NATURAL LIGHT IN THE HOME 241 



other strike a roughened surface, they are thrown off in 

 different directions and produce diffused light. 



Light from the sky. We are now better able to under- 

 stand why we get light from the sky. The air always 

 contains particles of solid and liquid material, as dust, 

 and moisture. It is very seldom that the air is clean, and 

 then only at points far above the earth, and even in this 

 air there are enough of these dust particles to divert the 



Which surface diffuses light ? 



rays of light from the sun. Since the surfaces of these 

 particles are irregular, the light is diffused in all direc- 

 tions. Thus it is that particles in the air above our homes, 

 receiving sunlight, divert some of these rays to us, no 

 matter where we may be situated. If there were neither 

 air nor any other substance about the earth, then the sky 

 would appear dark, and we would only get light directly 

 from the sun, the moon, and other bodies in the heavens, 

 the stars and the planets. 



Natural light in the home. Fortunate is the boy or 

 girl who lives in a detached house, for direct sunlight 

 bathes the house on bright days, and some of it is sure to 

 enter. Within the crowded city with its tall buildings 

 standing close together, with one home piled on top of 

 another, as we have in apartments, people are fortunate 

 if they get direct light in more than one or two rooms, and 



H.-WHIT. CIV. SCI. IN THE HOME 1 6 



