Influence of Size 185 



Unexpected Influence of Size. 



Suppose now a substance contains a great 

 number of carbon molecules and a great 

 number of water molecules, each of which 

 has this residual affinity or power of cling- 

 ing together well developed, what may be 

 expected to be the result ? Surely, the 

 formation of a molecule consisting of 

 thousands or hundreds of thousands of 

 atoms, constituting substances more com- 

 plex even than those already known to or 

 analysable by organic chemistry ; and if 

 these complex molecules likewise possess the 

 adhesive faculty, a grouping of millions or 

 even billions of atoms may ultimately be 

 formed. (A billion, that is a million 

 millions, of atoms is truly an immense 

 number, but the resulting aggregate is still 

 excessively minute. A portion of substance 

 consisting of a billion atoms is only barely 

 visible with the highest power of a micro- 

 scope ; and a speck or granule, in order to 

 be visible to the naked eye, like a grain of 



