"Could I imagine that the knowledge of nature would ever be exhausted, and that we were approaching to a termination of our enquiries, I could more contentedly shut my eyes on a scene in which nothing more was to be seen, or done. But to quit the stage at present (and I believe the aspect of things will be exactly similar in any future period of our existence) without the hope of re-visiting it, would fill me with the deepest regret. The general who, like Epaminondas, or Wolfe, dies in the arms of victory, dies with satisfaction; but not so he that is cut off in the beginning of a doubtful, though promising, engagement. Thus I feel on the idea of ceasing to breathe, when I have but just begun to know what it is that I breathe."
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Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air
Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air (1774–86) was a six-volume work published by 18th-century British polymath Joseph Priestley. Later editions were "in three volumes: being the former six volumes abridged and methodized, with many additions." The work reports a series of Priestleys experiments on "airs" or gases, most notably his contributions to the discovery of oxygen gas (which he named "dephlogisticated air") and its properties. The book is an original source for study in
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