THEORY of RAIN. 5 



could be produced upon the fummer hemifphere of die globe, 

 nor perhaps ever in tropical latitudes ; evaporation would every 

 where take place, more or lefs ; the general tendency would be 

 to faturate the atmofphere with water, or fill it with vapour in 

 its greateft heat ; and the mixture of the different parts of the 

 atmofphere would only conduce to temper the faturation, with- 

 out producing any condenfation of vapour in the mean degrees 

 of heat. But when, in confequence of the declining fun, the 

 influence of the general cooling caufe mould prevail, the at- 

 mofphere would gradually become clouded, and be darkened. 

 This cloudinefs would increafe to a general diftillation of the 

 condenfed vapour j and this diftillation would be uniformly 

 continued, until the returning fummer flipuld change the ftate 

 of condenfation to that of evaporation, 



SUCH a fyftem as this, of fix months rain and fix months 

 drought, conftantly fucceeding, would not have prefented us 

 with all that variety of beautiful objects which we now behold ; 

 nor would it, like the prefent conftitution of this world, appear 

 calculated with all that wifdom of defign which we may per- 

 ceive to be in the poffibility of things ; for fuch an uniform 

 excefs of cloud and condenfation, on the one hand, and of fun- 

 ihine and evaporation, on the other, would not appear to fulfil 

 the intention of providing fuftenance and fatisfadlion, as far as 

 pomble, for every living thing ; whereas, in the actual fyftem, 

 now under contemplation, while both the extremes of drought 

 and of wetnefs are fo wifely avoided, temperate drought and 

 moifture, rain and funftiine, fo beneficial to the ceconomy of 

 this world, are every where beftowed with the moft provident 

 attention, but not without a variety of different degrees ; which 

 moft evidently marks out perfection in the defign, where fuch a 

 multitude of different beings, dependent on the various tem- 

 perament of thofe oppofite elements, are to be provided with 

 the neceffary conditions for their life, for the maturity of the 

 individual, and for the continuation of the race. 



G 2 PART 



