264 ON THE HUMAN FACULTIES, 



Upon his becoming more familiar with the 

 watery element, he would soon acquire a know^ 

 ledge of obtaining that, which may now be con- 

 sidered one of his first necessities, a supply of 

 fish; and this would be greatly facilitated by his 

 acquaintance with navigation, thus affording him 

 access to parts where they were to be found in 

 the greatest abundance; while his further expe- 

 rience would teach him the use and preparation 

 of salt, without which his food could not have 

 been relished. The expansive power of steam 

 from which so many important applications have 

 resulted, though its discovery comparatively may 

 be considered of recent date, may be adduced as 

 another splendid proof of the operation of the 

 natural elements on the human mind, and of the 

 intention of the Creator that its faculties should 

 be developed and exercised through their espe- 

 cial agency. 



The atmosphere is the next portion of the 

 creation to which we beg to call your attention, 

 as confirmatory of the doctrine we wish to estab- 

 lish; namely, that man is made up of capabilities 

 only, and that these alone can be called into 

 exercise through the medium of instruction, and 

 of the external circumstances by which he is 

 surrounded. 



Thus his earlier experience would teach him 

 that animal life depended on atmospherical 

 Agency, since the vital principle is immediately 



