Sodom and Gomorrah, the Bible story of their destruction and what Science has to say about it, 208 Soil, how it was made in the beginning of things, 11; how the Old Men of the Mountain carried New England's best farms away, 31; how river pebbles act as bankers for the farmers, 80; how the sea helps make good farming land, 222; Nature's art work and the making of soil, 229 Solar system, how it was discovered that there are worlds of worlds, 4; Laplace's theory as to the origin of the Solar system, 4; the planetessimal theory, 6 Soldanella, the flower of the Alps that blooms its way up through the ice, 45 Special Creation theory, 265 Spiders, the tarantula and the tarantula killer, 181; the spiders of the Arizona desert, 182; how the trap-door spider slams the door in the centipede's face, 182 Spontaneous variation, the scientific modification of the old "Special Creation" theory, 274 Springs, not only start rivers in life but go on feeding them, 69; how rain-drops stored in big stone safes keep the springs going, 69; springs that work like a town pump, 70; hot springs and the geysers, 165 Stratification, defined; how it helped make the "Temple of the Winds," 33; how it helps in marble quarrying, 103; as shown in the "Marble Rocks" at Jabalpur, 105; how it helps in the making over of rock in the sea's mills, 217 Stratus clouds, their counterparts in marble and what these marble cloud pictures mean, 239 Striæ, scratches made in rocks by glaciers, and how they helped to disclose the great secret that there was an Ice Age, 121; the big boulder's autograph in Bronx Park, New York City, 250 Tarantula, and the life struggle in the desert, 181 Terraces, what they tell about the tipping up of the Great Lakes once upon a time, 253 Tides, in lakes and in teacups, 201; and the harbor and shore engineering of the sea, 221, 225; how they help preserve the autographs of ancient rain-drops, ancient reptiles, and other things, 244 "Transgressions" of the sea, defined, 218; how they help to make great cities, 223; how they help in the art work of the sea, 227 "Umbrella Parties," an interesting form of geography study in Boston, 68 Uranus (planet), 6 Valleys, how crooked rivers broaden them, 82 Venus (planet), 6 Vesuvius, why it seems to smoke but doesn't, 126, 127 Volcanoes, what they tell about the inside of the earth, 3; why volcanoes were more numerous in early days, 16; difference between ordinary mountains and volcanic mountains, 114, 123; the volcanic mountains in the Sahara and the "Baths of the Damned," 165; the blue lake in the volcano's mouth, 194; volcanoes and "the fire from heaven" in the Bible story of Lot, 209; how volcanic explosions help to cause transgressions of the sea, 219; Mr. Vulcan's famous castle on the Hudson, 241