The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-05-17


feed, clothe and support their families, who are
present to aid their wants and soothe their sor-
rows and distress.
One Hundred Years OF Science.
One Of the most eloquent men In France Is NJ.
DUMAS, senator, member Of the Institute, ex-min-
lister of instruction, professor at the Sorbonne and
College Go France. When he rises to address the
audience there is a thrill Of expectation and a
hushod anxiety to catch the words that to fall
from his lips. He has nm entire and thorough
command of the niceties of the French language,
and added to this marvellous familiarity with the
growth and present standpoint Of science. Re-
Gently, at the distribution of prizes awarded by
the Pol, technic Association of Paris, NJ. DUMAS
gave q sketch Of the condition of scientific know
ledge hun dred years ago, and compared it with
the progress Of tho present day. We translate a
part of his address:
In 1765 the employment of the forces of nature
| was limited to two motors, wind-mills and water
| mills Heat had not been converted into uni
! versal mechanical power-the steam engine was
unknown. The Gun marked i'll its daily returns
the hours in the life Of man, but Niepce and De-
guerre had not made use Of it's light as the docile
instrument Of art-photography had not yet en-
| tered into the imagination of man.
Electricity had neither given us the Voltaic pile
which decomposes the most obstinate compounds
nor the galvanoplastic art, which places the me-
tails without the aid OF fire. nor the electric light
nor the electric telegraph, one Of the models OF
modern times due to the genius OF Ampere; nor
the formidable Ruhmkorf oil, the rival Of gun
Chemistry had no existence.
| Lavosier had not yet immortalized his name by
the discoveries which explain the reciprocal rela-
tions OF matter composing the surface Of the
earth, with the same clearness that Newton's la
afford the key to the movements of the stars
which adorn the heavens. Earth, air and water
had not been decomposed; the nature OF the
me ais and that Of carbon was unknown; the
acids, alkalis, and salts now employed in 30 many
cause Of combustion was I gnored the th Existence oi
gas distinct from atmospheric air, had not been
determined; the proxi innate principles OF plants
and animals had not been defined; tn. ir respira
, ton was mystery, their nutrition an enigma
agriculture was blind land devastating practice
running in turn the different countries OF thf
: globe, and not permitting to any people to h1
| itself in permanence to any spot.
| The movements, the changes and the transfer
nation which affect the material OF the surface
the globe and metamorphoae it according tl
times and places, had no Specification for our an
cestors. The circuit always in action, which
nourishes the plant at the expense Of the SOIL the
animal at the expense OF the plant, and which re
turns to the soil through the animal that which il
has lost; those harmonies Of nature which oul
: into the imagination of the profoundest philoso
pher a century ago.
Geology was only inspired romance; the crus
of the earth had not been explored; the history O
it's formation had not yet been written; it was tRe1
e unknown that in the fossil remains of a rock il
contained the infable story of it's origin that il
|
vealed the relative ages of the mountains and tn
} clue to the former condition of the Alps and Pyre
, nees and their rival chains.
| Thousands OF plants had been collected an
named, but Jussien had not yet classified then
0 into natural families Cuvier had not applied til
same laws to the animal kingdom. One could NO
then embrace in one view the ensemble OF nature
from ephemeral lichen, which ut the summit G
the Alps or on the confines Of the pole, mark tn
n last psIpi.stions of life, up to the giants Of tn
p historic times; from the equivocal microscopy
=. productions, the last argument OF the partisan
OF spontaneous % Is generation, up to man created
J. Cuyier or Brogniart. mount from age to age, RI
constructing in their forms, their aspect, and eve
y their habtations, the animals and plants whic
I have preceded the advent Of man upon earth, an
T which conduct us through epoch on epoch, bac
:, to the moment when life first manifested itse
IL upon our globe.
To-day man has acquired the right to say: Ma
l., ter and the forces which it obevs, contain no 81
n crets which do not know, or shall not be abl
~ at some future period, to discover. The hiatol
If Of the earth has no longer any mystery for me;
ID am present at its earliest ages; reconstruct ii
te beings whom it has nourished; know the precit
- date OF the transformations upon it's service.
t. to each star it's place in the orbit in which it
move; weigh the sun; analyze the substance
which IL II as it IL could be placed
stars consist which decorate the vaults OF heave
ct even those the light from which requires ages
~ travel to the focus where the observer perform
10 their dissection upon our earth; play with ii
Of forces OF nature; transform the light into hea
or the heat into light, electricity into magnetism
" magnetism into electricity, and all Of these form
Of activity into mechanical power; conve
one compound into another; initiate oil Il
process Of nature dead, and the majori
OF those OF nature living; render at wifi Il
earth fruitful or sterile give to it take fro
III 1t the power to noursh the plant. Life Is an op
he book, where, from the embryo egg to the death
nd the animal, read without obscurty the role
:, the blood which circulates; that Of the hea
ho which beats, and Of the lungs which respire tn
&c OF the muscles which obey of the nerves viii
de convey the order of the brain which command
90 OF the stomach which digests OF the chyle whi
DO regenerates. In fine, apply to my use all t
&c forces and all the gifts Of nature.
* This sketch by master hand, reveals to us {
es extraordinary progress Of science during hu
In dred years, and shows how quietly we appropria
OF each addition to our knowledge, without takil
til into account the long years Of toll which mt
us have preceded it's full development. II tho ne
by hundred years should chow equal results, 1t is Il
CO. possible to predict what limit shall be set to
ne progress Of the world.
ly,
The GALLANT TEXAS BRIaADE.-The old TIE,
brigade that fought its way to glory throu
ers twenty. eight battles, always did It's duty.
ak OF the entire command, among which was "Hoo
=, Old Regiment" there remain about four hundrt
VI Mark Smither, ESQ.,, one OF it's most gallant me