LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC. 63 



brilliant phenomena which belong to that great principle light; investigating its na- 

 ture, working out its laws, step by step, with the most cautious and philosophic induc- 

 tion, but guided, throughout, by the most admirable sagacity ; — behold him laying 

 down the laws which regulate the universe ; devising new modes by which to inves- 

 tigate the complicated motions of the heavenly bodies, modes of mathematical 

 analysis of such depth and power, that even the highest intellects have scarcely been 

 able to wield them ; and, ultimately, bringing to light the beautiful unity, simpli- 

 city, and order, of the whole celestial mechanism ; concerning which, all that had 

 been previously made known was little better than an intricate mass of false hypo- 

 thesis ; — behold the vast powers of his mind developed in-that master-work the 

 Principia, the perfection of mathematical and inductive analysis : — and yet, 

 throughout the whole of this bright career, behold him simple, humble, and a 

 Christian ; and at the last, when the great work which had been assigned him to 

 accomplish on this transient scene was nearly finished, exclaiming, impressed with 

 an overwhelming sense of the vast extent and unfathomable depths of creation, ' I 

 have been merely picking up shells upon the shores of the great ocean truth.' " 



ON THE ELEMENTARY BODIES, AND THE LAWS WHICH REGULATE 

 THEIR UNION WITH EACH OTHER. 



On January 15th, John Woolrich, Esq. Lecturer at the School of 

 Medicine, Birmingham, delivered the first of a series of lectures on 

 Chemistry, at the Town-hall, Kidderminster. 



If a person unaccustomed to chemical research could take a survey over the 

 globe, including its mineral productions, the great masses of water and the atmos- 

 phere that surrounds it, together with the animal and vegetable creations, he would 

 be apt to conclude that they were formed of an almost infinite variety of substances, 

 and he would despair of ever becoming acquainted with them. Such, however, 

 is now the state of natural science, that we are enabled, through the labours of 

 eminent men of the present and preceding generations, to acquire, with com- 

 paratively little talent and labour, a knowledge of the composition and properties 

 of almost all bodies that are presented to our notice. 



By chemical analysis all the various substances constituting the animal, veget- 

 able, and mineral kingdoms may be reduced to 54 simple or undecompounded 

 elementary bodies. 



By an elementary body is not understood a body absolutely simple and incapable 

 of further decomposition. It is probable that many of those bodies w-hich are 

 now considered as simple, may be compound, but, until we succeed in decomposing 

 or separating them into more simple parts, we are bound to consider them, accord- 

 ing to the logic of chemistry, as elements. The ancients conceived that all com- 

 pound bodies were formed of the four elements — fire, air, earth, and water. This 

 view, however, of the constitution of bodies has long since been proved to be a 

 mere assumption, unfounded upon experiment. Air, earth, and water are now 

 proved to be compounds. 



Modern Philosophy teaches us to consider all bodies as elements that have not 

 yet been decomposed ; and according to the present state of chemical science there 

 are 54 of these bodies. By the union of these elementary bodies with each other 

 in various proportions, all the variety of compounds are formed. 



A knowledge of the properties of these elementary bodies, and of the compounds 

 they form, constitutes the science of chemistry, a science of greater utility and 

 more subservient to the wants of mankind than any other. 



The 54 elementary bodies may be very conveniently divided into three classes, 

 according to their particular properties. In the first class five of them may be 

 included, viz. — oxygen, chlorine, iodine, bromine, and fluorine. These ele- 

 mentary bodies are remarkable for the energy of their action upon other bodies, 

 in many cases so violent as to produce combustion — hence they were formerly 

 termed '^supporters of combustion,'" and they were considered as such exclusively. 

 We find, however, bodies belonging to the other classes capable, by their union of 



