26 On some new Electrochemical Researches 



cal inch of ammonia, four of nitrogen, and eight of hy- 

 drogen. The portion of gas given off in the second ope- 

 ration equalled 3 '6 cubical inches; which consisted of 

 2*5 hydrogen, and ri nitrogen. The potassium produced 

 in the ^operation was sufficient to generate 3*1 cubical 

 inches of hydrogen. 



As the iron in these experiments had been heated to in- 

 tense whiteness, and must have been very soft ; it was not 

 impossible, considering the recent experiments of M. Has- 

 senfratz *, that the loss of so large a portion of potassium 

 might depend upon an intimate union of that body with 

 iron, and its penetration into the substance of the tube. 

 This idea is countenanced by another experiment of the 

 same kind, in which the heat was raised to whiteness, and 

 the barrel cut into pieces when cool :* on examining the 

 lower part of it, I found in it a very thin film of potash ; 

 but which, I conceive, could scarcely equal a grain in 

 weight. The pieces of the barrel were introduced under a 

 jar inverted in water ; at the end of two days nearly 2-3 

 cubical inches of hydrogen were found to be generated. 



In the experiments detailed in page 53. of the last volume 

 of the Transactions f, a loss of nitrogen, and a production of 

 hydrogen, was perceived in a case in which the residuum 

 from a portion of fusible substance, which had been ex- 

 posed to a low red heat, was distilled in a tube of platina ; 

 but in this case the residuum had been covered by naphtha, 

 and it is possible that ammonia might have been regene- 

 rated by hydrogen from the uaphtha, and absorbed by that 

 fluid ; and a part of the hydrogen might likewise proceed 

 from the decomposition of the naphtha: and in several 

 experiments in which I have burnt the entire fusible sub- 

 stance, I have found no loss of nitrogen. 



Even the considerable excess of hydrogen, and deficiencv 

 of nitrogen, in the processes in which the fusible substance 

 is distilled with a new quantity of potassium, page 451 J, it 

 is possible to refer to the larger quantity of moisture, which 

 must be absorbed by ,the fusible substance from the air, 

 during the time occupied in attaching the potassium to the 

 tray, and likewise from the moisture adhering to the crust 

 of potash, which always forms upon the potassium, during 

 its exposure to air. 



These objections are the strongest that occur to me, 



Phil. Mag. vol xrxiii. page 8. \ Ibid. vol. xxxW. p?gc 3S9. 



against. 



