THE 



LONDON and EDINBURGH 

 PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE 



; AND 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



♦- 



[THIRD SERIES.] 



AUGUST 1834. 



XIII. Experiments and Observations on the Action of Water 

 and Air on Lead. By Captain Philip Yorke.* 



1. A LTHOUGH the action of water on lead has at 

 —■ different times been noticed by chemical and other 

 writers, yet I venture to think that the experiments I have to 

 offer comprehend some new facts, and some which may assist 

 us in correcting views deduced from the results of previous 

 experimenters. 



2. My experiments originated in the examination of some 

 spring water which had flowed through somewhat more than 

 100 yards of leaden pipe. When this water, fresh drawn from 

 the cistern, was tested by a solution of sulphuretted hydrogen 

 gas, it gave a clear brown tint. The quantity of oxide of lead 

 estimated by the sulphuret obtained from 14^ measured ounces 

 amounted to ^2non tn * When it had stood two or three days 

 in an open vessel, it no longer gave the brown tint when 

 tested, but some white particles suspended in the liquid were 

 blackened. 



3. This circumstance called my attention to some results 

 obtained by Guy ton de Morveau, quoted by Berzeliusf, viz. 

 " that oxide of lead is soluble in pure water, but insoluble in 

 water which contains the least trace of salt. If distilled water 

 is poured into a vessel of lead, and is left for some time, the 

 lead is attacked and the water acquires the property of exer- 



* Communicated by the Author. 

 T Traite de Chimie, torn. iii. p. 178. 

 Third Series. Vol. 5. No. 26. Aug. 1834. M 



