Dissertation third : exhibiting a general view of the progress of chemical philosophy, from the early ages to the end of the eighteenth century / by William Thomas Brande.

  • Brande, William Thomas, 1788-1866.
Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dissertation third : exhibiting a general view of the progress of chemical philosophy, from the early ages to the end of the eighteenth century / by William Thomas Brande. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    who in winter's cold accidentally fall through the ice, are sur- prised by the comparative warmth of the water below, and the aquatick animals that in summer sport upon the surface of their element, retire in winter to the more ge- nial retreats which nature has thus provided. In tracing the progress of Chemistry through its dark and early periods, the historian necessarily traverses a rug- ged and barren path ; his chief object must be to advance, and the shortest is generally the safest road. Reaching the age of Alchemy, the prospect, though improved, is not such as to demand a very deliberate survey : its fictions, however, like those of romantick chivalry, have some- what of reality for their basis, and by the mere increase of experimental inquiry, contributed essentially to the growth of chemical knowledge. As a science, its pro- gress was languid until the middle of the seventeenth cen- tury, when it began to shake off the lethargy in which it had been sunk, and was turned with eager curiosity to new and more useful objects. In the dross of the alchemical furnaces many scattered treasures were discovered, the value of which was great- ly enhanced by arrangement and systematick combination. New views were thus opened to the Experimentalist; and authors, dismissing the florid exuberances and pom- pous affectation of their predecessors, cultivated an un- adorned and simple style, more becoming the dignity of scientifick narration. These circumstances contributed to confer a prosper- ous aspect on Chemical Philosophy at the commencement of the eighteenth century. It was applied to the arts, and to them it gave an unexpected and vigorous impulse. It was directed to the investigation of nature, and there it discovered new beauties. It found tongues in trees, books in (he running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in every thing.