New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-09-22
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
SCIENCE IN THE HOUSEHOLD.


abors in increasing the efficiency, convenience and
economy Of the Indispensable processes Of the
| household hold a distinguished rank. His exam
pie gavea powerful impulse 20 the csuse OF popular
! science, and followed up with energy and sense BY
the celebrated Count Rumford, has prepared the
way for the services Of later philosophers, who, in
the trae ,plr,t ef the Bacconan method, have ap-
pied the forces Of nature to the of practical
fe.
Mr.. Youmsns is an eminent representative OF this
school Of ply steal iDquirer,. He possesses gen.
uine love Of science for its sake; he is ardent
in the investigation Of theory as hint for expert
meht; be is siDgularly lucid in his exposition of
first principles; but the application of discovery to
the common purposes Of life is bis favorite pursuit
In the present volume, he has embodied the fiuits
Of profound and extensive studies. He has brought
the subject up to the latest dates Of Investigation,
combining his own knowledge with the massive
stores Of his predecessors. OF course, in work
of this kind, originality is less the aim, than accu
racy and completeness But Mr.. YoumaDs always
gives the stamp Of hs own mind 10 the information
which he communicates. His manner is as indl-
yIdual as il is attractive He ia remarkable for the
neatness and compact brevity Of his statements,
though he never sacrifices lucidity TO his love OF
compression. His method is pervaded by healthy
common sense. He lnOws what ought to be said
on the point under discussion, be knows how to say
it. and more than ALL having said the right thing,
re knows how to stop. His illustrations are apt
and forcible. His examples are taken from the
line Of every. dsy experience, and hence make
deep impression on the mass of readers. Hiswork
is intended for a manual of education, as well as
book of reference for adult students. But on this
point his own remarks are so appropriate that we
must give them liberal space in our columns.
When work is presented, claiming place in sys-
tmatc course Of school study, two questions at once
arise in the mind of the discriminating educator: hrst
what is the nature, rank, and value OF the knowedge
il impars? and second what will be its general irhu-
ence upon the mind of the student In this twofod
ction there are some thoughts TO which we So
lict the readers earnest and consderate attention
The present volume has been prepared under a con-
yicton that the knowledge 1t communicates Is INST IN
the order of importance among things to be considered
by rational and civilized people. Every mans
proper mansiOn.hous and home, says Sir Henry
Woton is the heaer of his hospitality, the seat OF
elf fruiton the CON ortablest part Of his own life the
nobest Of his sons inheritance a kind OF private
pIncedCm nay, to the pOssessors thereof an ept0me
Of tile whole world" Nothing needs 10 be added IN
unrest p asures and sweetest experiences the perpet
ual ralying point OF its hopes and joys. Whatever
can render il pleasant or attractive or invest IL
with interest, IN any way Improve or ehhoDie
il is at once commended to our sympathy aud regard
10 consider all the agencies which influence the course
and character Of household life, is far from the Object
Of the present work. Our concern Is chiefly with It's
more material circumstances and conditions. That
we should understand something Of the wonderful
physical agencies which have control of our earthly
being ard which are 70 inceesany illustrated in the
NJ l.. Lon rtfanu tad will
those fixed natural ordinances upon which our daily
welfare, comfort, health, ard even life, immediately
depend must certainly be acknowledged by all One
Of the startling facts of mans history H., that,
nlaced in a world of immutable order, and endowed
with such exalted gifts understanding and reason, he
should vet have contriyed TO maintain so dense and
neifect an ignorance of himself and the familiar OBJ
ects by which he il surrounded. That exact knOwl-
edge of the ways of which puts her powers at
luman command and bears the daily fruit of substan
tsl Improvement and universal benehcence, would
seem 10 be the last and nobest achievement OF mind
fIuitOn of lOrg Itele growth, the highest form
in the latest time after the preliminary ana Prepsra-
tory experience of ages. In It's earlier strvbgs We
observe the mind Of Dtenty occupied with ITSELF
and regarding material nature with unutterable dis
dain Ii wandered aimless and DISSATISFIED IN the
NIFTY regions of speculation. Its first great conquest
was in the realm Of abstraction, farthest removed
from the vulgarties of mere natter-the discovery OF
mathematical principles. Tae earliest application OF
thought TO physical subjects was away in the distant
spheres where Imagination had reveled widest from
rous movements of the heavens, which, according to
Plato were most admirably fitted to illustrate geome-
try The skies were mapped and charted long before
the earth Coperricus struck out the granu law OF
celestial circulation before Harvey discovered that OF
the blood The genius OF Newton flashed an immortal
light upon the mechanism Of the universe many years
before Rumford began his humber domestic invest
cations Centuries have passed since the estapisn-
ment CT univ ersa gravaon while there are men no"
living who may recollect the most gigantic STRIDE OF
uooein science, the discovery OF oxygen gas Dy
Priestey, and the earliest analysis of the ar we
breathe Chemistry which is the name given to the
t serious ersPpg Of human hs &c ~.n own s
century This too has been progressive ana 10 Us
course has confomed to the general law we are indi
eating lite earliest Investigations were directed TO
pert mineral substances, stones and rocks while the
formal and systematic calculation OF those conditions
and phases of matter in which we have the deepest
interchangeable and animal compounds and pro-
cesses agricultural, physiological and diet;ncal Smem-
sty-is eminently an affair OF our own Gay. nus
the spirit OF inquiry at 6rst recong from MISTER ana
circng wide through metaphysical vacues, gra1ual-
~ closed with the physical world, and now hnds IT'S
last and highest inquest into the material cohdltons OF
man. daily life The cOurse OF knowledge has been
expansive as well progressive; from narrow views
10 universal principes from empty specuations to
worldwide utilities; from the pleasure OF d few to
the advantage of the many FROM utter ignorance and
contempt OF nature 20 the revelation OF all embracing
laws, and beautiful and harmonious order in the
cOmmoneSt objects and operations OF daily experience
To the truth of this general statement the existence oil
the pre- book may be taken As strong atteststion
The mass Of its facts and principles are the result of
recent investigation. A hundred years ago such
work would have been in all its essential features
blank mpossibty indeed, il had lacked it richest
materials If prepared for the last generation
These facts should not be without their influence
upon the scheme of popular education IL Is It's hfst
duty to communicate that nior nation which can be
reduced TO daily practice, and yield the largest meas
uie Of positive good II recent inquiry has opened