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NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 



monotony is, in fact, an unending diversity. 

 Time was doubtless in the infancy of the earth 

 when the beds of the oceans were filled with 

 pestilent gases and vapors, and time may be 

 in the earth's old age when the seas will be 

 great frozen depths of ice ; but to-day they are 

 in their prime, in the heyday of their glory, 

 strong in mass and movement, overwhelming 

 in extent and power, splendid in color and light. 

 Water at rest, like the air, would seem at first 

 blush to be quite formless. It is the fiat, even- 

 filling of a hollow. Its positive forms are shown 

 only when it is agitated by wind, or pushed in 

 tides and currents, or seeking its level in lower 

 places. There are currents in the sea, but 

 they are hardly recognizable in the open water 

 except by their color. Their forms are not 

 definitely marked not even that of the Gulf 

 Stream though they have certain movements, 

 widths, and lengths, that are well known to the 

 navigator. These currents flowing through the 

 main body of the ocean have always called up 

 an analogy or a likeness to human physiology. 

 For they seem like sea arteries in their move- 

 ments ; and the tides rising and falling liken 

 human lungs respiring. We are, through such 

 resemblances, often led in a romantic way to 



