He would later promote J. H. van't Hoff's theory of the tetrahedral carbon atom, believing that it, together with the supposition that there are "specially directed forces, the affinity-energies",  which determine the relative position of atoms in the molecule, afforded a method by which the spatial arrangement of atoms in particular cases may be ascertained by experiment.
He later advocated for J. H. van't Hoff's theory of the tetrahedral carbon atom, believing that it, along with the notion that there are "specially directed forces, the affinity-energies", which dictate the positioning of atoms within a molecule, could be used to experimentally determine the spatial arrangement of atoms in specific cases.