232 SALINE SOLUTIONS. 



mented by every addition of temperature from 

 32, to about 70, and then diminishes up to 

 212 F. (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. xi. 296.) 



It is also generally known, that chloride of 

 sodium (common salt) is not more soluble in 

 water at 212 than at 60. Whatever may be 

 the cause of such anomalies, they do not afford 

 the slightest proof that caloric is not the solvent, 

 for this plain reason, that when a solution of 

 common salt is exposed to great cold, it is preci- 

 pitated, and the water becomes nearly fresh 

 that is, when the agent which held it in a state 

 of chemical combination with the water is with- 

 drawn, it falls down which clearly proves that 

 the chemical attraction of water for the salt is 

 owing to its caloric. Hence it is, that sea water 

 is deprived of nearly all its salt by congelation, 

 as demonstrated experimentally by Danes Bar- 

 rington, a fact which the author has seen veri- 

 fied on a large scale. In the month of January, 

 1834, when the Bay of New York was frozen 

 over, the ice that covered it was found to be but 

 slightly brackish. It is therefore evident, that 

 if the ocean could be frozen throughout, it would 

 not be capable of holding its salt in a state of 

 chemical combination, but that it would fall 

 to the bottom, constituting a solid stratum, vary- 

 ing in thickness with the depth of the ocean. 

 Dr. Turner states, that common salt dissolves 

 in twice and a half its own weight of water at 



