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210
The Fairy-Land of Science
·
Arabella B. Buckley
68
The
clouds
you
see
floating
in
the
sky
are
made
of
exactly
the
same
kind
of
water-dust
as
the
cloud
from
the
kettle,
and
I
wish
to
show
you
that
this
is
also
really
the
same
as
the
invisible
steam
within
the
kettle.
I
will
do
so
by
an
experiment
suggested
by
Dr.
Tyndall.
Here
is
another
spirit-lamp,
which
I
will
hold
under
the
cloud
of
steam
-
see!
the
cloud
disappears!
As
soon
as
the
water-dust
is
heated
the
heat-waves
scatter
it
again
into
invisible
particles,
which
float
away
into
the
room.
Even
without
the
spirit-lamp,
you
can
convince
yourself
that
water-vapour
may
be
invisible;
for
close
to
the
mouth
of
the
kettle
you
will
see
a
short
blank
space
before
the
cloud
begins.
In
this
space
there
must
be
steam,
but
it
is
still
so
hot
that
you
cannot
see
it;
and
this
proves
that
heat-waves
can
so
shake
water
apart
as
to
carry
it
away
invisibly
right
before
your
eyes.
Now,
although
we
never
see
any
water
travelling
from
our
earth
up
into
the
skies,
we
know
that
it
goes
there,
for
it
comes
down
again
in
rain,
and
so
it
must
go
up
invisibly.
But
where
does
the
heat
come
from
which
makes
this
water
invisible?
Not
from
below,
as
in
the
case
of
the
kettle,
but
from
above,
pouring
down
from
the
sun.
Wherever
the
sun-waves
touch
the
rivers,
ponds,
lakes,
seas,
or
fields
of
ice
and
snow
upon
our
earth,
they
carry
off
invisible
water-vapour.
They
dart
down
through
the
top
layers
of
the
water,
and
shake
the
water-particles
forcibly
apart;
and
in
this
case
the
drops
fly
asunder
more
easily
and
before
they
are
so
hot,
because
they
are
not
kept
down
by
a
great
weight
of
water
above,
as
in
the
kettle,
but
find
plenty
of
room
to
spread
themselves
out
in
the
gaps
between
the
air-atoms
of
the
atmosphere.
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