As hoar-frost is just frozen dew, I can even more surely convince you of the formation of hoar-frost as rising from the ground by observations made by me at my manse in Strathmore, in June 1892. I mention this particularly because then was the most favourable testing-time that has _ever_ occurred during meteorological observations. June 9th was the warmest June day (with one exception) for twenty years. The thermometer reached 83 deg. Fahr. in the shade. Next day was the coldest June day (with one exception) for twenty years, when the thermometer was as low as 51 deg. in the shade. But during the night my thermometer on the grass registered 32 deg.--the freezing point. On the evening of the sultry day I examined the soil at 10 o'clock. It was damp, and the grass round it was filmy moist. The leaves of the trees were crackling dry, and all above was void of moisture. The air became gradually chilly; and as gradually the moisture rose in height on the shrubs and lower branches of small trees. The moon shone bright, and the stars showed their clear, chilly eyes. The soil soon became quite wet, the low grass was dripping with moisture, and the longer grass was becoming dewed. This gave the best natural evidence of the rising of the dew that I ever witnessed. But everything was favourable for the observation--the cold air incumbent on the rising, warm, moist vapour from the soil fixing the dew-point, when the projecting blades seized the moisture greedily and formed dew. Had the temperature been a little below the freezing-point, hoar-frost would have been beautifully formed. CHAPTER V FOG To many nothing is more troublesome than a dense fog in a large town. It paralyses traffic, it is dangerous to pedestrians, it encourages theft, it chokes the asthmatic, and chills the weak-lunged. In the country it is disagreeable enough; but never so intensely raw and dense as in the city. On the sea, too, the fog is disagreeable and fraught with danger. The fog-horn is heard, in its deep, sombre note, from the lighthouse tower, when the strong artificial light is almost useless. But a peculiar sense of stagnation possesses the dweller of the large town, when enveloped in a dense fog. Sometimes during the day, through a thinner portion, the sun will be dimly seen in copper hue, like the moon under an eclipse. The smoke-impregnated mass assumes a peculiar "pea-soup" colour. Now, what is this fog? How is it formed? It has been ascertained that fogs are dependent upon _dust_ for their formation. Without dust there could be no fogs, there would be only dew on the grass and road. Instead of the dust-impregnated air that irritates the housekeeper, there would be the constant dripping of moisture on the walls, which would annoy her more.