Conversations on Natural Philosophy, in which the Elements of that Science are Familiarly Explained Part 36

CONVERSATION XIII.

ON WIND AND SOUND.

OF WIND IN GENERAL. OF THE TRADE-WIND. OF THE PERIODICAL TRADE-WINDS. OF THE AERIAL TIDES. OF SOUNDS IN GENERAL. OF SONOROUS BODIES. OF MUSICAL SOUNDS. OF CONCORD OR HARMONY, AND MELODY.

MRS. B.

Well, Caroline, have you ascertained what kind of pump you have in your garden?

_Caroline._ I think it must be merely a lifting pump, because no more force is required to raise the handle than is necessary to lift its weight; and as in a forcing pump, by raising the handle, you force the water into the smaller pipe, the resistance the water offers, must require an exertion of strength, to overcome it.

_Mrs. B._ I make no doubt you are right; for lifting pumps, being simple in their construction, are by far the most common.

I have promised to-day to give you some account of the nature of wind.

Wind is nothing more than the motion of a stream, or current of air, generally produced by a partial change of temperature in the atmosphere; for when any one part is more heated than the rest, that part is rarefied, the air in consequence rises, and the equilibrium is destroyed. When this happens, there necessarily follows a motion of the surrounding air towards that part, in order to restore it; this spot, therefore, receives winds from every quarter. Those who live to the north of it, experience a north wind; those to the south, a south wind:--do you comprehend this?

_Caroline._ Perfectly. But what sort of weather must those people have, who live on the spot, where these winds meet and interfere?

_Mrs. B._ They have most commonly turbulent and boisterous weather, whirlwinds, hurricanes, rain, lightning, thunder, &c. This stormy weather occurs most frequently in the torrid zone, where the heat is greatest: the air being more rarefied there, than in any other part of the globe, is lighter, and consequently, ascends; whilst the air from the north and south, is continually flowing in, to restore the equilibrium.

_Caroline._ This motion of the air, would produce a regular and constant north wind, to the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere; and a south wind, to those of the southern hemisphere, and continual storms at the equator, where these two adverse winds would meet.

_Mrs. B._ These winds do not meet, for they each change their direction before they reach the equator. The sun, in moving over the equatorial regions from east to west, rarefies the air as it pa.s.ses, and causes the denser eastern air to flow westwards, in order to restore the equilibrium, thus producing a regular east wind, about the equator.

_Caroline._ The air from the west, then, constantly goes to meet the sun, and repair the disturbance which his beams have produced in the equilibrium of the atmosphere. But I wonder how you will reconcile these various winds, Mrs. B.; you first led me to suppose there was a constant struggle between opposite winds at the equator, producing storm and tempest; but now I hear of one regular invariable wind, which must naturally be attended by calm weather.

_Emily._ I think I comprehend it: do not these winds from the north and south, combine with the easterly wind about the equator, and form, what are called, the trade-winds?

_Mrs. B._ Just so, my dear. The composition of the two winds, north and east, produces a constant north-east wind; and that of the two winds, south and east, produces a regular south-east wind; these winds extend to about thirty degrees on each side of the equator, the regions further distant from it, experiencing only their respective northerly and southerly winds.

_Caroline._ But, Mrs. B., if the air is constantly flowing from the poles, to the torrid zone, there must be a deficiency of air, in the polar regions?

_Mrs. B._ The light air about the equator, which expands, and rises into the upper regions of the atmosphere, ultimately flows from thence, back to the poles, to restore the equilibrium: if it were not for this resource, the polar, atmospheric regions, would soon be exhausted by the stream of air, which, in the lower strata of the atmosphere, they are constantly sending towards the equator.

_Caroline._ There is then a sort of circulation of air in the atmosphere; the air in the lower strata, flowing from the poles towards the equator, and in the upper strata, flowing back from the equator, towards the poles.

_Mrs. B._ Exactly; I can show you an example of this circulation, on a smaller scale. The air of this room, being more rarefied, than the external air, a wind or current of air is pouring in from the crevices of the windows and doors, to restore the equilibrium; but the light air, with which the room is filled, must find some vent, in order to make way for the heavy air that enters. If you set the door a-jar, and hold a candle near the upper part of it, you will find that the flame will be blown outwards, showing that there is a current of air flowing out from the upper part of the room.--Now place the candle on the floor, close by the door, and you will perceive, by the inclination of the flame, that there is also a current of air, setting into the room.

_Caroline._ It is just so; the upper current is the warm light air, which is driven out to make way for the stream of cold dense air, which enters the room lower down.

_Mrs. B._ Besides the general, or trade-winds, there are others, which are called periodical, because they blow in contrary directions, at particular periods.

_Emily._ I have heard, Mrs. B., that the periodical winds, called, in the torrid zone, the sea and land breezes, blow towards the land, in the day time, and towards the sea, at night: what is the reason of that?

_Mrs. B._ The land reflects into the atmosphere, a much greater quant.i.ty of the sun's rays, than the water; therefore, that part of the atmosphere which is over the land, is more heated and rarefied, than that which is over the sea: this occasions the wind to set in upon the land, as we find that it regularly does on the coast of Guinea, and other countries in the torrid zone. There, they have only the sea breeze, but on the islands, they have, in general, both a land and sea breeze, the latter being produced in the way described; whilst at night, during the absence of the sun, the earth cools, and the air is consequently condensed, and flows from the land, towards the sea, occasioning the land breeze.

_Emily._ I have heard much of the violent tempests, occasioned by the breaking up of the monsoons; are not they also regular trade-winds?

