r 86 ] 



fi'om the clouds ; and the clouds, whence did they arise ? These 

 masses of vapour were creatures of the earth, born of the land, the 

 rivers, and seas. They could not follow them iu the passage from 

 earth to sky, for steam was invisible. By means of heat 

 water became an invisible gas. It issued thus from the tea- 

 kettle, or the chimney, or the locomotive engine. But, at a 

 short space from its source, it was condensed by the colder 

 ail', and they had the dust of water as Tyndall called 

 it, which was somewhat incorrectly termed " steam." It 

 was the heat of the sun which caused the water of the earth to 

 pass into this invisible gaseous form. By reason of its lightness 

 it rose thi'ough the heavier air till it condensed into clouds. 

 The canopy of clouds that so often hung above might not be very 

 high. It was his privilege once, during an ascent of Mont Blanc, to 

 be above the clouds, and to see the sun rise on the other side of 

 them. Even there, the ubiquitous photographer had been. But 

 the scene, beautiful as it was, could not give them all the glories of 

 the i-eality. A sea of vapour threw its fleecy waves around the 

 rocks at his feet. Far as the eye could reach it stretched its 

 flocculent billows, and the great black peaks of the surrounding 

 mountains were set as islands in its midst. The sun, gradually 

 climbing above the horizon, flooded by degrees the depths of its 

 ghost-like waves with mystic light, and edged their crests with 

 silver. But this mass of vapour, if at a gi-eater elevation, would not 

 fall in rain, but would be congealed to snow. 



They had seen lately those white flakes of frozen vapour 

 coming down in multitudes. How many of them dreamed, 

 as they fell around, of the beauty of their geometry? Here 

 were examples of some of the " snow flowers ; " they would 

 observe that each one had six petals, and though the forms 

 were so various, the number was invariable. In Brighton 

 the snow did not last long, for the heat soon converted it 

 into liquid, and as such it found its way into the sea. But on the 

 summits of the Alps it was not so ; there the cold was too great. 

 Not all the snow that fell was melted, only a portion. Were it to 

 be piled up from year to year, in a century the Alps would have 

 nearly 4,000 feet of snow on them. But they would see, by the view 

 of Monte Rosa, that the great stormy peaks still cropped up above 

 them. What became of it then ? It slid down the sides of the 



