Gorham on Chemical Science. 351 



In considering them individually he has adopted the arrange- 

 ment of Thenard, which, with all its faults, is perhaps, as little 

 open to objection as any other which could be suggested ; ex- 

 cepting that we should deem it improved by placing the di- 

 vision which treats of bodies regarded analogically as metallic 

 oxides, last instead of first. 



To give our readers some notion of Dr. Gorham's individual 

 treatment of the metals, we shall select one of the most im- 

 portant, namely. Iron ; the general order of description is similar 

 in all of them. The first paragraphs relate to the importance of this 

 metal, to its general diffusion, and its mechanical properties ; 

 its two oxides are next described, and the difficulty adverted to 

 of reconciling their composition with the atomic theory. The 

 chlorides, carburets, phosphiiret, and sulphurets of iron are 

 then treated of, and to these succeeds the history of its salts, 

 in the order following: 1. Chlorate. 2. Muriate. 3. Nitrate. 

 4. Carbonate. 5. Phosphate. 6. Sulphate. 7. Ferrocyanate. 

 The last paragraph of the section on iron describes its alloys. 

 Such is the general arrangement adopted under the head of 

 each of the metals, and it is in our opinion infinitely pre- 

 ferable to that disjointed plan, generally followed by our 

 own authors, of considering the metals in the abstract in one 

 chapter, their salts in a second, their combinations with oxygen 

 in a third, and so forth ; the perplexity and confusion of which, 

 if not self-evident, may be amply judged of by reference to Dr. 

 Thomson's system, and to M. Thenard's Traite. While how- 

 ever we applaud our author's plan, we cannot congratulate him 

 on the happiness of its execution; his details are meagre and 

 unsatisfactory; we are told nothing of the ores of the metals ; 

 of the means of reducing th_m; of the methods of analyzing 

 their combinations; of their uses in the arts; and of many 

 other things which Dr. Gorham might have picked out of the 

 works of Hatchett, Klaproth, and other standard authorities, 

 and which would greatly have contributed to the value of his 

 work, more especially considered as a text book for students. 

 The speculations of Dr. Berzelius, and the hypotheses of Dr. 

 Murray, are very well as speculations and hypotheses, but they 

 should not have been suffered to usurp the place of genuine 

 philosophy. 



The epitome of Vegetable Chemistry is divided into three chap- 

 ters; the first is subdivided into twenty sections, giving an 

 account of the proximate principles of plants; the second 

 chapter contains a brief view of the structure and chemical 

 physiology of vegetables, which would have more aptly pre- 

 ceded the former; and the third is entitled, " Of the Spon- 

 taneous Decomposition of Vegetables," and includes the phe- 

 nomena and products of fermentation. 



The flnirls and solids of the animal body, and the chnnges 



