76 



of the honor thus early bestowed on him, he goes man- 

 fully and earnestly to work to lay, deep and strong, the 

 foundations of a science, of which the first rudiments 

 were scarcely known. 



In the year 1846, a premium of fifty sovereigns ($250) 

 was offered by the Highland and Agricultural Society of 

 Scotland, for the best analysis of the oat. The chemical 

 constituents and the physiology of the growth of this 

 plant, were little known, and a scientific analysis had 

 never been attempted. Mr. Norton, still a student in the 

 laboratory, and in competition with several learned chem- 

 ists, obtained this premium. This is more remarkable 

 from the fact that he was an American, and unknown to 

 the scientific world. The article contains thirty-nine 

 tables, showing the composition of the different parts of 

 the oat, and at several stages of its growth, and displays 

 a vast amount of research and an untiring industry. In 

 the conclusion of the article, Mr. Norton remarks — " I 

 may be permitted to say, that the extent of this investiga- 

 tion, and the many points which I have been compelled 

 to leave undetermined or doubtful, after eighteen months 

 of constant labor, must convince those who entertain false 

 ideas of the time and patience necessary for chemical re- 

 searches of this kind, that they have erred in supposing 

 the chemist able to do in a few days or weeks what can 

 only be effected by the labor and study of many success- 

 ive years." 



