AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 33 



the subject, and by the favour of many distinguished men, both 

 at home and abroad, and supported by able contributors, to 

 whom the Editor again tenders his grateful acknowledgments, 

 he will still persevere, in the hope of contributing something 

 to the advancement of our science and arts, and towards the 

 elevation of our national character. 



In the autumn of the same year, the editor closes the 

 fifth volume with a more confident tone (Sept. 25, 1822) : 



A trial of four years has decided the point, that the American 

 Public will support this Journal. Its pecuniary patronage is 

 now such, that although not a lucrative, it is no longer a hazard- 

 ous enterprise. It is now also decided, that the intellectual 

 resources of the country are sufficient to afford an unfailing 

 supply of valuable original communications and that nothing 

 but perseverance and effort are necessary to give perpetuity to 

 the undertaking. 



The decided and uniform expression of public favour which 

 the Journal has received both at home and abroad, affords the 

 Editor such encouragement, that he cannot hesitate to per- 

 severe and he now renews the expression of his thanks to the 

 friends and correspondents of the work, both in Europe and the 

 United States, requesting at the same time a continuance of their 

 friendly influence and efforts. 



Still again in the preface to the sixth volume (1823) he 

 takes the reader more fully into his confidence and shows 

 that he regards the enterprise as no longer of doubtful 

 success. He says : 



The conclusion of a new volume of a work, involving so much 

 care, labour and responsibility, as are necessarily attached, at 

 the present day, to a Journal of Science and the Arts, natur- 

 ally produces in the mind, a state of not ungrateful calmness, 

 and a disposition, partaking of social feeling, to say something 

 to those who honour such a production, by giving to it a small 

 share of their money, and of their time. The Editor's first 

 impression was, that the sixth volume should be sent into the 

 world without an introductory note, but he yields to the impulse 

 already expressed, and to the established usages of respectful 

 courtesy to the public, which a short preface seems to imply. 

 He has now persevered almost five years, in an undertaking, 

 regarded by many of the friends whom he originally consulted, 

 as hazardous, and to which not a few of them prophetically 

 alloted only an ephemeral existence. It has been his fortune to 



