A

COMPENDIUM

OF

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY:

ADAPTED TO THE USE OF

THE GENERAL READER,

AND OF

SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES.

TO WHICH IS NOW ADDED

A SUPPLEMENT

CONTAINING

INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG EXPERIMENTERS,

WITH

A COPIOUS LIST OF EXPERIMENTS,

ACCOMPANIED BY MINUTE DIRECTIONS FOR PERFORMING THEM

BY DENISON OLMSTED, LL.D.

PROFESSOR OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND ASTRONC

YALE COLLEGE

Stereotype Edition.

NEW HAVEN:

PUBLISHED BY S. BABCOCK.

1846.

RAS

ENTERED, ACCORDING TO THE ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1844, by

DENISON OLMSTED,

IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF CONNECTICUT.

PREFACE.

THIS "Compendium" is designed to hold an intermediate place, be tween those works on Natural Philosophy, which are adapted to the use of students in our colleges and universities, and those which treat only of the simplest rudiments of the science, and are adapted to the pupils of the primary schools. To the higher grammar schools, and the more respectable female seminaries, this treatise is believed to be better suited than most works of the same class; containing, as it does, a full exhibition of the principles of Natural Philosophy, with very copious applica. tions of them to the arts, and to the phenomena of nature, while it requires in the learner no farther mathematical preparation than a knowledge of Arithmetic. There are in our High schools and Academies, numbers of youth, of both sexes, who are competent to learn much more of our science than the simplest rudiments. By substituting for long demonstrations, such familiar illustrations of the doctrines of philosophy, as may serve to render them fully intelligible to the well informed reader, (although he may be unacquainted with the higher branches of mathe. matics,) we have been enabled to comprise, in this small volume, a full view of the most useful truths of Natural Philosophy, and their most important practical applications. We have studied to avoid the error at tending many of the attempts to render our science easy of comprehension, that of exhibiting nothing but what is so barren and superficial, as 'to be of little service to the learner.

Beside the students of Academies and High schools, we have had constantly in view two other classes of readers ;-first, educated men, who desire to recur to the study of Natural Philosophy, rather to refresh their memories upon what they once learned in the regular course of their education than to toil again through the demonstrations of philosophical truths; and, secondly, practical men, who consult works of this class for principles which they can employ in the actual business of life.

It is hoped, therefore, and confidently believed, that the present work, although of small dimensions, will be found to contain an unusual amount of such information as is required by the professional man, and the mechanic and man of business, and hence to be peculiarly deserv. ing of a place in their respective libraries.

We have omitted to append to this volume a sketch of Astronomy, having prepared a similar treatise on that science, for the use of the superior schools, being, like the present, an abridgment of a larger work used in colleges. For the younger classes in academies and for common schools, we have also prepared, under the name of Rudiments of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, a still smaller volume, exhibiting as comprehensive a sketch as possible of both these sciences.

This work having now reached the twentieth edition, with a constantly increasing demand, we have carefully revised and corrected the plates for future impressions, and added, without any increase of price, a Supplement, which it is supposed will afford a kind of information highly useful and acceptable to young experimenters, and, so far as we know, not to be found in any other work.

YALE COLLEGE, July, 1844.