MRS. B.

But you are not aware of the difficulty of introducing into science an entire set of new terms; it obliges all the teachers and professors to go to school again, and if some of the old names, that are least exceptionable, were not left as an introduction to the new ones, few people would have had industry and perseverance enough to submit to the study of a completely new language; and the inferior classes of artists, who can only act from habit and routine, would, at least for a time, have felt material inconvenience from a total change of their habitual terms. From these considerations, Lavoisier and his colleagues, who invented the new nomenclature, thought it most prudent to leave a few links of the old chain, in order to connect it with the new one. Besides, you may easily conceive the inconvenience which might arise from giving a regular nomenclature to substances, the simple nature of which is always uncertain; for the new names might, perhaps, have proved to have been founded in error. And, indeed, cautious as the inventors of the modern chemical language have been, it has already been found necessary to modify it in many respects. In those few cases, however, in which new terms have been adopted to designate simple bodies, these names have been so contrived as to indicate one of the chief properties of the body in question; this is the case with oxygen, which, as I explained to you, signifies generator of acids; and hydrogen generator of water. If all the elementary bodies had a similar termination, as you propose, it would be necessary to change the name of any that might hereafter be found of a compound nature, which would be very inconvenient in this age of discovery.

But to return to the alkalies. —We shall now try to melt some of this caustic potash in a little water, as a circumstance occurs during its solution very worthy of observation. —Do you feel the heat that is produced?

CAROLINE.

Yes, I do; but is not this directly contrary to our theory of latent heat, according to which heat is disengaged when fluids become solid, and cold produced when solids are melted?

MRS. B.

The latter is really the case in all solutions; and if the solution of caustic alkalies seems to make an exception to the rule, it does not, I believe, form any solid objection to the theory. The matter may be explained thus: When water first comes in contact with the potash, it produces an effect similar to the slaking of lime, that is, the water is solidified in combining with the potash, and thus loses its latent heat; this is the heat that you now feel, and which is, therefore, produced not by the melting of the solid, but by the solidification of the fluid. But when there is more water than the potash can absorb and solidify, the latter then yields to the solvent power of the water; and if we do not perceive the cold produced by its melting, it is because it is counterbalanced by the heat previously disengaged.*

A very remarkable property of potash is the formation of glass by its fusion with siliceous earth. You are not yet acquainted with this last substance, further than its being in the list of simple bodies. It is sufficient, for the present, that you should know that sand and flint are chiefly composed of it; alone, it is infusible, but mixed with potash, it melts when exposed to the heat of a furnace, combines with the alkali, and runs into glass.

[Footnote *: This defence of the general theory, however plausible, is liable to some obvious objections. The phenomenon might perhaps be better accounted for by supposing that a solution of alkali in water has less capacity for heat than either water or alkali in their separate state.]

CAROLINE.

Who would ever have supposed that the same substance which converts transparent oil into such an opake body as soap, should transform that opake substance, sand, into transparent glass!

MRS. B.

The transparency, or opacity of bodies, does not, I conceive, depend so much upon their intimate nature, as upon the arrangement of their particles: we cannot have a more striking instance of this, than is afforded by the different states of carbon, which, though it commonly appears in the form of a black opake body, sometimes assumes the most dazzling transparent form in nature, that of diamond, which, you recollect, is carbon, and which, in all probability, derives its beautiful transparency from the peculiar arrangement of its particles during their crystallisation.

EMILY.

I never should have supposed that the formation of glass was so simple a process as you describe it.

MRS. B.

It is by no means an easy operation to make perfect glass; for if the sand, or flint, from which the siliceous earth is obtained, be mixed with any metallic particles, or other substance, which cannot be vitrified, the glass will be discoloured, or defaced, by opake specks.

CAROLINE.

That, I suppose, is the reason why objects so often appear irregular and shapeless through a common glass-window.

MRS. B.

This species of imperfection proceeds, I believe, from another cause. It is extremely difficult to prevent the lower part of the vessels, in which the materials of glass are fused, from containing a more dense vitreous matter than the upper, on account of the heavier ingredients falling to the bottom. When this happens, it occasions the appearance of veins or waves in the glass, from the difference of density in its several parts, which produces an irregular refraction of the rays of light that pass through it.

Another species of imperfection sometimes arises from the fusion not being continued for a length of time sufficient to combine the two ingredients completely, or from the due proportion of potash and silex (which are as two to one) not being carefully observed; the glass, in those cases, will be liable to alteration from the action of the air, of salts, and especially of acids, which will effect its decomposition by combining with the potash, and forming compound salts.

EMILY.

What an extremely useful substance potash is!

MRS. B.

Besides the great importance of potash in the manufactures of glass and soap, it is of very considerable utility in many of the other arts, and in its combinations with several acids, particularly the nitric, with which it forms saltpetre.

CAROLINE.

Then saltpetre must be a nitrat of potash? But we are not yet acquainted with the nitric acid?

MRS. B.

We shall therefore defer entering into the particulars of these combinations till we come to a general review of the compound salts. In order to avoid confusion, it will be better at present to confine ourselves to the alkalies.

EMILY.

Cannot you show us the change of colour which you said the alkalies produced on blue vegetable infusions?

MRS. B.

Yes; very easily. I shall dip a piece of white paper into this syrup of violets, which, you see, is of a deep blue, and dyes the paper of the same colour. —As soon as it is dry, we shall dip it into a solution of potash, which, though itself colourless, will turn the paper green—

CAROLINE.

So it has, indeed! And do the other alkalies produce a similar effect?

MRS. B.

Exactly the same. —We may now proceed to SODA, which, however important, will detain us but a very short time; as in all its general properties it very strongly resembles potash; indeed, so great is their similitude, that they have been long confounded, and they can now scarcely be distinguished, except by the difference of the salts which they form with acids.

The great source of this alkali is the sea, where, combined with a peculiar acid, it forms the salt with which the waters of the ocean are so strongly impregnated.

EMILY.

Is not that the common table salt?

MRS. B.

The very same; but again we must postpone entering into the particulars of this interesting combination, till we treat of the neutral salts. Soda may be obtained from common salt; but the easiest and most usual method of procuring it is by the combustion of marine plants, an operation perfectly analogous to that by which potash is obtained from vegetables.

EMILY.

From what does soda derive its name?

MRS. B.

From a plant called by us soda, and by the Arabs kali, which affords it in great abundance. Kali has, indeed, given its name to the alkalies in general.

CAROLINE.

Does soda form glass and soap in the same manner as potash?

MRS. B.

Yes, it does; it is of equal importance in the arts, and is even preferred to potash for some purposes; but you will not be able to distinguish their properties till we examine the compound salts which they form with acids; we must therefore leave soda for the present, and proceed to AMMONIA, or the VOLATILE ALKALI.

EMILY.

I long to hear something of this alkali; is it not of the same nature as hartshorn?

MRS. B.

Yes, it is, as you will see by-and-bye. This alkali is seldom found in nature in its pure state; it is most commonly extracted from a compound salt, called sal ammoniac, which was formerly imported from Ammonia, a region of Libya, from which both these salts and the alkali derive their names. The crystals contained in this bottle are specimens of this salt, which consists of a combination of ammonia and muriatic acid.

CAROLINE.

