121 
Dalton^ throU » h a mos \ important crisis, out of which 
unimmirA 1 T y may b f t0 bave emer g e d> fundamentally 
unimpaired because it had a solid foundation. It was less a 
facts TZ ] T n i tH a n a theoretical representation of well-realize d 
iacts Dalton had ascertained that in the case in which two 
substances combine m several proportions, the quantity of one 
• 1 , em ren ?. ainet * con stant, whilst the quantity of the other 
vaned according to very simple relations. The discovery of 
this fact was the point of departure for the atomic theory. 
and ‘Tfh ° l f h S W1Se 7 ith the the ° ry ° f Berzelius > a gr^t chemist, 
and the father of our modern analytical processes” ;+ since 
thirT’n 11 ! ° ne /, eS f e , ct ’ s L educed b y a flattering appearance of 
ion wU JU 1 by 1 the eVenL . Thishasa special connec- 
. argument, because it is this exploded theory which 
serves to constitute the basis of Tyndall’s speculations. 
c " m P ared hls atoms to small loadstones. t He 
them n two P oles in which the electric fluids were 
P t ' U cd unequally, in such a manner that one of them was in 
excess at one of the poles. There exist, according to him, 
atoms with excess of positive fluid, and others with excess of 
S Ttl ld - • Pi 2 e ?“* • attraCtS . the second > and this attrae- 
in 1 | S ] e . soulcc °f chemical affinity, and maintains the atoms 
m all their combinations. At the moment when these are 
formed, motion is created ; but in the formed compound they are 
aS , Jt WGre ’ dlstnbuted into two camps, and kept in 
opposition by the two electric fluids of contrary name 
Tf r° for binai T combinations, Berzelius 
arranged bodies into electro-positive, as carbon and hydrogen, 
and electro-negative as oxygen. He thus attempted to apply to 
organic chemistry the views which he had derived from the study 
of inorganic chemistry. But it would not succeed. As Hr. Wurtz 
esen es it, these notions “ ont abonte a une impasse ." & 
In proportion as the riches of the science augmented, it was 
fnerh Sary r“!l 0rd f r t0 SUStam the s y stem > to heap up hypotheses 
(perhaps to divide atoms into three parts !) to construct more and 
* La Theorie das Atomes. Wurtz, p. 15. 
T ntroduction to Chemical Philosophy, p. 16 
+ Theone, &c., p. 67. 
has Ranged all that. The discovery of substitu- 
recall that f L „u! r ° W ^ the electro-chemical theory ; and chemists will 
i w w , Mch , D r proved that ^e, £ 
ment--that chlorLe could r f P f kCe hydro g en ’ aa electro-positive ele- 
niolecular addition This mt ° ° rgamc m °l ecu les otherwise than by 
Gerhardt coZenced t °{ th , e new chemist ^ 
cular addition everythin a conil;,uiatl o ils . donot take place by mole- 
«*«*** Chmim! 
