4 BIOGRAPHIES OF SCIENTIFIC MEN 



enunciate one of the most profound truths in science 

 the non-indestructibility of matter "rien ne se cre*e, 

 rien ne se perde de la nature" matter is everlasting. 

 In every chemical reaction there is no loss of matter, only 

 new forms are produced. This is the basis of every chemi- 

 cal equation known at the present day ; and, consequently, 

 it is impossible to overestimate the importance of the 

 conservation of mass, which Lavoisier established by means 

 of the new instrument of precision the balance ; although 

 it had been a philosophic theory of early Greek and Latin 

 writers. The idea of the mass of matter was first shaped 

 into an exact form by Galileo, and more especially by 

 Newton, in the glorious age of the development of the 

 principles of inductive reasoning enunciated by Bacon 

 and Descartes in their philosophical treatises. 



In 1772 Lavoisier published the results of his experi- 

 ments on the calcination of metals, the burning of phos- 

 phorus and sulphur, and the increased weight in each case 

 was due to absorption of air, and that when the calces 

 of metals were heated with charcoal they were reduced 

 to the metallic state. Twenty years before these experi- 

 ments, and twenty-two years before the discovery of 

 oxygen by Priestley, Voltaire came to the conclusion that 



to be scientific alchemy the transmutation of the elements. Is it 

 transmutation, or is it dissociation? Are all the elements but one 

 form of matter, plus or minus electrons? It is equally wonderful 

 and profound either way ; and one wonders what Lavoisier would have 

 thought of these recent developments of his science. 



