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with Observations on its Chemical Constitution. 202 
eence, liquors were formed transparent, without any precipita- 
tion ; and these were strongly acid, reddening litmus paper when 
‘it was perfectly dry and warm. I further found, that the pro- 
duct of the solution of zine in liquid muriatic “acid, when di- 
gested with an excess of metal, and evaporated to dry ness, af» 
forded by deliquescence a liquor sensibly acid. And in both 
eases, even when the solid product was retained liquid by heat, 
acidity was indicated by litmus paper. Lastly, what is still less 
liable to objectiou, the residue in the experiment of heating the 
muriate of ammonia with the different metals, afforded similar 
indications of acidity. 
These results appear to establish the production of a super- 
muriate in the action of these metals on the acid, and this ac- 
counts for the appearance of a portion of water, since, supposing 
“water to exist in muriatic acid gas, the quantity combined with 
that proportion of acid which would. establish a neutral com- 
pound, is the quantity required to oxidate the metal to form that 
compound ; and if any additional portion of acid enter into union, 
the water of this must be liberated, or be at least capable of bes 
ing expelled. 
It was of importance, in relation to this question, to ascertain 
the quantity of hydrogen obtained from a given quantity of mu- 
riatic acid gas; for, if the whole water essential to the acid is 
decomposed by the action of the metal, half the volume of hy- 
drogen ought to be obtained,—muriatic ‘acid gas being composed 
of equal volumes of oxymuriatic gas and hydrogen gas. I made 
this repeatedly the subject of experiment, by heating zine and 
iron in muriatic acid gas. There are difficulties in determining 
the proportion with perfect precision; but the quantity of hy- 
drogen always appeared to be less than the half;*and on an 
average, about twelve measures were obtained, when thirty mea- 
sures of the other had been consumed, a result conformable to 
the liberation of a portion of the combined water of the gas. 
Whether the production of water in these experiments is sa- 
tisfactorily accounted for, on the cause now assigned, may be 
subject of further investiga'ion. In the sequel, I shall have to 
notice another principle, on which perhaps it may fall to be ex- 
plained. Whether accounted for or not, it is obvious, that the 
fact itself is not invalidated by the thedretical difficulty; and 
also, that in relation to the argument with regard to the nature 
of muriatic and oxymuriatic acids, it remains equally conclusive. 
In the doctrine of the undecomposed nature of chlorine, mu- 
riatic acid gas contains neither water nor oxygen, and the metat 
employed certainly contains none. These are the ouly sub- 
stances brought into action, and it is impossible that water should 
be a product of their operation, On the opposite doctrine, 
water 
