376 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
New-York, Wednesday, Fefo. 21 . 
Answer to Inquiries about Back Numbers, ac.— 
Back numbers from the beginning of the present volume 
can still be supplied at 4 cents per number. 
Volumes XI and XII can be supplied at $1 per volume 
unbound; or $1.50 per volume bound. 
The first ten volumes (new edition) can be furnished 
bound at $1.25 per volume, or the complete set of ten vol¬ 
umes for $10. Price of the first twelve volumes $13. 
No new edition of the volumes above the tenth will be 
issued, as the work is too large to admit of stereotyping. 
Chemistry—Errata. —We trust those who 
are reading our articles on this subject will 
give careful attention to what is said of af¬ 
finity, as much of their future interest in the 
subject will depend upon their understand¬ 
ing this. 
We beg the indulgence of our scientific 
readers if they observe now and then a slight 
error, as we are not always at home to cor¬ 
rect the proof. In our last number (53) 
NO., should have been N 2 0 (NNO); and 
NaO,CO, should have been Na0,2C0 2 
(NaO,COO,COO). There have been from 
the same cause some other slight variations 
from accuracy in words, but none in state¬ 
ment of principles, we believe. 
Acknowledgments.— We are indebted to 
Hon. E. M. Chamberlain, of Indiana, for a 
copy of his speech against “ The Proposed 
Mediation of the United States in the Eastern 
War.” 
Also to a “ Middle State Farmer,” for a 
t reatise on “ The Agricultural Interest as af¬ 
fected by the Reciprocity Treaty, the Tariff, 
and the Coastwise Trade.” 
Also, to Hon. M. P. Wilder, for a “ Report 
of Commissioners concerning an Agricultu¬ 
ral School.” 
Also, to Hon. Jacob W. Miller, for a copy 
of the “ Transactions of the Bristol County 
Agricultural Society.” 
Spring Wheat. —Owing to indisposition 
on the part of the writer, the article on 
Spring Wheat promised for this number of 
our papeV is deferred till next week. 
Printers sometimes get hold of what they 
esteem “ fat work.” In England, Editors al¬ 
so occasionally get hold of “ fat work,” 
when they receive, through courtesy, copies 
of American papers. We did not doubt our 
ability to supply the English farmers with 
superior reapers, plows, etc., but really did 
not aspire to furnish editorials for their lead¬ 
ing agricultural journal—the Mark Lane Ex¬ 
press. But such is the fact, nevertheless. 
In our issue of December 28, (No. 68) we 
printed an editorial article on Tobacco, which 
cost us not a little labor and investigation. 
In the Mark Lane Express of January 29, 
we find that article, without a word of credit, 
and what makes the matter still ivorse, is the 
fact that this omission was not accidental, for 
in the middle of the article occurred the words, 
“ readers of the American Agriculturist ,” and 
that paper has erased these words, and substi¬ 
tuted “ readers of the Mark Lane Express .” 
Perhaps the editors of that journal designs 
this as a feeler towards a general reciprocity 
between this country and England as well 
as Canada. 
Information on Poultry Wanted. —Any 
communications concerning the various 
breeds of fowls, together with rules for their 
management and breeding, cures for their 
diseases, and whatever other information is 
new and valuable, is solicited for the Amer¬ 
ican Agriculturist. 
CHEMISTRY 
FOE SMALL AND LARGE BOYS AND GIRLS. 
CHAPTER VI. 
57. We have now learned that every thing 
is made out of very small atoms, and that 
there are very few different kinds of atoms. 
We have learned that these atoms differ from 
each other in weight. The tabla in the last 
chapter tells us just how much heavier one 
kiud of atoms are than another kind; thus, 
the Carbon atoms are six times heavier than 
the Hydrogen atoms, while the Oxygen 
atoms are eight times as heavy ; then the 
Oxygen atoms are one-third heavier than the 
Carbon atoms. So of others ; for example, 
Sulphur atoms are sixteen times heavier 
than Hydrogen atoms, and consequently they 
are twice as heavy as the Oxygen atoms ; 
the Phosphorous atoms are four times as 
heavy as those of Oxygen. Now one parti¬ 
cle of water is made out of one atom of Hy¬ 
drogen joined to one atom of Oxygen, that is 
HO ; so a million particles of water are com¬ 
posed of a million atoms of Hydrogen united 
with a million atoms of Oxygen. Then, as 
our table shows Oxygen to be 8 times as 
heavy as Hydrogen, every nine pounds of 
water contains 8 pounds of Oxygen and one 
pound of Hydrogen. Lime is made up of an 
equal number of atoms of the metal called 
Calcium and of Oxygen atoms. A single 
particle of lime is represented by CaO—Ca 
for an atom of Calcium, and O for an atom of 
Oxygen. By referring to the table, then, we 
find 28 parts, by weight, of lime will contain 
20 parts of Calcium and 8 parts of Oxygen, 
though there are an equal number of each 
kind of atoms. 
