———_— 
1809.] 
which the public, and even some men of 
learning, have yet formed to themselves 
but very vague notions; and which is 
nothing more than the application of the 
general laws of physics, and of chemis- 
try, to the particular -phenomena ma- 
nifested by the various bodies in nature. 
The atmosphere, and its composition, 
meteors, waters, and their motions, with 
whatever is contained in them; the dif- 
ferent minerals, their reciprocal positions, 
and their origin; the exterior and interior 
forms of vevetals. and animals; their 
properties, the motions which constitute 
the functions of their life, their mutual 
action for supporting orderand harmony, 
on the surface of the globe; this is what 
the naturalist has to state, and to ex. 
plain ; such are the objects of which he 
-‘must necessarily possess the knowledge.” 
In no branch of natural history, can the 
others any longer be totally dispensed 
with; and still less the two general sci- 
ences. It would now be in vain to at- 
tempt dole 2 minerals, “without analy- 
sing them chemically, and mechanically; 
or animals without knowing their interior 
structure and the functions of their 
organs; the physicloyist, who should not 
comprise in his meditations the pheno- 
~ mena of the life of plants, and of that of 
\) 
—— 
all animals, would soon lose himself in 
-illusive conjectures, in the same manner as 
he would voluntarily shut his eyes against 
the light, if he refused to admit the in- 
fluence of physical laws-in the vital 
functions. 
There is, however, an essential dif- 
ference between the general sciences: 
and natural history; which is, that in the 
former the phenomena only are attended 
to, all the circumstances of which may 
be determined at pleasure; but in the 
other, the phenomena take place under 
conditions, which are not in the power 
of the observer. — 
In ordinary chemistry, for instance, 
‘we compose our vessels of unalterable 
‘materials; we shape, bend, and direct, 
them, as we think proper; we place in 
‘them only what is necessary to give us 
distinct ideas of the. result. In vital 
chemistry, the materials are innumerabie; 
searcely has ‘the chemist yet character- 
ised a few of them; the’ vessels are in- 
finitely complicated; scarcely has the 
‘anatomist described’a part of their out- 
line; their sides act upon what they 
contain; they experience its action; 
elements incessantly rush inwardly from 
without; some escape outwardly from - 
Montury Mae. No. 191. 
~ 
Progress of the Sciences since 1789. 
405 
" 
within; all the parts are in a perpetual 
vortex; which is am essential condition 
of the phenomenon, and which we cat- 
not long suspend, without stopping it for 
ever. 
Notwithstanding these difficulties, in- 
herentin natural history, the ideas which 
we have now given‘of the science, and 
and which have scarcely been adopted 
generally, except at the present period, 
have entirely changed the face. of it, and 
have shed the most vivid light on all its 
branches. ; 
In meteorology, the gaseous compo- 
sition of the atmosphere has: been ascer- 
tained to be the same at all elevations, 
and in all countries, by Berthollet, Hum- 
boldt, Gay-Lussac, and Beddoes; but the 
odors which so strongly affect our senses, 
the miasmata which so cruclly attack our 
economy, remain yet beyond the reach 
of our chemical means, although it is 
very certain, that these means destroy 
them; one proof amongst thousands of 
the multitude of substances, which act 
without our knowledge in the operations 
of nature. ‘ 
The phenomenon of stones fallen from 
the atmospliere, which antiquity and the - 
middle aves were not unacquainted with, 
was not, until the present period, ranked: 
amongst physical truths; the conjectures 
of M. Chladni, the analyses of M.M, 
Howard, Vauquelin,.Thenard, Lanyier, 
the travels and enquiries of M-. Biot, 
have equally contributed to assure them 
this rank. : : 
Mineralogy is now approaching in cor- 
rectness, to the most accurate sciences, 
thanks to the crystallographic determina- 
tions of M. Hatiy, to the chemical analy. 
sis of M, M. Klaproth, and Vauquelin, to 
the exterior descriptions and detcrmina- 
tion of positions, given by M. Werner, 
and by his school. 
This knowledge of the respective posi- 
tions of minerals, is become the object of 
areal science; a science which direotsin 
their research, and now supersedes, with 
sound minds, those illusive conjectures, 
which bat lately bore the pompous name 
‘of geology. Pailas, Saussure, Desma- 
rets, Dolomieu,: Werner, De Lue, Ra-. 
mond, and Humbolai, have given 4 this 
new aspect ;.their laborious cravels, their, 
scrupulous observations, have made us 
acquainted with the real structure of that 
part of the crust of the globe, which we 
are able to penetrate, at the same time 
that they make us almost despair of ever 
divining its origin. 
- This 
