[Illustration: FORMS OF WATER CRYSTALLIZED.]
Do not be disturbed by these cabalistic symbols; they are simply the
chemist’s name for water; a most expressive name, too, as we shall
presently discover. Some names are misnomers. Abel Blackman may be both
weak and a white man. Our letters can not mislead. They abbreviate,
show the class of each substance, the elements that form it, and their
proportions. Berzelius devised this mode of naming. (Who was Berzelius?)
On the table stands a glass of water. How beautiful it is! Even diamonds,
costliest of gems, are valued in proportion as they possess its marvelous
clearness, those of the “first water” being most highly prized. We are
now to speak of some of the _chemical_ properties of water; hereafter we
shall consider the physical characteristics.