Elements Of Chemistry, - free ebook by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier

MODERN DISCOVERIES. ILLUSTRATED WITH THIRTEEN COPPERPLATES.

Member of the Academy of Sciences, Royal Society of Medicine, and Agricultural Society of Paris, of the Royal Society of London, and Philosophical Societies of Orleans, Bologna, Basil, Philadelphia, Haerlem, Manchester, &amp;c. &amp;c....

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TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH,

Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Surgeon to the Orphan Hospital of Edinburgh. EDINBURGH: printed for WILLIAM CREECH, and sold in london by g. g. and j. j. robinsons . MDCCXC. The very high character of Mr Lavoisier as a chemical philosopher, and the great revolution which, in the opinion of many excellent chemists, he has effected in the theory of chemistry, has long made it much desired to have a connected account of his discoveries, and of the new theory he has founded upon the mod

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PREFACE OF THE AUTHOR.

When I began the following Work, my only object was to extend and explain more fully the Memoir which I read at the public meeting of the Academy of Sciences in the month of April 1787, on the necessity of reforming and completing the Nomenclature of Chemistry. While engaged in this employment, I perceived, better than I had ever done before, the justice of the following maxims of the Abbé de Condillac, in his System of Logic, and some other of his works. "We think only through the medium of wor

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PART I.

Of the Formation and Decomposition of Aëriform Fluids—of the Combustion of Simple Bodies—and the Formation of Acids....

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Of the Combinations of Caloric, and the Formation of Elastic Aëriform Fluids.

That every body, whether solid or fluid, is augmented in all its dimensions by any increase of its sensible heat, was long ago fully established as a physical axiom, or universal proposition, by the celebrated Boerhaave. Such facts as have been adduced for controverting the generality of this principle offer only fallacious results, or, at least, such as are so complicated with foreign circumstances as to mislead the judgment: But, when we separately consider the effects, so as to deduce each fr

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General Views relative to the Formation and Composition of our Atmosphere.

These views which I have taken of the formation of elastic aëriform fluids or gasses, throw great light upon the original formation of the atmospheres of the planets, and particularly that of our earth. We readily conceive, that it must necessarily consist of a mixture of the following substances: First , Of all bodies that are susceptible of evaporation, or, more strictly speaking, which are capable of retaining the state of aëriform elasticity in the temperature of our atmosphere, and under a

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Analysis of Atmospheric Air, and its Division into two Elastic Fluids; the one fit for Respiration, the other incapable of being respired.

From what has been premised, it follows, that our atmosphere is composed of a mixture of every substance capable of retaining the gasseous or aëriform state in the common temperature, and under the usual pressure which it experiences. These fluids constitute a mass, in some measure homogeneous, extending from the surface of the earth to the greatest height hitherto attained, of which the density continually decreases in the inverse ratio of the superincumbent weight. But, as I have before observ

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Nomenclature of the several Constituent Parts of Atmospheric Air.

Hitherto I have been obliged to make use of circumlocution, to express the nature of the several substances which constitute our atmosphere, having provisionally used the terms of respirable and noxious , or non-respirable parts of the air . But the investigations I mean to undertake require a more direct mode of expression; and, having now endeavoured to give simple and distinct ideas of the different substances which enter into the composition of the atmosphere, I shall henceforth express thes

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Of the Decomposition of Oxygen Gas by Sulphur, Phosphorus, and Charcoal—and of the Formation of Acids in general.

In performing experiments, it is a necessary principle, which ought never to be deviated from, that they be simplified as much as possible, and that every circumstance capable of rendering their results complicated be carefully removed. Wherefore, in the experiments which form the object of this chapter, we have never employed atmospheric air, which is not a simple substance. It is true, that the azotic gas, which forms a part of its mixture, appears to be merely passive during combustion and ca

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Of the Nomenclature of Acids in general, and particularly of those drawn from Nitre and Sea-Salt.

It becomes extremely easy, from the principles laid down in the preceding chapter, to establish a systematic nomenclature for the acids: The word acid , being used as a generic term, each acid falls to be distinguished in language, as in nature, by the name of its base or radical. Thus, we give the generic name of acids to the products of the combustion or oxygenation of phosphorus, of sulphur, and of charcoal; and these products are respectively named, the phosphoric acid , the sulphuric acid ,

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Of the Decomposition of Oxygen Gas by means of Metals, and the Formation of Metallic Oxyds.

Oxygen has a stronger affinity with metals heated to a certain degree than with caloric; in consequence of which, all metallic bodies, excepting gold, silver, and platina, have the property of decomposing oxygen gas, by attracting its base from the caloric with which it was combined. We have already shown in what manner this decomposition takes place, by means of mercury and iron; having observed, that, in the case of the first, it must be considered as a kind of gradual combustion, whilst, in t

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Of the Radical Principle of Water, and of its Decomposition by Charcoal and Iron.

Until very lately, water has always been thought a simple substance, insomuch that the older chemists considered it as an element. Such it undoubtedly was to them, as they were unable to decompose it; or, at least, since the decomposition which took place daily before their eyes was entirely unnoticed. But we mean to prove, that water is by no means a simple or elementary substance. I shall not here pretend to give the history of this recent, and hitherto contested discovery, which is detailed i

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Experiment First.

Having fixed the glass tube EF, (Pl. vii. fig. 11.) of from 8 to 12 lines diameter, across a furnace, with a small inclination from E to F, lute the superior extremity E to the glass retort A, containing a determinate quantity of distilled water, and to the inferior extremity F, the worm SS fixed into the neck of the doubly tubulated bottle H, which has the bent tube KK adapted to one of its openings, in such a manner as to convey such aëriform fluids or gasses as may be disengaged, during the e

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Experiment Second.

The apparatus being disposed, as in the former experiment, 28 grs. of charcoal, broken into moderately small parts, and which has previously been exposed for a long time to a red heat in close vessels, are introduced into the tube EF. Every thing else is managed as in the preceding experiment. The water contained in the retort A is distilled, as in the former experiment, and, being condensed in the worm, falls into the bottle H; but, at the same time, a considerable quantity of gas is disengaged

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Experiment Third.

The apparatus being disposed exactly as in the former experiment, with this difference, that instead of the 28 grs. of charcoal, the tube EF is filled with 274 grs. of soft iron in thin plates, rolled up spirally. The tube is made red hot by means of its furnace, and the water in the retort A is kept constantly boiling till it be all evaporated, and has passed through the tube EF, so as to be condensed in the bottle H. No carbonic acid gas is disengaged in this experiment, instead of which we ob

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Experiment Fourth.

I took a large cristal baloon, A, Pl. iv. fig. 5. holding about 30 pints, having a large opening, to which was cemented the plate of copper BC, pierced with four holes, in which four tubes terminate. The first tube, H h, is intended to be adapted to an air pump, by which the baloon is to be exhausted of its air. The second tube gg, communicates, by its extremity MM, with a reservoir of oxygen gas, with which the baloon is to be filled. The third tube d D d', communicates, by its extremity d NN,

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Of the quantities of Caloric disengaged from different species of Combustion.