_Mrs. B._ They are called periodical trade-winds, as they change their course every half year. This variation is produced by the earth's annual course round the sun; the north pole being inclined towards that luminary one half of the year, the south pole, the other half. During the summer of the northern hemisphere, the countries of Arabia, Persia, India, and China, are much heated, and reflect great quant.i.ties of the sun's rays into the atmosphere, by which it becomes extremely rarefied, and the equilibrium consequently destroyed. In order to restore it, the air from the equatorial southern regions, where it is colder, (as well as from the colder northern parts,) must necessarily have a motion towards those parts. The current of air from the equatorial regions, produces the trade-winds for the first six months, in all the seas between the heated continent of Asia, and the equator. The other six months, when it is summer in the southern hemisphere, the ocean and countries towards the southern tropic are most heated, and the air over those parts, more rarefied: then the air about the equator alters its course, and flows exactly in an opposite direction.

_Caroline._ This explanation of the monsoons is very curious; but what does their breaking up mean?

_Mrs. B._ It is the name given by sailors to the s.h.i.+fting of the periodical winds; they do not change their course suddenly, but by degrees, as the sun moves from one hemisphere, to the other: this change is usually attended by storms and hurricanes, very dangerous for s.h.i.+pping; so that those seas are seldom navigated at the season of the equinoxes.

_Emily._ I think I understand the winds in the torrid zone perfectly well; but what is it that occasions the great variety of winds, which occur in the temperate zones? for, according to your theory, there should be only north and south winds, in those climates.

_Mrs. B._ Since so large a portion of the atmosphere, as is over the torrid zone, is in continued agitation, these agitations in an elastic fluid, which yields to the slightest impression, must extend every way, to a great distance; the air, therefore, in all climates, will suffer more or less perturbation, according to the situation of the country, the position of mountains, valleys, and a variety of other causes: hence it is easy to conceive, that almost every climate, must be liable to variable winds; this is particularly the case in high lat.i.tudes, where the earth is less powerfully affected by the sun's rays, than near the equator.

_Caroline._ I have observed, that the wind, whichever way it blows, almost always falls about sun-set.

_Mrs. B._ Because the rarefaction of air in the particular spot which produces the wind, diminishes as the sun declines, and consequently the velocity of the wind, abates.

_Emily._ Since the air is a gravitating fluid, is it not affected by the attraction of the moon and the sun, in the same manner as the waters?

_Mrs. B._ Undoubtedly; but the aerial tides are as much greater than those of water, as the density of water exceeds that of air, which, as you may recollect, we found to be about 800 to 1.

_Caroline._ What a prodigious protuberance that must occasion! How much the weight of such a column of air, must raise the mercury in the barometer!

_Emily._ As this enormous tide of air is drawn up and supported, as it were, by the moon, its weight and pressure, I should suppose, would be rather diminished than increased?

_Mrs. B._ The weight of the atmosphere is neither increased nor diminished by the aerial tides. The moon's attraction augments the bulk, as much as it diminishes the weight, of the column of air; these effects, therefore, counterbalancing each other, the aerial tides do not affect the barometer.

_Caroline._ I do not quite understand that.

_Mrs. B._ Let us suppose that the additional bulk of air at high tide, raises the barometer one inch; and on the other hand, that the support which the moon's attraction affords the air, diminishes its weight or pressure, so as to occasion the mercury to fall one inch; under these circ.u.mstances the mercury must remain stationary. Thus, you see, that we can never be sensible of aerial tides by the barometer, on account of the equality of pressure of the atmosphere, whatever be its height.

The existence of aerial tides is not, however, hypothetical; it is proved by the effect they produce on the apparent position of the heavenly bodies; but this I cannot explain to you, till you understand the properties of light.

_Emily._ And when shall we learn them?

_Mrs. B._ I shall first explain to you the nature of sound, which is intimately connected with that of air; and I think at our next meeting, we may enter upon the subject of optics.

We have now considered the effects produced by the wide, and extended agitation, of the air; but there is another kind of agitation, of which the air is susceptible--a vibratory trembling motion, which, striking on the drum of the ear, produces _sound_.

_Caroline._ Is not sound produced by solid bodies? The voice of animals, the ringing of bells, the music of instruments, all proceed from solid bodies. I know of no sound but that of the wind, which is produced by the air.

_Mrs. B._ Sound, I a.s.sure you, results from a tremulous motion of the air; and the sonorous bodies you enumerate, are merely the instruments by which that peculiar species of motion, is communicated to the air.

_Caroline._ What! when I ring this little bell, is it the air that sounds, and not the bell?

_Mrs. B._ Both the bell, and the air, are concerned in the production of sound. But sound, strictly speaking, is a perception excited in the mind, by the motion of the air, on the nerves of the ear; the air, therefore, as well as the sonorous bodies which put it in motion, is only the cause of sound, the immediate effect is produced by the sense of hearing: for without this sense, there would be no sound.

_Emily._ I can with difficulty conceive that. A person born deaf, it is true, has no idea of sound, because he hears none; yet that does not prevent the real existence of sound, as all those who are not deaf, can testify.

_Mrs. B._ I do not doubt the existence of sound, to all those who possess the sense of hearing; but it exists neither in the sonorous body, nor in the air, but in the mind of the person whose ear is struck, by the vibratory motion of the air, produced by a sonorous body. Sound, therefore, is a sensation, produced in a living body; life, is as necessary to its existence, as it is to that of feeling or seeing.

To convince you that sound does not exist in sonorous bodies, but that air or some other vehicle, is necessary to its production, endeavour to ring the little bell, after I have suspended it under a receiver in the air pump, from which I shall exhaust the air....