[ 541 ] 



LXXIV. Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 



[Continued from p. 486.] 

 May 4, 1865. — Major General Sabine President, in the Chair. 



HP HE following communication was read : — 

 -*- " On the Properties of Liquefied Hydrochloric Acid Gas." 

 By George Gore, Esq. 



In a former communication to the Royal Society " On the Proper- 

 ties of Liquefied Carbonic Acid/' printed in the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions for 1861 (also in the Journal of the Chemical Society, vol. 

 xv., page 163) *, I described a mode of manipulation whereby various 

 solid substances were introduced into that liquefied gas whilst under 

 very great pressures (varying from 500 to 1100 pounds per square 

 inch), and the action of the liquid upon them observed. 



The experiments described in the present paper were made in a 

 similar manner, but with some improvements in safety of manipu- 

 lation, and in the mode of discharging the tubes, so as to recover the 

 immersed solids in a satisfactory state. 



The glass tubes in which the gas was condensed were about y^-ths 

 of an inch internal diameter, and fully -Jths of an inch external dia- 

 meter. Each tube was, before bending, 1 \\ inches long ; it was 

 bent, at l^inch and 6^ inches respectively from one end, to the form 

 already described in the paper referred to, thus giving 5 inches in 

 length for the salt, 5 inches for the acid, and 1-1- inch for the liquefied 

 gas. These distances are essential ; for if the quantities of acid and 

 salt are not properly proportioned to each other, and to the remain- 

 ing space in the tube, the liquefied product will be very small. The 

 curve in the tube between the acid and the salt should be very gra- 

 dual, and the other bend much less so. The end of the tube con- 

 taining the salt should be constructed open, with a flange, and be 

 closed securely by a plug of gutta percha in the same manner as 

 the upper end. 



The materials used were strong sulphuric acid and fragments of 

 sal-ammoniac. Each tube was placed in a deal frame or box 10 

 inches high, 8 inches wide, and 4 inches from front to back, open 

 at the back, and with a front or door of wire gauze. The tube 

 was supported by a cork fitting into a hole in the side of the frame, 

 and was secured within a notch in the cork by a ligature of wire. 

 By means of this arrangement the acid and salt were brought into 

 mutual contact by turning the box itself, without incurring the danger 

 of putting one's hand inside the box and turning the tube alone, as 

 in the former experiments. 



The annexed figures (1 & 2) represent the position of the box, 1st, 

 when charged and ready for the decomposition of the sal-ammoniac ; 

 and 2nd, after the decomposition is completed. The arrows indicate 

 the direction in which the box is turned. 



The action at first should be very slow ; otherwise the bubbles 



* The reader is referred to the above communication for details of information 

 respecting the apparatus employed and manipulation adopted. 



