The original periodic table was useful because it could be used to predict properties of elements that had not yet been discovered.

Yes. But that was until a guy named Dmitri Mendeleev corrected the known atomic masses of some elements and used the patterns in his table to predict the properties of the elements he thought must have exist.

No

Explanation: Becasue Perry's small squadron itself was not enough to force the massive changes that then took place in Japan, but the Japanese knew that his ships were just the beginning of Western interest in their islands.