C 1 



By methods of analysis dependent upon chemi- 

 cal and electrical instruments discovered in late times, 

 it has been ascertained that all the varieties of material 

 substances may be resolved into a comparatively small 

 number of bodies, which, as they are not capable of 

 being decompounded, are considered in the present 

 state of chemical knowledge as elements. The bodies 

 incapable of decomposition at present known are forty- 

 seven. Of these, thirty-eight are metals ; seven are 

 inflammable bodies ; and two are gasses which unite 

 with metals and inflammable bodies, and form with 

 them acids, alkalies, earths, or other analogous com- 

 pounds. The chemical elements acted upon by at- 

 tractive powers combine in different aggregates, In 

 their simpler combinations, they produce various crys- 

 talline substances, distinguished by the regularity of 

 their forms. In more complicated arrangements, they 

 constitute the varieties of vegetable and animal sub- 

 stances, bear the higher character of organization, 

 and are rendered subservient to the purposes of life. 

 And by the influence of heat, light, and electrical 

 powers^ there is a constant series of changes ; matter 

 assumes new forms, the destruction of one order of 

 beings tends to the conservation of another, solution 

 and consolidation, decay and renovation, are connect- 

 ed, and whilst the parts of the system continue in 

 a state of fluctuation and change, the order and har- 

 mony of the whole remain unalterable. 



After a general view has been taken of the na- 

 ture of the elements, and of the principles of chemi- 

 cal changes > the next object will be the structure and 



