208 AN ANALYSIS 
seemed to me to admit of being applied to the explanation of 
some of the preceding results. This led to the experiments of 
which I now propose to give an account. 
The peculiarity in the results of Lavorsrer’s analysis, and 
with regard to which the others differ from him, is the obtain- 
ing, as ingredients of sea-water, portions of sulphate of soda 
and muriate of lime. Applying the principle now referred to, 
it is obvious, that in an analysis by evaporation, the composi- 
tion of these salts would be subverted by their reciprocal ac- 
tion ; neither of them would be obtained ; but by mutual decom- 
position they would be converted into muriate of soda, and 
sulphate of lime. Sulphate of lime is accordingly obtained in 
all these analyses, and probably has this origin. 
But, admitting this, how had muriate of lime, and sulphate 
of soda, been procured by Lavorsrer. This, supposing the re- 
sult accurate, can only be ascribed to some peculiarity in his 
process, by which their mutual action had been prevented, and 
their distinct existence preserved. The method he employed 
was to evaporate sea-water to dryness ; during the evaporation, 
sulphate and carbonate of lime were precipitated and were 
withdrawn ; the dry saline mass was lixiviated with alcohol ; 
and the ley being poured off clear, was found to hold in solu- 
tion muriate of magnesia, and muriate of lime; the undissol- 
ved matter was then heated, with a mixture of two parts of al- 
cohol and one of water, by which it was almost entirely dissol- 
ved ; it deposited, however, on cooling, a white powder, which 
was found to be sulphate of soda, and sulphate of magnesia, 
and it retained dissolved the muriate of soda of the sea-water 
with a portion likewise of muriate of magnesia. 
Now a portion of sulphate of lime was obtained in this pro- 
cess, which, according to the view I have stated, was probably 
produced 
