126 Papers relanng to the Hision of Carbon. 
say without renewing my trials upon them. It would be 
useless to examine for silex, &c. which might obviously be 
derived from the glass tube. Perhaps it is not necessary to 
mention that the residuary gas, after the carbonic acid was 
washed out, was oxygen gas. [ objected to the conclusion 
of Mr. Vanuxem, stated in his first memoir, that he found 
no carbon in the matter which he examined, on the ground 
that he did not collect the gaseous products, in which alone, 
in his method of operating, the evidence of the existence of 
carbon would have been found. ‘The experiments which I 
have just related will probably be thought to confirm this 
opinion. 
Half a grain of the fused charcoal was boiled in half an 
ounce of strong nitric acid ina flask with a bent tube, and 
communicating with the pneumatic cistern; as soon as the 
air of the vessel was expelled, the gas which next came gave 
a decided precipitate with lime-water, but much less so than 
in the preceding experiment: the acid being boiled away, the 
vessel broke ; and although there was matter remaining, it was 
lost in the fire, and I could not renew the experiment. Iam 
aware that the above experiments are imperfect; many things 
more, (too obvious to require being mentioned at this time,) 
ought to be done in order to give precision to this inquiry. 
If the work is not accomplished by some abler hand, I shall 
hope to resume it in due time; at present I see no reason to 
doubt that the charcoal has been fused, and of course what- 
ever impurities it contains. But it would be singular indeed, 
if the impurities alone were transferred from one pole to the 
other; if they alone were subjected to the current of igneous 
and electrical influence, while the carbon made its escape. 
The discovery of siliceous, ferruginous, and other impuri- 
ties, in the globules obtained by the blowpipe operating upon 
plumbago and anthracite, certainly renders it probable that 
those obtained by myself in a similar manner and possessed 
of a similar appearance had alsoa similar constitution. I did 
not examine them chemically, owing to causes which have 
been stated; and I distinctly admitted the possibility of the re- 
sults obtained by Professor Vanuxem, as stated in his late 
memoir. 
