80 THE FITNESS OF THE ENVIRONMENT 



necessarily be ultimately attained in greater or 

 less degree with almost any other substance, 

 as a result of the general tendency of chemical 

 processes to reach a condition of equilibrium, 

 and it will therefore be well to turn to more 

 secure fields of inquiry. 



THERMAL PROPERTIES 



The most familiar among such are certain 

 characteristics of water which have been long 

 known, and which, as the Bridgewater Trea- 

 tises and other works on natural theology 

 testify, were formerly favorite subjects of 

 metaphysical speculation, — the thermal prop- 

 erties. These characteristics of water were 

 recognized at an early stage in the develop- 

 ment of modern science, and in many cases 

 their special importance in meteorology and 

 in other departments of the sciences of nature 

 is almost self-evident. 



A 



SPECIFIC HEAT 



First among these is the heat capacity or, 

 as it is more commonly termed, the specific 

 heat of water. This quantity has the value of 



