So are we
made dependent, not merely upon our fellow-creatures, but upon our
fellow-existers, all Nature being tied together by the laws that make one
part conduce to the good of another.
There is another little point which I must mention before we draw to a
close--a point which concerns the whole of these operations, and most
curious and beautiful it is to see it clustering upon and associated with
the bodies that concern us--oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, in different
states of their existence. I shewed you just now some powdered lead, which
I set burning[18]; and you saw that the moment the fuel was brought to the
air, it acted, even before it got out of the bottle--the moment the air
crept in, it acted. Now, there is a case of chemical affinity by which all
our operations proceed. When we breathe, the same operation is going on
within us. When we burn a candle, the attraction of the different parts
one to the other is going on. Here it is going on in this case of the
lead; and it is a beautiful instance of chemical affinity. If the products
of combustion rose off from the surface, the lead would take fire, and go
on burning to the end; but you remember that we have this difference
between charcoal and lead--that, while the lead can start into action at
once, if there be access of air to it, the carbon will remain days, weeks,
months, or years.
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