\Con`ser*va"tion\, n. [L. conservatio: cf. F.
conservation.]
The act of preserving, guarding, or protecting; the keeping
(of a thing) in a safe or entire state; preservation.
      A step necessary for the conservation of Protestantism.
                                               --Hallam.
      A state without the means of some change is without the
      means of its conservation.               --Burke.
{Conservation of areas} (Astron.), the principle that the
   radius vector drawn from a planet to the sun sweeps over
   equal areas in equal times.
{Conservation of energy}, or {Conservation of force} (Mech.),
   the principle that the total energy of any material system
   is a quantity which can neither be increased nor
   diminished by any action between the parts of the system,
   though it may be transformed into any of the forms of
   which energy is susceptible. --Clerk Maxwell.