The noble gases (Helium, Neon, Argon etc ... Meyer was just four years older than Mendeleev, and produced several Periodic Tables between 1864-1870. His first table contained just 28 elements, ...
and all the elements in group 0 are unreactive non-metals. The zigzag, staircase, line in the diagram of the periodic table above separates the metals, on the left, from non-metals, on the right.