OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY: OR, YEAR-BOOK OF FACTS IN SCIENCE AND ART, FOR 1852. EXHIBITING THE MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICS, USEFUL ARTS, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, TOGETHER WITH A LIST OF RECENT SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS; A CLASSIFIED LIST OF THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE DURING THE YEAR 1851, ETC. ETC. EDITED BY DAVID A. WELLS, A. M. BOSTON: GOULD AND LINCOLN, 59 WASHINGTON STREET. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, BY GOULD & LINCOLN, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. Stereotyped by NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, G. C. RAND, Printer, 3 Cornhill, Boston. PREFACE. THE present number constitutes the third yearly volume of the Annual of Scientific Discovery. The Editor, in its preparation, has selected from the great mass of yearly accumulative matter, such subjects as to him seem most important and interesting. The selection and arrangement of the articles have also been made with a special view of illustrating the progress of natural and physical science, in all their departments, from year to year, each volume taking up the history and narration as dropped in the preceding one, in such a way, that a complete series of the work shall present, as nearly as possible, a complete scientific history, not only of each year, but also of the whole time elapsed since the publication of the first volume. That the Annual has imperfections, we would neither endeavor to disguise nor conceal. The progress of invention and discovery, of improvement and application, is so rapid, unceasing and continuous, that it would require a volume many times the size of the present to record, even in a summary manner, all that transpires of scientific interest in the course of a single year. Some topics of importance, from their abstruse and technical character, have been necessarily omitted. To a certain extent, also, the researches and discoveries relating to organic chemistry and mineralogy have been passed over; the limits of the present work would not suffice for their entire publication, and the interest attached to them, although great, is almost entirely confined to those engaged exclusively in scientific pursuits. If, also, in rejecting some subjects of importance, we have, in this age, when falsity and exaggeration in regard to matters of invention and discovery are so common, inserted some articles not wholly trustworthy, the Editor would plead, as an ex 134525 cuse, "non mea culpa sed temporis." The topics, however, of this nature often contain valuable suggestions and germs of truth, and, even when their falsity is unquestioned, display an amount of ingenuity not always found in real and true inventions. Such matters belong, of right, to the scientific history of the times, and on no account ought to be omitted. The Editor would take this opportunity to say, that he does not endorse, or consider himself responsible for, any opinions advanced in the body of the work, unless over his own signature. The selections have generally been made upon good authority, which, in most cases, is given in connection with each article. In the volume for 1851, a series of Editorial Notes, on the general progress of science during the preceding year, was given. The favor with which these have been received, leads to their continuance. As some objection has been made to certain remarks by the Editor, included in the notes for 1851, we would here say, that they are to be considered as an editorial table, in which the Editor will exercise the right of freely expressing such sentiments and opinions, relative to scientific matters, as to him shall seem proper. Heretofore the Annual of Scientific Discovery has appeared under the editorial charge of David A. Wells and George Bliss, Jr. Mr. Bliss having left the country for a temporary residence in Europe, the work has passed entirely under the charge of the firstnamed Editor. While we regret the withdrawal of Mr. Bliss, whose many and varied attainments have contributed to the success of the Annual, it will be the aim of the present Editor to sustain and improve, in all respects, the character of the work. To the friends, not only in this country, but in Europe, China, and California, who have kindly furnished scientific information, we return our most sincere thanks. We present to our readers, in the Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1852, a portrait of Professor Joseph Henry, President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1849-50, and the present Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, at Washington. CAMBRIDGE, February, 1852. |