Then it should be called muriat of ammonia; for though I am ignorant what muriatic acid is, yet I know that its combination with ammonia cannot but be so called; and I am surprised to see sal ammoniac inscribed on the label.

MRS. B.

That is the name by which it has been so long known, that the modern chemists have not yet succeeded in banishing it altogether; and it is still sold under that name by druggists, though by scientific chemists it is more properly called muriat of ammonia.

CAROLINE.

Both the popular and the common name should be inscribed on labels—this would soon introduce the new nomenclature.

EMILY.

By what means can the ammonia be separated from the muriatic acid?

MRS. B.

By chemical attractions; but this operation is too complicated for you to understand, till you are better acquainted with the agency of affinities.

EMILY.

And when extracted from the salt, what kind of substance is ammonia?

MRS. B.

Its natural form, at the temperature of the atmosphere, when free from combination, is that of gas; and in this state it is called ammoniacal gas. But it mixes very readily with water, and can be thus obtained in a liquid form.

CAROLINE.

You said that ammonia was more complicated in its composition than the other alkalies; pray of what principles does it consist?

MRS. B.

It was discovered a few years since, by Berthollet, a celebrated French chemist, that it consisted of about one part of hydrogen to four parts of nitrogen. Having heated ammoniacal gas under a receiver, by causing the electrical spark to pass repeatedly through it, he found that it increased considerably in bulk, lost all its alkaline properties, and was actually converted into hydrogen and nitrogen gases; and from the latest and most accurate experiments, the proportions appear to be, one volume of nitrogen gas to three of hydrogen gas.

CAROLINE.

Ammonia, therefore, has not, like the two other alkalies, a metallic basis?

MRS. B.

It is believed it has, though it is extremely difficult to reconcile that idea with what I have just stated of its chemical nature. But the fact is, that although this supposed metallic basis of ammonia has never been obtained distinct and separate, yet both Professor Berzelius, of Stockholm, and Sir H. Davy, have succeeded in forming a combination of mercury with the basis of ammonia, which has so much the appearance of an amalgam, that it strongly corroborates the idea of ammonia having a metallic basis.* But these theoretical points are full of difficulties and doubts, and it would be useless to dwell any longer upon them.

Let us therefore return to the properties of volatile alkali. Ammoniacal gas is considerably lighter than oxygen gas, and only about half the weight of atmospherical air. It possesses most of the properties of the fixed alkalies; but cannot be of so much use in the arts on account of its volatile nature. It is, therefore, never employed in the manufacture of glass, but it forms soap with oils equally as well as potash and soda; it resembles them likewise in its strong attraction for water; for which reason it can be collected in a receiver over mercury only.

[Footnote *: This amalgam is easily obtained, by placing a globule of mercury upon a piece of muriat, or carbonat of ammonia, and electrifying this globule by the Voltaic battery. The globule instantly begins to expand to three or four times its former size, and becomes much less fluid, though without losing its metallic lustre, a change which is ascribed to the metallic basis of ammonia uniting with the mercury. This is an extremely curious experiment.]

CAROLINE.

I do not understand this?

MRS. B.

Do you recollect the method which we used to collect gases in a glass-receiver over water?

CAROLINE.

Perfectly.

MRS. B.

Ammoniacal gas has so strong a tendency to unite with water, that, instead of passing through that fluid, it would be instantaneously absorbed by it. We can therefore neither use water for that purpose, nor any other liquid of which water is a component part; so that, in order to collect this gas, we are obliged to have recourse to mercury, (a liquid which has no action upon it,) and a mercurial bath is used instead of a water bath, such as we employed on former occasions. Water impregnated with this gas is nothing more than the fluid which you mentioned at the beginning of the conversation—hartshorn; it is the ammoniacal gas escaping from the water which gives it so powerful a smell.

EMILY.

But there is no appearance of effervescence in hartshorn.

MRS. B.

Because the particles of gas that rise from the water are too subtle and minute for their effect to be visible.

Water diminishes in density, by being impregnated with ammoniacal gas; and this augmentation of bulk increases its capacity for caloric.

EMILY.

In making hartshorn, then, or impregnating water with ammonia, heat must be absorbed, and cold produced?

MRS. B.

That effect would take place if it was not counteracted by another circumstance; the gas is liquefied by incorporating with the water, and gives out its latent heat. The condensation of the gas more than counterbalances the expansion of the water; therefore, upon the whole, heat is produced. —But if you dissolve ammoniacal gas with ice or snow, cold is produced. —Can you account for that?

EMILY.

The gas, in being condensed into a liquid, must give out heat; and, on the other hand, the snow or ice, in being rarefied into a liquid, must absorb heat; so that, between the opposite effects, I should have supposed the original temperature would have been preserved.

MRS. B.

But you have forgotten to take into the account the rarefaction of the water (or melted ice) by the impregnation of the gas; and this is the cause of the cold which is ultimately produced.

CAROLINE.

Is the sal volatile (the smell of which so strongly resembles hartshorn) likewise a preparation of ammonia?

MRS. B.

It is carbonat of ammonia dissolved in water; and which, in its concrete state, is commonly called salts of hartshorn. Ammonia is caustic, like the fixed alkalies, as you may judge by the pungent effects of hartshorn, which cannot be taken internally, nor applied to delicate external parts, without being plentifully diluted with water. —Oil and acids are very excellent antidotes for alkaline poisons; can you guess why?

CAROLINE.

Perhaps, because the oil combines with the alkali, and forms soap, and thus destroys its caustic properties; and the acid converts it into a compound salt, which, I suppose, is not so pernicious as caustic alkali.

MRS. B.

Precisely so.

Ammoniacal gas, if it be mixed with atmospherical air, and a burning taper repeatedly plunged into it, will burn with a large flame of a peculiar yellow colour.

EMILY.

But pray tell me, can ammonia be procured from this Lybian salt only?

MRS. B.

So far from it, that it is contained in, and may be extracted from, all animal substances whatever. Hydrogen and nitrogen are two of the chief constituents of animal matter; it is therefore not surprising that they should occasionally meet and combine in those proportions that compose ammonia. But this alkali is more frequently generated by the spontaneous decomposition of animal substances; the hydrogen and nitrogen gases that arise from putrefied bodies combine, and form the volatile alkali.

Muriat of ammonia, instead of being exclusively brought from Lybia, as it originally was, is now chiefly prepared in Europe, by chemical processes. Ammonia, although principally extracted from this salt, can also be produced by a great variety of other substances. The horns of cattle, especially those of deer, yield it in abundance, and it is from this circumstance that a solution of ammonia in water has been called hartshorn. It may likewise be procured from wool, flesh, and bones; in a word, any animal substance whatever yields it by decomposition.

We shall now lay aside the alkalies, however important the subject may be, till we treat of their combination with acids. The next time we meet we shall examine the earths.



CONVERSATION XV.

ON EARTHS.

MRS. B.

The EARTHS, which we are to-day to examine, are nine in number:

SILEX, ALUMINE, BARYTES, LIME, MAGNESIA, STRONTITES, YTTRIA, GLUCINA, ZIRCONIA.

The last three are of late discovery; their properties are but imperfectly known; and, as they have not yet been applied to use, it will be unnecessary to enter into any particulars respecting them; we shall confine our remarks, therefore, to the first five. They are composed, as you have already learnt, of a metallic basis combined with oxygen; and, from this circumstance, are incombustible.

