THE HYDRATE THEORY OF SOLUTIONS 147 



of hydrates of exceptional stability, and must appear at con- 

 centrations identical with those of the solid hydrates. Pickering, 

 on the other hand, looked for minute alterations in the laws 

 which govern the relationship between curvature and concen- 

 tration, and by applying methods of exceptional refinement 

 was enabled to detect discontinuities of an entirely different 

 order. These might be produced by a great variety of causes 

 and need not occur at exact molecular compositions. But 

 such was the dominating influence which had been acquired 

 by Mendeleefs conception that, even up to the present time, 

 no alternative explanation appears to have been forthcoming, 

 except the hackneyed criticism that the breaks were due to 

 imagination. 



