496 Dr. Kane’s Experiments on the Action of Ammonia 
found that the results now brought forward will clear up these 
discrepancies and enable us to attain to a knowledge of its 
real nature. 
In order to place in evidence the necessity that there exists 
for a reexamination of this subject, I shali arrange in a tabu- 
lar form the results hitherto obtained. ‘The first column con- 
tains the names of the chemists by whom the analyses of white 
precipitate have been made, the others the quantities of the 
constituents which were actually determined: one element, 
oxygen, which is only ascertained from the loss, has been 
omitted. 
Authors. Mercury. | Chlorine. | Ammonia. | Where described. 
Fourcroy ...| 74°] 13:2 6:03 Gmelin, Handbuch. 
Hennell ...... 74-24 13:14 6°31 Quarterly Journal *. 
Mitscherlich 76°37 13°82 71 Poggendorff, B. 85. 
Guibourt .... 78°31 1eys2)! 4:45 Thenard, Traité. 
Soubeiran.... 82-1 78 aes Jour. Phar., vol. xii. 
To unravel the sources of error that had evidently led 
astray so many distinguished chemists was the object of my 
experiments. 
By the theory of Hennell, generally adopted here, corrosive 
sublimate should give almost precisely its own weight of white 
precipitate ; thus, 
(2 Cl+ Hg) +2 N H? gives . {Hg +(Cl N H*)+ CINH!?: 
and 273°6 of sublimate gives 272°34 of white precipitate. 
The first set of experiments was made to ascertain how far 
that was consistent with the truth. 
A. A solution of corrosive sublimate was decomposed by 
caustic ammonia, and the precipitate, carefully washed with 
cold water, was dried until preserving its pure white colour 
it ceased to lose weight. ‘The liquor and washings were then 
acidulated with nitric acid and precipitated by nitrate of silver. 
The chloride of silver produced gave the quantity of chlorine 
abstracted from the sublimate. Of six experiments carefully 
conducted the mean was, from 100 of sublimate, 93-1 of white 
precipitate, and 13-0 of chlorine in the liquor. 
But 100 grains of sublimate contain 
Mercury... = 74°09 
Chlorine... = 25°91; 
we have therefore in white precipitate, 
* An account of Mr. Hennell’s experiments on this substance will also 
be found in Phil. Mag., First Series, vol. Ixv. p. 226.—Eb1t. 
