OBSERVATIONS IN CHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY. 41$ 



III. A bundle of copper wire tied with asbestos cord, which bundle had 

 already been deoxidized in hydrogen, was so placed within the glass tube that 

 its middle was exactly above middle of burner at the place where the thermo- 

 couple had been. The couple itself lay one-eighth of ai inch behind the rear < nd 

 of bundle, not in contact with any of the copper, to avoid possible alloying 

 The action lasts from 1 0.55 to 1 .00 P. M. The omperature is 370° C. No color 

 is visible on the glass. 



IV. Same bundle of wire, apparatus as before. Full heat lasta from 1 h. 40 n 

 to 3 h. 25 m., mean temperature is 580° C. No red color to l>e tern on glass. 



VII. The same bundle of wire, which ought to be by now absolutely dt \idized 

 is found to weigh 22.7520 grams (without the binding cord). It slid* oaail 

 into the tube. Bundle is so placed that its middle is exactly l»et\\. - n the flame* 

 of two adjacent burners. Heatim lasts from 10 A. M to 1 h. 25 m. P. M. Aver- 

 age temperature 660° C. The glass shows one rin^ of ruby color at the forward 

 asbestos cord and very faint marks at the rearward cord. A faint white 1m 



is forward the ruby ring, The weight of the bundle is now 22.7435 grams, :i 



decrease of 0.0085 grams or 0.0373 per cent. The tube shows slight sagging. 

 Only a part of the decrease can have been copper, because the ruby is so very 

 slight. Up to now the results are baffling and disappointing. 



VIII. A new bundle of wire (Quincy No. 2), 10 pieces 2 inches long. The 

 wire was rubbed and burnished with charcoal and chamois leather. The weight 

 is 23.3869 grams. The middle of bundle is over first burner, second burner is 

 only one-l^alf open. The hottest part of the tube should be 590° C. I lydrogen 



passes about two bubbles per second. At first air only passes into tube be- 

 cause it was intended to carbonize and burn the cotton fiber in the bettoe 

 before the beginning of the action proper. Thus the surface of the copper wire 

 ttirned gray from surface oxidation. Action lasts from 11 h. 15 in. to 12 M. In 

 this short time a fine red color has developed. But the color is ruby only in 

 spots and patches. Far the largest part of the color is the pale red of metallic 

 copper. The metallic particles seem to be projected against the glass as a spi 

 of dust and the glass did not assimilate the metal for either lack of temperature 

 or lack of time or both. What follows from the experiment? Is the start ling 

 result due to the previous oxidation? Must it be assumed that when hydrogen 

 has taken away the oxygen, that the remaining molecules of copper are held 

 together with less cohesion and that therefore they part from each other, t. ( 

 volatilize and migrate to the surface of the glass tube? 



Note.— The tube must have been hot enough to soften, because the asbestos 



cord left two well-developed grooves in the glass. 



IX. Placed the bundle as in VIII. 1J^ burners going. Duration of heat 

 two hours after the copper has been oxidized for 20 minutes. Pyrometer shows 

 590° C. at end of heat. After cooling down the tube shows no red, neither c pper 

 nor copper ruby. Yet the bundle has lost 0.015 grams - 0.064 per cent. The 

 wires are without blemish. The subject of the investigation becomes more and 

 more elusive. The oxidation hypothesis does not seem to be sustained. 



