36 THE CREATION OF MATTER 



been made, and in the making of them oxygen had been 

 taken into account. The same is true of chlorine. It is 

 as if in the making of it, union with the other elements 

 was provided for, and in the making of them they were 

 prepared for union with it. It is as if in the making of 

 each and every element others were considered. The 

 interaction among them is exceedingly extensive and 

 complicated. The number of affinities is very great ; it 

 is enormous. With manifold force, therefore, does every 

 individual atom of all the elements speak of itself as 

 formed by mind. 



The intensity of the force differs between different 

 elements. A substance may have an attraction for two 

 others, but stronger for the one than for the other. That 

 of chlorine for oxygen is very feeble, but for hydrogen it 

 is very strong. Chlorine, iodine, bromine, fluorine com- 

 bine readily with metals, but the energy of the action is 

 in the order in which we have presented them. Sodium, 

 potassium, and three other metals have an exceedingly 

 powerful attraction for oxygen. So violent is it that 

 when a piece of them about the size of a pea is placed on 

 water, it bursts into flame. The metal, by simple contact 

 with the water, detaches the oxygen from the hydrogen, 

 and draws it with rapid and irresistible vigour into union 

 with itself. Sulphuric acid has an attraction for mag- 

 nesia and also for soda, but stronger for the latter than 

 for the former. The intensity of the force in each 

 element and compound is suited to the place they fill 

 and the purposes they serve. The attractions between 

 element and element, between element and compound, 

 between compound and compound, are set in an order 

 that cannot be improved, that commands an enthusiasm 

 of admiration. It is owing to this order that the opera- 

 tions in the laboratory of the chemist and the chemical 



