266 THE CHEMISTRY OF CREATION. 



found sarcophagi, chests, chairs, tool?, and other 

 things made of wood, grains of corn, dried 

 fruits, almonds, dates, nuts, and grapes, plaited 

 reeds, papyrus, and a number of linen articles, 

 all in a state of perfect preservation. Mum- 

 mies that have lain there for centuries have 

 been discovered with the hair, skin, and features 

 entire. 



Hence we learn, that though accidental im- 

 purities undoubtedly find a temporary lodgment 

 in the air, they instantly, if of a kind admitting 

 decomposition by oxygen, begin to alter, and if 

 of an unchangeable kind, they are at no distant 

 period removed from it. Thus the chemistry 

 of nature, rightly interpreted, teaches us that 

 the atmosphere is not only the grand receptacle, 

 but also the laboratory for the decomposition 

 of a large number of the constituents of the 

 animal and vegetable frame, and of such other 

 ingredients of a foreign kind as find their way 

 into it. All "flesh" and all " grass" part with 

 a majority of the elements which compose them 

 into this great reservoir, in the form of the 

 simple compounds, carbonic acid, water, and 

 ammonia, but not therefore to be irrecoverably 

 lost. The atmosphere is a faithful conservatory 

 for these constituents. They may be scattered 

 to the four corners of heaven, but they shall 

 reach their proper destination in the end. The 



