218 EXTENSIVE AGENCY OF CALORIC. 



quently, no rain, snow, hail, dew, or frost; and 

 no lakes, rivers, and springs, therefore, no ani- 

 mal or vegetable growth no earthquakes and 

 volcanoes, therefore no mountains. 



It is impossible to realize the absence of ca- 

 loric, while it is perpetually emanating from the 

 great fountain of physical existence throughout 

 the solar system ; and intimately combined with 

 all matter, whether organic or inorganic. The 

 greatest cold of the polar regions, or of the 

 planetary spaces, is only a diminution of the 

 igneous principle, which is for ever changing 

 the forms, properties, and powers of all things. 



Every change and movement of the atmos- 

 phere is immediately connected with changes 

 of temperature, from the gentlest breeze to the 

 most desolating tempests of lightning, thunder, 

 and rain. In like manner, all the chemical 

 changes that mark the course of nature, are 

 attended with changes of temperature, from 

 the slowest process of fermentation to the most 

 rapid combustion that is, all the decomposi- 

 tions and recombinations of matter are attended 

 by the addition or subtraction of caloric. With- 

 out the continual agency of the solar fluid, the 

 vital air, the ocean, and the solid ground, would 

 become a motionless mass of inert and chaotic 

 matter. Without the reception of caloric from 

 the atmosphere by respiration, the wonderful 

 mechanism of animal motion, sensation, and 



