Let us see what must have happened if things had been left to what might be called their natural course--if the condensation of water, on being deprived of its heat, had followed the law which we find obtains in other fluids, and even in water itself in some cases, namely, when it is mixed with certain bodies. Had not Providence interfered on this occasion in a manner which may well be considered _miraculous_, all the fresh water within the polar circle must inevitably have been frozen to a very great depth in one winter, and every plant and tree destroyed; and it is more than probable that the region of eternal frost would have spread on every side from the poles, and, advancing towards the equator, would have extended its dreary and solitary reign over a great part of what are now the most fertile and most inhabited climates of the world!... Let us with becoming diffidence and awe endeavour to see what the means are which have been employed by an almighty and benevolent God to protect His fair creation. He then goes on to explain how large bodies of water are prevented from freezing at great depths on account of the expansion which takes place on cooling below 39 deg. Fahr., and the further expansion which occurs on freezing, and mentions that in the Lake of Geneva, at a depth of a thousand feet, M. Pictet found the temperature to be 40 deg. Fahr. "We cannot sufficiently admire the simplicity of the contrivance by which all this heat is saved. It well deserves to be compared with that by which the seasons are produced; and I must think that every candid inquirer who will begin by divesting himself of all unreasonable prejudice will agree with me in attributing them both TO THE SAME AUTHOR.... "But I must take care not to tire my reader by pursuing these speculations too far. If I have persisted in them, if I have dwelt on them with peculiar satisfaction and complacency, it is because I think them uncommonly interesting, and also because I conceived that they might be of value in this age of _refinement_ and _scepticism_. "If, among barbarous nations, the _fear of a God_, and the practice of religious duties, tend to soften savage dispositions, and to prepare the mind for all those sweet enjoyments which result from peace, order, industry, and friendly intercourse; a _belief in the existence of a Supreme Intelligence_, who rules and governs the universe with wisdom and goodness, is not less essential to the happiness of those who, by cultivating their mental powers, HAVE LEARNED TO KNOW HOW LITTLE CAN BE KNOWN."