CHAPTER XVII. 



WATER AND RAIN. 



Fire not so powerful as Water. Water in granite. Herschell on Rain. 

 Rain caused by chemical action in the atmosphere. The Rain 

 guage. Rain forms in the lower atmosphere. Proctor and Kamtz 

 on the reason why. Rain shot out from clouds. Herschell on Rain 

 storms. Climate of North America changing. Egypt cultivating 

 the Palm for Rain. Forests and vegetation cause Rain. Herschell's 

 reason why, a failure. Drainage said to be bad. Chicago, St. 

 Louis, once unhealthy. Why. No large city unhealthy. No air in 

 Water. Fishes gills nsed for filtering food, not for breathing. 

 The air they need produced from digestion. Can we produce or 

 bring down Rain ? Great battles in America were followed by 

 Rain. The cause. Conclusion. 



THE subject of the present chapter, deals Avith one of the 

 most powerful agencies in nature, by the medium of which, all 

 formations, animal, vegetable, and mineral, are by turns 

 produced, dissolved and again reformed. 



Many scientific men assert that Fire is a more powerful agent 

 than Water. For dissipating and dissolving, it is so, but it does 

 not rebuild, and cannot re-produce. It has been generally con- 

 sidered that all minerals, diamonds, and precious stones, have 

 been formed from the action of fire, also granites and coal ; but 

 scientific opinion is gradually veering round to a belief in the 

 more powerful agency of water. 



