66 KEPoiiT — 1872. 



When -we pass from C to D (that is, from the crust of the globe to the organized 

 beings that inhabit and adorn it) we are introduced into new regions of research. 

 When organic chemistry was young, Cuvier said of it, " Dans cette nouvelle magie, 

 le chimiste n'a presque qu'a vouloir : tout pent se changer en tout : tout pent s'ex- 

 traire de tout ;'' and though we have now learnt much of the laws by which these 

 magical transformations proceed, they far transcend the dreams of the French phi- 

 losopher ; 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 also is reciprocal; for the physio- 

 logist enters by our aid into the wonderfid laboratory of the living plant or animal, 

 and learns to estimate the mode of action of different foods and medicines. There 

 have lately been some good researches of this character. The diiiiculties are great ; 

 but the results to be achieved are worthy of any effort. 



There may be little intercourse between us and the geographers in E ; but we 

 stand in no distant relationship with many of the subjects discussed in F. Eco- 

 nomic science embraces the chemical arts, from cookery upwards ; such impeiial 

 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 connexion between these varied departments of study. Sta- 

 tistics prove that the consumption of coal is now advancing, not at the gradual pace 

 which recent calculations allowed, but at a rapidly accelerating 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 tlie combustion is 

 very far from being ever utilized ; and it will be for the combined wisdom of the 

 chemist, physicist, and mechanician to devise means for reducing this lavish ex- 

 penditure, or to indicate other available sources of power. 



While this coiTelation of the natural sciences renders it desirable that the votary 

 of one should have some general acquaintance 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, however excellent that 

 kind may be, must fail of proper nourishment. 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 puijosely " 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 that she did not expect him to teach them any 

 thing ; and we know that when boys repeat chemical experiments at home it is 

 looked upon as an amusement, a philosophical one no doubt, but rather objection- 

 able, inasmuch as they spoil their mother's towels and singe their own eyebrows. 



Of course some knowledge of chemistiy is indispensable for a large number of our 

 manufacturers, and for the medical profession, while it is extremely valuable to the 

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

 tion about the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we live 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 infor- 

 mation given as upon the mental training. This I admit — though it seems to me 

 that if the same training can be secured by two studies, the one of which (like 

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

 analysis) imparts some useful knowledge, we should prefer the latter. But I hold 

 that, as a means of educating the mental faculties, chemistry, faithfully taught, has 



