Sulfur, When Burning, Absorbs Oxygen Gas; The

We May Lay It Down As An Incontestible Axiom, That, In All The Operations Of Art And Nature, Nothing Is Created; An Equal Quantity Of Matter Exists Both Before And After The Experiment; The Quality And Quantity Of The Elements Remain Precisely The Same; And Nothing Takes Place Beyond Changes And Modifications In The Combination Of These Elements. Upon This Principle The Whole Art Of Performing Chemical Experiments Depends: We Must Always Suppose An Exact Equality Between The Elements Of The Body Examined And Those Of The Products Of Its Analysis.

If Everything In Chemistry Is Explained In A Satisfactory Manner Without The Help Of Phlogiston, It Is By That Reason Alone Infinitely Probable That The Principle Does Not Exist; That It Is A Hypothetical Body, A Gratuitous Supposition; Indeed, It Is In The Principles Of Good Logic, Not To Multiply Bodies Without Necessity.

Nothing Is Born, Nothing Dies.

We Think Only Through The Medium Of Words. Languages Are True Analytical Methods. Algebra, Which Is Adapted To Its Purpose In Every Species Of Expression, In The Most Simple, Most Exact, And Best Manner Possible, Is At The Same Time A Language And An Analytical Method. The Art Of Reasoning Is Nothing More Than A Language Well Arranged.

In Every Combustion There Is Disengagement Of The Matter Of Fire Or Of Light. A Body Can Burn Only In Pure Air [oxygen]. There Is No Destruction Or Decomposition Of Pure Air And The Increase In Weight Of The Body Burnt Is Exactly Equal To The Weight Of Air Destroyed Or Decomposed. The Body Burnt Changes Into An Acid By Addition Of The Substance That Increases Its Weight. Pure Air Is A Compound Of The Matter Of Fire Or Of Light With A Base. In Combustion The Burning Body Removes The Base, Which It Attracts More Strongly Than Does The Matter Of Heat, Which Appears As Flame, Heat And Light.