2O2 Natural Theology. 



abundantly by their nicely-balanced affinities. But 

 wherever a strong base is found like potash or lime, 

 there nature allows nitric acid to be formed in large 

 quantities ; because, uniting with these bases, it not 

 only becomes harmless to organic life, but remains 

 a reservoir of nourishment to plants, and an import- 

 ant product for man. We say the base causes the 

 nitric acid to be formed by its presence, and the 

 older chemists called that kind of action catalysis ; 

 but if no man can satisfactorily explain it, he must 

 admire this curious relation of chemical substances, 

 and admire the beautiful and beneficial results se- 

 cured by it. It is one of the safety-valves, one of 

 the regulators abounding in the machinery of na- 

 ture, by which action is modified and changed, so 

 that the machinery of nature never gets out of order ; 

 by which the inorganic world, even, seems to be- 

 come organic in its vast system of chemical and 

 physical changes, so as to prepare the materials and 

 present the conditions needed for all organic beings, 

 as the human system prepares the various secretions 

 and throws them from the body, or pours them out 

 where they are needed for further use. 



We find this element also giving rise to a series of 

 substances most explosive in their nature, by which 

 man becomes terrific in war and powerful in conquer- 

 ing the earth. There is much remaining for us to 

 learn respecting it ; but of all that we do know, not a 

 single characteristic can be pointed out that does not 

 seem a special provision for some important purpose, 



Every organized being and every organic product 



