124 THE FOKMS OF WATER IN 



of Infinite Wisdom. The enterprise is adventurous, 

 but it surely cannot be improper. 



320. ' Had not Providence interfered on this occasion 

 in a manner which may well be considered as miracu- 

 lous, all the fresh water within the polar circle must 

 inevitably have been frozen to a very great depth in 

 winter, and every plant and tree destroyed.' 



321. Through many pages of his book Count Rumford 

 continues in this strain to expound the ways and in- 

 tentions of the Almighty, and he does not hesitate to 

 apply very harsh words to those who cannot share his 

 notions. He calls them hardened and degraded. We 

 are here warned of the fact, which is too often for- 

 gotten, that the pleasure or comfort of a belief, or the 

 warmth or exaltation of feeling which it produces, is no 

 guarantee of its truth. For the whole of Count Eum- 

 ford's delight and enthusiasm in connexion with this 

 subject, and the whole of his ire against those who did 

 not share his opinions, were founded upon an erroneous 

 notion. 



322. Water is not a solitary exception to an otherwise 

 general law. There are other molecules than those of 

 this liquid which require more room in the solid crys- 

 talline condition than in the adjacent molten condition. 

 Iron is a case in point. Solid iron floats upon molten 

 iron exactly as ice floats upon water. Bismuth is a still 

 more impressive case, and we could shiver a bomb as 

 certainly by the solidification of bismuth as by that 



