Excerpt from Elements of Modern Chemistry This book is translated from the fourth French edition by my pupil and friend, M. Greene, whose perfect familiarity with the French language and thorough competence, at the same time, in chemistry I have had occasion to appreciate. The translation is, then, a faithful, or even improved, representation of the original work, in which he will certainly have detected and corrected some faults. The French editions succeed each other rapidly, showing that this little book responds to an educational need. It has been the endeavor to keep it up with the current of the latest discoveries, and in it to condense a considerable number of exact and well-selected facts, without banishing the theory which binds them together. Thus, the origin and foundation of the atomic theory have been given, as far as possible, in historical order. The notions concerning atomicity, so important for the appreciation of the structure of combinations and for the interpretation of chemical reactions, are presented in an elementary form. The reader will remark that the history of the metalloids is relatively more developed than the remainder of the book. Indeed, this is the fundamental part of chemistry, and a familiar knowledge of it is indispensable to the fruitful study of the metals and of organic chemistry. It is also the most attractive portion for beginners, for it is the most easily understood. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.