGED AND IMPROved. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, PREFACE. IN preparing for the press the present edition of Mr. Keith's popular Treatise on the Use of the Globes, the editors, without departing from the plan of the author, have found it necessary to make numerous additions and alterations. Those parts of the original treatise which were behind the present state of science, have been so revised as to present to the reader a brief, but, it is hoped, an intelligible outline of the important discoveries recently made in ASTRONOMY and PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY; while the copious additions, either in the form of notes or of distinct chapters, supply the omissions which rendered the original treatise defective as a book of instruction and general information. The Astronomical Definitions and Geographical Theorems, contained in the first chapter, have been retained in the form in which they were originally drawn up by the author; and to the third, fourth, and fifth chapters, it has been considered necessary to add only full explanatory notes. The second chapter, with the exception of that portion which relates to the Laws of Motion, as well as the remaining chapters of the FIRST PART, have been almost entirely re-written. The fifth chapter will be found to contain a sketch of the present state of Hydrographical Science, including a notice of the researches of Sir James Clark Ross, in his late Antarctic expedition. The seventh refers to the natural changes on the surface of the earth, comprising a description of mountains, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and thermal springs; the eighth gives an account of the Atmosphere, including storms and winds; the ninth treats of Meteorology; and the tenth, of Climate, and the circumstances which modify it. The SECOND PART of the work, which treats of the elementary principles of Astronomy, has been entirely re-written, although the original arrangement has been preserved as closely as possible, consistently with the necessary alterations. The fourth chapter, which is almost entirely new, contains an account of the later discoveries in Sidereal Astronomy. In the chapter on the Solar System, in which great alterations have been made, an account is given of the planet Neptune, and the recently discovered asteroids, as well as a view of the various theories of astronomers respecting the Solar System. In the sixth chapter a full history and explanation of the Gregorian calendar is for the first time introduced. Numerous other alterations and additions will be found on reference to the work itself. The THIRD PART, or that containing the Problems performed by the Globes, has undergone a complete revision. Some of the rules which were deemed too verbose have been pruned of their redundancies, and a more concise and clear style of expression generally adopted; while in several an improved method of working the problems has been introduced. Upwards of four hundred questions have been added to the present edition. These additional questions, which will be found distributed under the various rules, have been selected with great care and discrimination, and will, it is hoped, remove any objection that might have been raised against the insufficiency of examples contained in the work, especially in schools. There have likewise been added tables of the sun's declination, and the fixed stars mentioned in the problems containing their names, the constellations they belong to, with their right ascension and declination. These, it is thought, will greatly assist young persons in working the problems on the celestial globe.. In giving to this treatise a much more extended character, and in entering more fully than hitherto into the subject of Physical Geography, the editors believe that the present edition will be found not only better adapted for the purposes of instruction in the hands of a teacher, but at the same time more useful and interesting to the pupil. New Plates have been added to the work, and improvements made in the old ones. The First Part of the present edition has been revised by Alfred S. Taylor, F. R. S., Lecturer on Chemistry, &c. in Guy's Hospital. The Second Part by R. A. Le Mesurier, B.A., Scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The Third Part by J. Middleton, Professor of Astronomy, Kensington. March, 1848. |