I 4 . THE FAIRY-LAND OF SCIENCE. 
questions of other people ; for often a question quickly 
answered is quickly forgotten, but a difficulty really 
hunted down is a triumph for ever. For example, 
if you ask why the rain dries up from the ground, 
most likely you will be answered that " the sun dries 
it," and you will rest satisfied with the sound of the 
words. But if you hold a wet handkerchief before 
the fire and see the damp rising out of it, then you 
have some real idea how moisture may be drawn up 
by heat from the earth. 
A little foreign niece of mine, only four years old, 
who could not speak English plainly, was standing 
one morning near the bedroom window and she no- 
ticed the damp trickling down the 'window-pane. 
" Auntie," she said, " what for it rain inside ? " It was 
quite useless to explain to her in words, how our breath 
had condensed into drops of water upon the cold glass ; 
but I wiped the pane clear, and breathed on it several 
times. When new drops were formed, I said, " Cissy 
and auntie have done like this all night in the room." 
She nodded her little head and amused herself for a 
long time breathing on the window-pane and watching 
the tiny drops; and about a month later, when we 
were travelling back to Italy, I saw her following the 
drops on the carriage window with her little finger, and 
heard her say quietly to herself, " Cissy and auntie 
made you." Had not even this little child some real 
picture in her mind of invisible water coming from her 
mouth, and making drops upon the window-pane? 
Then again, you must learn something of the lan- 
guage of science. If you travel in a country with 
