342 Dr. LeConte on a remarkable Eonidation of Ice. 



which is elevated from the soil may be unmixed with the 

 proper juices of the plants, a mixture which would interfere 

 with congelation. 



We conclude these observations with a few remarks on the 

 teleological bearing of the phsenomenon which we have been 

 considering. The laws of the effect of temperature on water 

 are so remarkable in their adaptation to the beneficial course 

 of things at the earth's surface, that they have never failed to 

 impress the student of Nature with the most profound admi- 

 ration of the wisdom and goodness of the Great Designer, 

 Among these, the infinite importance of the latency of heat in 

 the ccconomy of nature is one of the most striking. In the 

 phsenomenon which we have had under consideration in rela-* 

 tion to the protrusion of icy columns from the earth, we re- 

 cognize an extension of this law, the importance of which it is 

 scarcely possible for us to over-estimate. By an admirable 

 combination of the laws of expansion and capillary attraction, 

 a vast amount of water is brought to the surface of the soil, 

 and there disengages its latent heat in the act of congelation, 

 thereby softening the rigours of winter, and preserving the 

 roots or bulbs beneath the surface of the ground from the 

 destructive effects of cold. Even on those portions of the soil 

 where the pheenomenon does not manifest itself in the pro- 

 trusion of columns of ice, it is extremely probable that the 

 same law operates to a more limited extent. This seems to 

 be proved by a fact, which must have come under the obser- 

 vation of every one ; namely, that the amount of moisture 

 found at the surface of the ground after a thaw is vastly greater 

 than was present before congelation took place. This is the 

 case, under circumstances Avhich are incompatible with the 

 idea of the deposition of dew ; the water must therefore have 

 been elevated from the depths of the earth. The philosopher 

 who loves to dwell on causes and effects, and to trace the deep 

 processes of thought by which the great purposes of nature 

 have been revealed, both in the heavens above and in the 

 physical condition of the earth on which he treads, will be 

 gratified to discover in every portion of the universe those 

 prospective arrangements, compensations, minute adaptations, 

 and comprehensive inter-dependencies, which characterize the 

 works of an omniscient Architect. 



Athens, Georgia, Feb, 26, 1860. 



