182 Prof. J. Le Conte on the Influence of 



heretical notions, or, to speak more correctly, in my orthodox 

 views ; for it was Davy who acted the part of a heretic in over- 

 throwing the old, venerable, true creed. Indeed the longer I 

 compare the new and old doctrine on the nature of chlorine, &c. 

 with the whole material of chemical facts bearing upon them, 

 the less I am able to conceive how Davy could so lightly and 

 slightly handle the heavy weight of analogies which, in my 

 opinion, speak so very strongly and decisively in favour of Ber- 

 thollet's views. There is no doubt Sir Humphry was a man of 

 great genius, and consequently very imaginative j but I am 

 almost inclined to believe that, by a certain wantonness, or by 

 dint of that transcendent faculty of his mind, he was seduced to 

 conjure up a theory intended to be as much out of the way and 

 " invraisemblable" as possible, and serve nevertheless certain 

 theoretical purposes ; and certainly, if he entertained the inten- 

 tion of solving such a problem, he has wonderfully succeeded. 

 But what I still more wonder at is both the sudden and general 

 success which that far-fetched and strained hypothesis met with, 

 and the tenacity with which the whole chemical world has been 

 sticking to it ever since its imaginative author pleased to divulge 

 it : and all this could happen in spite of the fact that the new 

 doctrine, in removing from the field of chemistry a couple of 

 hypothetical bodies, was, for analogy^s sake, forced to introduce 

 fictitious compounds, not by dozens only, but by hundreds, — the 

 oxy-sulphion, oxy-nitrion, and the rest of those " nonentia." 

 But enough of this subject, upon which I am apt to grow warm 

 and even angry. Although the results I have obtained from 

 my recent investigations cannot but induce me to begin another, 

 and, I am afraid, endless series of researches, I shall for the pre- 

 sent cut short the matter and indulge for some time in absolute 

 idleness. 



I am, my dear Faraday, 



Yours most truly, 

 Biisle, June 25, 1858. C. F. Schonbein. 



XX. Preliminary Researches on the alleged Influence of Solar 

 Light on the Process of Combustion. By John Le Conte, 

 M.D., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the South Carolina 

 College*. 



A POPULAR opinion has long prevailed in England, and 

 perhaps in other countries, that the admission of the light 

 of the sun to an ordinary fire tends to retard the process of com- 

 bustion. In some instances, the practice of placing screens 



* From Silliraan's American Journal, November 1857, p- ^17- 



