On ALCHEMY,--Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, 4to., 1652;--Dr. John French's Art of Distillation;--Four Books of J. S. Weidenfeld, 4to., 1685;--A Philosophicall Epitaph, in Hierogliphicall Figures, 1673;--George Ridley's Compound of Alchemy, 1591;--Roger Bacon's Art and Nature, (in French,) 1557; his Mirror of Alchemy, 1597; his Philosopher's Stone, or Grand Elixir, 8vo., 1739; Theatrum Chemicum, 6 vols., 8vo., 1659-61;--Sandivogius's New Light of Alchymie, 4to., 1650;--Opuscula quædam Chemica, 8vo., 1514;--The Works of Geber, 1678;--Hermes Trismegistus's Works, collected in Theatrum Chemicum, 4 vols.;--Raimond Lully's De Secretis Naturæ, 1541;--Crollius's Philosophy Reformed and Improved, in four profound Tractates, 1657;--Beguinus (J.) Trocinium Chymicum, or Chymical Essays, 8vo., 1669;--Artis Auriferae, Quam Chemiam Vocant (a collection of treatises), woodcuts, 2 vols. 8vo. 1593;--Balduinus's Aurum Superius et Inferius Hermeticum, plates, 1675; Beccheri's Physica Subterranea, Lipsiæ, 1738 (with supplement), 8vo., 1681-80; with many others, ancient and modern. Interesting compendious treatises will be found in Dr. Thomas Thomson's History of Chemistry, ("The National Library,") 2 vols., 12mo., 1830; Justus von Liebig's Familiar Letters on Chemistry, edited by Dr. Blyth, 8vo., 1859. And-- On MATHEMATICAL and MECHANICAL Chimeras, many popular notices may be found in Encyclopædias; and particularly in Dr. Hutton's Mathematical Dictionary, 2 vols., 4to.; and the Author's "Perpetuum Mobile; or, History of the Search for Self-Motive Power; with an Introductory Essay," post 8vo., 1861; to which work, a second series will shortly be added. CHIMERAS OF SCIENCE. INTRODUCTION. Although the present lecture seems to require some introductory remarks, they must necessarily be brief--our time being limited and this discourse rather discursive; yet it is sufficiently condensed to suit the present occasion, and illustrates fully the truthfulness of the axiom that--_A little learning is a dangerous thing_: from its tendency to inspire its possessors with vanity rather than with the humility which always accompanies profound knowledge. You are no doubt all, or most of you, well acquainted with the use made of Astrology and Alchemy in the dramas of Shakspeare--"The Antiquary" of the "Wizard of the North"--the "Strange Story" of Lord Lytton--the "Faust" of Goëthe; and are probably familiar with the more instructive works of Scott on Demonology, and of Brewster on Natural Magic. Now we always find that fiction is more suitable than truth for romantic writings; truth is circumscribed, but the fictions whether of Astrology, Alchemy, or any other pseudo-philosophy are erratic, the delight of poets and romance writers, being the comets and _ignes fatui_ of many popular compositions in our light literature.