1813.] Azote, of Hydrogen, and of Ammonia. 359 



2 I showed how a neutral nitrite of ammonia may be produced, 

 and 1 have proved that a solution of this salt, not too concen- 

 trated, exposed to a temperature ot from 104 to 122 , is 

 decomposed with effervescence, disengaging pure azotic gas 

 without any change in the neutrality of the salt. 11ns could 

 not happen unless the acid, supposing azote to he its radicle, 

 neutralized a quantity of base, the oxygen in winch amounts to 

 • of that in the acid, or to \ if we suppose nitric to be the 

 ridicle In that case the series of the oxidation of azote will 

 be 1 2, 3, 5, and that of nitric 1, 2, 3, 4, i\ ; and here, as is 

 the case with sulphur and arsenic, the acid in ic contains the 

 radicle combined with 1* times the quantity of oxygen that the 

 acid in ous has. According to this determination, nitrous acid 

 is formed when one volume of oxygen condenses 3f volumes of 

 nitrous gas ; that is to say, that one volume ot azote combines 

 with H volume of oxygen. Hence this acid is composed by 

 weight as follows : — 



Radicle 16-55 or Azote 37-41 



Oxygen 6^59 



100-00 ioo-oo 



1 shall now add some proofs of the justness of this determi- 

 nation, by showing that what Gay-Lussac and Davy considered 

 as nitrous acid could not be that acid in reality. One ot the 

 best methods of doing this is to examine what passes when lead 

 is dissolved in neutral nitrate of lead, so as to convert the nitric 

 acid of the salt into nitrous acid. (See Ann. de Cam. July, 

 131 2.) To avoid long circumlocutions, I shall here employ a 

 simple and short method of expressing determinate combina- 

 tions, which 1 always use in my annotations.* Let Az _ azote, 



» I s'.all lake the libertv of giving a short explanation here of this method, 

 which i, founded on something very analogous to the corpuscular hypothesis 

 of DaltoB. It is known thai bodies in thru gaseous state either unite in equal 

 volume*, <.r one volume of one combines With 2, 3, &.:. volumes of the other. 

 Let us exn.ess In the initial l« tl< rs of .In- name of each substance a determi- 

 nate quantity of that substance; ami let us detehnipe that qnantitj from .ts 

 relation in weight to oxygen, both taken in the gaseous state, and ... equal 



volume,, that i> to vas, the specific gravity of the substances ... he.r g* s 



,tate that of oxygen b,-i„ s <•„„. d, r.-d as unity. I have made choice of 

 Seen for unity, b« u <• it constitutes, as it were, the central p ml of cbe- 



mi try, and became it enter, more frequently than any other subs) , into 



compound, in veriou, proportions, and ought therefore to be the . astest to add 

 or subtract. It a obvious thai this comes to the same thing as Mr. Dal.o.i s 



we'rhuof atoms, but 1 bav. the advantage r him, of aol founding rny 



number* on an hypothesis; b .on a tact well k...»v,.a..d I"—;' 1 . 



When two bodies liave the same initial Utter, 1 add the second letter, ^and 

 Aoald that al*o be the same, I add to the initial the «"' ^nut ff *e 

 word thai differs. In the class of combustibles which I rail metalloid*, I use 

 ooh the Initial letters. For example, 8 = sulphur, s» = l.n (^«J»>. 

 to = antimonj f.rtMum), C = carbon, ('» = coppei {cuprum), M _ mnria- 

 ileum, Si _ magnesium; Mn - manganese, &c. This is ail that Is necessary 



