Another want is that of quenching our ‹thirst›, and it is more or less satisfied by Nature, in as far as she furnishes us with water, more or less pure, abundant, and within reach; and Labour concurs in as far as it becomes necessary to bring water from a greater distance, to filter it, or to obviate its scarcity by constructing wells and cisterns. The liberality of Nature towards us in regard to ‹food› is by no means uniform; for who will maintain, that the labour to be furnished is the same when the land is fertile, or when it is sterile, when the forest abounds with game, the river with fish, or in the opposite cases? As regards ‹lighting›, human labour has certainly less to do when the night is short than when it is long. I dare not lay it down as an absolute rule, but it appears to me that in proportion as we rise in the scale of wants, the co-operation of Nature is lessened, and leaves us more room for the exercise of our faculties. The painter, the sculptor, and the author even, are forced to avail themselves of materials and instruments which Nature alone [p087] furnishes, but from their own genius is derived all that makes the charm, the merit, the utility, and the value of their works. ‹To learn› is a want which the well-directed exercise of our faculties almost alone can satisfy. Yet here ‹Nature› assists, by presenting to us in divers degrees objects of observation and comparison. With an equal amount of application, may not botany, geology, or natural history, make everywhere equal progress? It would be superfluous to cite other examples. We have already shown undeniably that Nature gives us the means of satisfaction, in placing at our disposal things possessed of higher or lower degrees of ‹utility› (I use the word in its etymological sense, as indicating the ‹property of serving›, of being ‹useful›). In many cases, in almost every case, labour must contribute, to a certain extent, in rendering this ‹utility› complete; and we can easily comprehend that the part which labour has to perform is greater or less in proportion as Nature had previously advanced the operation in a less or greater degree. We may then lay down these two formulas: 1. ‹Utility is communicated sometimes by Nature alone, sometimes by Labour alone, but almost always by the co-operation of both›. 2. ‹To bring anything to its highest degree of› «UTILITY», ‹the action of Labour is in an inverse ratio to the action of Nature›.