The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1894-04-07
THE CHEMISTRY Or TO-DAY.
How the Art Of the Early Ages III as Devel-
oped !nts: u Science.

Cow the Art Of the Early Ages las Devel-
oped Int u Science.
Chemistry as an art dates back from
the very dawn Of civilization itself. As a
science it is barely Il couple Of centuries
Ole! To the alchemist its pursuit was in
che main but the pursuit of wealth.
Now and again we find men among them
like Thomas Aquinas, Basil Valentine,
Libavius and Glauber, who were inn
PEELED by higher motive than the love
of gold to seek for the hidden meaning
of things. but the mystical tendencies of
the middle ages were as scales to their
eyes, and such devious cropping for the
light rs they We're able to make too fire.
Guently ended in utter darkness.
Even in the therapeutic crudities OF
Paracelsus, who was sufficiently sincere
in his profession as a thaumaturgist to
affirm that magic was the eliminating
point of all human knowledge, what
there was of science was summed up i'll
the aphorisnl, which in fact passed as an
axiom among his disciples: Man is a
chemical compound. His ailments are
due to some alteration III his composition
and can only he cured by the influence
of other chemical compounds. 1t may
be questioned indeed whether modern
therapeutics has advanced much beyond
this position.
In strict truth, it is only within the
present century that men have seriously
set themselves to search for the causes
and conditions of chemical change.
Phlogistonism, it is true. had i'll it the
semblance Of philosophical doctrine,
but it was founded on an utterly false
basis, and ultimately fell and was crushed
by the weight of its own absurdities.
The recognition of the real nature Of
combustion, itself manifestation of
chemical union, paved the way toward
clearer conception of the essential ma
ture of chemical combination, and this
conception acquired beauty, order and
ical teaching by the application of the
atomic hypothesis as an explanation of
the fundamental facts of chemical af-
6nity. Indeed it has become a truism
to say that this conception, the fruit Of
patient and sustained induction, is to
chemistry what the theory of universal
gravitatiOn is to astronomy.
For the first time in it's history chem
istry was illumined and vivifed by
single consistent theory, founded on
quantitative relations and making use
Of definite mathematical expression, and
it was at length recognized that the
science mist ultimately be referred to
mathematical laws similar to those
which had been established in regard to
the mechanical properties of matter
Fortnightly Review.
A Brave Soldier.
A hundred years ago the unfortunate
people who came into the hands of the
surgeons, generally soldiers or sailors
who had been hurt i'll action. were forced
to undergo the operations necessary to
the prolongation Of life without taking
ether or chloroform, as is now admins
tered to make the patient unconscious,
and so free from pain attendant upon
the operation. To secure quiet, often
the subject had to be bound by ropes, so
that much as he might desire to vince
he was utterly unable to do so.
Occasionally patients would show re-
markable fortitude at the crisis of their
troubles, but none ever showed more
than soldier who, on the morning after
the battle of Yorktown. Oct. 10, 1881,
was brought into the hospital. having
been shot in the knee. 1t was found
necessary to amputate the limb, and the
surgeon ordered the nurses to bind the
man fast preparatory to the operation.
''Never!' protested the soldier. You
may tear my heart from my breast, but
you shall not bind me. Can you get me
a fiddler"
His request was complied with, and he
proceeded to tune the instrument, after
which he said, $50, doctor, now you can
begin" Andhe played during the whole
of the operation, which lasted 40 min
utes, without uttering single false note
or disturbing his features in the slight
est.-Harper's Young People.