34 OP WATER. 



The third cause is distance from the sea. Nearness 

 to the sea has a tendency to moderate the cold of winter 

 and the heat of summer ; and islands in the ocean have 

 usually a more equable climate than any part of a con 

 tinent. 



Another cause, particularly affecting the ripening of 

 fruits, is the brightness of the sun, from the clearness of 

 the atmosphere. The heat of clear, uninterrupted sun 

 shine ripens fruit more rapidly and develops the sweet and 

 rich juices more effectually than the same amount of heat 

 under a cloudy sky. 



104. Some of the particular and local causes are the 

 condition of the surface of a country, whether it is 

 covered with woods, or bare, situated on the mountains, 

 on a plain, on the side of a river, or at the bottom of 

 a valley, protected against the prevailing cold or hot 

 winds, or exposed to them ; and the nature of the soil, 

 its inclination, and its exposure to the south or north, to 

 much or to little sunshine. 



CHAPTER V. 



OF WATER. 



105. Though it seems so simple and pure, yet water is, 

 as has already been said, a compound of the two ele 

 mentary substances, oxygen and hydrogen. As it is of 

 vital importance, in the economy of nature, it is found in 

 the greatest abundance, filling lakes and seas and oceans. 



