IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF CHEMISTRY. 
49 
ble applications in the double capacity of giving heat and light. The benefits 
afforded by gas to our experimental chemists cannot be overrated, more 
especially in England, where the price of sprits of wine was at one time so 
exorbitant. But for the use of gas in the laboratory, the progress of 
chemistry in this country must have been greatly retarded. 
In speaking of the general influence of the manufacture of coal gas, it is 
impossible to leave unnoticed the number of hands daily engaged in raising 
whole strata of coal, and in loading and navigating the fleets employed in 
conveying it, not only to the different ports of this kingdom, but to foreign 
countries, which consume a much larger quantity of English coal for the 
production of gas than is generally known. The extension of the gas 
enterprise produced a sensible effect on the iron works by the vast 
number of retorts, the stupendous gas-holders, and the endless pipes, re¬ 
quired for generating, storing, and conveying the gas. Several other branches 
of trade were also forced into increased activity, and even new trades sprang 
up in consequence of the extended use of gas. The substances produced 
in the purification of gas naturally attracted the attention of the gas manu¬ 
facturer; and chemistry soon pointed out valuable purposes to which they 
might be applied. The oily matter, which is separated as a secondary pro¬ 
duct in the distillation of coal, has been the subject of various chemical 
researches, amongst which must be singled out the elaborate* investigations 
of Charles Mansfield, a young chemist of extraordinary promise, whom a 
cruel fate tore away too early from science and his friends. His researches 
showed the more volatile portions of this oil to consist chiefly of benzol, an 
interesting compound discovered some years previously by Faraday. The 
history of benzol alone and its uses would fill a little volume. Capable of 
undergoing in the hands of the chemist an endless number of Proteus-like 
transformations, this substance has not only assisted the progress of science 
itself, but given rise to new and important branches of industry. Let me 
remind you that benzol is the most convenient solvent for caoutchouc; that, 
as an agent for removing oil and grease, it has become an ordinary household 
article; that, in perfumery and confectionery, we use it as a substitute for 
the essential oil of bitter almonds. Let me remind you, lastly, that, converted 
by a succession of chemical processes into aniline, it has given rise to the 
production of those beautiful mauves, purples, and crimsons in which the 
lovelier portion of mankind is now indulging to the exclusion of almost every 
other colour. Nor have the other products of the distillation of coal, which 
accompany the benzol, proved less useful: the liquid distilling at a very 
high temperature was found to be an efficient preservative of timber, and 
the pitchy residue formed the chief ingredient of an excellent substitute for 
the flag-stones of our pavement, while the ammoniacal liquors were found useful 
in improving the fertility of land. Thus, after the lapse of countless ages, 
was the nitrogen of petrified fern forests resuscitated in the ammoniacal 
liquors of the gas-works, to vegetate once more, and increase the produce of 
our corn-fields. 
* Charles Blachford Mansfield died (February 1855,) a victim of his 
scientific zeal, in consequence of an accident which happened to him whilst 
he was engaged in experimenting with benzol. The memory of this young 
man, in whom intellectual powers of the highest order were wonderfully 
blended with the rarest gifts of the heart, will be cherished by all those who 
had the good fortune of meeting him during his short but useful career.— 
A. W. H. 
XXXV. 
4 
