190 OBSERVATIONS ON THE FALL OF RAIN. 
The material question is, to ascertain the quan- 
_tity of water which reaches the ground, and 
though the singular phenomenon of the decrease 
in a direct line upwards, has given rise to much 
philosophical speculation, it does not form an 
important element in the practical consideration 
of the subject, if it can be proved, that, apart 
from local influences, the same effect is not pro- 
duced by different elevations of the land. 
