Why attempt to enumerate the extraordinary roles they play on earth and in the universe?
Every plant would wither, every life would perish, without Oxygen; this element may be truly called the breath of life.
The creation of God is dependent on these elements, because were it not for man God would never have been.
The ark, made of wood, was composed of them. The figure of Christ, and the Virgin Mary, as she is called, as well as all the saints, were and are composed of Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, etc. We know that these chemical elements enter into the composition of all things in nature—mineral, vegetable, animal.
We also may be absolutely certain that no more elements exist now, at this present time, than existed ten, twenty, or one thousand million of years ago.
Chemical elementary substances have no greater relative weight towards one another, nor a greater volume, at this present time than they had at any time since the existence of this earth. The total weight of all elements that enter into the formation of this terrestrial globe has never varied, whether they were in solid, fluid, or gaseous state.
The law of gravitation has always existed.
Elements that enter into the formation of organic beings, vegetable or animal, must in due time undergo decomposition and return to the same elements of which they were composed.
The chemical action has always been the same. All substances are subject to chemical action when exposed to the primary elements, oxygen and hydrogen especially.
An element can never be annihilated.