74 LECTURE II 



electricity is the great chemist both in or- 

 ganized and unorganized bodies, will be 

 generally credited ; and that the power 

 which combines may also prevent decom- 

 position, is too obvious to need discussion. 

 That electricity is capable of augmenting 

 and diminishing the temperature of unor- 

 ganized matter is well known. Does not 

 platinum-wire drop like wax infusion when 

 it intervenes between the different ends of 

 the voltaic battery ? and do not the spherules 

 of rain fall to the ground at midsummer 

 as firmly frozen as in the depth of win- 

 ter, when they pass through a stratum 

 of air refrigerated by electrical operations ? 

 I believe I need say no more on these sub- 

 jects. 



The varying and the strong retention of 

 life by seeds, and some kinds of vegetables 

 and animals, are facts which seem more 

 satisfactorily solved by Mr. Hunter's Theory 

 of Life than by any other. 



