ABSTRACT
In the paper published in the Philosophical Transactions Wollaston, distinguishing between laws of nature and the models used to account for them, remarked that it would be possible to treat atomic weights as mere arithmetical ratios, thereby avoiding any commitment to a theory of matter. Instead of 'atomic weights', Wollaston spoke now of 'equivalents': 'When the people estimate the relative weights of equivalents, Mr Dalton conceives that they are estimating the aggregate weights of a given number of atoms'. Experiment revealed the proportions of elements in compounds, and the ratios in which elements combined. According to John Davy, Humphry's views were 'a modification of those of Mr Dalton-the same in regard to fact, stripped of all speculation'. It was very like what Newton's Cartesian critics had said; that the law of gravity was a perpetual miracle unless one supposed that there were great swirling whirlpools of aether to explain it.
