[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 temperature of the atmosphere, owing to the great affinity of hydrogen for caloric.—A.]

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 consequently impossible to procure it in the concrete or liquid state, independent of combination.

To procure hydrogen, or rather hydrogen gas, we have only to subject water to the action of a substance with which oxygen has greater affinity than it has to hydrogen; by this means the hydrogen is set free, and, by uniting with caloric, assumes the form of hydrogen gas. Red hot iron is usually employed for this purpose: The iron, during the process, becomes oxydated, and is changed into a substance resembling the iron ore from the island of Elba. In this state of oxyd it is much less attractible by the magnet, and dissolves in acids without effervescence.

Charcoal, in a red heat, has the same power of decomposing water, by attracting the oxygen from its combination with hydrogen. In this process carbonic acid gas is formed, and mixes with the hydrogen gas, but is easily separated by means of water or alkalies, which absorb the carbonic acid, and leave the hydrogen gas pure. We may likewise obtain hydrogen gas by dissolving iron or zinc in dilute sulphuric acid. These two metals decompose water very slowly, and with great difficulty, when alone, but do it with great ease and rapidity when assisted by sulphuric acid; the hydrogen unites with caloric during the process, and is disengaged in form of hydrogen gas, while the oxygen of the water unites with the metal in the form of oxyd, which is immediately dissolved in the acid, forming a sulphat of iron or of zinc.

Some very distinguished chemists consider hydrogen as the phlogiston of Stahl; and as that celebrated chemist admitted the existence of phlogiston in sulphur, charcoal, metals, &c. they are of course obliged to suppose that hydrogen exists in all these substances, though they cannot prove their supposition; even if they could, it would not avail much, since this disengagement of hydrogen is quite insufficient to explain the phenomena of calcination and combustion. We must always recur to the examination of this question, "Are the heat and light, which are disengaged during the different species of combustion, furnished by the burning body, or by the oxygen which combines in all these operations?" And certainly the supposition of hydrogen being disengaged throws no light whatever upon this question. Besides, it belongs to those who make suppositions to prove them; and, doubtless, a doctrine which without any supposition explains the phenomena as well, and as naturally, as theirs does by supposition, has at least the advantage of greater simplicity[40].

Table of the Binary Combinations of Sulphur with Simple Substances.

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, &c. From these combinations it may be procured in the state of sulphur, by carrying off its oxygen by means of charcoal in a red heat; carbonic acid is formed, and escapes in the state of gas; the sulphur remains combined with the clay, lime, &c. in the state of sulphuret, which is decomposed by acids; the acid unites with the earth into a neutral salt, and the sulphur is precipitated.

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.]

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. It was first made in France in 1737, before a committee of the Academy at the Royal Garden. At present it is procured in a more commodious and more oeconomical manner from animal bones, which are real calcareous phosphats, according to the process of Messrs Gahn, Scheele, Rouelle, &c. The bones of adult animals being calcined to whiteness, are pounded, and passed through a fine silk sieve; pour upon the fine powder a quantity of dilute sulphuric acid, less than is sufficient for dissolving the whole. This acid unites with the calcareous earth of the bones into a sulphat of lime, and the phosphoric acid remains free in the liquor. The liquid is decanted off, and the residuum washed with boiling water; this water which has been used to wash out the adhering acid is joined with what was before decanted off, and the whole is gradually evaporated; the dissolved sulphat of lime cristallizes in form of silky threads, which are removed, and by continuing the evaporation we procure the phosphoric acid under the appearance of a white pellucid glass. When this is powdered, and mixed with one third its weight of charcoal, we procure very pure phosphorus by sublimation. The phosphoric acid, as procured by the above process, is never so pure as that obtained by oxygenating pure phosphorus either by combustion or by means of nitric acid; wherefore this latter should always be employed in experiments of research.

Phosphorus is found in almost all animal substances, and in some plants which give a kind of animal analysis. In all these it is usually combined with charcoal, hydrogen, and azote, forming very compound radicals, which are, for the most part, in the state of oxyds by a first degree of union with oxygen. The discovery of Mr Hassenfratz, of phosphorus being contained in charcoal, gives reason to suspect that it is more common in the vegetable kingdom than has generally been supposed: It is certain, that, by proper processes, it may be procured from every individual of some of the families of plants.

As no experiment has hitherto given reason to suspect that phosphorus is a compound body, I have arranged it with the simple or elementary substances. It takes fire at the temperature of 32° (104°) of the thermometer.

Table of the Binary Combinations of Charcoal.

