The Mighty Deep 



perfectly free from earth ; and on all this space 

 not a blade of grass to be seen." 



The same task is carried on by the working 

 of sun-heat, as by the fire under a kettle. All 

 day long in a warm climate the sun's rays are 

 busily at work, lifting from the ocean-surface 

 a continuous stream of fine invisible vapour. 

 The water is drawn up particle by particle, not 

 in masses ; and the sun's rays have no power 

 to lift the ocean-salt, which remains behind, 

 floating still in the sea. 



But when a strong wind lashes the surface into 

 waves, and rends the tops of billows into fine 

 spray, it often carries a great deal of salt to 

 a distance. We know how salt may be tasted 

 on the lips miles inland, and how windows near 

 the coast become encrusted with it in stormy 

 weather. Moving air, like moving water, can 

 carry weight ; and it is thus, through the action 

 of moving air, and not through the heat of the 

 sun, that we have our health-giving breezes off 

 the sea, laden with salt. 



18 



