THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



69 



c A Fluid* is a body, whose particles are be- 

 yond the sphere of each otiier's attraction. Ei. 

 Air. 



IV. DEFINITIONS. 



Before proceeding farther, it will be necessary 

 to define certain term3 con.^tanl!3' nscd in tlie ian- 

 guajro of Chcmislrj', and to which are attached 

 certain specific meanings. 



1. Bodtf is a term denoting any mass of matter, 

 however large or small ; whether solid, liquid, or 

 fluid. 



2. Suhstiim-c has nearly or quite the same sig- 

 nification as bod}-. 



3. ^Itinn or purti.de, denotes the smallest por- 

 tion into which a body can be divided. 



A particle of matter cannot be destroyed, brok- 

 en or divided, or in any way changed in its essen- 

 tial characteristics. The only change, that can talse 

 place with particles of matter, is in their arrange- 

 ment with each other, or their combination with 

 other particles. 



Bodies arc of two kinds, simple and compound. 



4. A simple body is one, \','hose particles are all 

 of the same nature. 



5. A compound body 'in one, which consists of 

 particles of different kinds chemically united, i. 

 e. so united that the whole appears to be one sub- 

 stance. 



Illustration. Take a piece of iron and no mode 

 of treatment can bring from it any tiling but iron. 

 Every particle is of the same nature. Hence it is 

 called a simple body. The same is true of lead, 

 copper, tin, zinc, &c. But if we take a piece of 

 chalk or limestone, and sul^ject it to certain opera- 

 tions, we get three different bodies ; one hard, black 

 body called carbon, [charcoal,] another silvery sub- 

 stance called calcium, and a third gaseous body 

 called oxygen. Hence limestone is a compound 

 body ; and carbon, calcium and oxygen, are called 

 its constituent parts. 



G. Composition is the union of particljs of mat- 

 ter, dissimilcr in their nature, forming a new body 

 unlike either of the original bodies. 



///. Melt copper and'zinc together, and brass 

 is tlie result; a compound unlike either of the sim- 

 ple substances, copper or zinc. 



7. Decomposition is the separation of a com- 

 pound body into its constituent parts. When a 

 body is dncomposed, its nature is always changed. 



8. Division is the separation of a body into parts, 

 without changing its nature. 



///. Breaking a rock, or grinding corn or plas- 

 ter. 



A Mixture is a body consisting of two or more 

 substances intermingled without having their na- 

 ture cltariged. 



///. Put oil and water into a glass and shake them 

 together. 



10. fiolutio.i is tiie separation of the particles of 

 asol'd, by a liquid tr fluid. 



III. Salt and water — sugar and water. 



11. Solrcnt IS Uk liquid or fluid, by which the 

 particles of a solid are separated. This is some- 

 times called a menslruuvi. 



1'i. S.';/;/r»(ion is the point, at which one body 

 will take up no more of another. 



///. Water at a given temperature will take up 

 a certain quantity of salt and no more. The water 

 is then said to be saturated. 



13. Precipitation is the separation of a body from 

 its solvent. 



III. If water be poured into a saturated solu- 

 tion" of camphor in spirit, the gum will be precipi- 

 tated. 



14. Evaporation is the conversion of a liquid 

 or solid into a fluid vapor lighter than the atmos- 

 phere. 



///. If a piece of camphor gum is left in the o- 

 pen air it will gradually disappear by evaporation. 

 Wet clothes hung out in the open air, are dried by 

 evaporation. 



Heat assists evaporation. Hence a reason why 

 bodies become dry sooner in a warm room or hot 

 sun, than in the cool shade. 



* I am aware that I use the term fluid in a more 

 limited sense than that given in most of ourhook.-3. 

 But, it always appeared to me unphilosophical to 

 use the same word as synonymous with liquid and 

 gas. 



Cure for the Dropsy. 



Tlie following article comes to our hand from a 

 most respectable source, and we strongly recom- 

 mend it to the attention of our readers : 



"lam knowing to two e.Ktremely distressing 

 cases of Dropsy being suddenly relieved by the 

 means of the hark of common elder. One a. wo- 

 man advanced in ye.ir3, in the last stage of disease. 



