C 136 H 
X. On a new Fulminating Platinum. By Edmund Davy, Esq. 
Professor of Chemistry , and Secretary to the Cork Institution. 
Communicated by Sir H. Davy, LL. D. F. R . S. V. P. R. I. 
Read February lg, 1817. 
I. Introduction. 
The metals, as is well known, closely resemble each other 
in their physical and chemical characters. A chain of ana- 
logies connects them together into one class, and serves to 
distinguish them from all other bodies with which we are 
acquainted. Hence, the observation of a new property, or 
the discovery of a new relation in any one of the metals, is 
a sufficient ground for extending similar enquiries to all the 
others. And though the same methods may not furnish 
equally successful results in the case of different metals, yet 
by varying the processes, some new truths are usually brought 
to light. 
The analogies that exist between the different metals, are 
in some cases nearer, and in others more remote ; but in 
all instances they are sufficiently numerous and striking to 
serve the ends of classification, and facilitate the progress of 
scientific discovery. Gold, silver, and platinum, were for- 
merly distinguished by the epithet noble or perfect metals; 
this distinction, though it no longer exists, was founded on a 
similarity in their physical properties. Gold and silver 
furnish with the volatile alkali, well known fulminating 
