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/'Tom ihi J\ b.n^l^nd JjUrj^ui vf j^icui cinc and ^urjcry. Address delivered on the Induction of John Gokh^m, M. D. a-? Llrvinp Hrofesbor of fthemUtry in Harvard Univcrsrty, Dec. ! 8 16. The tendency of matter is to rest Ail the motions of the particles of bodies with which we are conver sant, may be regarded as so many efforts to equalize the forces which affect them ; to constitute unchan geable compounds, and to reduce our globe jo a state of eternal soli tude, silence, and repose. But long experience has proved, that this equilibrium has not yet been pro duced, nor from the present Order of things is it likely to happen. ? The general powers of nature, al though they are nev-er intermitting, are yet often unequal in their ac tion and it is to the varied opera tion of heat, of light, and of elec tricity, that we are to look for ihe cause of the complex j.id apparent ly irregular motions, which affect the different elements of matter, and determine the composition of the bo dies observed on the surface of th<j earth. The atmostpherc which surrounds, and the masses of water which float on the globe, are influ enced by these powerful principles ; they become secondary agents in the revolutions of the forms of matter, and produce the most general and important effects, eirtier by -their momentum, or the attractions of their component parts. Hence it is, that the surface, which is con stantly exposed to the action of these powers, exhibits an endless succession of motion^nd ofchanges. T he forms ot matter are continual Jy fluctuating; and the substance which, at one period, is solid, may . at another exist as a liquid, or be re solved into air. The properties of bodies are equally altered with their forms i their particles alternately unite and recede from each other. $ if compound,. they are decomposed and their elements are made to as sume new arrangements ? if simple, they combine . with other matter, and, in that state, are no longer to be identified. Every thing is in motion and activity ; and, although the series' of changes is sometimes < slowly progressive, and, to a super ficial observer, not always percep tible, it is, nevertheless, constant and uniform. It is the duty of the che mist to observe these changes and investigate their causes i to deter mine the nature of bodies, and re duce them to thtir elements ; to as certain their mutual actions and re lations j and to apply the know ledge, acquired by ^observation and experiment, to the improvement of the arts which supply the wants, multiply the comforts, or adminis ter to the luxuries of social life. ? Chemistry, therefore, is a science as important as it is extensive. Like the other branches of phy sieks, which are founded on obser vation and experiment, the origin of chemistry is too remote to be dis tinctly traced ; and it is obvious, that facts, which daily come with in the cognizance ot the senses, and which have an important in fluence on jthe existence, or the relations of life, must have eatly at tracted the attention, although they did not lead to the investigation of their causes or connexions, Bnt the physical truths which experience must have forced upon th? ancients were unconnected, and we are not to look to them for the generaliza tions, which constitute a science. ? . The early history of chemistry, therefore, presents nothing to the mind but the simple truth, that its progress must have been exceeding Iv gradual nmoncr a people, who, | aichoitgh rrmarki'b!^ for the pow j ers of intellect and ti if refinement I of ta^ic, yet (ailed h their philoso I phy, because 4< they reasoned more upon an imaginary system ot nature, than upon the visible and tangible universe."* It would be a task, as irksome to me as uninteresting to you, to trace the progress of indivi dual discovery and the gradual de velopment of facts, from which the theories that now constitute the sci - ence of rhemisTry deduced- A . much more pleasing ^ncj appropri ate subject may be found in the re volutions, which these theories them?elves have successively expe rienced, as observations have been extended, experiments have been multiplied, and new facts have ac cumulated. I .propose, therefore, to confine my.self :o a cursory de tail of the state of the science, as it has existed at different periods, and to conclude with a view of tiie phi losophy of the 'present age. The first opinions which may be | regarded as an approximationto