— or 
AND ON SOME SUBJECTS OF CHEMICAL THEORY. 321 
proportion of oxygen and hydrogen, than nitric acid. And 
some of the acids lately described, of which phosphorus is 
the base, may arise from variations of proportions of this_ 
kind. 
The view which I have now illustrated, I must add, is not to 
be regarded as mere speculation. The evidence in support of 
it, is just as conclusive as that from which the opposite opinion 
is inferred. The obtaining water from a compound is no ne- 
cessary proof that water pre-existed in it; and conversely, the 
causing water to enter into combination in a compound, is no 
necessary proof that it remains in the state of water in the 
product. In many cases we draw the reverse conclusions, con- 
sidering water as being formed where it is obtained, and as de- 
composed where it is communicated. And in the case of its re- 
lation to acids, it will be found that there is no strict evidence 
of its existing as water in combination with what is considered 
as the real acid; and of course the conclusion is equally open 
to be drawn, that it exists in these combinations in the state 
of its elements, and that when obtained, it is a product of a 
change of composition. 
It is even more probable, a priori, that the ultimate elements 
should act on each other where energetic affinities are evident- 
ly exerted, than the immediate principles, and the relations of 
these elements will determine the combinations, and the pro- 
portions. And by admitting this view, we avoid the anomaly 
which is presented in ascribing to the agency of water effects 
so different from those to which it usually gives rise. In ge- 
neral, water operates on bodies simply as a solvent, overcoming 
cohesion in solids, diluting liquids, or absorbing gases, without 
otherwise modifying their properties, or communicating to 
them any important chemical powers. But in the particular 
cases now referred to, it is supposed to produce the effects of 
Vou. VILL P. II. Ss. the 
