468 Account of an Examination of Fused Charcoal. 



In the first experiment it was heated red hot by a blowpipe in 

 a silver spoon with caustic potash, which had no action upon it ; 

 for when well washed and dried, the weight remained the same. 



It was then put into an agate mortar, pressed, and struck 

 with considerable force: finding it yielded without breaking, 

 and observing that it received a polish, it was examined, and 

 found to resemble iron. To confirm the analogy, it was next 

 tried with a fi!e > which acted upon it as it would on soft steel 

 or iron ; after this it was subjected to a magnet, to which it 

 readily attached itself; and lastly, with a hammer : by its great 

 malleability conjoined with the characters just mentioned, it 

 proved its identity with iron. 



The fused charcoal was next subjected to the action of nitric 

 acid in a small platina capsule, there was no effect till the acid 

 was heated, it then attacked the mass, very violently disenga- 

 ging nitrous fumes, and separated it into several pieces ; al- 

 though fresh additions of nitric acid were made, yet the whole 

 did not dissolve. The unattacked part was separated from the 

 liquor, and examined with a microscope; it still exhibited 

 the same appearance, and still was magnetic. However, by a 

 further division of the substance, it was all dissolved by nitric 

 acid, except one small piece reserved for exhibition. 



The nitric liquor was evaporated to dryness ; muriatic acid 

 and water were then added to dissolve the iron, which took up 

 the whole of it, leaving a small quantity of whitish matter, 

 from which the liquor was separated by decantation ; this mat- 

 ter resembled silex; the quantity, however, was too small to as- 

 certain correctly its nature, for it weighed no more than 0*0025 

 gramme. 



Ammonia added to the liquor, gave the reddish brown pre- 

 cipitate of hydrate of per-oxide of iron ; separated from the 

 liquor, dried and calcined, it weighed 0-0175, equal to 0*012 

 gramme of metallic iron. 



Hence we have for result — 



Iron 0-0120 



Silex 0-0025 



Loss 0-0105 



Gm. 0-0250 

 From the results obtained, it is very evident that this pro- 

 duct of the fusion of charcoal must consist merely of the im- 

 purities contained in the charcoal, and is not ajusion of its 

 carbon, as has been supposed : moreover, it must consist chiefly 

 of iron; forits lustre, its being acted upon by a file in the man- 

 ner aforementioned, its great malleability, &c. &c, preclude 

 all idea of any considerable intermixture of other substances 



with 



