1813.] On the Ojcymuriaie of Lime, Ql 



ExPER. VL— Six hundred measures of lime water took 600 

 of oxymuriatie acid gas = 1*80 grain. This was immediately 

 put into a large stoppered bottle, and briskly agitated, the air in 

 the bottle being frequently renewed. When the oxymuriatie 

 acid gas was expelled from the water, nitrate of mercury was 

 dropped in till no precipitate appeared. Five grain n sasures of 

 1*127 nitrate were required (the same as in the last experiment) 

 to saturate the muriatic acid. Hence of the oxymuriatie acid 

 had been converted into muriatic, as in the case of lime water : 

 .600 measures of a similar solution, two weeks old, took five times 

 as much nitrate ; and hence the acid was become i muriatic. 



Though it appears from the preceding experiments that the 

 solution of oxy muriate of lime in water exhibits the oxymuriatie 

 acid and lime combined 1 atom with 1 of lime, we are not to 

 consider the lime as holding the maximum quantity of acid in 

 that state. At an early period of my experiments 1 found that 

 the liquid had all the marks of excess of lime. Indeed, when it 

 is considered that so large a quantity of pure lime is precipi- 

 tated, we cannot expect the liquid to be neutral. And from the 

 following experiment, it is found that lime in solution can retain 

 more oxymuriatie acid than that above-mentioned. 



ExPER. Vn. — A gi-aduated tube was filled with oxymuriatie 

 acid gas. The gas was absorbed by its bulk of lime water. The 

 compound had no smell of oxymuriatie acid : but if any water 

 containing the acid was added to it, strong fumes were imme- 

 diately manifest. This shows that lime water can take its bulk 

 of oxymuriatie acid, but no more, so as to neutralize it. Now 

 100 grains of lime water contain -12 gr. of lime, and 100 

 measures of oxymuriatie acid weigh -29 gr. ; hence 24 parts of 

 lime are in this instance combined with 58 of oxymuriatie acidj 

 or 1 atom of lime to 2 of acid. This compound, therefore, is a 

 • superoxymuriate, or, as I should rather term it, hinoxymuriate 

 of lime. 



This fact, in conjunction with the observation that free lime is 

 always found in oxymuriate solution, and an hasty experiment 

 from which I inferred that the same quantity of acid was 

 required to neutralize oxymuriate solution as to neutralize the 

 same volume of lime water, conspired for a long time to mislead 

 me respecting the true nature and constitution of liquid oxymu- 

 riate of lime. 1 imagined it was constituted of muriate of lime^ 

 and hinoxymuriate, dissolved in lime water ; but I al ways found 

 too much lime, and too little oxymuriatie acid, for this idea. At 

 last I began to suspect thai: the free lime (as I had conceived it) 

 must be more in quantity than v/hat is found in lime water. By 

 carefully adding dilute acids to a solution, I found that much 

 more acid might be added than was requisite to saturate lime 

 water, without developing the offensive smell of oxymuriatie 



