THE POETRY OF SCIENCE; OR, STUDIES OF THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE. BY ROBERT HUNT, AUTHOR OF “RESEARCHES ON LIGHT;” “ELEMENTARY PHYSICS;” “PANTHEA, OR THE SPIRIT OF NATURE,” ETC. PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS, METROPOLITAN SCHOOL OF SCIENCE, ETC., ETC. THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. LONDON: HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. MDCCCLIV. From Shakespeare to Plato--from the philosophic poet to the poetic philosopher--the transition is easy, and the road is crowded with illustrations of our present subject. * * * * * Hast thou ever raised thy mind to the consideration of EXISTENCE, in and by itself, as the mere act of existing? Hast thou ever said to thyself, thoughtfully, IT IS!--heedless, in that moment, whether it were a man before thee, or a flower, or a grain of sand,--without reference, in short, to this or that particular mode or form of existence? If thou hast, indeed, attained to this, thou wilt have felt the presence of a mystery, which must have fixed thy spirit in awe and wonder. _Coleridge._ LONDON: WILSON and OGILVY, 57, Skinner Street. PREFACE. Since 1848, when the “Poetry of Science” was first submitted to the public, two editions have been exhausted. This, were proofs required, would of itself show that there is a large circle of readers to whom the deductions of science have an unfailing interest. Beyond this, it conveys an assurance that every truth, however abstract it may appear, has a large popular value if studied in its relations to those generalities which embrace great natural phenomena. With this persuasion the third edition of the “Poetry of Science” has been extended so as to include all the important discoveries which have been made in Natural Philosophy to the end of the year 1853. It is now presented to the world in a new and cheaper form, in the hope, that, with the extension of its circulation, there may be awakened, in still larger circles, a deep and healthful interest in the sciences of which the volume treats. R. H. Edinburgh, March 7, 1854. CONTENTS. Page PREFACE. iii CONTENTS. v INTRODUCTION. ix CHAPTER I. GENERAL CONDITIONS OF MATTER.