ELISHA MITCHEr.!. SCIE^NTIFIC SOCII^TY. 38 



altogether obstinate and ref riictory. In the minds of some 

 the whole system seems overthrown. Let us have patience 

 a little while until the lig-ht is clearer and both systems 

 and these elements are better known and understood. 

 As Winkler recently said before the German Chemical 

 Society (Ber. d. Deutsch Chem. Ges. 30. 19) "Eserscheint 

 nicht aus«-eschlossen, dass die Entdeckung- der beiden 

 neuen Elemente iVrg-on und Helium Anlass zum weiteren 

 Ausbau, wenn nicht zur Umg-estaltung-, des period- 

 ischen Systems g-eben wird, wobei vielleicht auch g-ewisse, 

 jetzt noch vorhandene Unsicherheiten und Widerspriiche 

 ihre Losungf tinden werden." 



It must not be forg'otten that these tabulations began 

 their existence with a serious blot upon them, an unsolved 

 puzzle. From the very beginning- no log-ically satisfac- 

 tory position could be nor has yet been assig-ned to hydro- 

 g-en. There have been sundry attempts at doing this, it is 

 true, but they are not satisfactory and su the standard ele- 

 ment, in some respects the most remarkable and important 

 of them all, is without an abiding place in the home of 

 its brethren. It would seem to be the play of Hamlet 

 with Hamlet left out. 



That these tabulations of MendeleeflF and Meyer are 

 regarded as imperfect and unsatisfactory is shown by the 

 large number of tables suggested within the last decade. 

 Reynolds, Reed, Flavitzky, Livermore, Tchitcherine, 

 Wendt, Wilde, Preyer, Deeley, Traube, Thomsen, de 

 Boisbaudran are some of the names connected with these 

 tables. They serve to show that many minds are attack-, 

 ing the problem and give much hope for the future. If 

 the clear, pellucid truth can be filtered away from the 

 wild and fanciful and false the progress will be more 

 rapid. 



Our little systeais have their day, 

 They have their clay, and cease to be. 



So far, no really good method of graphically^ illustra- 

 ting the Periodic Law has been suggested. The spiral 



