174 



New Phenomena in Chemistry. 



mercury. But afterwards it was observed that this amalgam 

 could be made by the action of potassium or sodium 

 amalgam upon chloride of ammonium. It has been stated 

 that the amalgams thus procured are not exactly similar, 

 the amalgam prepared by the method of Berzelius having 

 a composition according to H. Davy of one part of ammo- 

 nium to 753 of mercury, and crystallizing in cubes when 

 cooled to zero centigrade; while that prepared with the 

 aid of potassium and sodium amalgam contains according 

 to Gay Lussac and Thenard, one part of ammonium to 

 1800 parts of mercury. 



The discovery by Graham of the metallic nature of 

 hydrogen gas, as evinced by its occlusion in, or alloys with 

 palladium and platinum, enables us to avoid the difficulty of 

 believing in the existence of a metal or "element com- 

 pounded of gases" — which is an hibernicism — by suppos- 

 ing ammonia to be an alkaline, nitrogen salt of the metal 

 hydrogenium. Then, allowing that the light, cellular or 

 frothy state of the so called ammonium amalgam is owing to 

 the existence throughout the mass of molecules of released 

 nitrogen, clinging to, and recombining with the rapidly re- 

 oxidizing hydrogenium, we account for the ammonical gas 

 afterward given off. We might then suppose that hydro- 

 genium is the metal of the volatile alkali, ammonia, having 

 little resemblance to magnesium, which Graham believed 

 to most resemble it. This, however, is only an hypothesis, 

 and is indeed a digression. 



The potassium and sodium amalgams enable us to form, 

 besides this hypothetical amalgam, compounds of mercury 

 with those metals which I have arranged in a second class, 

 as refusing to combine with pure mercury at a moderate or 

 low temperature. The process is simply placing potassium 

 amalgam, or its substitute, excited with some corrosive gas, 

 solution of a salt, aqua-ammonia, water or acid (as the 

 case may require) in contact with the metals to be amal- 