We have already mentioned, that, when any body is burnt in the center of a hollow sphere of ice and supplied with air at the temperature of zero (32°), the quantity of ice melted from the inside of the sphere becomes a measure of the relative quantities of caloric disengaged. Mr de la Place and I gave a description of the apparatus employed for this kind of experiment in the Memoirs of the Academy for 1780, p. 355; and a description and plate of the same apparatus will be found in the third part

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Of the Combination of Combustible Substances with each other.

As combustible substances in general have a great affinity for oxygen, they ought likewise to attract, or tend to combine with each other; quae sunt eadem uni tertio, sunt eadem inter se ; and the axiom is found to be true. Almost all the metals, for instance, are capable of uniting with each other, and forming what are called alloys [22] , in common language. Most of these, like all combinations, are susceptible of several degrees of saturation; the greater number of these alloys are more britt

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Observations upon Oxyds and Acids with several Bases—and upon the Composition of Animal and Vegetable Substances.

We have, in Chap. V. and VIII. examined the products resulting from the combustion of the four simple combustible substances, sulphur, phosphorus, charcoal, and hydrogen: We have shown, in Chap. X that the simple combustible substances are capable of combining with each other into compound combustible substances, and have observed that oils in general, and particularly the fixed vegetable oils, belong to this class, being composed of hydrogen and charcoal. It remains, in this chapter, to treat o

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Of the Decomposition of Vegetable and Animal Substances by the Action of Fire.

Before we can thoroughly comprehend what takes place during the decomposition of vegetable substances by fire, we must take into consideration the nature of the elements which enter into their composition, and the different affinities which the particles of these elements exert upon each other, and the affinity which caloric possesses with them. The true constituent elements of vegetables are hydrogen, oxygen, and charcoal: These are common to all vegetables, and no vegetable can exist without t

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Of the Decomposition of Vegetable Oxyds by the Vinous Fermentation.

The manner in which wine, cyder, mead, and all the liquors formed by the spiritous fermentation, are produced, is well known to every one. The juice of grapes or of apples being expressed, and the latter being diluted with water, they are put into large vats, which are kept in a temperature of at least 10° (54.5°) of the thermometer. A rapid intestine motion, or fermentation, very soon takes place, numerous globules of gas form in the liquid and burst at the surface; when the fermentation is at

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Of the Putrefactive Fermentation.

The phenomena of putrefaction are caused, like those of vinous fermentation, by the operation of very complicated affinities. The constituent elements of the bodies submitted to this process cease to continue in equilibrium in the threefold combination, and form themselves anew into binary combinations [27] , or compounds, consisting of two elements only; but these are entirely different from the results produced by the vinous fermentation. Instead of one part of the hydrogen remaining united wi

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Of the Acetous Fermentation.

The acetous fermentation is nothing more than the acidification or oxygenation of wine [29] , produced in the open air by means of the absorption of oxygen. The resulting acid is the acetous acid, commonly called Vinegar, which is composed of hydrogen and charcoal united together in proportions not yet ascertained, and changed into the acid state by oxygen. As vinegar is an acid, we might conclude from analogy that it contains oxygen, but this is put beyond doubt by direct experiments: In the fi

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Of the Formation of Neutral Salts, and of their different Bases.

We have just seen that all the oxyds and acids from the animal and vegetable kingdoms are formed by means of a small number of simple elements, or at least of such as have not hitherto been susceptible of decomposition, by means of combination with oxygen; these are azote, sulphur, phosphorus, charcoal, hydrogen, and the muriatic radical [30] . We may justly admire the simplicity of the means employed by nature to multiply qualities and forms, whether by combining three or four acidifiable bases

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Continuation of the Observations upon Salifiable Bases, and the Formation of Neutral Salts.

It is necessary to remark, that earths and alkalies unite with acids to form neutral salts without the intervention of any medium, whereas metallic substances are incapable of forming this combination without being previously less or more oxygenated; strictly speaking, therefore, metals are not soluble in acids, but only metallic oxyds. Hence, when we put a metal into an acid for solution, it is necessary, in the first place, that it become oxygenated, either by attracting oxygen from the acid o

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PART II. Of the Combination of Acids with Salifiable Bases, and of the Formation of Neutral Salts.

If I had strictly followed the plan I at first laid down for the conduct of this work, I would have confined myself, in the Tables and accompanying observations which compose this Second Part, to short definitions of the several known acids, and abridged accounts of the processes by which they are obtainable, with a mere nomenclature or enumeration of the neutral salts which result from the combination of these acids with the various salifiable bases. But I afterwards found that the addition of

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TABLE OF SIMPLE SUBSTANCES.

Simple substances belonging to all the kingdoms of nature, which may be considered as the elements of bodies....

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Salifiable simple Earthy Substances.

The principle object of chemical experiments is to decompose natural bodies, so as separately to examine the different substances which enter into their composition. By consulting chemical systems, it will be found that this science of chemical analysis has made rapid progress in our own times. Formerly oil and salt were considered as elements of bodies, whereas later observation and experiment have shown that all salts, instead of being simple, are composed of an acid united to a base. The boun

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Table of compound oxydable and acidifiable bases.

Note. —The radicals from the vegetable kingdom are converted by a first degree of oxygenation into vegetable oxyds, such as sugar, starch, and gum or mucus: Those of the animal kingdom by the same means form animal oxyds, as lymph, &amp;c.—A....

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Sect. II.—Observations upon the Table of Compound Radicals.

The older chemists being unacquainted with the composition of acids, and not suspecting them to be formed by a peculiar radical or base for each, united to an acidifying principle or element common to all, could not consequently give any name to substances of which they had not the most distant idea. We had therefore to invent a new nomenclature for this subject, though we were at the same time sensible that this nomenclature must be susceptible of great modification when the nature of the compo

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Sect. III.—Observations upon the Combinations of Light and Caloric with different Substances.

I have not constructed any table of the combinations of light and caloric with the various simple and compound substances, because our conceptions of the nature of these combinations are not hitherto sufficiently accurate. We know, in general, that all bodies in nature are imbued, surrounded, and penetrated in every way with caloric, which fills up every interval left between their particles; that, in certain cases, caloric becomes fixed in bodies, so as to constitute a part even of their solid

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TABLE of the binary Combinations of Oxygen with simple Substances

[Note A: Only one degree of oxygenation of hydrogen is hitherto known.—A.] [Note B: Ethiops mineral is the sulphuret of mercury; this should have been called black precipitate of mercury.—E.]...

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Sect. IV.—Observations upon the Combinations of Oxygen with the simple Substances.

Oxygen forms almost a third of the mass of our atmosphere, and is consequently one of the most plentiful substances in nature. All the animals and vegetables live and grow in this immense magazine of oxygen gas, and from it we procure the greatest part of what we employ in experiments. So great is the reciprocal affinity between this element and other substances, that we cannot procure it disengaged from all combination. In the atmosphere it is united with caloric, in the state of oxygen gas, an

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Table of the combinations of Oxygen with the compound radicals.

[Note A: These radicals by a first degree of oxygenation form vegetable oxyds, as sugar, starch, mucus, &amp;c.—A.] [Note B: These radicals by a first degree of oxygenation form the animal oxyds, as lymph, red part of the blood, animal secretions, &amp;c.—A.]...

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Sect. V.—Observations upon the Combinations of Oxygen with the Compound Radicals.

