The Principles of Chemistry, Volume I

by Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev

This work was written during the years 1868–1870, its object being to acquaint the student not only with the methods of observation, the experimental facts, and the laws of chemistry, but also with the insight given by this science into the unchangeable substratum underlying the varying forms of matter.

If statements of fact themselves depend upon the person who observes them, how much more distinct is the reflection of the personality of him who gives an account of methods and of philosophical speculations which form the essence of science! For this reason there will inevitably be much that is subjective in every objective exposition of science. And as an individual production is only significant in virtue of that which has preceded and that which is contemporary with it, it resembles a mirror which in reflecting exaggerates the size and clearness of neighbouring objects, and causes a person near it to see reflected most plainly those objects which are on the side to which it is directed. Although I have endeavoured to make my book a true mirror directed towards the whole domain of chemical changes, yet involuntarily those influences near to me have been the most clearly reflected, the most brightly illuminated, and have tinted the entire work with their colouring. In this way the chief peculiarity of the book has been determined. Experimental and practical data occupy their place, but the philosophical principles of our science form the chief theme of the work. In former times sciences, like bridges, could only be built up by supporting them on a few broad buttresses and long girders. In addition to the exposition of the principles of chemistry, it has been my desire to show how science has now been built up like a suspension bridge, supported by the united strength of a number of slender, but firmly-fixed, chains, which individually are of little strength, and has thus been carried over difficulties which before appeared insuperable. In comparing the science of the past, the present, and the future, in placing the particulars of its restricted experiments side by side with its aspirations after unbounded and infinite truth, and in restraining myself from yielding to a bias towards the most attractive path, I have endeavoured to incite in the reader a spirit of inquiry, which, dissatisfied with speculative reasonings alone, should subject every idea to experiment, encourage the habit of stubborn work, and excite a search for fresh chains of evidence to complete the bridge over the bottomless unknown. History proves that it is possible by this means to avoid two equally pernicious extremes, the Utopian—a visionary contemplation which proceeds from a current of thought only—and the stagnant realism which is content with bare facts. Sciences like chemistry, which deal with ideas as well as with material substances, and create a possibility of immediately verifying that which has been or may be discovered or assumed, demonstrate at every step that the work of the past has availed much, and that without it it would be impossible to advance into the ocean of the unknown. They also show the possibility of becoming acquainted with fresh portions of this unknown, and compel us, while duly respecting the teachings of history, to cast aside classical illusions, and to engage in a work which not only gives mental satisfaction but is also practically useful to all our fellow-creatures.[1]

Thus the desire to direct those thirsting for truth to the pure source of the science of the forces acting throughout nature forms the first and most important aim of this book. The time has arrived when a knowledge of physics and chemistry forms as important a part of education as that of the classics did two centuries ago. In those days the nations which excelled in classical learning stood foremost, just as now the most advanced are those which are superior in the knowledge of the natural sciences, for they form the strength and characteristic of our times. In following the above and chief aim, I set myself a second object: to furnish a text-book for an elementary knowledge of chemistry and so satisfy a want which undoubtedly exists among students and those who have recourse to chemistry either as a source of truth or welfare.[2] Hence, although the fundamental object of this work was to express and embrace the general chemical teaching of the present day from a personal point of view, I have nevertheless striven throughout to maintain such a level as would render the ‘Principles of Chemistry’ accessible to the beginner. Many aspects of this work are determined by this combination of requirements which frequently differ widely. An issue was only possible under one condition, i.e. not to be carried away by what appears to be a plausible theory in explaining individual facts and to always endeavour to transmit the simple truth of a given fact, extracting it from the vast store of the literature of the subject and from tried personal experience. In publishing a new edition of this work I have striven to add any facts of importance recently discovered[3] and to revise the former edition in the above spirit. With this object I have entirely gone over this edition, and a comparison of it with the former one will show that the additions and alterations have cost as much labour as many chapters of the work. I also wished to show in an elementary treatise on chemistry the striking advantages gained by the application of the periodic law, which I first saw in its entirety in the year 1869 when I was engaged in writing the first edition of this book, in which, indeed, the law was first enunciated. At that time, however, this law was not established so firmly as now, when so many of its consequences have been verified by the researches of numerous chemists, and especially by Roscoe, Lecoq de Boisbaudran, Nilson, Brauner, Thorpe, Carnelley, Laurie, Winkler, and others. The, to me, unexpectedly rapid success with which the teaching of the periodicity of the elements has spread in our science, and perhaps also, the perseverance with which I collected in this work, and upon a new plan, the most important data respecting the elements and their mutual relations, explained sufficiently the fact that the former (5th, 1889) edition of my work has been translated into English[4] and German[5] and is being translated into French.[6] Deeply touched by the favourable opinions expressed by English men of science upon my book, I ascribe them chiefly to the periodic law placed at the basis of my treatise and especially of the second part of the book, which contains a large amount of data having a special and sometimes quite unexpected, bearing from the point of view of this law. As the entire scheme of this work is subordinated to the law of periodicity, which may be illustrated in a tabular form by placing the elements in series, groups, and periods, two such tables are given at the end of this preface.