58. Affinity. —In section 24 we stated 
that the different kinds of atoms were held 
together by an unknown force, called Chem¬ 
ical Attraction or Affinity. Now it is im¬ 
portant to get a clear idea of this affinity be¬ 
tween the atoms, for upon our understanding 
of this depends much of the pleasure and 
profit of studying Chemistry. Affinity may 
be decribed as a kind of love for each other, 
that exists not only between the single 
atoms, but also between groups of them. 
59. If we put sugar and water together, 
they will unite readily, because the 
particles of sugar have an affinity, or liking, 
for those of water; while, on the contrary, 
oil and water will not unite, because their 
particles have not an affinity or liking for 
each other. 
60. Camphor will not dissolve in water, 
because there is not this affinity between 
their particles, but there is an affinity be¬ 
tween camphor and alcohol, and they unite 
and form spirits of camphor. 
61. A substance may have a stronger af¬ 
finity or liking for one substance than it has 
for another. To illustrate this, we will sup¬ 
pose that two girls—Harriet and Jane—have 
some liking (affinity) for each other, and 
Jane they stand together talking. But 
Harriet jyj ar y comes into the room, and 
Mary Harriet likes Mary better than she 
does Jane, (has a stronger affinity for Jane 
her) and she immediately leaves Jane Harnet 
and joins Mary. Here we have the Mary 
first company—consisting of Harriet and 
Jane—broken up, and a new one formed, 
consisting of Harriet and Mary, while Jane 
is left alone, and she goes away by herself, 
or perhaps finds some other girl and joins 
her to form a new company. 
62. Now what we have supposed to take 
place among these girls, continually goes on 
between the atoms or particles of matter. 
Put camphor and alcohol in a bottle, and all 
through the bottle there will be compound 
particles of camphor and alcohol. But pour 
into the bottle some w r ater, and the alcohol 
likes the water better (has a greater affinity 
for it) than it does the camphor, and each 
little particle of the alcohol leaves a particle 
of camphor and unites with a particle of 
water (just as Harriet left Jane and joined 
Mary). The little particles of camphor are 
then left alone all through the bottle, or 
wherever the water has gone, and we see 
them in the form of a white cloud. If we 
let the bottle stand awhile, the camphor will 
settle at the bottom by itself, and leave the 
alcohol and water together. 
63. Saleratus is a compound substance, 
made up of potash (KO) and a gas, or air¬ 
like substance, called carbonic acid (CO,). 
The gas having some affinity, or liking, for 
the potash, has united with it in a solid form. 
But when we put some vinegar with the 
saleratus, the potash has a stronger affinity 
or liking for the vinegar than it has for the 
carbonic acid, and it leaves the latter and 
unites with the vinegar to form a new com¬ 
pound. The carbonic acid is then left alone, 
and it goes off into the air in a gas form 
again. If the saleratus be placed in a tum¬ 
bler of water, and the vinegar then poured 
in, we can see the carbonic acid bubbling up 
through the water as it goes off alone, just 
as Jane went off alone ivhen Harriet left her 
to join Mary. 
64. We mix cream of tartar with soda in 
making biscuits, and the same change takes 
place. Some soda atoms leave some of the 
carbonic acid atoms to unite with the cream 
of tartar particles, and then the carbonic acid 
atoms, being left alone, expand out into 
their natural gas form, and because they 
can not escape they produce little gas bub¬ 
bles or holes all through the biscuit. Upon 
the number of these little holes depends the 
lightness of the biscuit. We here see that it 
is by knowing something of the affinities or 
likes of the various substances that we learn 
to raise biscuits, &c. 
65. Well, strange as it may seem, Chem¬ 
istry is almost entirely a study of the affini¬ 
ties, or likes and dislikes, of the various 
atoms and particles for each other. The 
Chemist wishes to break up or destroy one 
