78 MEMOIR OF DR. DALTON, AND 



more agitated, and it has many other alterations, caused both 

 by its qualities and its substance ; and the soul of all living 

 things is air," &c. The air penetrates everywhere, it must be 

 endued with intelligence, as all things are disposed with con- 

 summate wisdom. The differences in the sensible qualities of 

 things are referred to condensation and expansion. 



To prove that all things are one. " It appears that all 

 that exists is merely the change of one and the same thing ; 

 and this is evident, that if all that is in the world, the earth 

 and water, and other things, were different, and made essen- 

 tial changes, there could be no transformations among 

 things."* This is correct reasoning, if we were convinced 

 of transformations, and we must remember that without 

 analysis, we must believe in such changes, as the plant seems 

 to be transformed from water or earth. This reasoning 

 marked a necessary step in the progress of chemistry. 



We see here that properties have to be given to air in order 

 to account for its diversities. These properties, among the 

 most important, heat, are not clearly defined. The earth is 

 precipitated from the air by condensation, but there is no 

 explanation of condensation, so that after reasoning on these 

 few principles, the simple atmospheric air which formed the 

 commencement becomes something else, and a mystic air, 

 a kind of substratum of air, is in reality what seems to be 

 signified, as no common air could contain all the properties 

 required. The same is wanted with water, which, after a 

 while, has too much given it to do, to be only common water, 

 and we find the very same thing occur with the rest of the 

 four elements, as well as with the three alchemistic elements. 



The soul of all things producing such admirable order, as 

 Diogenes perceived, " it is astonishing that this doctrine did 

 not conduct to the distinction of mind and matter, and that 

 he conceived the principle of all things, even intellectual 



* Page 188. 



