We can also trace the connection between the hot water and the sun. Of course, the water has come immediately from the kettle, and that has been taken from the fire, and the fire was produced by sunbeams. Thus we learn that it is the warmth of the sun that has made the water boil. If you visit the water-works you will see great reservoirs. In some cases they have been filled by a river, sometimes the water is pumped from a deep well in the ground, sometimes it is the surface-water caught on a mountain side. Whatever be the immediate source of our water supply, the real origin is to be sought, not in the earth beneath, but in the heavens above. All the water we use day by day has come from the clouds. It is the clouds which sent down the rain, or sometimes the snow, or the hail, and it is this water from the clouds which fills our rivers. It is this water also which sinks deep into the earth and supplies our wells, so that from whatever apparent source the water seems to have come, it is indeed the clouds which have been the real benefactors. The water in your teacup to-night was, a little while ago, in a cloud, floating far overhead in the sky. We may look a little further and find whence the clouds have come. It is certain that clouds are merely a form of steam or vapor of water, and as they are so continually sending down rain on the earth, there must be some means by which their supply will be replenished. Here again our excellent friend the sun is to be found ever helping us secretly, if not helping us openly. He pours down his rich and warm beams on the great oceans, and the heat turns some of the water into vapor, which, being lighter than the air, ascends upwards for miles. There the vapor often passes into the form of clouds, and the winds waft these clouds to refresh the thirsty lands of the earth. Thus, you see, it is the sun which procures for us water from the great oceans which cover so much of our globe, and sends it on by the winds to supply our water-works, and fill our teapots. Notice another little kindliness of our great benefactor. The water of the oceans is quite salt. But we could not make tea with salt water, so the sun, when lifting the vapor from the sea, most thoughtfully leaves all the salt behind, and thus provides us with the purest of sweet water.