382 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATIONS [Val 



like manner, the power, in the parliamentary world, of one man 

 to attract other political units to himself, and to cause them 

 to combine with him for various purposes, depends upon his 

 political valency. Without this valency society would have to 

 depend upon some other cohesive forces. The strongest poli- 

 tical man is he who has most political valency ; and he is an 

 agitator, a caucus-monger, or a prime minister according to the 

 strength of his endowment. The power of some units of society, 

 as of some atoms, to attract others to them in firm combination 

 is remarkable in the highest degree, and inexplicable. DTJ. 



Intrinsic and Extrinsic Value. 



Gold would, by general consent, be considered the most 

 valuable metal. But then we must distinguish between 

 substantial utility and adventitious value ; and between intrinsic 

 and extrinsic value, lest the word mislead us. For example, 

 whatever may be the utility of gold and its market value, 

 as a matter of fact iron is by far the more substantially and 

 intrinsically valuable metal. It is the very ladder on which the 

 arts and trades have mounted to their present height. It is the 

 only metal which is not injurious to the health, the only metal 

 which forms a never-failing constituent of the body, especially 

 the blood. Now gold is found on the very surface of the earth, 

 and it is only necessary to free it from earthy admixtures to 

 obtain it in a pure metallic state. It seems presented to men by 

 nature as a gift. But iron, like knowledge, and everything in 

 the world which possesses real intrinsic value, must be struggled 

 for by the most laborious toil, by exertion both of the bodily 

 aiid mental powers. The hard pursuit of an intrinsically valuable 

 thing is often a blessing, whilst the easy obtainment of adventi- 

 tious value is too often unattended by much benefit to the 

 receiver. The inhabitants of countries who are arduously occu- 

 pied in mining and working the iron, have the blessings attendant 

 on labour, health, contentment, prosperity and intellectual culture, 

 in a far greater degree than those of countries where gold abounds 

 and industry is neglected. So the word value has, it is obvious, 

 a very large meaning : and we often require to discern between 

 very different things before we simply prefix it to another word, 



