38 ^^ NITROGEN AND AMMONIA. 



amine the products, which the two alkalis thus prepared, 

 and exposed to various degrees of heat in contact with 

 different inflammable substances well dried, would have 

 afforded.* 



V. 



The Bakerian Lecture for I8O9. On some new Electroche' 

 mica! Researches, on various Objects, particularly the me- 

 tallic Bodies, from the Alkalis, and Earths, and on some 

 Combinations of Hidrogen. Uy "Humphry Davy, Esq, 

 Sec. R. 5. F. R. S. E. M. R. L A. 



(Continued from vol. XXVI, p. 339.^ 



III. Experiments on Nitrogen, Ammonia, and Jhe Amalgam 



from Ammonia. 



Queries re- \J)NE of the queries that I advanced, in attempting to 



spectmg nitro- j.g^ggj^ upon the singular phenomena produced by the 



- * action of potassium upon ammonia was, that nitrogen might 



possibly consist of oxigen and hidrogen, er that it might be 



composed fromAvater. 



I shall have to detail in this section a great number of 



laborious experiments, and minute and tedious processes, 



raade with the hopes of solving this problem. My results 



have been for the most part negative; but I shall venture to 



state them fully, because 1 hope they will tend to elucidate 



some points of discussion, and raay prevent other chemists 



from pursuing the same path of inquiry, and which at first 



view do not appear unpromising. 



7oripation of The formation of nitrogen has been often asserted to 



varbus'pro- ^^^*^ place in many processes, in which none of its known 



rtcicb enone- Combinations were concerned. It is not necessary to enter 



* Mr. Gay-Liissac, in his rfeport of this paper to the Institute, ob- 

 serred, that Mr. Rerthollet, in some experiments which at that time he, 

 had communicateJ only to a few friends, had aheady foun<J, that potash 

 prepared with alcohol contained at least O'lS of water, after being ex- 

 y«:cd to a red heat^ 



intQ 



