474 Inquiries relative to the Structure of Wood. 



must, nevertheless, admit that there is still a much 

 greater proportion of carbon employed in the formation 

 of that acid, or of other substances which fly off into the 

 atmosphere during the process of the carbonization of 

 the wood. 



In pursuing inquiries in natural philosophy, the first 

 object that demands attention is to keep an accurate 

 account of weights ; and so long as we proceed with the 

 balance in hand, there is little hazard of being misled. 



And here, before I proceed further in the inquiry into 

 the sources of the heat developed during the combustion 

 of wood, I shall exhibit a general table of the details and 

 results of forty-three experiments made upon eleven dif- 

 ferent kinds of the woods of our climate. As I shall have 

 occasion to refer to some of these experiments for the 

 establishment of facts, it is requisite that they should 

 first be known. 



All these experiments having been made and registered 

 long before I began the calculations ultimately adopted 

 for the elucidation of their results, I have not hesitated 

 to rely on them. And further, as they were made with 

 all possible care, and with instruments to me apparently 

 perfect, I can answer for their accuracy. 



New experiments ever bear a certain value ; all the 

 knowledge which constitutes the imperishable riches of 

 mankind consists only of accurate statements of well- 

 conducted experiments. Happy they who have the 

 good fortune of contributing something to the general 

 stock ! 



