88 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



and from shooting in various directions, cannot 

 lie so closely together as the minute particles of 

 water. 



" Yes," said he, " you are perfectly right a 

 proof of this is, that it requires great power to 

 compress water in the smallest degree ; while 

 the hardest ice, if pounded, may be easily forced 

 into a smaller space." 



AVe all again examined the formation of the 

 ice in the broken glasses, and I saw the pretty 

 little spicula quite distinctly we then went to 

 breakfast, leaving the bulbs to thaw quietly in 

 their cold bath. 



11 th. After the hyacinth roots were thawed 

 yesterday, they were placed in a warm room ; 

 and we had a great deal of conversation about 

 the different effects of heat and cold, according to 

 the different bodies that are exposed to them. I 

 learned that extreme heat is necessary to liquefy 

 steel, platina, or porcelain ; some metals require 

 far less, and Mrs. P. says she once bought in a 

 toy shop, some spoons made of bismuth, tin and 

 lead, which melted in a cup of hot tea. The 

 warmth of the skin is sufficient to thaw frozen 

 water. On the other hand, the degree of cold 

 requisite to render mercury solid is very great, 

 while that which forms ice is moderate. 



Among vegetables, there are many which re- 

 sist the strongest frost, and the native trees here 



