Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-07-25
so t5e 5ge 8dtigg, gottg Garoilrs.

CT AOhh Ill III, He IUSE61OTG Irl0u IS PROPER
ties on about 20 of his brethren, from the eff
fects of which several of the number died
From this fact, he called it A~ntimoiae, adverse
to Monks, The next names Of note which
We lind in tracing the history of Chemistry,
are Paracelsus and Van Helmont.. Contem-
porary with Van Helmont, was that illus
trlous genius Lord Bacon. This brings US to
the seventeenth century, and here, while we
pause to pay a tribute of respect and graft
tude to this great and justly celebrated Phil
osopher, how painful it is to. be obliged to
confess, that the b%rilliancy and excellence of
his philosophic character was furnished by
his conduct as a man. "But one sad losel
soils a name for ave." After the death Of
Lord Bacon, which happened in A&il, 1925,
In the Goth year of his age, we find the re-
cords of science assuming a brighter aspect
and we observe true knowledge arising like a
young giant, and shaking off those chains of
p%olemical learning with which it had so long
been bound. The seventeenth century was
extremely fertile in chemical productions,
and by the middle of it, many scientific in
vestigations are brought before US, and not a
few of these on thesshereless sea Of Uhemis-
try. Among these we find Knuckel, Lemery,
the elder, Brandt, of Hamburg, and the Ia
borious Glauber, of Amsterdam. 1t is to
this latter Chemist that we are indebted for
the production of Volatile Alkalie from bones;
the preparation of Sulphate of Ammonia,
which he calls his :" Secret Sal Ammonia :"
the production of blue yitriol the distilla-
tion of vinegar from wood and of Murratic,
Acid from a mixture Of common salt and Sui
phuric Acid ; and the extraction of the resi-
dual salt of this process, called after him
Glauber Salt. On the whole there is no au-
thor contemporary with Glauber, in whom
we find such abundant applications of mod
ern scientific improvements. In 1862 and
1865 the Royal Society of London and the
Royal Society of Paris, were established
Among the early members Of these Societies,
we find the names of Boyle and Hooke, in
England of Homberg, Geoffroy and the
two Lemerys, in France. To BOYLE and
Hooke, along with John Rey, q French ply
stefan, belong the honor Of first directing at
tention to the chemistry of the atmosphere,
in which the sagacity Of Hooke recognizes
the modern oxygen and identifies the same
gas in saltpetre. The next names of celebri-
ty which we find in pursuing our sketch, is
that of John Mayow. TO him belongs the
merit Of extending the views of Hooke in
relation to combustion. He it was who first
discovered and prepared Nitrogen from the
air, although he was not aware that this gas
was a new element. We have now arrived
at the middle of the seventeenth century, and
from this date up to the year 1857, we find
no new discoveries worthy of note. Let it
not be, however, supposed for q moment that
during this time the science Of chemistry
was in a dormant condition, for it was du.
ring this interval that one Of the most Vita
productions of chemistry was given to the
world namely, a table Of the equivalent
numbers of the elementary substances. This
Urnat YVOrk Ua norforO1nd hu Ror1oli1c -
Previous to Berzelius, we find also the names
of Sthal, Hales, Geoffroy, ,Gellert, Limbourg,
and Bergman; all these philosophers did a
great deal for chemical science, butgit was
only to the examination of the composition
and properties of bodies already discovered
that they devoted their attention. In 1857
however, a new impetus was given to chemi
-caIs science, by the discovery of Carbonit
Gas, or as it was them called, fxec
an, Gby DE-. Blacks Aperiod OF IS yearsinl
t~erVenes between this and the next diseoyerY
which was that of Nitrogen Gas as a simpls
substance. This discovery was made by DE
Rutherford, Of Edenburg, in the year l772
. Previous to this discovery, this gas appears
to have been COMPOUNDED with carbonic acid
but, though, like that acid, it ~extinguisheS
flame. Rutherford proved it to be a totally
distinct gas. Two years after this, viz, or
the LIST of August, IVA, another discovery
was made, before which all previous discov
cries sink into insignifcance. I refer to the
discovery of Oxygen Gas by Priestly. This
philosopher may we'll be called from this
discovery, not only the architect, but thu
builder, of the greater part Of this noble su
perstructure of Chemistry. From this dis
covery we date o new era, for by means o
this gas. Chemists nave been enabled to ex
plain the composition and properties of man,
substances which have long lain shroudet
In the mists of darkness and obscurity.-
The names which next require our notice, ar
Bergman and Scheele. Bergman was tn
first chemist who gave anything like preci
sion to Analytic Chemistry. Scheele dis
covered Oxygen Gas a short time after it hat
been reported on by Priestly, without bein,
aware of the previous discovery of this chem
list. Scheele enriched Mineral Chemistry b.
many valuable discoveries, and it was h
who first obtained bleaching gas" nov
called Chlorine. We now enter upon tn
nineteenth century, and here with its open
ing, another bright star appeared on tn
theatre of Chemistry. This was Sir Hum
phry Davy, a philosopher who may be regard
ed as the most distinguished of ne Ehglisl
Chemists. 1t is to him we are indebted 70
the safety lamp used in mining, and called af
ter him the Davy Lamp. He also gave US sew
eral new metals, the most important of whicl
were Potassium and Sodium. These he oh
tanned by ~decomposing the fixed alkalies thel
known wiz, Soda and Potash, by means Q
the great g~alyanic battery of the Royal Inst
tuition. The next researches of importanc
undertaken by Sir II. Davy, were those o.
bleaching gas, which he proved to be an ele
mentary body, and for which he propose
the name of Chlorine. At the same time, h
proved that muriatic acid was composed {
Chlorine and Hydrogen. Sir Humphre
continued to enrich science with his ~profoun
views and able experimental researches, ii
within a short time Of his death, which too
place in May, 1929, in the Sind year of h
age. Two other distinguished Chemists, viz
DIR. Wollaston and Vanquelin, were abou
this same time called to that "bourn frol
which no traveller returns" The loss
three such men as these within so short
period, and scarcely beyond the prime ofiif
! was a heavy calamity for the cause of scienc
!. But while we mourn for those distinguish
departed ones, let US be cheered by the +
membrance that many distinguished men y
J remain in the field of Chemical Science. 7
! prove this it is only necessary to mentiC
/ the names of Brand, Phillips, Faraday, al
Graham, in England; of Thompson, Chris
son, Gregory, Anderson and Penny, Of Sec
! land; of Kane, in Ireland; Gay, Lussa
Thenard and Dumas, in France and of NJ
scherlich, Woehler, We'll and Leibeg, in G.
many. Let us hope that these may be 10
spared TO us, and that every year they m