178 HENRY DEACON 



hydrochloric acid ; and one at least of the 

 compounds employed must be of such a 

 character that it will have the power of 

 uniting with oxygen, either at the ordinary 

 temperature or when heated, and when it is 

 afterwards heated with hydrochloric acid, and 

 heated either alone or in the presence of 

 oxygen it must possess the property of de- 

 composing such acid, and of ultimately 

 yielding chlorine as one of the results of 

 decomposition. By applying this test to the 

 metallic compound employed, the suitability 

 of the mixture will be ascertained without 

 difficulty. "My process is essentially a con- 

 tinuous one, and it depends upon the power 

 of one or more of the compounds employed 

 to cause the various reactions just described. 

 The hydrochloric acid and air, which is by 

 preference previously heated, are passed over 

 the heated metallic compounds, which 

 absorb more or less of the hydrochloric 

 gas and become saturated therewith, 

 the saturation depending in part upon the 

 temperature employed, and then so long as 

 the temperature remains constant no further 

 change is noticeable in the compounds, but 

 the hydrochloric and the oxygen of the air 

 react on each other in the presence of these 



