p. 10 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 10. (3/5/1902)

THE STUDY OF CHEMISTRY.

By Frederick Griggs

THERE is but one source of force or power in the world, and that is God. Force, however, manifests itself in many different ways, but all these may be grouped into two; namely, physical and chemical, each force producing its corresponding change. In physical changes no new thing is formed. When chemical changes take place, however, some new substance is the result. Take, for instance, the formation of alcohol. Now there is no alcohol in an apple; but reduce it to pulp, press the juice through a muslin or cheese-cloth, and bottle it. In a little while we have what is termed “hard cider.” This is due to the fact that fermentation has set up, and alcohol is the result. Here is a new substance. Through the process of distillation, this alcohol can be drawn off and separated entirely from the cider. After alcoholic fermentation has taken place in the cider, there is a souring or changing of the cider to vinegar. This is due to the formation of still another substance called acetic acid. Now the force which is at work producing these chemical changes from the sweet juice of the apple to the alcohol, and then to acetic acid, is chemical force, or chemism, but it is simply the direct result of a wonderful law which God is manifesting in nature. It may be very rightfully doubted as to whether God originally designed that this fermentation resulting in alcohol and acetic acid should ever take place. They are certainly unnecessary substances for a healthy individual to use in any way; and it is just such individuals that the Lord designs His children to be. It is quite safe to say also that many chemical laws and changes which men consider so valuable at the present time, and which indeed are valuable, would be of no benefit to man, were it not for the present conditions resulting from sin.

There is another change which may be noted quite easily as having taken place in the juice of the apple. Into a jar half full of this fermented juice lower a match or a taper. It will be noted that it behaves very differently from what it does in pure air. Now take two bottles. Partly fill one with hard cider, and the other with lime-water. Cork each. Connect these bottles with a bent glass tube, passing through the corks of each. Thus there will be forced some of the gas arising from the hard cider into the bottle of lime-water. Note the changes in the lime-water. The tests with the flame and the lime-water indicate clearly that carbonic acid gas has been formed as the result of the decomposition or change in the juice of the apple.

I want to suggest still another chemical change which can be easily shown. Coarsely powder a lump of soft coal, and half fill a common clay pipe. Cover the mouth of the bowl with plaster of Paris or soft clay, and place on some support over a lamp with the stem projecting upward. Note the odor which comes from the stem of the pipe, and from time to time apply a lighted match. After a time it will be noted that there is an odor arising, and a gas is sent forth which can be lighted. When the flame has died out, remove the pipe from the lamp and allow it to cool. Then remove the clay from the mouth of the pipe and examine the contents. It will be noted that a change has taken place in the coal. It is a chemical change. It is in a very similar manner to this that coke is manufactured on a very large scale, and that gas, which is used in our houses and our cities, is obtained. Very large ovens are constructed, lined with fire-brick. There is one opening in the top through which the oven is filled, and another at the side through which the coke is withdrawn. After the coal has burned for several hours, both openings are closed, and the burning is completed without contact with the air. The heat of the oven is now sufficient to start the burning without resorting to any other means. The gas thus set free passes through pipes into a large retort. A country blacksmith often makes his own coke on the open forge, but it is neither so easily done nor so well made as in a closed oven. Not only is the gas thus drawn off from the coal, but by different processes many other chemical changes take place, and many valuable substances can thus be obtained from the coal.

Now, as I have said above, all these changes are chemical changes. This matter undergoing these changes forms new compounds or substances. These changes are indeed very wonderful and oftentimes quite inexplicable. Everything in the world is composed of about 70 elements. By an element we mean a substance that can not undergo any further change by any chemical process now known. There is little doubt but that some substances that are now called elements may yet be further changed, and found to be divisible into other elements; but the science of chemistry has developed but this number. Some of these elements may be mentioned, such as carbon, gold, iodine, iron, lead, silicon, silver, arsenic, oxygen, and nitrogen. These are common elements with which nearly all are more or less acquainted.

The ancients were acquainted with only seven elements,—gold, silver, copper, iron, mercury, lead, and tin. They dedicated these to the heavenly bodies. That is, silver was dedicated to the moon, or Luna. It is in this way that some names of chemical compounds which we now have originated. For instance, nitrate of silver is still called lunar caustic.

