95 



comforts, and yet not raise up the sea so that it shall cover 

 the land, for it requires but a moment's consideration to be 

 convinced that all this water which fiows into the sea must 

 first have been abstracted from it, and it is in this way 

 when the winds blow over the sea, they absorb or take 

 up a certain quantity of the vapour which continually rises 

 from it ; for air absorbs a certain quantity, and a certain 

 quantity only, of the vapour of water ; but this quantity 

 is determined by certain circumstances, for instance, the 

 warmer the air, the more it will absorb, the less the pres- 

 sure on the air, the more it will absorb, and the drier 

 the air, the more it will absorb, that is, the less moisture 

 it has already got, the more will be required to make 

 up that quantity which the other circumstances permit 

 it to contain. Now, what takes place if a warm, dry, 

 light current of wind blows over the sea, landward ? Why, 

 all the vapour given off by the sea, to the amount of 

 millions of gallons, is absorbed and carried inland by the 

 wind or current of the air, and this continues onward, laden 

 with moisture, until it meets with one of the several circum- 

 stances which shall cause it to be incapable of holding the 

 quantity of moisture which it has already got ; for instance, 

 it meets with another current of air colder than itself, these 

 mingle, the vapour of water is condensed by the cold, and a 

 cloud is formed. This consists of minute particles of water 

 suspended in not absorbed by air ; these particles gradu- 

 ally collect, and down falls the rain on to the earth. This 

 drains oif from the surface, forming rills, which collect as 

 they descend, by their own weight, into the lowest channels 

 of the ground, and form into streams and rivers, and back 

 into the sea comes the water which the air had taken away, 

 with this difference, that it is free from salt and fit for the 

 many uses to which fresh water alone can be applied ; when 

 the vapour rises from the sea, none of the saline matters rise 

 with it, for, although the water is volatile, yet they are not, 

 and this is'the whole source of fresh water. It is distilled in 

 the great laboratory of Nature, and gives nourishment to all 

 the living beings who dwell on the land and in the rivers and 

 lakes ; or the rain may sink into the earth and be carried 



