The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1847-01-28
From the New York Sun.
OF CHEMICAL sCrrNcr

Man is AT his birth the most helpless nf Gre,
lures. tie ~ IN capacity feeble at his birth
man the meaner creature for il has instinct.
~h'"h almost Immediately prompts il tn seek the
necessities ut its existence. Man is almost en-
,'r'ly destitute Of this aid. Slowly and gradual
" ne awakes 10 the realities Of life. Possessed
q" faculties which strengthen in their DEVELOPMENT
and use. he becomes mighty. even in his weak.
ness. The mere animal seeks its food where i,
IL most abundant. and when the supply fails.
heiakes itself to other parts. With man the case
u different. He is not of choice a miyra,ury
being. Home and Preside virtues" are his
comf"rt. and having built up community wheo
MS resources fail. he resorts tn science and or.
aes substitutes for the failing supply. The skill
inl artisan builds mp beautiful forms and useful
utensils jbut the chemist alone exercises the ere
awe power. In the infancy Of a nation. the
woods supply the great demand for fuel; bn, this
resource must soon fail. The chemist detects ,b.
necessary Ingredient in wood that renders i, so
valuable as fuel. discovers that the dark rocky
substance considered useless contains the same
property. Thus the anxiety of millions is allayed
for coal now supplants the use of wood. The
farmer monrns over his land, which once gave
such cheering aspect with golden grain, hut
which nav yields but scanty return Tor his Ia.
h"r II is mystery. The chemist analyzes the
grain. he finds what are their ingredients. and
logically argues that they must be derived from
nt e'I'"' WI ar "r ho'h, directly or by a change
ut their molecular cpnStitutiun II is only neres
sary to know If this material exist in the sources
on which the plant feeds. This dime, what an
pears land curse Ia the husbandnan seems bu,
necessary result of natural law tn the philoso-
pher. He finds in the constitution uf grain
| large demand is made on phosphate of lime which
must be drawn up by the plant from the soil in
which 1t grows. Now the annual consumption of
this Indispensable ingredient in the wheat plan,
in shn n fail NJ
farmer that this very ingredient in grain is CON
snIned In the support of the bony structure of the
animal system, and if he will sow his land with
| ground bnnes, it will Immediately be restored To
| ITS former state. II is done and rich harvest is
the reward. England, once considered nexhaus.
'inle In her wealth of coal. begins tn fear for the
result. We believe. however, that hydrogen
which forms no small part in the composition of
bl,nmlnous coal, will yet he obtained by the in
ventlon of cheap process for the decnm position
OF water. and which by some philosophical ar
| rangement will yield prndgous heat and with
'he ADDITION OF some reSnons substance may bnth
warm and light up apartment The very
rapid Increase of population the countries of the
old world must extort from the scientific some
mode. not for the preparation merely. but actually
the creation of f,od. To support organized life.
what is necessary? Vegetable and animal mat
Ter. Now take the mnst popular article on which
we depend-bread The chemist avs that wheat
Hour has two leading paris--,he nirogennus and
The non heterogeneous. One contains Nitrogen and
The other does not; or IN other words, the parts
are starch and glutin. Each has its functions 10
perform in the support of life--the one keeps M
the respiration. and the other goes to form the
animal portion of The system, and without the aid
OF both, life cannot exist. Chemistry is perfectly
familiar at the present time with these Ingredients
IL can make each Of them, and by union of both
In The ratlo which nature fllows, substance is
created which will support animal life. Sawdus,
mas oeen converted into gnnpowder, and the world
may rely upon il, that if needn't it will not be
long betnre the most foreign substances will be
changed by chemical action, So that the stomach
Will receive from them due nourishment, and the
palate not he offended. Chemical science ia a
boon which alone in future time shall enable hui
manly to live. and be happy in its existence.