ACIION QF PLATINA- ANI> WE^CURY. 163 



to the public as a new fimple metal. The experiments wbtoli I . 

 had made for this piirpofc led me to conclude that palladium 

 was not what it had been ftated to be, but that i|, was a com- 

 pound of platina and mercury. ,) y <; 



it was natural to fuppore that a fiibje6t foi JikeJy to (pread Attempts tb 

 Us influence throughout the whole domain- of chemiftry, and p'/r'^^^jj;' ^ave 

 which tended even to the fubverfipn of fome of its elements, been unfuccefs- 

 would awaken the attention of philofophers. We find accord- ^"^« 

 ingly, that it has become a fubjedl of enquiry in England, 

 France, and Germany; but the. experiments which I had re- 

 commended as the lead likely to fail, have been found infuf- 

 ficient to infure the principal refult; and I have had tha 

 mortification to learn that they have been generally unfuc- 

 cefsful. L have even reafon to believe that the nature of 

 palladium is ftill confidered by chemifts, at leafl: with a very 

 few exceptions, as unafcertained; and that the .fixation of 

 mercury by platina is by many regarded as vifionary. 



The firfi doubts were manifefi,ed in England; and Dr. Dr. WoUafton 

 Wollafton very early denied the accuracy of my inquiries, ^^"'^^/'?"'^J'^" 

 Put as he has not publiflied his experiments, I have had no not yet publilhed 

 opportunity of difcufiing them. His opinion, however, mud ^^^ ''^^"* 

 have fuch weight in the learned world, that I fliould have 

 negle6led a material fa£t in the hifiory of palladium, if I had 

 not mentioned it in this place. 



In France the compound nature of palladium has been more Cuyton, In 

 generally credited. When the National laftitute was informed ^"e"" UhThc 

 of my experiments, a report was ordered to be made upon author. 

 them, and M. Guy ton was the perfon appointed , for the 

 purpofe. He repeated fome of the experiments, and produced 

 fome of his refults. His general conclufion was the fame as 

 mine. 



Meffrs. Vauquelin and Fourcroy then undertook the fub- Vauqndln ani 

 je6l, and they were led by it to the confirmation of the recent '^^''^^^^^'» 

 difcovery of Monf. Defcotils. The exiftence of a new metal> 

 >vhich that chemifl had found in crude platina, received great 

 fandion from their experiments; and thus the difcuffion upon 

 palladium has eftabliftied a fa6l which will be confidered as 

 interefting, but which would be much more fo, were we not 

 already overburthened with fubfiances which our prefent igno- 

 rance obliges us to acknowlege as fimpJe. 



M2 No . 



