NATURAL THEOLOGY. 199 



exhales in return the vital principle which the animal 

 wants. 



T. Such used to be the theory. But late expe- 

 riments have given rise to some different views upon 

 this subject. 



A. Agitation ivith water is one of the restoring 

 causes which the wisdom of the Creator has provided 

 to purify the air. " The foulest air shaken in a bot- 

 tle with water for a sufficient length of time, recovers 

 a great degree of its purity. Here we see the salu- 

 tary effects of storm and tempests. The yesty waves, 

 which confound the heaven and the sea, are doing 

 the very thing which is done in the bottle. Nothing 

 can be of greater importance to the living creation, 

 than the salubrity of the atmosphere. It ought to 

 reconcile us therefore to these agitations of the ele- 

 ments, of which we are apt to deplore the conse- 

 quences, to know, that they tend powerfully to restore 

 to the air that purity which many causes are continu- 

 ally impairing. 



J5. Hence I suppose that delightful sweetness and 

 freshness of the air after a shower. 



T. What are some other of the principal marks 

 of design we discover in the elements ? 



A. Without air, neither vegetable nor animal life 

 could be supported. Water could not be carried up 

 from the earth, nor supported in the form of clouds, 

 nor when descending, could be distributed in dew 

 and rain drops. Without the air to reflect the rays 

 of light, the instant we turned our back upon the sun, 

 we should be immersed in total darkness. 



