Mr iier^’hei ou tfie Hyjjomlphurous Acid. 
greeiiish-yellow, yellow-brown, yich orange-brown, purplish- 
brown, and finally to a deep broTO black, at which period it is 
collected in heavy curdled masses at the bottom. When the 
hyposulphurous acid in a solution amounted only to one part in 
97800, I still found this test give a very sensible brown tinge, 
after a few minutes standing. 
Muriate of silver newly precipitated is soluble in all the liquid 
hyposulphites, and, as has been before observed, in that of soda, 
with great ease and in large quantity. This solution is not 
accomplished without mutual decomposition, as its intense 
sweetness proves, — >a sweetness surpassing even that of honey, and 
diffusing itself over the whole mouth and fauces, without any 
disagreeable or metallic flavour. Thi^ curious solution, when 
newly filtered, is colourless, but at length grows slightly turbid, 
and deposits a brown sediment, which may be retarded, if not 
altogether prevented, by dilution. Like the hyposulphite of 
copper, it is not precipitated by ammonia, neither do the carbo- 
nates of that alkali, or of potash, or ferrocyanate of potash, in 
any way affect it. Muriatic acid, or a neutral muriate, at first 
cause no cloud, unless added in very copious excess, though, 
on long standing, th® former produces a separation of muriate 
of silver. Alcohol precipitates it in an intensely sweet syrup. 
A coil of zinc wire speedily separates the silver in a metallic 
state, thus affording an easy mode of analysis of the muriate of 
silver via humidd. Muriate of lead newly precipitated is, in 
like manner, dissolved by the hyposulphites, though less abun- 
dantly than that of silver. 
Hyposulphite of Potash and Silver . — We have already seen 
that carbonate of soda does not affect the solution of muriate of 
silver in hyposulphite of soda. When potash, however, or a 
concentrated solution of its carbonate, is poured into that solu- 
tion, a copious precipitate falls, which, washed and dried, is 
found to consist of small pearly scales, similar to those of bo- 
racic acid, of a grey colour. The supernatant liquid, by evapo- 
ration, yields a few more of them. They are soluble in a large 
quantity of ^vater, have a most intensely sweet taste, and before 
the blowpipe, blacken, melt, and yield a bead of silver, in the 
midst of a saline mass wliich spreads on the charcoal. 
