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Evidently, then, one atom is not always equivalent to another atom of a different kind in combining powers. The words monovalent, divalent, trivalent, tretrava-lent, etc., were coined to express this most important fact, and the various elements came to be known as monads, diads, triads, etc.
But if a divalent atom is in question the charge carried is double, and, similarly, a trivalent atom carries a triple charge. As there are no intermediate charges it is obvious that here a very close relation is suggested between electrical units and the atomic units of matter. This, however, is only a beginning.
His general endeavor seemed to be to convince his auditors that in most basic salts oxygen is divalent, being in direct combination with the acidifying constituent of the molecule, but that when oxygen is not so directly related to this constituent in basic salts it is tetravalent. In the geological section, Dr.
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