ANALYTICAL EXPERIMENTS ON SULPHUR. 325 



The diminution of the volume of the elastic matter, in leading hidro- 

 this operation, did not equal more than two cubical inches gtn sas> 

 and a half, A very small quantity of the residual gas 

 only was absorbable by water. The nonabsorbable gas 

 was hidrogen, holding a minute quantity of sulphur in so- 

 lution. 



A yellow sublimate lined the upper part of the retort, and sulphur 



which proved to be sulnlrtir. The solid matter formed was e U vJ med ~ 



1 ' Solid matter. 



red at the surface like sulphuret of potash, but in the in- 

 terior it was dark gray, like sulphuret of potassium. The 

 piece of the retort containing it was introduced into a jar 

 inverted over mercury, and acted upon by a small quantity 

 of dense muriatic acid, diluted with an equal weight of 

 water, when there were disengaged two cubical inches and 

 a quarter of gas, which proved to be sulphuretted hidrogen. 



In another experiment, in which eight grains of potas- Experiment 

 sium were heated in a retort of the capacity of twenty repeated, 

 cubical inches, containing about nineteen cubical inches of 

 sulphuretted hidrogen, and a cubical inch of phosphuretted 

 hidrogen, which was introduced for the purpose of absorb- 

 ing the oxigen of the small quantity of common air ad- 

 mitted by the stop-cock, the inflammation took place as 

 before ; there was a similar precipitation of sulphur on the 

 sides of the retort; the mass formed in the place of the 

 potassium was orange externally, and of a dark gray colour 

 internally, as in the last instance ; and when acted on by a 

 little water holding muriatic acid in solution, there were 

 evolved from it five cubical inches only of sulphuretted 

 hidrogen. 



Both these experiments concur in proving the existence of Principle in 

 a principle in sulphuretted hidrogen, capable of destroying htdrogerfpr©- 

 partially the inflammability of potassium, and of producing during the 

 upon it all the elfects of oxigen ; for had the potassium com.^j^° 

 bined merely with pure combustible matter, it ought, as 

 will be seen distinctly from what follows, to have evolved 

 by the action of the acid a volume of sulphuretted 



potassium absorbs the sulphur and a part of the hidrogen of sul- 

 phuretted hidrogen ; but the phenomenon of inflammation is no$ 

 mentioned, nor are the results described, 



hidrogen, 



