Another useful property of snow has been noticed by many writers, and is verified by yearly experience. Being a very imperfect conductor of heat, it does not readily descend below the freezing point, and thus tempers the rigor of the season. Under its white covering, the earth remains of a moderate and equal temperature, and the bulbs and roots of plants are preserved from the ungenial influence of a severe sky. In consequence of the same slowness in the conduction of heat, the Arctic traveller can sleep, without much inconvenience, on his bed of snow, which is warm compared with the atmosphere he breathes; and, for the same reason, the snow-formed hut affords the Esquimaux no unpleasant abode.*

Nor must we forget to remark, with reference to the effects of snow on the soil, that the nitrous particles which it contains, are said to be of a fertilizing quality, and, as it gradually melts, these particles penetrate the earth, being carried to the roots of the plants, mingled with the water into which it is converted. Assuming the accuracy of this latter observation, we shall find abundant cause for admiring an arrangement, which, in various ways, converts an apparent curse into a blessing, changing that which seems to be an aggravation of this inclement season, and a source of sterility, into a protection from the cold, and a means of future fruitfulness.

But there is yet another arrangement, in reference to this subject, which must not be overlooked. When the weather changes, which it sometimes does very suddenly, the greatest inconveniences, and even calamities, would ensue, were the effect of this change to operate, as might, without experience, be expected, in producing an instantaneous conversion of the snow into water. If the frost were as quickly expelled from water as from the air, the moment that the temperature rose above thirty-two degrees, the snow would become liquid as by magic, the ice would vanish like a dream from river and lake, and the rigid earth would, on the higher grounds, be in an

* Whewell's Bridgewater Treatise, p. 90.

instant converted into a swamp, and in the valleys would be overflowed, and swept away by mountain torrents. A very peculiar and remarkable property prevents these disastrous effects. In the act of dissolving, the water absorbs a quantity of heat, and retains it in a latent state; and, on this account, the melting process cannot take place till a sufficient quantity has been absorbed. This necessarily causes the process to be slow; and days, and even weeks may pass away, after the thaw has begun, before the ice entirely disappears from our ponds, or the snow from our hills. The advantageous consequences of this retardation, are too obvious to require further illustration; but it is of importance to remark, that it is effected, not as a result of an ordinary and general law, but rather by what has been justly called the apparent violation of a law. A sudden stand, as it were, is made in the progress of the change. The alteration of temperature, instead of producing its ordinary effects, becomes, all at once, apparently feeble and languid in its operations; the heat, as it is applied, disappears, and its dissolving power is restrained within such bounds, as to render the process comparatively innoxious.

It

A similar effect is produced in the boiling of water. At the boiling point, as well as at the thawing point, a sudden stoppage takes place, and the heat applied becomes latent, so as to preserve the water at that point, till it is gradually carried off in the form of steam. is this property which renders water so useful in the various operations of the kitchen and the manufactory. If the whole volume of the water we employ were to be instantly converted into steam, when it arrived at the boiling point, which would certainly be the case, were it not for the peculiar property of which we are speaking, how much would be detracted from the usefulness of this most useful element !

Here, then, we have a wonderful modification of a general law, the beneficial nature of which is as manifest as the property itself is remarkable. Can we do otherwise than attribute it to the contrivance of an intelligent Creator?

The striking appearance of a landscape covered with new-fallen snow, and the effects produced on the lower animals by its fall, are thus graphically described by the poet of the Seasons :

"The cherished fields

Put on their winter robe of purest white.

"T is brightness all; save where the new snow melts
Along the mazy current. Low the woods

Bow their hoar heads; and, ere the languid sun,
Faint from the west, emits his evening ray,
Earth's universal face, deep hid and chill,
Is one wild-dazzling waste, that buries wide
The works of man. Drooping, the laborer-ox
Stands covered o'er with snow, and then demands
The fruit of all his toils. The fowls of heaven,
Tamed by the cruel season, crowd around
The winnowing store, and claim the little boon
Which Providence assigns them. One alone,
The red-breast, sacred to the household gods,
Wisely regardful of the embroiling sky,
In joyless fields and thorny thickets leaves
His shivering mates, and pays to trusted man
His annual visit. Half afraid, he first
Against the window beats; then brisk alights
On the warm hearth; then, hopping o'er the floor,
Eyes all the smiling family askance,

And picks, and starts, and wonders where he is;
Till, more familiar grown, the table crumbs
Attract his slender feet. The foodless wilds
Pour forth their brown inhabitants.

