﻿94 M. Dumas' s Remarks on Affinity. 



philosopher, whatever idea be entertained on the subject of their 

 import and of their future, have had at any rate this result, 

 that they have led chemists to take into account certain laws of 

 symmetry in arranging the formulae of compound bodies. The 

 corrections based on them, proposed by M. Gaudin forty years 

 ago, have been confirmed by experiment ; they have paved the 

 way for the rearrangement of the formula? of all compounds of 

 carbon or of silicon — that is to say, of all compounds of organic 

 origin, and of almost all those the investigation of which consti- 

 tutes mineralogy properly so called. 



The absolute defence of dualism retained no partisans after 

 the last struggles which Berzelius maintained with singular bril- 

 liancy towards the end of his life in the interest of this doctrine. 



It is to be observed that the electrochemical theory, regarding 

 the elements of bodies as obeying the two electrical forces, and 

 the materials of every compound as uniting in twos to form by 

 successive agglomerations, and always two by two, gradually 

 more complicated combinations, proceeded in harmony with 

 the French nomenclature. It is not, therefore, surprising that 

 the use of the molecular system proposed by Ampere, modified 

 by M. Gaudin, and generally adopted with divers variations by 

 the chemists who, being occupied with organic chemistry, are 

 obliged to take account of the phenomena of substitution, has 

 both rendered less ardent the pursuit of a precise electroche- 

 mical theory, and less confident the too absolute interpretation 

 of the French nomenclature. 



We are thus led to conclude that, on the one hand, the search 

 for an electrical theory of affinity now occupies but few — although 

 beautiful and useful applications of electro-chemistry have been 

 accomplished of late years, and are pursued with great success; 

 on the other hand, that it is no longer possible to represent by 

 means of the dualistic nomenclature the multitudinous che- 

 mical compounds which the molecular system registers daily. 



We are thus more and more led towards the experimental in- 

 vestigation of chemical types as a basis of the classification of 

 compounds, apart from any hypothesis on the internal arrange- 

 ment of their elements, — which constitutes the true foundation of 

 the French nomenclature properly understood. 



At the same time we are led towards the idea which attri- 

 butes to the molecules of compound bodies a more complex con- 

 stitution than would be derived from the binary nomenclature, 

 and which makes of them planetary or crystallographical systems 

 presenting several centres of force — mobile in the first case, fixed 

 in the second. 



We finally revert to the thought which would directly connect 

 affinity with universal attraction. 



