On the connexion of chemical forces with the polarization of light / Nevil Story Maskelyne.

  • Nevil Story Maskelyne
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the connexion of chemical forces with the polarization of light / Nevil Story Maskelyne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    2/8
    [for the use of members.] JEo^al 3|n0tttutton of dBtteat 'Britain. 1851. WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, Friday, March 28. William Pole, Esq. M.A. F.R.S. Treasurer, in the Chair. Nevil Story Maskelyne, Esq., M.A. On the Connexion of Chemical Forces with the Polarization of Light. Any facts which can throw light upon the ultimate molecular structure and condition of chemical compounds, cannot fail of pos- sessing interest of a high character, as well for those whose thoughts only casually dwell upon questions of physical science, as for the mathematician and the chemist. To the mathematician, indeed, they would, if completely unfolded, supply the data for him to undertake the resolution of the questions of chemical combination and chemical change, by treating them as problems involving the action of mechanical laws; to the chemist, the acquisition of such knowledge would he the removal of some of the profoundest diffi- culties of his philosophy : but such knowledge is only to be sought in the most difficult paths of the whole range of science. The question of the connexion of chemical type with crystalline form, the fruitful cause of so much contention among mineralogists as to the questions of mineral species, is one on which we have no com- plete and sure knowledge ; for the facts of dimorphism show, that I implicated with this question are the actions of other forces, such as electric condition, and above all the mysterious molecular alterations i induced by heat. Another direction in which such inquiries have been pursued, has been in tracing the phenomena resulting from the property possessed by many bodies, of modifying a plane-polarized ray of light, by what is termed circular-polarization. This property, from its being proved to be, in a large number of cases, an expression of the molecular structure of the substance, and as such inseparable in many cases from its chemical existence, may be taken, whenever this can be shown to be the case, as an evidence of its individuality, and may be used to determine the question of the permanency or I transitory character of the molecular type of the substance. The information thus gained may be but vaguely defined, and the truth but darkly seen, yet does it nevertheless afford a valuable and I interesting point of view for studying the molecular nature of bodies. I No. 4. E