Royal Society. 393 



view to illustrate the nature, properties, and combinations 

 of oxymuriatic gas, and its relations to inflammable bodies, 

 as compared with those of oxygen. He also offers some 

 general views and conclusions concerning the chemical 

 powers of different species of matter, and the proportions in 

 which they combine. And lastly, he concludes his paper 

 by some observations on the impropriety of the present 

 nomenclature, in reference to the oxymuriatic gas and its 

 combinations ; and proposes some concise modes of di- 

 stinguishing these novel bodies. 



Mr. Davy made some previous experiments on the com- 

 binations of potassium and sodium with oxygen ; and of 

 potash and soda with water, from which he concludes that 

 those metals when burnt in oxygen gas are at their highest 

 state of oxygenation — and at their lowest, when in the state 

 of potash and soda. He also found that ignited potash 

 contains about 16 per cent, of water, and ignited soda 22*9 

 per cent. 



The spontaneous inflammation of the metals of the fixed 

 alkalies in oxymuriatic gas, affords a proof of the intensity 

 of their attractions. In these operations, no water is se- 

 parated, but mere binary combinations formed ; the same 

 as those produced by igniting muriate of potash and soda. 

 Similar compounds are formed when dry potash and soda 

 are heated in oxymuriatic gas, and oxygen is evolved. 



Mr. Davy mentions a simple mode by which pure sodium 

 may be obtained. It is by mixing common salt which has 

 been ignited to redness, with potassium, and exposing the 

 whole to a red heat in a glass tube or retort ; for every two 

 parts of potassium employed, one part of sodium is obtained. 



As the muriates of lime, barytes and strontites remain 

 unaltered by any simple attractions, even at a white heat, 

 Mr. Davy conceived that these compounds consist merely 

 of the metallic bases of the earths in union with oxymu- 

 riatic gas, and the experiments he has made confirm this 

 conclusion. Thus when lime, barytes, &c. were heated in 

 oxymuriatic gas, oxvgen was expelled, and substances ex- 

 actly similar to the dry muriates were formed. 



In operating on the metals, Mr. Davy employed green 

 glass retorts holdiug from three to six cubical inches of gas, 

 they were furnished with stop-cocks. The metal was first 

 introduced into the retort, it was then exhausted and filled 

 with oxymuriatic gas, the heat of a spirit lamp was em- 

 ployed in the processes. The products from arsenic, anti- 

 mony, and bismuth, were the butters of arsenic, antimony, 

 and bismuth j and on the addition of water, the white oxides 



and 



