30 



MR. E. W. BINNEY ON THE ACTION OF 



"The specific gravity of the specimen was 2*008, and, after being 

 soaked an hour or two in water, it became 2" 155. 



"Twenty grains of the powdered substance was projected upon 

 200 grains of melted nitre. The combustion was veiy feeble, com- 

 pared with that which happens to plumbago under similar circum- 

 stances. After washing off the nitre, there remained 14^ grains, 

 which were almost entirely oxide of iron, consisting probably of 

 11-2 iron, and 3 • 3 oxygen. 



" A small piece of the pipe, weighing 6^ grains, was passed into 

 a glass tube containing diluted sulphuric acid over mercury. The 

 acid acted very slowly: and, in eight days, when its effect seemed 

 to be complete, only half a cubic inch of hydrogen gas was formed. 

 This was only about s'oth of what would have been obtained from the 

 same quantity of cast iron.* 



" There remained a black and bulky substance, which, when dried 

 and projected on red hot nitre, burnt rather more vividly than the 

 original substance, but still sifForded much oxide of iron. 



" It was clear, therefore, that a large share of the metallic part of 

 the pipe had been removed ; and that what remained was composed 

 of iron, plumbago, and other impurities usually present in cast iron. 

 With the view of ascertaining the cause of the change, I next 

 examined the water from the bed of quicksand, a bottle of which 

 had been sent along with the fragment of pipe. 



"The water had a brackish taste, and was of the specific gravity, 

 1 • 008. It gave no traces of iron, either with triple prussiate of 

 potash, or succinate of ammonia. T collected the gas from a wine 

 pint of it, but it was lost by accident before being examined. By 

 the usual methods of analysis, a wine pint gave 64 grains of dry 

 salt, composed of — 



Muriate of soda 32 



■ magnesia 16 



lime 10 



* Sulphate of lime 4 



Carbonate of lime 2 



64 



* A piece of plumbago from Borrowdale, kept eight days in dilute sulphuJ-lc 

 add, had evolved no gas. 



