. 



. 

 20 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO CHEMISTRY CHAP. 



Muriates. Glauber, who discovered the first efficient 

 method of making spirit of salt or muriatic acid, prepared 

 the MURIATES OF IRON, COPPER, GOLD, and other metals, by the 

 action of spirit of salt, or of aqua regia upon the metals ; he 

 obtained them in the form of strong solutions which he 

 described as "oil of Mars," "oil of Venus," etc., in accordance 

 with the alchemistic system (which survives in the case of 

 Mercury) of calling each of the common metals after a 

 planet. 



Common salt, which can be prepared artificially by recom- 

 bining muriatic acid with soda, is a MURIATE OF SODA. The 

 corresponding MURIATE OF POTASH, known as SAL SYLVII, 

 or SYLVINE, was prepared by the action of* muriatic acid 

 on wood-ashes or potash. Extensive deposits of the salt 

 have been found at Stassfurt in Germany ; the mineral is 

 used on a large scale as a fertiliser in agriculture, and is 

 one of the chief sources from which potash is derived. 



Black in 1755 prepared the MURIATE OF MAGNESIA, and 

 compared its properties with those of MURIATE OF LIME. 



Acetates. Of the salts derived from organic acids the most 

 important were the ACETATES prepared from vinegar, or acetic 

 .acid. The ACETATE OF SODA and ACETATE OF LIME prepared 

 by the action of vinegar on soda and on chalk (as described 

 on p. 15), were amongst the first salts to be prepared arti- 

 ficially. Mention may also be made of the ACETATE OF LEAD 

 which Basil Valentine prepared from vinegar and litharge, 

 and which acquired the name SUGAR OF LEAD on account of 

 its sweet taste ; also of the ACETATE OF COPPER, which he 

 prepared by the action of vinegar on verdigris. 



" There is extracted from calcined Saturn [*>., burnt lead 

 or litharge] with distilled Vinegar a Crystalline Salt." 



"Take some pounds of Verdigris, extract its Tincture with 

 distilled Vinegar, let it shoot, then you have a glorious 

 Vitriol." (Basil Valentine, Last Will and Testament, pp. 

 349 and 351.) 



