Biography of Berze lius . 219 



weight, and not by the volume. This was not always observed 

 afterwards, on which account the analysis of organic bodies 

 did not yield accurate results until a few years since, when 

 Liebig introduced the extremely advantageous potash appa- 

 ratus, which rendered it possible to weigh the carbonic acid 

 with accuracy. Moreover, Berzelius estimated the hydrogen, 

 not in the indirect way, like Gay-Lussac and Thenard, but 

 he weighed it directly after it had been converted into water, 

 which gave the results of his investigations a far greater 

 accuracy in respect to this element. >oqaroo odi 



The number of organic substances investigated by Berze- 

 lius was not very great, because the construction of appara- 

 tus, and the novelty of the subject, presented many diffi- 

 culties. But although afterwards the methods of analysis 

 were greatly simplified and improved, still the analytical re- 

 sults obtained by him in his investigation of organic sub- 

 stances have proved to be remarkably accurate, tj t or>muJ. 



He shewed that, not only the organic acid, but also the 

 indifferent substances, combined with inorganic oxides in de- 

 finite proportions, forming compounds resembling salts, by 

 means of which their atomic weights could be determined, as 

 in the case of inorganic bodies. This observation led to the 

 view which regards organic bodies as oxides, whose radicals, 

 however, are compound, while in the inorganic bodies they 

 are simple. This view at first attracted little notice among 

 chemists, and was not till long afterwards recognised as cor- 

 rect by many, after the number of fantastic ideas of the 

 composition of organic bodies had created an earnest desire 

 for a rational and consistent theory. , /a [ 



It cannot but be a subject of regret, that it was not grant- 

 ed to Berzelius to live to see several of the radicals hypothe- 

 tically assumed by him, actually obtained, and indeed but a 

 very short time after his death. j in fI ^ w 



Soon after the establishment of the electro-chemical sys- 

 tem, Berzelius applied the theory of chemical proportions 

 to minerals, and put forward a mineral system, based upon 

 chemical principles. If the minerals occurring in nature are 

 regarded as having compositions similar to the substances 

 artificially prepared in the laboratory, such a mineral system 