I published a new theory of the nature and formation of acids in the Memoirs of the Academy for 1776, p. 671. and 1778, p. 535. in which I concluded, that the number of acids must be greatly larger than was till then supposed. Since that time, a new field of inquiry has been opened to chemists; and, instead of five or six acids which were then known, near thirty new acids have been discovered, by which means the number of known neutral salts have been increased in the same proportion. The nature

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Sect. VI.—Observations upon the Combinations of Azote with the Simple Substances.

Azote is one of the most abundant elements; combined with caloric it forms azotic gas, or mephitis, which composes nearly two thirds of the atmosphere. This element is always in the state of gas in the ordinary pressure and temperature, and no degree of compression or of cold has been hitherto capable of reducing it either to a solid or liquid form. This is likewise one of the essential constituent elements of animal bodies, in which it is combined with charcoal and hydrogen, and sometimes with

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Table of the Binary Combinations of Hydrogen with Simple Substances.

[Note A: These combinations take place in the state of gas, and form, respectively, sulphurated and phosphorated oxygen gas—A.] [Note B: This combination of hydrogen with charcoal includes the fixed and volatile oils, and forms the radicals of a considerable part of the vegetable and animal oxyds and acids. When it takes place in the state of gas it forms carbonated hydrogen gas.—A.] [Note C: None of these combinations are known, and it is probable that they cannot exist, at least in the usual t

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Sect. VII.—Observations upon Hydrogen, and its Combinations with Simple Substances.

Hydrogen, as its name expresses, is one of the constituent elements of water, of which it forms fifteen hundredth parts by weight, combined with eighty-five hundredth parts of oxygen. This substance, the properties and even existence of which was unknown till lately, is very plentifully distributed in nature, and acts a very considerable part in the processes of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. As it possesses so great affinity with caloric as only to exist in the state of gas, it is consequen

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Sect. VIII.—Observations on Sulphur, and its Combinations.

Sulphur is a combustible substance, having a very great tendency to combination; it is naturally in a solid state in the ordinary temperature, and requires a heat somewhat higher than boiling water to make it liquify. Sulphur is formed by nature in a considerable degree of purity in the neighbourhood of volcanos; we find it likewise, chiefly in the state of sulphuric acid, combined with argill in aluminous schistus, with lime in gypsum, &amp;c. From these combinations it may be procured in t

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Table of the Binary Combinations of Phosphorus with the Simple Substances.

[Note A: Of all these combinations of phosphorus with metals, that with iron only is hitherto known, forming the substance formerly called Siderite; neither is it yet ascertained whether, in this combination, the phosphorus be oxygenated or not.—A.] [Note B: These combinations of phosphorus with the alkalies and earths are not yet known; and, from the experiments of Mr Gengembre, they appear to be impossible—A.]...

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Sect. IX.—Observations upon Phosphorus, and its Combinations.

Phosphorus is a simple combustible substance, which was unknown to chemists till 1667, when it was discovered by Brandt, who kept the process secret; soon after Kunkel found out Brandt's method of preparation, and made it public. It has been ever since known by the name of Kunkel's phosphorus. It was for a long time procured only from urine; and, though Homberg gave an account of the process in the Memoirs of the Academy for 1692, all the philosophers of Europe were supplied with it from England

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Sect. X.—Observations upon Charcoal, and its Combinations with Simple Substances.

As charcoal has not been hitherto decomposed, it must, in the present state of our knowledge, be considered as a simple substance. By modern experiments it appears to exist ready formed in vegetables; and I have already remarked, that, in these, it is combined with hydrogen, sometimes with azote and phosphorus, forming compound radicals, which may be changed into oxyds or acids according to their degree of oxygenation. To obtain the charcoal contained in vegetable or animal substances, we subjec

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Sect. XI.—Observations upon the Muriatic, Fluoric, and Boracic Radicals, and their Combinations.

As the combinations of these substances, either with each other, or with the other combustible bodies, are hitherto entirely unknown, we have not attempted to form any table for their nomenclature. We only know that these radicals are susceptible of oxygenation, and of forming the muriatic, fluoric, and boracic acids, and that in the acid state they enter into a number of combinations, to be afterwards detailed. Chemistry has hitherto been unable to disoxygenate any of them, so as to produce the

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Sect. XII.—Observations upon the Combinations of Metals with each other.

Before closing our account of the simple or elementary substances, it might be supposed necessary to give a table of alloys or combinations of metals with each other; but, as such a table would be both exceedingly voluminous and very unsatisfactory, without going into a series of experiments not yet attempted, I have thought it adviseable to omit it altogether. All that is necessary to be mentioned is, that these alloys should be named according to the metal in largest proportion in the mixture

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Sect. XIII.—Observations upon the Nitrous and Nitric Acids, and their Combinations.

The nitrous and nitric acids are procured from a neutral salt long known in the arts under the name of saltpetre . This salt is extracted by lixiviation from the rubbish of old buildings, from the earth of cellars, stables, or barns, and in general of all inhabited places. In these earths the nitric acid is usually combined with lime and magnesia, sometimes with potash, and rarely with argill. As all these salts, excepting the nitrat of potash, attract the moisture of the air, and consequently w

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Sect. XIV.—Observations upon Sulphuric Acid and its Combinations.

For a long time this acid was procured by distillation from sulphat of iron, in which sulphuric acid and oxyd of iron are combined, according to the process described by Basil Valentine in the fifteenth century; but, in modern times, it is procured more oeconomically by the combustion of sulphur in proper vessels. Both to facilitate the combustion, and to assist the oxygenation of the sulphur, a little powdered saltpetre, nitrat of potash, is mixed with it; the nitre is decomposed, and gives out

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Table of the Combinations of the Sulphurous Acid with the Salifiable Bases, in the order of affinity.

Note. —The only one of these salts known to the old chemists was the sulphite of potash, under the name of Stahl's sulphureous salt . So that, before our new nomenclature, these compounds must have been named Stahl's sulphureous salt , having base of fixed vegetable alkali, and so of the rest. In this Table we have followed Bergman's order of affinity of the sulphuric acid, which is the same in regard to the earths and alkalies, but it is not certain if the order be the same for the metallic oxy

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Sect. XV.—Observations upon Sulphurous Acid, and its Combinations.

The sulphurous acid is formed by the union of oxygen with sulphur by a lesser degree of oxygenation than the sulphuric acid. It is procurable either by burning sulphur slowly, or by distilling sulphuric acid from silver, antimony, lead, mercury, or charcoal; by which operation a part of the oxygen quits the acid, and unites to these oxydable bases, and the acid passes over in the sulphurous state of oxygenation. This acid, in the common pressure and temperature of the air, can only exist in form

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Table of the Combinations of Phosphorous and Phosphoric Acids, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

[Note A: The existence of metallic phosphites supposes that metals are susceptible of solution in phosphoric acid at different degrees of oxygenation, which is not yet ascertained.—A.] [Note B: All the phosphites were unknown till lately, and consequently have not hitherto received names.—A.] [Note C: The greater part of the phosphats were only discovered of late, and have not yet been named.—A.]...

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Sect. XVI.—Observations upon Phosphorous and Phosphoric Acids, and their Combinations.

