296 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP, 
spire against it. Sun and Frost, Heat and 
Cold, Air and Water, Ice and Snow, every 
plant, from the Lichen to the Oak, and. every 
animal, from the Worm to Man himself, com- 
bine to attack it. Water, however, is the 
most powerful agent ofall. The autumn rains 
saturate every pore and cranny; the water as 
it freezes cracks and splits the hardest rocks ; 
while the spring sun melts the snow and swells 
the rivers, which in their turn carry off the 
debris to the plains. 
Perhaps, however, it would after all be more 
correct to say that Nature, like some great 
artist, carves the shapeless block into form, ane 
endows the rude mass with life and beauty. 
“What more,” said Hutton long ago, “is 
required to explain the configuration of our 
mountains and valleys? Nothing but time. 
It is not any part of the process that will be 
disputed ; but, after allowing all the parts, the 
whole will be denied; and for what? Only. 
because we are not disposed to allow thas 
quantity of time which the absolution of so 
much wasted mountain might require.” 
The tops of the Swiss mountains stand, 
