first introduced into Cornwall, the method of fluxing tin by means of the flame of pit.coal, instead of wood or charcoal Lemery's very accurate course of practical chemistry, appeared in 1675. Glauber's works had been published at different times, from 1651 to 1661, when his tract, entitled Philosophical Furnaces, came out at Amsterdam. Kunckel died in Sweden, in 1702; he had practised chemistry for above 50 years, under the auspices of the elector of Saxony, and of Charles XI. of Sweden. He wrote his chemical observations in the German Language, but had them translated into Latin, in the year 1677: the translation is dedicated by its author, to our Royal Society. They were afterwards translated into English, in 1704. Having had the superin endency of several glass.houses, he had a fine opportunity of making a great variety of experiments in that way; and I have been informed by our enameliers, and makers of artificial gems, that they can depend more upon the processes and observations of Kunckel, than of any other author upon the same subject. The chemical labours of these and many other eminent men, too numerous to mention, were greatly forwarded by the establishment of several societies, for the encouragement of natural philosophy, which took place in various parts of Europe about that period. The Philosophical Transactions, at London; the Histoire de l'Acadeinte Royale des Sciences, at Paris; the Saggi d'Esperienze di Academia del Cimento, at Florence; the Journal des Sçavans, in Holland; the Ephemerides Academiæ Naturæ Curiosorum, in Germany; the Acts of the Academy of Copenhagen; and the Acta Eruditorum, at Leipsic; all these works began to be published within the space of twenty years from 1665, when our Royal So. ciety first set the example, by publishing the Philosophical Transactions. To these may be added, the works of the Academies • Beccher wrote his Alphabethum Minerale, at Truro, in Cornwall, in 1682, not long before his death. In his dedication of this tract to Mr. Boyle, he has the following words :-" ignis usus, ope flammarum lithantracum stannum et mineralia fundendi, Cornubiæ hactenus incognitus, sed a me introductus."This account which Beccher gives of himself, is not quite agreeable to what is advanced by an author every way qualified to come at the truth of this matter. -" Necessity at last suggested the introduction of pit-coal for the smelting of tin ore; and, among others, to Sir Bevil Granville, of Stow, in this county, temp. Car. I. who made several experiments, though without success; neither did the effectual smelting of tin ore with pit-coal, take place till the second year of Queen Anne." Pryce's Miner. Cornub, p. 282. of Berlin, Petersburgh, Stockholm, Upsal, Bononia, Bourdeaux, Montpelier, Gottingen, and of several others which have been established within the course of the present century. Near a thousand volumes have been published by these learned societies, within less than 120 years. The number of facts which are therein related respecting chemistry, and every other branch of natural philosophy, is exceedingly great; but the subject is still greater, and must for ever mock the efforts of the human race to exhaust it. Well did Lord Bacon compare natural philosophy to a pyra. mid! Its basis is indeed the history of nature, of which we know a little and conjecture much; but its top is, without doubt, hid high in the clouds; it is "the work which God worketh from the beginning to the end," infinite and inscrutable. By the light which has been incidentally thrown upon various parts of chemistry, from those vast undertakings of public societies, as well as from the more express labours of Stahl, Newman, Hoffman, Juncker, Geoffry, Boerhaave, and of many others equally worthy of commendation; by the theoretic conclusions and syste. matic divisions which have been introduced into it; from the didac. tic manner in which the students of this art have been instructed in every medical school; chemistry has quite changed its appear. ance. It is no longer considered merely in a medical view, nor restricted to some fruitless efforts upon metals; it no longer at. tempts to impose upon the credulity of the ignorant, nor affects to astonish the simplicity of the vulgar, by its wonders; but is content with explaining them upon the principles of sound philosophy. It has shaken off the opprobrium which had been thrown upon it, • from the unintelligible jargon of the alchemists, by revealing all its secrets, in a language as clear and as common as the nature of its subjects and operations will admit. Considered as a branch of physics, chemistry is but yet in its infancy: however, the mutual emulation and unwearied endea. vours of so many eminent men as are in every part of Europe engaged in its cultivation, will, in a little time, render it equal to any part of natural philosophy, in the clearness and solidity of its principles. In the utility resulting to the public from its conclusions, with respect to the practice of medicine, of agriculture, arts, and manufactures of every kind, it is even in its present state infe rior to none. The uses of chemistry, not only in the medical, but in every economical art, are too extensive to be enumerated, and too notorious to want illustration; it may just be observed, that a variety of manufactures, by a proper application of chemical principles, might, probably, be wrought at a less expense, and executed in a better manner, than they are at present. But to this improvement there are impediments on every hand, which cannot easily be over. come, Those who by their situations in life are removed from any design or desire of augmenting their fortunes, by making discove. ries in the chemical arts, will hardly be induced to diminish them by engaging in expensive experimental inquiries, which not only require an uninterrupted attention of mind, but are attended with the wearisomeness of bodily labour. It is not enough to employ ope. rators in this business; a man must blacken his own hands with charcoal, he must sweat over the furnace, and inhale many a noxious vapour, before he can become a