46 ACTION OF SULPHUR ON CHARCOAL. 



Left no char- He did not obtain any charcoal, however, as a residuum 

 bumed^^'^ of its combustion ; the circumstance on which Clement and 

 Desormes founded their opinion : for it burned entirely away, 

 or, if the combustion were stopped before it was completed, 

 left nothing but sulphur. 

 Its characters. This liquid, being very volatile, produces on the skin a 

 sensation of great cold. It dissolves in the air, greatly in- 

 creasing its volume; and then hums calmly with a blue 

 flame, and does not detonate by the electric spark. If wa- 

 ter be admitted to the air thus expanded, the air returns to 

 its original bulk, and the water acquires the properties of 



EvHently con- guiphuretted hidrogen. This Mr. Berthollet observes would 

 tains hidrogen. „r„- m • • pi-i 



of itself be sufficient to prove the existence of hidrogen m 



the liquid. 

 Not entirely However transparent it was, he could never volatilise it 



phur being entirely. Whether he left it exposed to the air, or assisted 

 ^^ft. its evaporation by heat, he had always a residuum of sul- 



phur, which he could sublime completely, without perceiving 

 any vestige of charcoal. 

 Thegassesit The residuum of this liquid affording Mr. Berthollet no 



forded'^no indi- charcoal, he examined the gasses it produced, to ascertain 

 cations of char- its existence. But neither its combustion with oxigen gas 

 *^^^ * in vessels placed over water, nor the action of oxigenized 



muriatic acid, nor that of alkalis, produced any indications 

 of charcoal, or of carbonic acid. In the first case the pro- 

 duct of its combustion did not render limewater turbid; in 

 the second nothing was found but sulphuric acid mixed 

 with muriatic ; and in the third a combination was obtained, 

 which comported itself like the hidroguretted sulphurets. 

 Tt'is therefore From all these facts the author concludes, that the liquid 

 sulphur" and ^ produced by the reciprocal action of incandescent charcoal 

 hidrogen. and sulphur is formed of sulphur and hidrogen, as Lampa- 



dius announced.; and, contrary to the assertion of Clement 

 and Desormes, contains no charcoal. These facts at the 

 same time show, that sulphur and hidrogen, like many other 

 These unite in substances, are capable of uniting in various .proportions, 

 ^^"^"'*^"'"P°''' according to circumstances ; and that the predominating in- 

 gredient always communicates some of its properties to the 

 compound. In the present case for instance, if the sulphur 



