In the summer, after some days of fine weather, during the heat of the
day, if a storm happens, accompanied with a few light showers of rain,
and the sun appears immediately after with its usual splendour, it burns
the foliage and the flowers on which the rain had fallen, and destroys
the hopes of the orchard. The intense heat, which the ardour of the sun
produces at that time on the leaves and flowers, is equal to that of
burning iron. Naturalists have sought for the cause of this strange
effect, but they have said nothing which satisfies a reasonable mind.
This is, however, the fact: in the serene days of the summer it is
visible that there gathers on the foliage and the flowers, as, indeed,
on every other part, a little dust, sometimes more and sometimes less,
scattered by the wind. When the rain falls on this dust, the drops mix
together, and take an oval or round form, as we may frequently observe
in our houses on the dusty floor, when servants scatter water before
they sweep. These globes of water form convex lenses, which produce the
same effect as burning mirrors. Should the rain be heavy and last long,
the sun would not produce this burning heat, because the force and
duration of the rain will have destroyed the dust that formed these
drops of water; and the drops, losing their globular form, in which
alone consisted their caustic power, will be dispersed.[335]
[335] Peter Huet.
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