The Afitertvo)) G eol < xj i xt . 
Jiiiui.iry, 189:t 
-•To cMcli iiu'l.-illic or iiict:il!()iis ('(inix nlciil corifsiioiid peculiar 
jiroiiciiics MS \vt' sliiill sec I'lirtlici- on. It is :is if iiydrooc.u wciv 
i'('|>l;icc(l ill these two kinds of coiiiliinnt ions liy the smiiic metal 
(liU'iTently condensed. " 
Furtiiei- on lie stntes the hiw of condeusMtion in the fonn of 
J|- = V in wiiicli j) — ntoniic \vei«j,"lit : d = specilic ur;i\ity. and v 
= the idonue \ohinie. Precisely the snnie einuition is ust'd liy l)r. 
limit in his essMV on • -The eor'llicient of mineral condensation in 
("heniistry. ■■ c^-c.. where [) represents ;in nliiiiiut imrl of tlieehemi- 
i-al s|)eeies. d = the specilic m'a\ ity. and v = the reeii)rf>cal of 
the coi'llicient (d" condensation. It will lie noticed in Dr. Hunt's 
Avoi'ks that he axoids wlu're [jossiltle the eiiij)loyinent of the word 
atom, and uses instead ■ -('(inivaleiit weight.' He did not lielicve 
that the existence id' atoms hail lieen deiuonstrateil. nor did ho 
accei)t the docti'ine of interatomic s[)ace. He l)elie\ed matter 
to lie continuous niid without interstices. Thus, in the address at 
Xcu'thnmlierland. hestiys; ■•l)alton. as you ai'e aware, linked his 
discoveries with the old hypotlu'sis of the atomic constitution of 
matt<'r which is howe\er liy no means iiecessarilv connected with 
the <ireat laws of comliination liy weiiiht and liy nunilier. " And 
auain. in his peroration, he says: •■The i)heiiomena of (diemistry 
lie on a plane alio\i' those of physics mid to mv a|tpreliension the 
processes with which the latter science makes us ac(|uaiided can 
afford at best oidy imperfect analogies when applied to tlii' ex- 
})lanation of (du-nncal pheiiomemi to the elucidation of which they 
are wholly inademiate. In chemical chanu'e tlii' unitinii' liodies 
(■<iiiii l<i iK-i-iij,!! ill, s.iiiii .■i/,iiii ,it till siiiiii I'liiii . ;ind the impene- 
trability of matter is seen to be no longer a fact, the volume of the 
combining masses is confounded, and all the physical and pliysi- 
ological characters which are our guides in the region of physics 
fail us. gravity aloiU' excepte<l; the diamond i/issn/ r,s in oxygen 
gas and the i<lentity of chlorine and of sndimii are lost in that of 
sea salt. 
'•To say that chemical union is in its essence i<lenlilication. as 
Hegel has deliiied it, seems to me thesim|)lest stali'iuent coiv- 
ceivable. " 
■•The type of the chemical pi'ocess is found in solution, from 
which it is possible, under changed physical conditions to re- 
generate the oriiiinal species. Can oiir science tillirm more than 
this, and are \\h' not uoinu' lieyond the limits of a s(.>und philosophy 
