MOLECULAR FORCES. 



CHAPTER IV. 



MOLECULAR FORCES. 



Conditions of Matter Variety of organized FormsInorganic 

 Forms All matter reducible to the most simple conditions 

 Transmutation, a natural operation Chemical Elemen- 

 tary Principles Divisibility of Matter Atoms Molecules 

 Particles Molecular Force includes several Agencies 

 Instanced in the Action of Heat on Bodies All Bodies 

 porous Solution Mixture Combination Centres of 

 Force Different States of Matter (Allotropic Conditions) 

 Theories of Franklin, ,5Cpiims, and Coulomb Electrical 

 and Magnetic Agencies Ancient Notions Cohesive 

 Attraction, &c. 



IN contemplating the works of nature, we cannot but 

 regard, with feelings of religious admiration, the infinite 

 variety of forms under which matter is presented to our 

 senses. On every hand the utmost diversity is ex- 

 hibited; through all things we trace the most perfect 

 order ; and over all is diffused the charm of beauty. It 

 is the uneducated or depraved alone who find deformities 

 in the creations by which we are surrounded. 



The three conditions of matter are the solid, the 

 fluid, and the aeriform ; and these belong equally to the 

 organic and the inorganic world. 



In organic nature we have an almost infinite variety 

 of animal form, presenting developments widely different 

 from each other, yet in every case suited to the circum- 

 stances required by the position which the creature, 

 occupies in the scale of being. Through the entire 

 series, from the Polype to the higher order of animals, 

 even to man, we find a uniformity in the progress 

 towards perfection, and a continuity in the series, which 



