ROLINE.

It is, indeed, curious to think that we adorn ourselves with jewels of
charcoal!

MRS. B.

There are many other substances, consisting chiefly of carbon, that are
remarkably white. Cotton, for instance, is almost wholly carbon.

CAROLINE.

That, I own, I could never have imagined! --But pray, Mrs. B., since it
is known of what substance diamond and cotton are composed, why should
they not be manufactured, or imitated, by some chemical process, which
would render them much cheaper, and more plentiful than the present mode
of obtaining them?

MRS. B.

You might as well, my dear, propose that we should make flowers and
fruit, nay, perhaps even animals, by a chemical process; for it is known
of what these bodies consist, since every thing which we are acquainted
with in nature is formed from the various simple substances that we have
enumerated. But you must not suppose that a knowledge of the component
parts of a body will in every case enable us to imitate it. It is much
less difficult to decompose bodies, and discover of what materials they
are made, than it is to recompose them. The first of these processes is
called _analysis_, the last _synthesis_. When we are able to ascertain
the nature of a substance by both these methods, so that the result of
one confirms that of the other, we obtain the most complete knowledge of
it that we are capable of acquiring. This is the case with water, with
the atmosphere, with most of the oxyds, acids, and neutral salts, and
with many other compounds. But the more complicated combinations of
nature, even in the mineral kingdom, are in general beyond our reach,
and any attempt to imitate organised bodies must ever prove fruitless;
their formation is a secret that rests in the bosom of the Creator. You
see, therefore, how vain it would be to attempt to make cotton by
chemical means. But, surely, we have no reason to regret our inability
in this instance, when nature has so clearly pointed out a method of
obtaining it in perfection and abundance.

CAROLINE.

I did not imagine that the principle of life could be imitated by the
aid of chemistry; but it did not appear to me ridiculous to suppose that
chemists might attain a perfect imitation of inanimate nature.

MRS. B.

They have succeeded in this point in a variety of instances; but, as you
justly observe, the principle of life, or even the minute and intimate
organisation of the vegetable kingdom, are secrets tha