Thoughts upon the Nature of Heat and Electricity, 369 



atmosphere exists around the particles of bodies, and that when 

 excited, it produces expansion ; if left at rest, the body contracts. 

 Such an idea would follow immediately, from the knowledge 

 of latent heat, whose discovery proves that caloric is a component 

 part of all matter. If this be true, can matter remain the same 

 after its removal ] A body is made to yield caloric by being 

 hammered, and in time becomes brittle by its abstraction ; but it 

 can exhibit the same phenomena if heated. Here the idea is at 

 once formed, that the beating has driven the caloric out of it, 

 and that this has been renewed by the application of fire. I see 

 no objection to such a conception, though Davy calls it rude ; yet 

 it follows as a direct inference, from the assertion of the calorific 

 atmosphere, which must partake of the usual habitudes of mat- 

 ter, and be liable to destruction. There is something so obscure 

 in all relating to caloric, that it is almost useless to speak of it; 

 for how can one comprehend that caloric is matter, and yet re- 

 newed faster than we can destroy it. Suppose a wheel had been 

 put in motion at the moment of the creation, would it or not be 

 capable of heating the axle on which it turns ? A carriage wheel 

 is probably as hot in five minutes after it commences motion, as 

 at any time, and will continue so during a thousand miles, grow- 

 ing hotter and hotter, according to the speed, till it could be in- 

 flamed and consumed. Now if caloric be a component part of 

 matter, why is it not wasted at once — and whence is it renewed ? 

 from the air, or the wood and iron? Speculations like the above 

 may, by practical men, who deal — perhaps are only capable of 

 dealing-^with facts, be considered useless. They are so, when an 

 immediate advantage is considered; they are not so when an 

 enlarged view is taken, and remote ends anticipated. In this 

 nation of common sense, there is a vast mass of humbug spouting 

 from the ignorant and superficial, upon what they call practical 

 utility. He who attempts any science, without a capacity for 

 facts, can make nothing of it ; but he who engages with nature, 

 possessing that alone, is a mere day labourer, a compiler of 

 crudities. There must be, in a contest with so subtle and protean 

 a jade, intellect, powerful and comprehensive; invention, rapid 

 and unceasing; habits of quick observation and zeal, with an en- 

 tire devotion to the pursuit. When these are found united, 

 America may rank among other nations in her contributions to 

 science, but not till then. Lest, however, there should be a sneer 

 Vol. L— 47 