che I mical hypothesis, were those of the ! alchemists, an extraordinary body | of men, who flourished between the | llth and 1 6th centuries. During ! the period or' the crusades, the wai i riors of the west, whose zeal was excited, and whose wealth was bes towed for the trlorv of the cross gradually lost, with the success ot their arms ^ie enthusiasm and spi rit of chivalry which led them to Palestine. They saw themselves deprived of their possessions, redtic edj:o poverty, and incapable of sup porting their rank in society, and . they willingly turned from their un profitable tame of champion* of re ligion, to the hopes he !d out To them by the im posters of the easv of the power of transmuting th5efne>; tals into gold, and of obtaining im morrtility upon earth. They trans-, ferred the delusion from Asia to Eu rope, and thus gave rise to the stu - dy and pursuits of alchemy. The . cultivators of this art may be 'con sidered as the forerunners of modern I philosophy j with the spirit of phy- ' [ sical research and experiment, whicV has distinguished their successors, they contained all the mysticism of the Cabaiistand the absurdity of the Dialectic school. ? ^ ? ; I About this period the mind, un der the guidance of the scholastics, had taken a wrong direction ; and no system ever invented, could be more unfavourable than this to the pursuit of polite literature, or to the progress of demonstrative science. The 1 ives of the learned men of the time were devoted to the art of dis I putation. They confounded each other, and confused themselves, by subtle and ingenious distinctions in 1 tefms ; by a refined and speculative [ syscem of words ; by recondite and I sophistical modes of reasoning ; and by their attempts to obscure the | boundaries of science, and to unite physical with metaphysical subjects. Great minds were sacrificed in the pursuits of these illusions. Had such men as Thomas Aquinas, Wm. de Campeaux, Albert of Cologne, and the unfortunate Abelard, who lives only in the numbers of the poet, investigated material nature with the "same* ardour, with which they entered the fields of controver sy, and the same sagacity which they displayed in fixing the signification of a word, their labours would have been crowned with brilliant success, and their names with unfading glo ry* The alchemists explored anew and more fruitful subject, Leav # 'Sir Humjihrry D ivtj. ing t/ic study of iogic, and 1 1 ?e cul tivation of the dialectic philosophy ro those v\ ho aspired to literary fame or ecclesiastical distinction, they . commenced the practical exarpina mination of nature. But destitute of instruments-, unused to methodical arrange ment, and unacquainted with the processes of investigation which are required by the severer sciences ; guided by entusiasni and stimulate by avarace, the objects of their pur suits were as absurd, as the means they employed to obtain them were extravagant. They believed that the basi^ of all the metals is gold, and this (class of bodies was torturw ~cd, wiih the mosrperscvering indus try, to discoverxhe aix afa'exnoving the alloying substance, and of ac~ acquiring unbounded riches. Thev thought that it was in the power of human art to compound a liquid, which should renovate the frame, when im pared by time, or exhaust ed by diMrase, and be able to res tore to the rigid and unyielding fibre of age, the bloom and elasticity of youth. They imagined, also, that nature had formed a substance cf such astonishing powers, that ho other body could resist its action ; and the alkahcst? or universal sol vent, was looked for in the products of the 'crucible and tile irienibic, with the same anxiety as wasexhibit ed for the elixir of life, and the ?philosopher's Stone* On i *nh jecf of general physicks, they were less absurd. They rejected t lie four elements of the ancients, and sup posed all nature to be composed of three simple principles, salt,sulpher and merciH-y. Such were the spe culations and the pursuits of the al chamisrs. A feeble ray of light from the source of science would occasionally penetrate through the gloom in which they were envelop ed, and conduct them to some im portant fact. The most distinguish ed among the alchemists was Para celsus. This man possessed a bold and original mind, which conscious of its pov$?rs, but just released from the tramels of the schools and the weight of ancient opinion, knew not how to direct its views, or limit its operations. I-Ie was the first pub lic