in Fluids. 315 



the fresh water within the polar circle must inevitably 

 have been frozen to a very great depth in one winter, 

 and every plant and tree destroyed ; and it is more than 

 probable that the regions of eternal frost would have 

 spread on every side from the poles, and, advancing to- 

 wards the equator, would have extended its dreary and 

 solitary reign over a great part of what are now the most 

 fertile and most inhabited climates of the world ! 



In latitudes where now the return of spring is hailed 

 by the voice of gladness, where the earth decks herself 

 in her gayest attire, and millions of living beings pour 

 forth their songs of joy and gladness, nothing would 

 have been heard but the whistling of the rude winds, 

 and nothing seen but ice and snow, and flying clouds 

 charged with wintry tempests. 



Let us, with becoming diffidence and awe, endeavour 

 to see what the means are which have been employed by 

 an almighty and benevolent God to protect his fair crea- 

 tion. 



As nourishment and life are conveyed to all living 

 creatures through the medium of water, — liquid^ living 

 water, — to preserve life, it was absolutely necessary to 

 preserve a great quantity of water in a fluid state in 

 winter as well as in summer. 



But in cold climates the temperature of the atmos- 

 phere, during many months in the year, is so much 

 below the freezing point, that, had not measures been 

 taken to prevent so fatal an accident, all the water must 

 inevitably have been changed to ice, which would infalli- 

 bly have caused the destruction of every living thing. 



Extraordinary measures were therefore necessary for 

 preserving in a liquid state as much of the water existing 

 in those climates as is indispensably necessary for the 



