36 Chemistry. [Lecture 25, 



2 Oxygen. 



3 Nitrogen or azote. 

 4? Hydrogen. 



5 Phosphorus. ) 



6 Sulphur. [Sunpte . M 



7 Carbon or Diamond, j Combustibles. 



8 The Muriatic Radical. 



9 Alkalies. C Potass and 



10 Earths, of which there are nine in number. 



1 1 Metals, in number about twenty-three. 



I. CALORIC* or elementary fire. That this is 

 a fluid of a peculiar kind can no longer be 

 doubted, since it has all the properties of a fluid. 

 It is perceptible to our senses only in a disen- 

 gaged or active state; that is, in passing from 

 one body to another. It is, however, diffused 

 very copiously throughout nature. By its elastic 

 quality it is the cause of all fluidity ; and, in- 

 deed, was it not for the influence of this subtile 

 fluid, the whole matter of the universe, there is 

 reason to believe, would be condensed into a solid 

 mass. Thus it is that by withdrawing a certain 

 portion of its natural heat from water, that fluid 

 becomes a solid body and is converted into ice. 

 Caloric might perhaps be termed the principle of 



* I adopt the term of the French chemists in preference 

 to those of, fire or heat, because these are properly effects, 

 and because caloric is known to exist where neither of these 

 effects is sensible. It seems indeed a kind of solecism to 

 speak of latent heat in cold water. 



