180 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



fraction of what I had undertaken ; and moreover, my duties 

 of late have been so numerous that my time has been more 

 than duly occupied, in consequence of which I have been 

 unable to overtake the work which was necessary to enable me 

 to make perfectly clear the many points I intended grasping. 



There are, as is well known, the two great and rival pro- 

 cesses for examination of water, namely, the Frankland and 

 the Ammonia process ; but as to give my experiences of, and 

 to criticise fairly these two processes, would occupy the whole 

 evening, I will confine my remarks mainly to the latter sys- 

 tem, which is the now well-known process of my friend. 

 Professor Wanklyn, of London. 



Many scientists are of opinion that there are but two 

 methods of water analysis, but in thinking so they are in 

 error, because waters have been for many years analysed, and 

 analysed correctly too — at least by some chemists — so far as 

 their analysis went ; but there is another and a greater pro- 

 cess, superlatively great in its primitiveness and in its being 

 absurdly erroneous, which I shall designate the X process. 



This process, or rather the mode of stating results obtained 

 by it, I will first bring under your notice, after which I shall, 

 as I have already promised, make a few observations upon the 

 Wanklyn process, and the balance of my water experiences I 

 will carry forward to session 1877-78. 



First, then, the mineral constituents of a water residue, as 

 ascertained by this X process, are stated with an almost 

 mathematical constancy as regards relationship of acids to 

 bases, the calcium present being invariably delegated to car- 

 bonic acid and to sulphuric acid. E'ow, thus associating the 

 metals is, under certain circumstances, pardonable ; but there 

 is always in the reports to which I refer the parenthetical 

 explanation that '' carbonate of lime " is " chalk," and that 

 " sulphate of lime " is " stucco," while we know perfectly well 

 that in 90 per cent, of the water residues that are examined 

 there is neither chalk nor stu.cco in their composition. The 

 next item in this X process formulae to which I must take 

 exception is " chloride of potassium ; " this salt is not only 

 invariably found by the process of which I am now speaking, 

 but it is so in such minute proportion as to be beyond the 



