OUR METH017 OF DETERMINATION. 67 



The general mathematical principles upon which all this 

 depends may be found in my " Method of Quantitative 

 Induction,'* Davenport, 1872, and much of the detail of 

 calculations involved in the various branches of this work 

 can be found in my " School Laboratory of Physical Science, 

 vol. I, pp. 88-93; and pp. 93-99; 1871." 



It was that very work, elementary but on a very large 

 scale, carried on by hundreds of students under my care, 

 that made me understand the fallacies of probable error, 

 means, etc., which fallacies constitute the dark cloud that 

 has been resting over this part of chemistry since Stas began 

 his work, and infected modern chemists with the horrible 

 Morbus Stasii. 



Baculus vs. Bacillus. 



In my "True Atomic Weights " I tried to show how these 

 victims of Morbus Stasii might have contracted this horrible 

 disease by mistaking the Bacillus thereof for some benefi- 

 cent agent on their f< Means " and thus encouraging them to 

 commit heinous u Probable Errors " far beyond their 

 "Limits," thereby getting away from the path of truth on 

 some jag-like u trajectory " of errors and deviations. 



As this my kindness of heart has been either mistaken or 

 wilfully misconstrued by the victims corrupted in their 

 scientific vitals by Morbus Stasii, I have become convinced 

 of the duty to use a plain, strong Baculus energetically, so as 

 to drive out and kill the Bacilli from the old victims, and 

 thus to prevent the young chemists of the world from infec- 

 tion bv the horrible Bacilli of Morbus Stasii. 



THE WEIGHT OF A HALF EAGLE. 



Before actually beginning our work of absolute atomic 

 weight determinations, it may be advisable to supplement 

 our experimental determination of the weight of a silver 

 dollar by a corresponding experimental determination of 

 some Umted States Gold Coin. 



