Br 07)11716 hi the natural hrinr of SaJina, 143 



By evaporation, minute, but distinct crystals of a rhombic, or cubical 



1 



form separated, and a crust of indistinct forms was left- A solution 

 of this salt in water, did not occasion any precipitate when added in 

 successive portions, to a drop of a solution of bi-chloride of mercury; 

 with pro-nitrate of mercury, there was an abundant white precipitate; 

 also with nitrate of lead, a white precipitate. 



IV. Another part of solution I. was ev^aporated, and the dry salt 

 digested in pure alcohol; by evaporating the solution, a salt, In milk 

 white cubes separated, and a crust of apparently prismatic crystals re- 

 mained. Alcohol dissolved them without leaving any residue, and the 

 solution being mixed with a drop of chloride of platina, potassa chloride 

 of platina, in the form of fine yellow powder, was precipitated. The 

 proportion of hydro-bromic acid in these waters, seems by the action 

 of reagents, to be much less than that of hydriodic acid ; the quan- 

 tity of potash is also inconsiderable. As it is probable that bromine 

 in cotnbinatlon, exists in many of our waters, a convenient method for 

 ascertaining its presence is desirable, particularly, as a minute scale of 

 experimenting is unavoidable. The characters observed in L led 

 me to adopt the following. A few drops of pure water are mixed 

 in a conical glass, with a drop of sulphuric acid, and half a volume of 

 a cold solution of starch ; a few bubbles of chlorine are passed through ' 

 the mixture, which is then left at rest, that the diffused starch may 



■ 



unite at the bottom. A glass rod dipped in the fluid supposed to con- 

 tain bromine, is then applied to the surface of the fluid in the glass ; 

 orange colored, dense striae descend from the rod, and rest for some 

 time on the starch, if bromine alone is present. If the solution con- 

 tains iodine also, the appearance is the same, but the striae are deep 

 ^lue ; in a few seconds the blue disappears, and the characteristic 

 orange yellow of the solution of bromine remains ; extremely minute 

 quantities of these substances maybe thus distinguished. 



Bromine in the natural hrine of Salina. 



Having enjoyed, during the late winter, some opportunities of ob- 

 serving the remarkable properties of bromine j and having learned 

 also that it has been discovered in various saline waters in England,^ 

 and other countries, I was desirous of ascertaining whether it exists 

 in any of tlie saline waters of this country, to which I have access. 



By Dr. Daubcny and Mr. Murray. 



