Mr Johnston's Visit to Berzelius.. 19T 



two short flights of siairs, when he finds a door facing him*,* 

 If he knock he may receive no answer, or at most a simple^ 

 " Kom in ;" his safest way therefore will be to enter, and, lest 

 he should be afraid of intruding, he will hear a little bell giv- 

 ing notice of his entrance. The room in which he now finds 

 himself, he will immediately discover, by various significant 

 implements which stare him in the face on every side, to be 

 part and parcel of a chemical laboratory. I suppose him to 

 be something of a chemist, an amateur at least, from his taking 

 the pains to follow all these directions ; but should he not, or 

 should he be of delicate nerves, he need not run away at the 

 sight of these chemical tools, in apprehension of the various 

 sweet smells which often render laboratories so attractive to 

 strangers. They are here all carefully got rid of by ventila- 

 tion, and even though he see processes going on, he may yet 

 proceed boldly forward. On his right hand, while still near 

 the door, he will see, carefully adjusted by the window, a mer- 

 curial trough of stone, with 100 pounds of mercury dazzling 

 in the sun. On his left, a trap staircase leading to the floor 

 above, and near it some of the viler apparatus, such as con- 

 tain water and other slops. Going forward, let him deviate a 

 little to the left to avoid coming in contact with a table which 

 stands between the windows, and projects to a considerable 

 distance into the room. If he stop a moment at the end of 

 this table, and cast his eye to the right, he will see near the 

 second window a small porcelain table with raised edges, and 

 probably some glasses standing upon it, denoting that some 

 experiment is, or has been lately going on, while against the 

 wall on one side of the window,, he will observe a small oil 

 lamp by Knight, of Foster Lane, burning probably with the 

 Sprutjlaska suspended over it, and on a shelf on the other 

 side various little contrivances for facilitating the disposition of 

 apparatus for the purpose of experiment. Bringing back his 

 eye over the blowpipe, its huge lamp and its fragments of 

 glass, he may glance in passing at the sand-bath and heating 

 arrangements. He will see here no built up or brick furna- 

 ces ; these are well enough for essaying or for carrying on che- 

 mical investigations by wholesale, as is;^ somewhat the fashion 

 now a days, but they are too vulgar implements for the pur- 



