82 Literary and Philosophical Society. 



from a candle, in a second of time, as the whole earth con- 

 tains grains of sand, supposing each cubic inch of it to con- 

 tain 1,000,000 ; when we are told that light, in its passage 

 from the sun to the earth, moves with the immense velo- 

 city of 95,1/3,000 miles in seven minutes and a half, we 

 are impressed with the most profound veneration for that 

 Almighty Being, who has so wisely adjusted the propor- 

 tions between the bulk and velocity of these rays as to 

 make them answer all His benevolent intentions to man- 

 kind ; whereas, an increase or decrease in the one or the 

 other might have been fatal to the animal and vegetable 

 world. 



* By the telescope and microscope our eye is enabled to 

 reach far beyond the limits of our natural vision. By the 

 former, objects at considerable distances are brought, as it 

 were, within our grasp, and we can soar upwards into other 

 worlds. By the latter, we are empowered to search into 

 the minutiae of nature, to admire the delicacy of her oper- 

 ations, and the wonders of creation, exhibited in the per- 

 fect fabrics of the smallest animals and plants. 



' Nor is the utility of chemistry more confined, or less 

 connected with manufactures than mechanics. Indeed 

 chemistry may be, not improperly, called the corner-stone 

 of the arts. They not only are supported by her, but 

 many of them derive their very existence from this source. 

 She even furnishes instruments to every one of the 

 branches of natural philosophy we have enumerated. The 

 truth of this proposition will be evinced, when it is con- 

 sidered that metals cannot be separated from their ores, 

 nor glass produced without her aid. She supplies the as- 

 tronomer with his lenses, and the mathematician with his 



