infinitely small a power seeming
a sort of shadow or reflection of a creative energy, and which entitles
him to the distinction of being made in the image of God and animated by
a spark of the Divine Mind. Whilst chemical pursuits exalt the
understanding, they do not depress the imagination or weaken genuine
feeling; whilst they give the mind habits of accuracy by obliging it to
attend to facts, they likewise extend its analogies, and though
conversant with the minute forms of things, they have for their ultimate
end the great and magnificent objects of Nature. They regard the
formation of a crystal, the structure of a pebble, the nature of a clay
or earth; and they apply to the causes of the diversity of our mountain
chains, the appearances of the winds, thunderstorms, meteors, the
earthquake, the volcano, and all those phenomena which offer the most
striking images to the poet and the painter. They keep alive that
inextinguishable thirst after knowledge which is one of the greatest
characteristics of our nature, for every discovery opens a new field for
investigation of facts, shows us the imperfection of our theories. It
has justly been said that the greater the circle of light, the greater
the boundary of darkness by which it is surrounded. This strictly
applies to chemical inquiries, and hence they are wonderfully suited to
the progressive nature of the human intellect, which by its increasing
efforts to acquire a higher kind of wisdom, and a state in which truth is
fully and brightly revealed, seems, as it were, to demonstrate its
birthright to immortality.

_Eub_.--I am glad that our opposition has led you to so complete a
vindication of your favourite science. I want no further proof of its
utility. I regret that I have not before made it a particular object of
study.

_Phil_.--As our friend has so fully convinced us of the importance of
chemistry, I hope he will descend to some particulars as to its real
nature, its objects, its instruments. I would willingly have a
definition of chemistry and some idea of the qualifications necessary to
become a chemist, and of the apparatus essential for understanding what
has been already done in the science, and for pursuing new inquiries.

_The Unknown_.--There is nothing more difficult than a good definition,
for it is scarcely possible to express in a few words the abstracted view
of an infinite variety of facts. Dr. Black has defined chemistry to be
that sc