336 



Sulphur heated 

 n hidrogen. 



Oxigen in sul- 

 phur 



accounts for its 

 intense ignition 

 with potassium. 



Farther con- 

 firmed. 



ANALYTICAL EXPERIMENTS ON SULPHUR. 



hidrogen, at least equal to that of the hidrogen, which at* 

 equal weight of un combined potassium would have pro- 

 duced by its operation upon water. 



Sulphuretted hidrogen, as has been long known to che- 

 mists, may be formed by heating sulphur strongly in hidro- 

 gen gas. I heated four grains of sulphur in a glass retort, 

 containing about twenty cubical iuches of hidrogen, by 

 means of a spirit lamp, and pushed the heat nearly to red- 

 ness. There was no perceptible change of volume in the 

 gas after the process ; the sulphur that had sublimed was 

 unaltered in its properties, and about three cubical inches 

 of an elastic fluid absorbable by water were formed : the 

 solution reddened litmus, and had all the properties of a 

 solution of pure sulphuretted hidrogen. Now if we sup- 

 pose sulphuretted hidrogen to be constituted by sulphur 

 dissolved in its unaltered state in hidrogen, and allow the 

 existence of oxigen in this gas ; its existence must likewise 

 be allowed in sulphur, for we have no right to assume, 

 that sulphur in sulphuretted hidrogen is combined with more 

 oxigen than in its common form : it is well known, that, 

 when electrical sparks are passed through sulphuretted 

 hidrogen, a considerable portion of sulphur is separated, 

 without any alteration in the volume of the gas. This ex- 

 periment I have made more than once, and I found that the 

 sulphur obtained, in fusibility, combustibility, and other 

 sensible properties, did not perceptibly differ from common 

 sublimed sulphur. 



According to these ideas, the intense ignition produced 

 by the action of sulphur, on potassium and sodium, must 

 not be ascribed merely to the affinity of the metal of the 

 alkalis for its basis, but may be attributed likewise to the 

 agency of the oxigen that it contains. 



The minute examination of the circumstancei of the 

 action of potassium and sulphur likewise confirms these 

 opinions. 



When two grains of potassium and one of sulphur were 

 heated gently in a green glass tube filled with hidrogen, 

 and connected with a pneumatic apparatus, there was a 

 most intense ignition produced by the action of the two 

 bodies, and one eiglith of a cubical inch of gas was dis- 

 engaged 



