1826.] Scientific Notices — Chemistry, 463 



being dried, it fuses, gives carbonate of ammonia and cyanogen, 

 and sulphuret of barium remains. 



When nitrate of silver is precipitated by the freshly prepared 

 barytic salt, a bulky precipitate is obtained, which, after being 

 well washed and heated in boiling water, is converted into sul- 

 phuret of silver, and produces carbonate of ammonia. It ap- 

 pears from this that the acid which is united with these oxides 

 must contain oxygen, besides carbon, hydrogen, and azote. 



When the barytic salt is decomposed with sulphuric acid, a 

 fluid acid is obtained which very readily decomposes. If the 

 salt be pure then no other product is obtained, but if it contain 

 even a trace of silver, hydrocyanic acid is formed. If the liquid 

 in which cyanateof silver has been decomposed by sulphuret of 

 barium be filtered, before all the cyanate is decomposed, cyanate 

 of silver and of barytes crystallizes upon cooling ; this shows 

 that the cyanate of silver loses half of its oxide, before the 

 cyanic acid itself undergoes any change. 



If the cyanic acid gives half of its oxygen to the sulphuret of 

 barium, and takes in exchange an equivalent portion of sulphur, 

 the new acid would be formed of two atoms of cyanogen, one 

 of sulphur, and one of oxygen, and the salt of silver, when 

 decomposing at a boiling heat, with six atoms of water would 

 produce one atom of sulphuret of silver, four atoms of carj 

 bonic acid, and two of ammonia. 



Although these results do not possess all the certainty that is 

 desirable, they prove at any rate, that, during the decomposition 

 of cyanate of silver by sulphuretted hydrogen, or sulphuret of 

 barium, different products are formed from those which had 

 been supposed, and that the red colour assumed by a solution 

 of a persalt of iron, is not a sufficient proof of the existence of 

 sulpho-cyanic acid, since there are several other substances, 

 diftering totally from this acid, which possess the same pro- 

 perty. — (Ann. de Chimie et de Physique.) 



3. Analysis of Tymp Cinder, 



In the blast furnaces of the iron works at Merthyr Tydvil, a 

 scoriaceous matter is produced below the opening of the pipes, 

 which is rich in alkali, and is collected by the workmen, and is 

 used instead of soap. This substance has been analysed by 

 M. Berthier, who states that it consists of small scoriaceous 

 particles, which are black and magnetic, and occasionally inter- 

 spersed with grains of mamellated scoria ; all these are enve- 

 loped in a very deliquescent alkaline substance ; this matter, 

 treated with water, gives : 



Soluble salts . 0-385 



Insoluble matter ....•.,... 0*615 



1-000 



