Chapter I: Front Matter

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Transcriber's note:

There is an error in the calculation on page 16 (in the
paragraph beginning, "Hence, it is through the movement of
the mirror that the time, which is necessary for electricity
to go through the circuit of the wire . . ."). I have left
the calculation as it was printed.

Inconsistent hyphenation has been left as printed.

POPULAR BOOKS ON NATURAL SCIENCE.

For Practical Use in Every Household, For Readers of All Classes.

by

A. BERNSTEIN.

_CONTENTS:_

THE WEIGHT OF THE EARTH--VELOCITY--NUTRITION--LIGHT
AND DISTANCE--THE WONDERS OF ASTRONOMY--METEOROLOGY--THE
FOOD PROPER FOR MAN.

New York: Chr. Schmidt, Publisher, 39 Centre Street.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by Chr. Schmidt, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York.

BERNSTEIN'S POPULAR TREATISE ON NATURAL SCIENCE.

"In primis, hominis est propria VERI inquisitio atque investigatio. Itaque cum sumus negotiis necessariis, curisque vacui, tum avemus aliquid videre, audire, ac dicere, cognitionemque rerum, aut occultarum aut admirabilium, ad bene beateque vivendum necessariam ducimus;--ex quo intelligitur, quod VERUM, simplex, sincerumqe sit, id esse naturae hominis aptissimum. Huic veri videndi cupiditati adjuncta est appetitio quaedam principatus, ut nemini parere animus bene a natura, informatus velit, nisi praecipienti, aut docenti, aut utilitatis causa juste et legitime imperanti: ex quo animi magnitudo existit, et humanarum rerum contemtio."

Cicero, de Officiis, Lib. 1. Sec. 13.

Before all other things, man is distinguished by his pursuit and investigation of TRUTH. And hence, when free from needful business and cares, we delight to see, to hear, and to communicate, and consider a knowledge of many admirable and abstruse things necessary to the good conduct and happiness of our lives: whence it is clear that whatsoever is TRUE, simple, and direct, the same is most congenial to our nature as men. Closely allied with this earnest longing to see and know the truth, is a kind of dignified and princely sentiment which forbids a mind, naturally well constituted, to submit its faculties to any but those who announce it in precept or in doctrine, or to yield obedience to any orders but such as are at once just, lawful, and founded on utility. From this source spring greatness of mind and contempt of worldly advantages and troubles.

CONTENTS.

PART I.

THE WEIGHT OF THE EARTH.

CHAPTER. PAGE.

I. How many pounds the whole earth weighs. 3

II. The attempt to weigh the earth. 5

III. Description of the experiment to weigh the earth. 8

PART II.

VELOCITY.

I. Velocities of the forces of nature. 13

II. How can the velocity of the electric current be ascertained. 15

PART III.

NUTRITION.

I. Nothing but milk. 21

II. Man the transformed food. 24

III. What strange food we eat. 26

IV. How nature prepares our food. 29

V. What becomes of the mother's milk after it has entered
the body of the child. 32

VI. How the blood becomes the vital part of the body. 35

VII. The circulation of matter. 38

VIII. Food. 41

IX. About nutrition. 44

PART IV.

LIGHT AND DISTANCE.

I. Something about illumination. 49

II. The illumination of the planets by the sun. 52

PART V.

THE WONDERS OF ASTRONOMY.

I. A wonderful discovery. 57

II. The main support of Leverrier's discovery. 60

III. The great discovery. 63