Earth, Sea and Sky, Or, Marvels of the Universe

PREFACE.

In the preparatior. of this work, the object has been to furnish a volume which would in itself form a complete library of knowledge and entertainment. Whatever is worth knowing, whatever is of absorbing interest respecting the history, manners and customs of strange and curious people ; respecting the singular animals of pre-historic times and the marvels of natural history, including the , curiosities and unique creations of the animal kingdom, will here be found.

A natural division has been made according to the three great divisions of the universe, EARTH, SEA, AND Sky, and the result is a combination of Three Books in one Voluine.

In the first part of the work the reader is conducted through the countries and climes of the whole world. He is even led back to periods be-. fore the advent of man. The ancient world with its vast forests, remarkable deluges, strange animals and gigantic upheavals rises before him. He sees immense quadrupeds and birds, more monstrous than any of the imaginary creatures of old mythology.

Coming down to a later period the reader visits the famous countries; of the globe, climbs the mountain ranges of Asia, stands on “ Alps piled on Alps,” witnesses burning volcanoes, extinct craters, terrible avalanches : and landslides, moving glaciers, earthquakes that swallow cities with thousands of their inhabitants, the brilliant aurora painted on the northern sky, and the fatal ravages of cyclones, and tornadoes. The marvelous relics that are discovered under the microscope, together with living, creatures are computed by tens of thousands to the square inch.

The various Races of Men, their customs, forms of government and religious rites, human sacrifices and savage wars are fully described. Whatı exploits of heroism, and bravery in the face of danger and death it has cost to explore these realms and reveal their amazing secrets! As may be seen, the book abounds in strange adventures, startling situations; itr teresting anecdotes, descriptions of curious animals and the most fascinat: ing revelations in natural history.

In the second part of the volume the reader is made a voyager over the world of waters and an explorer of its wonderful depths. He sees here the vast variety of inhabitants in the briny deep, comprising innumerable species of living creatures, from the coral insect, building its singular islands, up to the huge sea-serpent, that astounding monster and object of terror.

He is shown in this World's Aquarium the lowest forms of life, fantastic shrubs, brilliant sponges, bell-shaped jelly-fishes, the hairy medusæ, the glutinous hag, the curious star-fish, the electric torpedo, the fishing frog, creatures that wear armor, the savage cuttle-fish, the pearly nautilus, the flying-fish, the voracious shark, the singing-fish and other marvelous creatures whose multitude is as the sands of the sea.

The perils of the deep, celebrated voyages and miraculous escapes, the most terrible shipwrecks, the dangers of whaling cruises and the loss of hundreds of lives, the notable feats of the diving bell and the deep seadredgings which have revealed miracles of creation in the cavernous depths of the ocean, the venturesome exploits of pearl-fishing: these and myriad other things are here placed before the reader in glowing descriptions, with elegant illustrations, the beauty and charm of which are apparent on every page.

The reader finds that the volume does not end here, and that he has more worlds to conquer. He has yet to survey the starry universe and stand in awe before the abysses of infinite space, and be dazzled by the armies of light that sweep over the celestial plains. He gazes at Arcturus, Orion and the Pleiades ; at clusters of nebulæ which are found to comprise countless orbs; at gigantic Suns, so distant that they are called fixed stars, arrayed, as the astronomer's telescope assures us, in all the gorgeous colors of the rainbow ; at Constellations which must have been old when man was young, and at fleets of myriad orbs sailing in the upper deep, led by the Lords and High Admirals of Creation. He beholds showers of falling meteors, and the amazing flight of comets, “ those emblazoned Aags of Deity."

Old astrology is likewise scanned, and ar.cient Superstitions and Grotesque Beliefs are described, together with Eclipses, Coronas, Auroras and all Celestial Phenomena.

Книги