3S4 Notices respecting New Books. 



that sulphuric acid contains almost exactly three times 20, or 

 60 per cent, of oxygen. Most of the other acids, however, con- 

 tain only twice the oxygen of their saturating base : the carbonic 

 and sujphureoiuS acids are of this kind. 



" In all the compounds in which water forms an element 

 (which are all the crystallized salts and liquid acids) this sub- 

 stance also seems to be subjected to some similar law of definite 

 proportion, as will be soon explained. 



^'We shall now give a short abstract of a few of the impor- 

 tant series of Prof. Berzelius' experiments, to show to what de- 

 gree they illustrate and confirm the above laws of chemical com- 

 bination, together with some others which will be stated in their 

 place. 



" The composition of sulphuric acid which has so often been 

 attempted was ascertained in several methods ; and first through 

 the medium of the oxyd and sulphuret of lead. 



" Leail and Oxygen. Lead has three degrees of oxygenation, 

 viz. the yellow, the red, and the brown. 



'* For the yellow oxyd, some pure lead (reduced from the ni- 

 trat of lead) was dissolved in nitric acid evaporated and ignited; 

 a hundred parts of metal thus gained 7.8 of oxygen. 



*^ The red oxyd, or purified minium, contains to 100 of metal 

 11.07 oxygen. 



" The brown oxyd formed by digesting minium in nitric acid, 

 contains to 100 of metal 15.6 of oxygen. 



"Therefore these portions of oxvgen, viz. 7-^; 11.07; and 

 15.6, are respectivelv in the proportions of I, 1|, and 2. 



" The yellow oxyd is the only one which enters into the salts 

 of lead. 



" Lead and Sulphur. 100 parts of lead mixed with as much 

 pure sulphur, and heated in a closa vessel, as long as any sulphur 

 was sublimed, produced 115.6 of the sulphuret; so tb.nt 100 

 parts of lead, when thus united with sulphur, absorb 15.6, which 

 is exactly tv/ice the weight of oxvgen u!iited with the same quan- 

 tity of lead in the yellow oxyd. On this coincidence a law of 

 combination is deuaced, Vt'liich will be presently mentioned. 



" This sulphuret of lead is therefore thus composed : 



Lead 100 86.51 



Sulphur 15.6 13.49 



115.6 100.00 



" A hundred parts of the sulphuret of lead last described were 

 digested in nitro-muriatic acid till the whole was converted into 

 sulphat of lead, the sulphur and lead both acquiring oxygen from 

 the nitro-muriatic acid. No product whatever was yielded from 



the 



