PART IIL 

 CHEMICAL PARADOXES. 



As providing subjects for popular paradox, 

 chemistry suffers to some extent under the same 

 disability as electricity and magnetism. It is 

 almost too strictly scientific. 



It has its puzzles of surprising interest, 

 such as the true nature of chemical affinity 

 and the arrangement of atoms within a mole- 

 cule. It has also its paradoxes, such as the 

 tantalisingly close approximation to exact cor- 

 respondence in the proportions of the combining 

 weights of the elements. 



But those who can appreciate the interest, 

 the importance, or the surprising character of 

 most of the puzzles and paradoxes of chemistry 

 are necessarily those who have some working 

 experience, as students of chemistry, of the 

 principles involved. 



Impressions, prejudices, and preconceptions 

 on chemical points do not come by nature, as 

 they do in principles of mechanics, physics, 

 and physiology, with the facts of which we 

 must all necessarily deal every day of our lives. 

 We live in a world of chemical products, it is 

 true, but so few of us have a share in making 

 them, or possess the knowledge necessary for 



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