342 Mr. R, Phillips on [Nov* 



It is a question which, perhaps, scarcely admits of being 

 decided, whether when an oxide, such as that of barium, cal- 

 cium, or strontium, is dissolved in muriatic acid, and a crystal- 

 line salt containing water obtained, such salt be actually a chlo- 

 ride combined with water, or whether one atom of the water 

 suffers decomposition and converts the chloride into a muriate. 

 Supposing, for example, that 1 15 parts of crystallized muriate 

 of barytes were to lose 9 of water by being heated, that 

 salt before such loss might be regarded as hydrous chloride 

 of barium consisting of 



1 atom of chlorine 36 



1 atom of barium 70 



1 atom of water 9 



115 



Or we may consider the 9 parts of water expelled by heat not 

 as previously existing as such, but as arising from the decomposi- 

 tion of the muriatic acid and oxide of barium j in which case 

 the salt would be composed of 



1 atom of muriatic acid 37 



1 atom of barytes 78 



lii 



We find, however, by experiment, that crystallized muriate of 

 barytes loses a larger quantity of water than that above supposed. 

 According to Mr. Aikm (Nicholson's Journal, vol. xxii. p. 312), 

 crystallized muriate of barytes loses from 14*5 to 14*6 per cent, 

 of water, by being heated, a determination which agrees very 

 nearly with Beraelius's statement of 14*8 per cent. If an atom 

 of chloride of barium =106 were combined in the crystallized 

 salt with 2 atoms of water =18, then the loss by heat would a 

 little exceed 14*51 per cent, agreeing very nearly with Mr. 

 Aikin's statement. We may, therefore, consider crystallized 

 muriate of barytes as consisting of 



1 atom of chloride of barium 106 



N 2 atoms of water 18 



Weight of its atom , , 124 



Or, 



Chlorine 29*03 



Barium 56*45 



Water 14*52 



100^0 