chemist. On the other hand, the artists themselves are generally illiterate, timid, and bigoted to particular modes of carrying on their respective operations. Being unacquainted with the learned, or modern, languages, they seldom know any thing of new discoveries, or of the methods of working practised in other countries. Deterred by the too frequent, but much-to-be lamented examples of those, who, in benefiting the public by projects and experiments, have ruined themselves, they are unwilling to incur the least expense in making trials, which are uncertain with respect to profit. From this apprehension, as well as from the mysterious manner in which most arts, before the inven. tion of printing, and many still continue to be taught, they acquire a certain opiniâtreté, which effectually hinders them from making improvements by departing from the ancient traditionary precepts of their art. It cannot be questioned, that the arts of dyeing, painting, brewing, distilling, tanning, of making glass, enamels,, porcelain, artificial stone, common salt, sal ammoniac, salt-petre, potash, sugar, and a great variety of others, have received much improvement from chemical inquiry, and are capable of receiving much more. Metallurgy in particular, though one of the most ancient branches of chemistry, affords matter enough for new discoveries. There are a great many combinations of metals which have never been made; many of which, however, might be made, and in such a variety of proportions, as, very probably, would furnish us with metallic mixtures more serviceable than any in use. The method of ex tracting the greatest possible quantity of metal from a given quan tity of the same kind of ore, has, perhaps, in no one instance been ascertained with sufficient precision. There are many sorts of iron and copper ores, which cannot be converted into malleable metals, without much labour, and a great expense of fuel; it is very probable, that by a well-conducted series of experiments, more com. pendious ways of working these minerals might be found out. In our own times three new metallic substances have been disco. vered, and their properties abundantly ascertained by experi. ment; and it may reasonably be conjectured, that future experience will yet augment their number. Till Marggraaf shewed the manner of doing it, no metallic substance could be extracted from calamine, and all Europe was supplied with zinct either from India or from Germany. A manufactory of this metallic substance has not many years ago been established in our own country, and the copper works near Bristol have supplied Birmingham with zinc extracted from calamine. Black-jack was not long since employed in Wales for mending the roads; its value is not yet generally known in Derbyshire; but it is now well understood by some individuals to answer the purpose of calamine for the making of brass‡. Mons. Von Swab, in 1738, was, I believe, the first person who distilled zinc from black-jacks; and a work which he erected, probably gave the hint to the establishers of our English manufactory: indeed, I have been well informed, that they purchased the secret from him when he was in England. The various kinds of black lead, from which neither tin nor iron can at present be procured to advantage; the mundicks, some cobalt ores, cawk, kebble, and other mineral substances, which are now thought to be useless, may some or time other, perhaps, be applied to good purpose. Cawk and kebble, which are found in great quantities in mining coun. tries, especially in Derbyshire, and which are universally thrown away, may, perhaps, be nothing but different kinds of spar, and * Platina, regulus of cobalt, and nickel. + Zinc is a metallic substance of the colour of lead; when united with copper, it constitutes brass, pinchbeck, and other metallic mixtures resembling gold. ‡ The cobalt ores in Hesse, which at present produce a nett profit of about 14,0001. a-year, were formerly used for the same purpose as black-jack was lately in Wales.-Born's Travels by Raspe, Pre. xxvi. § Cronstedt's Miner. sec. 231. destitute of all metallic matter*; yet it may not be improper to remark, that the external appearance of the yellowish cawk is wholly similar to that of calcined black-jack. That it is much of the same weight as black-jack may appear from the annexed table: In a word, the improvement of metallurgy, and the other mechanic arts, dependent on chemistry, might best be made by the public establishment of an academy, the labours of which should be destined to that particular purpose. The utility of such esta. blishments has been experienced in Saxony, and other places; and as mines and manufactures are to the full as important to us, as to any other European state, one may hope, that the constituting a Chemical Academy may, in times of peace and tranquillity, become an object not unworthy the attention of the King, or the Legislature of the British nation t. [Bishop Watson. This last patriotic recommendation addressed to the public by Dr. Watson, in 1781, though not carried into effect in the precise manner he suggested, has by no means been altogether neglected. If the legislature have not adopted the scheme, it has not been lost sight of by scientific and public-spirited individuals. The Royal Institution led the way, and by the splendid chemical discoveries which have issued from its laboratory and apparatus, under the di See Mr. Woulfe's ingenious Experiments, in Philos. Trans. 1779, p. 15. + The reader who wishes to become more fully acquainted with the history of chemistry, may consult what Borrichius has said in his Dissertation de Ortu et Progressu Chemiæ, published at Copenhagen, in 1668; and in his book entitled Hermetis, Ægyptiorum, et Chemicorum, Sapientia ab Hermanni Couringii Animadversionibus vindicata, published at the same place, in 1614. He will also find something worth his notice on this subject, in Boerhaave's Chemistry; and in a work of Wallerius, called, Chemiæ Physicæ Pars Prima, published at Stockholm, in 1760; where there is an useful catalogue of the most approved writers on the various parts of chemistry. |