1 32 Mr. Phillips on a new Salt obtained by the partial 



He observes also that Berzelius has lately maintained that 

 muriatic acid is incapable of combining with metallic oxides; 

 consequently, that no muriates exist, but merely chlorides, or 

 compounds of chlorine and the metal, united to a certain quan- 

 tity of water. 



" But considerable difficulty," Dr. Thomson observes, " will 

 be experienced in applying this reasoning to the muriate of 

 gold. If this salt be a chloride, it is obvious from the experi- 

 ments stated that it is composed of 



Two atoms of chlorine 9 



One atom of gold 25 



34-" 

 With respect to the permuriate of tin noticed in the same 

 paper, Dr. Thomson remarks, not only that the oxygen and hy- 

 drogen which it contains, could not form water, but he adds, 

 " Nor supposing the salt to be a chloride, could any reason be 

 assigned why the tin is thrown down by an alkali in the state 

 of peroxide rather than protoxide." So also with respect to the 

 dipermuriate of mercury now described ; we cannot imagine it 

 to be a chloride, for it contains three more atoms of oxygen 

 than are required to constitute water with the hydrogen: and on 

 the same account we cannot explain why potash, supposing 

 even that it yields oxj'gen and becomes a chloride, should 

 precipitate peroxide instead of protoxide of mercury. As then 

 the dipermuriate of mercury could not be formed either by 

 the decomposition of water, occasioned by the intei'mediate 

 action of the alkali, or by the transfer of its oxygen, as when 

 protochloride of mercury is decomposed by potash, — I con- 

 clude that corrosive sublimate in solution exists as a biper- 

 muriate of mercury, becoming so immediately by the decom- 

 position of two atoms of water. From a solution of bipermu- 

 riate thus ready existing, we may conceive any subsalts to be 

 formed by the action of an alkali ; but, for the I'easons already 

 given, the alkali cannot, it appears to me, occasion either the 

 decomposition of water, or supply the oxygen requisite to the 

 formation of the peroxide. 



In concluding, I shall mention a ievf circumstances respect- 

 ing the prepax'ation of the new compound. It is well known, 

 that when only a moderate quantity of lime-water, or of solu- 

 tion of potash, is added to one of corrosive sublimate, that a 

 reddish- brown precipitate is at first occasioned, which subse- 

 quently assumes a yellow colour by an excess of the precipi- 

 tant employed. 



I attempted to form the dipermuriate by decomposing a so- 

 lution of corrosive sublimate both with carbonate of soda and 

 with lime-water, employing such proportions of each as would 



detach 



