 | Catalogue of the University of Virginia |  |
X. SCHOOL OF ANALYTICAL, AGRICULTURAL AND
INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY.
PROF. MALLET.
This School having been created with a view to the growing demand
for scientific knowledge in its applications to the useful arts
and to the development of the natural resources of the country, the
endeavor is made to render the teachings of the Chair as practical
as possible, while basing them upon sound principles of general science—thus
presenting the opportunity of preparation for such positions
as those of the miner and metallurgist, the chemical manufacturer,
the farmer, the dyer, bleacher, tanner, analytical chemist, &c.
The system of instruction consists of a course of Lectures upon
Technical Chemistry, and a course of Practical Work in the Chemical
Laboratory, either of which may be attended separately.
A.—Lectures.
In connection with this course there is but one class, the students
attending which hear three lectures each week throughout the session.
Amongst the more prominent subjects discussed are: The production
of Materials of very general application, including the Metallurgy
of Iron, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Tin, Silver, Gold, &c., the preparation
and properties of Alloys, and the processes of Electro-Metallurgy,
the manufacture upon the large scale of Acids, Alkalies, Salts,
Glass and Porcelain; the production and preservation of Food, including
the Chemistry of Agriculture, the processes of Bread
Making, Wine Making, Brewing and Distilling, the manufacture of
Sugar and Vinegar, the curing of Meat, the examination of Potable
Dyeing, Calico Printing, Tanning, and the preparation of India
Rubber; the Chemistry of those arts which afford us Shelter, embracing
the examination of Building Materials, Lime Burning, the
manufacture of Mortar and Cements, the Explosive Agents used in
blasting, as Gunpowder, Gun Cotton, Nitro-Glycerine, &c., Paints
and Varnishes, Disinfecting Materials, &c.; Heating and Ventilation,
the different kinds of Fuel and modes of Burning them; Illumination
by artificial means, Candles, Lamps, the preparation of
Petroleum, the manufacture of Illuminating Gas, Matches; the
Chemistry of Washing, the preparation of Soap, Starch and Perfumes;
the Chemical relations of Printing and Writing, the manufacture
of Paper, Ink, Artists' Colors, Photographic Materials, &c.
The lectures are illustrated by suitable experiments, and by such
specimens, models, drawings, &c., as the various subjects require.
Amongst books which can be usefully referred to in connection with
different parts of this course may be mentioned: Muspratt—Chemistry
as Applied to Arts and Manufactures; Richardson and Watts—Chemical
Technology; Ure—Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures; Dumas—
Traité de Chimie Appliquée aux Arts; Wagner—Die chemische Technologie;
Johnston—Agricultural Chemistry; R. Hoffmann—Theoretisch-praktische
Ackerbauchemie.
The subjects germane to Agriculture are treated of at different periods
of the lecture course, and cannot well be brought together
with a due regard to system, but the discussion more particularly of
soils, manures, &c., will be brought forward in January or February
(this year in February), with a view to the convenience of farmers
or others, not regular students of the University, who may desire
to attend this portion of the course separately. Such persons are
freely invited to thus temporarily join the class for the purpose in
question.
B.—Laboratory Course.
This is arranged for three classes:
1. The First Class meets twice each week during the session, on
each occasion spending from two to four hours in practical experiment
in the Laboratory. A regularly arranged course of practice
in Chemical Manipulation is first pursued; Qualitative Analysis is
then taken up, and, the means of detecting the most important
chemical substances having been learned, students are required to
find out for themselves by analysis the constituents of unknown
materials presented to them. Special attention is given to sub
stances having useful applications in the Arts or connected with
Agriculture. Towards the close of the session the elements of
Quantitative Analysis are taught, so far as the limitation of time will
permit.
2. The Laboratory will be open to the Second Class on five days
of each week during the whole of the working hours of each day.
A full course of instruction in Practical Chemistry, including the
Products, &c., will be given; and students will be assisted and
encouraged to undertake original research.
3. The Third Class is one specially intended for students of Medicine,
and will meet for lessons of two hours each once in the week
for four months of the session. To this class the practical applications
of Chemistry to Medicine will be taught—the detection of
Poisons, chemical and microscopical examination of Animal Products,
urine, blood, &c.
Amongst the works recommended to laboratory students are:
Fresenius—Qualitatire and Quantitative Analysis; H. Rose—Handbuch
der analytischen Chemie (also in French translation); Greville Williams—
Handbook of Chemical Manipulation; Wöhler—Examples for Practice in
Chemical Analysis; Bolley—Handbuch der technisch-chemischen Untersuchungen;
Odling—Practical Chemistry for Medical Students.
The Diploma of Graduate in this School will be conferred upon
such students as attend with diligence the Course of Lectures and
the Second Class of Laboratory Instruction, and give evidence on
examination of satisfactory attainments in the same. For the requirements
in this school for the degrees in Mining and Civil Engineering,
&c., reference is made to the general notice of Degrees.
Very ample and liberal provision has been made by the Board of
Visitors for the material means of illustration of the teachings of
this Chair. A new Laboratory building, of one hundred and twenty
feet in length, by forty-five feet in width, specially designed for the
purposes it is to serve, has been erected, containing twelve rooms—a
lecture-room, rooms for general analytical work, for furnace operations,
for evaporations and experiments with gases, balance rooms,
private laboratory, store-rooms for apparatus and reägents, &c.,
fitted with double windows for the preservation of uniform temperature,
and amply supplied with gas, water, and all proper laboratory
fixtures. All necessary apparatus, chemicals, minerals, models,
&c., and an unusually fine collection of specimens illustrating the
various arts and manufactures as practiced on the great scale, have
been procured from England, France and Germany.
It may safely be said that the University of Virginia is in this
department inferior in material preparation for instruction to no
institution of learning in America, and, in some respects, is probably
superior to any.
With a portion of the means supplied by the donation of the late
Mr. Samuel Miller of Lynchburg, the Board of Visitors of the
University have established, in connection with this School, two
scholarships, each of five hundred dollars per annum, and tenable for
two years (one to be filled and one vacated in each year), to be competed
for at a special examination upon the whole of the subjects
taught in the school, to be held near the close of each session—candidates
for this examination to be graduates of the School. Scholars
thus elected will be expected to continue their studies under the
Professor of the School during the term of their scholarships, and
performance of analyses and researches, &c., as may be required of
them. It is hoped that thus the opportunity may be afforded such
students of becoming thoroughly competent chemists, worthy of
public confidence in regard to all the purposes which their special
knowledge may subserve, and that even during their tenure of the
scholarships in question they may be able to render useful service in
the examination and analysis of agricultural and other materials of
general interest. They will be subject to no charge for tuition in
this School during the two years, but will be expected to defray the
expense of material they may consume in the Laboratory.
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