170 
INTRODUCTION. 
and in this state it was not admitted to a place in collegiate education until 1813, 
when it was introduced at Union College. Since that time no faculty of arts or 
of medicine has been considered complete without a professorship of chemistry, 
and it is now very generally taught to pupils of both sexes in academies and in 
many of the common schools. 
The trustees of the Albany Academy are entitled to the praise of first intro¬ 
ducing chemistry into our seminaries of that grade. The more popular expe¬ 
riments in electro-magnetism began in that institution with the construction of 
an electro-magnet capable of sustaining a weight of several hundred pounds. 
Our chemists have not been inactive, although their studies have been crowned 
with no brilliant discoveries, and their very useful papers will be found in most 
of the scientific journals in the country. 
Few subjects in this department are more intricate in their nature than the 
minute analysis of mineral waters. The mineral springs at Ballston, Saratoga, 
Avon, Sharon, Massena and other places, have elicited memoirs embracing details 
of their chemical constituents, as well as essays on their respective sanative qua¬ 
lities. The springs at Ballston and Saratoga have acquired extensive reputation, 
from the publications of Seymour, De Witt and Steele. Francis, Hadley and 
Salisbury have made known the virtues of those at Avon. The waters at 
Sharon have been subjected to chemical analysis by Chilton; and Dr. McNeven’s 
publications on the waters at Schooley’s mountain, have conferred upon them 
much celebrity. 
Mineralogy, although intimately connected with geology, was cultivated long 
before the latter grew into a distinct branch of knowledge. To the late Samuel 
L. Mitchill belongs the honor of introducing mineralogy in this state. The first 
and second volumes of the Medical Repository, published in 1798 and 1799, 
contain his sketch of the mineralogical history of the state of New-York, which, 
although meagre when compared with our present knowledge, shows that diligent 
investigation of facts had commenced. In the latter year a mineralogical society 
was formed in New-York under his auspices, with the efficient aid of Samuel 
