Abstract
THE atomic composition of ponderable matter is a fundamental aostulate in the theory of chemical equivalency. By the application of the principles of experimental research, and by methods essentially modern, resulting in the discovery of many elementary bodies and their modes of combination, a conception of very great antiquity has been rendered more distinct and worthy of credence. When this conception took definite form is not known. Indeed, it is one of the many speculations naturally elicited in discussing those subtle questions pertaining to the existence of matter and its relations to mind or spirit, the solution of which has always baffled, and will continue to baffle, the most profound thinkers. In attempting to unfold the mysteries of nature by the deductive process, the ancient teachers of Cosmogony were brought into direct conflict of opinion regarding the ultimate condition of matter. That it is composed of indestructible atoms which admit of no division, seems to have been the notion of some Oriental sages. Under the genius of the Greek philosophy this notion assumed the form and consistency of a theory.
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TILLMAN, S. Atoms and Molecules* . Nature 6, 171–173 (1872). https://doi.org/10.1038/006171a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/006171a0