ON THE WATER IN MURIATE OF AMMONIA. ]^3 



I have no wish to enter on the discussion of the remain- Remarks on 



ins; observations of Mr. J. Davy in his last communication. Mr- i:)avv '* 



n l3st coramum. 



I only feel myself called on to make one or two remarks on cation. 



his assertion with regard co the accuracy of his own and his 

 brother's experiments,, and the inaccuracy of mine. He 

 thinks proper to say, that all my experiments have been found 

 to be incorrect; that I have advanced no arguments, that 

 have not been answered, no experiment . the accuracy of 

 which has been admitted. I shall merely meet these 

 assertions by recalling in a very brief manner to the notice 

 of your readers, the fact originally established by my ex- 

 periments, the various kinds of denial which Messrs. 

 Davies gave to them, and the admission which they have 

 at length been compelled to yield to them. 



At the commencement of this controversy 1 had affirmed, The conversion 



that, when dry carbonic oxide, bidrogen, and oximuriatic ofc f rb . oruc 



J . oxide into car- 



acid gasses are submitted to mutual action, the carbonic bonic acid by 



oxide disappears, and carbonic acid is obtained. They oximuna,lc 

 opposed to this the supposition, that the conversion of car- fi rs t denied bu- 

 bonic oxide into carbonic acid was owing to the titcompo- Messrs, Daries 

 sition of water admitted to examine the product; or to the 

 presence of atmospheric air, or the intermixture of a com- 

 pound of oximuriatic acid and oxigen in the oxwgauriatic 

 gas 1 employed: and they affirmed, that, when these 

 sources of fallacy were avoided, and particularly when am- 

 monia was employed to condense the product, the carbonic 

 oxide remained unchanged, and no carbonic acid was 

 formed*. Though satisfied of the futility of these sup- 

 positions, I repeated the experiment, with this variation; 

 and still obtained the same result, the disappearance of the 

 carbonic oxide, and the production of carbonic acid when 

 the salt formed by the ammonia was decomposed by au 

 acid. Still Messrs. Davies attempted to deny these re-? 

 suits; and to support them in this denial they had recourse 

 to some very singular methodsf . They repeated my ex^ 

 periment to prove it incorrect, but instead of executing it " 

 in the manner in which I had performed it, as common 

 candour, and common accuracy required, they diminished 



* Journal, vol. XXVIII, p. 200, &c. vol. XXIX, p. 235. 

 f Ibid, toI. XXIX, p. 42, 183, 



the 