Under the article Phosphorus, Part II. Sect. X. we have already given a history of the discovery of that singular substance, with some observations upon the mode of its existence in vegetable and animal bodies. The best method of obtaining this acid in a state of purity is by burning well purified phosphorus under bell-glasses, moistened on the inside with distilled water; during combustion it absorbs twice and a half its weight of oxygen; so that 100 parts of phosphoric acid is composed of 28-1

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Table of the Combinations of Carbonic Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

[Note A: As these salts have only been understood of late, they have not, properly speaking, any old names. Mr Morveau, in the First Volume of the Encyclopedia, calls them Mephites ; Mr Bergman gives them the name of aërated ; and Mr de Fourcroy, who calls the carbonic acid chalky acid , gives them the name of chalks .—A]...

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Sect. XVII.—Observations upon Carbonic Acid, and its Combinations.

Of all the known acids, the carbonic is the most abundant in nature; it exists ready formed in chalk, marble, and all the calcareous stones, in which it is neutralized by a particular earth called lime . To disengage it from this combination, nothing more is requisite than to add some sulphuric acid, or any other which has a stronger affinity for lime; a brisk effervescence ensues, which is produced by the disengagement of the carbonic acid which assumes the state of gas immediately upon being s

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Table Of the Combinations of Oxygenated Muriatic Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

This order of salts, entirely unknown to the ancient chemists, was discovered in 1786 by Mr Berthollet.—A....

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Sect. XIX.—Observations upon Muriatic and Oxygenated Muriatic Acids, and their Combinations.

Muriatic acid is very abundant in the mineral kingdom naturally combined with different salifiable bases, especially with soda, lime, and magnesia. In sea-water, and the water of several lakes, it is combined with these three bases, and in mines of rock-salt it is chiefly united to soda. This acid does not appear to have been hitherto decomposed in any chemical experiment; so that we have no idea whatever of the nature of its radical, and only conclude, from analogy with the other acids, that it

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Table of the Combinations of Nitro-muriatic Acid with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity, so far as is known.

Note. —Most of these combinations, especially those with the earths and alkalies, have been little examined, and we are yet to learn whether they form a mixed salt in which the compound radical remains combined, or if the two acids separate, to form two distinct neutral salts.—A....

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Sect. XX.—Observations upon the Nitro-Muriatic Acid, and its Combinations.

The nitro-muriatic acid, formerly called aqua regia , is formed by a mixture of nitric and muriatic acids; the radicals of these two acids combine together, and form a compound base, from which an acid is produced, having properties peculiar to itself, and distinct from those of all other acids, especially the property of dissolving gold and platina. In dissolutions of metals in this acid, as in all other acids, the metals are first oxydated by attracting a part of the oxygen from the compound r

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Table of the Combinations of Fluoric Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

Note. —These combinations were entirely unknown to the old chemists, and consequently have no names in the old nomenclature.—A....

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Sect. XXI.—Observations upon the Fluoric Acid, and its Combinations.

Fluoric exists ready formed by Nature in the fluoric spars [42] , combined with calcareous earth, so as to form an insoluble neutral salt. To obtain it disengaged from that combination, fluor spar, or fluat of lime, is put into a leaden retort, with a proper quantity of sulphuric acid, a recipient likewise of lead, half full of water, is adapted, and fire is applied to the retort. The sulphuric acid, from its greater affinity, expels the fluoric acid which passes over and is absorbed by the wate

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Table of the Combinations of Boracic Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

Note. —Most of these combinations were neither known nor named by the old chemists. The boracic acid was formerly called sedative salt , and its compounds borax , with base of fixed vegetable alkali, &amp;c.—A....

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Sect. XXII.—Observations upon Boracic Add and its Combinations.

This is a concrete acid, extracted from a salt procured from India called borax or tincall . Although borax has been very long employed in the arts, we have as yet very imperfect knowledge of its origin, and of the methods by which it is extracted and purified; there is reason to believe it to be a native salt, found in the earth in certain parts of the east, and in the water of some lakes. The whole trade of borax is in the hands of the Dutch, who have been exclusively possessed of the art of p

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Table of the Combinations of Arseniac Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

Note. —This order of salts was entirely unknown to the antient chemists. Mr Macquer, in 1746, discovered the combinations of arseniac acid with potash and soda, to which he gave the name of arsenical neutral salts .—A....

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Sect. XXIII.—Observations upon Arseniac Acid, and its Combinations.

In the Collections of the Academy for 1746, Mr Macquer shows that, when a mixture of white oxyd of arsenic and nitre are subjected to the action of a strong fire, a neutral salt is obtained, which he calls neutral salt of arsenic . At that time, the cause of this singular phenomenon, in which a metal acts the part of an acid, was quite unknown; but more modern experiments teach that, during this process, the arsenic becomes oxygenated, by carrying off the oxygen of the nitric acid; it is thus co

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Sect. XXIV.—Observations upon Molybdic Acid, and its Combinations with Acidifiable Bases[43].

Molybdena is a particular metallic body, capable of being oxygenated, so far as to become a true concrete acid [44] . For this purpose, one part ore of molybdena, which is a natural sulphuret of that metal, is put into a retort, with five or six parts nitric acid, diluted with a quarter of its weight of water, and heat is applied to the retort; the oxygen of the nitric acid acts both upon the molybdena and the sulphur, converting the one into molybdic, and the other into sulphuric acid; pour on

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Table of the Combinations of Tungstic Acid with the Salifiable Bases.

[Note A: The combinations with metallic oxyds were set down by Mr Lavoisier in alphabetical order; their order of affinity being unknown, I have omitted them, as serving no purpose.—E.] [Note B: All these salts were unknown to the ancient chemists.—A.]...

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Sect. XXV.—Observations upon Tungstic Acid, and its Combinations.

Tungstein is a particular metal, the ore of which has frequently been confounded with that of tin. The specific gravity of this ore is to water as 6 to 1; in its form of cristallization it resembles the garnet, and varies in colour from a pearl-white to yellow and reddish; it is found in several parts of Saxony and Bohemia. The mineral called Wolfram , which is frequent in the mines of Cornwal, is likewise an ore of this metal. In all these ores the metal is oxydated; and, in some of them, it ap

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Sect. XXVI.—Observations upon Tartarous Acid, and its Combinations.

Tartar, or the concretion which fixes to the inside of vessels in which the fermentation of wine is completed, is a well known salt, composed of a peculiar acid, united in considerable excess to potash. Mr Scheele first pointed out the method of obtaining this acid pure. Having observed that it has a greater affinity to lime than to potash, he directs us to proceed in the following manner. Dissolve purified tartar in boiling water, and add a sufficient quantity of lime till the acid be completel

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Sect. XXVII.—Observations upon Malic Acid, and its Combinations with the Salifiable Bases[45].

The malic acid exists ready formed in the sour juice of ripe and unripe apples, and many other fruits, and is obtained as follows: Saturate the juice of apples with potash or soda, and add a proper proportion of acetite of lead dissolved in water; a double decomposition takes place, the malic acid combines with the oxyd of lead and precipitates, being almost insoluble, and the acetite of potash or soda remains in the liquor. The malat of lead being separated by decantation, is washed with cold w

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Table of the Combinations of Citric Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity(A).

