92 
EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
man and man in their several positions in life may be traced 
out; so that one cannot say to the other, “ I have no need of 
you.’* In this way, too, is shown the necessity of an ex¬ 
tended and a scientific education on the part of each. 
We have been directed to the consideration of this subject 
from having received “ A Lecture, delivered by Mr. J. 
Jekyll, M.R.C.V.S., before the Agricultural Society of Louth, 
on the chemical changes which are effected in the soil by 
atmospheric action, and by the growth of the usual agricul¬ 
tural crops.** And copies of ‘The Spirit of the Times,* from 
New York, United States, containing elaborate articles ‘On 
Chemistry in its application to Agriculture and Physiology,’ 
by Mr. A. S. Copeman, V.S., of Utica. From both of these 
we intend giving some extracts, and cannot but rejoice in 
knowing that there are among us those who, actuated by a 
right spirit, labour with an earnest zeal to maintain a junc¬ 
tion so important and so valuable, and in every sense so profit¬ 
able, and withal so natural, as that of veterinary medicine 
and agriculture. 
It is with the former of these we have at present to do. 
From the latter we shall cull freely hereafter. 
After a short apologetic preface, in which Mr. Jekyll 
says— 
“ If the more studious attention of but one mind is aroused to a more 
careful inquiry into the why and wherefore of the varied Agricultural 
phenomena which are constantly presented for his investigation, my 
object is attained ; for the better we understand the causes which pro¬ 
duce the effects we witness, the more successful Agricultural pursuits 
must become. A knowledge of the so-called Nature’s Laws, gives new 
direction—new life to our thoughts, and imparts to our actions certainty 
and vigour. The Laws of Nature are our willing and faithful servants, 
or our unconscious foes, as we understand and use, or misinterpret and 
neglect them.’* 
Fie then proceeds to subdivide the first part of his subject 
in the following categorical manner. What is soil ? What 
the effects of frost and changes of temperature ? What 
the effects of rain and light? And, lastly, of absorption 
from the atmosphere. 
The elements constituting the soil are given both in refer- 
