ON OXIMURIATIC ACID. 195 



in this, I must despair of being more successful by any Remark on 

 farther illustrations, and I feel indeed no desire to add illus- ^^^j^^ ^^ '^ » 

 trations on what appears to me too obvioui to bear a mo- D«vy's state, 

 ment's reasoning. I shall only present the subject under hypotheiicall 

 one other light ; and beg to remind him, that the very pos- 

 sibility of the proposition being called in question without 

 any doubt being expressed of the accuracy of the experiment 

 on which it rests is a sufficient proof, that it is not a simple 

 exprt^ssion of the fact, as he and his brother suppose, but an 

 inference from the fact, I should not involve myself in the 

 absurdity, or rather in the palpable contradiction of deny«i||| 

 ing, that muriatic acid gas is obtained from the mutual" -^ 

 action of oximuriatic acid and hidrogen, and is the only ^ 

 sensible product of that action, while I did not call in ques« 

 tion the accuracy of the experiment of which this is stated to 

 be the result ; though t feel no hesitation in denying (equally 

 admitting the experiment) that muriatic acid is a com- 

 pound of oximuriatic acid and hidrogen. I perceive an es- ' 

 sential difference between these two propositions; the one 

 (supposing the experiment accurate) is a simple expression 

 of a fact ; it will for ever remain true, be the progress of the 

 science what it may, and no one who understands the terms 

 in which it is expressed will call it in question ; the other is 

 an inference from the fact, which may be questioned, and 

 may prove to be false. If Mr. Davy however can perceive 

 no difference between them, he is right in maintaining, that 

 his brother's opinion is a genuine theory. I trust I need not 

 add, to avoid misconception, that I have admitted, that, 

 were our iuduction to be restricted to this fact, the conclu- 

 sion drawn by Mr. Davy, as it is the most direct, would be 

 the most probable one; it is only when connected with the 

 other phenomena to which it is related, that it becomes 

 more doubtful ; it then comes in contact with a different 

 conclusion, which may be drawn, and which in relation to 

 some of these phenomena has in its turn the advantage of 

 being more directly inferred ; the two are to be compared 

 in their whole extent, and the one which in its application to 

 all the phenomena shall appear most probable is to be pre- 

 ferred. It is altogether a limited view, to look only to the 

 experiment of the production of muriatic acid gas from the 



Q 3 mutual 



