PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 



THE raison d'etre of the following translation of 

 the famous work of Carnot is not the usual one, 

 either with the Publishers or the Editor expec- 

 tation of gain in either purse or fame. Neither 

 could reasonably be anticipated from the reproduc- 

 tion of the work of an author of more than a half- 

 century ago, in a field then unrecognized, and 

 to-day familiar to but few ; and especially when, 

 as is in this case the fact, the work itself has been 

 long out of date as a scientific authority, even had 

 it ever held such a position. It could not be pre- 

 sumed that a very large proportion of even the 

 men of science of the English-speaking world 

 would be sufficiently familiar with the subject, or 

 interested in its origin, to purchase such a relic of 

 a primitive period as is this little book. Nor 

 could the translation of the work, or the gather- 

 ing together by the Editor of related matter, be 

 supposed likely to be productive of any form of 

 compensation. The book is published as matter 

 of limited but most intense scientific interest, 

 and on that score only. 



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