416 Experiments on the Substances produced 
the stronger attraction of the chlorine, and ‘that this prine 
ciple coming in contact with glass decomposes it by its’at- 
traction for the silicum and sodium, and separates them 
from thé oxygen with which they Bs combined, = +> 
I made various attempts to procure the fluoric principle 
in a pure form. I heated the fluates of potassa and soda in 
trays of platina, in a tube of platina connected with a vessel 
filled with chlorine. In this case the fluates were con- 
verted into muriates, with a “considerable increase of the 
weight of the trays and the platina was violently acted 
upon, and covered with a reddish-brown’ powder; and in 
the instance in which fluate of potassa was used, a com- 
pa of fluate of platina and muriate of potassa was 
ormed. = i 
There was a considerable absorption of chlorine; but no 
new gaseous matter could’ be discovered in the gas in the 
tube. ; hy! p™ 1G 
I tried to obtain the fluoric principle pure, -by‘decom- 
posing the fluates in’a tube of ‘silver, but with no better 
success; the silver was acted upon both by the chlorine 
and the fluoric principle, and rapidly dissolved. I used 
glass tubes coated with resin of copper {cuprane) and horn- 
silver (argentane), on which I’ eBicluded that the fluoric 
principle would have no action from the decomposition of 
fluate of silver by chlorine; but at the degree of heat re- 
quired to decompose the fluoric salts, the muriates were 
always fused, the glass violently acted upon, and silicated 
fluoric acid gas formed. — . : 
In one instance, in which fluate of potassa had been 
heated in a platina tray and tube, in which muriate of 
potassa had been fused, for the purpose of defending the 
Interior, as much as possible, from the action of the fluoric 
principle, the gas, when disengaged into the atmosphere, . 
had a peculiar’smell, different from that of chlorine, (which 
certainly formed the greatest’ proportion of the elastic mat- 
ter,) and more disagreeable ; and dense white fumes were 
produced by its action upon the air. A portion of this gas 
thrown into a glass receiver, over mercury, acted upon the 
glass, and silicated fluoric acid gas was generated. On 
examining the platina tray, however, it was found corroded, 
and the reddish-brown powder formed. 
In the course of these investigations, I made several at- 
tempts to detach hydrogen from the liquid fluoric acid, by: 
the agency of oxygen and chlorine. It was not decom- 
‘posed when passed through a platina tube heated red with 
chlorine, nor by being distilled from salts containing abun- 
ie okra dance 
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