^44 



plSOXlTilNG PRIXCIPLi: IN DIStlLLXD WATER*. 



some very sfnall bubbles, withont emitting any nitrotis, mu* 

 riatic, or acetous smell, and without disturbing its trans- 

 parency. 

 A6tion of other It instantly whiteiied the aqueous solutions of oxalate 

 ^®^^" of ammonia, muriate of barytes, nitrate of lead, and sul- 



phate of silver *. 

 Oxigenized " The oxigenized muriate of mercury, purified by slow 

 Mercury 'con- sublimation, produced in it a copious white precipitate. At 

 venedby it into the expiration of half an hour 1 added lime-water in excess, 

 muna e. ^j^j^.]^ increased the quantity of the precipitate, and did not 

 turn it yellow even in twejity-four hours; which it would 

 infallibly have done, if the oxigenized muriate of mercury 

 had not been converted into muriate at a minimum. 

 wHh acidsul- Finally, having mixed Mith it some acid sulphate of mer- 

 phate of mer- cury in a liquid state, made by dissolving the yellow sulphate 

 oS precipi- ^^ sulphuric acid, the addition of caustic potash purified by 

 t*te. alcohol separated from it in a quarter of an hour flocks of 



an opal colour ; while the same alkali, added to the same 

 sulphate of mercury without borage water, immediately 

 ■ formed in it yellow flocks +. 



prtnoiples con- Hence it follows, that my borage water, distilled with so 

 tamed in it. much care, and by a heat so gentle, contained carbonic 

 acid, sulphate of lime, and a disoxiding principle. 



Siilnhate of * Sulphate of silver is decomposed by the action of sulphate of 



silver decom- lime. The following experiment is a direct proof of this. I took 

 f o^ed by that sQ^e very limpid lime-water, and added a few small drops of pure 

 sulphuric acid. The solution remained clear, and had an excess 

 of acid. To this I added a little of my acid sulphate of silver> 

 which immediately occasioned a flocculent precipitate. After this 

 Forms an inso- had been washed, it was not soluble in muriatic acid. This fact 

 with^out'ra* 'a- P'"^^'^' ^^^^^ ^^^ oxide of silver enjoys a very considerable power of 

 lie acid. cohesion, and renders me very circumspect in forming a judgment 



of the experiments for deciding the presence of muriatic acid in 

 delicate fluids from the single phenomenon of precipitation by 

 jn»'ans of any solution of silver, and without examining the other 

 circumstances, that might occasion the insolubility of the oxide of 

 silver. 

 Erratum in t According to Fourcroy's Chemistry, the sulphate of mercury 



Foiircroy'sChft-with excess of oxide is precipitated .gray by the alkalis; but this 

 ^^' mu'^t be an errour of the press, our iilu^trious professor having before 



shown, that this property belonged to the neutral sulphate of mer- 

 cury, which he had discovered. 



I must 



