ON

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY:

IN WHICH

THE ELEMENTS OF THAT SCIENCE

ARE

FAMILIARLY EXPLAINED,

AND ADAPTED TO THE

COMPREHENSION OF YOUNG PUPILS.

ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES.

BY JANE MARCET,

AUTHOR OF

CONVERSATIONS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY, CONVERSATIONS.
ON CHEMISTRY, AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

Eighth Edition,

ENLARGED AND CORRECTED BY THE AUTHOR.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR

LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN,

PATERNOSTER-ROW.

!

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX

TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

PREFACE.

It is with increased diffidence that the author offers this little work to the public. The encouraging reception which the Conversations on Chemistry, and Political Economy, have met with, has induced her to venture on publishing a short course on Natural Philosophy; but not without the greatest apprehensions for its success. Her ignorance of mathematics, and the imperfect knowledge of natural philosophy which that disadvantage necessarily implies, renders her fully sensible of her incompetency to treat the subject in any other way than in the form of a familiar explanation of the first elements, for the use of very young pupils. It is the hope of having done this in a manner that may engage their attention,

which encourages her to offer them these additional lessons.

They are intended, in the course of elementary science, to precede the Conversations on Chemistry; and were actually written previous to either of her former publications.