Biography of Berzelius. 13 
mutually decomposing each other, while basing his calculations 
upon the data of incorrect analysis, was often nearly abandoning 
the perplexing subject, but was induced by a paper of my father, 
upon the relation of the constituents of neutral muriates (pub- 
lished by him in 1806, a year before his death, in the 6th volume 
of “ Gehlen’s neues Allg. Journal,” p. 22), to persevere. My 
father had, in the first place, by at least one example, practi- 
cally demonstrated, that by the decomposition of two neutral 
salts, muriate of baryta and sulphate of soda, according to his 
own analysis of them, and of the two salts proceeding from the 
decomposition, and by calculation, results were obtained, which 
proved that the neutrality could not be disturbed. 
Berzelius now considered it necessary, in order to attain to cer- 
tain results, to investigate anew the composition of the most im- 
portant compounds with extreme care, repeating the analyses 
several times before venturing to employ their results in the ex- 
tension of his views. e remarked very justly, that, on account 
of the unchangeable neutrality of two salts decomposing each 
other, it was only necessary to analyze, with suflicient accuracy, 
all salts formed for example by sulphuric acid, and all those whose 
ase is baryta, in order to be able, by a simple rule of three, to 
calculate the composition ofsall other salts, because these two 
Series contain the three numbers which are necessary in order to 
find the fourth. 
rzelius now ventured upon an herculean task, which he 
prosecuted for many years with the most indefatigable industry, 
and for a long time without any help. e re-examined every 
important chemical compound with the most admirable care and 
exactness. In this work, especially, he displayed rare talent, se- 
lecting, with the most extraordinary acuteness, those bodies 
Which were the best adapted for investigation. He published an 
account of his labors, or rather the commencement of them in 
the third part of the “ Afhandlingar i F'ysik, Kemi och Miner- 
alogi” for 1810. ‘They first appeared in German in 1811, in 
Gilbert's Annalen. 
In these investigations, theory was constantly the touch-stone 
employed to test the accuracy of the results, to attain which he 
was frequently obliged to vary his experiments almost endlessly. 
€ was, in the first instance, compelled to improve the analytical 
methods, and to abandon many of those in use at that time, and 
by this means he was gradually led to those views which are now 
received by all chemists. 
he most distinguishing characteristic of Berzelius’s mode of 
Working was, that with the most insignificant means at his com- 
mand, he still succeeded in obtaining the most brilliant results. 
‘hen he entered upon his great investigation, he was 1n posses- 
Sion of very small pecuniary means, he was in a condition almost 
