r>ut fl'e liave wandered sdinewluii from our subject, T\liicli was tlic 

 fate of the water vapor that rises from the earth. Wc found thai rain 

 is one waT in which it comes back, but that is not the only way. 

 You will readily think of the dew that sparkles on the grass when tlie 

 sun rises after a cold, starry night. Cold has a good deal to do with 

 the formation of dew, but you may wonder why the stars are men- 

 tioned. With a little assistance you will find for yourself the explan- 

 ation of dew and the connection between it and the stars, and you will 

 then wonder why the explanation was never thought of until less than 

 a hundred years ago. You must all have noticed what happens when 

 a pitcher of cold water is left standing in a hot room. The outside of 

 the pitcher soon becomes covered with moisture, which may even 

 gather in drops and run down the sides. This is exactly the way in 

 which dew is formed. The surface of the ground becomes cold at 

 night and chills the air near it, and the vapor in the air then shrinks 

 into drops. 



I am going to ask you to notice on what nights dew is most plenti- 

 ful. Before going to bed find out whether the night is cloudy or clear 

 and whether there is much wind or very little. In the morning see 

 whether there is much dew or little. We shall keep a record for a 

 month, and at the end of that time you will be able to predict at night 

 whether much dew will be seen in the morning, and you will be able 

 to answer the question, "What have the stars to do witli dew?"' Take 

 some care to notice, also, where there is most dew, on the earth, on 

 grass, on stones or on metal articles, and whether there is more on the 

 open grass or on grass under trees. You will also learn something 

 interesting about the matter if you stretch a piece of muslin on four 

 little stakes and notice how much dew is deposited under it. I must 

 not, however, leave you with the idea that all dew comes from the 

 air. Some part of the dew on a leaf actually comes from inside tlu^ 

 leaf by means of small openings or pores. 



But we have not yet mentioned all the ways by which vapor returns 

 to the earth. We all know what snow is, although people who pass 

 all their lives in the countries near the equator never see it. What is 

 snow? Some still, cold day when the large flakes are just beginning 

 to come down, catch some of them on the sleeve of your coat and look 

 at them carefully. You will soon find that they are among the most 

 beautiful things that you have ever seen. The flakes are all in the 

 form of stars, shooting out rays on every side. Sometimes these rays 

 are quite straight, but in many eases you will find that there are 

 little raylets darting out from the main ray and giving it a most 

 beautiful fern-like look. I am not going to tell you what these dif- 



