EDITOR'S TABLE. 



497 



all significance, so long as tlie idea was 

 fruitful in the classification of known 

 facts, and prepared the way for new 

 generalizations." 



Chemistry had made rapid advances 

 under the phlogistic theory for a cen- 

 tury, but the idea was now to be 

 brought to the test of quantitative ex- 

 amination. The introduction of the 

 balance threw a new light upon the 

 subject, and, under its application, the 

 assumptions of the phlogistic system 

 of chemistry proved to be entirely er- 

 roneous. The efi'ect of careful weigh- 

 ing was to show that metals and other 

 combustible bodies, in burning, grew 

 heavier ; that there was no subtraction 

 or loss of any thing, but always an ad- 

 dition; and that the compounds pro- 

 duced were, in every case, equal in 

 weight to the combining elements. 



Dr. Priestley was a firm believer in 

 phlogiston, and named the new ele- 

 ment of the atmosphere which he had 

 discovered, dephlogisticated air. He 

 made but little use of weighing in his 

 researches, and was not qualified by 

 his training to go on and reap the full 

 scientific advantages to which his great 

 discovery opened the way. These were 

 secured by the French chemist Lavoi- 

 sier, who named the new element oxy- 

 gen, and, having by his experiments 

 overthrown the old view, he had the 

 largest share in establisliing the oxy- 

 gen theory of chemistry which took 

 its place. As Dr. Whewell observes ; 

 " Few revolutions in science have im- 

 mediately excited so much general no- 

 tice as the introduction of the theory 

 of oxygen. The simplicity and sym- 

 metry of the modes of combination 

 which it assumed, and, above all, the 

 construction and universal adoption of 

 a nomenclature which applied to all 

 substances, and which seemed to re- 

 veal their inmost constitution by their 

 name, naturally gave it an almost irre- 

 sistible sway over men's minds." 



But, while the theory of oxygen has 

 guided the development of chemistry 



YOL. y. — 32 



for the past hundred years, it is now 

 following the fate of its predecessor : 

 the facts have outgrown it, and a "New 

 Chemistry " has arisen in its place. Yet, 

 whatever may be the vicissitudes of 

 theory, oxygen is still in the field — 

 still the object of wonderful interest, 

 and no possible changes in the future 

 can ever dim the lustre of its discovery. 



CHABACTEB OF DR. PRIESTLEY. 



Several of the most distinguished 

 chemists of the country have united in 

 a call to all interested to convene at 

 Northumberland, Pa., on the 1st of 

 August, where Dr. Priestley lies en- 

 tombed, to celebrate the one hun- 

 dredth anniversary of his discovery of 

 oxygen gas. Such a tribute will be 

 most proper and befitting to his mem- 

 ory, and will suggest interesting phases 

 of thought that cannot fail to make the 

 occasion profitable to all who partici- 

 pate in it. In the circular of invita- 

 tion it is said: "The fact that this il- 

 lustrious man, spent the last years of 

 his fruitful life in this country, ren- 

 ders the recognition of his work by 

 American chemists peculiarly appro- 

 priate; " and it may be added that the 

 circumstances which brought him here, 

 and which pertain both to his own 

 character and the condition of his na- 

 tive country, are matters especially 

 suitable for consideration at such a 

 time. For Dr. Priestley was more than 

 an eminent scientific discoverer — he 

 was a sincere, courageous, high-minded 

 man, and stood forth as the unflinch- 

 ing champion of liberal opinion when 

 his country was given over to the nar- 

 row spirit of fanatical bigotry. Dr. 

 Priestley's career exhibits the sublime 

 moral spectacle of a man against a na- 

 tion, and that, too, on a vital question 

 of constitutional rights ; and such was 

 the conduct of the two parties, as, in 

 the language of Dr. Thomson, to "fix 

 an indelible disgrace upon the coun- 

 try," while Dr. Priestley's course will 