In this the sixth edition I have not altered any essential feature of the original work, and have retained those alterations which were introduced into the fifth edition.[7] I have, however, added many newly discovered facts, and in this respect it is necessary to say a few words. Although all aspects of the simplest chemical relations are as far as possible equally developed in this book, yet on looking back I see that I have, nevertheless, given most attention to the so-called indefinite compounds examples of which may be seen in solutions. I recur repeatedly to them, and to all the latest data respecting them, for in them I see a starting point for the future progress of our science and to them I affiliate numerous instances of definite compounds, beginning with alloys and silicates and ending with complex acids. There are two reasons for this. In the first place, this subject has deeply interested me from my youth; I have devoted a portion of my own researches to it, and therefore it occupied an important position even in the first edition of my book; besides which all that has been subsequently accomplished in our science, especially during the last five or six years, shows that at the present day an interest in these questions plays an important part in the minds of a large circle of contemporary workers in chemistry. This personal attachment, if I may so call it, to the question of solutions and such indefinite compounds, must involuntarily have impressed itself upon my work, and in the later editions I have even had to strive not to give this subject a greater development than previously, so great was the material accumulated, which however does not yet give us the right to consider even the most elementary questions respecting solutions as solved. Thus, we cannot yet say what a solution really is. My own view is that a solution is a homogeneous liquid system of unstable dissociating compounds of the solvent with the substance dissolved. But although such a theory explains much to me, I cannot consider my opinion as proved, and therefore give it with some reserve as one of several hypotheses.[8] As a subject yet far from solved, I might naturally have ignored it, or only mentioned it cursorily, but such a treatment of solutions, although usual in elementary treatises on chemistry, would not have answered my views upon the subject of our science, and I wished that the reader might find in my book beyond everything an expression of all that a study of the subject built up for me. If in solutions I see and can frequently prove distinct evidences of the existence of those definite compounds which form the more generalised province of chemical data, I could not refrain from going into certain details respecting solutions; otherwise, there would have remained no trace of that general idea, that in them we have only a certain instance of ordinary definite or atomic compounds, subject to Dalton's laws. Having long had this idea, I wished to impress it upon the reader of my book, and it is this desire which forms the second of those chief reasons why I recur so frequently to solutions in this work. At present, my ideas respecting solutions are shared by few, but I trust that by degrees the instances I give will pave the way for their general recognition, and it is my hope that they may find adherents among those of my readers who are in a position to work out by experiment this difficult but highly interesting problem.

In conclusion, I desire to record my thanks to V. D. Sapogenikoff, who has corrected the proofs of the whole of this edition and compiled the indexes which greatly facilitate the search for those details which are scattered throughout the work.

D. MENDELÉEFF.

Footnotes:

[1] Chemistry, like every other science, is at once a means and an end. It is a means of attaining certain practical results. Thus, by its assistance, the obtaining of matter in its various forms is facilitated; it shows new possibilities of availing ourselves of the forces of nature, indicates the methods of preparing many substances, points out their properties, &c. In this sense chemistry is closely connected with the work of the manufacturer and the artisan, its sphere is active, and is a means of promoting general welfare. Besides this honourable vocation, chemistry has another. With it, as with every other elaborated science, there are many lofty aspirations, the contemplation of which serves to inspire its workers and adherents. This contemplation comprises not only the principal data of the science, but also the generally-accepted deductions, and also hypotheses which refer to phenomena as yet but imperfectly known. In this latter sense scientific contemplation varies much with times and persons, it bears the stamp of creative power, and embraces the highest forms of scientific progress. In that pure enjoyment experienced on approaching to the ideal, in that eagerness to draw aside the veil from the hidden truth, and even in that discord which exists between the various workers, we ought to see the surest pledges of further scientific progress. Science thus advances, discovering new truths, and at the same time obtaining practical results. The edifice of science not only requires material, but also a plan, and necessitates the work of preparing the materials, putting them together, working out the plans and the symmetrical proportions of the various parts. To conceive, understand, and grasp the whole symmetry of the scientific edifice, including its unfinished portions, is equivalent to tasting that enjoyment only conveyed by the highest forms of beauty and truth. Without the material, the plan alone is but a castle in the air—a mere possibility; whilst the material without a plan is but useless matter. All depends on the concordance of the materials with the plan and execution, and the general harmony thereby attained. In the work of science, the artisan, architect, and creator are very often one and the same individual; but sometimes, as in other walks of life, there is a difference between them; sometimes the plan is preconceived, sometimes it follows the preparation and accumulation of the raw material. Free access to the edifice of science is not only allowed to those who devised the plan, worked out the detailed drawings, prepared the materials, or piled up the brickwork, but also to all those who are desirous of making a close acquaintance with the plan, and wish to avoid dwelling in the vaults or in the garrets where the useless lumber is stored.

Knowing how contented, free, and joyful is life in the realm of science, one fervently wishes that many would enter its portals. On this account many pages of this treatise are unwittingly stamped with the earnest desire that the habits of chemical contemplation which I have endeavoured to instil into the minds of my readers will incite them to the further study of science. Science will then flourish in them and by them, on a fuller acquaintance not only with that little which is enclosed within the narrow limits of my work, but with the further learning which they must imbibe in order to make themselves masters of our science and partakers in its further advancement.