CHEMICAL AGRICULTURAL LECTURES. 267 



XLIII. CHEMICAL AGRICULTURAL LECTURES. 



During the last winter, a course of ten lectures, illustrated by 

 numerous experiments, was given by Professor Brande, F. R. S., 

 well known in the scientific world, on the chemistry of agri 

 culture, at the rooms of the Royal Institution, which, through 

 his politeness, I had the pleasure of attending. They might be 

 considered as almost wholly scientific, and were exceedingly 

 interesting and instructive. Mr. Brande spoke of himself as 

 having been a pupil or associate of the distinguished Sir 

 Humphry Davy, who lectured on the same subjects in this same 

 institution, and who may be said to have taken the first step in 

 the great movement, which is now so widely felt, of the applica 

 tion of science, properly so called, to agriculture. 



Professor Brande s lectures were numerously attended, by 

 ladies as well as gentlemen. Several of the ladies were always 

 busy in taking notes of the lectures. I felt the highest respect 

 for them on this account ; and if I had been, as is said among 

 the clergy, &quot; a candidate for settlement,&quot; with my strong pred 

 ilections for agricultural pursuits, I might have been tempted to 

 inquire about some of them, whose high and capacious foreheads 

 gave a noble indication of what was within, whether they also 

 were in the transition state. Certainly here, as well as any 

 where, I may claim for an American woman the honor of pre 

 senting from her own pen an excellent translation, from the 

 French, of Chaptal s Agricultural Chemistry, to the American 

 public. Her name is modestly withheld from the title-page, 

 and therefore I have no right to give it. 



I shall give below a syllabus of Professor Brande s lectures on 

 these occasions, because I so strongly wish the example should 

 be followed in my own country. 



1st. Lecture. THE SOIL. Its components ; whence derived. 

 Inorganic Constituents of the Soil. Silica ; alumina ; lime : 

 magnesia ; oxide of iron ; alkalies ; phosphorus ; sulphur ; salts ; 

 water ; decay of rocks ; sand ; clay ; marl ; chalk ; other simple 

 soils. Organic Constituents. Humus or humic acid ; their 

 influences and uses. Absorptive power in regard to air, water. 



