Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1845-11-19

ed. lie obtained this gas BY exposing
quantity of pexoxide Of mercury TO The
action of the suns rays, concentrated
upon it by powerful lens. II present.
ly found,' says he, that air was expell
ed from this preparation of murcury
very rendily." Nitrous and nitric acid
muriaiic acid, and ammonia, wee also hi.
discoveries.
Pries,ley short lime after having dis
/. covered oxygen, ascertained that plant:
had the power of deconposing carbnnic
acid gas, and yitia,ed air. exhaled from
the lungs of animals. and noxious gases
arising from decumposed vegetable mat,
ter-renderng these exhalatious perfect.
y pure by appropriating the deeteriou:
atoms 10 their own organization, and
throwing Of The pure portion, which again
was 6l for respiration.
In l776. Cavendish presented TO the
Royal Society Of London, an essay on
infamable air. He describes i, as the
ligbtes, known substance. and that by
combustion with oxygen, wafer was the
only result; hence the term hydrogen
early applied TO this gas. Cavendish al.
so discovered the composition Of The
atmosphere and demonstrated very
clearly that the air is composed Of oxygen
and nitrogen, in state of mere mechani.
cal combination. He was led to this con-
clusion from the circumstance tha; in pass
ing currents OF electricity through com
mon air, he was enabled to generate nj
trous and nitric acid.
These beautiful experiments Of Caven
dish. laid the foundation for that mosl
useful Of all the branches of chemistry
mean analytic. and synthetic ctrmistry.
Scheele about the same time discovered
chlorine. This discovery of Scheel.. in
conjunction with The labors Of his eminent
contemporaries, contributed TO invest
chemistry with degree of interest ard
importance, which gave j. an entirely
new and distinct aspect, and an elevated
rank in natural science.
About the year 1856. Lavoisier, -Four
Tcroy, and their, associates in Paris, un-
derlook The celebrated. reform in The no.
,menciafure of chemistry; which being
improved upon by eminent successors.
has resulted in far greater perfection than.
Layoisier inferred that oxygen was the
universal, and only asidiying principle.
and by series of we'll conceived research.
es. he demonstrated the identi,y of char
coal and The diamond
The discovery Of tho chemical aWlu
ences Of electricity, daes an important
epoch in The history of chemistry. and is
one of the most fertile sources Of its re
cent progress. The first discoverer Of The
application of electricity to the bodies Of
recently killed animals, was made by
Galvani, an anatomist Of Bologna. who
lived about The year 1890 He observed
that by placing Two plates of different
metals upon portion of the flesh OF
frog. that spasmodic or convulsive con-
fractions were produced. From this dis
covery of Galvani, i; led philosophers to
The observance Of The great analogy be-
tween Galvanisn or electricity, and amer
cation Valla improved this form Of
electricity considerably; he invented the
Pile of Volta. and about the year 500 The
chemical po,ccrs of The Fotaic Pile was
observed in regard to The decomposition
of certain sails in solution, and waller, by
Mr.. Nicholson; these were. however.
more correctly investigated shortly after
wards. by the distinguished French chem
ist. NJ BrrZelius. Bu in the hands Of
Sir Humphrey Davy. the Vultair Pile led
to more important aud extraordinary re-
suits than TO any of his CO 'temporaries.-
Anterior to he lime Of Davy, the aka
lies aud alkaline carths, were regarded Ivy
chemists. as simple rr elementary bodies.
But Davy in 1907. succeeded in decom
posing these subslances,b by means Of pow
erful gavanic apparatus, and showed that
The basis Of these alkalies are metals,
which have powerful affinity for oxygen,
and united with it in definite proportions.
Davy rendered great service to chemistry
by his numerous discoveries. and also by
correcting the false opinion which prevail
ed, that oxygen was the only acidifying
principle-he demonstrated The existence
Of acids ,cithout oxygen, and laid The foun-
dalion of The theory of the hydrdcids.-
To these great researches OF Davy. he
added tha, of The discovery of the safety
lamp.
Anatyctic chemistry vas first scienlifi-
caly cultivated by N. Bregman, a Sw iss.
abou, The year 1865. This man ii is said,
died in consequence Of intense appiica-
ton TO his (avori,e study. He turned his
attention TO The analysis Of The minerals,
and several of the mineral waters. This
branch of chemistry was greatly extended
and improved by Klaprelh: who spent at
it his long and laborious life. Another
great name connected with chemical an
alysis, is Monsieur lie Docteur ValquelIn,
who originally was quite an obscure indi-
vidual. living in remote country village
of Normandy. He afterwards was en-
ployed in The Laboratory Of Fourcroy,
where he acquired great dexterIy in The
ordinary duties of his situation, and ulti-
malely became an expert and original
analyst. He arose 10 high emlnence as
chemist, and his important conIrlbutIons
and discoveries are now relieving many
diseases to which human flesh is heir 10.
The principal English analyIlcai chem
III Oil.