ACTION  OP  ALKALINE  CHLORIDES  ON  CALOMEL.  393 
not,  by  means  of  any  reagent,  appear  to  contain  a  trace  of  a 
mercurial  salt.  Some  pigeons,  which  were  made  to  drink  of  this 
same  liquor  for  several  successive  days,  suffered  no  inconvenience, 
and  the  calomel  lost  no  sensible  weight. 
2.  The  same  mixture  exposed  to  a  temperature  of  122°  to 
140°  Fahr.,  yielded  a  liquor  which  acted  precisely  in  the  same 
way  with  reagents,  and  on  the  animal  economy,  as  the  foregoing. 
The  results  of  the  last  mentioned  experiments,  while  they 
seem  to  support  the  belief  of  Dr.  Gardner,  refute  his  idea,  "that 
calomel  is  merely  rendered  soluble"  by  the  solution  of  the 
chlorides,  for  if  the  calomel  had  become  soluble  by  their  presence, 
then  would  it  have  lost  in  weight. 
The  difficulty  that  now  arises  in  the  mind,  is  to  know  which  of 
these  assertions  we  are  to  believe,  and  on  which  of  the  two 
opinions  can  we  rely.  In  conclusions  so  directly  opposite  there 
must  be  a  right  and  wrong  way,  or  some  undiscovered  cause  to 
explain  such  a  difference  of  result.  In  this  dilemma,  being  de- 
sirous of  possessing  positive  information,  and  without  any  preju- 
dice in  favor  of  either  opinion,  we  resolved  to  examine  the  sub- 
ject critically. 
After  careful  trial  with  the  formula  given  by  M.  Mialhe,  we 
have  been  able  to  detect  corrosive  sublimate,  in  the  filtered  liquor, 
though  in  quantity  exceedingly  minute.  With  close  observation  we 
found  that,  owing  to  the  chlorides  being  in  so  large  a  proportion, 
the  precipitate  yielded  by  some  of  the  reagents  was  modified, 
tending  to  make  its  presence  more  doubtful. 
Not  content  with  this,  and  more  thoroughly  to  avoid  decep- 
tion, we  performed  the  following  experiments  viz.  1.  Water  two 
drachms,  calomel  (hydro-sublimed  and  perfectly  washed)  10 
grains.  2.  Water  two  drachms,  calomel  10  grains,  and  hydro- 
chlorate  of  ammonia  60  grains.  Each  of  these  portions,  was 
placed  in  shallow  porcelain  saucers,  and  allowed  to  remain  for 
twenty-four  hours,  at  the  temperature  of  the  atmosphere,  rang- 
ing from  70°  to  80°  Fahrenheit.  On  examination,  after  the 
above  space  of  time  had  elapsed,  (evaporation  having  taken  place 
to  some  extent,)  there  was  found,  in  each  instance,  on  the  sides 
of  the  vessels,  a  nearly  unbroken  circle  of  pure  white  crystals, 
which,  on  carefully  applying  the  test  (a  strong  solution  of  iodide 
of  potassium)  in  small  quantity,  gave  unmistakable  evidence  of 
