CHAPTER TWELVE 



ANALYSIS 



SECTION 58. Analysis. 

 How can people tell what things are made of ? 



If it were not for chemical analysis, most of the big 

 factories would have to shut down, much of our agri- 

 cultural experimentation would stop, the Pure Food 

 Law would be impossible to enforce, mining would be 

 paralyzed, and the science of chemistry would almost 

 vanish. 



Analysis is finding out what things are made of. In 

 order to make steel from ore, the ore has to be analyzed ; 

 and factories could not run very well without steel. In 

 order to test soil, to test cow's milk, or to find the food 

 value of different kinds of feed, analysis is essential. 

 As to the Pure Food Law, how could the government 

 find out that a firm was using artificial coloring matter 

 or preservatives if there were no way of analyzing the 

 food ? In mining, the ore must be assayed ; that is, 

 it must be analyzed to show what part of it is gold, for 

 instance, and what part consists of other minerals. 

 Also, the analysis must show what these substances 

 are, so that they can be treated properly. And the 

 science of chemistry is largely the science of analyzing 

 finding out what things are made of and how they 

 will act on each other. 



The subject of chemical analysis is extremely im- 

 portant. But in this course it is impossible and un- 

 necessary for you to learri to analyze everything; the 

 main thing is for you to know what analysis is and to 

 have a general notion of how a chemist analyzes things. 



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