88 Mr. Paikes' additional Observations 



that it was the hope of giving a different impression to the pub- 

 lic mind, which induced these Associates to print their Remarks 

 in a cheap form, suitable for circulation among the community 

 si. large, rather than to address the Chemical Public, as I had 

 done in a respectable scientific Journal. Their attempt, how- 

 ever, will prove abortive, and ere long the whole of the theory 

 which their book was designed to support, will pass away, and 

 be lost in forgetfulness : 



" Tenues fugit ceu fuiuus iu auras." Virgil. 



But to proceed — at page 4, it is remarked, " When Mr. 

 Parkes' object is to disprove Wilkinson's evidence, by a com- 

 parison with Mr. Faraday's, he suppresses the important fact, 

 that the oil used by Mr. Faraday was new, and Mr. Parkes is 

 perfectly aware, that to this difference in the state of the oil, the 

 witnesses for the defendants ascribe much importance." Again, 

 in observing upon what I say at page 342, of the Journal, they 

 remark, " this is the second occasion on which Mr. Parkes con- 

 founds the properties of recent oil, and that which has under- 

 gone change by long exposure to heat; thus attempting to dis- 

 credit the results detailed, by suppressing the very material 

 circumstance, that the oil was not fresh, as that was with which 

 he compares it." 



To this I reply, that I deny the charge of having intentionally 

 " suppressed an important fact ;" and I am sure that those who 

 witnessed the evidence on both sides of the question will see 

 that I had no reason to wish to suppress a single argument, or 

 a single experiment, that had been adduced in vindication of 

 the theory of those who had been labouring to induce the In- 

 surance Offices not to satisfy the legal claims of Messrs. Severn, 

 King, and Co. Aware of the anomalous and unsightly appear- 

 ance of the edifice they were attempting to erect, and knowing 

 the unsoundness of its foundation, I could not possibly have 

 any desire of concealing from the public the nature of the 

 materials which they were employing in its fabrication. I shall 

 reserve, however, some other observations on this charge of 

 " suppression" to be offered hereafter ; and I am in no appre- 



