Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-09-18
THE ECONOMY OF NATURE.

In the great universe, to whatever part of it we
turn, one controlling principle is ever apparent,
one sentiment seems to pervadc the whole-econo.
my and 30 forcibly does this strike the attention
OF every one Of us, that we have expressed it in n
prOverb ana use 1t in n motto, Waste not, want
not" The flowers are ever ready to receive the
dcw'dr0ps, and when they have done with them,
the morning sun ovaporatos and keeps them in
the clouds ready Tor use again. Matter is indies.
tructible, aud although we can by fire and other
means render 1t invisible, what is our surprise to
find That it has resumed II gaseous form, aud tho
piece OF charcoal that VIC burned is now floating
in the room, mixed with the atmos phere Wa are
breathing. Matter is ever changing. The forces
OF nature which we call chemical, gravity, cleo.
tricity, light, heat, and life are uhceasingly effect
ing the trausmutation Of substances thus, for
example, ages long since rolled away, myriads of
little creatures with shells not larger than q pins
head, acted as the scavengers Of the ocean, they
died and sank to the bottom OF the deep, and to.
day we find their shells as chalk aud limestone all
over the world. Naturalists tell US that on the
sca'bottom of the Gulf Of Mexico, aud in various
parts of the Gulf Stream, there are limestone beds
being formed by the modern representatives Of
ancient FOraminycra.
The lovely tints that deck the leaves in the fall
and give to our autumnal scenery such a distinct.
i've beauty. is due TO some bed Of iron ore, which
has lain hidden beneath the rocks for centuries.
Some little brook first found it out, and carrying it
AWAY III Ny Dlt, mas spread IL over the SOL, grad
ualIy the iron crumbles, and the winds dispense it,
the trees feed upon it, and in the autumn it shows
chat 1T is there, by the color Of the leaves. When
trees shall have ~decayed, and what is now dry
land shall have been depressed and upheaved,
covered by the sea and scorched by the sun, who
knows but what that same iron may form q nodule
or ball in a bed of coal, and DO worked and smelt-
ed for the use Of man. All these changes work
together tremendously. All goes on in exact pro-
portions. No waste, no want
What is ones meat is another's poison" is an
other maxim which the economy. of nature teach
es, and one simple illustration will quickly make
1t plain. The solid portion Of living things, if we
except the skeleton, is carbon-charcoal. This
all animals must have in their food, and from the
FOOD the digestive organs take as much as is neces.
sary to make muscles, flesh and tissue, throwing
the rest away from the lungs as an invisible gas,
poisonous and deadly. When we for a moment
think Of the number Of beings who are every mo.
ment breathing into the common atmosphere such
vast quantities of this gas, and have been doing
it for centuries, we ask, How is it then we can
live y" In the quiet, still night when men and
animals sleep, the plants are %greedily and eager
ly absorbing all this carbonic acid, and with care
taking every particle of carbon for their own
nourishment, they throw off Us useless that which
is most necessary to the support of animal life
oxygen. So the proverb is illustrated, for what is
the poison of the animal is the food Of the
plant.
In this way, lessons may be learned by study
ing the workings of the natural forces, and by
initiating the economy of nature, we shall ever be
healthy, happy and CONTENT Sctenty fc Amert-
can.