Remarks upon Fused Charcoal. 147 
Art. XIV.—Remarks upon Prof. Vanuxem’s paper on fused 
' charcoal, published in Vol. IV. p. 371, of the Journal of 
the Acad. of Nat. Scr. at Philadelphia. 
Pror. Vanuxem has examined, or a portion of 
matter obtained from charcoal, r. Macneven, by the 
use of Dr. Hare’s Deflagrator, and finds it composed, (as 
toa litile more than one half,) of iron and silex. ls weight 
was Only 0.385 of a grain or less than four tenth: 
and on even this small portion there was a Os 
one half. ee 
Mr. Venue has. not done me the honour to mention 
e, orm eriments, but as no other person (within my 
Tpeadiee). ae published any thing on the fusion of char- 
coal, [ am obliged, however reluctantly, to appropriate his 
remarks, and to consider them as intended to invalidate 
some part of the resuits which | have published. 
The substance upon which Mr. Vanuxem operated, is, ev- 
idently, from his description of its properties, a different 
thin ng, in most respects, from the greater part of the fused 
masses which I obtained, he if he will take the troub!e at- 
tentively to peruse my several papers, in the fifth and sixth 
volumes of this Journal. he will observe that there was much 
bebe in the products, and that | was myself not unaware, 
earthy, alkaline, or other foreign matter might have 
ceeitbinel to, at least, some of the results. 
am not disposed to question, that the silex and iron, 
dbisine d by Professor Vanuxem, existed in the matter 
transmitted by Prof. Macneven, but, when this matter is 
of 2.50 we are surprised that no means were taken, to 
Collect the gaseous products, and to ascertain whether car- 
Onic acid was not formed? .No means to consume and 
Waste the carbon, could be better devised than those em- 
ployed by Mr. Vanuxem. If we contrast the nega- 
tive fact that he obtained no evidence of the existence of | 
Carbon, when it is obvious that in the way in which he 
proceeded, it was oe he should discover it, even if 
lt existed in large propor n—if we contrast thie pro- 
cedure, with the positive nae. obtained by myself, when 
