126 AZOTIC GAS. 



0*590164. A set of experiments to determine 

 the specific gravity of this gas, made with great 

 care in my laboratory, gave (the mean of three 

 trials) '59031. Davy found the specific gra- 

 vity of this gasa little below the theoretical re- 

 sult, while I obtained it a little above it but if 

 we take the mean between these two specific 

 gravities, we obtain 0*590237, which differs from 

 the theoretical result by less than Tooooth part. 

 There cannot be the least doubt that the atomic 

 weight and specific gravity of ammoniacal gas 

 have been determined with precision. 



But as the exact knowledge of the composi- 

 tion of this substance is a most important point 

 in the theory of chemistry, it will not be amiss to 

 exhibit even a redundancy of evidence. I shall, 

 therefore, add a few additional experiments. 

 Analysis of 1. Oxalate of ammonia is a neutral salt, which 



oxalate of . . p . 



ammonia, crystallizes in beautitul transparent prisms. It 

 is not very soluble in water. Its constituents I 

 have found, by a careful analysis, to be 



1 atom oxalic acid . 4-5 



1 atom ammonia . 2-125 



2 atoms water 2-25 



8-875 



8*875 grains of this salt were dissolved in a small 

 quantity of distilled water. 6'25 grains of pure 

 calcareous spar (equivalent to 3-5 grains of lime) 



