L KC I'll 1{ KS ON CH KM I S I R Y. 
761 
Jt has been said, that in the month of November the greater 
number of instances of suicide take place. Here, then, we see 
chemical laws in operation, but only after life has been with- 
drawn from the plant, and by chemical means their effects may 
be counteracted ; or having, by the aid of chemistry, a know- 
ledge of the cause, methods may be resorted to in order to re- 
move that which is prejudicial. 
It may be as well here to repeat, that the laws of chemistry are 
subordinate to those of vitality ; the last having, at least, a con- 
trolling influence over organic life, while, in ^organic bodies, 
chemical laws alone prevail. The compounds of hydrogen and 
carbon, just spoken of, could not have been formed unless life 
had ceased in the vegetable. Then it was that other unions took 
place between the elements of which it was made up, and that 
which once contributed to beauty and usefulness was resolved 
into a poisonous gas. 
Chemistry instructs us in the composition of water, and how 
it is available to the many uses to which it is applied. This 
agent can, to demonstration, be proved to consist of but two of 
the elementary substances, oxygen and hydrogen, chemically 
combined. 
It has been pertinently asked, What would happen if the quali- 
ties of these two important fluids, air and water, were to undergo 
a change ? For example ; if either were to become sour or sweet, 
heavier or lighter, or, indeed, any thing but what it is ? What, if 
it were to acquire odour or colour, or become opaque? If either 
of these changes, slight as they may appear, were to take place, 
the whole of the beautiful order of Nature would be at once 
destroyed. But we may advance a step, and ask, What would 
be the consequence if the acid which exists in the saline mat- 
ters of the ocean were to be at once set free ? It would in- 
stantly combine with the limestone of the rocks, which form the 
boundary to the expanse of waters, and seem to say to it, “ thus 
far shalt thou go and no farther/’ and cause them quickly to dis- 
appear by undergoing solution in the sea, which would then be 
rendered totally unfit for the sustenance of the finny tribe ; while 
the carbonic acid gas evolved would prove no less fatal to man 
and animals living on the land. 
I could, under this head, much extend my remarks, for these 
are a few only of the many proofs that might be adduced of the 
advantages derivable from a knowledge of chemistry, as explana- 
tory of natural operations. 
But we will descend from this, our seemingly high standing, 
and review some of the advantages resulting from the application 
of the principles of this science to the daily acts of life. 
VOL. XIV. 5 H 
