equator, and probably at the poles also. At all events, they are rare in lat. 80°, and, according to Capt. Scoresby, storms are there frequently raging to the south, while above, there is clear sky and fine weather, with a stiff breeze from the northward. The greater violence of storms in those regions where the magnetic intensity is greater in the same latitude, the probable connection of peculiarities in the electric state of the atmosphere with earthquakes, and the indications of the latter afforded by the magnet; the preponderance of westerly winds at a great elevation in every latitude on the globe visited by man; and the frequent superposition of warm layers of air above cold ones at those elevations, are all facts worthy of note. And the connection of cirrus clouds with storms, as well as with the aurora, indicates that the producing cause is external to the atmosphere, and gradually penetrates below. The theory fully explains this, and is confirmed by the fantastic wreathings and rapid formation of these clouds in straight lines of a hundred miles and upwards. But time would fail us in pointing out a tithe of the phenomena, traceable to the same cause, which keeps our atmosphere in a perpetual state of change, and we shall only advert to one more peculiarity of the theory. It places meteorology on a mathematical basis, and explains why it is that a storm may be raging at one place, while in another, not very remote, the weather may be fine, and yet be dependent on the position of the moon. That the moon has exerted an influence on the weather has been the popular creed from time immemorial; but, ignorant of the mode in which this influence was exerted, men have often been found who have fostered the popular belief for their own vanity or advantage; and, on the other hand, philosophers have assailed it more by ridicule than by argument, as a relic of a barbarian age. Not so with all; for we believe we are not wrong in stating, that the celebrated Olbers compared the moon's positions with the weather for fifty years, before he gave his verdict against it. He found the average amount of rain at the perigee about equal to the amount at the apogee, as much at the full as at the change, and no difference at the quadratures. But this fact does not throw a feather in the scale by which this theory is weighed. Popular opinions, of remote origin, have almost always some foundation in fact, and it is not much more wise to reject them, than to receive them. The Baron Von Humboldt--a man possessing that rare ingredient of learning, a practical common sense--observes: "That arrogant spirit of incredulity which rejects facts, without attempting to investigate them, is, in some cases, more injurious than an unquestioning credulity."[22] If a popular belief or prejudice be absurd, its traditional preservation for a thousand years or more may very well account for the absurdity.