174 HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY. 



ciples ; and it is not till after some time, that the 

 struggle and hesitation which this employment oc- 

 casions, subsides into a tranquil equilibrium. In 

 the newly-acquired provinces of man's intellectual 

 empire, the din and confusion of conquest, pass 

 gradually only into quiet and security. We have 

 seen, in the history of all capital discoveries, how 

 hardly they have made their way, even among the 

 most intelligent and candid philosophers of the 

 antecedent schools : we must, therefore, not expect 

 that the metamorphosis of the theoretical views of 

 chemistry which is now going on, will be eifected 

 without some trouble and delay. 



I shall endeavour to diminish the difficulties of 

 my undertaking, by presenting the earlier investi- 

 gations in the department of which I have now to 

 speak, as much as possible according to the most 

 deliberate view taken of them by the great disco- 

 verers themselves, Davy and Faraday; since these 

 philosophers are they who have taught us the true 

 import of such investigations. 



There is a further difficulty in my task, to which 

 I might refer ; the difficulty of speaking, without 

 errour and without offence, of men now alive, or 

 who were lately members of social circles which 

 exist still around us. But the scientific history in 

 which such persons play a part, is so important 

 to my purpose, that I do not hesitate to incur the 

 responsibility which the narration involves ; and I 

 have endeavoured, earnestly, and I hope not in vain, 



