A WORLD OF WONDERS (1845)
by Albany Poyntz
CHAPTER XIII. THE ANTIPODES—MORNING AND EVENING DEW.
(Investigator 208, 2023 January)
It is
a gratifying thing when popular prejudices are overcome by the progress
of public enlightenment. The existence of the antipodes was formerly
disbelieved. Before the spherical form of our globe was ascertained,
how was it possible to suppose that there existed human beings under
our feet standing with their head downwards?
Till
the Newtonian theory was developed, it seemed impossible but that
persons so placed must fall into the realms of endless space. There is
a general disposition in human nature to believe all that is impossible
as well as to doubt every thing that really exists; and such was the
incredulity of the world with regard to the antipodes.
The
ancients, who admitted many absurdities, denied the existence of the
antipodes. The Fathers of the Church followed in their steps; some
indeed pronounced it heresy to hold such a belief. St. Augustin
expressly says, "Take heed lest thou believe such a fable." In
his treatise on the Acts of the Apostles, there is an argument
remarkable enough, considering that the rotundity of the earth was then
unknown. "Faith teaches us, that all men are from Adam. But if there
were other men under the earth, they could not be of Adam. How could
they have found their way to the antipodes? Not by land, for the
antipodes are cut off from our hemisphere by boundless seas. Not by
sea; for the most experienced pilot would not dare launch his vessel in
such boundless space. It is, therefore, evident that the doctrine of
the antipodes is false and heretical." Time and experience have taught
us the folly of deciding upon topics exceeding our comprehension. Yet,
perhaps, even now we deny a host of truths, which at some time may give
us an insight into futurity. In great as well as trifling things, every
day brings its tribute to the cause of truth. The antipodes are
admitted to exist. The earth revolves round the sun, though once
supposed to be stationary in its place in the heavens; while the dew,
which our ancestors believed to descend from heaven, is known to be an
emanation from the earth.
Such
an error was pardonable enough. The dews are often made use of in Holy
Writ as a term of comparison; and the mercy of the Lord is implored to
descend upon his people like the dews from heaven. After many
experiments in elucidation of the origin of dew, a scientific
observer obtained the following results.
Having
placed some plants under glass bells, he examined them the following
morning, and finding them to be covered with dew like those left in the
air, he cut shreds of flannel; and placing them at graduated heights,
found that those nearest the earth were first wet, and that the dew
gradually rose towards the highest. Upon weighing the shreds, he found
those below to be the most saturated. Lastly, upon examining plants
grown in green-houses, he felt convinced that they also imbibed
abundant dew. These experiments excited attention; and Muschembroek,
the author, had many imitators. Among others, Dufay, who placed a
double ladder thirty-two feet high, in the centre of a garden,
suspending tablets of glass at different altitudes; so that each was
equally exposed to the action of the atmosphere. He remained at the
foot of the ladder to watch the progress of the phenomenon, and found
that the tablets nearest the earth were the first moist, and that the
humidity ascended gradually to the highest. Several other men of
science repeated the same experiment with similar results.
The
problem was thus solved, and proof obtained that dew ascended from the
earth. To the joy, however, of some, a doubt presented itself. By
renewed experiments it was found that this dew from the earth did not
equally affect all bodies, and was partial in its bearing. For
instance, it appeared to avoid gold, silver, metal, and polished
marbles; while it adhered to glass, oily and resinous substances.
Place
a gold or plated vessel under a crystal vase in a garden during the
night, and in the morning you will find the edges perfectly dry, while
the crystal vase will be wet. The cause of this difference is not
accounted for. Reaumur supposes, but does not affirm, that the golden
vessel, containing more caloric than the crystal, repels the dew, while
the latter attracts it.
In
confirmation of this supposition, Reaumur proposed the following
experiment. Place a china cup upon a stone within a hot-bed; and
further on, and beyond the influence of the hot-bed, another cup of
similar form, substance, and diameter; this will be charged with dew,
the other will remain dry. In explanation of this difference, it may be
imagined that the phenomenon of which they sought the solution,
originated in electricity; an opinion, however, which has no influence
over the main discovery that dews arise from the ground, instead of
falling from the skies, as asserted by the mythology of the ancients,
and the tropes of Scripture.
WHERE DOES DEW COME FROM?
(Investigator 209, 2023 January)
Anonymous
DISAGREEMENT
The Bible says dew falls or descends from the sky; but science said it ascends from the ground. Who was or is correct?
