of chemical science. It is said that when, in 1755, Joseph Black graduated from the University of Edinburgh with the degree of M.D., "his thesis on Magnesia Alba, Quicklime, and Other Alkaline Substances contained the results of what is probably the first accurately quantitative examination of a chemical action which we possess." The classic researches of Cavendish, Priestley, and Lavoisier on water and the gases of the atmosphere are, indeed, the foundation upon which the modern science of chemistry is built. Notwithstanding the fact that the science of chemistry made considerable progress during the latter part of the eighteenth century, Ernst von Meyer, in his History of Chemistry, says that at the beginning of the nineteenth century there were practically no laboratories for general instruction in chemistry. In lectures upon physics, mineralogy, and anatomy, chemistry was relegated to a very subordinate place. . . . . It is true that there were chairs of chemistry in various universities and colleges, but the lectures on this subject were usually conjoined with those upon one of the subjects just named, in such a manner that chemistry was forced into the background. In France, where toward the end of the eighteenth century it began to be perceived that instruction in natural science must be fostered by every means at command, a start was made before any other countries, in respect to the development of chemical study. Up till then apothecaries' shops were the only places where work in practical chemistry could be carried on, and there merely after certain prescriptions and not according to scientific methods.* A statement made in 1790 by Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, and a famous pioneer in chemical research, is indicative of the status of scientific subjects in England at this time. Priestley wrote, "I am very sorry to observe that natural science is very little, if at all, the subject of education in this country [England]."5 The status of chemical science in American universities at the opening of the nineteenth century is well expressed in an article in the Medical Repository for 1800, published at New York, under the caption Liberal Decree of the Trustees of Columbia College with Respect to Chemistry. 3 Pattison M. M. Muir, Heroes of Science-Chemists p. 3. 4 Ernst von Meyer, History of Chemistry (tr. by George McGowan) p. 642. Priestley, On Air 1:xxix. Quoted by Florian Cajori, History of Physics p. 289. e The first professor of chemistry at Oxford (England) was appointed in 1683. The first professor of chemistry appointed at Cambridge (England) was officially appointed in 1702. Foster Watson, The Beginnings of the Teaching of Modern Subjects in England p. 232. Notwithstanding it has been so long known that natural philosophy, or the science of experimental physics is divided into two great branches, the mechanical and the chemical, still the former which only treats of the more obvious and sensible properties of matter, has been taught in colleges and universities. The latter which is employed in ascertaining the laws which govern the composition and decomposition of material bodies, and scrutinizing more nearly the relations and affinities of their component atoms, has rarely or never entered the plan of what is termed a genteel or liberal education, but has been improperly considered as auxiliary to the medical profession. The trustees of Columbia College have wisely corrected this error by determining at one of their late meetings that the study of the chemical branch of physics should precede the conferring of the degree of Bachelor of Arts upon the students of that seminary; of course the youths educated will have the advantage of becoming acquainted not only with natural philosophy, as it is commonly termed but also with chemistry. This is an example highly worthy of the imitation of other places of instruction.® It appears, however, that there was at least one college that had preceded Columbiae in setting this example. John Maclean in his History of the College of New Jersey (Princeton) says that this institution made provision for academic instruction in chemistry as early as 1795, and makes the following claim for the priority of New Jersey College: In the medical schools of Philadelphia, New York, and Cambridge in connection with the University of Pennsylvania and with Columbia and Harvard Colleges, there had been previously to Dr. Maclean's appointment as Professor at Princeton, lectures on Chemistry; but the above mentioned provision for the instruction of undergraduates in this branch of science was the first of the kind ever made in this country, unless possibly, Chemistry in connection with Natural Philosophy and as a branch of it may have been a subject of instruction at the college of William and Mary in Virginia, and the University of Pennsylvania at an earlier date.' Medical Repository for 1800, published at New York by Drs. Mitchell and Miller p. 205. Quoted in John Maclean's History of the College of New Jersey pp. 10-11. History of the College of New Jersey 2:8-9. The theory of iatro-chemistry developed by Paracelsus (1493-1541) and his followers accounts for the fact that chemistry was taught in the medical schools long before its value as a subject for study in a liberal system of education was recognized. Columbia