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 subject them to the action of fire, at first moderate, and afterwards very strong, on purpose to drive off the last portions of water, which adhere very obstinately to the charcoal. For chemical purposes, this is usually done in retorts of stone-ware or porcellain, into which the wood, or other matter, is introduced, and then placed in a reverberatory furnace, raised gradually to its greatest heat: The heat volatilizes, or changes into gas, all the parts of the body susceptible of combining with caloric into that form, and the charcoal, being more fixed in its nature, remains in the retort combined with a little earth and some fixed salts.

In the business of charring wood, this is done by a less expensive process. The wood is disposed in heaps, and covered with earth, so as to prevent the access of any more air than is absolutely necessary for supporting the fire, which is kept up till all the water and oil is driven off, after which the fire is extinguished by shutting up all the air-holes.

We may analyse charcoal either by combustion in air, or rather in oxygen gas, or by means of nitric acid. In either case we convert it into carbonic acid, and sometimes a little potash and some neutral salts remain. This analysis has hitherto been but little attended to by chemists; and we are not even certain if potash exists in charcoal before combustion, or whether it be formed by means of some unknown combination during that process.

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 them in a simple state. For this purpose, some substance must be employed to which oxygen has a stronger affinity than to their radicals, either by means of single affinity, or by double elective attraction. All that is known relative to the origin of the radicals of these acids will be mentioned in the sections set apart for considering their combinations with the salifiable bases.

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 or combination; thus the term alloy of gold and silver, or gold alloyed with silver, indicates that gold is the predominating metal.

Metallic alloys, like all other combinations, have a point of saturation. It would even appear, from the experiments of Mr de la Briche, that they have two perfectly distinct degrees of saturation.

Table of the Combinations of Azote in the state of Nitrous Acid with the Salifiable Bases, arranged according to the affinities of these Bases with the Acid.

Table of the Combinations of Azote, completely saturated with Oxygen, in the state of Nitric Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the order of the affinity with the Acid.

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 would be difficultly preserved, advantage is taken, in the manufactures of saltpetre and the royal refining house, of the greater affinity of the nitric acid to potash than these other bases, by which means the lime, magnesia, and argill, are precipitated, and all these nitrats are reduced to the nitrat of potash or saltpetre[41].

The nitric acid is procured from this salt by distillation, from three parts of pure saltpetre decomposed by one part of concentrated sulphuric acid, in a retort with Woulfe's apparatus, (Pl. IV. fig. 1.) having its bottles half filled with water, and all its joints carefully luted. The nitrous acid passes over in form of red vapours surcharged with nitrous gas, or, in other words, not saturated with oxygen. Part of the acid condenses in the recipient in form of a dark orange red liquid, while the rest combines with the water in the bottles. During the distillation, a large quantity of oxygen gas escapes, owing to the greater affinity of oxygen to caloric, in a high temperature, than to nitrous acid, though in the usual temperature of the atmosphere this affinity is reversed. It is from the disengagement of oxygen that the nitric acid of the neutral salt is in this operation converted into nitrous acid. It is brought back to the state of nitric acid by heating over a gentle fire, which drives off the superabundant nitrous gas, and leaves the nitric acid much diluted with water.

Nitric acid is procurable in a more concentrated state, and with much less loss, by mixing very dry clay with saltpetre. This mixture is put into an earthern retort, and distilled with a strong fire. The clay combines with the potash, for which it has great affinity, and the nitric acid passes over, slightly impregnated with nitrous gas. This is easily disengaged by heating the acid gently in a retort, a small quantity of nitrous gas passes over into the recipient, and very pure concentrated nitric acid remains in the retort.

We have already seen that azote is the nitric radical. If to 20-1/2 parts, by weight, of azote 43-1/2 parts of oxygen be added, 64 parts of nitrous gas are formed; and, if to this we join 36 additional parts of oxygen, 100 parts of nitric acid result from the combination. Intermediate quantities of oxygen between these two extremes of oxygenation produce different species of nitrous acid, or, in other words, nitric acid less or more impregnated with nitrous gas. I ascertained the above proportions by means of decomposition; and, though I cannot answer for their absolute accuracy, they cannot be far removed from truth. Mr Cavendish, who first showed by synthetic experiments that azote is the base of nitric acid, gives the proportions of azote a little larger than I have done; but, as it is not improbable that he produced the nitrous acid and not the nitric, that circumstance explains in some degree the difference in the results of our experiments.