The hare,
Though timorous of heart, and hard beset
By death in various forms,-dark snares, and dogs,
And more unpitying men,-the garden seeks,
Urged on by fearless want. The bleating kind
Eye the bleak heaven, and next the glistening earth,
With looks of dumb despair; then, sad, dispersed,
Dig for the withered herb through heaps of snow."

TWELFTH WEEK-FRIDAY.

SAGACITY AND FIDELITY OF THE DOG IN SNOW.

*

I WELL remember with what delight I listened to an interesting conversation, which, while yet a schoolboy, I enjoyed an opportunity of hearing in my father's manse,* between the poet Burns, and another poet, my near relation, the amiable Blacklock. The subject was the fidelity of the dog. Burns took up the question with all the ardor and kindly feeling with which the conversation of that extraordinary man was so remarkably imbued. It was a subject well suited to call forth his powers, and, when handled by such a man, not less suited to interest the youthful fancy. The anecdotes by which it was illustrated, have long escaped my memory; but there was one sentiment expressed by Burns, with his own characteristic enthusiasm, which, as it threw a new light into my mind, I shall never forget. "Man," said he, "is the god of the dog. He knows no other; he can understand no other :-And see how he worships him! With what reverence he crouches at his feet, with what love he fawns upon him, with what dependence he looks up to him, and with what cheerful alacrity he obeys him! His whole soul is wrapped up in his god; all the powers and faculties of his nature are devoted to his service, and these powers and faculties are ennobled by the intercourse. Divines tell us that it ought just to be so with the Christian; but the dog puts the Christian to shame."

The truth of these remarks, which forcibly struck me at the time, has since been verified in my own experience; and often have events occurred which, while they reminded me that "man is the god of the dog," have forced from me the humiliating confession, that "the dog puts the Christian to shame."

* Lochrutton in Galloway.

The dog was certainly created to be a companion and assistant to the human race. It is well observed by Goldsmith, that the generality of animals have greater agility, greater swiftness, and more formidable arms, from Nature, than man; their senses, and particularly that of smelling, are often far more perfect. This is the case with the dog; the having gained, therefore, a new assistant, in this sagacious and quick-scented animal, was the gaining of new powers, of which man stood in need. There are various important services rendered to man by the dog, which may be more properly noticed afterwards. At present, I shall confine myself to a few instances, in which he contributes, by his docility, his sagacity, and his attachment, to lessen the dangers of the winter storm, or to mitigate, by his useful labors, the rigors of an ungenial climate.

I begin by abridging Captain Parry's account of the manner in which dogs are employed by the Esquimaux, in conveying them from place to place in sledges over the ice or frozen snow ;-premising that does of this species are somewhat smaller in size than those of Newfoundland, and bear a strong resemblance to the wolf of their native country, and that they have very firm bone in their fore-legs, with great strength in their loins, two essential qualities for the purpose of draught. When drawing a sledge, the dogs have a simple harness of deer or seal-skin going round the neck by one bight or loop, and another for each of the fore-legs, with a single thong leading over the back, and attached to the sledge as a trace. Though they appear at first sight to be huddled together without regard to regularity, there is, in fact, considerable attention paid to their arrangement, particularly in the selection of a dog of peculiar spirit and sagacity, who is allowed, by a longer trace, to precede the rest as a leader, and to whom, in turning to the right or left, the driver usually addresses himself. This choice. is made without regard to age or sex, and the rest of the dogs take precedence according to their training or sagacity, the least effective being placed nearest the sledge.. The leader is usually from eighteen to twenty feet from