Sup] AND SYMBOLS. 339 



that no one has ever been known to kill one and prosper. Thus 

 does superstition ever deal tenderly with all monstrosities. 

 Whether she has to deal with a snake, a creed, a tyrant, a 

 throne, or a fable, she always exhibits the same silly horrors of 

 freeing herself from them. It is her firm belief that monstrosities 

 have power, with heaven, to affect human destiny for good and 

 eviL EE. 



Suppletory Elements. 



For an extended idea of the value of suppletory elements we 

 may look at Nature's metalliferous laboratory. We observe 

 that when strength is wanted we have the giant iron at our 

 beck and call. An obdurate unwieldy servant in his rougher 

 shapes, we tame him through fire, and make his dull force yield 

 to our skilful weakness. Powerful in our knowledge, we 

 summon this metal to sustain our houses and bridge our rivers, 

 and we bend and roll, and twist and fashion it as we please 

 for a thousand useful purposes. Do we want a medium to help 

 on commerce by superseding clumsy barter 1 ? There is gold. 

 Is heaviness required? It is to be found in platinum. Or 

 lightness 1 There is aluminium. Or softness 1 There is lead. 

 Or brittleness? There is antimony. Or fluidity? There is 

 mercury. While for a combination of many qualities useful in 

 domestic life there are copper and tin. One metal appears to 

 have been created to supplement the deficiencies of another. 

 Thus iron, strong though it be, yields to the gnawing attacks 

 of air and moisture. But by sheathing it in a film of zinc or 

 tin metals which,, though comparatively weak, are yet less 

 sensitive to air and moisture iron gains the priceless quality 

 of endurance. By the skilful union of various other metals in 

 different proportions, the chemist knows how they may be 

 adapted to almost every purpose. In the various departments 

 of human activity we may also observe the vast advantages of 

 supplemental forces. The dreams of the poet are balanced by 

 the acts of the statesman. The creations of the painter are 

 strengthened by the sermons of the preacher. The fire of the 

 orator is tempered by the wisdom of the philosopher. The enthu- 

 siasm of the mob is controlled by the serenity of law. These 



