475. _Is light refracted in passing from a dense medium to a thinner one?_ It is; but the _direction of the refraction_ is just the opposite to the instance just given; a ray of light passing through _water_ into _air_, does not take a more _perpendicular course_, but becomes more _oblique_. [Illustration: Fig. 11.] 476. _Why, if a rod or a spoon be set in an empty basin, will it appear straight, or of its usual shape?_ Because the rays of light that are reflected from it all pass through the same medium, the _air_. 477. _Why if water be poured into the basin will the rod or spoon appear bent?_ Because the rays of light that pass through the _water_ are _reflected in a different degree_ to those that pass through the air. [Verse: "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud; and he shall hear my voice."--PSALM LV.] Place in the bottom of an empty basin (Fig. 11.) a shilling; then stand in such a position at the point B that the line of sight, over the edge of the basin, just excludes the shilling from view. Then request some one to pour water into the basin, until it is filled to C (Fig. 12.), keeping your eye fixed upon the spot. The shilling will gradually appear, and will soon come entirely in view. Not only will the shilling be brought in view, but also portions of the basin before concealed. This is owing to the rays of light passing from the bottom through the water in a direction _more perpendicular_ than they would have done through the air; but on leaving the water they become more _oblique_, and hence they convey the image of the shilling _over the edge of the basin_, which otherwise would have obstructed the view. [Illustration: Fig. 12.] 478. _Why is it that in cloudy and showery days we see the sun's rays bursting through the clouds in different directions?_ Because, in passing through clouds of _different densities_ the rays are _bent out of their course_. 479. _Why is the apparent depth of water always deceptive?_ Because the light reflected from the objects at the bottom is _refracted_ as it leaves the water. 480. _How much deeper is water than it appears to be?_ About _one-third_. A person bathing, and being unable to swim, should calculate before jumping into the water, that if it _looks two feet deep_, it is quite _three feet_. 481. _Why can we seldom at the first attempt touch anything lying at the bottom of the water with a stick?_ Because we do not allow for the _different refractive powers_ of water and of air. [Verse: "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth."] 482. _Why do we see the sun before sunrise, and after sunset?_