IS2 1 .] Dr. Paris's Pharmacofogia, ^^ 



«dpect and splendour, did not hesitate in pronouncing it to h^ 

 metallic, and, uniting at once the idea of weight with that of 

 metal, the evidence of his senses was even insufficient to dis*' 

 S€ver ideas so inseparably associated in his tnind,and, balancing, 

 the specimen on his fingers, he exclaimed, * It is certainljp' 

 metallic, and veri/ ponderous!* " Now this anecdote is not 

 related in disparagement to the philosopher in question. Who* 

 could have been prepared to meet with a substance, so novel^ 

 and anomalous, as to overturn every preconceived notion? Pi' 

 metal so light as to swim upon water, and so inflammable as W 

 catch fire by the contact of ice ! 



In the same strain it is further and happily observed by Dr.- 

 Paris, when treating of mercury, that " mythologists inform u* 

 that he was the winged messenger of the gods, and the patron* 

 ^f thieves. What name, therefore, could be more appropriate 

 for the metal in question than that of this deity? for it is not 

 only distinguished from all other metals by its mobility, but it* 

 universal agency has rendered it the resource of those worst v>f 

 thieves — quacks, and nostrum-mongers." Dr. Paris, in addition 

 to his own experience, and to the information gained by hisr 

 reading on the subject, has obtained much useful information 

 from persons in distant countries respecting the influence of 

 soil, culture, climate, and season : for particulars, 1 must refer 

 the reader to the work itself. 



The only remaining part of the historical introduction which I 

 ghall notice, is that which treats of the application and misap- 

 plication of chemical science. In the beginning of this section^ 

 some very amusing and curious matter will be found. After 

 noticing the works of Roger Bacon, Basil Valentine, Paracelsus; 

 Van Belmont, &c. he comes down to our own times, and 

 honours, first, Mr. Brande, and then me, with some notice for the 

 criticisms which we have occasionally ventured to make upon the 

 London Pharmacopoeia; and 1 believe I may regard myself, with- 

 out any undue pretensions, as a very prominent member of a new 

 order denominated, by Dr. Paris, " Ultra Chemists;** and 1 am 

 accused of exhibiting, in my Experimental Examination of the 

 Pharmacopoeia Londmensis, a " caustic style of criticism," rather 

 than '* any fatal or material inaccuracy" in the work reviewed. 

 Oi'eat allowance is to be made for Dr Paris, in passing his judg- 

 ment upon my examination, for he is aFellow of the College; but 

 «till not having been so at the time when the Pharmacopoeia in 

 question was edited, 1 think he would have shown more discre- 

 tion in suffering; it to sleep quietly in the dust to which the Col- 

 lege have consigned it. 1 am not so good a judge of the ap- 

 pearances which indicate what is " fatal " as the Doctor ; but, 

 i think,, if he should And that a person was utterly incapable of 

 performing any of the functions which indicate vitality, he would 

 conclude him to be dead, if then I discover in a Pharmacopoeia 

 Sitartarised antimoiu/ which is not tartar emelicy and consequently 

 incapable of answering the end for which it was prepared, I have 



l^ew Se/'ies, vol. i. p 



