358 Analysis of Scientific Books. 



more catching, the following motto is contrived for the title- 

 page : " Give me the facts," said my Lord Judge, " thy con- 

 clusions are but the guess-work of imagination, which puzzle 

 the brain, and tend not to solve this mystery." 



We shall now shew, by a few quotations taken at hazard, how 

 little commensurate is the certainty of his facts to his assur- 

 ance, and how completely at variance are his details and those 

 of practical chemistry, as they are to be found in the workshop 

 of the intelligent artisan. The volume contains 528 pages, 

 distributed into 20 chapters, and ornamented with 20 plates. 

 The following is the order of his chapters : 1st, Metallic alloys, 

 under which we meet with the sulphurets of iron and nickel, 

 and the phosphurets of nickel and copper. 2d, Art of coat- 

 ing metals, &c., with metals, 3d, Separation of metals, 

 &c., from their combinations. 4th, Expansion of bodies by 

 heat, under which we have ebullition, sublimation, fusion, and 

 finally, the blow-pipe of Dr. Clarke and Mr. Hare, spread over 

 ten pages. 5th, Chemical affinity, of which the first experi- 

 ment is, " Non-affinity of steel for water ;" the second is, 

 " solution unattended by change of bulk ;" of this we shall 

 talk anon. 6th, Elective affinity. 7th, Compound, or double, 

 affinity. 8th, Experiments on crystallization. 9th, Experi- 

 ments on the discovery of certain substances in combination 

 with others, by means of tests. 10th, Preparation of gases. 

 11th, Experiments on respiration. 12th, Experiments on com- 

 bustion. 13th, Preparation and uses of fulminating and deto- 

 nating compounds. 14th, Of the evolution and absorption of 

 heat. 15th, Experiments on the motion of caloric, and on 

 the capacities of bodies for heat. 16th, Phosphorescence of 

 mineral and animal substances. 17th, Specific gravity. 18th. 

 Colouring and Bleaching. 19th, Fermentation and Distillation, 

 20th, Preservatives against animal and vegetable putrefac- 

 tion. 



The preceding list of the titles of his chapters will shew 

 every person of the least discrimination into what confusion he 

 has plunged the details of his work. But lest we be deemed 

 of the number of " fastidious" persons, let us now see how far 

 " his ardent desire of becoming practically acquainted with 

 the arts" has carried him; and what kind of instruction 'he has 

 acquired in his pretended visits to " its ultimately genuine 

 source, the workshop of the artisan." 



At Exp. 22, under alloy of gold and platintim, we find the 

 following statement, entitled, " Observations." " It is a cu- 

 rious circumstance, that the alloy of gold and platinum is so- 

 luble in nitric acid, which does not act on either of the metals 

 in a separate state." There is only one thing which lessens a 

 little the curiosity of the circumstance, its being untrue. 



Exp. 44. " To make cast-steel. Put 20 parts of pure iron 



