Royal Society of Edinburgh. 61 



"ested on a different view of the subject, if this should not be 

 considered as sufficient. 



Dr, Murray considered the results of these experiments as 

 confirming, in addition to what he had before done, tiie fallacy 

 of the opinion in which chlorine is regarded as a simple sub- 

 stance, which, with hydrogen, forms muriatic acid. The oppo- 

 site opinion, that it ii'a compound of muriatic acid with oxygen, 

 and that muriatic gas is a compound of muriatic acid and water, 

 might be held to be established ; and it undoubtedly may be 

 maintained. But he has presented a different view of the sub- 

 ject, as being more conformable to the present state of chemical 



theory. 



The progress of chemical discovery has shown that oxygen 

 cannot be regarded as exclusively the principle which communi- 

 cates acidity. The same property is iu different cases commu- 

 nicated by hydrogen ; and this fact he regards as affording the 

 only argument of any weight in support of the new theory of 

 chlorine. 



When water is obtained from muriatic acid g-as, it does not 

 necessarily follow that it has preexisted in the state of water. It 

 is equally'possible, a priori, that the elements of water may have 

 existed in the gas. On this view oxymuriatic acid will be a bi- 

 nary compound of a radical at present unknown with oxygen, 

 and muriatic acid a ternary compound of the same radical with 

 oxygen and hydrogen. Atid wlien muriatic acid gas is formed 

 from the mutual action of oxymuriatic gas and hydrogen, it is 

 simply from the hydrogen entering into the combination. In the 

 processes by which water is obtained from it, the water is formed 

 by its hvdrogen and part of its oxygen entering into union. The 

 -same view he extends to the other acids which have been sup- 

 posed to contain combined water. Sulphurous acid is the proper 

 binarv compound of sulphur and oxygen ; sulphuric acid is a ter- 

 nary compound of sulphur, oxygen, and hydrogen ; and nitric 

 acid is a ternary compound of nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. 



While each of these elements, oxygen and hydrogen, commu- 

 nicates acidity, their combined action seems to do so in a still 

 higher degree. Sulphur with hydrogen forms a weak acid ; — 

 with oxygen another acid somewhat stronger ; — with oxygen and 

 hydrogen one of still greater jjower. Nitrogen with hydrogen 

 forms a compound having no acidity ; with oxygen in two pro- 

 portions it forms oxides ; with oxygen and iiydrogeii a powerful 

 acid. Carbon with hydrogen forms compounds which are not 

 acid ; with oxygen in one proportion it forms an oxide, in an- 

 other a weak acid ; with oxygen and hydrogen the different ve- 

 getable acids which are of much superior strength. 



This explains the apparent anomaly which appeared in the old 



doctrine 



