226 
the only means of changing their philo- 
sophy as often as they please: Fresh 
and Fresh, is our motto; and families 
may be supplied with philosophy by the 
day, week, or year. The liberal mind, 
desirous of earning extended fame, may 
infallibly acquire it, by purchasing, from 
us, the sole right and property in an 
entirely new system of philosophy, equal 
to any one existing; and the utmost 
secrecy will be observed in the transfer. 
The supply, in this branch, must neces- 
sarily be extremely limited, as we have, 
in our possession, only nineteen such 
systems, and cannot expect to procure 
them at will. 
In the greater part of this prospectus, 
I have spoken of the society asif it were 
actually in existence: it is so, in every 
essential respect, the only requisites, 
at present, being capital and share- 
holders. 
Desirous of removing every prejudice 
against philosophy, and understanding 
that a bad effect was produced by an 
incorrect report of a transaction that 
took place some years ago, before such 
high legal authority as the late Recorder, 
I hasten to give the correct version.— 
When this Lord High Fortune-teller, 
as he was called at the Old Bailey, was 
one day laudably employed in putting 
down a philosophical society, a worthy 
alderman asked him what philosophy 
was,—fearing, no doubt, that it might 
be some illicit drug for adulterating por- 
‘ter, or, at least, a dangerous innovation 
in the kitchen. “ Why,” replied his 
sable lordship, ** modern philosophy is 
so frittered away, that it is difficult to 
say what it is!” 
The reader will observe, that it was 
only modern philosophy his lordship 
alluded to; and that ancient as well as 
modern philosophy can be had, at all 
times and prices, at the office of 
Tue New Jornr-stock PurtosornicaL 
Company ! G*. 
—— 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
On Prismatic Cuemistry. 
bye gape Experiment of the Prism, duly 
understood, is, at once, the most 
curious and important of any in the 
whole circle of science. 
Grimatpt, an Italian experimentalist, 
was the first who published details of 
it;—Descarres treated of it, fully, in 
his Natural Philosophy ;—Nexwron re- 
peated their experiments, and built on 
them his own theory of colours.* 
_ * Herschel discovered its chemical ac- 
tion, and Marietti, the magnetizing influ- 
ence of the violet end. 
Prismatic Chemistry. . 
CApril-1, 
Newton’s theory was founded on an 
hypothesis about light, which was then 
generally adopted, and has never been 
disputed with success ; but, if the hypo-~ 
thesis is wrong, then his theory would 
utterly fail. 
It would be still more important te 
shew, that a false hypothesis not only led 
to an erroneous conclusion, in regard to 
the effect andtendency ofthe experiment; 
but, by correcting our views, to make it 
appear, that the experiment demon- 
strates a great deal more than has, 
hitherto, been suspected. 
What is Light ?—Does it consist of 
identical atoms, flowing from the lumi- 
nous body, with a yelocity of twelve 
millions of miles per minute, to the 
place of vision, which was the theory 
adopted by Newton? Does it consist, 
according to Euler, of undulations’ or 
waves of the medium of light? Or, 
according to the theory lately promul- 
gated in the Twelve Essays and Four 
Dialogues, does it consist of the mecha- 
nical propulsion or protrusion of trains 
of atoms, within the space in which the 
luminous body is situated ? 
It seems to require as much faith as 
would remove a mountain, to conceive, 
while looking upon a small burning 
taper, that it explodes any atoms at the 
required velocity,—which atoms, never- 
theless, have force enough to pass per- 
pendicularly in straight lines, through 
solid transparent media. But Newton, 
like other philosophers of his time, was 
a ready believer in all kinds of miracles! 
Is it more necessary that atoms pro- 
ducing light should travel identically; 
than the atoms which produce sound? 
No person insists on the latter—why 
on the former? We have only te 
change the mode of action, from the 
gross vibrations producing sound, to the 
excitement of single atoms at the lumi- 
nous surface; and as atoms exist in 
continuous trains all round, the excite- 
ment of one would affect the others,— 
just as children play at soldiers with 
bent cards: and in this mode of action, 
‘we have a complete solution of all the 
accidents and phenomena, even of par-. 
ticular ones, wholly inexplicable on the 
hypothesis of travelling atoms. 
Modern chemists have even enlarged 
‘on the superstitions of the 17th cen- 
tury, and converted light into an Ele- 
ment,—thereby producing a most whim- 
sical confusion of things, and adding 
blunder to blunder. Certain mechanical 
affections of atoms, they call the ele- 
ment, or fluid, or matter of Catortc ! 
Other 
