30 NEW ACID GAS. 



and that one of the ammoniacal salts formed had tlse pro- 

 perty of effervescing with dilute nitric acid ; he, without 

 any additional proofs, drew the conclusion just mentioned, 

 ** that the production of carbonic acid in this experiment 

 " was established beyond the possibility of doubt." 

 A. new acid J ^av'e now to announce the existence of a new acid ffas, 



gas the causa i • itn- -mr • • i i ■ 



af his mistake. ^'^"1^*" operated in Mr. JVIurray s experioient, without hi* 

 knowledge of its presence, and was the cause of those phe- 

 ' nomena, which he erroneously attributed to the formation 

 of carbonic acid gas. 



Mr Murray's Repeating this gentleman's experiment on the exposure 



reSd'^'" of the mixture of the three gasses to light, and detecting, 

 after the addition of ammonia, no traces of carbonic oxide ; 

 and perceiving, as he stated, an effervescence of the ammo- 

 niacal salt formed with nitric acid ; 1 was induced to repeat 

 also his experiment on the exposure of a mixture of carbo- 

 nic oxide and oximuriatic gas to light without hidrogen. In 

 this instance I obtained the sanie result, a total condensation 

 by ammonia without the slightest remains of carbonic oxideo 



Presjnce of So satisfactory were the details of Mr. Murray's expe- 



waier sus- rtment, the result of which was asserted to be, " that dry 

 pected but not • i , • - 



tobefound. carbonic oxide gas and oximuriatic gas do not act on each 



other;" that at rirst I could hardly believe, but that wateV 



was somewhere concealed in the apparatus, and I gave my-? 



self much trouble to discover its source, but in vain. 



Thegasexa- The next step I took was to examine the gas, that re- 



™'"^ ' suited from the now evident action of osimuriatic gas on 



carbonic oxide. Mr. Brar>de was pre.^ent at the time. 

 Its properties. Finding that it did not fume when thrown into the at- 

 mosphere, that it had a most intolerable suffocating odour, 

 that it was colourless, that it did not act on the mercury, 

 and that water absorbed it very slowly, we immediately 

 perceived, that it was a new and peculiar compound 

 of carbonic oxide and oximuriatic gas, and this conclusion 

 is fully confirmed by the investigation I have tmade of its 

 properties. 



I shall now mention only the most striking circumstances 

 respecting it. It is my intention to give a full account of 

 the experiments I have made on it, in a paper which 1 shall 

 sopn do myself the honour of offering to the Royal Society,:; 



I have 