had long been giving lectures in chemistry before the medical school. An account of the opening lecture before the medical school is well deserving of mention. "Dr. Smith, Professor of Chemistry gave an introductory lecture on that branch which for elegance and sublimity met with universal approbation," The lecture was given on the day following the opening of the medical school. Quoted from the New York Mercury of November 9, 1764, in A History of Columbia Uni versity, 1754 1904 p. 301. >When Williams College at Williamstown, Massachusetts, was organized in 1785, the trustees made provision for the sciences "so far as it may be convenient," but it was not until the election of Professor Chester Dewey in 1812 that the first lectures on chemistry were given.8 A list of other colleges and universities which were giving instruction in chemistry during the early part of the nineteenth century together with the date when such instruction began is here given.f College of New Jersey (Princeton), Princeton, N. J." 1795 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C..... 1818 Calvin Durfee, History of Williams College p. 354- 10 Frank W. Clarke, A Report on the Teaching of Chemistry and Physics in the United States. Bureau of Education: Circular of Information No. 6 pp. 200-12. All data in Table I was taken from this report unless other reference is indicated. 11 History of the College of New Jersey 2:8-9. 12 Nehemiah Cleaveland and Alpheus Spring Packard, History of Bowdoin Col lege p. 8. 13 Historical Catalog of Brown University p. 33. 14 William S. Tyler, History of Amherst College p. 30. 15 John King Lord, History of Dartmouth College p. 212. In some of these institutions the lectures in chemistry were open at first only to the students in the medical department. This list is probably incomplete. Univ ity of Vermont and State Agricultural College, Burlington, 1831 1831 1832 1833 1834 1834 1837 1839 1839 Wesleyan University, Middleton, Conn.. From the foregoing survey it is clear that but little progress with the study of chemistry was made either in Europe or America previous to 1800; it would be futile therefore to search for chemistry in the American secondary-school curricula that were established previous to the beginning of the nineteenth century. While chemistry was struggling for recognition as a university. subject of study, and even prior to the time when it was given recognition by the universities, its study was being promoted by other agencies. The simple spectacular reactions were sources of amusement for students in all walks of life, and chemistry became a favorite study with the seventeenth-century amateur. Anthony Wood says that in 1663 he and John Locke were members of a private chemistry class at Oxford: "The club wrote and took notes from the mouth of their master who sat at the upper end of the table." 9916 16 Clark, Life and Times of Anthony Wood 1:472. Quoted in Adamson's John Locke p. 220 n. In 1827, of those colleges which offered instruction in chemistry very few if any offered more courses than are now commonly offered in our high schools. In the Quarterly Journal of the American Educational Society 1:228-32, is given a View of the Course of Study Pursued in Various Colleges in the United States, from Reports Gathered by the Editor. From the list of 20 colleges reported, only 11 offered instruction in chemistry. In 7 of these chemistry was taught only during the junior year, and in 3 only during the senior year. Only offered as much as two years instruction in this subject. The seventeenth century witnessed an extraordinary interest in scientific questions. This interest resulted in the establishment of scientific societies in all parts of Europe. Scientific papers were presented before these societies and the transactions of the societies were published. In this way information concerning scientific discoveries was disseminated. How widely and how synchronously the scientific interest spread over Europe durg the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries is shown by : lowing table.17 e fol An attempt has been made in the preceding pages to show something of the status of science in Europe and America in 1800. Immediately following 1800, interest in scientific study in America experienced a rapid growth. This fact makes the early decades. of this century of especial interest in this paper. The evidences of this growth of interest in scientific study together with the causes which led to it will next be considered. The status of science in America during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries is well expressed in an unsigned article in the American Monthly Magazine for 1817 entitled, "Survey of the Progress and Actual State of Natural Science in the United States of America from the Beginning of the Century to the Present Time."19 This article is of such value not only in showing something of the status of science in America in 1800, but also in giving an account of the rapid development of science between 1800 17 The data included in this table is taken from Ernst von Meyer's History of Chemistry p. 108. 18 Ibid. 19 Unsigned article. Survey of the Progress and Actual State of Natural Sciences in the United States from the Beginning of the Century to the Present Time. American Monthly Magazine 2:81-89. |