Abstract
THE first point referred to in this paper is the source of the vapour that condenses to form dew. A short historical sketch is given of the successive theories from time to time advanced on this point, showing how in early times dew was supposed to descend from the heavens, and then afterwards it was suggested that it rose from the earth, while Dr. Wells, who has justly been considered the great master of this subject, thought it came neither from above nor from below, but was condensed out of the air near the surface of the earth. He combated Gersten's idea that it rose from the earth, and showed that all the phenomena observed by Gersten and others which were advanced to support this theory could be equally well explained according to the theory that it was simply formed from the vapour present at the time in the air, and which had risen from the ground during the day, and concluded that if any did rise from the ground during night, the quantity must be small, but, with great caution, he adds that βhe was not acquainted with any means of determining the proportion of this part to the whole.β
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Mr. Aitken on Dew 1 . Nature 33, 256β258 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/033256c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/033256c0