8 PREFATOPvY ADDRESS. 



The Author flatters himself, that his labours will be 

 found to open a field of experiment, of chemical rea- 

 soning, and of the practically useful, applicable to Agri- 

 culture, of which that science has hitherto been thought 



o 



incapable. 



In the prosecution of his researches to so desirable an 

 end, he acknowledges the assistance he has derived from 

 the labours and valuable discoveries of a PRIESTLEY and a 

 CAVENDISH, under the heads of Air, orGasses, Composi- 

 tion, and Decomposition of Water ; so true is the obser- 

 vation, that there is no art or discovery that is not the 



parent or sister of some other. 



^ 



Gratitude requires that he should likewise acknow- 

 ledge the obligations he is under to his friend Mr. VAN- 

 COUVER, for the time he has kindly dedicated, and the 

 relief he has afforded the Author in the fatigue of this 

 publication a work wherein accuracy of chemical ex- 

 pression a variety of important matter attended with 

 the difficulty of distinct arrangement, never completely 

 to be attained in any work, where the subjects to be 



treated 



