208 AN ANALYSIS 



seemed to me to admit of being applied to the explanation of 

 some of the preceding results. This led to the experiments of 

 which I now propose to give an account. 



The peculiarity in the results of Lavoisier's analysis, and 

 with regard to which the others differ from him, is the obtain- 

 ing, as ingredients of sea-water, portions of sulphate of soda 

 and muriate of lime. Applying the principle now referred to, 

 it is obvious, that in an analysis by evaporation, the composi- 

 tion of these salts would be subverted by their reciprocal ac- 

 tion ; neither of them would be obtained ; but by mutual decom- 

 position they would be converted into muriate of soda, and 

 sulphate of lime. Sulphate of lime is accordingly obtained in 

 all these analyses, and probably has this origin. 



But, admitting this, how had muriate of lime, and sulphate 

 of soda, been procured by Lavoisier. This, supposing the re- 

 sult accurate, can only be ascribed to some peculiarity in his 

 process, by which their mutual action had been prevented, and 

 their distinct existence preserved. The method he employed 

 was to evaporate sea- water to dryness ; during the evaporation, 

 sulphate and carbonate of lime were precipitated and were 

 withdrawn ; the dry saline mass was lixiviated with alcohol ; 

 and the ley being poured off clear, was found to hold in solu- 

 tion muriate of magnesia, and muriate of lime ; the undissol- 

 ved matter was then heated, with a mixture of two parts of al- 

 cohol and one of water, by which it was almost entirely dissol- 

 ved ; it deposited, however, on cooling, a white powder, which 

 was found to be sulphate of soda, and sulphate of magnesia, 

 and it retained dissolved the muriate of soda of the sea-water 

 with a portion likewise of muriate of magnesia. 



Now a portion of sulphate of lime was obtained in this pro- 

 cess, which, according to the view I have stated, was probably 



produced 



