Inches in Depth; in case all the Exhalations fhould fall down again in Rain.

But now Experience teaches us, that the quantity of Rain does not amount to more than about zo Inches. Wherefore there must be 4 times as much Water exhaled as defcends in Rain; for 4 times makes 90. So, that if the Rain be fubftracted from thence, there will ftill remain 3 ž times as many Vapours floating in the Air, in order to come down from the Mountains, and to ferve for the Ufes of Plants and other Neceffaries.

So that from hence it may appear in Gross, not only, that befides the Rain there is a large Army of Vapours, of three times as great a quantity, continually floating in the Air, but also a superabundant Number of Exhalations from the Water, which alone rifing to the heighth of 20 Inches, as we have fhewn, before, yield nine times as much Water as is neceffary to fupply the Seine. So that that the fame being increased to 90 Inches, are adapted to afford above 40 times as much Water as the faid River requires..

Wherefore, altho' the Plants ftand in need of a great Quantity of Water, and indeed of more than one could imagine, as well as more than all the Rain can fupply (as may be feen by the Experiment made by Mr. de la Hire, and recited in the Memoirs of the French Academy, 1703, p. 73, and 74.) nor could the Rain-Water, according to the Obfervations of that Philofopher, fink deep enough into the Earth; yet the Mountains, by this Sur plufs of Vapours, feem adapted to fupply and main tain the Rivers,

SECT. LI. Convictions from the foregoing Obfervations, and a Word about the Air-Salt.

Now to make an end of this Matter; let the miferable Caviller, who hitherto would not own that there is a GOD that governs the World, feriously reflect upon this aftonifhing Circulation of fo vait a quantity of Waters, which afcending from the Seas, Rivers and Lakes up into the Air, are there preferv'd in Clouds; and paffing a fecond time thro' the faid Air, are made to defcend again, partly in the form of Mifts, Hail, Snow and otherwife for various Purposes; and partly coming down from the Mountains, make up thofe great Rivers, which again difcharging their Waters into the Sea, and from thence again being raised up in Vapours, have inceffantly, and for the Space of fo many Ages, taken the fame Course, and thereby fupply'd all living Creatures with Drink, fructified the Ground, and render'd innumerable Services to the whole World. And can he ftill imagine, that it is without a Defign, fince the whole Ocean, by reafon of its Saltnefs, is entirely useless for thefe Purposes, that by the Warmth of the Sun (to fay nothing here of other Caufes which may likewife concur) the Waters of the faid Ocean being divided into the minuteft Particles in their Afcent, leave all their Salts behind them for other Ufes; which Salts would be prejudicial to moft of the Fruits of the Earth, and render the Water useless for quenching Thirst, or af fording Drink to Animals; and farther, that the faid Water paffing thro' the Air in Rain, Dew and other Forms, fhould impregnate itself with the Salts of the Air and other Parts thereof, in order to become more ufeful for the aforemention'd Purposes?

Now

Now, whether this Salt of the Air be only Nitrous, as fome pretend, we fhall not here difpute; but fhafi take fome notice of it hereafter: This is certain, that Salt-petre is likewise produced by the Air, and that the fame does contribute, Firft, to the rendring the Water more fructifying, which the Ancient and Modern, Gardeners knew well enough, and of which we may fee a remarkable Experiment in the Tranfactions of the French Academy 1699, p. 74 and 76. And, Secondly, that this fame NitrousSalt, how much foever it has of the Nature of Salt, is yet a principal Means for extinguishing Thirft, as moft Phyficians know very well. Let the Atheift confider all this with himfelf, and fee whether he can, with a good Confcience, pretend to reconcile it with mere Chance or Ignorant Causes.

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SECT. LII. The Wonders of the Nile.

AND now we are fpeaking of Salt-petre and of Rivers; can one believe that it is by Chance that the Nile in Egypt, which overflows and renders the Country fruitful without Rain, carries fo much Salt-petre with it, that a great quantity thereof may be made only by evaporating the Waters of the faid River; (See de Stair Phyfiologia de Nitro) infomuch, that this exceeding dry Land becomes fo fruitful, as to exceed most of the other Parts of the World. Now if any King or Prince had been fo fortunate as to have brought this to pafs, and to have found out a Method of watering fuch a vaft Extent of Land every Year with fo fructifying a Liquor, and without any Labour of Men, would not this have been recorded to his Praife, as a Wonder of Wisdom, by the latest Pofterity? And now that we fee this happen in the most glorious Manner, exceeding the Power of the greatest Sove

reigns,

reigns, and with fo much Advantage, as to preferve the Lives of thousands of Men, and to render this Country, which in its own Nature is one of the most Barren Parts of the World, many times a Magazine and Granary for other Nations, that have been diftreft by Famine (as we are informed by Hiftory;) Can any Body fatisfy themselves in affirming, that this was done without Design, and by mere Chance? Let fuch an Infidel or Sceptick only compute how many Things muft here concur, to render a Country fo dry as Egypt, and which is never moiften'd with Rain, Fruitful and Plentiful to fo high a degree. 1. There must be Water, and in fo hot a Country, that Water must be brought from fome other Parts. 2. For that reason this Country must be lower than almost all the rest of Africa, where the Nile has its Rife, in order to be over-flowed by that River. 3. And in other Parts it must be higher and more raised, to the end, that during the Inundation People may inhabit there; and fo it is obferved to be about the Places where their Towns are built, which at the Time of their over-flowing appear like fo mas ny Iflands. 4. There must be fo much Water, in order to run over its Banks, and to drown the whole Country. 5. After the Inundation, it must lie a while upon the Ground, to the end, that du ring its Stagnation, it may deposit the Slime or Mud which it brings along with it. 6. The Wa→ ter, that it may occafion fo great and uncommon Fruitfulness, must be impregnated with a fuffici ent Quantity of Salt-petre, but not with too much of it; which does not happen in Places where it rains enough, or in any Rivers that I ever heard of. 7. This Water muft likewife run off again of itself from the Lands which it over-flow'd, and leave them dry, in order to produce their refpe&ive Fruits.

Now

Now, if we should allow that all these Qualities are not peculiar to the Nile, forafmuch as we read that the Indus, Ganges, Niger, Zaire, and other Rivers, do fertilize alfo their adjacent Countries by Inundations; will any one infer from thence, that because there is a God who has exerted his Wisdom, Power and Goodness in more Places than one, therefore he is endow'd with none of those Perfections?

SECT. LIII. Convictions from the foregoing Ob

Jervations.

BUT to return from this fmall Digreffion, and to fhew with how glorious a Luftre infinite Wif dom appears in the Ufe of Mountains, and the Benefit it communicates to the World by this Circulation of the Waters, and Production of fuch neceffary Rivers; Let a Sceptical Philofopher lay before himself a Map of all the Countries of the World, and attentively view the numerous Rivers therein, which are difperfed throughout like fo many rich Fish-Ponds; which, by their fweet Waters, furnish all Things living with Drink, and afford an Opportunity to the most distant Countries mutually to communicate their refpective Produ&tions: And let him tell us, whether, if there were no fuch thing to be found upon the Earth, he would not be obliged to own, with us, that the World would be in a very miferable Condition. And altho' the fame Quantity of Water were to be met with in fome ftagnating Lakes and Marshes in the lowest Countries of all, is it not plain, that the higher Regions, at leaft where it never once Rains, as Egypt, Peru and the like, would be ruin'd with Droughts: Not to mention, that in a great Collection of Waters, by reafon of their ftagnating, in procefs of Time, an unavoidable Deftruction