TJie other a young woman who had been confined 

 to her bed for nearly twelve months, and whose 

 strength was nearly e.vhausted, is now wliolly free 

 Iroiu dropsv, and recovering strength in a manner 

 surprising and unexpected. Other cases less ag- 

 gravating have been cured by the same. The re- 

 cipe is : — Take two handfuls of the green or inner 

 bark of the white common older, steep it in two 

 quarts- of white Lisbon wine twer.ty-iour hours, 

 take a gill of the wine in the morning, fasting, or 

 more if it can be borne; brut if more convenient, 

 in the morning or part about noon, on an empty 

 stomach. The effect of the bark prepared as above 

 or the pressed juice from the leaves (full grown) 

 which iiad been used with success wiien wine could 

 not be procured, is, that it jiromotes all tile animal 

 secretions necessary to health, which is tiie cause 

 of its salutary eflects in dropsy. Great debility 

 will always follow the use of powerful evacuants, 

 and the best medical writers wow recommena nu- 

 triciovs al imcnt ,p.s the best medicine in every, even 

 in e.itreme cases of debility. The bark and 

 leaves of the elder have been long knov/n as pow- 

 erful evacuants, and not esteemed unsafe. Yet 

 caution is recommended in using tlie Imds, as their 

 effect is esteemed, and has been found dangerous 

 in some cases. — Philadelphia Coiiricr. 



r'orihe Fannei's tMiUitlily \'i*,il(ir. 



The Stranger, or Suicide. 



From Italy the stranger came, 

 Unknown his birtli, unknown his name 

 His noble brow was mark'd with grief— 

 His look solicited relief. 

 But half conceal'd beneatli his cloak 

 I 'spied a harp ; its strings were broke : 

 I ask'd the Minstrel could iie Jjlay ? 

 All bathed in tears he turn'd away : 

 But soon lie chock'd the rising flood, 

 Dash'd off the tears, nnd firmly stood. 

 Willing his story to relate, 

 Tiiouglisad and most unfortunate. 

 "Sir, I am of noble birtii — • 

 I need not stooj) to sons of earth : 

 Titles and honors were design'd 

 To be my own ; but most unkind 

 Has fortune prov'd ; and I have lost 

 All tliat I lov'd and volu'd most. 

 First by disease I was disfress'd — • 

 Next by detraction robb'ti of rest ; 

 Pretendeil friends prov'd enemies — 

 ]\Iy fVmdest hope in ruin lies. 

 The friend 1 lov'd and valued most 

 For me has all affection lost : 

 She thinks me base, degraded, vile, 

 At iny calamities doth smile. 

 Of sorrow's cup the dregs I taste — 

 in misery all my moments waste." 

 That instant he his dagger took. 

 Casting around a farewell look, 

 Plung'd It within his breast, and then 

 To dust gave back its dust again. 



E. 

 Lebanon, N. II., Jan. 20, lt'40. 



M. 



Remarks of Prof. Siliiman at the Agri- 

 cultural Meeting in Boston, Jan. 13, 

 1810. 



After Mr. Webster closed, Mr. Sili.imjn- began 

 by remarking that he wastaken wholly by surprise, 

 nothing havmgbeen f^irtlier from his tlioughts than 

 to say any thing on this occasion. Indeed, after 

 the remarks from the honorable gentleman who 

 had just spoken, to which he had, in common with 

 others, the pleasure of listening, there was little 

 that need be said by any one. On an occasion so 

 gratifying as the present, and offering oijjects of in- 

 quiry and discussion so higlil^f important and in- 

 teresting, he could not, however, withhold the ex- 

 pression of his own personal interest in the case, 

 and wliat little aid to the cause mighr be derived 

 from his concurrence. 



In the statement relating to Britisli husbandry, 

 made by the honorable gentleman wiio preceded 

 him, and in the impression which that gentleman 

 had gathered from his observation of rural and ag- 

 ricultural life in England, he expressed his entire 

 assent and sympathy. In a visit many years since, 

 made by himself to England, he derived from simi- 

 lar though far less perfect opportunities of observa- 

 tion, great pleasure ; and he left the country more 

 than thirty years ago, with a strong admiration for 

 the extraordinary improvements and advances 

 made iritiiis great art, in that active, populous, and 

 intelligent community. 



Tlie British nation had long since arrived at the 

 conviction, which experience and further inquiry 

 had served only to confirm and strengthen, that 

 science in all its influences might lend a most sub- 



stantial aid to agriculture. They therefore have 

 largely availed themselves of its aid in the chemi- 

 cal exaiulnatlon of soils and manures, with a view 

 to ascertain tiieir uses and correctives. 



