DALTOK 43 



it ' oxygen,' or the < acid-former.' A true creature of revolu- 

 tion, the Lavoisierian nomenclature was arrogant. It set out 

 on the basis that theories then adopted were true theories, 

 and for all time must be true. It so happens, for instance, 

 that many acids are devoid of oxygen, which therefore ought 

 not to have been endowed with the universal name of acid- 

 former. All true acids are now considered to have hydrogen 

 as a necessary constituent. But I promised not to entrap the 

 reader into the infliction of a chemical lecture. I wished to 

 give a biographical sketch of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier; 

 and it is done. 



DALTON. 



IT was a cold December morning, and the snow lay 

 deep, when a man, already somewhat advanced in years, 

 and carrying a lantern, might have been seen to emerge 

 from the house of the Rev. "W. Johns, in George-street, 

 Manchester, and proceed towards the Literary and Scientific 

 Institution of that city. He was rather above the middle 

 size, tall and bony. His features were hard, though not harsh; 

 his eyes deeply set and thoughtful. His body was slightly 

 bent not conveying an idea of infirmity, but rather that sort 

 of bending forward sometimes met with in pedestrians, and 

 which creates the notion of a desire to hurry along. He wore 

 the dress of a member of the Society of Friends, somewhat 

 the worse for wear, but still not shabby from age. The sun 

 had barely dawned ; but, guided by the beams of his lantern, 

 you might see, if observant, that his habiliments were spotted 

 and stained. A closer inspection would prove that not a few 

 stains had become holes ; as if burned by sparks of fire, or 

 some corrosive fluid. 



The active life of Manchester is not like ocean's flood, 



