2io GLIMPSES OF NATURE. 



great and grand scale, it is true ; but nevertheless 

 it leads us backwards, by simple enough steps and 

 gradations, to these rills of the roadway and to the 

 gutters by the side of the street. 



One word more before you draw the blinds and 

 shut out the dismal prospect and the dripping rain. 

 All is not waste in this action of running water. The 

 material torn from the land is not lost to the world ; 

 it is only changed in its form and uses. Deposited 

 in lakes and seas by the rivers, it will form the matter 

 from which new rocks will be constructed. Nay, even 

 to-day, many a river filling up its lake is a land-maker, 

 just as you see that drain yonder has become choked 

 with the debris of the rills. The Mississippi has, for 

 centuries, been making new land at its delta out of 

 the debris of the old. To-morrow, you may see how 

 the water-borne material has been deposited at the 

 drain-mouth in the road, as it is being laid down 

 everywhere in the world's history by the rivers that 

 thieve and steal from the land with one hand, and 

 give back their spoil with the other. Such are the 

 lessons which are taught us by a rainy day. 