One of the most wonderful laws of chemical action is the law of definite proportion. When we examine any chemical compound such as water, which consists of hydrogen and oxygen, or common salt, which consists of the elements of sodium and chlorine, we find that the compound always contains the same elements in exactly the same proportions. Water always contains 88.89% of oxygen and 11.11% of hydrogen, never changing. Common salt always contains 39.32% sodium and 60.68% chlorine.

Not only is this law wonderful, but another law quite as marked is that by which the same elements may enter into composition, but in very slightly different proportions, and form entirely different substances. For instance, grape sugar contains carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in definite proportions; but when we change the quantity of these elements only a slight amount, starch is produced. How it can be that exactly the same elements varied in the slightest degree, or stranger still, how the same elements in exactly the same proportions, can produce entirely different substances, can be known only to the Creator of all things.

The last fifty years has revealed more to mankind of the wonderful laws of chemistry than perhaps all time past so far as we now know. In this there is another evidence of the wonderful love of our Heavenly Father. Chemical laws have revealed many valuable things in medical science. If it were not for the remedial assistance which can be rendered to the human race, it would very quickly perish from the earth, so weakened has it become. But as the race have been growing weaker through sin, God has provided them some way of still existing. Thus is shown His marvelous forbearance and love to His erring children.

FREDERICK GRIGGS.

So. Lancaster, Mass.

THE KINGDOM OF LOVE.

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

In the dawn of the day, when the sea and the earth Reflected the sunrise above, I set forth with a heart full of courage and mirth To seek for the Kingdom of Love I asked of a poet I met on the way Which cross-road would lead me aright, And he said, “Follow me and ere long you shall see It's glittering turrets of light.”

And soon in the distance a city shone fair. “Look yonder!” he said, “how it gleams!” But alas for the hopes that were doomed to despair! It was only the “Kingdom of Dreams.”

Then the next man I asked was a gay cavalier, And he said, “Follow me, follow me,” And with laughter and song we went speeding along By the shores of Life's beautiful sea.

Then we came to a valley more tropical far Than the wonderful Vale of Cashmere; And I saw from a bower a face like a flower Smile out on the gay cavalier. And he said, “We have come to humanity's goal; Here love and delight are intense.” But alas and alas for the hopes of my soul! It was only the “Kingdom of Sense.”

As I journeyed more slowly, I met on the road A coach with retainers behind; And they said, “Follow me, for our lady's abode Belongs to that realm, you will find.” 'Twas a grand dame of fashion, a newly made bride, I followed encouraged and bold; But my hopes died away like the last gleams of day, For we came to the “Kingdom of Gold.”

At the door of a cottage I asked a fair maid. “I have heard of that realm,” she replied; “But my feet never roam... 'cross the 'Kingdom of Home.” So I know not the way,” and she sighed. I looked on the cottage; how restful it seemed! And the maid was as fair as a dove. Great light glorified my soul as I cried, “Why, home is the 'Kingdom of Love!'”

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

SENSITIVE TO SLIGHTS

By Caroline Benedict Burrell

[Caroline Benedict Burrell, in the Congregationalist.]

If one has a disposition to see slights, that alone is reason enough for an unhappy life. If we are loving, we shall be loved; and if we are cold and self-absorbed, we shall be let alone; while if we look for slights and merit them, we shall find them as thick as leaves in Vallambrosa. Thackeray’s words, “Life is a mirror and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face,” ought to be written on the walls of our nurseries and our school-houses.

If you have any degree of super-sensitiveness, get rid of it at all cost. Call it by its right name—morbidness, foolishness. Don’t flatter yourself that you are made of finer clay than other people, and feel more deeply than others do, and so you somehow ought to have greater consideration shown you. Insist to yourself that you imagine slights where there are none. Get strong, physically and morally, and banish the specters.

But are there not real slights sometimes? Sometimes—possibly—let us admit it with hesitation; but they are not worth a pang. Recall the oft-quoted words of the wife of the Vicar of Wakefield to her daughters: “Hold up your heads, girls. Handsome is that handsome does!” One’s self-respect should be one’s shield. If our intentions are “handsome”—kindly, simple, sincere—we can hold up our heads with such a rightful dignity that we shall see no slights, because there will be none to see.

