Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1878-01-02

TT cation, and was highly recommended as :
Ie chemist. His report was that the liquiC
II contained, for each 600 gallons of water
e about nine pounds pure ooloring matter
d On the same day. sent six gallons of the
d same liquid to well known professor o.
e chemistry for analysis, so as to be doubly
| sure. The professors report was, in 60C
y gallons of water, the proportion of color.
ing matter would be four ouncesl The
d professor is to-day at the head of the
S Chemical Department of one of the largest
d and best endowed colleges in America.
Who was rightP Both Uere WrOng! The
: first experimental found more coloring
, matter in the liquid than was ever put in
! to it, although in that liquid was colored
$50 pounds of cotton fibre, that is, in six
gallons of waste liquid, he found more ma
, terial than was at first put into six hun
| dred gallons of water! The professor was
nearly right. You will bear in mind that
5 each package of six gallons for analysis
was from tub containing the original six
hundred gallons.
: There has lately been decided in the U.
) S. Courts Il case involving many tens of
: thousands of dollars. The head and front
of the whole suit was Il question, whether
II certain coloring matter on vegetable
fibre contained copper in any form. The
ablest chemists in Europe and America
have given their attention to the partcu-
lar matter for years. The trial was held
in Boston. Celebrated men here in New
England, grown old in the study and prac-
tce of chemistry, contradicted each other
in the most astonishing way. One found
copper on the fibre in large quantity an
other found copper in very small quanti-
ties; still another was undecided, whilst
three were positive that it was absolutely
impossible to find any trace of copper in
or on the fibre, by any method known to
science. Yet practical workers in this
colorng matter were well aware that cop
per was present in sufficient quantity, and
the court so decided If, therefore, chem
isis who are at the head of the science are
so pOwerless at times to determine the alb
sence or presence of u salt Of copper. what
is the farming interest to expect from your
Experiment Stations where you cannot
pay salaries large enough to get the best
talent, and must, therefore, employ skill |
OF medium quality, and whose report, |
from the nature Of your institution, is to be
final.
And ne have little conundrum to pro-
pound right here. If therefore, chemists
who are at the head of the science are so
powerless, that comparatively little could
be expected of any skill in the science,
which an Experiment Station could COM
mand; we would like to be told in mourn
full numbers what the ordinary farmer
looses in not being familiar with the "sm-
plest principles we hear so much about.
There seems to be desire among the
more ardent friends and admirers of the
farmer, to make him kind of polvglot
edition, so to speak, of the human race,
an encyclopedia of science, art, literature,
etc, etc. He is told of his ignorance of
chemistry and of its very lamentable
effects; he is shown how he ought to be
good Veterinarian to care for his stock;
and he should be n good mechanic, as seen
below:
One of the first things to be taught boy
upon II farm is the use of tools. He should
be good carpenter and blacksmith in
fact, able to make or mend most any i'm
plement upon the farm. A few tools are
always necessary, and the proper use of
them can soon be acquired, so that the
farmer can shoe his own horses make his
seds, build his barns and thus turn every
day to account - WeSten Stock Journal and
Farmer.
And, in short is to know and do about
everything.
To be IL good chemist not only requires
a lifetime of study, and careful, patient
work; but an outlay for the appliances
absolutely necessary for its successful prac-
tice, which the entire capital of many of
our farmers would do little more than
MAKE fair commencement on.
Such chemists are men of science and
WORTH and even these, as shown by the
writer above, are not absolutely perfect in
the science.
To be Veterinarian, one must be
good comparative anatomist; study lee
lures, dissectiOns, materia medica, prac-
tice, and how long will it take man to
become one worthy the name and in all
these it is the man who makes it his life
W0rh, and aCOrbs at it who amounts to any
thing.
Those who think these matters are cas-
lily gained, Il kind Of " six easy lessons "
business, and gain them in about that way,
are quacks, botchers, and we have plenty
of them in all our walks in life, botchers {
of chemists, who talk learnedly Of " nitro
genous matters and albumnoids and
carbon and nitrogen, and who would hard
ly be qualified to conduct the chemical
experiment of making a kettle of soap;
and botchers of Veterinarians who sign
themselves d. V. NJ, and we think that
must mean DcO Folente, and liberal rem
dering read Vets. by the grace Of Cod
for they have little else to show for it.
For instance, DR., Crcssy said in his lee
lures at Burlington, that wolf teeth were
unshcd milk teeth, and could not produce
any ophthalmic trouble. find the follow
ing in answer to enquiry in one of our
farm journals, from Il Veterinary surgeon:
Wolf teeth supernumerary teeth
sometimes appear in front of the molars.
They irritate and often cause the eyes to
intlame, and should be removed by forceps.
Battle the eyes with arnica lotion (arnica
one ounce, water one pinO; apply night
and morning.
In so simple matter as this, there
should be no room for error among Vet
erinarians, and it must be true that both
cannot be right.
We believe it was Napoleon who said,
" Everybody knows more than anybody"
and we believe it to be true, and we be-
lieve, moreover, that the sum OF human
knowledge will never be gained by any
one man, or profession of men, and that it
is neither practical nor expedient for the
farmer to attempt chemistry and veterinary
I