132 



MEMOIR OF GEORGE WILSON. 



CHAP. Til. 



" Be it known to you, most worshipful brother, that in the 

 course of some speculations on crystallography, which sprang 

 out of my abortive essay to bring to the test some views, which, 

 could I but realize, would be the making of me, I thought of 

 trying to make a chemical compound, whose existence hitherto 

 has been only guessed at a compound of iodine and sulphur. 

 Searching in Dr. Christison's, I fell upon a glass ball, a most 

 necessary piece of apparatus, and cut and bent a piece of glass 

 tube for myself, and fished out a small glass bottle, my object 

 being to pass the vapour of iodine over melted sulphur, thus : 

 I suppose a drawing will please you most, so there's for you. 



Well, I only waited for an opportunity, which soon presented 

 itself in the illness of Dr. Christison, which kept him at home 

 on Saturday. Secure from interruption (though remember Dr. 

 Christison would let rne experiment before him, but I hate to 

 have any one near me, and work best alone), I set up my appa 

 ratus, as you see it above, and worked from ten till two in n. 

 lower room without a fire. On first removing the vessel there- 

 after, I was stopped by an explosion from the stoppage of my 

 tubes. There seemed nothing but a concrete mass, and, with a 

 heavy, deep-drawn sigh, I said, ' Then there's no compound such 

 as I expected V when, turning the vessel, I saw a little portion 

 of rich red fluid all was right. I carefully set aside the in- 

 valuable liquid, and succeeded by a few hastily contrived ex- 

 periments in showing that it possessed curious properties. The 

 next point was to make a large quantity, to purify it, and exa- 

 mine its chemical relations. Away T went to the glassblower, 