CAROLINE.

Yet I have seen turf burnt in the country, and it makes an excellent fire; the earth becomes red hot, and produces a very great quantity of heat.

MRS. B.

It is not the earth that burns, my dear, but the roots, grass, and other remnants of vegetables that are intermixed with it. The caloric, which is produced by the combustion of these substances, makes the earth red hot, and this being a bad conductor of heat, retains its caloric a long time; but were you to examine it when cooled, you would find that it had not absorbed one particle of oxygen, nor suffered any alteration from the fire. Earth is, however, from the circumstance just mentioned, an excellent radiator of heat, and owes its utility, when mixed with fuel, solely to that property. It is in this point of view that Count Rumford has recommended balls of incombustible substances to be arranged in fire-places, and mixed with the coals, by which means the caloric disengaged by the combustion of the latter is more perfectly reflected into the room, and an expense of fuel is saved.

EMILY.

I expected that the list of earths would be much more considerable. When I think of the great variety of soils, I am astonished that there is not a greater number of earths to form them.

MRS. B.

You might, indeed, almost confine that number to four; for barytes, strontites, and the others of late discovery, act but so small a part in this great theatre, that they cannot be reckoned as essential to the general formation of the globe. And you must not confine your idea of earths to the formation of soil; for rock, marble, chalk, slate, sand, flint, and all kinds of stones, from the precious jewels to the commonest pebbles; in a word, all the immense variety of mineral products, may be referred to some of these earths, either in a simple state, or combined the one with the other, or blended with other ingredients.

CAROLINE.

Precious stones composed of earth! That seems very difficult to conceive.

EMILY.

Is it more extraordinary than that the most precious of all jewels, diamond, should be composed of carbon? But diamond forms an exception, Mrs. B.; for, though a stone, it is not composed of earth.

MRS. B.

I did not specify the exception, as I knew you were so well acquainted with it. Besides, I would call a diamond a mineral rather than a stone, as the latter term always implies the presence of some earth.

CAROLINE.

I cannot conceive how such coarse materials can be converted into such beautiful productions.

MRS. B.

We are very far from understanding all the secret resources of nature; but I do not think the spontaneous formation of the crystals, which we call precious stones, one of the most difficult phenomena to comprehend.

By the slow and regular work of ages, perhaps of hundreds of ages, these earths may be gradually dissolved by water, and as gradually deposited by their solvent in the undisturbed process of crystallisation. The regular arrangement of their particles, during their reunion in a solid mass, gives them that brilliancy, transparency, and beauty, for which they are so much admired; and renders them in appearance so totally different from their rude and primitive ingredients.

CAROLINE.

But how does it happen that they are spontaneously dissolved, and afterwards crystallised?

MRS. B.

The scarcity of many kinds of crystals, as rubies, emeralds, topazes, &c. shows that their formation is not an operation very easily carried on in nature. But cannot you imagine that when water, holding in solution some particles of earth, filters through the crevices of hills or mountains, and at length dribbles into some cavern, each successive drop may be slowly evaporated, leaving behind it the particle of earth which it held in solution? You know that crystallisation is more regular and perfect, in proportion as the evaporation of the solvent is slow and uniform; nature, therefore, who knows no limit of time, has, in all works of this kind, an infinite advantage over any artist who attempts to imitate such productions.

EMILY.

I can now conceive that the arrangement of the particles of earth, during crystallisation, may be such as to occasion transparency, by admitting a free passage to the rays of light; but I cannot understand why crystallised earths should assume such beautiful colours as most of them do. Sapphire, for instance, is of a celestial blue; ruby, a deep red; topaz, a brilliant yellow?

MRS. B.

Nothing is more simple than to suppose that the arrangement of their particles is such, as to transmit some of the coloured rays of light, and to reflect others, in which case the stone must appear of the colour of the rays which it reflects. But besides, it frequently happens that the colour of a stone is owing to a mixture of some metallic matter.

CAROLINE.

Pray, are the different kinds of precious stones each composed of one individual earth, or are they formed of a combination of several earths?

MRS. B.

A great variety of materials enters into the composition of most of them; not only several earths, but sometimes salts and metals. The earths, however, in their simple state, frequently form very beautiful crystals; and, indeed, it is in that state only that they can be obtained perfectly pure.

EMILY.

Is not the Derbyshire spar produced by the crystallisation of earths, in the way you have just explained? I have been in some of the subterraneous caverns where it is found, which are similar to those you have described.

MRS. B.

Yes; but this spar is a very imperfect specimen of crystallisation; it consists of a variety of ingredients confusedly blended together, as you may judge by its opacity, and by the various colours and appearances which it exhibits.

But, in examining the earths in their most perfect and agreeable form, we must not lose sight of that state in which they are commonly found, and which, if less pleasing to the eye, is far more interesting by its utility.

All the earths are more or less endowed with alkaline properties; but there are four, barytes, magnesia, lime, and strontites, which are called alkaline earths, because they possess those qualities in so great a degree, as to entitle them, in most respects, to the rank of alkalies. They combine and form compound salts with acids, in the same way as alkalies; they are, like them, susceptible of a considerable degree of causticity, and are acted upon in a similar manner by chemical tests. —The remaining earths, silex and alumine, with one or two others of late discovery, are in some degree more earthy, that is to say, they possess more completely the properties common to all the earths, which are, insipidity, dryness, unalterableness in the fire, infusibility, &c.

CAROLINE.

Yet, did you not tell us that silex, or siliceous earth, when mixed with an alkali, was fusible, and run into glass?

MRS. B.

Yes, my dear; but the characteristic properties of earths, which I have mentioned, are to be considered as belonging to them in a state of purity only; a state in which they are very seldom to be met with in nature. —Besides these general properties, each earth has its own specific characters, by which it is distinguished from any other substance. —Let us therefore review them separately.

SILEX, or SILICA, abounds in flint, sand, sandstone, agate, jasper, &c.; it forms the basis of many precious stones, and particularly of those which strike fire with steel. It is rough to the touch, scratches and wears away metals; it is acted upon by no acid but the fluoric, and is not soluble in water by any known process; but nature certainly dissolves it by means with which we are unacquainted, and thus produces a variety of siliceous crystals, and amongst these rock crystal, which is the purest specimen of this earth. Silex appears to have been intended by Providence to form the solid basis of the globe, to serve as a foundation for the original mountains, and give them that hardness and durability which has enabled them to resist the various revolutions which the surface of the earth has successively undergone. From these mountains siliceous rocks have, during the course of ages, been gradually detached by torrents of water, and brought down in fragments; these, in the violence and rapidity of their descent, are sometimes crumbled to sand, and in this state form the beds of rivers and of the sea, chiefly composed of siliceous materials. Sometimes the fragments are broken without being pulverised by their fall, and assume the form of pebbles, which gradually become rounded and polished.

EMILY.

Pray what is the true colour of silex, which forms such a variety of different coloured substances? Sand is brown, flint is nearly black, and precious stones are of all colours.

MRS. B.

Pure silex, such as is found only in the chemist's laboratory, is perfectly white, and the various colours which it assumes, in the different substances you have just mentioned, proceed from the different ingredients with which it is mixed in them.

CAROLINE.

