8 Dr. Priestley’s Experiments 
Cavendish ; his decompofttion being a very flow one by elec- 
tricity, and mine a very rapid one by Jimp le ignition , a procefs 
by which phlogifticated air, as I found by actual trial, was not 
at all affected ; the dephlogifticated and inflammable airs unit- 
ing, and leaving the phlogifticated air (as they probably would 
any other kind of air with which they might have been 
mixed) juft as it was. 
I would alfo obferve, that there is no contradiction whatever 
between Mr. Cavendish’s experiment and mine, fince phlo- 
gifticated air may contain phiogifton, and by means of electri- 
city this principle may be evolved, and unite with the dephlo- 
gifticated air (or with the acid principle contained in it) as in 
the procefs of Ample ignition the fame principle is evolved from 
inflammable air, in order to form the lame union ; in confe- 
quence of which, the water, which was a necefiary ingredient 
in the compofltion of both the kinds of air, is precipitated. 
That in other circum fiances than thofe in which I made the 
.experiments, the acid wholly efcaped, and nothing but water 
was found, may be eafily accounted for, from the fmall quan- 
tity of the acid principle in proportion to the water, and the 
extreme volatility of it, owing, I prefume, to its high phlo- 
giftication when formed in this manner. 
In order to afcertain the effect of the prefence of phlogifti- 
cated air in this procefs, I now not only repeated the experi- 
ment of mixing a given quantity of phlogifticated air with the 
two other kinds of air, and found, as before, that it was not 
affefted by the operation; but I made the experiment with 
atmcfpheric air, inftead of dephlogifticated. Since the air of 
the atmofphere contains a greater proportion of phlogifticated 
air, it might be expected that, if the acid I got before came 
from the fmall quantity of phlogifticated air which I could 
not 
