THE FAIRY-LAND OF SCIENCE. 17 
water ; and each atom of water is made of two atoms 
of hydrogen and one of oxygen. 
Now the metal potassium is devotedly fond of 
oxygen, and the moment I threw it on the water it 
called the fairy " chemical attraction " to help it, and 
dragged the atoms of oxygen out of the water and 
joined them to itself. In doing this it also caught part 
of the hydrogen, but only half, and so the rest was 
left out in the cold. No, not in the cold ! for the 
potassium and oxygen made such a great heat in 
clashing together that the rest of the hydrogen 
became very hot indeed, and sprang into the air to 
find some other companion to make up for what it 
had lost. Here it found some free oxygen in the 
air, and it seized upon it so violently, that they 
made a burning flame, while the potassium with its 
newly found oxygen and hydrogen sank down quietly 
into the water as potash. And so you see we have 
got quite a new substance potash in the basin ; made 
with a great deal of fuss by chemical attraction drawing 
different atoms together. 
When you can really picture this power to yourself 
it will help you very much to understand what you 
read and observe about nature. 
Next, as plants grow around you on every side, 
and are of so much importance in the world, you must 
also learn something of the names of the different 
parts of a flower, so that you may understand those 
books which explain how a plant grows and lives and 
forms its seeds. You must also know the common 
names of the parts of an animal, and of your own 
body, so that you may be interested in understand- 
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