I wonder that silex is not more valuable, since it forms the basis of so many precious stones.

MRS. B.

You must not forget that the value we set upon precious stones depends in a great measure upon the scarcity with which nature affords them; for, were those productions either common or perfectly imitable by art, they would no longer, notwithstanding their beauty, be so highly esteemed. But the real value of siliceous earth, in many of the most useful arts, is very extensive. Mixed with clay, it forms the basis of all the various kinds of earthen ware, from the most common utensils to the most refined ornaments.

EMILY.

And we must recollect its importance in the formation of glass with potash.

MRS. B.

Nor should we omit to mention, likewise, many other important uses of silex, such as being the chief ingredient of some of the most durable cements, of mortar, &c.

I said before, that siliceous earth combined with no acid but the fluoric; it is for this reason that glass is liable to be attacked by that acid only, which, from its strong affinity for silex, forces that substance from its combination with the potash, and thus destroys the glass.

We will now hasten to proceed to the other earths, for I am rather apprehensive of your growing weary of this part of our subject.

CAROLINE.

The history of the earths is not quite so entertaining as that of the simple substances.

MRS. B.

Perhaps not; but it is absolutely indispensable that you should know something of them; for they form the basis of so many interesting and important compounds, that their total omission would throw great obscurity on our general outline of chemical science. We shall, however, review them in as cursory a manner as the subject can admit of.

ALUMINE derives its name from a compound salt called alum, of which it forms the basis.

CAROLINE.

But it ought to be just the contrary, Mrs. B.; the simple body should give, instead of taking, its name from the compound.

MRS. B.

That is true; but as the compound salt was known long before its basis was discovered, it was very natural that when the earth was at length separated from the acid, it should derive its name from the compound from which it was obtained. However, to remove your scruples, we will call the salt according to the new nomenclature, sulphat of alumine. From this combination, alumine may be obtained in its pure state; it is then soft to the touch, makes a paste with water, and hardens in the fire. In nature, it is found chiefly in clay, which contains a considerable proportion of this earth; it is very abundant in fuller's earth, slate, and a variety of other mineral productions. There is indeed scarcely any mineral substance more useful to mankind than alumine. In the state of clay, it forms large strata of the earth, gives consistency to the soil of valleys, and of all low and damp spots, such as swamps and marshes. The beds of lakes, ponds, and springs, are almost entirely of clay; instead of allowing of the filtration of water, as sand does, it forms an impenetrable bottom, and by this means water is accumulated in the caverns of the earth, producing those reservoirs whence springs issue, and spout out at the surface.

EMILY.

I always thought that these subterraneous reservoirs of water were bedded by some hard stone, or rock, which the water could not penetrate.

MRS. B.

That is not the case; for in the course of time water would penetrate, or wear away silex, or any other kind of stone, while it is effectually stopped by clay, or alumine.

The solid compact soils, such as are fit for corn, owe their consistence in a great measure to alumine; this earth is therefore used to improve sandy or chalky soils, which do not retain a sufficient quantity of water for the purpose of vegetation.

Alumine is the most essential ingredient in all potteries. It enters into the composition of brick, as well as that of the finest porcelain; the addition of silex and water hardens it, renders it susceptible of a degree of vitrification, and makes it perfectly fit for its various purposes.

CAROLINE.

I can scarcely conceive that brick and china should be made of the same materials.

MRS. B.

Brick consists almost entirely of baked clay; but a certain proportion of silex is essential to the formation of earthen or stone ware. In common potteries sand is used for that purpose; a more pure silex is, I believe, necessary for the composition of porcelain, as well as a finer kind of clay; and these materials are, no doubt, more carefully prepared, and curiously wrought, in the one case than in the other. Porcelain owes its beautiful semitransparency to a commencement of vitrification.

EMILY.

But the commonest earthen-ware, though not transparent, is covered with a kind of glazing.

MRS. B.

That precaution is equally necessary for use as for beauty, as the ware would be liable to be spoiled and corroded by a variety of substances, if not covered with a coating of this kind. In porcelain it consists of enamel, which is a fine white opake glass, formed of metallic oxyds, sand, salts, and such other materials as are susceptible of vitrification. The glazing of common earthen-ware is made chiefly of oxyd of lead, or sometimes merely of salt, which, when thinly spread over earthen vessels, will, at a certain heat, run into opake glass.

CAROLINE.

And of what nature are the colours which are used for painting porcelain?

MRS. B.

They are all composed of metallic oxyds, so that these colours, instead of receiving injury from the application of fire, are strengthened and developed by its action, which causes them to undergo different degrees of oxydation.

Alumine and silex are not only often combined by art, but they have in nature a very strong tendency to unite, and are found combined, in different proportions, in various gems and other minerals. Indeed, many of the precious stones, such as ruby, oriental sapphire, amethyst, &c. consist chiefly of alumine.

We may now proceed to the alkaline earths, I shall say but a few words on BARYTES, as it is hardly ever used, except in chemical laboratories. It is remarkable for its great weight, and its strong alkaline properties, such as destroying animal substances, turning green some blue vegetable colours, and showing a powerful attraction for acids; this last property it possesses to such a degree, particularly with regard to the sulphuric acid, that it will always detect its presence in any substance or combination whatever, by immediately uniting with it, and forming a sulphat of barytes. This renders it a very valuable chemical test. It is found pretty abundantly in nature in the state of carbonat, from which the pure earth can be easily separated.

The next earth we have to consider is LIME. This is a substance of too great and general importance to be passed over so slightly as the last.

Lime is strongly alkaline. In nature it is not met with in its simple state, as its affinity for water and carbonic acid is so great, that it is always found combined with these substances, with which it forms the common lime-stone; but it is separated in the kiln from these ingredients, which are volatilised whenever a sufficient degree of heat is applied.

EMILY.

Pure lime, then, is nothing but lime-stone, which has been deprived, in the kiln, of its water and carbonic acid?

MRS. B.

Precisely: in this state it is called quick-lime, and it is so caustic, that it is capable of decomposing the dead bodies of animals very rapidly, without their undergoing the process of putrefaction. —I have here some quick lime, which is kept carefully corked up in a bottle to prevent the access of air; for were it at all exposed to the atmosphere, it would absorb both moisture and carbonic acid gas from it, and be soon slaked. Here is also some lime-stone—we shall pour a little water on each, and observe the effects that result from it.

CAROLINE.

How the quick-lime hisses! It is become excessively hot! —It swells, and now it bursts and crumbles to powder, while the water appears to produce no kind of alteration on the lime-stone.

MRS. B.

Because the lime-stone is already saturated with water, whilst the quick-lime, which has been deprived of it in the kiln, combines with it with very great avidity, and produces this prodigious disengagement of heat, the cause of which I formerly explained to you; do you recollect it?

EMILY.

Yes; you said that the heat did not proceed from the lime, but from the water which was solidified, and thus parted with its heat of liquidity.

MRS. B.

Very well. If we continue to add successive quantities of water to the lime after being slaked and crumbled as you see, it will then gradually be diffused in the water, till it will at length be dissolved in it, and entirely disappear; but for this purpose it requires no less than 700 times its weight of water. This solution is called lime-water.

CAROLINE.

How very small, then, is the proportion of lime dissolved!

MRS. B.

