So ESSAYS AND OBSERVATIONS 



Art. IV. 

 On "Evaporation^ by the fame. 



/^ F the various natural operations 

 ^^-^ known to us, not one appears in 

 itfelf- more wonderful, nor in its effeds 

 more falutary and extenfive, than the cir- 

 culation of moifture. What can be more 

 wonderful, than to find fuch a mafs of 

 water fufpended in air, a body eight hun- 

 dred times lighter than water! And 

 what effedii, proceeding from any one 

 caufe, are more falutary and extenfive, 

 than the defcent of this water in rain, 

 dew, fnow, 8cc. forming fprings and ri- 

 vers, and impregnating the earth with 

 moifture, to produce food for plants and 

 animals ? 



To account for this extraordinary phe- 

 nomenon, having been attempted by ma- 

 ny philofophers, the purpofe of the pre- 



fent 



