3/0 Ohservations and Experiments 



appeared to be still greater than that which is commonly pre- 

 pared ; and perhaps this fluid differs something from it in other 

 particulars, as we shall see. The limevvater was excessively tur- 

 bid, and proved to contain much calcareous carbonate and hydro- 

 sulpliuret of lime. It jjassed to the state of an elastic fluid 

 merely from hydrogen gas slightly sulphuretted. The formatiou 

 of calcareous carbonate should be suiTicient to confirm us in our 

 mode of thinking respecting the presence of oxygen in oxysul- 

 phuretted muriatic acid; and in fact without it carbonic acid gas 

 could not be formed, and in consequence we should not have 

 obtained calcareous carbdnate : but as this phcenoinenon was 

 combined with others of much importance, we were thus led to 

 niake new researches, which produced the following results. 



At first there appeared a (piantity of calcareous carbonate, such 

 as to contain so much carbonic acid which could not be sup- 

 posed to proceed solely from the 34 parts of oxygen that seemed 

 to form a part of the oxysulphuretted nuirialic acid: besides, not 

 iiaving found the smallest quantity of the 181 parts of muriatic 

 acid, except a slight indication in the anterior part of the tube, 

 where the carbon was mixed with the sulphur, hence aro-^e a 

 doubt that the muriatic acid itself was decomposed, and that it 

 had administered fresh oxygen. The carbon was diminished in 

 weight, become of a surprising blackness, had an insupport- 

 able odour of sulphureous acid, and could not be inflamed if not 

 previously exposed to a vivid heat: mean time by this process it 

 was burnt to the surface of the sulphur, its bad smell had va- 

 nished, and it was thus become sufficiently combustible to con- 

 sume entirely without leaving almost any residue, being probably 

 converted by means of atmospheric oxygen into carbonic acid 

 gas. In close vessels exposed to a heat nmch more intense than 

 tliat which it experienced in the glass tube, it did not lose its 

 strong smell, if not previously mixed with new and pure carbon, 

 in which case some sulphur was sublimed. The sulphur which 

 was deposited on the sides of the tube behind the carbon, and 

 whose physical characters we have already described, being placed 

 by us in a glass subliming vessel, left in the act of sublima'Jon 

 traces of carbon sufficiently sensible to be scraped, and from 

 which we obtained a blackish powder extremely fine. It imme- 

 diately occurred to us that this carbon mixt with sulphur pro- 

 ceeded from a reciprocal decomposition of a little carburetted 

 over a greater portion of sulphuretted hydrogen gas; but as it 

 presented an extraordinary brightness and combustibility, shining 

 like iron filings and inflaming by the discharge of a small Leyden 

 pbial, we determined to combine it with superoxygenated muriate 

 of potash to produce detonation. We were much surprised i.n 



thi» 



