REMARKABLE EFFECTS OF HEAT ON WATER, 257 



the crystallization of water, the beautiful protection of 

 plants by a mantle of snow, in northern regions, would 

 give place to frozen sterility ; without the conversion 

 of heat to a latent state in melting, the deepest snows 

 would disappear in a moment from the earth, and 

 cause disastrous floods ; without its conversion to a la- 

 tent state in steam, the largest vessel of boiling water 

 would instantly flash into vapor. All these facts show 

 that an extraordinary wisdom and forethought planned 

 these laws at the creation ; and even what aopears at 

 first glance as an almost accidental exception in the 

 contraction of bodies by cold, and which causes ice to 

 float upon water, preventing the entire masses of riv- 

 ers and lakes from becoming permanently frozen, fur- 

 nishes one out of an innumerable array of proofs of 

 creative design in fitting the earth for the comfort and 

 sustenance of its inhabitants. 



