Adeney & Shegog — Wet and Dri/ Methods in Chemical Analysis. Ill 



we wished to settle, namely, whether or not, when complex 

 substances are fused with borax and sodium carbonate in the 

 manner described, the constituent metals behave as in simple 

 compounds. 



In Dr. Davoren's estimations of nickel and cobalt by this 

 method, no difficulty was experienced in effecting a complete 

 separation ; the nickel was entirely reduced, and all the cobalt was 

 found in the glass bead. From this it was thought that the 

 presence of an easily reducible oxide might entirely prevent the 

 reduction of a difficultly reducible oxide. It seemed probable that 

 if this were found to be the case with bodies so allied in chemical 

 properties as nickel and cobalt, it would in all probability be true 

 of the other oxides, experiments were therefore made with salts of 

 these metals. 



The salts were mixed with borax, and fused in the oxidizing 

 flame ; no silver was used. The side of the glass bead which had 

 cooled in contact with the charcoal was invariably found covered 

 witli a layer of reduced metal. When the proportions of nickel to 

 cobalt in the mixture was greater than 1 to 1, the reduced metal 

 was entirely nickel. When, however, the cobalt preponderated 

 in the mixture, a small quantity was always reduced with the 

 nickel. 



It will be seen that a considerable number of experiments are 

 yet required, more especially to ascertain the behaviour of complex 

 substances when treated in the way suggested by us ; and it was 

 our original intention to complete the necessary experiments 

 before publishing any results of our investigation. In the midst 

 of our work, however, one of us, having been elected to the office 

 of Curator in the Royal University, had to resign his position in 

 the Royal College of Science. We have since found it impossible 

 to continue the work jointly, and we have therefore thought it 

 advisable to publish an account of the work which has been 

 already done. 



The investigation will be carried on by one of us. 



