234 LAVOISIER. 



volume for 1770, we have an account of an eclipse in 

 April, 1771, and of experiments made in autumn, 1771, 

 (p. 621). In later volumes the dates are more accurately 

 given, though sometimes they tend to bewilder us. Thus 

 the volume for 1776 was not published till 1778, and it 

 contains a paper of M. Lavoisier, printed in Sept. 1778, 

 and read 23rd Nov., 1779. So the volume for 1776 

 contains another paper of his, stated to have been printed 

 in Dec., 1777. In like manner the volume for 1774 was 

 published in 1778, and it contains a paper read 1774, 

 but reM 1777. And the volume for 1775 has a paper 

 read Easter, 1775, reM Aug., 1778. It is needless to 

 remark how very difficult this kind of confusion and in- 

 accuracy, wholly unaccountable, renders it to ascertain 

 the precise date at which any experiment was made, or 

 theory formed. We are in most cases left to mere con- 

 jecture, being uncertain of anything but the time of 

 publication, and not always sure of that. 



In the year 1768 M. Lavoisier began to occupy him- 

 self almost exclusively with chemical inquiries. Well 

 educated in the kindred branches of natural philosophy, 

 and fully conversant with all that was then known of 

 chemistry, ardent in the pursuit of scientific truth, filled 

 with a noble ambition to distinguish himself among its 

 students, careless of the various pursuits which men in 

 his circumstances find all-engrossing, he was also in 

 possession of ample wealth, and could both command 

 the aid of some and obtain the fellowship of others in 

 his researches, while the most costly apparatus, and the 

 most expensive experiments, were at all times within his 

 reach. He soon filled his house with the finest instru- 

 ments, and opened it freely to all men of letters and of 



