3i8 



NATURE 



\Atig- 15, 1872 



for ourselves in some particular region, and becoming intimately 

 conversant with every feature of the locality and their choicest 

 associations, while at the same time we learn the general map 

 of the country, so as to know the relative position and import- 

 ance of our favourite resort, and to be able — when we (desire it 

 — to make excursions elsewhere. 



To facilitate this is one of the great objects of the British 

 Association. The different Sections are like different countries, 

 and leaving the insular seclusion of our special studies, we can 

 pass from one to the other, and gain the advantages of foreign 

 travel. 



From this chair I must of course regard Chemistry as the 

 centre of the universe, and in speaking of other sections I must 

 think of them only in their relation to ourselve?. There is that 

 rich and ancient country. Section A, which, according to the 

 Annual Report, comprises several provinces — Mathematics, 

 Astronomy, Optics, Heat, Electricity, and Meteorology. 



Mathematics and Astronomy. — It was when the idea of exact 

 weights and measures was projected into it that Alchemy was 

 transmuted into Chemistry : as our science has become more 

 refined in its methods its numerical laws have liecome more and 

 more significant, and it may safely be pi-edicted that tlie more 

 closely it is allied with general physics, the greater will be the 

 mathematical knowledge demanded of its votary. But till 

 lately the Chemist and the Astronomer seemed far asunder as 

 the heavens and the earth, and none could have foretold tliat we 

 should now be analysing the atmospheres ol the sun and stars, 

 or thi-owing light on the chemical composition of planetary 

 nebula: and the heads of comets. There is in this, too, as in 

 other things, a reciprocal benefit ; for we are encouraged to 

 hope that this celestial chemistry will reveal to us elements 

 which have not yet been detected among the constituents of our 

 globe. 



Light, Heat, and Electricity. — How intimately are these 

 associated with the chemical force, or rather how easily are 

 these Protean forces transformed into one another ! The rays 

 of the sun coming upon our earth are like a chemist entering his 

 laboratory ; they start strange decompositions and combinations 

 not only in the vegetable kingdom, but also among inorg.anic 

 gases and salts ; they are absorbed selectively by different bodies 

 which they penetrate, or are refracted, dispersed, and polarised 

 according to the chemical composition and structure of the sub- 

 stance. All this has been the subject recently of much scientific 

 research ; and I need scarcely remind you of the beautiful art of 

 photography as one of the results of photo-chemistry, or of the 

 benefits that have arisen from a study of circular polarisation, 

 indices of refraction, and especially spectrum-analysis. In re- 

 gard to the latter, however, I would remark that while the optical 

 examination of the rays emitted by luminous vapours has yielded 

 most brilliant results, there is another kind of spectrum-analysis 

 -—that of the rays absorbed by various terrestrial gases, liijuids, 

 and solids — which has already borne valuable fruit, and 

 which, as it is far more extensively applicable than the other, 

 may perhaps play a s'ill more important part in the 

 Chemistry of the future. The dispersion of the rays of the 

 .spectrum is certainly due to the chemical nature of the body 

 through which they pass, but this is as yet almost unbroken 

 ground waiting for an explorer. As to heat, it has ever been the 

 tojl of the chemist ; and it would be difficult lo over-estimate the 

 significance of researches into the specific heat, or the melting- 

 and boiling-points of elements and their compounds. The laws 

 of chemical combination hav« been elucidated lately by thermo- 

 chemical researches ; it has been sought to establish a connection 

 between the absorption or radiation of heat and the conijilcxity 

 of the chemical constitution of the active body; while the j)o\vcr 

 of conducting heat, or of expanding under its influence, offers a 

 promising field of inquiry. As to electrical science, one depart- 

 ment of it — Galvanism — is strictly chemical: the electrolytic 

 cell do-s our work ; and indeed we claim half the electric 

 telegiaph, for while the nee He may oscillate in Section A, the 

 battery belongs to B. 



Last in Section A comes Meteorology ; and there are chemical 

 questions concerning the constitution of the atmosphere, its 

 changes, and the effect of its occasional constituents upon vege- 

 table and animal life, which merit the deepest attention of the 

 physiologist, philanthropist, and statesman, 



Jf we turn to Section C, there is an outlying province be- 

 longing to us, namely. Mineralogy, wh'ch lies on the frontiers of 

 Geoloiy. A vast and very promising region is the origin and 

 mode of fornntion of different m'nerals : this has attraCel fume 



explorers during the past year ; but in order to investigate it pro- 

 perly the geologist and the chemist must travel hand in hand. 