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THE BOY THAT LOVES HIS MOTHER.

Of all the love affairs in the world, none can surpass the true love of the big boy for his mother. It is pure and noble, honorable in the highest degree to both. I do not mean merely a dutiful affection. I mean a love which makes a boy gallant and courteous to his mother, saying to everybody plainly that he is fairly in love with her. Next to the love of a husband, nothing so crowns a woman's life with honor as this second love, this devotion of a son to her. And I never yet knew a boy to “turn out” badly who began by falling in love with his mother. Any man may fall in love with a fresh-faced girl, and the man who is gallant with the girl may cruelly neglect the worn and weary wife. But the boy who is a lover of his mother in her middle age is a true knight who will love his wife as much in the sere-leaved autumn as he did in the daisied springtime.—Anon.

LOAD THEM UP.

NOTICING over the chemist’s table a magnet which hung loaded with a collection of various tools and weights, I asked “What is the magnet doing?”

“I am loading it up,” the chemist answered. “It has been lying on the table, doing nothing and losing its power, so now I am giving it something to do a little more every morning, and it’s gaining, it’s growing stronger every day,” and he added a small file to the clump attached to the magnet.

“That’s the way,” he continued, “God makes magnets and men. If they loaf around and do nothing, they can’t do anything; they lose their force. But give them some work, and they’ll soon be good for more than you ever dreamed they could do. Magnetic power and muscles are developed by something to do; yes, and brains and souls of men. Some of those who are doing hard work and bearing heavy burdens will be doing grand things for the Master in His heavenly kingdom through the eternal years.”—Wellspring.

THE BROOM MUST GO.

The broom must go! A French hygienic journal states that in Tunis the mortality from tuberculosis is 11.3 per thousand among the Arabs and only .75 per thousand among the Jews, who lead pretty much the same life as the Arabs except that they daily clean all their furniture with moist cloths and never stir up the germ-infected dust with brooms.

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“COME OVER AND HELP US.”

By J. E. Fulton

We are not going to ask just now for more missionaries, altho we need them. There would be little use to send missionaries when our mission is so weak financially. But we have enterprises under way that need your help. If your hearts are in the work being carried on for the island people, send in some money to help this work along. It will be in vain for us to sing and pray about the preaching of the Third Angel’s Message to all the world in this generation, if we do no more than sing and pray. As General Booth said, it would be foolish to try to save a shipwrecked crew by having a fine choir of voices stand on the beach, and sing,—

“Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying.”

We may pride ourselves that we are doing more than we were a few years ago; but are we doing enough to save the millions who are in need of the help we can give them? A short time ago in one part of the home-field we were giving only a cent per week per member to advance the work in foreign fields. How paltry the sum! To quote a rather homely illustration used by another, a good hen devoted to missions would be better. Eggs in Fiji are worth three cents each, and no doubt they are worth at least one cent each almost everywhere. Now it is a very poor hen that lays only one egg per week. Such a fowl would soon lose her life because of her uselessness. How long-suffering is our God, who spares the lives of those who profess to love Him with all their hearts, and sing,—

“Take my silver and my gold, Not a mite would I withhold.”

and then only give such a trifle to save the lost! What marvelous ingratitude for those who could easily give dollars where they give dimes.

Let us make this matter a business. Sit down, and figure out how God has prospered you. Then note the millions unwarned of a soon-coming Saviour, and give not from impulse simply, but because it is our business to give. Christ said, “Go;” He said, “Give;” and He said, “Work.” We are His servants, and must do His bidding. If you are farmers, give a corner of the farm to the Lord for foreign missions, and cultivate that corner well. If you are raising cattle and horses, rear a good colt or calf for this needy work. How we wish we might have a good horse to work on our little mission farm! Sisters, give the eggs of a good laying hen or two to the cause of foreign missions, and don’t forget to feed the fowls some wheat or other good food, so that they may lay well and long. How cheering to the toiling missionary would be the cackle of such hens!—much more so than songs and prayers with no “do” in them.

