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PREFACE. 
THE project of the American Journal of Science and Arts was 
first suggested by Col. Gibbs, in November, 1817, during an acci- 
dental interview on board the steamboat Fulton m Long Island 
Sound.* 'The American Mineralogical Journal, by the late Dr. 
Archibald Bruce, (our earliest purely scientific journal, ) which had 
been begun a few years before, was most favorably received both 
at home and abroad, but it never passed beyond one volume of 270 
pages ; and as the declining health of Dr. Bruce rendered the pros- 
pect of its continuance hopeless, it was thought that we ought 
not to lose the advantage already gained, and that a high demand 
of duty required that some man devoted to science, should under- 
take to sustain its interests and those of the connected arts, in 
our rising country. Although a different selection of an editor 
would have been much preferred, and many reasons, public and 
personal, concurred to produce diffidence of success, the argu- 
ments of Col. Gibbs, whose views on subjects of science were 
entitled to the most respectful consideration, and had justly great 
weight, being pressed with zeal and ability, induced a reluc- 
tant assent; and accordingly, after due consultation with many 
competent judges, the proposals were issued early in 1818, em- 
bracing the whole range of physical science and its applica- 
tions. ‘The Editor in entering on the duty, regarded it as an 
affair for life, and the thirty years of experience which he has 
now had, have proved that his views of the exigencies of the 
service were not erroneous. 
This Journal first appeared in July, 1818, and in June, 1819, 
the first volume of four numbers and 448 pages was completed. 
This scale of publication, originally deemed sufficient, was found 
inadequate to receive all the communications, and as the receipts 
proved insufficient to sustain the expenses, the work, having but 
* Vol. xxv, p. 215. Obituary notice of Col. Gibbs. 
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