cut with a chisel, like stone or marble. This great solidity is
occasioned by the low temperature of the surrounding air; and in very
cold countries ice may be ground so fine as to be blown away by the
wind, and will still be ice.

_Poles_, the extremities or ends of the axis, an imaginary
line, supposed to be drawn through the centre of the earth;
or when applied to the heavens, the two points directly over
them.

Is ice the only instance of Water existing in a state of solidity?

No; it is found in a solid state in many minerals, as in marble, &c.,
and is then called _water of Crystallization_. It is essential, in
many cases, to their solidity and transparency.

_Essential_, necessary.

_Transparency_, clearness, the power of transmitting light.

Does Nature decompose Water in any of her operations?

Yes: every living vegetable has the power of decomposing water, by a
secret process peculiar to itself. Fish, too, and all cold-blooded
amphibious animals are gifted with the same power.

_Decomposing_, separating a mixed body into its several
parts.

_Amphibious_, able to live both in water and out of it.

Of what use is this power to vegetables?

The water which they decompose affords them nourishment for the
support of their vital juices, and enables them, by combining the
fluid gases which compose it with those of the air and the soil, to
form their different products; while the superfluous gas is abundantly
given out by their leaves, to refresh the spent air, and render it
wholesome for the animals that breathe it.

_Vital_, belonging to life, necessary to existence.

_Superfluous_, unnecessary, not wanted.

What is Rain?

The condensed aqueous vapors raised in the atmosphere by the sun and
wind, converted into clouds, which fall in rain, snow, hail, or mist:
their falling is occasioned by their own weight in a collision
produced by contrary currents of wind, from the clouds passing into a
colder part of the air, or by electricity. If the vapors are more
copious, and rise a little higher, they form a mist or fog, which is
visible to the eye; higher still they produce rain. Hence we may
account for the changes of the weather: why a cold summer is always a
wet one--a warm, a dry one.

_Aqueous_, watery; consisting of water.

_Collision_, a striking together, a clash, a meeting.

_Electricity_, a natural agent existing i