I.

Enveloping[2] this solid globe of ours are two oceans, one[3] partial, and the other universal. _There is_ the[4] ocean of water, which has[5] settled down into all _the_ depressions[6] of the earth’s surface[7], leaving[8] dry above it all the high lands, as mountain-ranges, continents, and islands; and[9] _there is_ an ocean of air, which enwraps[10] the whole in one transparent mantle.

Through[11] the bosom of that ocean, like fishes with their fins (App. § 14), birds[12] and other winged creatures swim; whilst man[13] and other mammalia creep like[14] crabs at the bottom of this aerial sea[15].

[1] +Das Luftmeer.+

[2] Say ‘Two oceans envelop (+umgeben+) our solid globe (+Erdkugel+).

[3] the one partial (+teilweise+) and the other universal (+ganz+). The subsequent sentence is best introduced by a colon (:), which we use to direct attention to what is following. The words ‘_There is_’ must then be omitted.

[4] +das Weltmeer.+

[5] ‘which — all’, say ‘which fills (+erfüllen+) all’.

[6] +Vertiefung+, f.

[7] To render ‘of the earth’s surface’, form a compound noun by combining the corresponding German terms of the nouns ‘earth’ and ‘surface’.

_A._ When the component parts of =Compound Nouns= are substantives, we combine them often without any connecting link; as—+das Lasttier+, beast of burden; +das Stadtviertel+, the quarter of a town, ward.

_B._ Neither do we require a connecting link for the formation of =Compound Nouns= the first component of which is an adjective or a particle; as—+die Großmutter+, grandmother; +das Unglück+, misfortune; +der Urquell+, fountain-head.

_C._ The =Gender of Compound Nouns= (with the exception of a few compounds with +Mut+, m.) is determined by the last component, which is always a noun.

[8] ‘leaving — islands’. This passage may be rendered thus: ‘so that all _the_ high lands (+Erhöhungen+), as (+wie+) mountain-ranges, etc. ... rise dry above the same; to rise, +sich erheben+.

[9] +und das Luftmeer.+

[10] +umhül´len+; say ‘the whole globe’ (+Kugel+, f.); ‘in’, here +mit+.

[11] In this ocean of air.

[12] Since the four subsequent nouns in this passage represent a whole class, the def. art. is required before each (S. 3, N. 2).

[13] Use this noun in the plural, since the noun with which it is connected by the conj. ‘and’ stands in the same number.

[14] +gleich Krebsen+; to creep, +umher kriechen+. The word ‘whilst’ being a subordinative conj., the verb must be placed?

[15] +Luftmeer+.

_Section 37._

THE AIR-OCEAN.