Clausius, to such an extent as to put its general accuracy beyond a doubt; but it received enormous developments from Maxwell, who in this field appeared as an experimenter (on the laws of gaseous friction) as well as a mathematician.
Henry Cavendish, from which it appeared that Cavendish, already famous by many other researches (such as the mean density of the earth, the composition of water, &c.), must be looked on as, in his day, a man of Maxwell's own stamp as a theorist and an experimenter of the very first rank.
He was, however, an able and conscientious experimenter, and was very fertile and ingenious in devising physical apparatus.
A new and energetic spirit was introduced by Scheele; among other discoveries this gifted experimenter isolated and characterized many organic acids, and proved the general occurrence of glycerin (Olsiiss) in all oils and fats.
We see now that the practice of the experimental method endows with a new vision both the experimenter himself and, through his influence, those who are associated with him in medical science, even if these be not themselves actually engaged in experiment; a new discipline is imposed upon old faculties, as is seen as well in other sciences as in those on which medicine more directly depends.
