GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 475 



Upon the whole, though the subsalts and ses- 

 quisalts have not been sufficiently investigated 

 to enable us to decide upon the point with 

 perfect certainty ; yet from what we do know, 

 there appears sufficient evidence that Berzelius' 

 rule cannot be considered as a general chemical 

 law ; and that we run the risk of falling into 

 most egregious mistakes, if we make use of such 

 a law in calculating the atomic weight and che- 

 mical constitution of the acids or bases. I 

 pointed out some remarkable examples of this 

 error when treating of uranium, to which it is 

 merely necessary to refer the reader. 



