Having this object in view, I have prepared or brought about the
conditions necessary to the formation of a few crystals of various
chemical substances, which for various reasons, such as lack of time and
bad weather, are not as perfect as could be desired, but will perhaps
subserve the purpose for which they were designed. I think you will
agree with me that they are beautiful, if they are imperfect, and I can
assure you that the pleasure of watching their formation fully repays
one for the trouble, if for no other reason than the mere gratification
of the senses. From the earliest times and by all races of men, the
crystal has been admired and imitated, or improved by cutting and
polishing into faces of various substances. I have also procured
specimens of steel and iron which show the effect of crystallization,
which was produced (perhaps) under known conditions, so that the
conclusions which we arrive at from their study will have a fair chance
of being logical, at least, and perhaps of some practical value.
When we examine inanimate nature we find two grand divisions of matter,
_fluid_ and _solid_. These two divisions may be subdivided into, the
former gaseous and liquid, the latter amorphous and crystalline; but
whether one or the other of these divisions be considered, their
ultimate and common division will be the ATOM. By the atom we understand
that portion of matter which admits of no further division, which,
though as inconceivable for minuteness as space is for extent, has still
definite weight, form, and volume; which under favorable circumstances,
has that power or force called cohesion, the intensity of which
constitutes strength of material, which every engineer is supposed to
understand, but which lies far beyond the powers of the human mind for
comprehension or analysis.
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