lecturer on chemistry in Europe ; and this station, together with the reput ation derived from the success ful application of chemical medi cines to the cure of diseases, afford ed him the opportunity of attacking and of prostrating the dogmatic school of Galen, in his character were combined tho extremes of ar rogance andmeaness,of t be freedom' of truth with the bojdness of pre tension, of enthusiasm of mind with greac profligacy of manners. Yet he was probably and eloquent man. In his wanderings he was followed by a crowd of admirers; his opin ions, which were -respected as the decisions of an oracle, were embrac ed with zeal, and disseminated throitghout Europe and although/ notwithstanding he declared himself the possessor of the elixir of life, he expired, exhausted by his vices, at the early age of forty-two, we have sufficient evidence of his cele brity in the epitaph engraved on his tomb-stone, at Saltzburg. Dlvinui tali* cit P*ricel?u? in arte monarch*, Similem cui tccula nulla tulcre virum. (To be tontinued ) Births. ? In Kirksey, F rig. Mr, Gardner's wifr, a farmer, was lately d&ivered of four atiil-bcrn children. She had four at a previous birth' and three at another ? making a to- ' tal of eleven children in less than four years. tendon paper. MEDICAL. j A very interes:ing case lias ]USt l occurred ot a pt*M>n ben blind , /;c - j u:g r?:.:c)z-i !o s by the in cans I <?t a Surgical opcran ;n. A native of iiurdwan, of t!v u^r of 1 S , was lately sent by his family to Dr. Lux more, whose success in the removal ot the cateract, they had heard by public report. In six days after the operation w^s performed, he began to bee and distinguish objects. Af ter the Celebrated case of* Dr. Ches seiden's paticur, whose sensations have been so minutely, and philos phycaliy laid before the public, it can hardly be expected, that any di-covery regarding"- the origin of* our ideas at figure, or quality, could be extracted from the observation of an ignorant coun try boy, who unaccustomed to think abstractedly, is lirtle able to describe the gradual Improvement: of his intellect, under this sudden, and astonishing introduction to the visible world. He confirmed, however, with readiness, the conclusion so obvi ous, from -the fc^lingsof Dr. Ches se Idea's patient, diat our common judgment of figure, quality and distance, is not an inherent faculty in the mind, but a practial result, from the ever repeated experiment, of comparing the perspective with the actual figure, bulk or?distancc. Kor when a Picker Hall was pur in one hand, an^. a cube uf soap in the other; and he was desired to de scribe their shape, he was unable to do it, by his newly acquired, and inexperienced vision; and was oblig ed to have constant recource to the more practised sense of feeling. ? When any object is presented to -him, although he can without hesi tation declare its colour, he it whol ly unable to decide on its quality, until he is allowed to handled it. The Right Honorable the Gov ernor Otfifcral having heard of the . case, took so much interest in it, that he' requested Dr. Luxmore to bring the patient for his ihspcction. He was accordingly brought before his Lordship on Saturday last, who, together, with the ?Lord Bishop of Calcutta, seemed to derive the greatest satisfaction .from his ex amination. ? Calcutta. Drunkenness. ? The following tr legant sarirc on this most detestable and common vice, is extracted from the European Magazine, for November, 1 S 1 6. Drunkenness expels reason, ? drowns the memory, distempers the body, diminishes strength, in flames the blood, causes intefnal, external and incurable wounds, is a clog to the senses, a devil to the soul, a thief to the purse, the beg gar's companion, a wife's woe, children's sorrow, the picture of a beast and self-murderer, whodrinki* # to others good health, and robs r himself of his own. f A very curious piece of Furiit ture has just been introduced at * Oakley's the upholstery branch of the Western Exchange. It is an Air-bed. Half adozen large pipes, made of gold beater's skin, are co vered with a ticking, and quoted together in knotted rows between each pipe. ? They are then blowft full, the bed becomes distended* * and is sufficiently soft. By turning a cock, the air can be let out, and the bed tied up in a pocket-hand kerchief I London Paper. Runinc**. ? Every man should mind his own business , for he that meddles him self with other people '? good or ill fortune, will never be at rest.