Synopsis
A General System Of Chemical Knowledge: And Its Application To The Phenomena Of Nature And Art. In Eleven Vols by Antoine-François De Fourcroy is an early 19th?century treatise that blends anatomy, physiology, and chemistry to study animal substances and secretions as complex chemical entities. It surveys tears and lacrimal mucus, nasal mucus, cerumen, tracheal and bronchial humors, pulmonary gas, and a wide range of milk components (milk itself, whey, casein, butter, cheese), including cross?species variations in dairy chemistry. The work outlines methodical chemical analysis—using acids, alkalies, lime-water, barytes, distillation and separation—to probe composition, transformations, and practical uses of humors. It situates its program within a shift from classical acid–alkali theory to pneumatic chemistry and proposes four orders of facts (structure, general chemical characters, history of discoveries, applications) to classify animal matter. Through cross?species comparisons and attention to aging, sex, and physiology, the text argues for reproducible chemical analyses as foundations for medicine and industry, while acknowledging the need for further research into lymph, synovia, and internal fluids, framed by notable chemists of the period.
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