1812. JEx. 34.] PROFESSOR DAVY. 37? 



and is therefore the same as charcoal, we have a very 

 strong presumptive reason to suppose that all matter 

 is alike in all substances. If substances so opposite 

 and so different as charcoal and diamond are in 

 reality the same kind of matter, then the difference in 

 other bodies is no proof that they also are not of the 

 same kind of matter ; and this would lead us to 

 suppose that there is but one matter in nature, and 

 that the difference in different bodies is owing to 

 variety in the distance of the particles, to shape, and to 

 size. . . . 



4 In conclusion several of these six simple com- 

 bustibles I suspect to be compounds, and perhaps their 

 nature may shortly be discovered. . . . 



4 What gives a strong colour to the idea of the 

 compound nature of nitrogen is the quantity of it 

 that can be obtained from animal bodies, whereas they 

 imbibe none, they combine with none. 



' Sulphur and phosphorus both appear to be com- 

 pound bodies when they are subjected to the power of 

 a voltaic battery. A great quantity of hydrogen gas 

 is evolved, so that it appears hydrogen is one of their 

 constituent parts. . . . 



' Whether these bodies are compound or not, they 

 are objects of new research ; they present new fields for 

 the great, the industrious, the scientific, and the 

 penetrating mind. .Our horizon extends the higher 

 we rise. The result of future inquiries will probably 

 lay a foundation on which future ages and future 

 generations may erect an edifice that will reach from 

 earth to heaven.' 



