10 



NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 



times the Egyptian dawn shows a mild effect 

 of sun-dogs, such as are frequently seen in cold, 

 snowy lands. In the one case, the parhelia are 

 produced by ice crystals in the air, in the other 

 case by dust crystals in the air. They are 

 more brilliant from ice than from dust, and 

 where with the one they centre in great spots 

 of light, with the other they shape themselves 

 into side illuminations that resemble wings 

 spread laterally. These, I imagine again, are 

 the wings of light supporting the golden disk 

 of the sun, that may be seen to this day carved 

 on the temple lintels of ancient Egypt. 



But the dawn in our temperate clime is not 

 so unusual in appearance. It is with us the 

 gradual expansion and intensifying of radiance. 

 The light is a soft, lustrous one, illuminating 

 the earth entirely by reflection. While the 

 sun is below the horizon no direct rays can 

 possibly reach us. The shafts are shot up 

 against the blue vault, and from this trans- 

 parent blue of atmosphere they are reflected 

 back to earth. It is not a bright or sharp re- 

 flection. The rays are bent and thrown back 

 only by the infinitesimal particles that float in 

 the upper air. Even when the shafts strike a 

 cloud they simply make it glow like a great 



