Consumption and Its Treatment in All Its Forms (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: The Nature And Application Of The Cellular Principle. ALL the various forms of matter which exist have certain qualities, which may be divided into active and passive; oxygen being the most active, and carbon the most passive of them all. Oxygen, therefore, has the strongest affinity for carbon, and its combinations are the most intimate and difficult of decomposition of any yet known. Certain forms of matter of a generally passive character, under favorable circumstances, possess the quality essential to the formation of crystals. And it is a remarkable fact, that each matter, or even combination, has always and invariably the same crystal form peculiar to itself. The constant tendency of the active to pursue the passive, for combination with them, constitutes what, from a scientific point of view, is called life,? a tendency to which may be found in all, and every kind of matter. The various combinations which are taking place, and the compound substances that are in constant process of formation, have their origin in this principle. By the aid of science these combinations are analyzed, and the compound substances are thus decomposed into what is called elements, or elementary matter. Thus, by the light which science reveals, we gain some definite knowledge of the various properties and qualities of the different forms of matter, their relations to each other, and the results arising from their combination. As oxygen is the most active of all known substances, it is always ready, upon every occasion which offers, to act upon every other element, or combination of elements, with which it comes in contact. The opportunity for its doing so may exist in pressure, concussive motion, light, electricity, heat, or by a third element, or by a combination of elements. Any two elements...