e imagination. I
will give you a definition which will have the merit of novelty, and
which is probably general in its application. _Chemistry relates to
those operations by which the intimate nature, of bodies is changed, or
by which they acquire new properties._ This definition will not only
apply to the effects of mixture, but to the phenomena of electricity,
and, in short, to all the changes which do not merely depend upon the
motion or division of masses of matter."

Cuvier, in one of a series of lectures, delivered at Paris, in the
spring of last year, says, "the name chemistry, itself, comes from the
word _chim_, which was the ancient name of Egypt;" and he states
that minerals were known to the Egyptians "not only by their external
characters, but also by what we at the present day call their _chemical
characters_." He also adds, that what was afterwards called the Egyptian
science, the Hermetic art, the art of transmuting metals, was a mere
reverie of the middle ages, utterly unknown to antiquity. "The pretended
books of Hermes are evidently supposititious, and were written by the
Greeks of the lower Empire."

Crystallization.

Why are the crystals collected in camphor bottles in druggists' windows
always most copious upon the surface exposed to the light?

Because the presence of light considerably influences the process of
crystallization. Again, if we place a solution of nitre in a room which
has the light admitted only through a small hole in the window-shutter,
crystals will form most abundantly upon the side of the basin exposed to
the aperture through which the light enters, and often the whole mass of
crystals will turn towards it.--Brande.

Why is sugar-candy crystallized on strings, and verdigris on sticks?

Because crystallization is accelerated by introducing into the solution
a nucleus, or solid body, (like the string or stick) upon which the
process begins.

The ornamental alum baskets, whose manufacture was once so favourite a
pursuit of lady-chemistry, were made upon this principle; the forms of
the baskets being determined by wire framework, to which the crystals
readily adhere.

Why is sugar-candy sometimes in large and regular crystals?

Because the concentrated syrup has been kept for several days and nights
_undisturbed_, in a very high temperature; for, if perfect rest and
a temperature of from 120 deg. to 190 deg. be not afforded, regular
crystals of candy will not be obtaine