the Decomposition -of the Earths, &c. Sl§ 



In the instance in which the amalgam had been wipedj ft 

 small quantity of solution of ammonia, and perhaps of potasb> 

 must have adhered to it; and though the amalgam does not 

 act upon this powerfully at common temperatures, yet when 

 the water is raised in vapour, it tends to oxygenate both the 

 basis of ammonia and potassium, and hence hydrogen i^ 

 evolved, and volatile alkali produced. 



I distilled an amalgam procured by potassium from am* 

 monia, in a tube filled with the vapour of naphtha, and her- 

 metically sealed, in the same manner as in the experiments 

 for obtaining the metals of th-e earths ; but in this case I pro- 

 cured ammonia, hydrogen, and nitrogen only, and pure mer- 

 cury ; and the residuum was potassium, which acted power* 

 fully on the glass tube. 



In another experiment of the same kind, I kept one part of 

 the tube cool by ice, at the time the other part was strongly 

 heated, but nothing condensable except mercury was pro- 

 duced, and the elastic products were the same as in the 

 former instance. 



I endeavoured to procure an amalgam from ammonia, to 

 which no moisture could be supposed to adhere, by heating 

 an amalgam of potassium in ammoniacal gas. 'The amal- 

 gam became covered with a film of potash, but it did not 

 enlarge in its dimensions, and a considerable quantity of 

 non-absorbable gas, which was found to consist of five parts 

 of hydrogen and one of nitrogen, was produced. The amal- 

 gam after this operation did not emit ammonia by exposure 

 to air ; hence it seems probable, that for the deoxygena^ 

 tion of ammonia, and the combination of its basis with mer- 

 cury, the alkali must be in the nascent state, or at least in 

 that condensed form in which it exists in ammoniacal salts, - 

 or solutions. 



Vl. Some Considerations of general Theory, connected with the 

 Metallization of the Alkalis and the Earths. 

 The more the properties of the amalgam obtained from 

 ammonia are considered, the more extraordinary do they 

 appear. 



Mercury by combination with about -ps-Vo n part of its 

 O 4 weight 



