g6 CheJiiical Philosophy, [Chap. IL 



so ingeniously devised, and so extremely plausible 

 were his experiments on this subject, that he was 

 considered as having satisfactorily established, both 

 in the analytic and synthetic methods, the principle 

 for which he contended. Objections, it is true, 

 were made to this theory, for it was soon found 

 that sulphur would not burn, if air were completely 

 excluded, and that the sulphuric acid was heavier 

 than the supposed compound from which it was 

 produced. But still the phlogistic doctrine prevail- 

 ed. The simple, luminous, and satisfactory man- 

 ner in which it appeared to account for various 

 phenomena, and the numerous facts which seemed 

 to give it support, aided by the ingenious refme- 

 ments of its partisans, for a considerable time bore 

 down all opposition. 



The theory of Stahl maintained its ground for 

 more than half a century. It commanded the 

 general assent of chemical philosophers, and was 

 especially adopted and defended by some of the 

 most eminent men which the age produced. And 

 although it is now rejected by a great majority of 

 those who cultivate the science of chemistry, yet 

 neither the ingenuity of the system, nor the talents 

 of its author, can for a moment be questioned. 

 Indeed, the doctrine of this great man, though at 

 present generally considered as erroneous, was by 

 no means a useless effort. Before the publica- 

 tion of his theory, the different branches of this 

 science had been studied in a manner too de- 

 tached and unsystematic; experiments had been 

 made with too little accuracy ; and scarcely any 

 luminous and generalising views had yet been given 

 of the subject. In the fair and ingenious fabric of 