Now in Fiji we are needing an oil-launch. We have lost our sailboat and can not do without some boat. Australia is helping us some; but we shall need perhaps more than we shall get from that quarter. If we get too much for a launch, we will devote it to literature. We wish very much to get Sister White’s “Christ our Saviour” translated and printed in Fijian. I am satisfied that some of the readers of the SIGNS wish to aid us. We understand that some have already sent in to the SIGNS office some money for us. In behalf of the work here, we thank you. Can some others help us? J. E. FULTON.

A LIFE SAVED BY A HYMN.

WHILE laboring as missionary in India, Rev. E. P. Scott observed a wild-looking man upon the street. He made inquiry, and found that the uncouth individual was a member of one of the inland tribes that lived away in the mountain districts, and came down once a year to trade. He found that the Gospel had never been preached to them, and that it was very hazardous to venture among them because of their murderous propensities. He was stirred with an earnest desire to break to them the Bread of Life, so he packed his valise, took his violin (with which he was accustomed to sing), and started in the direction of the mountains. For two days he traveled, scarcely meeting a human being, until at last he found himself in the mountains and suddenly surrounded by a crowd of savages. Every spear was pointed at his heart. He expected that moment would be his last. Not knowing of any other resource, he tried the power of singing the name of Jesus to them. Drawing forth his violin, he began with closed eyes to sing and to play, “All hail the power of Jesus’ name!” Being afraid to open his eyes, he sang on till the third verse, and while singing the stanza, “Let every kindred, every tribe,” he opened his eyes to see what they were going to do, when lo! the spears had dropped from their hands, and the big tears were falling from their eyes! They invited him to their homes, and he spent two and a half years among them. His labors were so richly rewarded that when he was compelled to leave them because of impaired health, and return to his native country, they followed him for thirty miles. “O missionary,” they said, “come back to us again!” There are tribes beyond that never heard the Gospel. He could not resist their entreaties. After a short absence, he went back again to his labors, which he continued among them until his death.—Anon.

A HYMN OF TURNING.

By Amos R. Wells

[Amos R. Wells, in Christian Advocate.]

GOD of law, whose mighty form Rears the mountain, sways the storm, Bowed beneath Thy just decree, Whither shall I turn from Thee?

I will turn, O Crucified, To the refuge of Thy side; From my sins that bleed and burn, To Thy bleeding cross I turn.

I have tested human skill, Human love, and human will, All devices of the brain, Reason, honor—all are vain.

From myself with all its woes, Shameful prey of shameful foes, Lo, I turn—how eagerly!— Christ, my better self, to Thee.

Field and forest, sea and air, All that is earth very fair; Keen ambition’s crafty art Binds the world upon my heart.

But in Thee, O Christ! I find All ennoblings of the mind; Fount of all for which I yearn, Christ, O Christ, to Thee I turn.

PRODUCTIONS OF FIJI.

By J. E. Fulton

ALL the ordinary productions of tropical climes flourish in the Fiji Group. Among the larger trees are the well-known coconut, the breadfruit, and the ivory-nut tree, several varieties of palm, a species of pine called dakua, much the same as the kauri of New Zealand. There are a number of varieties of bananas, several varieties of the breadfruit, and perhaps three or four of the coconut. The value of the annual product of the breadfruit and coconut trees is very great; they furnish the native food, and from them also he obtains materials for his habitation. Besides the ordinary preparation of the breadfruit, the natives scrape off the rind, and pack it in earthen jars or bury it in pits, where it ferments, and forms a mass similar in appearance to cheese. This is called mandrai, a word used to designate bread. Another kind of mandrai is made of bananas in much the same manner. The natives say that this bread will keep for years; we would not doubt their word upon this point. Who ever heard of a bad egg spoiling?

Of edible roots there is a great number. The ones best known are the taro, yam, kawai, and sweet potato. There is a great abundance of wild roots in the mountains, which are used in times of scarcity. We have often heard the natives remark that the wild yams were planted by the Lord.

