It's really (really) quick but the first line of the second para is: > In view, however, of the great interest which attaches to the determination of molecular

It's really (really) quick but the first line of the second para is: > In view, however, of the great interest which attaches to the determination of molecular magnitudes, the matter seemed well worthy of investigation... So it seems like his main goal was to understand the size of molecules via his film-thickness measurements