IV PEEFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 



aid the beginner in his attempt to comprehend certain 

 terms, upon which he would otherwise, perhaps, stum- 

 ble at the very outset of his study, and to render his 

 entrance into the apparently labyrinthic structure 

 somewhat less dark and indefinite. 



The time, during which the strict division of Chem- 

 istry into Inorganic and Organic was held upright, has 

 long passed away, and we now recognize that this 

 division is merely conventional, intended to aid the 

 work of classification. There is but one chemistry, but 

 one set of laws govering the formation, existence, and 

 decomposition of chemical compounds. The com- 

 pounds of carbon, owing, in general terms, to their 

 comparative instability and other properties, are, how- 

 ever, particularly susceptible to the action of reagents, 

 and are, hence, particularly adapted to the uses of 

 the investigator, who is endeavoring to discover the 

 secrets of the science. Hence, further, most of the 

 great advances of chemistry of late years have been 

 due to the results of the study of chemical phenomena 

 in connection with so-called organic compounds, and 

 the subsequent application of the results obtained to 

 the whole field. 



It is, therefore, natural that of late the attention of 

 Americans should have been attracted towards this 

 field; and there begin to be slight indications of a 

 desire on their part to aid in clearing up its many 

 mysteries, a work in which for some years the Ger- 

 mans have been engaged almost to the exclusion of 

 the chemists of other countries. Should the publica- 

 tion of this work tend in the slightest degree to 

 increase this desire, I shall feel that my labor has not 

 been in vain. 



IRA REMSEK 

 WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., October, 1872. 



