Abstract
NOTWITHSTANDING the large amount of evidence now placed on record that substances commonly supposed to be capable of directly interacting do so only in the presence of at least one other substance, chemists do not appear to have arrived at any clear and consistent understanding of the conditions determinative of chemical change: as each fresh case is recorded, we continue to express surprise, overlooking the fact that Faraday, in his early “Experimental Researches in Electricity,” clearly foresaw what the conditions were, and that but a slight extension of his generalisations is needed to frame a comprehensive theory. The subject is of such importance that it appears to me desirable to discuss the bearing of recent observations, especially as they to some extent necessitate the modification of views that I have expressed elsewhere, and in order to attract the attention of physicists, to whom we must now look for guidance in these matters.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
ARMSTRONG, H. The Conditions Determinative of Chemical Change1. Nature 48, 237–238 (1893). https://doi.org/10.1038/048237a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/048237a0