ties say it is; some not. All t iscertain is t too muc will kill you.
ties of ts can become more curious still whey are combined.
Oxygen and ance, are t combustion-friendly elements around,but put togetible er.
3Odder still in combination aresodium, one of t unstable of all elements, and c toxic. Drop asmall lump of pure sodium into ordinary er and it o kill.
Coriously rations forkilling microorganisms (it’s c is lethal.
C of c orld ar. And,as many a sore-eyed stest, even in exceedingly dilute form t appreciate it. Yet put ty elements toget do you get? Sodiumcable salt.
By and large, if an element doesn’t naturally find its o our systems—if it isn’tsoluble in er, say—end to be intolerant of it. Lead poisons us because o it until o fas into food vessels and pipes for plumbing. (Notincidentally, lead’s symbol is Pb, for tin plumbum, t of t to be. As o mention mercury, cadmium, and all trial pollutants inely dose ourselves) does not leave us a great deal of room for smirking. sdon’t occur naturally on Eartolerance for tend to beextremely toxic to us, as onium. Our tolerance for plutonium is zero: t going to make you to lie down.
I you a long o make a small point: a big part of t Earting is t o suit its conditions. is not t it is suitable to life but t it is suitable to our life—and may be t many of t make it so splendid to us—ioned Sun, doting Moon, sociable carbon, more magma tick at,and all t—seem splendid simply because t o count on. Noone can altogether say.
Otingclouds of ammonia. ted t t doesn’t ssgrinding plates or spe rats in apermanent nontectonic tranquility. Any visitors to Eart certainly, att, be bemused to find us living in an atmosprogen, a gassulkily disinclined to react ial to combustion t place fire stations t our cities to protect ourselves from its livelier effects.
But even if our visitors self is not combustible; it merely facilitates tion of ot as ible, eacime you lit a matco fla