CHAPTER XXXVI 

 WATER MAKES A GARDEN OF THE DESERT 



The source of water. In the beginning, the earth was stored 

 with water just as it was with metal or rock. Some of the 

 water gradually took the form of rivers, lakes, and streams, and 

 it is this original supply of water which furnishes us all that 

 we have to-day. We quarry to obtain stone and marble for 

 building, and we fashion the earth's treasures into forms of 

 our own, but we cannot create these things. We bore into 

 the ground and drill wells in order to obtain water from hidden 

 sources, and we utilize rapidly flowing streams to drive the wheels 

 of commerce, but the total amount of water remains unchanged. 



Although the amount of water remains the same, its form 

 changes. The sun's heat evaporates it and causes it to mingle 

 with the atmosphere. In time, this water vapor cools, con- 

 denses, and falls as snow or rain. The water thus returns to 

 the earth, feeds rivers, lakes, springs, and wells, and in time 

 is again changed to vapor by the sun's warmth. 



When rain falls upon a field, some of it collects in puddles 

 and quickly evaporates back into the air; some of it runs 

 off and drains into small streams or into rivers and sooner 

 or later evaporates and becomes water vapor; and the rest 

 of it soaks into the ground and slowly feeds springs and 

 wells. 



Water which soaks into the ground moves slowly downward. 

 But after a longer or shorter journey it meets with a non-porous 

 layer of rock which hinders its downward passage. If the rock 



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