WITH THE MARINE ACID. 31* 



tiiefe mixtures or combinations prcfcntthcmfelvcs, 

 and which dcfervc to be fcparately confidcrcd. 



ii. Ctrrtjivc Mercurial Sublimate. 



WHEN mercury is completely faturated with 

 the marine acid, the [alt refuhing from fuch an 

 union is generally fignificd by the name off o/r0- 

 Jivc mercurial fubliniatc. This name it derived 

 from i's corroding pt-wcr ; and it was called likc- 

 \vife th? tnulltus uii'talfarum, from its fingular 

 cilLvcy in tlie foiution of metals. 



Gftlr: firit inventor of this metallic fait we 

 I'.ie cnthely i^iioi.tnt. The anticnts, however, 

 ll'em tu have had fomc knowledge of it. Avi- 

 ccnna, (who died, us it is laid, an. 1036, p. L. 

 N.) makes mention of it; and, even a century 

 before his time, it was known to Abubcker-al- 

 Khafi, commonly called Rhafcs *. That the 

 Chincfc were acquainted with the preparation 

 of corrofivc fublimate, ajypears evident from a 

 Chinefe nianufcript on tlio inedSt-al art, a tranf- 

 Jati n of which by C. A. Vandermondc into 

 French is prcfeved in the library of B. Juflieu \. 

 >Jut whether the Chinefe and the Kuropcans 

 derived their knowledge on this fubjccl from the 

 J'amc fourcc, or whether it was invented by fc- 



vcral 



* Mcmoirc pour fcr Jr a I'liirtoirc He 1'uiV.gc interne du 

 \crciiro fubiimc corrofif, par M. Lc Brguc Uc Prcflc. 

 | Cbcmic medic, tic Mulouin, 1736. 



