great number of alloys, and of a variety of amalgams. He 

 confidcred the fubject as a philofopher ; and his operations 

 were thofe of a coniummate experimentalift. It would be^ 

 doing him an iojuftice to attempt an extraft of his ingenious* 

 paper, whicii contains a feciea of the mod iniereiling ex peri- 

 OtherintCTcfting Qients. I Ihall merely, obferve for tiie prefent purpofe, that 

 it very rarely happened that the mixture of two metals bore 

 any determinate relation to the fame metals when feparate ; 

 that in every cafe the fmalleit variation in the proportions 

 produced the raoft marked effects ; and that M. Ritter has 

 Jurnilhed us with aji inftrument calculated to deted the pre- 

 fence of fuch fmall quantities as have hitherto been considered 

 as out of the reach of chemitiry. As palladium prelients a 

 very ftriking iniiance of the anomaly, to which all compounds 

 feem to be more or lefs fubjed, by being removed altogether 

 from the feries of fimple metals, this may ferve to fupport tht 

 other proofs of its compound nature. ' 



^hc c^jeftors to One pf the principal ohjeftions of thofe who difpute the 

 the '^^^^^ s^^^^ truth of my conclufions with refpe6t to palladium, is grounded 

 not paid atten- upon the repeated failuff; of all the methods 1 had made ufe of 

 tjontothe te- -jj for-ming it ; but thiS' cannot be of very great weight, wheii 



peated failures of ' . , • • , • c \ 



all his methcvis. we conhder the uncerlamty ot many other operations ot che- 

 miflry. The moft fmiple are fometimes liable to fail; and tb^ 

 eafieft analvfes have often given different produds in the 

 hands of difterent chemitls,- who yet enjoy indifpulable and 

 equal rights to the title of accuracy. Tlie progrefs which vre 

 have made in ft)me parts of the fcience has not removed the 

 obftacles which impede our advancement in others. We 

 have no method of proving the, truth of an experiment ex- 

 cept by repeating it: yet tjiis often tends to ftiow nothing more 

 tiian contradidory refults, and confequently the fallibility of 

 the art. 

 A recent cafe in But a recent cafe has occurred which is [>erfecily ana'ogous^ 

 chemiftry which ^^ ^j^^j. ^^p palladium. A few years ago Prorenbr Larapadius, 

 isperfedly ana- ' . ^,,,. ' ,. r , n i ■ . . • i y r i j 



iogous to this, in diftiliing lome fubilances which contamed lulphur and 



- cbarcoali obtamed a liquid product q( a peculiar nature. He 

 repeated hi«; experiments, but in vain : and after many fruitlets 

 attempts aoandoned his refearches, and confined himleit to 

 ilating the fad to the chemical world. Little notice was taken 

 of it, and not much interest excited by , an experiment Co 

 ^ij^cly to fail. Some lime after this Mds... Clement ami 



Deformea 



