THE 

 LONDON, EDINBURGH, and DUBLIN 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE 



AND 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



♦ 



[FIFTH SERIES.] 



MA Y 1891. 



XL1V. On the Mutual Solubility of Salts in Water. — Part I. 

 By W. W. J. Nicol, M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S.K, F.LC, 



Lecturer on Chemistry, Mason College ?, Birmingham*. 



[Plate VIII.] 



IT has long been well known that certain salts exercise a 

 marked influence on the solubility of others, when the 

 two are simultaneously dissolved in water to saturation. In 

 some cases the amount dissolved of both salts is greatly in- 

 creased, in others as markedly diminished , while in other 

 instances one of the salts has its solubility greatly affected 

 while that of the other is either unaltered or changed in the 

 opposite direction. The whole of these phenomena may be 

 conveniently grouped under the heading, " The Mutual Solu- 

 bility of Salts," which forms the title of this communication ; 

 but it is obvious that some limitation must be made, otherwise 

 it would include cases where chemical decomposition might 

 take place attended by precipitation. Though these are 

 clearly inadmissible, there are other instances which would at 

 first sight appear to come under the title, but will on reflection 

 be found to be similar to the above. Thus all cases where re- 

 arrangement of the constituents of the salts is possible must 

 be at present excluded ; for our knowledge of the nature of 

 solution does not enable us to say what happens when two 

 salts MR and M'R' are simultaneously dissolved in water : we 

 do know that the solution is identical with that formed by 



* Communicated by the Author. 

 Phil. Mag. S. 5. Vol. 31. No. 192. May 1891. 2 E 