The climate is such that almost all kinds of vegetation common to the tropics is encouraged. Rains are common, especially along the mountain ranges, and these showers are driven by the winds over the valleys, upon which they discharge their refreshing tribute. Some of the mountains are four or five thousand feet high. Here the climate is much cooler. Some of the government officials have summer residences in the mountains. Unlike Hawaii, the very summits are covered here with a dense growth of trees and shrubs. Numerous streams and rivulets have their rise in these mountains, and, winding like threads of silver down through the ravines between banks of foliage, finally mingle their crystal waters with the deep-green sea.

Once these forests were filled with shouts from cruel warriors, and the air was polluted with the smoke of human sacrifices. Now, many have turned from darkness to light, and instead of the shout of the savage is heard songs of praise to God.

J. E. FULTON.

TRUSTING MAN AND CHRIST.

The foreman of a factory became anxious about his soul. He was directed to Christ as the sinner's only refuge, but it seemed without result. At last his master wrote him a note, asking him to come to him at his office.

When he came into his room, his master inquired, "Do you wish to see me, James?"

James was confounded, and, holding up the note, said, "The letter! You sent for me, sir."

"O," said his master, "you believed that I wanted to see you, and when I sent you the message you came at once?"

"Surely, sir," replied James.

"Well, see, here is another letter sending for you by One equally in earnest," said his master, holding up a slip of paper with some texts of Scripture on it.

James took the paper, and began to read slowly: "Come—unto—Me,—all—ye—that—labor—and—are heavy-laden,—and—I—will—give—you—rest." His lips quivered, his eyes filled with tears, and likely to choke with emotion, he grasped his large red handkerchief, with which he covered his face, and there he stood for a few moments, not knowing what to do. At length he inquired, "Am I just to believe that in the same way I believed your letter?"

"Just in the same way," rejoined his master. "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater."

This expedient was owned of God in setting James at liberty. He was a happy believer that very night.

—Selected.

OUR WORK AND WORKERS.

A LETTER in the Bulletin reports the addition of two members to the church at Grinnell, Iowa.

PREPARATIONS are being made for a city mission in Fort Worth, Texas. Brother O. Glass has the work in hand, and would appreciate any practical help.

THE REAPER reports that a Sabbath-school of about twenty members has been organized, and a good work is being done with publications, at Westlake, Idaho.

THE REPORTER states that our Hygienic Café at Madison, Wis., “is becoming very popular with the university students, and is giving general satisfaction to the public.”

ON the 7th ult., Brother H. W. Reed attended the quarterly-meeting at Birnamwood, Wis., and besides the election of officers, two persons were added to the church.

FROM the Industrial Educator we learn that a new church of twenty members has been organized at Avinger, Cass County, Texas. Already they are maintaining a good church-school.

BROTHER M. C. STURDEVANT, a well-known laborer in the Southern field, has decided to go to Matabele Land, South Africa, to help supply the want of laborers in that needy land.

THE Helping Hand Mission at Spokane, Wash., has become in part a medical mission, having a free dispensary and regular days when Dr. Leadsworth, of the Mount View Sanitarium, gives free help to the poor.

THE Keystone Gleaner says that Dr. John Eccles, well known in Pennsylvania a few years ago, died, January 18, in Colombia, South America, where he and his wife have been laboring as self-supporting missionaries.

THE Workers’ Bulletin notes the receipt of a letter from Brother John Hoffman, of Borga, Finland, in which he says they had just had a canvassers’ institute, from which fourteen workers had gone forth with the printed page.

BROTHER ENRIQUE BALADA, our Spanish minister, began labor in Callao, Peru, some months ago, and gathered in a few souls, among them a missionary of twenty-two years’ standing, named Signor Billasol, who is now assisting Brother Balada.

TWO OF OUR missionaries to Chile, Brethren G. H. Baber and T. H. Davis, recently returned to the United States. Brother Baber had been six years away from his family, who reside in Illinois, and Brother Davis, who has been absent seven years, returned on account of ill health.

JANUARY 26, a new church was dedicated at Hildebran, N. C. Brother J. O. Johnston preached the sermon and Brother J. E. White offered the dedicatory prayer. The other public laborers present were Brethren D. T. Shireman (pastor), F. W. Halladay, S. Brownsberger, and R. T. Nash. The building was dedicated free from debt.