SCIENCE
Poyntz (1845) wrote:
...the dew, which our ancestors believed to descend from heaven, is known to be an emanation from the earth....
...dews arise
from the ground, instead of falling from the skies, as asserted by the
mythology of the ancients, and the tropes of Scripture.
The Domestic Encyclopedia (1802) says:
Dew is a light,
thin, and transparent vapour, slowly exhaling and ascending from the
earth, in spring and summer mornings, while the sun is below the
horizon, and then deposited on vegetables, in the form of small
globules...
It is admitted,
that dew cannot fall before it rises; and that its origin and matter,
no doubt, is from the vapours and exhalations of the earth and water...
That dews are
more copious in spring than in any other season, arises from the
greater stock of vapour collected on the surface of the earth, and the
previous small dissipation of it during the cold and frost of the
winter... ...in climates where the days are excessively hot, and the
nights remarkably cold, the vapours, rising before or after sunset, are
readily converted into dew. In the more temperate climates, they ascend
and fall in greater abundance after rain than after dry weather. There
are some places in which dew is observed only to rise, but never to
fall; and again others, in which it is carried upward in a more
considerable proportion than downward, on account of the prevalence of
winds by which it is dispersed... (Willich 1802)
Free & Hoke
(1929) in their book Weather wrote: "the chief thing to be said about
dew is that it doesn't fall, early or late... In fact it rises.''
The authors add that the warm, moist "breath of the ground" rises and
leads to "precipitation" when it comes in contact with cold objects.
THE BIBLE
The Bible
distinguishes mist, frost, hail, snow and dew. We're interested in dew
(Hebrew tal) mentioned about 35 times in the Old Testament.
Dew comes usually at night:
• Exodus 16:13
• Judges 6:36-40
• Job 29:19
• Hosea 6:4; 13:3
In the NRSV Bible we read:
• The dew of heaven on high (Genesis 28:39)
• Dew fell on the camp in the night (Numbers 11:9)
• The heavens drop down dew (Deuteronomy 33:28
• The dew falls on the ground (II Samuel 17:12
• The dew of Hermon descended (Psalm 133:3)
• The clouds drop down the dew (Proverbs 3:20)
• The dew of heaven (Daniel 4:15, 23, 25, 33. 5:21)
• The heavens above you have withheld the dew (Haggai 1:10)
• The skies shall give their dew (Zechariah 8:12)
In the Bible the
sky or heaven(s) is interpreted and spoken of by how it appears to
human observers. The lower levels of the sky are where birds fly.
Higher up are clouds and the tops of mountains, and beyond these the
Sun, Moon and stars. "Heaven" can also refer to the dwelling place of
God. (Psalm 115:3; 136:26; II Chronicles 6:18)
EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS
Maxwell (1929)
in a letter published in Nature titled "Dew: Does it Rise or Fall?"
responded to the afore mentioned authors Free & Hoke:
They make no
note of the fact that dew is formed only under a clear sky which allows
free radiation of the earth's surface heat; but they make the following
surprising statement: ``Most of the dewdrops on leaves and blades of
grass, especially leaves close to the ground, are on the under sides;
that is, the side of the leaf or grass closest to the soil.''
This was so
widely at variance with the general impression I had received, that I
went out on three dewy mornings to examine the herbage, and found, as I
expected, that while the upper surfaces of leaves were heavily bedewed,
the under surfaces were quite dry.
In stating that
dew does not fall, but rises, the authors seem to be treating of dew
before it is formed. It is true that the warm air radiated from the
earth is charged with moisture, but that continues as vapour until it
meets the cold night or morning air, when it is condensed and
precipitated as dew. The vapour rises, but the dew can only be
described as falling.
The "Weather Guys" state:
Dew is made of liquid water that has condensed from some of the water vapor in the air.
Dew occurs when
objects cool. A common example of dew formation is when drops of liquid
form on the glass of an ice-cold drink. Dew forms when the object, such
as the glass, cools down to the dew point temperature.
Water molecules
in the air continually bombard surfaces, like blades of grass. Some of
the molecules stick, forming a very thin film of water...
Wikipedia says:
Dew is water in the form of droplets that appears on thin, exposed objects in the morning or evening due to condensation...
As the exposed
surface cools by radiating its heat, atmospheric moisture condenses at
a rate greater than that at which it can evaporate, resulting in the
formation of water droplets.
