ACTION OF SULPHUR ON CHARCOAL. 49 



c<t<il, than what passed at th<j commencement, but it contains 

 hidro^jen. An experiment made on a gramme [15| grs.] of 

 charcbal, previously heated for an liour in a for^e fire, con- 

 tinued five of six hoursj and produced four or five litres 

 [or wine quarts] of s^as. 



This gas resembled sulphuretted hidrogen in its smell, and a gasems 

 manner of burning", solubility in water, and the properties ^^JljJ^^ j^i^^o- 

 it communicated to water. But water did not absorb it gen, and sul- 

 completely ; and the product of its combustion rendered ^^^^ * 

 limewater considerably turbid. In this gas therefore, ana- 

 logous probably to that which Clement and Desormes term'» 

 ed gaseous carburet of sulphur, the carbon subjected to. 

 the experiment is foand. It is ia fact a triple com- 

 pound of carbon, hidrogen, and sulphur ; requires for itsr , 

 combustion nearly an equal bulk of oxigen gas ; and at 

 the moment of taking fire has its volume increased at least 

 tenfold. 



With respect to the doubts, that may arise respecting the 

 natui'eof the precipitates formed in limewater in these expe- 

 riments, Mr. Berthollet gives means of ascertaining, whether 

 they be owing to sulphurous acid or carbonic. 



Reflecting on the complete destruction of charcdafby the Somehkttogen 



action of sulphur, and the nature of the products it furnishes, essential to 



111- 1 1 ■, ■ • . 1 .r. charcoal, 



we are tempted tobeheve, that charcoal is inseparable from 



a certain quantity of hidrogen ; and that, at a high terape- 



ratilre, the sulphur in contact with it occasions a new ordei* of 



compounds, which assume the elastic state* 



But on considering the quantity of gas obtained ^ and the The sulph'.:? 

 property sulphur has of retaining hidrbgen in the solid state, too probably 

 Mr. Berthollet suspected, that possibly the sulphur itself 

 furnished a certain quantity of the gas. To verify this in- Experiments 

 genious suggestion, he passed sulphur through a glass tubcj ^o prove ihis, 

 coated, and brought to a white heat ; adapted to it a tube, 

 for collecting the gas ; and obtained some very slight indi« 

 cations of sulphuretted liidrogen. 



On the other hand, on iorming metallic sulphurets i^ From the for- 

 earthen retorts, after taking all possible precautions to re- mation of mo- 

 move every source of uncertainty, he obtained sufficient sul* ^^^''^ sulphu- 

 phuretted hidrogen gas to precipitate tlie solution of lead, 

 and to be set on tire. In these experiments he employed 



Vol. XVIIi.— Sept. I8O7, E iroA 



