Camden gazette. (Camden, S.C.) 1816-1818, May 26, 1817, Image 4
/'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.