As, in all experiments of a philosophical nature, the utmost possible degree of accuracy is required, we must procure the nitric acid for experimental purposes, from nitre which has been previously purified from all foreign matter. If, after distillation, any sulphuric acid is suspected in the nitric acid, it is easily separated by dropping in a little nitrat of barytes, so long as any precipitation takes place; the sulphuric acid, from its greater affinity, attracts the barytes, and forms with it an insoluble neutral salt, which falls to the bottom. It may be purified in the same manner from muriatic acid, by dropping in a little nitrat of silver so long as any precipitation of muriat of silver is produced. When these two precipitations are finished, distill off about seven-eighths of the acid by a gentle heat, and what comes over is in the most perfect degree of purity.

The nitric acid is one of the most prone to combination, and is at the same time very easily decomposed. Almost all the simple substances, with the exception of gold, silver, and platina, rob it less or more of its oxygen; some of them even decompose it altogether. It was very anciently known, and its combinations have been more studied by chemists than those of any other acid. These combinations were named nitres by Messrs Macquer and Beaumé; but we have changed their names to nitrats and nitrites, according as they are formed by nitric or by nitrous acid, and have added the specific name of each particular base, to distinguish the several combinations from each other.

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

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 its oxygen to the sulphur, which contributes to its conversion into acid. Notwithstanding this addition, the sulphur will only continue to burn in close vessels for a limited time; the combination ceases, because the oxygen is exhausted, and the air of the vessels reduced almost to pure azotic gas, and because the acid itself remains long in the state of vapour, and hinders the progress of combustion.

In the manufactories for making sulphuric acid in the large way, the mixture of nitre and sulphur is burnt in large close built chambers lined with lead, having a little water at the bottom for facilitating the condensation of the vapours. Afterwards, by distillation in large retorts with a gentle heat, the water passes over, slightly impregnated with acid, and the sulphuric acid remains behind in a concentrated state. It is then pellucid, without any flavour, and nearly double the weight of an equal bulk of water. This process would be greatly facilitated, and the combustion much prolonged, by introducing fresh air into the chambers, by means of several pairs of bellows directed towards the flame of the sulphur, and by allowing the nitrous gas to escape through long serpentine canals, in contact with water, to absorb any sulphuric or sulphurous acid gas it might contain.

By one experiment, Mr Berthollet found that 69 parts of sulphur in combustion, united with 31 parts of oxygen, to form 100 parts of sulphuric acid; and, by another experiment, made in a different manner, he calculates that 100 parts of sulphuric acid consists of 72 parts sulphur, combined with 28 parts of oxygen, all by weight.

This acid, in common with every other, can only dissolve metals when they have been previously oxydated; but most of the metals are capable of decomposing a part of the acid, so as to carry off a sufficient quantity of oxygen, to render themselves soluble in the part of the acid which remains undecomposed. This happens with silver, mercury, iron, and zinc, in boiling concentrated sulphuric acid; they become first oxydated by decomposing part of the acid, and then dissolve in the other part; but they do not sufficiently disoxygenate the decomposed part of the acid to reconvert it into sulphur; it is only reduced to the state of sulphurous acid, which, being volatilised by the heat, flies off in form of sulphurous acid gas.

Silver, mercury, and all the other metals except iron and zinc, are insoluble in diluted sulphuric acid, because they have not sufficient affinity with oxygen to draw it off from its combination either with the sulphur, the sulphurous acid, or the hydrogen; but iron and zinc, being assisted by the action of the acid, decompose the water, and become oxydated at its expence, without the help of heat.

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 oxyds.—A.

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 of gas; but it appears, from the experiments of Mr Clouet, that, in a very low temperature, it condenses, and becomes fluid. Water absorbs a great deal more of this gas than of carbonic acid gas, but much less than it does of muriatic acid gas.

That the metals cannot be dissolved in acids without being previously oxydated, or by procuring oxygen, for that purpose, from the acids during solution, is a general and well established fact, which I have perhaps repeated too often. Hence, as sulphurous acid is already deprived of great part of the oxygen necessary for forming the sulphuric acid, it is more disposed to recover oxygen, than to furnish it to the greatest part of the metals; and, for this reason, it cannot dissolve them, unless previously oxydated by other means. From the same principle it is that the metallic oxyds dissolve without effervescence, and with great facility, in sulphurous acid. This acid, like the muriatic, has even the property of dissolving metallic oxyds surcharged with oxygen, and consequently insoluble in sulphuric acid, and in this way forms true sulphats. Hence we might be led to conclude that there are no metallic sulphites, were it not that the phenomena which accompany the solution of iron, mercury, and some other metals, convince us that these metallic substances are susceptible of two degrees of oxydation, during their solution in acids. Hence the neutral salt in which the metal is least oxydated must be named sulphite, and that in which it is fully oxydated must be called sulphat. It is yet unknown whether this distinction is applicable to any of the metallic sulphats, except those of iron and mercury.

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