NEW DETONATING SUBSTANCE. 



and the whole assumes a black, or vory dark colour. Mr. Cruick. 

 shanks likewise informs me, that after the combustion of good 

 gunpowder under mercury, no water is ever perceptible." 



[Pantohg. Phil. Trans. 



SECTION III. 



Azotane, or the Detonating Substance of M. Dulong. 



THIS constitutes one of the latest discoveries in modern chemis- 

 try and almost all that we know of it in our own country, 

 is through the correspondence and experiments of Sir Humphry 

 Davy. 



In September 1812, this philosopher received from M. Ampere, 

 then residing at Paris, a letter containing the following passage : 

 " You are doubtless apprised, Sir, of the discovery made at Paris, 

 nearly a year ago, of a combination of azotic gass and calorine, 

 which has the appearance of an oil, heavier than water, and which 

 detonates with all the violence of the fulminating metals, on the 

 simple heat of the hand ; an effect which has deprived the author 

 of this discovery of an eye and a finger. This detonation takes 

 place by the simple separation of the two gasses, namely the com. 

 bination of oxygen and calorine ; light and heat are largely and 

 equally produced by this detonation, in which a single liquid be. 

 comes decomposed into two gasses *." 



The farther account of this curious substance we shall give in Sir 

 Humphry's own words, as contained in the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions for 1813. 



*' The letter," says he, (l contained no account of the mode of 

 preparation of this substance, nor any other details respecting it. 

 So curious and important a result could not fail to interest 

 me, particularly as I have long been engaged in experiments on 

 the action of azote and chlorine, without gaining any decided 

 proofs of their power of combining with each other. I perused 

 with avidity the different French chemical and physical journals, 

 especially Los Annales de Chimie and Le Journal de Physique, of 

 which the complete series of the last year have arrived in this coun. 

 try, in hopes of discovering some detail respecting the prepara- 

 tion of this substance ; but in vain. I was unable to find any 

 thing relative to it in these publications, or in the Moniteur. 



* " You avez tans doute appr'u," &c, see Phil. Trans, for 1813, p. 1. 



