Page:Repository of Arts, Series 1, Volume 01, 1809, January-June.djvu/22

10 with Mr. Wilson for the monopoly of the improved stereotype, at the sum of £4000 each. The term of this contract (being only for two or three years) is expired; and we are given to understand that, at no distant period, his lordship proposes to communicate this discovery to the public; the stereotype art having now attained that state of perfection which authorizes his lordship to indulge the flattering sentiment, that, in presenting it to the public, he shall deserve the grateful acknowledgments of his country and of mankind. It should be observed, that his lordship has permitted Mr. Wilson to avail himself of any benefit to be derived from the prosecution of this art, and also from his engagements with the universities, in order to remunerate Mr. W. for the expence and trouble of establishing the manufacture of plates in London; but his lordship, with that generosity which forms a prominent feature of his noble mind, has invariably declined the opportunities of reimbursing any part of the large sum (exceeding five thousand pounds) which he has expended in the prosecution of experiments to bring the art of stereotype printing to its present improved state.

But it may be truly said, that

is indebted more than any other science to modern discoveries. Its importance and utility appear sufficiently obvious to these who have at all considered the extent of this department of knowledge; but for the sake of those of our readers who are yet unacquainted with it, we shall take a short view of the objects which it embraces, and the advantages that may be derived from the study of it, whether in explaining many of the striking phenomena of nature, or improving the arts of civilized life: for, in the midst of the infinite variety of objects from which man must derive the means of his comfort, his luxuries, and (it might be added) his very existence, this science affords him the most important aid. Whether his researches be carried into the mineral or animal kingdoms, the study and cultivation of chemical science become essentially requisite for the successful progress of his investigations. Of the knowledge which we possess of the vegetable kingdom, chemistry furnishes a very large share; it is this science which accounts for the phenomena of vegetation, germination, the growth, the ripening, and the death of plants. The nature of the different manures necessary for the various kinds of vegetables, the influence of light, the different temperatures, the nature and quality of moisture, the preservation of seeds, roots, and plants, are all founded upon chemical principles.

In considering the application of chemistry to the improvement of the useful arts, a wide field of contemplation opens to our view. So extensive indeed are its influence and importance, that, in most of the arts, the processes that are employed, depend on chemical principles. Barely to mention some of these arts, will afford ample illustration of its extensive utility: for the art of extracting metals from their ores, of purifying and alloying them with each other, and of forming instruments and utensils, whether for useful or ornamental purposes, almost all the processes are purely chemical. The essential improvements which modern