HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC THEORY. 227 



mean it to indicate the order of combination, he had in fact 

 made no theory, at least found no law on the subject, although 

 he clearly saw that it must be owing to some law of nature. 

 He fought for constant proportions in combinations, and 

 fought well, but he had no idea of a constant quantity of 

 oxygen found uniting with a constant quantity of every metal, 

 and making higher oxides by steps always of an equal alti- 

 tude, although he proved that the rise was not that of an 

 inclined plane, but by " fixed terms," And yet it follows as 

 a consequence, so closely in fact does it follow, that we must 

 put ourselves in the position of the early chemists of the 

 century well to understand the difference. When we have 

 taken that position, we then see how thin was the veil, 

 although utterly impenetrable, that divided his opinion from 

 the present, and prevented the acute, active, and logical mind 

 of Proust from attaining to the great discovery. His deter- 

 minate proportions are given as remarkable facts, in connec- 

 tion with which he confessed to perceive no law. 



Had such men studied Higgins, we should probably never 

 have heard of this controversy, but he was not studied. We 

 may therefore learn not so readily to blame a man for want 

 of honesty, when he publishes for a discovery what has been 

 known before. The most indefatigable workers of the period 

 had neither read Higgins nor Richter. Besides, scientific 

 men like other men are led by fashion, the follies of some 

 men become great discoveries for a while, and the wisdom of 

 men comparatively obscure, such as the two mentioned, is 

 neglected or sneered at. Yet the whole body endeavours to 

 acknowledge facts only. 



As a specimen of the chemical books of the time, let us take 

 one published in the same year as Dalton*s work on the atomic 

 theory, although after Dr. Thomson had made it public, " A 

 Course of Theoretical Chemistry, by Friedrich Stromeyer."* 



• Grundriiit Theoretischer Cbemie zum bchuf Seiner Vorlesungen entworfen 

 von D. Friedrich Stromeyer. Gottingen, 1808. 



