SALTS. 66. Borax. 
211 
66. BORAX. Of a flightly cauftic tafte; rather 
ponderous, femitranfparent, fliining, inodorous, 
fixed; requiring a large quantity of water to 
dififolvc it, and the folution not rendered tuibid 
by a mixture of foda: frothing in the fire, and 
at laft melting into a tranfparenc glafs ftill folublg, 
in water. 
Rather pure, not ennrbined with foda 
Sale ledit'.vt) naiurale. Hoefir Flor . \Tj%. %. 
Found in Fufeant, partly difiblved in water, partly in the lorm 
of 'A'tiite or dirty-coloured fmall rounded piccci;, or adhering 
10 the niud at the bottoin of feme laker of China; conib'iied 
with foda it forms a pcrfedlly neutral fait called fcdati’ve Jult, 
which is eoinpofcd of light filvery flakes a little greafy to the 
tou.b, but hardly forming genuine cryflals: it is foluble in 
fpirits uf wine, to which u communicates a green colour. 
Combined with a large proportion of foda, mouldering in 
the air. 
Borax nvldus. Syft. vat. xii. 3. 94 n.\. 
Borax crudup, Wall-fut. 2. p ii 85. n i, a. 
Poun Aci. Stockh. 34. p. 317. 319. 
PhUoFTranf. 1787. p. 298. 1789. p. 96. 
Borax Tim al. Kirovan miner. 2 37- 
Borax Tinkal. Schme^J/er mineral. 1. /. 281. 
Suti-bort of foda. Fbom/on chem. %■ p. . 
Found ill hdia and Japan, in the kingdoms of Fihet and Peru, 
fometimes in the form of folid grains and fmall roundiflr 
lumps forming in their folution minute femitranfparent cryf- 
tai , fometimes held in lolution and found in vaft mafles 
mix'ed with the mud at the bottom of the lakes after the water 
has been dried up: it is foluble in iz times its weight of 
water at a temperature of 6o“, but of boiling water it requires 
only 6: when dillMved and flowly evaporated it flioocs into 
hard tranfpaipnt very finely tranfverfely llriatc cryflals, which 
are 6 or 4-fided, terminated both ways by a 3-fided pyramid; 
when heated it fwells, and is at firft converted into a white 
opake frothy mafs, but in a ftronger heat becomp a tranf- 
parent glafs : when two pieces are flruck together in the dark, 
a flafli of light is emitted : fpecific gravity 1,740. contains 
acid 39. foda 17. water 44. Bergman. 
Dd 2 