 Geology, in demanding of us the analysis of earths and ores, 

 rocks and precious stones, repays us by bringing to our know- 

 ledge many a rare element and strange combination. 



When we pass from C to D, that is, from the crust of the 

 globe to the organised beings that inhabit and adorn it, we are 

 introduced into new regions of research. When organic chemis- 

 try was young, Cuvier said of it, " Dans cette nouvelle magie, 

 le chiraistre n'a presque qu'a vouloir : tout pent se changer en 

 tout pent I'extraire de tout " ; and though we have now learnt 

 much of the laws by which these magical transformations pro- 

 ceed, they far transcend the dreams of the P'rench philosoplier; 

 there is yet no visible limit to the multitude of products to be 

 derived from the vegetable and animal world, and their changes 

 seem to afford boundless scope for chemical ingenuity. The 

 benefit here is .also reciprocal ; for the physiologist enters by our , 

 aid into the wonderful laboratory of the living plant or animal, ■ 

 and learns to estimate the mole of action of different foods and ' 

 medicines. There have lately been some good researches of this 

 character ; the difficulties are great, but the results to be achieved 

 are worthy of any effort. 



There may be little intercourse between usand the geographers 

 in E, but we stand in no distant relationship with many of the 

 subjects discussed in F. Economic science embraces the chemi- 

 cal arts from cookery upwards ; such imperial questions as that 

 of the national standards, or the patent laws, interest us greatly ; 

 the yield of our corn-fields is increased through our knowledge 

 of the constituents of soils and manures, and upon many of the 

 chemical manufactures depend in no small degree the commerce 

 and the wealth of Britain, 



In this most important branch of technical chemistry we need 

 the skill of the mechanician ; and this introduces us to Section 

 G. One of the questions of the day will illustrate the connection 

 between these varied departments of study. Statistics prove that 

 the connimption of coal is now advancing, not at the gradual 

 pace which recent calculations allowed, but at a rapidly ac- 

 celerating speed, and they make the householder anxious about 

 rising prices, and the political economist about the duration of 

 our coal-fields. It is well known that there is a great waste of 

 fuel throughout the country, as the maximum of heat produced by 

 the combustion is very far from being ever utilised ; and it wdl 

 be for the combined wisdom of the chemist, physicist, and 

 mechanician to devise means for reducing this lavish expenditure, 

 or to indicate other available sources of power. 



While this correlation of the natural sciences renders it 

 desirable that the votary of one should have some general ac- 

 quaintance with the rest, the correlation of all knowledge shows 

 that no education can be complete which ignores the study of 

 nature. A mind fed only on one particular kind of lore, how- 

 ever excellent that kind may be, must fail of proper nourish- 

 ment. I am not going to say a word against philological studies ; 

 I am too fond of them myself for that ; and I could wish that the 

 modern languages were taught more, and the classic languages 

 were taught better than they are at present. What I do contend 

 for is, that chemistry {or some cognate branch of science) should 

 have an honoured place in the education of every English lady 

 and gentleman. I say purposely "an honoured place,'' for at 

 present where chemistry is introduced we too often find the idea 

 latent which was expressed by one principal of a lady's college, 

 who told a friend of mine that he was to give the girls a course 

 of pretty experiments, but she did not expect him to teach them 

 anything ; and we know that when boys repeat chemical ex- 

 periments at home it is looked upon as an amusement, a philo- 

 sophical one no doubt, but rather objectionable, inasmuch as 

 they spoil their mother's towels and singe their own eyebrows. 



Of course some knowledge of chemistry is indispensable for a 

 large number of our manufacturers, and for the medical i>ro- 

 fession, while it is extremely valuable to the farmer, the miujr, 

 and the engineer. It will also be readily granted that informa- 

 tion about the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we 

 li\e upon, the fuel we burn, and the various common objects we 

 handle, must be of service to every man. But we are met by 

 the advocates of the old system of education with the remark 

 that the value of school-teaching does not depend so much upon 

 the information given as upon the mental training. This I ad- 

 mit ; though it seems to me that if the same training can Ije 

 secured by two studies, the one of which (like the making of 

 Latin verses) gives no information at all, and the other (like 

 chcni'Cil analysis r.ipats some useful knowledge, we should 



