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MEMOIR OF DR. DALTON, AND 



which bodies separated each other from a given body as con- 

 stant. Thus metals are separated from acids by the absorbent 

 earths; the absorbent earths are separated from acids by 

 volatile alkalies, while volatile alkalies are separated by the 

 fixed alkalies. He drew up, in consequence, the following 

 tables, exhibiting the order in which bodies separate each 

 other from a given substance. At the head of each column is 

 written the name of the substance with which the bodies, 

 enumerated in the column, combine. Below it are arranged 

 all the bodies capable of uniting with it. That which separates 

 all others is placed uppermost, and that which is separated by 

 all the others is placed undermost, and the others in the order 

 of their separations. Thus, in the first column, the fixed 

 alkalies separate all the bodies below them from the acids. 

 The volatile acids separate all except the fixed alkalies. The 

 absorbent earths separate the metals, and the metals are 

 separated by all the other bodies in the column." 



* Geoffrey's expression isprincipe huileux. Kopp's Geschichte der Chemie. 



