loG THE EARTH MADE READY FOR MAN 



Now the water which escapes so quickly from the 

 hot stove and disappears in the form of steam is not 

 lost. It is held invisible in the air if the room is 

 very warm, but where it touches anything cold it 

 changes back to drops of water again. 



Try, now, to imagine the hot earth, somewhat 

 the shape of an orange, surrounded by the thick 

 blanket of steaming fog, from which rain at last 

 began to fall. The water thus falling would go hiss- 

 ing back into steam almost before it reached the 

 earth's surface. Next, think of the earth as coohng 

 gradually, until the drops of water which fell re- 

 mained longer and longer upon its surface without 

 going back into steam, until at last the earth became 

 so cool that the water that fell upon it became great 

 ponds and lakes. 



How it rained in those days! It rained so hard 

 and so long that the surface of the earth became all 

 covered with water. There was one universal 

 ocean with no land anywhere in sight. 



For long, long ages this vast, encircling ocean 

 covered the earth. Nothing could be seen but water 

 and clouds and rain. But after those long, long ages 

 had passed some land began to show above the 

 water. 



All this time there was nothing living upon the 

 world, for it was not ready to nourish any form of 

 life. The air then was heavy and thick: no one 

 could have breathed it. The water was still warm 

 and so full of mineral matter that we could not have 

 lived at all if we had been obliged to drink it. The 

 rocks, too, were strange rocks, with the minerals 