When temperatures are low enough, dew takes the form of ice; this form is called frost.
Because dew is
related to the temperature of surfaces, in late summer it forms most
easily on surfaces that are not warmed by conducted heat from deep
ground, such as grass, leaves, railings, car roofs, and bridges...
The temperature
at which droplets form is called the dew point. When surface
temperature drops, eventually reaching the dew point, atmospheric water
vapour condenses to form small droplets on the surface...
Preferred
weather conditions include the absence of clouds and little water vapor
in the higher atmosphere to minimize greenhouse effects and sufficient
humidity of the air near the ground. Typical dew nights are classically
considered calm, because the wind transports (nocturnally) warmer air
from higher levels to the cold surface. However, if the atmosphere is
the major source of moisture (this type is called dewfall), a certain
amount of ventilation is needed to replace the vapor that is already
condensed...
Meteorologist Jeff Haby writes:
Dew forms when
the temperature becomes equal to the dewpoint. This often happens first
at ground level for two reasons. First, longwave emission causes the
earth's surface to cool at night. Condensation requires the temperature
to decrease to the dewpoint. Second, the soil is often the moisture
source for the dew. Warm and moist soils will help with the formation
of dew as the soil cools overnight...
National Geographic says:
Dew is the moisture that forms at night when objects or the ground outside cool down by radiating, or emitting, their heat...
Dew is the moisture that forms as a result of condensation ... water changing from a vapor to a liquid...
Colder air is
less able to hold water vapor than warm air. This forces water vapor in
the air around cooling objects to condense. When condensation happens,
small water droplets form—dew...
CLOUDS
The evidence, so
far, ignores Proverbs 3:20 which states "the clouds drop down the
dew". The coldness of the atmosphere on cold, clear nights
contributes to dew forming and settling, but cloud cover would keep the
lower atmosphere comparatively warm!
Water vapor is added to the air by rain, evaporation from oceans, lakes, rivers and wet land, and by transpiration from plants.
Water vapor
condenses on "condensation nuclei" such as dust, ice, and salt, and
forms clouds and fogs. Fog is low-lying cloud and occurs when the
humidity of cold air reaches 100% and water vapor condenses into water
droplets in the air. When moist air rises, or moves up
mountain-sides causing "upslope fog" it can from a distance can look
like ordinary clouds. The "Airline Pilates Forum" says: "It is possible
to have dew without fog, but it is not possible to have fog without
dew." The Britannica agrees: "If fog droplets condense on grass or
branches, dew begins to form."
"The clouds drop down the dew" is correct subject to the total local circumstances.
In Eden: "there
went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the
ground." (Genesis 2:6 KJB) Since Eden had rivers the "mist from the
earth" would have included as its source the rivers, and watered the
ground by condensing as dew.
CONCLUSION
Water vapour
rises from warm, wet, ground. 19th century science got that correct.
But this merely adds to the humidity of the air, which also contains
moisture from other sources.
The air cools
when surface warmth radiates away into Space on clear, calm, largely
cloud-free nights, and then, at "dew point" or 100% humidity, dew
condenses out of the air onto cold surfaces, therefore falls or
descends.
Dew forms not
only at low altitudes but also on vegetation high up on mountains. The
whole lower atmosphere is involved in dew formation because it has to
both lose heat and be humid for dew to form. Therefore dew can be said
to descend from "heaven" or the sky.
REFERENCES:
Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/video/179676/Overview-fog-forms
Free, E.E. and Travis Hoke 1929 Weather (Chapter 13), Constable and Co.
Halby, J,
https://www.weather.gov/source/zhu/ZHU_Training_Page/fog_stuff/Dew_Frost/Dew_Frost
Maxwell, H. Dew: Does it Rise or Fall? Nature, Volume 124, Issue 3124, September 1929, p. 412
https://www.nature.com/articles/124412c0
National Geographic
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/dew/
Poyntz, A. 1845 A World of Wonders, Richard Bentley, London
The Airline Pilots Forum & Resource
https://www.theairlinepilots.com/forumarchive/net/fog.php
Weather Guys
https://wxguys.ssec.wisc.edu/2017/04/24/morning-wet-grass/
Willich, A.F.M. 1802 The Domestic Encyclopaedia, Volume 2, Dew, Murray & Highley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dew_point
https://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-dew-and-fog/
