26 On the Action of 



and the incipient stage of phthisis; but in the subsequent 

 stages the only chance is, I speak from wide experience, 

 the practice I have here recommended. 



8. Inflannnation of the lungs is prevented by the hydio- 

 azotic gas. 



The lad is now before me; is fat, looks well, and has 

 been cured a twelvemonth. 



IV. On the Action of Platlna and Mercury jipan each 

 other. By Richard ChExNEVix, Esq. F.R.'S. M.R.I.A. 



&c. 



Freyberg, June 3, 1804. 



On the 12th of May 1803, 1 had the honour of presenting 

 a paper to the Royal Society, the object of which was to 

 discover the nature of palladium, a substance just then an- 

 nounced to the public as a new simple metal. The experi- 

 ments which I had made for this purpose led me to conclude 

 that palladiuin was not what it had been stated to be, but 

 that it was a compound of platina and mercury. 



It was natural to suppose that a subject so likely to spread 

 its influence throughout the whole domain of chemistry, 

 and which tended even to the subversion of some of its ele- 

 ments, would awaken the attention of philosophers. We 

 find accordingly, that it has become a subject of inquiry in 

 England, France, and Germany; but the experiments which 

 I had recommended as the least likely to fail, have been 

 found insufficient to insure the principal result ; and I have 

 had the mortification to learn that they have been generally 

 \msuccessful. I have even reason to believe that the nature 

 of palladium is still considered by chemists, at least with a 

 very few exceptions, as unascertained ; and that the fixation 

 of mercury by platina is by many regarded as visionary. 



The first doubts were manifested in England ; and Dr. 

 Wollaston very early denied the accuracy of my inquiries. 

 But as he has not published his experiments, 1 have had no 

 opportunity of discussing them. His opinion, however, 

 must have such weight in the learned world, that I should 

 have neglected a material fact in the history of palladium if 

 I had not mentioned it in this place. 



In France the compound nature of palladium has been 

 more generally credited. When the National Institute was 

 informed of my experiments, a report was "brdered to be 



♦ From the Transactions of tkt- Rcijal Sucktij for 1805. 



made 



