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Mem. Con. M. S.; Hon. Mem. R. I. M. S.; Author of Notes to Conv. on Chemistry;
Author of Gram. of Chemistry; of Elem. Mineralogy; of Nat. History
of Quadrapeds and Birds; of Syst. Natural Philosophy, &c.

THIRD EDITION.

Hartford:

PUBLISHED BY D. F. ROBINSON & CO.

Sold by Collins & Hannay, J. Leavitt, R. Lockwood, and N. & J. White, New York.-Towar,
J. & D. M. Hogan, Philadelphia.-George M'Dowall & Son, Plaskitt & Co., and J. Jewett,
Baltimore.-R. J. Smith, Richmond.-L. Loomis & Co. Pittsburgh.-Roff & Young, Hub-
bard & Edmands, and J.Drake & Co. Cincinnati.-Hoyt, Porter & Co., and Parsons & Phelps,
Rochester.-Bemis & Ward, Canandaigua.-W. Williams, Utica.-O. Steel, Albany.-Lincoln
& Edmands, and Carter & Hendee, Boston.-A. S. Beckwith, Providence.-J. & J. W.
Prentiss, Keene.-George W. Hill, Montpelier, Vt.-Dole & Readington, Augusta.-And
booksellers generally.

STEREOTYPED BY JAMES CONNER.

1832.

HARVARD

NIVERSITY
SPARY

46*130

DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT, ss.

L. S. BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the second day of March, in the fifty-fifth year of the Independence of the United States of America, J. L. Comstock, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit:

"Elements of Chemistry, in which the recent Discoveries in the Science are included, and its Doctrines familiarly explained. Illustrated by numerous Engravings, and designed for the use of Schools and Academies. By J. L. Comstock, M. D. Mem. Con. M. S.; Hon. Mem. R. I. M. S.; Author of Notes to Conv. on Chem.; Author of Gram. Chem.; of Elem. Mineralogy; of Nat. Hist. of Quad. and Birds; of Syst. Nat. Philosophy, &c." In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned."-And also to the act, entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, entitled, 'An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." CHARLES A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut.

A true copy of Record. examined and sealed by me,

CHARLES A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut.

PREFACE.

It is hardly necessary for the author of the following volume to make any excuses for its publication, since, notwithstanding the multiplicity of books on the same subject, there seems to be none, which are exactly adapted to the object for which this is principally designed. The Conversations on Chemistry, and the works of Parke and Joyce, besides the interlocutory form in which they are written, are objectionable, in not containing the recent discoveries and improvements in the science; and the volume of Dr. Turner, though free from these objections, is too large for the use of schools and academies.

In this volume, it has been the intention of the author, not only to avoid these objections, but, at the same time, to explain the elements and doctrines of the science in sufficient detail, to give a competent knowledge of its several parts, and in such language as can be understood by those who will but read the book attentively and pursue the subject in course.

It appears to the writer, that in teaching Chemistry to youth, its elementary parts have not been sufficiently insisted on at the beginning. Of all the sciences, this is the most complete, in respect to its language-the order of its arrangement, the succession of its subjects, and consequently in the facility with which it may be learned. But from these perfections, arises the absolute necessity of becoming well acquainted with its first principles, before the student can derive and retain any useful knowledge from its study. The nomenclature of chemistry, the laws of affinity, and the doctrine of proportions, are far more necessary to a proper knowledge of this science, than is a knowledge of mathematics to the study of Astronomy. The cause of an eclipse, or the reason why the complicated motions of the earth should produce a change of seasons, can be fully understood without the use of mathematics. But without a knowledge of affinity, and proportions, the decomposition of a salt, or the formation of a definite compound, are absolutely incomprehensible phenomena; nor can they be explained without a previous acquaintance with the peculiar language of chemistry.

It is from a conviction of the importance of first principles in learning this science, that the author has devoted so much attention to the imponderable agents, attraction, affinity, and galvanism, and to the explanation of definite proportions and chemical equi

valents.

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The doctrine of definite proportions, being now universally adopted, forms one of the fundamental principles of chemical science. And whether the theory of atoms, which accounts for the facts on which this doctrine is founded, be true, or false, the doctrine itself will ever maintain its integrity, its elements being nothing more than the expression of facts which experiment and analysis have developed. The subject of proportions, independently of its relation to the theory or practice of Chemistry, is highly curious and of uncommon interest, both to the naturalist and the moral philosopher. To the first it shows that the laws of nature are equally inherent and efficient, in dead and in animated matter, and that the effects of these laws are as peculiar and distinctive in the formation of chemical compounds, as they are in the production and habitudes of the different races of animals. To the moralist, this subject teaches, that nothing has been formed by the fortuitous concurrence of atoms, but that even the "stocks and stones" bear the impress of creative agency and design-that the air he breathes and the water he drinks, are formed of invariable proportions of certain elements, and that these compounds are so precisely adapted to his nature and wants, that the least change in the proportion of their constituents would inevitably effect his destruction.

Besides the charms which this subject presents to the reflecting student, the composition of compound bodies, in recent books of chemistry, is expressed in equivalent numbers, and therefore cannot be understood without a knowledge of the doctrine of proportions. The author, therefore, before the description of each element and compound, has affixed to its name, at the head of the sections, its combining number, or atomic weight. By this arrangement, the pupil, at a single glance, becomes acquainted, not only with the scientific, and common names, but also with the composition, and proportions of all the compounds described.

In respect to the authorities which have been consulted in the composition of this work, the principal are Dr. Thomson, Dr. Henry, Sir H. Davy, Mr. Gray, Dr. Üre, Mr. Accum, Mr. Faraday, the Library of Useful Knowledge, the Journal of the Royal Institution, Silliman's Journal, and Dr. Turner.

Of the work of the latter author, free use has been made, his arrangement of subjects, with some variations, having been adopted, and his exposition of the doctrine of proportions carefully consulted. The work now offered, is not however to be considered as a servile compilation; the former experience of the author as a lecturer, and his habit, for many years, of analysing various substances, having given him opportunities, not only of verifying the deductions of others, but occasionally of making new experiments for himself.

Hartford, November 15, 1831.

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