[Note A: These combinations were unknown to the ancient chemists. The order of affinity of the salifiable bases with this acid was determined by Mr Bergman and by Mr de Breney of the Dijon Academy.—A.]...

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Sect. XXVIII.—Observations upon Citric Acid, and its Combinations.

The citric acid is procured by expression from lemons, and is found in the juices of many other fruits mixed with malic acid. To obtain it pure and concentrated, it is first allowed to depurate from the mucous part of the fruit by long rest in a cool cellar, and is afterwards concentrated by exposing it to the temperature of 4 or 5 degrees below Zero, from 21° to 23° of Fahrenheit, the water is frozen, and the acid remains liquid, reduced to about an eighth part of its original bulk. A lower deg

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Table of the Combinations of Pyro-lignous Acid with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity(A).

[Note A: The above affinities were determined by Messrs de Morveau and EloI Boursier de Clervaux. These combinations were entirely unknown till lately.—A.]...

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Sect. XXIX.—Observations upon Pyro-lignous Acid, and its Combinations.

The ancient chemists observed that most of the woods, especially the more heavy and compact ones, gave out a particular acid spirit, by distillation, in a naked fire; but, before Mr Goetling, who gives an account of his experiments upon this subject in Crell's Chemical Journal for 1779, no one had ever made any inquiry into its nature and properties. This acid appears to be the same, whatever be the wood it is procured from. When first distilled, it is of a brown colour, and considerably impregn

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Sect. XXX.—Observations upon Pyro-tartarous Acid, and its Combinations with the Salifiable Bases[46].

The name of Pyro-tartarous acid is given to a dilute empyreumatic acid obtained from purified acidulous tartarite of potash by distillation in a naked fire. To obtain it, let a retort be half filled with powdered tartar, adapt a tubulated recipient, having a bent tube communicating with a bell-glass in a pneumato-chemical apparatus; by gradually raising the fire under the retort, we obtain the pyro-tartarous acid mixed with oil, which is separated by means of a funnel. A vast quantity of carboni

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Table of the Combinations of Pyro-mucous Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity(A).

[Note A: All these combinations were unknown to the ancient chemists.—A.]...

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Sect. XXXI.—Observations upon Pyro-mucous Acid, and its Combinations.

This acid is obtained by distillation in a naked fire from sugar, and all the saccharine bodies; and, as these substances swell greatly in the fire, it is necessary to leave seven-eighths of the retort empty. It is of a yellow colour, verging to red, and leaves a mark upon the skin, which will not remove but alongst with the epidermis. It may be procured less coloured, by means of a second distillation, and is concentrated by freezing, as is directed for the citric acid. It is chiefly composed o

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Table of the Combinations of the Oxalic Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity(A).

[Note A: All unknown to the ancient chemists.—A.]...

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Sect. XXXII.—Observations upon Oxalic Acid, and its Combinations.

The oxalic acid is mostly prepared in Switzerland and Germany from the expressed juice of sorrel, from which it cristallizes by being left long at rest; in this state it is partly saturated with potash, forming a true acidulous oxalat of potash, or salt with excess of acid. To obtain it pure, it must be formed artificially by oxygenating sugar, which seems to be the true oxalic radical. Upon one part of sugar pour six or eight parts of nitric acid, and apply a gentle heat; a considerable efferve

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Sect. XXXIII.—Observations upon Acetous Acid, and its Combinations.

This acid is composed of charcoal and hydrogen united together, and brought to the state of an acid by the addition of oxygen; it is consequently formed by the same elements with the tartarous oxalic, citric, malic acids, and others, but the elements exist in different proportions in each of these; and it would appear that the acetous acid is in a higher state of oxygenation than these other acids. I have some reason to believe that the acetous radical contains a small portion of azote; and, as

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Table of the Combinations of Acetic Acid with the Salifiable Bases, in the order of affinity.

Note. —All these salts were unknown to the ancients; and even those chemists who are most versant in modern discoveries, are yet at a lose whether the greater part of the salts produced by the oxygenated acetic radical belong properly to the class of acetites, or to that of acetats.—A....

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Sect. XXXIV.—Observations upon Acetic Acid, and its Combinations.

We have given to radical vinegar the name of acetic acid, from supposing that it consists of the same radical with that of the acetous acid, but more highly saturated with oxygen. According to this idea, acetic acid is the highest degree of oxygenation of which the hydro-carbonous radical is susceptible; but, although this circumstance be extremely probable, it requires to be confirmed by farther, and more decisive experiments, before it be adopted as an absolute chemical truth. We procure this

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Table of the Combinations of Succinic Acid with the Salifiable Bases, in the order of Affinity.

Note. —All the succinats were unknown to the ancient chemists.—A....

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Sect. XXXV.—Observations upon Succinic Acid, and its Combinations.

The succinic acid is drawn from amber by sublimation in a gentle heat, and rises in a concrete form into the neck of the subliming vessel. The operation must not be pushed too far, or by too strong a fire, otherwise the oil of the amber rises alongst with the acid. The salt is dried upon blotting paper, and purified by repeated solution and crystallization. This acid is soluble in twenty-four times its weight of cold water, and in a much smaller quantity of hot water. It possesses the qualities

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Sect. XXXVI.—Observations upon Benzoic Acid, and its Combinations with Salifiable Bases[48].

This acid was known to the ancient chemists under the name of Flowers of Benjamin, or of Benzoin, and was procured, by sublimation, from the gum or resin called Benzoin: The means of procuring it, via humida , was discovered by Mr Geoffroy, and perfected by Mr Scheele. Upon benzoin, reduced to powder, pour strong lime-water, having rather an excess of lime; keep the mixture continually stirring, and, after half an hour's digestion, pour off the liquor, and use fresh portions of lime-water in the

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Sect. XXXVII.—Observations upon Camphoric Acid, and its Combinations with Salifiable Bases[49].

Camphor is a concrete essential oil, obtained, by sublimation, from a species of laurus which grows in China and Japan. By distilling nitric acid eight times from camphor, Mr Kosegarten converted it into an acid analogous to the oxalic; but, as it differs from that acid in some circumstances, we have thought necessary to give it a particular name, till its nature be more completely ascertained by farther experiment. As camphor is a carbono-hydrous or hydro-carbonous radical, it is easily conceiv

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Sect. XXXVIII.—Observations upon Gallic Acid, and its Combinations with Salifiable Bases[50].

The Gallic acid, formerly called Principle of Astringency, is obtained from gall nuts, either by infusion or decoction with water, or by distillation with a very gentle heat. This acid has only been attended to within these few years. The Committee of the Dijon Academy have followed it through all its combinations, and give the best account of it hitherto produced. Its acid properties are very weak; it reddens the tincture of turnsol, decomposes sulphurets, and unites to all the metals when they

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Sect. XXXIX.—Observations upon Lactic Acid, and its Combinations with Salifiable Bases[51].

The only accurate knowledge we have of this acid is from the works of Mr Scheele. It is contained in whey, united to a small quantity of earth, and is obtained as follows: Reduce whey to one eighth part of its bulk by evaporation, and filtrate, to separate all its cheesy matter; then add as much lime as is necessary to combine with the acid; the lime is afterwards disengaged by the addition of oxalic acid, which combines with it into an insoluble neutral salt. When the oxalat of lime has been se

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Table of the Combinations of Saccholactic Acid with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

Note. —All these were unknown to the ancient chemists.—A....

