﻿Skey, 
  — 
  Osomose, 
  as 
  the 
  Cause 
  of 
  Sasjjension 
  of 
  Clay 
  in 
  Water, 
  485 
  

  

  Lastly 
  : 
  I 
  get 
  a 
  decided 
  attraction 
  (apparently) 
  of 
  camphor 
  for 
  caraphor 
  

   when 
  this 
  substance 
  occupies 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  water 
  upon 
  which 
  it 
  

   has 
  rotated 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  sufiicieut 
  to 
  give 
  a 
  surface 
  about 
  half 
  

   charged 
  with 
  the 
  camphor 
  compound, 
  

  

  Aet, 
  LXXXII. 
  — 
  On 
  Osowose, 
  as 
  the 
  Cause 
  of 
  the 
  j^ersistent 
  Suspension 
  of 
  

   Clay 
  in 
  Water. 
  By 
  William 
  Skey, 
  Analyst 
  to 
  the 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  

   of 
  New 
  Zealand. 
  

  

  [Read 
  before 
  the 
  Wellington 
  PJulosopMcal 
  Society, 
  9th 
  Novemher, 
  1878.] 
  

   That 
  certain 
  waters 
  can 
  and 
  do 
  persistently 
  suspend 
  clay 
  is 
  a 
  fact 
  which 
  

   has 
  been 
  known 
  from 
  time 
  immemorial, 
  and 
  the 
  fact 
  has 
  also 
  been 
  known 
  

   for 
  a 
  time 
  nearly 
  as 
  long 
  that 
  when 
  alum 
  is 
  added 
  to 
  water 
  thus 
  employed, 
  

   the 
  clay 
  thereof 
  is 
  first 
  coagulated, 
  then 
  precipitated, 
  leaving 
  the 
  bulk 
  of 
  

   the 
  water 
  quite 
  clear. 
  This 
  effect 
  of 
  alum 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  attributed 
  to 
  

   the 
  fact 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  relatively 
  large 
  quantity 
  of 
  water 
  it 
  partially 
  decomposes, 
  

   producing 
  a 
  nearly 
  insoluble 
  basic 
  salt 
  which, 
  as 
  it 
  precipitates, 
  carries 
  the 
  

   clay 
  down 
  with 
  it, 
  entangled 
  therewith, 
  an 
  effect 
  which 
  is 
  therefore 
  simjDly 
  a 
  

   mechanical 
  one. 
  In 
  the 
  year 
  1868, 
  however, 
  I 
  showed* 
  that 
  the 
  same 
  

   effect 
  could 
  be 
  produced 
  chemically. 
  I 
  then 
  brought 
  under 
  public 
  notice 
  

   the 
  fact 
  ''that 
  several 
  neutral 
  salts 
  having 
  their 
  component 
  -parts 
  so 
  strongly 
  

   combined 
  among 
  themselves 
  as 
  to 
  render 
  their 
  decomposition 
  by 
  clay-water 
  

   impossible, 
  are 
  individually 
  capable 
  of 
  'precipitating 
  clay 
  from 
  suspension 
  in 
  

   water.'" 
  I 
  further 
  showed 
  that 
  such 
  precipitates 
  re-acquire 
  a 
  property 
  of 
  

   persistent 
  diffusion, 
  if 
  well 
  washed 
  in 
  pure 
  water;! 
  and 
  I 
  then 
  main- 
  

   tained, 
  and 
  do 
  still 
  maintain, 
  that 
  these 
  salts 
  thus 
  affect 
  clay 
  so 
  suspended 
  

   solely 
  by 
  the 
  exercise 
  of 
  their 
  affinities 
  for 
  water, 
  by 
  which 
  means 
  the 
  clay 
  

   is 
  partially 
  de-hydrated, 
  and 
  so 
  has 
  its 
  density 
  increased 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  

   that 
  gravity 
  soon 
  markedly 
  asserts 
  its 
  influence, 
  causing 
  the 
  observed 
  

   coagulation. 
  

  

  * 
  London 
  Chemical 
  News, 
  No. 
  435. 
  

   t 
  My 
  claim 
  as 
  the 
  discoverer 
  of 
  this 
  effect 
  of 
  neutral 
  salts 
  has, 
  to 
  use 
  a 
  digger's 
  

   phrase, 
  been 
  '-jumped" 
  by 
  several 
  investigators 
  working 
  independently 
  of 
  each 
  other, 
  

   but 
  all, 
  of 
  course, 
  in 
  happy 
  ignorance 
  of 
  the 
  fact, 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  already 
  properly 
  "pegged 
  

   out." 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  (Dr. 
  Sterry 
  Hunt, 
  formerly 
  of 
  the 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Canada), 
  has 
  

   even 
  unconsciously 
  followed 
  me 
  so 
  closely 
  and 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  same 
  application 
  of 
  

   the 
  knowledge 
  of 
  this 
  property 
  of 
  such 
  salts 
  as 
  I 
  did 
  — 
  viz., 
  to 
  the 
  explanation 
  of 
  the 
  

   cause 
  of 
  the 
  freedom 
  of 
  the 
  oceanic 
  waters 
  from 
  clayey 
  matters, 
  

  

  