' In this discourse he not only attempts the
overthrow of Dalton's Theory of Atoms, but also the subversion of
all ordinary scientific ideas regarding the nature and relations of
Matter and Force. He objected to the use of the term atom:--'I have
not yet found a mind,' he says, 'that did habitually separate it
from its accompanying temptations; and there can be no doubt that
the words definite proportions, equivalent, primes, &c., which did
and do fully express all the facts of what is usually called the
atomic theory in chemistry, were dismissed because they were not
expressive enough, and did not say all that was in the mind of him
who used the word atom in their stead.'
A moment will be granted me to indicate my own view of Faraday's
position here. The word 'atom' was not used in the stead of
definite proportions, equivalents, or primes. These terms
represented facts that followed from, but were not equivalent to,
the atomic theory. Facts cannot satisfy the mind: and the law of
definite combining proportions being once established, the question
'why should combination take place according to that law?' is
inevitable. Dalton answered this question by the enunciation of the
Atomic Theory, the fundamental idea of which is, in my opinion,
perfectly secure. The objection of Faraday to Dalton might be urged
with the same substantial force against Newton: it might be stated
with regard to the planetary motions that the laws of Kepler
revealed the facts; that the introduction of the principle of
gravitation was an addition to the facts.
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