THEIMPRESSOFLIGHT 101
temperature ofthewaterduringthewinter isnever
under40°,althoughtheatmospheremaycontinuefor
weeksbelowzero.
"Ifwaterresembledotherliquids,andcontinuedto
contract with coldto its freezingpoint,—if thisex-
ceptionhadnotbeenmade,—thewholeorderofna-
turewouldhavebeenreversed. Thecirculationjust
described wouldcontinueuntil themass ofwaterin
the lake had fallen to the freezing point. The ice
wouldthenfirstformatthebottom,andthecongela-
tion would continue until the whole lake had been
changed into one mass of solid ice. Upon such a
mass, the hottest summer would produce but little
effect;forthepoorconductingpowerwouldthenpre-
ventitsmelting, and insteadofponds andlakes, we
should have large masses of ice, which duringthe
summerwouldmeltonthesurfacetoadepthofonly
afewfeet.
"It is unnecessary to state that this condition of
thingswouldbeutterlyinconsistentwiththeexistence
ofaquaticplantsoranimals,and itwouldbe almost
as fataltoorganiclifeeverywhere;fornotonlyare
all the parts of the creation so indissolubly bound
together that, if one member suffers, all the other
memberssuffer with it,butmoreover, the soil itself
would,to a certain extent, share in the fate of the
ponds. Thesoilisalwaysmoreorlesssaturatedwith
water,and,underexistingconditions,inourtemperate
zone,thefrostdoesnotpenetratetoasufficientdepth
tokilltherootsandseedsofplantswhichareburied
underit. Butwerewaterconstitutedlikeotherliquids,
ann
(Ann)
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