The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1854-07-19
MISCELLANEOUS,
The Mature and Relations of Water
EXTRACT FROM A LECTURE by PROFESSOR
DRAPER, OF THE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY.

No living thing can exist, except il con-
Gains water as one Of tbe leading cousti.
euants OF the various parts Of its system,
10 so great an extent does this 90, that
in q Thousand parts of human blood near
ly eight hundred are pure water. The
distribution Of organized beings ali over
the world is TO very great extent repu-
lated by its abundance or scarcity. Il
seems as If the properties Of this substance
mark out the plan Of animated nature
From man, at the head of all, to the
meanest vegetable that can grow on
bare rock, through all the various orders
and tribes, this ingredient Is absolutely re-
quired. Insipid and iuodorous ITSELF 4,
takes the peculiarities of all other bodies !:
assumes with readiness the sweetness Of
sugar, and the acidity of vinegar. Dis.
titled with flowers, or the aromatic parts
OF plants, it contracts from them their fra
GRANGE, and with equal facility becomes
the vehicle Of odours the most offensive to
our senses.
We talk about the uses Of water. and
imaginethat Nature furnishes us a peren-
nial supply. The common philosophy Of
people 's doubtless, advanced 50 Gar As
to admit that IN some unknown manner
this substance Is created in the clouds, de.
scends rs rain for ths uses of animals and
plants; but wbeace it came, or where it
goes, never once esters into consideration.
Men constantly forget that in this world
nothing is ever annihilatcd an atom, once
created, can by no process be destroyed.
The liquid thai We drink to day has been
drunk thousand times before; the clouds
that obscursd the sky have obscured il
again and again and IL the sorrows of
mankind ARE rs many as the philanthro-
p'st may well fear, he might suspect a
great part OF the ocean is, perhaps. made
up Of tears that have fallen rom the hn-
man Family. Ia the air their sighs die
away, aud ~ the ocean the tears are all
iosl this using over anl over AZ .in is
s'nking characteristic Of the ways Of Ma
ture the beautiful! and the vile-the great
anu The smai'-are all mingled together
tue ,earS that you shed in the depth of
gr'ef to day may be squirted to- morrow
through hose pipe to clear the dirt of
tile street; % whistled away through the
squeak of locomotive to scare some dill
atory CIV oil the track. So much for the
sorrow OF man.
What then becomes OF the immense
quantities. OF water, which, thus entering
MS Constituent OF the bodies Of animals,
gives their various parts that dexibility
wh'ch enables them to execute move
ment', or combining with vegetable struc-
tures' hts them tor carrying on their vital
Proces't Ater the course OF few years,
a'' eh'sting animals and vegetables pass
away Their solid constituents disiutegrate
ana take on other conditions, the water
ioSt perhaps Tor time IN the ground, at
'ast escapes In the iorm OF vaPor into the
ap' Al that great anu invisible reecPta-
e'e' aii tracts OF us ancient relations disap-
pear" mihgies with other vapors that
are -. ,a'scu rom tne sea oy the sun: From
:ne ood'es OF hving animals and plants,
.nnense .n quAnaI'e' are hourly hnding
.ne' way 20 the same reservoir. In
Iso"ueu Guy, rom the ska, aud by the
oea'u " ,'s numerous inhao'tants' clouds
'aPo, a'e community escaP'ng-we see
s 'oy go"g on 10 tne Soid weather
VI ",n'er anu, lnougn invisible the pro-
go % equa'y act'ye IN summer-the es-
s"pe s,S'ng rom tne orink that we take,
ITO" .o'o s'i 'noSe various various portions OF the sys-
ne" ne, Is .aa' arc uy,ng eacn moment,-'or the
.''o o' sn ns'!vidus' oe,ng Is MADE OF the
~ 80 .s"a o ass ''s sS''s!'as = pap
~ - 1 Iug same lnanner' uom tne Tor
- sss ssnna u .uoss, snee'ysel Vegetables
~ o 'I ,S". ~.' ..' $50. ooa'.uuA'y svaPoraung
.nu ."s' ~ sn eASe"' TAT sulPAsA,ng what
,'PPoss :" ',as'e day,
:.in. u""e' " noue'a.e sne' ln,ows nom
''o 'eAVo'' ".u o'ne, paris hea''y twenty
ounce; weight now enormous then
.hus' a ~ tue quanuty wn,eh escapes rom