58 Oil the Terrestrial Arrangements connected with 



of their native clime. Birds, the most nimble of all ani- 

 mals, are by nature allowed the most extensive range. The 

 birds of passage — as swallows — too delicate for the severity of 

 our winters, leave us in autumn, in search of warmer countries. 

 Reptiles — as toads, lizards, serpents, &c. — not provided with 

 the means of escape, hide themselves in the bosom of the 

 earth, to protect themselves from the winter's cold. The in- 

 sects, which in summer swarm about in such abundance, perish 

 at the commencement of winter, but their eggs and larvae are 

 preserved for the propagation of their species. How very dif- 

 ferent from this is the life of fish, allowed to traverse their 

 native element at a depth where they may always enjoy the 

 same uniform temperature. 



Suppose, now, that the creation of water had been left to 

 ourselves — short-sighted beings as we are — with what properties 

 would we have endowed it ? It would never have occurred to 

 us, in the case of the contraction of water, to deviate from the 

 general law with regard to the contraction of bodies. Like 

 other fluids, we would have made it to contract as far as the 

 freezing point. What would have been the consequence \ In 

 one severe winter the beautiful lakes of the Alps, and of other 

 countries visited by frost, would have been frozen to the bot- 

 tom. The fish, and every other creature in them, would have 

 died — a whole creation v/ould have perished. Nothing is 

 plainer than this. 



It is evident that lakes, no deeper than the Rhine, will re- 

 quire the same time for cooling down to 32° Fah. The tempera- 

 ture of that river sinks to 32° Fah. a few days after the com- 

 mencement of frost, when shoals of ice are seen to float about. 

 For a series of winters I have been in the habit of examining the 

 temperatui'e of the Rhine at the time of incipient frost, when 

 I have invariably found that the thermometer, although it stood 

 several degrees above 32° Fah., fell to the freezing point upon 

 the weather continuing severe for three days. You may make 

 the same observation, with less inconvenience to yourselves, 

 if you watch the Rhine from your windows. Mark the day 

 when the first ice is seen on the streets. On that day you will 

 never perceive any ice floating on the Rhine. This will, how- 

 ever, be the case after a few days of sudden and intense frost. 



