PREFACE. 



NOTWITHSTANDING the exercise of much 

 labour and thought during the progress of 

 this volume through the press, in the en- 

 deavour to bring'it below its present limits, 

 the importance and variety of the subjects 

 on which it treats have precluded the 

 possibility of so doing. When the student 

 of nature investigates the connexions and 

 natural dependencies of those kingdoms 

 which together constitute the scheme of 

 creation, and even when only in one direc- 

 tion, as in the present case, the subject is 

 exhaustless. The Chemistry of Creation 

 is a theme not for one, but for many 

 volumes. 



In the present Work the attempt has 

 been made to introduce all the recent dis- 



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