phemical Experiments on Mersury. sg 



Hesult. 



Muriatic acid - - - 18' 6 



Oxide of mercury at the iTiaxlTriyin 83'3 

 Loss attributed to t,he iron - I'l 



100 



0n Nitrous Tiirbith, Nitrate of Merciirjf, at the Maximuv^k 

 of Oxygen, and at tli^ Minimum of Acid. 



Ten grammes oi' this salt, as dry as possible; treated with 

 the phosyihorous acid, gave 8 grammes of reduced iricrcury, 

 which represent &*8 of red oxide of nicrcury; what i« 

 wanting to the complement of 10 grannncs is to be attri- 

 buted to the tiitric acid, which we cannot collect in this 

 operation, because phQsplioric acid, bv seizing a part of \Xi 

 pxvgen, causes it to evaporate in nitrous vapours. Tha 

 perfect dryness of the salt leads us to believe that the re- 

 liiaindcr of the weight may, without fear of error, be attri- 

 buted to the nitric acid. 



Oxide of mercury at the ma^iimum 88 

 Nitric acid - - - - 12 



100 



Of Phosphate of Mercurij at the Mnximnm. 



Ten grammes of this salt, also as drv a- possible, treated 

 in the same maniier with phosphorous acid, gave 6*3 of 

 running mercury, which correspond 10 J- 15 of oxide of 

 mercury at the maximum ; the 2-S5 wanting to complete 

 the 10 grammes, we attribute to the phosphoric acid. 



This experiment proves that phosphoious acid not onlv 

 decomposes all the salts formed by mercury with other 

 acidsj but also those which are formed by tlie phosphoric 

 acid ; so great is the affinity of this acid for oxygen, that 

 it surmounts that of the mercury for the same principle, 

 and at the t;ame time the attraction -of the phosphoric acid 

 for ihe oxide of mercury. 



'I'his plucnoinenon also clearly points out the reason why 

 the phosphoiic acid, ionned at the cost of the oxyccn of 

 the mcrcuria! oxides, docs not dissolve the mercury as loni* 

 •IS any phosj>lioMc ocid is present ; this dcconiposts in its 

 tiiin the piiosphale whiih might be formed. 



0/ 



