560 



Miscellaneous, 



theless, it may be hereafter found that the life of the whole plant, 

 and of its organs, may result from the life and productive faculties 

 of single cells. It cannot be denied that vegetable physiologists 

 have made many experiments little to the purpose ; but it is unrea- 

 sonable to inveigh against them on that account ; and is it not most 

 indecent, when it is done by the chemist, and in the arrogant way 

 of this book ? Would Dr. Liebig wish to be reproached with all the 

 nonsense which in the last thirty years has been produced by che- 

 mists ? That most silly proposition — that plants are able to form 

 metals and earths from water and air, was the result of the bad 

 experiments of chemists. In fact. Dr. Liebig may look into the 

 literature of starch, his own views included, to convince himself how 

 little chemistry is entitled to reproach physiology with the mistakes 

 which have been committed by particular individuals. Dr. Liebig, 

 however, would no doubt be ready to answer, " other chemists are 

 nothing to me ; when I use the term Chemistry, I understand by it 

 only myself — me. Doctor Justus Liebig, of Giessen, the only Ger- 

 man chemist, the director of the only laboratory existing in Ger- 

 many." Thus, at least, he has explained himself formerly. 



What our author (p. 37) says respecting the value of experiments 

 made for the purpose of refuting other experiments at an ear- 

 liar period, is no better digested than what we have examined. 

 Each page of the history of chemistry convinces us, that we can 

 only expect a steady advance of the science by subjecting the more 

 ancient and less exact experiments to the controul of others more 

 modern and more exact, to be re-examined, rectified, or refuted. 

 That bad experimenters make bad experiments, and, therefore, 

 do not obtain the results which had been produced by more ancient 

 and more exact inquiries, is an observation not remarkable for its 

 value. In every experiment we must look at the skill with which it 

 is made, not at the object to which it tends, and an examination of 

 the experiments of other people has just as much value as any other 

 scientific investigation. It is not an examination of the views of 

 these people, which have been supported by proofs, as Dr. Liebig ex- 

 presses himself very incorrectly, but an examination of the pretended 

 proofs themselves. If it can be shewn that they cannot be relied on, 

 the views which have been founded on them fall to the ground 



