84 IS IT GOING TO RAIN? 



has perished or been dissipated. The moon has sui> 

 shine enough, but no rain ; hence it is a dead world 

 a lifeless cinder. It is doubtless true that certain 

 of the planets, as Saturn and Jupiter, have not yet 

 reached the condition of the cooling and ameliorat- 

 ing rains, while in Mars vapor appears to be precipi 

 tated only in the form of snow ; he is probably past 

 the period of the summer shower. There are clouds 

 and vapors in the sun itself, clouds of flaming hy- 

 drogen and metallic vapors, and a rain every drop 

 of which is a burning or molten meteor. Our earth 

 itself has doubtless passed through the period of the 

 fiery and consuming rains. Mr. Proctor thinks there 

 may have been a time when its showers were down- 

 pourings of " muriatic, nitric, and sulphuric acid, not 

 only intensely hot, but fiercely burning through their 

 chemical activity." Think of a dew that would blis- 

 ter and destroy like the oil of vitriol ! but that period 

 is far behind us now. "When this fearful fever was 

 past and the earth began to " sweat ; " when these 

 soft, delicious drops began to come down, or this im- 

 palpable rain of the cloudless nights to fall, the pe- 

 ."iod of organic life was inaugurated. Then there 

 was hope and a promise of the future. The first 

 rain was the turning-point, the spell was broken, re- 

 lief was at hand. Then the blazing furies of the fore 



o 



world began to give place to the gentler divinities of 

 later times. 



The first water, how much it means! Seven 

 tenths of man himself is water. Seven-tenths of the 



