OF THE 



UNIVERSITY 



OF 



I. HISTORICAL ESSAYS 



THE EARLY DAYS OF CHEMISTRY 



IN the early days of the world's history, the study of 

 science was unknown. The state of society was insecure ; 

 nation was constantly invading nation, and men had 

 little leisure for other pursuits save war and the chase. 

 Yet we find, among those nations which were sufficiently 

 powerful to resist the attacks of their neighbours, and 

 sufficiently prosperous to dispense with invasions of the 

 territory of others in quest of plunder, some attempts to 

 inquire into the mysteries of nature. In some countries, 

 as in Egypt, a leisured class of persons, the priests, urged 

 no doubt partly by a desire for knowledge, partly by a 

 wish to impress the people with a sense of their superior 

 powers, made some progress in what may be called 

 'natural philosophy/ understanding by that term 

 elementary physics and chemistry. To these they added 

 a considerable acquaintance with astronomy and mathe- 

 matics. 



For practical purposes of life, too, certain of the arts, 

 notably metallurgy and dyeing, which are based on 

 chemical principles, were cultivated. But these were 

 carried on by rule of thumb, and their development was 

 slow. Indeed, they were for the most part in the hands 

 of slaves, the freemen finding it more profitable to 

 engage in commerce, or in administration. The state of 

 Turkey or Morocco, in the present day, gives a good 



