10 
NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
Wings of 
light. 
The dawnin 
temperate 
climes. 
times the Egyptian dawn shows a mild effect 
of sun-dogs, such as are frequently seen in cold, 
snowy lands. In the one case, the parhelia are 
produced by ice crystals in the air, in the other 
case by dust crystals in the air. They are 
more brilliant from ice than from dust, and 
where with the one they centre in great spots 
of light, with the other they shape themselves 
into side illuminations that resemble wings 
spread laterally. These, I imagine again, are 
the wings of light supporting the golden disk 
of the sun, that may be seen to this day carved 
on the temple lintels of ancient Egypt. 
But the dawn in our temperate clime is not 
so unusual in appearance. It is with us the 
gradual expansion and intensifying of radiance. 
The light is a soft, lustrous one, illuminating 
the earth entirely by reflection. While the 
sun is below the horizon no direct rays can 
possibly reach us. The shafts are shot up 
against the blue vault, and from this trans- 
parent blue of atmosphere they are reflected 
back to earth. It is not a bright or sharp re- 
flection. The rays are bent and thrown back 
only by the infinitesimal particles that float in 
the upper air. Even when the shafts strike a 
cloud they simply make it glow like a great 
