280* PHOSPHORUS IX SEEDS. 



.>■'-'/; ...IT the consideratrons 1 have afidnced above had not led mo- 

 .: ,.:id'et-n' (flielTvists to A(\-6pt^ a tontrary opinion. 

 Beans appear y^'^^^erkVyeurs ago, 'as I wasincinerating soKie beans in a pla- 

 to contain tina cti'pkcil'e, I e^|iosed them suddenly to too strong a heat. 

 phosphorus. YYie charcoal and ashes of these seeds agglutinated together 

 at the bottom of the capsule, and a hole was made through 

 the metal in one place where it was in contact with the char* 

 coal. I did not then ascribe the eiFect to its true cause ; but 

 when I found Messrs. Fourcroy and Vauquelln had experi- 

 enced a similar incident when treating fishes roes in a platina 

 vessel, 1 concluded, that the observations of Fott, Margraff, 

 &c., were well founded. As the success of the process de- 

 pends in great measure on its minutiae, I shall relate all the 

 particulars of that I adopted. 

 Wheat distil- " subjected to distillation in a stone retort 1-039 kil. 

 ^c'J. [l6042 grs.] of wheat. The fire was at first very gentle, and 



raised by degrees, in the course of three hours, to a slight 

 white heat. When at this temperature no more vapour was 

 evolved, I took out the coal that had formed in the retort, 

 and which weighed !250 gram. [38C0 grs.] This I powdered 

 and introduced into a small coated porcelain retort, which- 

 it three parts filled, and which communicated by means of 

 an adopter with a tubulated receiver half full of water. Af- 

 ter having luted all the junctures of the a|)paratus, 1 placed 

 the retort in a furnace, the fireplace of which, 2"3 dec. 

 [9 inches] broad, terminated in a tunnel 1*3 dec. [4^ inches] 

 in diameter, and 2 met. [6 feet 6 in.] high; and I raised 

 the fire gradually in about two hours to as intense a heat as 

 the furnace would produce. This heat was sufficient to 

 fuse; the argillaceous lute that coated the retort, and remove 

 al.?iost the whole of it. A white smoke, having the smell 

 of phosphorus, then diffused itself through the receiver. 

 Phosphorus in ^^^ii^" ^'^^ ^PP^'"'^'^"^ ^''^^ cold, I unluted it, and found a 

 the adopter, slight coating of phosphorus in the adopter. It took fire on 

 the admission of aiv, and exhibited the smdl, colour, con- 

 sistency, and all the other characters, b)] .which this emi? 

 nently combustible substance is so easily distinguished. 

 The success From this result we may presume, that other seed's would 



depends on tiie furnish the same product; and that, if it have not beea 

 ouSH'S^^ obtained by all chemists, it was because they did not em- 

 ploy 