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Sect. XL.—Observations upon Saccholactic Acid, and its Combinations.

A species of sugar may be extracted, by evaporation, from whey, which has long been known in pharmacy, and which has a considerable resemblance to that procured from sugar canes. This saccharine matter, like ordinary sugar, may be oxygenated by means of nitric acid: For this purpose, several portions of nitric acid are distilled from it; the remaining liquid is evaporated, and set to cristallize, by which means cristals of oxalic acid are procured; at the same time a very fine white powder preci

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Table of the Combinations of Formic Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

Note. —All unknown to the ancient chemists.—A....

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Sect. XLI.—Observations upon Formic Acid, and its Combinations.

This acid was first obtained by distillation from ants, in the last century, by Samuel Fisher. The subject was treated of by Margraff in 1749, and by Messrs Ardwisson and Ochrn of Leipsic in 1777. The formic acid is drawn from a large species of red ants, formica rufa, Lin. which form large ant hills in woody places. It is procured, either by distilling the ants with a gentle heat in a glass retort or an alembic; or, after having washed the ants in cold water, and dried them upon a cloth, by pou

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Sect. XLII.—Observations upon Bombic Acid, and its Combinations with Acidifiable Bases[52].

The juices of the silk worm seem to assume an acid quality when that insect changes from a larva to a chrysalis. At the moment of its escape from the latter to the butterfly form, it emits a reddish liquor which reddens blue paper, and which was first attentively observed by Mr Chaussier of the Dijon academy, who obtains the acid by infusing silk worm chrysalids in alkohol, which dissolves their acid without being charged with any of the gummy parts of the insect; and, by evaporating the alkohol

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Table of the Combinations of Sebacic Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

Note. —All these were unknown to the ancient chemists.—A....

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Sect. XLIII.—Observations upon Sebacid Acid, and its Combinations.

To obtain the sebacic acid, let some suet be melted in a skillet over the fire, alongst with some quick-lime in fine powder, and constantly stirred, raising the fire towards the end of the operation, and taking care to avoid the vapours, which are very offensive. By this process the sebacic acid unites with the lime into a sebat of lime, which is difficultly soluble in water; it is, however, separated from the fatty matters with which it is mixed by solution in a large quantity of boiling water.

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Sect. XLIV.—Observations upon the Lithic Acid, and its Combinations with the Salifiable Bases[53].

From the later experiments of Bergman and Scheele, the urinary calculus appears to be a species of salt with an earthy basis; it is slightly acidulous, and requires a large quantity of water for solution, three grains being scarcely soluble in a thousand grains of boiling water, and the greater part again cristallizes when cold. To this concrete acid, which Mr de Morveau calls Lithiasic Acid, we give the name of Lithic Acid, the nature and properties of which are hitherto very little known. Ther

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Table of the Combinations of the Prussic Acid with the Salifiable Bases, in the order of affinity.

Note. —-All these were unknown to former chemists.—A....

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Observations upon the Prussic Acid, and its Combinations.

As the experiments which have been made hitherto upon this acid seem still to leave a considerable degree of uncertainty with regard to its nature, I shall not enlarge upon its properties, and the means of procuring it pure and dissengaged from combination. It combines with iron, to which it communicates a blue colour, and is equally susceptible of entering into combination with most of the other metals, which are precipitated from it by the alkalies, ammoniac, and lime, in consequence of greate

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INTRODUCTION.

In the two former parts of this work I designedly avoided being particular in describing the manual operations of chemistry, because I had found from experience, that, in a work appropriated to reasoning, minute descriptions of processes and of plates interrupt the chain of ideas, and render the attention necessary both difficult and tedious to the reader. On the other hand, if I had confined myself to the summary descriptions hitherto given, beginners could have only acquired very vague concept

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Of the Instruments necessary for determining the Absolute and Specific Gravities of Solid and Liquid Bodies.

The best method hitherto known for determining the quantities of substances submitted to chemical experiment, or resulting from them, is by means of an accurately constructed beam and scales, with properly regulated weights, which well known operation is called weighing . The denomination and quantity of the weights used as an unit or standard for this purpose are extremely arbitrary, and vary not only in different kingdoms, but even in different provinces of the same kingdom, and in different c

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Of Gazometry, or the Measurement of the Weight and Volume of Aëriform Substances. SECT. I.

The French chemists have of late applied the name of pneumato-chemical apparatus to the very simple and ingenious contrivance, invented by Dr Priestley, which is now indispensibly necessary to every laboratory. This consists of a wooden trough, of larger or smaller dimensions as is thought convenient, lined with plate-lead or tinned copper, as represented in perspective, Pl. V. In Fig. 1. the same trough or cistern is supposed to have two of its sides cut away, to show its interior construction

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SECT. II.

I give the name of gazometer to an instrument which I invented, and caused construct, for the purpose of a kind of bellows, which might furnish an uniform and continued stream of oxygen gas in experiments of fusion. Mr Meusnier and I have since made very considerable corrections and additions, having converted it into what may be called an universal instrument , without which it is hardly possible to perform most of the very exact experiments. The name we have given the instrument indicates its

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SECT. III.

The gazometer described in the foregoing section is too costly and too complicated for being generally used in laboratories for measuring the gasses, and is not even applicable to every circumstance of this kind. In numerous series of experiments, more simple and more readily applicable methods must be employed. For this purpose I shall describe the means I used before I was in possession of a gazometer, and which I still use in preference to it in the ordinary course of my experiments. Suppose

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SECT. IV.

As experiments often produce two, three, or more species of gas, it is necessary to be able to separate these from each other, that we may ascertain the quantity and species of each. Suppose that under the jar A, Pl. IV. Fig. 3. is contained a quantity of different gasses mixed together, and standing over mercury, we begin by marking with slips of paper, as before directed, the height at which the mercury stands within the glass; then introduce about a cubical inch of water into the jar, which w

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SECT. V.

All elastic fluids are compressible or condensible in proportion to the weight with which they are loaded. Perhaps this law, which is ascertained by general experience, may suffer some irregularity when these fluids are under a degree of condensation almost sufficient to reduce them to the liquid state, or when either in a state of extreme rarefaction or condensation; but we seldom approach either of these limits with most of the gasses which we submit to our experiments. I understand this propo

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SECT. VI.

In ascertaining the weight of gasses, besides reducing them to a mean of barometrical pressure, as directed in the preceding section, we must likewise reduce them to a standard thermometrical temperature; because, all elastic fluids being expanded by heat, and condensed by cold, their weight in any determinate volume is thereby liable to considerable alterations. As the temperature of 10° (54.5°) is a medium between the heat of summer and the cold of winter, being the temperature of subterraneou

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SECT. VII.

In the jar A, Pl. IV. Fig. 3. standing in a water apparatus, is contained 353 cubical inches of air; the surface of the water within the jar at EF is 4-1/2 inches above the water in the cistern, the barometer is at 27 inches 9-1/2 lines, and the thermometer at 15° (65.75°). Having burnt a quantity of phosphorus in the air, by which concrete phosphoric acid is produced, the air after the combustion occupies 295 cubical inches, the water within the jar stands 7 inches above that in the cistern, th

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SECT. VIII.

