62 . On the Nature of the Earths. 





Contents in one Gallon. 



In one Pint. 



' 





Grains. 



Grains. 



Sulphate of soda 



- 



92' 



11-5 



Muriate of soda 



- 



17" 



2-12,5 



Sulphate of magnesia 



14- 



1-75 



Carbonate of iron 



- 



0-5 



0-0625 



Sulphate of lime 





9* 



1-125 





13-7-5 



16-5625 





Cubic inches. 



Cubic inches. 



Carbonic acid gas 



- 



975 



1-21S75 - 



Common air 





4- 



0-5 





13-75 



1-71875 









VIII. On the Nature of the Earths. 

 To Mr. Tilloch. 



SIR, 



JL o place every man's merits in a conspicuous point of 

 view, and to hold modest worth up to the admiration it de- 

 serves, is laudable j and if the motive for such conduct be 

 indeed uninfluenced by other considerations, it must chal- 

 lenge' universal applause. I am led to this remark by a paper 

 in the last Number of your Magazine, signed O., on the 

 Nature of the Earths. Tts author sets out with stating, that 

 " the result of the late experiments by Messrs. Davy, Ber- 

 zelius, and Pontin, has only confirmed the idea entertained 

 by Lavoisier and others, with regard to the nature of earths, 

 alkalis, &c." 



That barytes and strontites were long since suspected to 

 he of a metallic nature, from their high specific gravities, 

 is well known, and the similarity of the properties of the 

 earths and metallic oxides did not escape the observation of 

 the old chemists. I have not the experiments of Messrs. 

 Toudi and Ruprecht to refer to at this moment, but if my 

 memory does not deceive me, they were very far from effect- 

 ing 