Barytes is still of more difficult solution; it dissolves only in 900 times its weight of water: but it is much more soluble in the state of crystals. The liquid contained in this bottle is lime-water; it is often used as a medicine, chiefly, I believe, for the purpose of combining with, and neutralising, the superabundant acid which it meets with in the stomach.

EMILY.

I am surprised that it is so perfectly clear; it does not at all partake of the whiteness of the lime.

MRS. B.

Have you forgotten that, in solutions, the solid body is so minutely subdivided by the fluid as to become invisible, and therefore will not in the least degree impair the transparency of the solvent?

I said that the attraction of lime for carbonic acid was so strong, that it would absorb it from the atmosphere. We may see this effect by exposing a glass of lime-water to the air; the lime will then separate from the water, combine with the carbonic acid, and re-appear on the surface in the form of a white film, which is carbonat of lime, commonly called chalk.

CAROLINE.

Chalk is, then, a compound salt! I never should have supposed that those immense beds of chalk, that we see in many parts of the country, were a salt. —Now, the white film begins to appear on the surface of the water; but it is far from resembling hard solid chalk.

MRS. B.

That is owing to its state of extreme division; in a little time it will collect into a more compact mass, and subside at the bottom of the glass.

If you breathe into lime-water, the carbonic acid, which is mixed with the air that you expire, will produce the same effect. It is an experiment very easily made; —I shall pour some lime-water into this glass tube, and, by breathing repeatedly into it, you will soon perceive a precipitation of chalk—

EMILY.

I see already a small white cloud formed.

MRS. B.

It is composed of minute particles of chalk; at present it floats in the water, but it will soon subside.

Carbonat of lime, or chalk, you see, is insoluble in water, since the lime which was dissolved re-appears when converted into chalk; but you must take notice of a very singular circumstance, which is, that chalk is soluble in water impregnated with carbonic acid.

CAROLINE.

It is very curious, indeed, that carbonic acid gas should render lime soluble in one instance, and insoluble in the other!

MRS. B.

I have here a bottle of Seltzer water, which, you know, is strongly impregnated with carbonic acid:— let us pour a little of it into a glass of lime-water. You see that it immediately forms a precipitation of carbonat of lime?

EMILY.

Yes, a white cloud appears.

MRS. B.

I shall now pour an additional quantity of the Seltzer water into the lime-water—

EMILY.

How singular! The cloud is re-dissolved, and the liquid is again transparent.

MRS. B.

All the mystery depends upon this circumstance, that carbonat of lime is soluble in carbonic acid, whilst it is insoluble in water; the first quantity of carbonic acid, therefore, which I introduce into the lime-water, was employed in forming the carbonat of lime, which remained visible, until an additional quantity of carbonic acid dissolved it. Thus, you see, when the lime and carbonic acid are in proper proportions to form chalk, the white cloud appears, but when the acid predominates, the chalk is no sooner formed than it is dissolved.

CAROLINE.

That is now the case; but let us try whether a further addition of lime-water will again precipitate the chalk.

EMILY.

It does, indeed! The cloud re-appears, because, I suppose, there is now no more of the carbonic acid than is necessary to form chalk; and, in order to dissolve the chalk, a superabundance of acid is required.

MRS. B.

We have, I think, carried this experiment far enough; every repetition would but exhibit the same appearances.

Lime combines with most of the acids, to which the carbonic (as being the weakest) readily yields it; but these combinations we shall have an opportunity of noticing more particularly hereafter. It unites with phosphorus, and with sulphur, in their simple state; in short, of all the earths, lime is that which nature employs most frequently, and most abundantly, in its innumerable combinations. It is the basis of all calcareous earths and stones; we find it likewise in the animal and the vegetable creations.

EMILY.

And in the arts is not lime of very great utility?

MRS. B.

Scarcely any substance more so; you know that it is a most essential requisite in building, as it constitutes the basis of all cements, such as mortar, stucco, plaister, &c.

Lime is also of infinite importance in agriculture; it lightens and warms soils that are too cold, and compact, in consequence of too great a proportion of clay. —But it would be endless to enumerate the various purposes for which it is employed; and you know enough of it to form some idea of its importance; we shall, therefore, now proceed to the third alkaline earth, MAGNESIA.

CAROLINE.

I am already pretty well acquainted with that earth; it is a medicine.

MRS. B.

It is in the state of carbonat that magnesia is usually employed medicinally; it then differs but little in appearance from its simple form, which is that of a very fine light white powder. It dissolves in 2000 times its weight of water, but forms with acids extremely soluble salts. It has not so great an attraction for acids as lime, and consequently yields them to the latter. It is found in a great variety of mineral combinations, such as slate, mica, amianthus, and more particularly in a certain lime stone, which has lately been discovered by Mr. Tennant to contain it in very great quantities. It does not attract and solidify water, like lime: but when mixed with water and exposed to the atmosphere, it slowly absorbs carbonic acid from the latter, and thus loses its causticity. Its chief use in medicine is, like that of lime, derived from its readiness to combine with, and neutralise, the acid which it meets with in the stomach.

EMILY.

Yet, you said that it was taken in the state of carbonat, in which case it has already combined with an acid?

MRS. B.

Yes; but the carbonic is the last of all the acids in the order of affinities; it will therefore yield the magnesia to any of the others. It is, however, frequently taken in its caustic state as a remedy for flatulence. Combined with sulphuric acid, magnesia forms another and more powerful medicine, commonly called Epsom salt.

CAROLINE.

And properly, sulphat of magnesia, I suppose? Pray why was it ever called Epsom salt?

MRS. B.

Because there is a spring in the neighbourhood of Epsom which contains this salt in great abundance.

The last alkaline earth which we have to mention is STRONTIAN, or STRONTITES, discovered by Dr. Hope a few years ago. It so strongly resembles barytes in its properties, and is so sparingly found in nature, and of so little use in the arts, that it will not be necessary to enter into any particulars respecting it. One of the remarkable characteristic properties of strontites is, that its salts, when dissolved in spirit of wine, tinge the flame of a deep red, or blood colour.



CONVERSATION XVI.

ON ACIDS.

MRS. B.

We may now proceed to the acids. Of the metallic oxyds, you have already acquired some general notions. This subject, though highly interesting in its details, is not of sufficient importance to our concise view of chemistry, to be particularly treated of; but it is absolutely necessary that you should be better acquainted with the acids, and likewise with their combinations with the alkalies, which form the triple compounds called NEUTRAL SALTS.

The class of acids is characterised by very distinct properties. They all change blue vegetable infusions to a red colour: they are all more or less sour to the taste; and have a general tendency to combine with the earths, alkalies, and metallic oxyds.

You have, I believe, a clear idea of the nomenclature by which the base (or radical) of the acid, and the various degrees of acidification, are expressed?

EMILY.

Yes, I think so; the acid is distinguished by the name of its base, and its degree of oxydation, that is, the quantity of oxygen it contains, by the termination of that name in ous or ic; thus sulphureous acid is that formed by the smallest proportion of oxygen combined with sulphur; sulphuric acid that which results from the combination of sulphur with the greatest quantity of oxygen.

MRS. B.

