10 CHEMISTRY INDISPENSABLE 



the belief that this knowledge, fragmentary as it 

 may be, is yet sufficient to justify his pronouncing 

 chemistry a most interesting, practical, and profit- 

 able science, and an indispensable friend to every in- 

 dividual of his species. 



From this sketch of the nature of chemistry, let 

 us present a few examples, furnished by opei'ative 

 chemistry, of the directions in which a beneficial 

 application of this science to agriculture may be an- 

 ticipated. The surprising activity of operative art 

 possesses, thus far, the greatest similarity to that 

 of agriculture ; they are both referable to the action 

 of natural forces, and, we may add, of the same pow- 

 ers of nature. If the first has become great and 

 mighty from the fact, that, led on by science, it has 

 arrived at a more intimate acquaintance with these 

 natural powers, and, after having attained mastery 

 over them, has made them its servants, the expecta- 

 tion would seem equally feasible, that a more precise 

 knowledge of the same forces would be of equal ad- 

 vantage to the interests of practical husbandry. 



It has long been known that wine or diluted bran- 

 dy will turn into vinegar, if allowed to stand for a 

 few months at the ordinary temperature, or for a few 

 weeks in warm chambers with free access of air. 

 Chemical research demonstrated the exact constitu- 

 ent elements of the alcohol and of the vinegar formed 

 therefrorn, and pointed out that it must be possible 

 to convert the former far more rapidly into the latter, 

 by bringing a large surface of the liquid into contact 



