32 Clarke, The Atomic Theory. 



individuals to handle, or a voluntary cooperation between 

 men who are unselfishly inclined to attempt the work ? 

 This question I cannot answer ; doubtless it will solve 

 itself in time ; but I am sure that a method of collective 

 investigation will be found sooner or later, and that then 

 the advance of exact knowledge will be more rapid than 

 ever before. When the atomic weights are all accurately 

 known, the problem of the nature of the elements will be 

 near its solution. Some of the wealth which chemistry 

 has created might well be expended for this purpose. 

 Who will establish a Dalton laboratory for research, and 

 so give the work which he started a permanent home? 



