Part 92

THE SOURCES OF WATER.

There are many sources of water. The first great source is the ocean, which collects all the water from the earth; this water contains so large a quantity of salt, that none of us can drink it. The sun, however, bears down upon the ocean’s surface, and its heating rays penetrating the water, combine, as it were, with it (S. 4, N. 5, B), and raise it up. The atmosphere (S. 5, N. 2), like a sponge, absorbs the vaporous water, carrying it from the Equator to the Arctic and the Antarctic regions; thus distributing it north and south. It then condenses in the form of rain and of snow. When it sinks into the earth and pours down the mountain sides, it forms springs and rivulets, entering (S. 16, N. 4) the ocean again in the form of rivers. Man catches it in tubs and cisterns, draws it from the rivers, or digs down into the earth, and catches it as it passes along beneath his feet. Thus we have rain water, river water, and spring or well water.—DR. LANKESTER.

Here +Urquellen+.

The water has many sources.

great = chief; form a comp. n.

To render ‘from the’ use the Gen. of the def. art.

none of us = nobody.

bears down upon = shines.

+erwärmend.+

penetrating = penetrate, +durchdrin´gen+, insep. comp. str. v.

as it were, +gleichsam+.

and draw it upward.

+wie.+

+das verdunstete Wasser.+

carries it.

+nach den nördlichen und südlichen Polargegenden.+

and distributes it north and southward. Comp. S. 71, N. 2, the principle stated there applying likewise to other compound expressions besides nouns.

the = on (+an+) the.

to enter again the ocean, +dem Ozean wieder zuströmen+.

in the form of = as, which place after the rel. pron.

+auf´fangen+, sep. c. str. v.

to draw water, +Wasser schöpfen+.

+aus.+

down = deep.

+sammeln.+

‘to pass along’, here +dahin´fließen+.

+Auf diese Weise.+

Section 115.