i8o Prof. Berzelius and Dr. Marcet's Experiments 



characters; and thia was accomplished more quickly, if the 

 water contained some alkaline substance. 



3. Into a glass receiver, full of oxy muriatic gas, we immersed 

 some of the oily liquor previously ignited in the air; it was 

 instantly extinguished, and appeared to undergo no change, 

 except that of absorbing a little oxymuriatic acid, and thereby 

 acquiring a yellow colour. 



4. A portion of the oily liquor, in the state of vapour, was 

 caused to pass through liquified muriate of silver heated to a 

 cherry red, and to condense again into a small receiver artifi- 

 cially cooled ; neither the liquor, nor the muriate of silver, were 

 altered by that operation, nor did the air contained in the ap- 

 paratus appear, on examination, to contain the smallest quan- 

 tity of acid. This shewed that the liquor did not contain any 

 hydrogen, since if it had, the muriate of silver would have been 

 decomposed, the hydrogen uniting with the oxygen to form 

 water, so as to generate muriatic acid gas (which may be 

 considered as a muriate of water, or more correctly a muriate 

 of hydrogen), whilst some sulphuret of silver would have been 

 produced. 



5. Though the result just related appeared sufficiently con- 

 clusive, we thought it desirable to have it confirmed by some 

 other mode of proceeding. With this view, we heated to inci- 

 pient redness, in glass tubes, various metallic oxyds, such as red 

 oxyd of iron, black oxyd of manganese, oxyd of tin ; and we 

 caused quantities of the oily liquor in vapour to pass through 

 these ignited oxyds. The liquor was, by that means, entirely 

 decomposed ; the metallic oxyds were converted into sulphu- 

 rets, and the gases acquired a strong smell of sulphureous 



