The volume of “CURIOSITIES” which I here present to your notice is a
portion of the result of a long course of reading, observation, and
research, necessary for the compilation of thirty volumes of “Arcana
of Science” and “Year-Book of Facts,” published from 1828 to 1858.
Throughout this period--nearly half of the Psalmist’s “days of our
years”--I have been blessed with health and strength to produce these
volumes, year by year (with one exception), upon the appointed day; and
this with unbroken attention to periodical duties, frequently rendered
harassing or ungenial. Nevertheless, during these three decades I
have found my account in the increasing approbation of the reading
public, which has been so largely extended to the series of “THINGS
NOT GENERALLY KNOWN,” of which the present volume of “CURIOSITIES OF
SCIENCE” is an instalment. I need scarcely add, that in its progressive
preparation I have endeavoured to compare, weigh, and consider,
the contents, so as to combine the experience of the Past with the
advantages of the Present.
In these days of universal attainments, when Science becomes not
merely a luxury to the rich, but bread to the poor, and when the
very amusements as well as the conveniences of life have taken a
scientific colour, it is reasonable to hope that the present volume
may be acceptable to a large class of seekers after “things not
generally known.” For this purpose, I have aimed at soundness as well
as popularity; although, for myself, I can claim little beyond being
one of those industrious “ants of science” who garner facts, and by
selection and comparison adapt them for a wider circle of readers
than they were originally expected to reach. In each case, as far as
possible, these “CURIOSITIES” bear the mint-mark of authority; and in
the living list are prominent the names of Humboldt and Herschel, Airy
and Whewell, Faraday, Brewster, Owen, and Agassiz, Maury, Wheatstone,
and Hunt, from whose writings and researches the following pages are
frequently enriched.
The sciences here illustrated are, in the main, Astronomy and
Meteorology; Geology and Paleontology; Physical Geography; Sound,
Light, and Heat; Magnetism and Electricity,--the latter with special
attention to the great marvel of our times, the Electro-magnetic
Telegraph. I hope, at no very distant period, to extend the
“CURIOSITIES” to another volume, to include branches of Natural and
Experimental Science which are not here presented.
I. T.
_November 1858._