ANTIMONY. 45 



A number of beautiful white scales, with a silky 

 lustre, gradually make their appearance at the 

 bottom of the liquid in the retort. These scales 

 may be taken out and dried upon blotting pa- 

 per : they do not deliquesce, and as far as I 

 have observed, undergo no alteration whatever 

 by exposure to the air. They may be dissolved, 

 at least partially, in water without undergoing 

 decomposition ; by digesting them with a solu- 

 tion of carbonate of soda, I decomposed them ; 

 and by collecting the oxide of antimony, and 

 determining the quantity of chlorine by means 

 of nitrate of silver, I found that these scales con- 

 stitute a dichloride of antimony composed of 



1 atom chlorine 4*5 



2 atoms antimony 1 1 



15-5 



If the muriatic solution of antimony, thus de- 

 prived of the dichloride, be still farther concen- 

 trated, till liquid no longer passes into the re- 

 ceiver, the whole matter in the retort concretes 

 on cooling into a solid mass, having a silky lus- 

 tre, and the property of deliquescing very ra- 

 pidly when exposed to the air. I have obtained 

 it crystallized in octahedrons, usually having two 

 of the opposite faces of the pyramids a good 

 deal larger than the other two. Frequently, the 

 octahedron does not terminate in a pointed sum- 

 mit, but forms a ridge ; this is the substance 



