2 INTRODUCTION. 



pend on Chemistry, which is defined to be a knowledge 

 of the properties of bodies, and of the effcdls resulting 

 from their different combinations. 



In the following pages an attempt will be made to ex- 

 plain, on established principles, the processes that ac- 

 company the culti^'ation and amelioration of the soil. 

 This discussion will come forward with peculiar advan- 

 tage at a time when provisions bear so high a price, and 

 when individuals, awakening from the golden dreams of 

 manufactures and of commerce, begin to see, and expe- 

 rimentally to feel, that the prosperity of a nation cannot 

 be permanent, nor its inhabitants quiet and contented, 

 in their respeftive situations, where Agriculture is ne- 

 glefted, and an unwise preference given to manufactures 

 and to commerce ; occupations that produce very different 

 effcfts on the bodies and minds of men, from those that 

 are attendant on the sober and healthful employment of 

 husbandry.. 



By the adoption of a new line of investigation, ex- 

 emplified in the following Treatise, light has not only 



been 



