. Annals of Philosophy. 376 On Dalton's Theory of Chemical Composition. [Nov. arrangement of 26 atoms of carbon combined with 35 cf oxygen, we find it very confused : and hence we may reasonably doubt whether nature ever forms such combinations. Upon Mr. Dalton's supposition, however, the reason for the agreements, which he has pointed out, is obvious. It should be observed, that the agreement in the first stated combination of three elements, in three different compounds, is quite of a different kind from that of the combina- tion of multiples of the same elements. If no two combinations of t
. Annals of Philosophy. 376 On Dalton's Theory of Chemical Composition. [Nov. arrangement of 26 atoms of carbon combined with 35 cf oxygen, we find it very confused : and hence we may reasonably doubt whether nature ever forms such combinations. Upon Mr. Dalton's supposition, however, the reason for the agreements, which he has pointed out, is obvious. It should be observed, that the agreement in the first stated combination of three elements, in three different compounds, is quite of a different kind from that of the combina- tion of multiples of the same elements. If no two combinations of the same elements had ever been found, the combination of three elements, as observed in the first three compounds, might still have existed ; and Mr. Dalton's explanation appears to be the only one to which such phenomena can be referred. Respecting the fourth and fifth compounds, it may be questioned whether the relative weight of an atom of carbon may not be 2*S instead of 5 6, and one atom of carbon be united to one of hydrogen in the composition of car- bureted hydrogen, and one atom of carbon to one of oxygen in car- bonic acid. Upon this supposition, then, we must have two atoms of carbon united to one of hydrogen in olefiant gas, and two atoms of carbon to one of oxygen in carbonic oxide. To this arrangement Mr. Dalton offers the following objections : 1. It is almost universally observed in chemical compounds, that the most simple are the most difficult to be decomposed ; and car- bonic oxide being much more difficult to be decomposed than car- bonic acid, we cannot consistently suppose the latter to be the most simple in its composition. If we attend to the probable mechanical actions of the elementary atoms on each other, we may receive additional confirmation of this principle of composition. In the compression of elastic fluids, it is found that their expansive force is nearly in proportion to their density; and Sir Isaac Newton has demonstrated (Principia, lib. 2,
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