THE GREAT LONDON CHEMISTS 27 



in his time, he says : ' I demand also, from which of the 

 chymical principles motion flows, which yet is an affection 

 of matter much more general than can be deduced from 

 any of the three chymical principles.' In an essay entitled 

 ' The history of Fluidity and Firmness,' he endeavours with 

 some success to show that all bodies, even those which 

 appear most rigid, are in motion. For example, he points 

 out that the diamond when rubbed shines in the dark, 

 and in conformity with our present views, attributes that 

 to molecular motion. He also notices that all bodies ex- 

 pand by heat, and is inclined to ascribe the magnetisation 

 of steel to the motion of its minute particles. He attri- 

 butes the varying properties of matter to motion and 

 rest. In yet another passage, he supposes the action of 

 acids on metals to be due to the pointed shape of their 

 atoms, which, by inserting themselves between the more 

 rounded particles of the metal, wedge them asunder, and 

 themselves become blunt during the process. 



It is difficult to overestimate the value of Boyle's 

 labours in the field of chemistry. Although he was the 

 first to proclaim that chemistry is independent of any art, 

 and must be regarded as part of the great field of nature, 

 yet the practical benefit which has accrued to mankind 

 through Boyle's theoretical as well as his practical work 

 is incalculable. It was not until after his time that it 

 was possible to construct a theory explaining the rule-of- 

 thumb methods of manufacture which were formerly 

 employed, and to render improvement and discovery no 

 longer a matter of chance, but of reasoning. The whole 

 progress of modern manufacture due to the elaboration 

 of scientific discoveries, themselves the result, not of hap- 

 hazard trial, but of careful and systematic investigation, 

 sufficiently attests the benefit conferred by him in the 

 practical application of scientific principles. 



Time would fail to tell of Boyle's well-known memoir 



