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    Aut . I EL—Chemical Essays , principally relating to the Arts and Manufactures of the jBritisJi Dominions . By Samuel Parkes , F . L . S . &c . &c . In Five Volumes . 12 nio . Plates . Ql . Qs . Baldwin and Co . 1815 .

    E -were amongst the first [ see Wour 2 nd Vol . pp . 30—33 ] to recommend Mr . Parkes ' s Chemical Catechism , which has already passed through six editions , and may be said to have established itsel f in the good opinion of the public . The same character that has rendered the Chemical

    Catechism popular belongs also to these Essays , —viz . simplicity , perspicuity , fulness of explanation , a regard to what is useful rather than what is shewy , and a readiness to serve on

    every occasion the interests of morality and religion . It is in this last point of view chiefly that the Essays claim a place in this department of our worku

    The Essays are Fifteen in number , and are on the following subjects : <—Utility of Chemistry ( reprinted with enlargement and corrections from

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    the Chemical Catechism ) $ Temper ture ; Specific Gravity ; Calico Print " ing ; Barytes ; Carbon ; Sulphuric Acid ; Citric Acid ; Fixed Alkalies Earthen-ware and Porcelain : GJass '

    Bleaching ; Water ; Sal Ammoniac-Edge Tools . The following extracts fro m the Essay en Temperature may serve as a specimen of the moral character of Mr . Parkes ' s general reflections .

    "A person accustomed to the examination of the works of nature , can scarcely avoid being- often very much struck with the beauty and excellence of the arrang ements winch its divine Author has established for the preservation of the world and the

    various animated beings which inhabit it . Some of ^ hese native and original appointments are contrivances of great wisdom . Of this class , the following appears to me to be a most striking instance , though not often adverted to .

    " Land is capable ox receiving much more either of heat or cold , than water . In the neighbourhood of Marseilles , Dr . Raymond often found the land heated to 160 ° ; but the sea was never hotter than 77 ° , and even this heat it receives chiefly by its

    communication with land ; for in July 1765 he found that the part of the bay next the land was at 74 ° , the middle of the bay 72 ° , and the entrance of the "bay 70 ° . On the contrary , he frequently observed the earth in winter cooled down to 14 ° or 15 ° , bat the sea never lower than 44 ° or 45 ° . * ' Were it otherwise , and that the waters on the face of the earth , had the property of acquiring- the same temperature either of heat or cold as the land , the evaporation in summer would be excessive and

    detrimental ; and in winter all navigation would be suspended , and the finny inhabitants of the water would inevitably perish . 1 . 133—126 " . The first idea which naturally present * itself on this subject is- that nothing hut

    consummate wisdom a » d goodness could have suggested the formation of such an in * finitude of animals and vegetables of various natures and properties , and all peculiarly adapted to the various climates in which each and ev ^ ry of them are respectively

    placed : " Life buds or breathes from Indus to thi Polea , f „ And the vast surface kindles asitrolls . " But it is not a little remarkable , tnw wh-ifo * TOrv <* lini 3 rt * on the fa « e of tbc eartn .

    and almost every situation lias a rac « animals peculiarly fitted for it , and that caa flourish ami propagate ho where so well in their native quarter of the world , fl" " should be so organized that he can resi < g increase and muSiply on every pftVt Otw habitable fidoW I . 135 , 130 .

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    586 Review Parkes ' s Chemical Essays .

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    But , in justice to that very respectable society , with which , for a series of years , we have been acquainted , yet to which we ^ clo not belong-, we shall distinctly vindicate its members from the charge that Mr . Morgan

    alleges , by imieudo in the above passage . They have displayed all the regard to Dr . Price ' s 'memory which a grateful people could feel or shew , on the loss of a most esteemed and beloved pastor . His labours and virtues are recollected , his works are perused , by them with no common pleasure . And

    calling to their minds the instructions "which they received from this venerable man , in their character of Christians , protestants and dissenters , they have carefully acted on his advice , by forming their theological sentiments , and choosing their religious teachers , for themselves !

    Dr . Price ' s life is so agreeable a subject of contemplation , that , on this account , we have been interested by the Memoirs of it : in the performance of his task , Mr . Morgan has

    disappointed hs j and such , we imagine , is the feeling with which his work has been read by the public . A second volume of his uncle ' s sermons , would be a far more welcome present . N .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1815, page 586, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1764/page/54/