Take a large balloon A, Pl. V. Fig. 10. capable of holding 17 or 18 pints, or about half a cubical foot, having the brass cap bcde strongly cemented to its neck, and to which the tube and stop-cock f g is fixed by a tight screw. This apparatus is connected by the double screw represented separately at Fig. 12. to the jar BCD, Fig. 10. which must be some pints larger in dimensions than the balloon. This jar is open at top, and is furnished with the brass cap h i , and stop-cock l m . One of these

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Description of the Calorimeter, or Apparatus for measuring Caloric.

The calorimeter, or apparatus for measuring the relative quantities of heat contained in bodies, was described by Mr de la Place and me in the Memoirs of the Academy for 1780, p. 355. and from that Essay the materials of this chapter are extracted. If, after having cooled any body to the freezing point, it be exposed in an atmosphere of 25° (88.25°), the body will gradually become heated, from the surface inwards, till at last it acquire the same temperature with the surrounding air. But, if a p

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Of Mechanical Operations for Division of Bodies. SECT. I.

These are, properly speaking, only preliminary mechanical operations for dividing and separating the particles of bodies, and reducing them into very fine powder. These operations can never reduce substances into their primary, or elementary and ultimate particles; they do not even destroy the aggregation of bodies; for every particle, after the most accurate trituration, forms a small whole, resembling the original mass from which it was divided. The real chemical operations, on the contrary, s

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SECT. II.

None of the mechanical operations employed for reducing bodies to powder is capable of producing it of an equal degree of fineness throughout; the powder obtained by the longest and most accurate trituration being still an assemblage of particles of various sizes. The coarser of these are removed, so as only to leave the finer and more homogeneous particles by means of sieves, Pl. I. Fig. 12. 13. 14. 15. of different finenesses, adapted to the particular purposes they are intended for; all the p

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SECT. III.

A filtre is a species of very fine sieve, which is permeable to the particles of fluids, but through which the particles of the finest powdered solids are incapable of passing; hence its use in separating fine powders from suspension in fluids. In pharmacy, very close and fine woollen cloths are chiefly used for this operation; these are commonly formed in a conical shape, Pl. II. Fig. 2. which has the advantage of uniting all the liquor which drains through into a point A, where it may be readi

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SECT. IV.

This operation is often substituted instead of filtration for separating solid particles which are diffused through liquors. These are allowed to settle in conical vessels, ABCDE, Pl. II. Fig. 10. the diffused matters gradually subside, and the clear fluid is gently poured off. If the sediment be extremely light, and apt to mix again with the fluid by the slightest motion, the syphon, Fig. 11. is used, instead of decantation, for drawing off the clear fluid. In experiments, where the weight of t

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Of Chemical Means for separating the Particles of Bodies from each other; without Decomposition, and for uniting them again.

I have already shown that there are two methods of dividing the particles of bodies, the mechanical and chemical . The former only separates a solid mass into a great number of smaller masses; and for these purposes various species of forces are employed, according to circumstances, such as the strength of man or of animals, the weight of water applied through the means of hydraulic engines, the expansive power of steam, the force of the wind, &amp;c. By all these mechanical powers, we can n

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SECT. I.

In chemical language, the terms of solution and dissolution have long been confounded, and have very improperly been indiscriminately employed for expressing both the division of the particles of a salt in a fluid, such as water, and the division of a metal in an acid. A few reflections upon the effects of these two operations will suffice to show that they ought not to be confounded together. In the solution of salts, the saline particles are only separated from each other, whilst neither the s

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SECT. II.

This is an operation used in chemistry and manufactures for separating substances which are soluble in water from such as are insoluble. The large vat or tub, Pl. II. Fig. 12. having a hole D near its bottom, containing a wooden spiget and fosset or metallic stop-cock DE, is generally used for this purpose. A thin stratum of straw is placed at the bottom of the tub; over this, the substance to be lixiviated is laid and covered by a cloth, then hot or cold water, according to the degree of solubi

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SECT. III.

This operation is used for separating two substances from each other, of which one at least must be fluid, and whose degrees of volatility are considerably different. By this means we obtain a salt, which has been dissolved in water, in its concrete form; the water, by heating, becomes combined with caloric, which renders it volatile, while the particles of the salt being brought nearer to each other, and within the sphere of their mutual attraction, unite into the solid state. As it was long th

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SECT. IV.

In this process the integrant parts of a solid body, separated from each other by the intervention of a fluid, are made to exert the mutual attraction of aggregation, so as to coalesce and reproduce a solid mass. When the particles of a body are only separated by caloric, and the substance is thereby retained in the liquid state, all that is necessary for making it cristallize, is to remove a part of the caloric which is lodged between its particles, or, in other words, to cool it. If this refri

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SECT. V.

As distillation has two distinct objects to accomplish, it is divisible into simple and compound; and, in this section, I mean to confine myself entirely to the former. When two bodies, of which one is more volatile than the other, or has more affinity to caloric, are submitted to distillation, our intention is to separate them from each other: The more volatile substance assumes the form of gas, and is afterwards condensed by refrigeration in proper vessels. In this case distillation, like evap

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SECT. VI.

This term is applied to the distillation of substances which condense in a concrete or solid form, such as the sublimation of sulphur, and of muriat of ammoniac, or sal ammoniac. These operations may be conveniently performed in the ordinary distilling vessels already described, though, in the sublimation of sulphur, a species of vessels, named Alludels, have been usually employed. These are vessels of stone or porcelain ware, which adjust to each other over a cucurbit containing the sulphur to

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Of Pneumato-chemical Distillations, Metallic Dissolutions, and some other operations which require very complicated instruments. SECT. I.

In the preceding chapter, I have only treated of distillation as a simple operation, by which two substances, differing in degrees of volatility, may be separated from each other; but distillation often actually decomposes the substances submitted to its action, and becomes one of the most complicated operations in chemistry. In every distillation, the substance distilled must be brought to the state of gas, in the cucurbit or retort, by combination with caloric: In simple distillation, this cal

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SECT. II.

I have already pointed out the difference between solution of salts in water and metallic dissolutions. The former requires no particular vessels, whereas the latter requires very complicated vessels of late invention, that we may not lose any of the products of the experiment, and may thereby procure truly conclusive results of the phenomena which occur. The metals, in general, dissolve in acids with effervescence, which is only a motion excited in the solvent by the disengagement of a great nu

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SECT. III.

For these operations a peculiar apparatus, especially intended for this kind of experiment, is requisite. The one I am about to describe is finally adopted, as the best calculated for the purpose, after numerous corrections and improvements. It consists of a large matrass, A, Pl. X. fig. 1. holding about twelve pints, with a cap of brass a b , strongly cemented to its mouth, and into which is screwed a bent tube c d , furnished with a stop-cock e . To this tube is joined the glass recipient B, h

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SECT. IV.

Having already given an account, in the first part of this work, of the experiments relative to the decomposition of water, I shall avoid any unnecessary repetitions, and only give a few summary observations upon the subject in this section. The principal substances which have the power of decomposing water are iron and charcoal; for which purpose, they require to be made red hot, otherwise the water is only reduced into vapours, and condenses afterwards by refrigeration, without sustaining the

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Of the Composition and Application of Lutes.

