Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-02-18
PANTOGEN, OR THE El.E.
NEWT OF ELEMENTS.


VI ENT OF ELEM II A.
Lecture by Pro Gessor Hlnrichs.
On Saturday evening the Davenport
Academy Of Natural Sciences received .
formal Introduction 70 the public at the
German Thsatre. 10 The SHAPE Of scientific
lecture on "Psntcssn; or the Elsmsst Of
Elsmssts," BY Prof Gsstavus ninriehr, Of
the Iowa State University.
Notwithstanding the limited notice. the
muddy and unlightsd streets, and the nu-
m.rous meetings, minstrel exhibitions, &c..
. highly respectable audience greeted the
Professor, who. surrounded BY bis charts
and chemical apparatus, WAS introduced By
Prof Sheldon, and. in that genial happy
.tvl. peculiar 10 himself, prefaced his great
and absorbing theory - Pantogsn. The
Professor called the attention Of the audi
snes 10 the difference between historical
parallels and scientific demonstrations,
claiming for his hypothesis Of Pautogen or
Atomschaniss the same consideration 40
,ha. awarded to the theories Of grsvitation
and lioht and hsat, which we're no lsss hy
pothes than his own. and though the
theory might not, At present. be received,
/, would fad its historic parallels in the
opposition to the hypothesis. Of Newton and
the theory oflight and heat, and to the sp-
plication Of steam power ~ proposed BY
Fulton; and if true would just - surely
triumph eur opposition and meet with gen
eral recognition and acceptance - did the
truth Of those grand and once doubted the
| cries.
The Professor then proceeded 10 the tssss
and comprehensive style Of . classic lee
turer to demonstrate his theory Of Psnte-
gen by experiments and charts. In fallsess
and perfection of orasory the Professor dess
not compare. favorably with many Of our
platform speakers. His style ia character
istic Of his subject, and 10 none the less
captivating. His witty attack upon ssien-
tifc error and ludisrous representa-
tion Of elective affinity were pseu-
liarly happy. As . scholar and an original
thinker the Professor 10 better kneWn in
the Universities Of the old world, than in
our own State. The partial development
Of his favorits theory is considered with
much interest BY the scientific men Of 8u-
rope, and the reviews Of England during
the past few months have given him much
of the credit and encouragement which are
Justly due 10 his ability and laborious re-
search. The Mining Journal, one Of the
best English authorities, has the following
in regard to Prof. Hinrichs and bic theory,
which cannot fail to be Of deep interest
| to all scientific scholars.
"rhc importance Of . scientific discovery
can never be Judged Of by the manner Of its
reception by the learned, for il not un re-
qusntly happens that those which dew op
| the greatest truths are precisely those
which haye the hardest struggle to obtain
| recognition they usually necessitate tho
use Of terms which are not familiar 10 Us,
and often require US to unlearn much that
we have learned. and to cause our thouehts
to flow in an entirely new channel. A.
. comparatively recent date Geology, now
recognized - science Of paramount i'm
postance 10 connection with almost every
branch Of our national industry, was looked
upon with suspicion, and geologists were
generally considered to 10 either dsluded
enthusiasts or impostsrs; whilst at the
present time the science Of Atomechanics,
or Chemistry considered as the Mechanics
Of the Panstoms, occupies q position NOT
very dissimilar to that Of Geology a. the
period referred to. The discovery Of the
existence Of panteosn, which may bs regard
cd % the primary chemical principle, Just %
sravitation is the primary mechanical prin-
ciple, is due to Gustav Hinrichs, and dates
from Tho commencement Of the year 1856
when he Was . student in the Poly technic
School at Copenhagen, founded by Oersted,
and at that time under the snperinte nee
of that distinguished chemist, the late
Prof. Forchhammer. In 1856 and 1857
| Hinrchs communicated q memoir upon
| Atomechanics to various sdrdnts and acade-
mics IN Europe. and in his several papers,
published between 1860 and 1866, refer
ence to the subject has frequently been
made; but it was not until the present year
that complete outline Of the new science
VAS printed in the form of large ouarto
Autographed memoir, Transferred from the
authors own handwriting, and slaborately
illustrated with the Necessary diagrams.
| Atomschanics, a. it 10 at present befcre
us, 40 the author remarks, is fer from perfect.
for he has only taken the frss step into
boundless realm but he has alreadv done
enough to prove that the study of the
science will not b devoid of interest. He
reminds us that the phlegistsn theory was
altogether sxsinguishsd BY the discoveries
OF Lsvoisier, and that il was only after the
establishment Of the beautiful lava Of Du-
long and Petit, Gay Lussac, and Milscher.
Itch, that chemistry could be reduced by
the labors Of Gsrhardt to IN exact scienee.
whilst il remained for the great discoveries
In organic chemistry from Leibig to Berthe
lot, and the spectral analysis Of Bunssu
and KirchoG to make the domsin of chemis.
try IS universal - that of astronomy
the history Of astronomy since 1919.
when Helpers third Law was din.
covered. may teach rs what chan.
ges await modern chemistry. W.
may conclude, he observes, from thu anal.
ogy between the history Of astronomy And
that Of chemistry, that there exists som,
general principle which will traosform mod
srn chemistry into mechanies Of the a.
ous. for about SO years after Kspler estro.
uo.ny had become . mechanics Of the
heavenly bodies. Az the basis Of this eli
ss,ial mechanics is bot . hypotbssis, 50 !
similar hypothesis nay bs prcnouuesd vist
regard to the chemical atoms. Let ~ eun
psse that the atoms Of The chemical eie
msnts only differ in regard to ouautitv. M
10 in regard to the number and relative oee
ition Of the atoms Of come primarv mater
just as the planets only differ according |,
the number Of pounds Of pondsrable mai
ter they contain and its distribu,io,
around their axes. Since everything voult
thus b composed ofthis one primary mai
ter, Prof. Hinrichs calls il pantoeen. and II
atoms panatoms. But this is . hy pothesls
No doubt Even universal ersvitatien i
nothing moro than hypothssis !: and. \
this hypethssis is the Fundamental pr;nci
p le Of theoretical astronomy, 90 the hvpe
thesis csipsntogen explains the numerics
relation Of the satomic weights, and eives
simple, comprehensive, because mimi
classification Of the elements. that ~
chemical, physical, and morpholoeic.l =