SffO 
phat of alumina ; provided the water contains 
)io muriat of barytes or metallic sulphats. 
; . ie ,1,°* these salts is incompatible with 
mum. 1 he second may be removed by the 
alkaline prussiats. When a precipitate is 
pioduced in water by muriat of lime, car- 
bouat ot lijne, and muriat of magnesia, we 
may conclude that it contains alum, or sul- 
phat of alumina. 
4. Sulphat of magnesia may be detected 
means of hydrosulphuret of strontian, 
which occasions an immediate precipitate 
bl " 13 salt and with no other ; provided 
the water is previously deprived of alum, if 
any should be present, by means of carbonat 
<>i lime ; and provided also that it contains no 
uncombined acid, n«r even carbonic acid. , 
5. Sulphat of iron is precipitated from wa- ! 
■ter by alcohol, and then it may be easily re- | 
cognised by its properties. 
11. 1 o ascertain the presence of the differ- ! 
cut muriats. 
"T he muriats found in waters amount to 
eight or nine, it muriat of iron E included. 
J he most common by tar is muriat of soda. 
1. Muriat of soda and of potass may be 
detected by the following method: Separate 
the sulphuric acid by alcohol and nitrat of 
barytes. Decompose the earthy nitrats and 
muriats by adding sulphuric acid. Expel 
the excess of muriatic and nitric acids by 
heat. Separate the sulphats thus formed by 
alcohol and barytes- water. The water thus 
purified can contain nothing but alkaline ni- 
trats and muriats. If it forms a precipitate 
with acetat ot silver, we may conclude that j 
it contains muriat of soda or’ of potass. To j 
ascertain which, evaporate the liquid thus j 
precipitated to dryness ; dissolve the acetat 
in alcohol. Evaporate to dryness. The salt | 
will deliquesce if it is acetat of potass, but 
effloresce if it is acetat of potass. 
‘J. Muriat ot barytes may be detected bv 
sulphuric acid, as it is t lie only barytic salt 
hitherto found in waters. 
3. Muriat ot lime may be detected by the 
following method : Free the water of sulphat 
ot lime and other sulphats, by evaporating it 
to a few ounces, mixing it with spirit of wine, 
and adding last of all nitrat of barytes as long 
as any precipitate appears. Filtre off the 
water, evaporate to dryness, treat the dry 
mass with alcohol. Evaporate the alcohol to 
dryness, and dissolve the residuum in water. | 
If this solution gives a precipitate with acetat ! 
of silver and oxalic acid, it may contain i 
muriat oi lime. It must contain it in that I 
case, if, after being treated with carbonat of ! 
lime, it gives no precipitate with ammonia, j 
Jf it does, separate the lime by means of oxa- ■ 
he acid, filtre and distil with a gentle heat. I 
It the liquid in the receiver gives a precipi- 
tate wiili nitrat ol silver, muriat of lime ex- 
isted in tiie water. 
4. Muriat of magnesia may be detected by 
separating all the sulphuric acid by means of 
mtrat ot barytes. Filtre, evaporate to dry- 
ness, and treat the dry mass with alcohol. 
Evaporate the aloehol solution to dryness, 
sm i disso've the residuum in water. * The 
of magnesia, if the water contain d 
’WATERS. 
precipitate, and if sulphuric acid and evapor- 
ation, together with the addition of a little al- 
cohol, occasion no precipitate, the solution 
contains only muriat of magnesia. If these 
tests give precipitates, we must separate the 
lime which is present by sulphuric acid and 
spirit of wine, and distil off the acid with 
which it was combined. Then the magnesia 
is to be separated by the oxalic acid and al- 
cohol ; and the acid with which it was united 
is to be distilled off. If the liquid in the re- 
tort gives a precipitate with nitrat of silver, 
the water contains muriat of magnesia. 
5. Muriat of alumina may be discovered 
by saturating the water, if it contains an ex- 
cess of alkali, with nitric acid, and separating 
the sulphuric acid by means of nitrat of 
barytes. If the liquid thus purified gives a 
precipitate with carbonat of lime, it contains 
muriat of alumina. The muriat of iron or of 
manganese, it any is present, is also decom- 
posed, and the iron precipitated by this salt. 
r J he precipitate may be dissolved in muriatic 
acid, and the alumina, iron, and manganese, 
if they are present, may be afterwards se- 
parated. 
III. To ascertain the presence of the dif- 
ferent nitrats. The nitrats but seldom occur 
in waters ; when they do they may be detect- 
ed by the following rules : 
1. Alkaline nitrats may be detected by 
freeing the water examined from sulphuric 
acid by means of acetat of barytes, and from 
muriatic acid by acetat of silver. Evaporate 
the iiltred liquid, and treat the dry mass 
with alcohol ; what the alcohol leaves can 
I consist only of the alkaline nitrats and acetat 
or lime. Dissolve it in water. If carbonat 
of magnesia occasions a precipitate, lime is 
present. Separate the lime by means of car- 
bonat of magnesia. Fillre and evaporate to 
dryness, and treat the dried mass with alco- 
hol. The alcohol now leaves only the alka- 
line nitrats, which may be easily recognised, 
and distinguished by their respective pro- 
perties. 
