THE WATERS OF THE AIR. 269 



and swallow up the earth." We might say 

 rather, in the words of an old poet of nature,* 

 that 



" The earth waxeth proud withal 

 For sweet dews that on it fall." 



In all the various forms assumed by this 

 beautifully-constituted fluid, as dew, mist, rain, 

 hail, and snow, we are presented with remark- 

 able illustrations of the importance of such an 

 ingredient in our air, and of the wisdom of 

 that great and glorious Being who employs 

 the simplest means to accomplish the greatest 

 amount and variety of beneficial results. No 

 one questions the fact, that the rivers, lakes, 

 seas, and oceans, are the great reservoirs of 

 water for the use of the globe ; but few re- 

 member that not only is the atmosphere a re- 

 servoir of water also, but that it ie the chief 

 medium through which, on the large scale, the 

 contents of- the rivers and seas become available 

 for the necessities of the land. Such is, how- 

 ever, perhaps as important a function of the air 

 as any that has been assigned to it ; an office, 

 the cessation of which would render the earth 

 waterless, would dry up our rivers, and confine 

 both animal and vegetable life to the immediate 

 vicinity of the sea-shore. 



We can easily prove the existence of water 

 * Chaucer. 



