Or common Coal, or Naphtha. Would to Heaven
That I were Phosphorus, and thou wert Lime,
And we of Lime composed a Phosphuret!
I’d be content to be Sulphuric Acid,
So that thou might be Soda; in that case
We should be Glauber’s Salt. Wert thou Magnesia
Instead, we’d form the salt that’s named from Epsom.
Could’st thou Potassa be, I, Aquafortis,
Our happy union should be that compound form,
Nitrate of Potash,—otherwise Saltpetre.