194 Natural Theology. 



gives to the whole world abundant means of light 

 It is hydrogen in the oil of tho whale that gives it 

 such value, that the leviathan of the deep is hunted 

 among the icebergs of the north. The blazing wood 

 upon the hearth-stones sends forth in its flickering 

 flame the cheerful light of hydrogen. The palace 

 and the hovel are alike its debtors. 



It is so abundant, and so combined with other 

 substances, that no science was needed to prepare 

 it for common use. In wood and oil it has ever been 

 at the command of the most illiterate savage. These 

 substances gave him light as well as heat, he knew 

 not how. 



It remained for modern science, after wood and 

 oil had supplied the wants of man for thousands of 

 years, to show the nice balance of the hydrogen 

 affinities with other elements, so that it should be 

 ever ready for use in its most available form. 



It was only when the demands of civilization call- 

 ed for a more extensive use of flame, that science 

 was needed to set hydrogen free in large quantities. 

 It cannot improve its quality over that which the 

 wax and oil gave the ancients, before the science of 

 chemistry was known. It is only .by a combination 

 of many properties that hydrogen thus supplies the 

 want of man in the production of artificial light. 

 First, we have the strong affinity of this element for 

 oxygen, by which flame is secured. Second, its af- 

 finity for other substances with which it is found in 

 combination, so nicely balanced that the heat pro- 

 duced by burning one portion shall be sufficient to 



