ON AMMONIA. J^g 



just been quoted, Mr. Bei-thoUet Junr. has published a gas did not 



Memoir on tlve Analvsis of Ammonia. After faibngr in his °^'''^''^*'^ ^1°^ . 



.' . , J J wire, or form 



attempts to oxidate iron wire, heated to redness, by a cur- water, in the 



rent of ammoniacal ffas, he examined the fail of the sene- experiments 



. T ^■rr' n of Beithollet, 



ration of water, in a way somewnat difterent from that junr. 



which I adopted. About twenty litres (upwards of 1200 



cubic inches) of ammonia were decomposed by ignition, and 



the remaining gas passed through a tube cooled down to 0°; 



but no more water was deposited, than by an equal volume 



of ammoniaca! gas which had noi been ignited. 



On decomposing ammonia by electricity the resembling His analysis of 



sasses bore to it the proportion of 204643 to 1, or were a ^ni"^o'\ia by 

 f , ,,,,', , , electricity au<i 



little more than double. It does not appear, however, that ignition," 



Mr. Berthollet employed the precautions suggested by Mr. 

 Davj'^, and essential to accurate results. One hundred 

 measures of the permanent gas contained 75^ hidrogen, and 

 24^ nitrogen; and the same proportions were found in the 

 products of ammonia decomposed by ignition. The pro- 

 portion of hidrogen a little exceeds them, in these experi- 

 ments, what is considered by Mr. Davy and myself as a cor- 

 rect determination, viz. 74 to 26. 



Mr. BerthoUet, also, attempted the analysis of ammonia, and by defla- 

 by deflagrating it with oxigen; but as he employed an ex- S'^t'on with 

 cess of the latter gas, he did not obtain accurate results ; 

 and abandoned the process without attempting to give it the 

 precision, of which it is susceptible, when a deficiency of 

 oxigen is used for the combustion nitric acid was formed in 

 his experiments, and the detonating tubes were frequently 

 liroken, both of which inconveniences are completely 

 avoided by using the proportions recommended in the text. 



According to the experiments of Biot and Arajo, the fol- Biot and Arra- 

 lowing numbers represent the specific gravity of ammonia, jo'-^ experi- 

 and of the gasses resulting from its decomposition, atinos- "^*"^'" 

 pheric air being taken as unitj. 



Ammoniacal gas 0*59669 Specific gravity 



Oxigen gas 0'07,ji;I (>(am. gas and 



Nitrogen- gas 0-96913 ' ^ ^^^ "' 



Calculating on these data, and on the quantity of gasses, 

 obtained by the decomposition of ammonia and their pro- 

 portion 



