238 On the Effect of the Quantity of Matter in 
But Berthollet was not content with the establishment of this 
law. He drew the additional conclusion that exeept where 
the existence of definite proportions is determined by the 
forces of cohesion, elasticity, etc. chemical agents combine 
in all proportions indiscriminately. As this was altogether 
at Spee with the views which chemists were presently en- 
gaged (with a zeal hardly commensurate to its vast impor- 
tance) in establishing, respecting chemical _combination, 
their favorite ‘abides. “Pwo of his “axpergant were 
attacked by Sir Humphrey Davy, who in the Elements of 
Chemical Philosophy, supposed himself, and was supposed 
by others, to have “pointed out several sources of fallacy, 
which had escaped the observation Me Berthollet.”* The 
confidence of men of science in the accuracy of the French 
chemist, #9 thus shaken and his eee and opinions 
alike hele 
d yet Berthollet was by no means that inaccurate and 
short-sighted being he has sometimes ‘been represented to be 
—and | think it will appear on a careful examination of his 
SEpPmOR ice ies 3 ate fallacy was on the side of his critics 
acid: the same served for the following experiments. 
operation was performed in a retort, and consequently not 
im communication with the air; ren ~ was continued until 
the mixture was desiccated; the res ue was washed with al- 
cohol, soe: dissolved the potash, an after that with water, 
solution yielded crystals ae all the characters and 
yy of the Ls 
* Paris’s Med. Chemistry. 
