RURAL CHEMISTRY.

CHAPTER I.

COMBINATION-DECOMPOSITION-AIK-WATER.

1. The object of Chemistry is to determine accuratelythe properties of all natural substances, to study thechanges which are going on in nature, to find out therules which govern them, and the manner in whichthese natural operations are influenced by circum-stances.

2. In pursuing these inquiries, the chemist is obligedto proceed slowly and with great caution; it is quiteimpossible for him to predict beforehand the result ofan experiment; he must try it, and then, if it has beenproperly conducted, the result furnishes him with a newfact, for he is sure that on repeating it in the samemanner, he will obtain the same result. Hence chemistryis purely an experimental science ; every fact is the resultof repeated experiment, and every theory is deducedfrom the study of such facts. The greatest care mustbe taken to distinguish facts from theories ; the formerare well established and unquestionable truths, the

B