rs. B., I am not disposed to form a very
favourable idea of chemistry, nor do I expect to derive much
entertainment from it. I prefer the sciences which exhibit nature on a
grand scale, to those that are confined to the minutiae of petty details.
Can the studies which we have lately pursued, the general properties of
matter, or the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, be compared to the
mixing up of a few insignificant drugs? I grant, however, there may be
entertaining experiments in chemistry, and should not dislike to try
some of them: the distilling, for instance, of lavender, or rose
water . . . . . .

MRS. B.

I rather imagine, my dear Caroline, that your want of taste for
chemistry proceeds from the very limited idea you entertain of its
object. You confine the chemist's laboratory to the narrow precincts of
the apothecary's and perfumer's shops, whilst it is subservient to an
immense variety of other useful purposes. Besides, my dear, chemistry is
by no means confined to works of art. Nature also has her laboratory,
which is the universe, and there she is incessantly employed in chemical
operations. You are surprised, Caroline, but I assure you that the most
wonderful and the most interesting phenomena of nature are almost all of
them produced by chemical powers. What Bergman, in the introduction to
his history of chemistry, has said of this science, will give you a more
just and enlarged idea of it. The knowledge of nature may be divided, he
observes, into three periods. The first was that in which the attention
of men was occupied in learning the external forms and characters of
objects, and this is called _Natural History_. In the second, they
considered the effects of bodies acting on each other by their
mechanical power, as their weight and motion, and this constitutes the
science of _Natural Philosophy_. The third period is that in which the
properties and mutual action of the elementary parts of bodies was
investigated. This last is the science of CHEMISTRY, and I have no doubt
you will soon agree with me in thinking it the most interesting.

You may easily conceive, therefore, that without entering into the
minute details of practical chemistry, a woman may obtain such a
knowledge of the science as will not only throw an interest on the
common occurrences of life, but will enlarge the sphere of her ideas,
and render the contemplation of nature a source of delightful
instruction.

CAROLINE.

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