Excerpt from Scientific Tracts, Vol. 1: Designed for Instruction and Entertainment, and Adapted to Schools, Lyceums and Families Few subjects are more important, or less under stood, than tiie atmosphere we breathe. As it surrounds the earth, and presses with great weight upon its surface, it comes in contact With everything, and bears a most interesting relation to every animal that walks upon the earth, swims in the sea, flies in the air, or creeps in the dust - to every plant that is pleasant to the sight, or good for food - and to every mineral that glitters in its bed, adorns a cabinet, or is used in the arts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.