296 EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS ' 



of the metal decomposing the acid, attracting its chlorine and 

 liberating its hydrogen. And the experiment is farther free 

 from the only resource which remained to the advocates of 

 that doctrine, in the case of water being obtained from mu- 

 riate of ammonia, that it might be derived from the decompo- 

 sition of the elements of ammonia, regarding it as an alkali 

 containing oxygen. If water were really obtained from the 

 combination of muriatic acid and ammoniacal gases, it would 

 rather indicate, it was said, the decomposition of nitrogen 

 fhan the existence of water as a constituent of muriatic acid. 

 No weight, I believe, is due to such an assumption, but if any 

 importance were attached to it, it is precluded if water is ob- 

 tained from the action of metals on muriatic acid gas. 



I have executed the experiment in several forms ; and in all 

 with a more or less satisfactory result. 



One hundred grains of iron filings, clean and dry, were 

 strewed for a length of five or six inches, in a glass-tube which 

 was placed in an iron case, across a small furnace, so as to ad- 

 mit of being raised to a red heat. This tube, of about two 

 feet in length, was connected with a wide tube eight inches 

 long, containing dry and warm muriate of lime ; and this was 

 farther connected, at its other extremity, with a retort afford- 

 ing muriatic acid gas, from a mixture of super-sulphate of pot- 

 ash and muriate of soda. The open extremity of the long 

 tube, dipped by a slight curvature in quicksilver. On the iron 

 being raised to ignition, and the transmission of the acid gas 

 being conducted slowly, elastic fluid escaped from the extre- 

 mity of the tube, which was found to be hydrogen, and though 

 no trace of moisture appeared in the anterior part of the tube, 

 it immediately condensed in that part which was cold, beyond 

 the iron filings. This accumulated in globules, and at length 



run 



