246 HI.3T0RY or GOLD. 



Analysis of I ])ut a hundred grains of the precipitate into a little glass 



the precipitate. j-^^Qj-t ^^^^ j-ijg flame of a lamp. Scarcely had a few minutes 

 Detonated. elapsed before a rapid stream of white vapours spouted out, 

 forming a thick cloud, which I took care not to inhale. I 

 judged, that a hasty disoxidatioij of the gold might have pro- 

 duced this kind of detonation ; and in fact the gold was found 

 to be completely disoTcided, The retort was coated with mcr- 

 curius dulcis mixed with corrosive sublimate. 

 Analysis re- I repeated the disiillation, throwing the precipitate by small 



' portions at a time in to a matrass previously weighed and placed 



over a lamp. The results being less tumultuous than before, 

 allowed me this time to observe better what passed ; but it 

 was imj^ossiblefor me to appreciate the humidity, and conse- 

 quently the proportion of the oxigen to the gold. 



The oxigen in this precipitate, however, was much more 

 abundaKt, as far as can be conjectured, than in the former ; 

 for ICC grains having afforded-of 



Ka«ujt>., Mild and corrosive muriate • •>•••• l6. 



Gold 58, ■ 



Total •••74, 



it is evident, that, as the 26 wanting to make up the 100 could 

 n it contain more than about 8 parts of water, the oxigen must 

 have been in the proportion of 12 parts to 58 of gold ; which 



100 gold to 31 would give the proportions of gold 100, oxigen 31. I am 



'^ "" ' inclined, however, to consider this as more certain than the 



prcce^dng ; because, as I applied a boiling heat to the first pre-? 



cipitatC; part of the gold may have been more or less disoxi- 



datcd ; a circumstance which I took care to avoid in the pre- 



Fathei' inqui- paration of the second. But unqiiestionably it w^ould be pre- 



' • ■ mature to attempt to establish any theory on these facts. It 



is necessary to examine and re-examine them, but my occupa- 



Whencecame tions prevent me from doing this at present. I shall only say^ 

 the mild niui'i- , , • i i • T- i i • ^i • i „/? 



j,^^, p that the mcrcurius dulcis which here accompanies the oxide ot 



gold, did not proceed from any portion of oxide at a maximum, 

 that uiy mercurial solutions might have retained. What then was 

 the origin of this mercwius dulcis ? What could be the occur- 

 rence of affinities, that reduced the sublimate to the condition of 

 mcrcurius dulcis, and united it thus to the oxide of gold ? 



1 shall 