The necessity of properly securing the junctures of chemical vessels to prevent the escape of any of the products of experiments, must be sufficiently apparent; for this purpose lutes are employed, which ought to be of such a nature as to be equally impenetrable to the most subtile substances, as glass itself, through which only caloric can escape. This first object of lutes is very well accomplished by bees wax, melted with about an eighth part of turpentine. This lute is very easily managed, s

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Of Operations upon Combustion and Deflagration. SECT. I.

Combustion, according to what has been already said in the First Part of this Work, is the decomposition of oxygen gas produced by a combustible body. The oxygen which forms the base of this gas is absorbed by, and enters into, combination with the burning body, while the caloric and light are set free. Every combustion, therefore, necessarily supposes oxygenation; whereas, on the contrary, every oxygenation does not necessarily imply concomitant combustion; because combustion, properly so calle

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SECT. II.

In these combustions we begin by filling a jar, capable at least of holding six pints, with oxygen gas in the water apparatus, Pl. V. Fig. 1.; when it is perfectly full, so that the gas begins to flow out below, the jar, A, is carried to the mercury apparatus, Pl. IV. Fig. 3. We then dry the surface of the mercury, both within and without the jar, by means of blotting-paper, taking care to keep the paper for some time entirely immersed in the mercury before it is introduced under the jar, lest w

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SECT. III.

The apparatus I have employed for this process consists of a small conical furnace of hammered copper, represented in perspective, Pl. XII. Fig. 9. and internally displayed Fig. 11. It is divided into the furnace, ABC, where the charcoal is burnt, the grate, d e , and the ash-hole, F; the tube, GH, in the middle of the dome of the furnace serves to introduce the charcoal, and as a chimney for carrying off the air which has served for combustion. Through the tube, l m n , which communicates with

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SECT. IV.

Oils are more compound in their nature than charcoal, being formed by the combination of at least two elements, charcoal and hydrogen; of course, after their combustion in common air, water, carbonic acid gas, and azotic gas, remain. Hence the apparatus employed for their combustion requires to be adapted for collecting these three products, and is consequently more complicated than the charcoal furnace. The apparatus I employ for this purpose is composed of a large jar or pitcher A, Pl. XII. Fi

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SECT. V.

The combustion of alkohol may be very readily performed in the apparatus already described for the combustion of charcoal and phosphorus. A lamp filled with alkohol is placed under the jar A, Pl. IV. Fig. 3. a small morsel of phosphorus is placed upon the wick of the lamp, which is set on fire by means of the hot iron, as before directed. This process is, however, liable to considerable inconveniency; it is dangerous to make use of oxygen gas at the beginning of the experiment for fear of deflag

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SECT. VI.

Tho' the combustion of ether in close vessels does not present the same difficulties as that of alkohol, yet it involves some of a different kind, not more easily overcome, and which still prevent the progress of my experiments. I endeavoured to profit by the property which ether possesses of dissolving in atmospheric air, and rendering it inflammable without explosion. For this purpose, I constructed the reservoir of ether a b c d , Plate XII. Fig. 8. to which air is brought from the gazometer

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SECT. VII.

In the formation of water, two substances, hydrogen and oxygen, which are both in the aëriform state before combustion, are transformed into liquid or water by the operation. This experiment would be very easy, and would require very simple instruments, if it were possible to procure the two gasses perfectly pure, so that they might burn without any residuum. We might, in that case, operate in very small vessels, and, by continually furnishing the two gasses in proper proportions, might continue

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SECT. VIII.

The term oxydation or calcination is chiefly used to signify the process by which metals exposed to a certain degree of heat are converted into oxyds, by absorbing oxygen from the air. This combination takes place in consequence of oxygen possessing a greater affinity to metals, at a certain temperature, than to caloric, which becomes disengaged in its free state; but, as this disengagement, when made in common air, is slow and progressive, it is scarcely evident to the senses. It is quite other

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Of Deflagration.

I have already shown, Part I. Chap. IX. that oxygen does not always part with the whole of the caloric it contained in the state of gas when it enters into combination with other bodies. It carries almost the whole of its caloric alongst with it in entering into the combinations which form nitric acid and oxygenated muriatic acid; so that in nitrats, and more especially in oxygenated muriats, the oxygen is, in a certain degree, in the state of oxygen gas, condensed, and reduced to the smallest v

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Of the Instruments necessary for Operating upon Bodies in very high Temperatures. SECT. I.

We have already seen, that, by aqueous solution, in which the particles of bodies are separated from each other, neither the solvent nor the body held in solution are at all decomposed; so that, whenever the cause of separation ceases, the particles reunite, and the saline substance recovers precisely the same appearance and properties it possessed before solution. Real solutions are produced by fire, or by introducing and accumulating a great quantity of caloric between the particles of bodies;

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SECT. II.

These are instruments of most universal use in chemistry; and, as the success of a great number of experiments depends upon their being well or ill constructed, it is of great importance that a laboratory be well provided in this respect. A furnace is a kind of hollow cylindrical tower, sometimes widened above, Pl. XIII. Fig. 1. ABCD, which must have at least two lateral openings; one in its upper part F, which is the door of the fire-place, and one below, G, leading to the ash-hole. Between the

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SECT. III.

By means of large burning glasses, such as those of Tchirnausen and Mr de Trudaine, a degree of heat is obtained somewhat greater than has hitherto been produced in chemical furnaces, or even in the ovens of furnaces used for baking hard porcelain. But these instruments are extremely expensive, and do not even produce heat sufficient to melt crude platina; so that their advantages are by no means sufficient to compensate for the difficulty of procuring, and even of using them. Concave mirrors pr

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No. IV. Additional.

Note —Any degree, either higher or lower, than what is contained in the above Table, may be at any time converted, by remembering that one degree of Reaumeur's scale is equal to 2.25° of Fahrenheit; or it may be done without the Table by the following formula, R × 9 / 4 + 32 = F; that is, multiply the degree of Reaumeur by 9, divide the product by 4, to the quotient add 32, and the sum is the degree of Fahrenheit.—E....

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No. V. Additional.

The Paris pound, poids de mark of Charlemagne, contains 9216 Paris grains; it is divided into 16 ounces, each ounce into 8 gros, and each gros into 72 grains. It is equal to 7561 English Troy grains. The English Troy pound of 12 ounces contains 5760 English Troy grains, and is equal to 7021 Paris grains. The English averdupois pound of 16 ounces contains 7000 English Troy grains, and is equal to 8538 Paris grains. Or the conversion may be made by means of the following Tables....

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§ 2. Long and Cubical Measures.

Or by means of the following tables:...

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§ 3. Measure of Capacity.

The Paris pint contains 58.145 [63] English cubical inches, and the English wine pint contains 28.85 cubical inches; or, the Paris pint contains 2.01508 English pints, and the English pint contains .49617 Paris pints; hence, [Note A: These five were ascertained by Mr Lavoisier himself.—E.] [Note B: The last three are inserted by Mr Lavoisier upon the authority of Mr Kirwan.—E.] [Note A: The same with Sterling.] [Note B: This is 10 grs. finer than Sterling.] [Note A: Resinous juices extracted in

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