In the absence of such appliances, and of a delicate balance, together with the skill requisite for their use, the reader must for the time be contented to take our word for what would be the result. In every experiment the magnesia would be found heavier than the metal burned in the proportion of 5 to 3; in other words, magnesia always contains (so the phrase runs) 3 parts of magnesium combined with 2 of oxygen: never more nor less. A definite proportion between the weights of the constituent substances characterizes every chemical combination, and when this is once determined in a single sample of the compound, it is determined for every portion of the same, wherever found or however produced. But each compound has its own particular proportion, that is, the quantitative relations are different for each. For example, the two constituents of water, hydrogen and oxygen, are combined in the ratio of 1 to 8, etc.; and oxygen combines with metals in a ratio different in each case. Then occasionally the same ratio of constituents occurs in compounds of different composition. The elementary student is apt to suppose that this is _because_ of the _law_ which he finds stated, probably in almost the first page of his text-book: “Every compound contains its elements in definite and invariable proportions”; and even well-educated people entertain the idea of the fact being “governed by” or “obeying” the law just quoted,—a misconception arising from the other use of the word “law,” as signifying an enactment. The real case however is the converse; namely, that a multitude of facts like that above stated have governed the law, and caused it to be what it is—the general statement of many observed facts.