A still greater latitude may, in many cases, be allowed to the proportions of oxygen than can be combined with acidifiable radicals; for several of these radicals are susceptible of uniting with a quantity of oxygen so small as to be insufficient to give them the properties of acids; in these cases, therefore, they are converted into oxyds. Such is sulphur, which by exposure to the atmosphere with a degree of heat inadequate to produce inflammation, absorbs a small proportion of oxygen, which colours it red or brown. This, therefore, is the first degree of oxygenation of sulphur; the 2d converts it into sulphurous acid; the 3d into the sulphuric acid; and 4thly, if it was found capable of combining with a still larger proportion of oxygen, it would then be termed super-oxygenated sulphuric acid.

EMILY.

Are these various degrees of oxygenation common to all the acids?

MRS. B.

No; they vary much in this respect: some are susceptible of only one degree of oxygenation; others, of two, or three; there are but very few that will admit of more.

CAROLINE.

The modern nomenclature must be of immense advantage in pointing out so easily the nature of the acids, and their various degrees of oxygenation.

MRS. B.

Till lately many of the acids had not been decomposed; but analogy afforded so strong a proof of their compound nature, that I never could reconcile myself to classing them with the simple bodies, though this division has been adopted by several chemical writers. At present there are only the muriatic and the fluoric acids, which have not had their bases distinctly separated.

CAROLINE.

We have heard of a great variety of acids; pray how many are there in all?

MRS. B.

I believe there are reckoned at present thirty-four, and their number is constantly increasing, as the science improves; but the most important, and those to which we shall almost entirely confine our attention, are but few. I shall, however, give you a general view of the whole; and then we shall more particularly examine those that are the most essential.

This class of bodies was formerly divided into mineral, vegetable, and animal acids, according to the substances from which they were commonly obtained.

CAROLINE.

That, I should think, must have been an excellent arrangement; why was it altered?

MRS. B.

Because in many cases it produced confusion. In which class, for instance, would you place carbonic acid?

CAROLINE.

Now I see the difficulty. I should be at a loss where to place it, as you have told us that it exists in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.

EMILY.

There would be the same objection with respect to phosphoric acid, which, though obtained chiefly from bones, can also, you said, be found in small quantities in stones, and likewise in some plants.

MRS. B.

You see, therefore, the propriety of changing this mode of classification. These objections do not exist in the present nomenclature; for the composition and nature of each individual acid is in some degree pointed out, instead of the class of bodies from which it is extracted; and, with regard to the more general division of acids, they are classed under these three heads:

First, Acids of known or supposed simple bases, which are formed by the union of these bases with oxygen. They are the following:

The Sulphuric Carbonic Nitric Phosphoric Arsenical Acids, of known and simple bases. Tungstenic Molybdenic Boracic Fluoric Muriatic

This class comprehends the most anciently known and most important acids. The sulphuric, nitric, and muriatic were formerly, and are still frequently, called mineral acids.

2dly, Acids that have double or binary radicals, and which consequently consist of triple combinations. These are the vegetable acids, whose common radical is a compound of hydrogen and carbon.

CAROLINE.

But if the basis of all the vegetable acids be the same, it should form but one acid; it may indeed combine with different proportions of oxygen, but the nature of the acid must be the same.

MRS. B.

The only difference that exists in the basis of vegetable acids, is the various proportions of hydrogen and carbon from which they are severally composed. But this is enough to produce a number of acids apparently very dissimilar. That they do not, however, differ essentially, is proved by their susceptibility of being converted into each other, by the addition or subtraction of a portion of hydrogen or of carbon. The names of these acids are,

The Acetic Oxalic Tartarous Citric Malic Acids, of double bases, being of vegetable origin. Gallic Mucous Benzoic Succinic Camphoric Suberic

The 3d class of acids consists of those which have triple radicals, and are therefore of a still more compound nature. This class comprehends the animal acids, which are,

The Lactic Prussic Formic Acids, of triple bases, or animal acids. Bombic Sebacic Zoonic Lithic

I have given you this summary account or enumeration of the acids, as you may find it more satisfactory to have at once an outline or a general notion of the extent of the subject; but we shall now confine ourselves to the first class, which requires our more immediate attention; and defer the few remarks which we shall have to make on the others, till we treat of the chemistry of the animal and vegetable kingdoms.

The acids of simple and known radicals are all capable of being decomposed by combustible bodies, to which they yield their oxygen. If, for instance, I pour a drop of sulphuric acid on this piece of iron, it will produce a spot of rust, you know what that is?

CAROLINE.

Yes; it is an oxyd, formed by the oxygen of the acid combining with the iron.

MRS. B.

In this case you see the sulphur deposits the oxygen by which it was acidified on the metal. And again, if we pour some acid on a compound combustible substance, (we shall try it on this piece of wood,) it will combine with one or more of the constituents of that substance, and occasion a decomposition.

EMILY.

It has changed the colour of the wood to black. How is that?

MRS. B.

The oxygen deposited by the acid has burnt it; you know that wood in burning becomes black before it is reduced to ashes. Whether it derives the oxygen which burns it from the atmosphere, or from any other source, the chemical effect on the wood is the same. In the case of real combustion, wood becomes black, because it is reduced to the state of charcoal by the evaporation of its other constituents. But can you tell me the reason why wood turns black when burnt by the application of an acid?

CAROLINE.

First, tell me what are the ingredients of wood?

MRS. B.

Hydrogen and carbon are the chief constituents of wood, as of all other vegetable substances.

CAROLINE.

Well, then, I suppose that the oxygen of the acid combines with the hydrogen of the wood, to form water; and that the carbon of the wood, remaining alone, appears of its usual black colour.

MRS. B.

Very well indeed, my dear; that is certainly the most plausible explanation.

EMILY.

Would not this be a good method of making charcoal?

MRS. B.

It would be an extremely expensive, and, I believe, very imperfect method; for the action of the acid on the wood, and the heat produced by it, are far from sufficient to deprive the wood of all its evaporable parts.

CAROLINE.

What is the reason that vinegar, lemon, and the acid of fruits, do not produce this effect on wood?

MRS. B.

They are vegetable acids, whose bases are composed of hydrogen and carbon; the oxygen, therefore, will not be disposed to quit this radical, where it is already united with hydrogen. The strongest of these may, perhaps, yield a little of their oxygen to the wood, and produce a stain upon it; but the carbon will not be sufficiently uncovered to assume its black colour. Indeed, the several mineral acids themselves possess this power of charring wood in very different degrees.

EMILY.

Cannot vegetable acids be decomposed, by any combustibles?

MRS. B.

No; because their radical is composed of two substances which have a greater attraction for oxygen than any known body.

CAROLINE.

And are those strong acids, which burn and decompose wood, capable of producing similar effects on the skin and flesh of animals?

MRS. B.

Yes; all the mineral acids, and one of them more especially, possess powerful caustic qualities. They actually corrode and destroy the skin and flesh; but they do not produce upon these exactly the same alteration they do on wood, probably because there is a great proportion of nitrogen and other substances in animal matter, which prevents the separation of carbon from being so conspicuous.



CONVERSATION XVII.

OF THE SULPHURIC AND PHOSPHORIC ACIDS; OR THE COMBINATIONS OF OXYGEN WITH SULPHUR AND PHOSPHORUS; AND OF THE SULPHATS AND PHOSPHATS.

MRS. B.

