On the
other hand, it has analyzed the proximate constituents of animal and
vegetal structures, and has even gone far toward determining some of the
conditions of organic existence; while every one of the arts, whether
aesthetic, therapeutic, or industrial, has received from it many and
important suggestions.
In a science which advances so rapidly there is great need of popular
books which shall clearly and succinctly present the very latest results
of investigation, without burdening the reader with technical details.
For some time there has been no such work in this country. To ascertain
the newest discoveries, it has been necessary to consult the journals
and memoirs of learned societies, the excellent works of Professor
Miller being too cumbrous to be of much service either to the
unscientific reader or to the general scholar. On the other hand, the
text-books in common use have been positively detestable. The
information furnished by many of them is worse than ignorance. We are
tired of works on chemical physics which discourse of "calorie" and "the
electric fluid,"--of works on organic chemistry which ascribe the
phenomena of life to "a vital principle which overrides chemical laws.
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