NATURAL THEOLOGY. 3 



of reflecting light, which may be explained thus : — 

 If I had the power of seeing only by means of 

 rays coming directly from the sun, whenever I 

 turned my back upon the luminary, I should find 

 myself in darkness. If I had the power of seeing 

 by reflected light, yet by means only of light re- 

 flected from solid masses, these masses would 

 shine indeed, and glisten, but it would be in the 

 dark. The hemisphere, the sky, the world, could 

 only be illuminated, as it is illuminated, by the 

 light of the sun being from all sides, and in every 

 direction, reflected to the eye, by particles, as nu- 

 merous, as thickly scattered, and as widely dif- 

 fused, as are those of the air. 



Another general quality of the atmosphere is 

 the power of evaporating fluids. The adjustment 

 of this quality to our use is seen in its action upon 

 the sea. In the sea, water and salt are mixed to- 

 gether most intimately; yet the atmosphere raises 

 the water, and leaves the salt. Pure and fresh as 

 drops of rain descend, they are collected from 

 brine. If evaporation be solution, (which seems 

 to be probable,) then the air dissolves the water, 

 and not the salt. Upon whatever it be founded, 

 the distinction is critical : so much so, that when 

 we attempt to imitate the process by art, we 

 must regulate our distillation with great care and 

 nicety, or, together with the water, we get the 

 bitterness, or at least the distastefulness, of the 

 marine substance ; — and, after all, it is owing to 

 this original elective power in the air, that we can 



