226 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 



spire against it. Sun and Frost, Heat and 

 Cold, Air and Water, Ice and Snow, every 

 plant, from the Lichen to the Oak, and every 

 animal, from the Worm to Man himself, com- 

 bine to attack it. Water, however, is the 

 most powerful agent of all. The autumn rains 

 saturate every pore and cranny ; the water as 

 it freezes cracks and splits the hardest rocks ; 

 while the spring sun melts the snow and swells 

 the rivers, which in their turn carry off the 

 debris to the plains. 



Perhaps, however, it would after all be more 

 correct to say that Nature, like some great 

 artist, carves the shapeless block into form, and 

 endows the rude mass with life and beauty. 



" What more," said Hutton long ago, ." is 

 required to explain the configuration of our 

 mountains and valleys ? Nothing but time. 

 It is not any part of the process that will be 

 disputed ; but, after allowing all the parts, the 

 whole will be denied ; and for what ? Only 

 because we are not disposed to allow that 

 quantity of time which the absolution of so 

 much wasted mountain might require." 



The tops of the Swiss mountains stand, 



