CHEMICAL FIELD LECTURES. 



I. CHEMISTRY INDISPENSABLE TO THE 

 FARMER. 



Through all periods of history two principal de- 

 sires have been always entertained, and are probably 

 still cherished by mankind; a craving after the con- 

 stant enjoyment of unfading youth and health, and 

 the possession of wealth sufficient for their neces- 

 sities. Obscure tradition had intimated that a won- 

 drous stone, which possessed the power to fulfil both 

 these aspirations, was hidden somewhere in Nature's 

 dark recesses, or might be fashioned from her prod- 

 ucts. By its assistance it would be an easy task, 

 so ran the fable, to convert lead into gold, and to 

 prepare a life-elixir which should abolish sickness, 

 and, in all probability, even death itself. A thou- 

 sand years were spent in searching for these treas- 

 ures, but without unveiling them. At length, how- 

 ever, a discovery was made ; not indeed this philoso- 

 pher's stone, but in its stead a new science, Chem- 

 istry. 



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