﻿210 PICTORIAL MISCELLANY. 



they become water as before. But they must be in the exact pro- 

 portions 1 have named. If we take three parts of hydrogen to one 

 of oxygen, and explode them, one part of the hydrogen will remain 

 uncombined. Oxygen and hydrogen, when mixed in the right pro- 

 portions to form water, are very explosive, and it is unsafe to experi- 

 ment with them except in very small quantities. 



Water freezes at thirty -two degrees above zero. Fresh water con- 

 geals much quicker than sea-water. Probably the constant motion 

 of the waves of the ocean acts as a preventive. About seven tenths 

 of the earth's surface is covered with water. Of course this includes 

 both fresh and salt water, lakes, rivers and ponds, as well as oceans. 



Henry. I once heard an old sailor say that the ocean, in some 

 places, had no bottom. Don't you suppose that he knew better ? 



M. F. I cannot tell. A single moment's reflection would con- 

 vince any person, not a complete idiot, that the ocean must have a 

 bottom. The ocean is so deep in some places that no bottom has 

 ever been found by sounding, and perhaps this was what the sailor 

 meant. There are various obstacles to prevent sounding to a great 

 depth. As the lead sinks, the water becomes more and more 

 dense or compact, and consequently the lead becomes comparatively 

 lighter. Then again the motion of the ship tends to curve the line, 

 so that the sinking of the lead is impeded. Scoresby sounded the 

 Greenland Ocean to the depth of seven thousand two hundred feet, 

 over a mile and a quarter, without finding any bottom. Others 

 have sent the lead still deeper ; and it is at least probable that the 

 ocean is somewhat deeper, in some places, than the height of the 

 highest mountain, or over five miles. Whether any unknown fishes 

 or sea-monsters live at this great depth, we cannot tell. 



Flora. For my part, I do not understand how fishes separate the 

 air from the water when they breathe. 



M. F. God has provided them with apparatus, perfect and com- 

 plete. The water is thrown off through the gills. If you were to 

 hold a fish's gills so that it could not open them, the creature 

 would soon die. 



George. Several years ago, I heard a person say that it would 

 not kill fishes to freeze them. I suppose he must have been mis- 

 taken. 