In addition to the general survey which we have taken of acids, I think you will find it interesting to examine individually a few of the most important of them, and likewise some of their principal combinations with the alkalies, alkaline earths, and metals. The first of the acids, in point of importance, is the SULPHURIC, formerly called oil of vitriol.

CAROLINE.

I have known it a long time by that name, but had no idea that it was the same fluid as sulphuric acid. What resemblance or connection can there be between oil of vitriol and this acid?

MRS. B.

Vitriol is the common name for sulphat of iron, a salt which is formed by the combination of sulphuric acid and iron; the sulphuric acid was formerly obtained by distillation from this salt, and it very naturally received its name from the substance which afforded it.

CAROLINE.

But it is still usually called oil of vitriol?

MRS. B.

Yes; a sufficient length of time has not yet elapsed, since the invention of the new nomenclature, for it to be generally disseminated; but, as it is adopted by all scientific chemists, there is every reason to suppose that it will gradually become universal. When I received this bottle from the chemists, oil of vitriol was inscribed on the label; but, as I knew you were very punctilious in regard to the nomenclature, I changed it, and substituted the words sulphuric acid.

EMILY.

This acid has neither colour nor smell, but it appears much thicker than water.

MRS. B.

It is nearly twice as heavy as water, and has, you see, an oily consistence.

CAROLINE.

And it is probably from this circumstance that it has been called an oil, for it can have no real claim to that name, as it does not contain either hydrogen or carbon, which are the essential constituents of oil.

MRS. B.

Certainly; and therefore it would be the more absurd to retain a name which owed its origin to such a mistaken analogy.

Sulphuric acid, in its purest state, would probably be a concrete substance, but its attraction for water is such, that it is impossible to obtain that acid perfectly free from it; it is, therefore, always seen in a liquid form, such as you here find it. One of the most striking properties of sulphuric acid is that of evolving a considerable quantity of heat when mixed with water; this I have already shown you.

EMILY.

Yes, I recollect it; but what was the degree of heat produced by that mixture?

MRS. B.

The thermometer may be raised by it to 300 degrees, which is considerably above the temperature of boiling water.

CAROLINE.

Then water might be made to boil in that mixture?

MRS. B.

Nothing more easy, provided that you employ sufficient quantities of acid and of water, and in the due proportions. The greatest heat is produced by a mixture of one part of water to four of the acid: we shall make a mixture of these proportions, and immerse in it this thin glass tube, which is full of water.

CAROLINE.

The vessel feels extremely hot, but the water does not boil yet.

MRS. B.

You must allow some time for the heat to penetrate the tube, and raise the temperature of the water to the boiling point—

CAROLINE.

Now it boils—and with increasing violence.

MRS. B.

But it will not continue boiling long; for the mixture gives out heat only while the particles of the water and the acid are mutually penetrating each other: as soon as the new arrangement of those particles is effected, the mixture will gradually cool, and the water return to its former temperature.

You have seen the manner in which sulphuric acid decomposes all combustible substances, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, and burns them by means of its oxygen?

CAROLINE.

I have very unintentionally repeated the experiment on my gown, by letting a drop of the acid fall upon it, and it has made a stain, which, I suppose, will never wash out.

MRS. B.

No, certainly; for before you can put it into water, the spot will become a hole, as the acid has literally burnt the muslin.

CAROLINE.

So it has, indeed! Well, I will fasten the stopper, and put the bottle away, for it is a dangerous substance. —Oh, now I have done worse still, for I have spilt some on my hand!

MRS. B.

It is then burned, as well as your gown, for you know that oxygen destroys animal as well as vegetable matters; and, as far as the decomposition of the skin of your finger is effected, there is no remedy; but by washing it immediately in water, you will dilute the acid, and prevent any further injury.

CAROLINE.

It feels extremely hot, I assure you.

MRS. B.

You have now learned, by experience, how cautiously this acid must be used. You will soon become acquainted with another acid, the nitric, which, though it produces less heat on the skin, destroys it still quicker, and makes upon it an indelible stain. You should never handle any substances of this kind, without previously dipping your fingers in water, which will weaken their caustic effects. But, since you will not repeat the experiment, I must put in the stopper, for the acid attracts the moisture from the atmosphere, which would destroy its strength and purity.

EMILY.

Pray, how can sulphuric acid be extracted from sulphat of iron by distillation?

MRS. B.

The process of distillation, you know, consists in separating substances from one another by means of their different degrees of volatility, and by the introduction of a new chemical agent, caloric. Thus, if sulphat of iron be exposed in a retort to a proper degree of heat, it will be decomposed, and the sulphuric acid will be volatilised.

EMILY.

But now that the process of forming acids by the combustion of their radicals is known, why should not this method be used for making sulphuric acid?

MRS. B.

This is actually done in most manufactures; but the usual method of preparing sulphuric acid does not consist in burning the sulphur in oxygen gas (as we formerly did by the way of experiment), but in heating it together with another substance, nitre, which yields oxygen in sufficient abundance to render the combustion in common air rapid and complete.

CAROLINE.

This substance, then, answers the same purpose as oxygen gas?

MRS. B.

Exactly. In manufactures the combustion is performed in a leaden chamber, with water at the bottom, to receive the vapour and assist its condensation. The combustion is, however, never so perfect but that a quantity of sulphureous acid is formed at the same time; for you recollect that the sulphureous acid, according to the chemical nomenclature, differs from the sulphuric only by containing less oxygen.

From its own powerful properties, and from the various combinations into which it enters, sulphuric acid is of great importance in many of the arts.

It is used also in medicine in a state of great dilution; for were it taken internally, in a concentrated state, it would prove a most dangerous poison.

CAROLINE.

I am sure it would burn the throat and stomach.

MRS. B.

Can you think of any thing that would prove an antidote to this poison?

CAROLINE.

A large draught of water to dilute it.

MRS. B.

That would certainly weaken the caustic power of the acid, but it would increase the heat to an intolerable degree. Do you recollect nothing that would destroy its deleterious properties more effectually?

EMILY.

An alkali might, by combining with it; but, then, a pure alkali is itself a poison, on account of its causticity.

MRS. B.

There is no necessity that the alkali should be caustic. Soap, in which it is combined with oil; or magnesia, either in the state of carbonat, or mixed with water, would prove the best antidotes.

EMILY.

In those cases then, I suppose, the potash and the magnesia would quit their combinations to form salts with the sulphuric acid?

MRS. B.

Precisely.

We may now make a few observations on the sulphureous acid, which we have found to be the product of sulphur slowly and imperfectly burnt. This acid is distinguished by its pungent smell, and its gaseous form.

CAROLINE.

Its aeriform state is, I suppose, owing to the smaller proportion of oxygen, which renders it lighter than sulphuric acid?

MRS. B.

Probably; for by adding oxygen to the weaker acid, it may be converted into the stronger kind. But this change of state may also be connected with a change of affinity with regard to caloric.

EMILY.

And may sulphureous acid be obtained from sulphuric acid by a diminution of oxygen?

MRS. B.

Yes; it can be done by bringing any combustible substance in contact with the acid. This decomposition is most easily performed by some of the metals; these absorb a portion of the oxygen from the sulphuric acid, which is thus converted into the sulphureous, and flies off in its gaseous form.

CAROLINE.

And cannot the sulphureous acid itself be decomposed and reduced to sulphur?

MRS. B.

