PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 



Jv 



stitute, if possible, a still more interesting branch 

 of the science than those upon which we have 

 already touched ; and that its future progress 

 will develope many new facts still more impor- 

 tant than those already known, cannot be doubt- 

 ed. But in a dissertation like the present, which 

 is so much limited in point of extent, it would be 

 impossible to give historical details of even the 

 most important branches of a science, much 

 more extensive than any other to which mankind 

 have devoted their attention, and which is daily 

 extending itself still farther, by entering 1 upon 

 important fields of investigation not yet traversed. 



Here, then, we shall conclude this historical 

 sketch. We have found it necessary, from the 

 limited space allowed us, to omit much. Yet the 

 view which we have given, imperfect as it is, 

 shows sufficiently the splendid improvements 

 made in science by the moderns, and the im- 

 mense blanks still left for posterity to fill up. 

 Astronomy alone has advanced to a state ap- 

 proaching to perfection ; but chemistry, already 

 one of the most important of the sciences, and 

 destined ultimately to become much more so, is 

 still almost in a state of infancy. 



