Olfirvatkns on the Salt of Bitumen. ioj 



tion has been pretty ftrong, on pouring out the water, the 

 infule of the vclll-l m which it was contained is found lined 

 with a emit of a dark brown colour; a phfenomenou obferved 

 in mod: fulphur wells: this will be bell difcovered if the ex- 

 periment is made in a glafs veiTel. 



A fiiver fpoon laid over a frelh foUition of the fait became 

 difcojoiired in the courfe of a few hours ; and a little fugar of 

 lead put upon the fnank of the fpoon, and kept over the fo- 

 Intion during the ni'iht, was found in the morning confukr- 

 ably blackened. A- few drops of the nitric acid adcled to the 

 freOi fohition caufed a milky appearance, and a little acetate 

 of lead poured into a glafs of it canfed a precipitate that filled 

 nearly one-third of the glafs. The hepatic gas is in fuch abun- 

 dance, that, by cxpofing a ftrong folution in a tumbler to the 

 air, the fulphur becomes at once evident, in the cruft with 

 which the glafs is uniformly found to be lined. 



After a lolution of the fait had been expofcd to the air till 

 it became perfeAly clear, a quantity of it was poured into a 

 china plate, and gradually evaporated by the heat of the fun: 

 there remained in the plate a number of cubical crvftals, 

 evidently pure common fait, without any other refiduum. 

 The fait, from the tafte, and fome curious phienoraena at- 

 tending it, appeared to be of an uncommon degree of purity. 

 From thefe experiments it appears that fait of bitumen is 

 chiefly compofed of common fait and hepatic air, or, in the 

 language of modern chemiftry, of muriate of foda and ful- 

 phureous hydrogen gas, the two principal ingredients that 

 impregnate tlic mineral waters of Aix la Chapelle. Baden, 

 Harrowgate, iVIoflat, and mofi of the celebrated fulphureous 

 fprings in Europe. 



There arc very few fulphurnted fprings, either hot or cold, in 

 Hindooftan : 1 only heard of one, " in the province of BurJ- 

 wan," in all the country from Hurdvvar to Point I'almiras. 

 How far the lilindoos have fucceeded in dilcovcriiig the delide- 

 ratum for prepyrin*: iheni artificially appears from the above 

 analvfis, and will he confirmed bv comparing a folution of 

 the fait with the fu!|ihurated waters at their fources. All the 

 European proctil'cs and niachinerv for imitating thefe waters 

 have been directed to the impregnation of water with gas dif- 

 engagi.d from htpar fulphuris, which produces an imitation 

 i)f ilii; fulphurated waters mentioned by Dr. Coggan in his 

 Travels on the Kliinc, but not of Moif^t or Harrowgate: it 

 niav f>erhaps he found that air diiengaired from cominon fait 

 is difVercnt from that o^ hcpar fulphur u, and in fulphur fprinps 

 the fait fcems to be a very univerial ingredient. Not iMiiy 

 the water* already uiuniioncd, but lliufe of Corftorphiti'', 



St. 



