Sir Benjamin Brodie's c< Ideal Chemistnj." 51 



From the paper in the Philosophical Transactions just referred 

 to, and from this discourse to the Fellows of the Chemical So- 

 ciety, we derive the following view of the chemical world : — 



Atoms, molecules, and the like Sir B. Brodie proposes to ignore 

 — neither affirming nor denying the existence of atoms, but simply 

 ignoring the question. The chemical purposes which, according 

 to him, are served by the conception of atoms are much more 

 efficiently served by the following conception : — Chemical sub- 

 stances are to be referred to a standard volume — the litre, If 

 this litre be empty, it is the unit of space. The unit of space is 

 conceived as operated on by symbols of operation, and thereby 

 converted into the standard volume or unit of different elements 

 or compounds. Thus according to this conception the chemical 

 unit of a substance, whether simple or compound, is generated 

 by operating on the litre of space by an appropriate symbol or 

 symbols of operation. In accordance with this notion a. is the 

 symbol of that operation by which the litre of space becomes the 

 litre of hydrogen. By operating upon the litre of space by a 

 single symbol of operation (it maybe once or it may be twice, or 

 even oftener), a litre of an element in the gaseous state is obtained. 

 By operating on the litre of space with different symbols of ope- 

 ration, a litre of a compound results. We notice that a certain 

 confusion is introduced by making (for brevity, as the author 

 says) the same symbol stand for the operation and the litre already 

 operated upon, — a. being at once the symbol of the operation by 

 which the empty litre becomes a litre of hydrogen and the sym- 

 bol of a litre of hydrogen. 



Here we make the remark that modern chemists will see in 

 the standard litre a counterpart to the standard two volumes 

 which a molecule occupies , and will recognize in the symbol of 

 operation a kind of counterpart to the atom of an element. We 

 confess we cannot see the advantage to be expected from eject- 

 ing the ordinary atomic hypothesis in favour of an hypothesis 

 which is certainly false ; for certainly reactions take place be- 

 tween, for instance, cubic millimetres of matter; certainly the 

 litre of matter is not the unit which takes part in a chemical 

 action ; and really the vital and essential thing in the ordinary 

 chemical system is the ratios. 



Long sections are devoted to the development of a very bizarre 

 algebra designed for the solving of a very simple arithmetical 

 problem ; e. g., 



E2 



