(xorham^s Elements of Chemistry. 333 



It appears, however, from his preface, that this was not 

 his original motive ; he remarks : " the work which is now 

 offered to the pubhc, was originally intended, by the author, 

 as a text-book to the lectures delivered by him, to the med- 

 ical students, and under graduates of Harvard University." 

 This object, was unquestionably a correct one, for it would 

 generally be advantageous to every class, to have the pecul- 

 iar course of instruction which they are to receive laid be- 

 fore them in a concise and perspicuous printed form, for 

 most students in a college have no time to do any thing more 

 than to follow their instructor, in the shortest route possible, 

 and in general it is of very little use to recommend to them 

 the perusal of various authors ; the greater part of them 

 will obtain little more than what they get either from the 

 lips or the pen of their immediate instructor. 



But Professor Gorham goes on to remark : " while ar- 

 ranging the materials, it was thought that by extending it 

 (the work) to a greater length, and dilating more upon the 

 general principles of the science, it might still answer the 

 purpose above mentioned, and at the same time, be adapt- 

 ed to a class of readers who might wish to acquire a 

 knowledge of the laws of chemistry, without entering much 

 into its practical details." 



In stating his design, the author observes, that " a work 

 which on the one hand shall be more diffuse than that of 

 Dr. Henry, and on the other, less extended than the elabo- 

 rate and profound system of Drs. Thompson and Murray, 

 will be sufficient to include the most important facts in 

 chemistry without tasking the memory of the student with 

 a mass of matter, the knowledge of which, though indis- 

 pensable to the operative chemist, must be uninteresting to 

 the general scholar." He observes with sufficient modesty ; 

 — " This work is a compilation ; it has no claims to origin- 

 ality, though from the unsettled state of some parts of the 

 science, there is room for the exercise of the judgement in 

 determining the value of opposing doctrines." 



Perhaps this work may be I'egarded as occupying a niche 

 iiot exactly filled before. It does not claim to present a 

 system of chemical knowledge with the fullness of the great 

 Works of Fourcroy, Thompson, Murray and Thenard, 

 but among the works of middling and minor size — as those 

 afBrisson, Jacquin, Heron, Park, and the Conversations on 