BROTHER J. B. COGSWELL, a self-supporting missionary who now resides in Minneapolis, Minn., writes that he uses regularly fifty to sixty copies of the SIGNS, twenty copies of the Sentinel, besides several copies of the Instructor, Little Friend, Review and Herald, tracts, etc. To this he adds, “God bless the SIGNS; it is a great missionary.”

ON the fifth of February, Brother C. E. Leland and family sailed from San Francisco for Hilo, H. T., to engage in missionary work. He goes with the indorsement of the Pacific Union Conference, and was ordained to the Gospel ministry in this city just before starting. Brother J. N. Loughborough offered the ordination prayer, and Brother J. O. Corliss gave the charge. Brethren M. H. Brown and W. S. Sadler also took part in the service.

THE Union Record, of Australia, relates that one of our book agents in New Zealand met an old lady who had been keeping the Sabbath alone for five years. She had been convinced of this duty by reading our Melbourne paper, the Bible Echo, which some one had sent to her. When her friends ridicule her, she tells them her Sabbath-keeping is a contract between her and the Lord, and she enjoys a better spiritual feast on that day than on any other.

A GENTLEMAN writing to our branch office in Kansas City, Mo., for some literature, adds: “I am a life-long Baptist, and only two months ago my attention was called to the Sabbath question. For my life I can not find where our Saviour, or the apostles, or any of the early churches kept the first day of the week as the Sabbath, nor any account of the change of the Sabbath excepting by the Catholic Church. So I have kept the last four seventh days for the Sabbath.”

BRO. A. G. DANIELLS, president of the General Conference, arrived in this city from Battle Creek, Mich., on the 23d inst. He spoke in the church in the afternoon. On Wednesday evening he started, with the company of delegates and others, to Portland, Oregon, to attend the annual session of the Pacific Union Conference. His talk in this city was full of encouragement and bright prospect for progress in the work.

A FAINT idea of what the faithful book-canvassing evangelist sometimes has to endure in certain regions, is told in the Reaper by Brother Fee, who writes from Burns, Oregon. He says: “Two weeks ago and a little more, I was wandering in a blizzard and sleeping out in my wagon with the temperature ranging from 13 to 24 degrees below zero for several days. But now the mud and water have driven me into shelter for a while.” However, he sent in a good order for books.

THE California delegation, accompanied by some brethren from other parts, en route to the Pacific Union Conference at Portland, Oregon, commencing the 27th ult., secured the exclusive control of a modern sixteen-section tourist sleeping car, which left Oakland the night of the 26th. The following named persons composed the company: W. T. Knox, A. G. Daniells, A. T. Jones, J. N. Loughborough, J. O. Corliss, W. C. White, H. G. Thurston, M. H. Brown, E. R. Palmer, M. E. Cady, Dr. David Paulson, Dr. A. N. Loper, E. R. Albrecht, E. A. Chapman, J. J. Ireland, C. H. Jones, W. V. Sample, A. J. Bourdeau, A. Boeker, E. G. Fulton, C. E. Frisbie, H. W. Rose, H. H. Haynes and wife, Mrs. C. R. King, Mrs. J. Gotzian, Miss Edith King, and Mrs. Jasperson.

THE Workers’ record of the 19th ult. has the following extract from a letter written by Brother R. C. Porter, of St. Louis:—

Last Friday and Sabbath the newspapers came out with a flaming advertisement of three business men, who, by studying the Bible, had concluded that the seventh day was the Sabbath, and had applied to the court for a legal incorporation as a “Modern Sabbatarian Society.” I went down Sabbath afternoon to call on them, but the man I went to see was not in his office. Having other engagements for Sunday and Monday, Brother Gellert (our German minister in St. Louis) called on them Monday morning. He found that all spoke the German as well as the English. They were surprised to find there were any Christian Sabbath-keepers in the world. They supposed they were founding a new sect. They say there are others interested. They promised to attend our next Sabbath service. We await with interest our further acquaintance with them.

Continue reading: RELIGIONS OF THE CHRISTLESS NATIONS