The popular impressions formerly entertained, 

 that little was to be gained in agriculture by tho 

 application of science, are, in a great measure, re- 

 moved. Notliing could have less foundation in 

 reason or fact. The advantages of the judicious 

 application of knowledge to art, are every where 

 obvious. All the arts of life lyave their foundation 

 m knowledge; and all the improvements of me- 

 chanism, from a wheelbarrow to a chronometer, are 

 due to science and mechanical philosophy. It will 

 be found true in relation to every thing connected 

 with human improvement and comfort^even in the 

 commonest departments of life, the more knowl- 

 edge the better. 



Inquiries into the nature of soils are of greatim- 

 portance : and in respect to many soils now either 

 wholly unproductive or uncongenial to certain 

 crops, science may enable us to applv the necessa- 

 ry alternative or correctives. .Mthough we can- 

 not fabricate in a laboratory the soils of a country, 

 we can discover their composition and ascertain 

 their deficienees; the deficient ingredient may be 

 supplied, and although it should be in small quan- 

 tities, it may be done in a form that may be gener- 

 ally practicable, and thus may essentially changn 

 the character of a soil. 



The honorable gentleman has, without doubt, 

 truly assigned the causes of the mildness of the cl-- 

 mate of western Europe, and especially of Great 

 Britain ; and he has indicated with equal clearness 

 and truth the causes of the comparative coldness 

 of the Eastern countries of North America. In 

 this connexion it may be remarked that the west- 

 ern countries of this continent enjoy a climate fat 

 milder than tlie eastern. 



The climate of the western countries is aff'ected 

 by their position in relation to the vast Pacific o- 

 cean, which produces an effect similar to that of 

 the Atlantic ocean upon Europe, but in a far n-reat- 

 er degree. Thus the climate corresponds toacon- 

 siderable degree with that of the western shores of 

 Europe. Its mildness is such that the plough may 

 be driven nearly or quite througli the whole year. 

 Its temperature is, perhaps, considerably afl^ected 

 by its geological formation and by the extensive 

 range of volcanoes, which stretch along its shores, 

 and some of which are still breathing forth their 

 internal heat. Here every thing is on a vast scale ; 

 and the agricultural products wlll,at no distantday, 

 become abundant and highly important. Wecan'- 

 not indeed alter the climate of our country'; but 

 we may in som^ measme accommodate our hus- 

 bandry to its peculiarities and variations. 



The larger portion of the soils of New England, 

 as stated by the honorable gentleman, is undoubt- 

 edly derived from granite and other primary rocks; 

 and many of the red sandstone soils, such as those 

 in the neighborhood of New Haven, are, in fact, 

 composed of tlie principles fouii'd in granite rocks. 

 Argillaceous soils, or these which are derived 

 chiefly from the decomposition of argillaceous or 

 clay slate, abound likewise in many p:irts of New 

 England and of Massachusetts, and being reten- 

 tive of water, are found highly productive in grass 

 and grains. 



A considerable part of the nutriment of plants is 

 undoubtedly derived from the air, and water, or its 

 elements, constitutes a large portion of their food. 

 The composition of water is now well understood, 

 and we may with safety, in the presence oflhisin- 

 telligent assembly, speak in technical terms of the 

 constituent parts of water, hydrogen and oxygen, 

 which enter largely into all vegetables. Carbon, 

 which forms also a large part of plants, though it 

 exists in comparatively small proportions in the 

 form of carbonic acid gas in the air, as yet deriv- 

 ed from innumer.-ible sources and supplied to tjje 

 growing vegetables in abundance. The effect of 

 light upon the green loaves of plants is to decom- 

 pose the carbonic acid, and the carbon is absoi-bed 

 to nourish tlie plant, and the o.xygen is evolved in- 

 to the air ; thus it separates from the atmosphere 

 an important element of nutrition, supplying it in 

 the form of food for the plants. 



Mr. Silllman fiirther alluded to the curious fact 

 in the constitution of nature, that notwithstanding 

 the superior density or specific gravity of carbonic 

 aciu gus, it being much greater than that of the oth- 

 er elements of which the atmosphere is composed, 

 it is nevertheless found in abundance in the elevat- 

 ed regions of the earth, and even on high and bar- 

 ren mountains contributes in an important degree 

 to the support of plants and of trrees. If the air 

 and water afford the most important elements of 

 plants, it m.ay be asked, what then is the use ofthe 

 soiP Its first use is to furnish a point of support in 



