220 Dr. Priestley’s Experiments relating to the 
Having exploded three ounce meafures of a mixture of 
fomething more than two parts inflammable air, and one of 
dephkfgifticated, and another equal quantity in which the in- 
flammable air bore a lefs proportion to the dephlogifticated, the 
former of which 1 knew would yield water, and the latter 
acid, I found the refiduum of the former to be o 57 oz. rm 
not affedted by nitrous air, and weakly inflammable; and in 
order to find how much phlogifticated air it contained, I mixed 
different proportions of phlogifticated and inflammable air, and 
concluded, from the manner of firing them , and this refiduum y 
that it could pot confift of lefs than one-third of phlogifticated 
air, viz, 0.19 oz. m. But the refiduum of the mixture which 
would have produced acid was 0.62 oz. m. of the ftandard of 
1.0, which I find by computation to contain not more than 
0.062 oz. m. of phlogifticated air. I repeated this experiment 
very many times, and never failed to have a fimilar reluit ; fo 
that it is very poflible that the pure water we find may be 
nothing more than the bafis of the two kinds of air ; and the 
principle of acidity in the dephlogifticated air, and the phlogifton 
in the inflammable air, may combine to form a fuperfluous 
acid in the one cafe, and the phlogifticated air in the other. 
This fuppofition is ftrengthened by finding that whether the 
produce be acid, or pure water, the two kinds of air unite in 
nearly the fame proportions. But fince water has an affinity 
to almoft every fubftance in nature, and a peculiarly ftrong one 
to the acid and alkaline principles, it may be impoffible that it 
ftiould be wholly free from them ; and if they be in proper 
proportions to faturate one another, and in the fame quantities, 
their prefence may never appear. 
As the reafon why, in my former experiments, I always 
produced an acid liquor, and never pure water, was my ufing 
too 