2. Nitrat of lime. To detect this salt, con- 
centrate the water, and mix with it alcohol 
to separate the sulphats. Filtre and distil off 
the alcohol ; then separate the muriatic acid 
by acetat of silver. Filtre, evaporate to dry- j 
ness, and dissolve the residuum in alcohol, j 
Evaporate to dryness, and dissolve the dry j 
mass in water. If this solution indicates the i 
gether in water except in very m ink »r 
portions : 
Salts. ^ Incompatible with 
, ( Nitrats of lime and mag- 
1. Fixed alkaline j nesia, 
sulphats. 
2. Sulphat of ( Alkalies, 
lllllC. J C 1'Kniv.i 1 
'I Muriats of lime and mag- 
( nesia. 
3. Alum. 
4. Sulphat 
magnesia. 
x Carbonat of magnesia, 
(Mi iriat of barytes. 
f Alkalies, 
I Muriat of barytes, 
^ Nitrat, muriat*, carbonat 'of 
lime, 
L Carbonat of magnesia, 
f A’kalies, 
of J Muriat of barytes, 
y Nitrat and muriat of 
v. lime. 
i Alkalies, 
5. Sulphat of iron. < Muriat of barytes, 
( Earthy carbonats. 
6. Muriat of ba- S 
rv (es j Alkaline carbonats, 
} ( Earthy carbonats. 
„ . , ... ( Sulphats, except of lime. 
7. Muriat of lime. < Alkaline carbonats, 
( Carbonat of magnesia. 
8. Muriat of mag- 5 Alkaline carbonats, 
nesia. ( Alkaline carbonats, 
r Alkaline sulphats, 
9. Nitrat of lime. 3 Carbonat of magnesia and 
I *1111 m 1 
) alumina, 
(Si 
muriat 
any, will be louiui in this solution. Let m 
suppose that, by the tests formerly described, 
the presence of muriatic acid and of mag- 
iie=. 1 in t.ais monition has been ascertained, 
in that case, ;i carbonat of lime affords no 
presence of lime by the usual tests, the water j 
contained nitrat of lime. 
3. 1 o detect nitrat of magnesia, the water ! 
is to be freed from sulphats and muriats ex- j 
actly as described in the last paragraph. The ’ 
liquid thus purified is to be evaporated to ^ 
dryness, and the residuum treated with alco- 
hol. fhe alcohol solution is to be evaporat- 
ed to drvness, and the dry mass dissolved in 
water. To this solution potass is to be added 
as long as any precipitate appears. 'The so- 
lution, Iiltred, and again evaporated to drv- 
ness, is to be treated with alcohol. If it 
leaves a residuum consisting of nitre (the 
only residuum which it can leave), the water 
contained nitrat of magnesia. 
buch are the methods by which the pre- 
sence ol the different saline contents of wa- 
ters may be ascertained. The labour of ana- 
lysis may be consid ;rably shortened, by ob- 
serving that the following salts are incom- 
patible with each other, and cannot exist to- 
v Sulphats, except of lime. 
Besides the substances above described, 
there is sometimes found in water a quantity 
of bitumen combined with alkali, and in the 
state of soap. In such waters acids occasion 
a coagulation ; and the coagulum collected 
on a filtre discovers its bituminous nature by 
its combustibility. - 
Water also sometimes contains extractive 
matter ; the presence of which may be de- 
tected by means of nitrat of silver. The wa- 
ter suspected to contain it must be freed from 
sulphuric and nitric acid by means of nitrat 
of lead. Alter this, il it gives a brown pro 
cipitate with nitrat of silver, we may con- 
clude that, exii active matter- is present. 
The proportion of saline ingredients, held 
111 solution by any water, may be in’some 
measure estimated from its specific gravity. 
I he lighter a water is, the less saline matter 
does it contain ; and, on the other hand, the 
heavier it is, the greater is the proportion of 
saline contents. Mr. Ivirivan lias pointed out 
a very ingenious method of estimating the 
saline contents of a mineral water whose spe- 
cific gi a\ ity is known ; so that flic error 
does not exceed one or two parts in the hun- 
dred. The method is this : Subtract the spe- 
cific gravity of pure water from the specific 
gravity of the mineral water examined (both 
expressed in whole numbers), and multiply 
the remainder by 1.4. The product is the 
saline contents, in a quantity of the water de- 
noted by the number employed to indicate 
the specific gravity of distilled water. Thus 
Jet^lhe water be oi the specific gravity 
1.079, or in whole numbers 107y. Theiv 
the specific gravit y of distille d water 
will be 1000. And 1079 — 10u0 _L 1.4 ~ 
1 10.6— saline contents in 1 000 parts oi the wa- 
ter in question; and consequently 11. 06 in 
100 parts of (he same water. Tins formula, 
will often be of considerable use, as it serves 
as a kind of standard to which we may com-. 
