The down upon the peach or plum is so delicate and so thickly
set that one can not touch the fruit with a needle’s point
without breaking the tender stalk; and yet the dew of the night
covers the whole surface of the fruit and disappears in the
morning, leaving the gossamer growth more orderly and beautiful
than before. The dew covers every leaf of the giant oak, and the
mighty tree drinks in the refreshing moisture to its thirsty
heart through millions of pores, and the iron trunk which has
withstood a thousand storms is made stronger by the gentle
strength of the dew. The silent fall of the dew is caused and
controlled by agencies of the most tremendous power; the same
power that shakes a whole continent with its subterranean
thunder is the same as that which encircles the finest filament
of thistle-down with a coronet of dewy gems so small that they
do not bend the delicate stalks with their weight.--London
_Globe_.
(1339)