WHAT IS AN ELEMENT? 25 



far as it can be conveniently considered under 

 the three great divisions of our work, the earth, 

 the air, and ocean. An outline of many of 

 the truths of chemistry will thus be brought 

 under notice : but for purposes of scientific 

 information of a more profound kind, and for 

 the more abstruse doctrines of the science, the 

 reader will naturally seek elsewhere. The 

 object in view is more humble ; yet this work 

 may fulfil a legitimate calling in provoking the 

 desires of some minds to deeper investigation, 

 and in other instances, in giving that peculiar 

 interest in the objects of nature which arises 

 from a perception of some of the intricate and 

 beautiful machinery which directs and controls 

 their movements. 



Attractive as the possession of this knowledge 

 appears, it is not to be acquired nor retained 

 without a general acquaintance with some of 

 the fundamental principles of the science ; and 

 as this is by no means a difficult task, we pro- 

 pose, as briefly as may be, to acquaint the reader 

 with a few of their leading features. 



Here our first attempt must be to reduce all 

 material substances to their elementary or simple 

 condition ; our next to discover the laws by 

 which the elements are governed in their be- 

 haviour one toward another. The ancient idea 

 of the Elements was, as is well known, that there 



