Simples of thc inctd, with nu cuionymoue dcscriyt,ion, which hc 11nd esposed for snlc in Gcrriird Stmct,, Solio, in 1803, wcrc purclinscd by Richard Chencvis, vrho clcclarcd that. thcy w r c coniposed of nn alloy of platinum iiiid mercury. Tlic veil of iiuonyuiity wns not, however, lifted for two ycnrs whcn, ns a result doubtless not intended by Wollnston, Chcncvis's loss of c1icmic:il rcput:itioii cniiscrl him to abnndon tlic science.
Jlost cliaracteristic of Wo!liiston's :iniioiiiiccniciits coxicerniiig lus tliscovcrics wcrc his iiioclcration niid his cniitiou--" the plain r~nd distinct line wliicli sepnrnted \ V l i i i t Iic kne\v froiii what IIC did not know " . . . '' his prcdoiiiiiiant principle wns to avoid error." So much was tliis 1niitlril)lc twit in cvidencc tliiit wc iirc not tciiiptcrl to siipposc that tlic rigid scclusioii iiiid secrecy in whicli lie worker1 wcrc I J U S C ~ cnt,ircly on commcrcinl co~~sidcrutio~is. Somewlint naturiilly, it gave liiiii :in air of infal1ibilit.y ; soincw1i:it irrcvcrciitly, it earxictl for liiiii tlic sobriquet of ' I tlic l'opc." And, saps Locklrnrt., lie iiiiglit have pnsscd for it sporting urclibisliop." 13~1th the Royal Socicty niicl the C:colo$ciil Society Iinve rciisoii to npprccititc his gcncrosity. The Wollastoii iuednl, tlic liigliest lionour bestowed by the lattcr society, \'its ;it OIIC tinic, most npproprintcly, rllllrlc of pall n d' ium.