ON THE NATURE OF OXIMURIATIC ACID. . 305 



silver, which, added to what migli^ be disengaged by the 

 transmission through the water, and agitation with it after 

 the explosion, and to the slight admixture to which all elas- 

 tic fluids are liable, (expressed in one of Mr. Davy's own 

 experanents, by the phrase of " no more impurity than 

 might be expected in the air in the gasses], had formed a 

 quantity capable of being discovered. It could obviously 

 detract nothing from the conclusiveness cf the experi- 

 ment, independent of the circupjstance, that it was not ob- 

 served in the more decisive experiment of the slow mutual 

 action of these gasses. 



He is willing to admit the accuracy of my experimentg^ 

 so far as they relate to the want of action between carbonic 

 oxide and oximuriatic acid, when water is excluded. This 

 is a fact, which, though it presents an anomaly in the ntw hy- 

 pothesis, is not absolutely hostile to it; and I have, it seems, 

 *' very satisfactorily proved" this nonaction, and that with- 

 out the agency of water no carbonic or muriatic gas is 

 formed. But my experiments, which afford results present- 

 ing a difhcialty in the theory, are it seems inaccurate; and 

 beside endeavouring to make this apparent by various ob- 

 servations, Mr. Davy informs us, that either alone, or in con- 

 junction with his brother, he has, if not repeated thera,(which 

 wouid have been the most direct mode of proving their in- 

 accuracy), at least made experimepts of a similar kind, and 

 with very different results. Thus he has performed some of 

 the experiments of Cruickshank on the car bu retted hidro- 

 gen gasses. The source of fallacy, which 1 supposed would Mr. Davy's 

 have been contended for,in the presence of a portion of oxi- expenmenis, 

 gen in the composition of these gasses, he seems to think 

 of little im])ortance; the principal source of fallacy is sup- 

 posed to be in the presence of water, and he therefore made 

 the detonations over mercury, and *' never obtained carbo- 

 nic acid gas, though oximuriatic gas in great excess was 

 employed." I shall not say any thing of the source of fal- 

 lacy, which I conceive has given rise to this observation, until 

 I'have repeated the experiment with the necessary precau- 

 tions. I shall only observe, that Mr. Davy does not directly 

 deny, that carbonic acid is formed, he has only performed the 

 experiment without obtaining it, and he does not inform his 



Vol. XXVUI.— April, 18U. X readers 