Yes; if this gas be heated in contact with charcoal, the oxygen of the gas will combine with it, and the pure sulphur is regenerated.

Sulphureous acid is readily absorbed by water; and in this liquid state it is found particularly useful in bleaching linen and woollen cloths, and is much used in manufactures for those purposes. I can show you its effect in destroying colours, by taking out vegetable stains—I think I see a spot on your gown, Emily, on which we may try the experiment.

EMILY.

It is the stain of mulberries; but I shall be almost afraid of exposing my gown to the experiment, after seeing the effect which the sulphuric acid produced on that of Caroline—

MRS. B.

There is no such danger from the sulphureous; but the experiment must be made with great caution, for, during the formation of sulphureous acid by combustion, there is always some sulphuric produced.

CAROLINE.

But where is your sulphureous acid?

MRS. B.

We may easily prepare some ourselves, simply by burning a match; we must first wet the stain with water, and now hold it in this way, at a little distance, over the lighted match: the vapour that arises from it is sulphureous acid, and the stain, you see, gradually disappears.

EMILY.

I have frequently taken out stains by this means, without understanding the nature of the process. But why is it necessary to wet the stain before it is exposed to the acid fumes?

MRS. B.

The moisture attracts and absorbs the sulphureous acid; and it serves likewise to dilute any particles of sulphuric acid which might injure the linen.

Sulphur is susceptible of a third combination with oxygen, in which the proportion of the latter is too small to render the sulphur acid. It acquires this slight oxygenation by mere exposure to the atmosphere, without any elevation of temperature: in this case, the sulphur does not change its natural form, but is only discoloured, being changed to red or brown; and in this state it is an oxyd of sulphur.

Before we take leave of the sulphuric acid, we shall say a few words of its principal combinations. It unites with all the alkalies, alkaline earths and metals, to form compound salts.

CAROLINE.

Pray, give me leave to interrupt you for a moment: you have never mentioned any other salts than the compound or neutral salts; is there no other kind?

MRS. B.

The term salt has been used, from time immemorial, as a kind of general name for any substance that has savour, odour, is soluble in water, and crystallisable, whether it be of an acid, an alkaline, or compound nature; but the compound salts alone retain that appellation in modern chemistry.

The most important of the salts, formed by the combinations of the sulphuric acid, are, first, sulphat of potash, formerly called sal polychrest: this is a very bitter salt, much used in medicine; it is found in the ashes of most vegetables, but it may be prepared artificially by the immediate combination of sulphuric acid and potash. This salt is easily soluble in boiling water. Solubility is, indeed, a property common to all salts; and they always produce cold in melting.

EMILY.

That must be owing to the caloric which they absorb in passing from a solid to a fluid form.

MRS. B.

That is, certainly, the most probable explanation.

Sulphat of soda, commonly called Glauber's salt, is another medicinal salt, which is still more bitter than the preceding. We must prepare some of these compounds, that you may observe the phenomena which take place during their formation. We need only pour some sulphuric acid over the soda which I have put into this glass.

CAROLINE.

What an amazing heat is disengaged! —I thought you said that cold was produced by the melting of salts?

MRS. B.

But you must observe that we are now making, not melting a salt. Heat is disengaged during the formation of compound salts, and a faint light is also emitted, which may sometimes be perceived in the dark.

EMILY.

And is this heat and light produced by the union of the opposite electricities of the alkali and the acid?

MRS. B.

No doubt it is, if that theory be true.

CAROLINE.

The union of an acid and an alkali is then an actual combustion?

MRS. B.

Not precisely, though there is certainly much analogy in these processes.

CAROLINE.

Will this sulphat of soda become solid?

MRS. B.

We have not, I suppose, mixed the acid and the alkali in the exact proportions that are required for the formation of the salt, otherwise the mixture would have been almost immediately changed to a solid mass; but, in order to obtain it in crystals, as you see it in this bottle, it would be necessary first to dilute it with water, and afterwards to evaporate the water, during which operation the salt would gradually crystallise.

CAROLINE.

But of what use is the addition of water, if it is afterwards to be evaporated?

MRS. B.

When suspended in water, the acid and the alkali are more at liberty to act on each other, their union is more complete, and the salt assumes the regular form of crystals during the slow evaporation of its solvent.

Sulphat of soda liquefies by heat, and effloresces in the air.

EMILY.

Pray what is the meaning of the word effloresces? I do not recollect your having mentioned it before.

MRS. B.

A salt is said to effloresce when it loses its water of crystallisation on being exposed to the atmosphere, and is thus gradually converted into a dry powder: you may observe that these crystals of sulphat of soda are far from possessing the transparency which belongs to their crystalline state; they are covered with a white powder, occasioned by their having been exposed to the atmosphere, which has deprived their surface of its lustre, by absorbing its water of crystallisation. Salts are, in general, either efflorescent or deliquescent: this latter property is precisely the reverse of the former; that is to say, deliquescent salts absorb water from the atmosphere, and are moistened and gradually melted by it. Muriat of lime is an instance of great deliquescence.

EMILY.

But are there no salts that have the same degree of attraction for water as the atmosphere, and that will consequently not be affected by it?

MRS. B.

Yes; there are many such salts, as, for instance, common salt, sulphat of magnesia, and a variety of others.

Sulphat of lime is very frequently met with in nature, and constitutes the well-known substance called gypsum, or plaster of Paris.

Sulphat of magnesia, commonly called Epsom salt, is another very bitter medicine, which is obtained from sea-water and from several springs, or may be prepared by the direct combination of its ingredients.

We have formerly mentioned sulphat of alumine as constituting the common alum; it is found in nature chiefly in the neighbourhood of volcanos, and is particularly useful in the arts, from its strong astringent qualities. It is chiefly employed by dyers and calico-printers, to fix colours; and is used also in the manufacture of some kinds of leather.

Sulphuric acid combines also with the metals.

CAROLINE.

One of these combinations, sulphat of iron, we are already well acquainted with.

MRS. B.

That is the most important metallic salt formed by sulphuric acid, and the only one that we shall here notice. It is of great use in the arts; and, in medicine, it affords a very valuable tonic: it is of this salt that most of those preparations called steel medicines are composed.

CAROLINE.

But does any carbon enter into these compositions to form steel?

MRS. B.

Not an atom: they are, therefore, very improperly called steel: but it is the vulgar appellation, and medical men themselves often comply with the general custom.

Sulphat of iron may be prepared, as you have seen, by dissolving iron in sulphuric acid; but it is generally obtained from the natural production called Pyrites, which being a sulphuret of iron, requires only exposure to the atmosphere to be oxydated, in order to form the salt; this, therefore, is much the most easy way of procuring it on a large scale.

EMILY.

I am surprised to find that both acids and compound salts are generally obtained from their various combinations, rather than from the immediate union of their ingredients.

MRS. B.

Were the simple bodies always at hand, their combinations would naturally be the most convenient method of forming compounds; but you must consider that, in most instances, there is great difficulty and expense in obtaining the simple ingredients from their combinations; it is, therefore, often more expedient to procure compounds from the decomposition of other compounds. But, to return to the sulphat of iron. —There is a certain vegetable acid called Gallic acid, which has the remarkable property of precipitating this salt black—I shall pour a few drops of the gallic acid into this solution of sulphat of iron—

CAROLINE.

It is become as black as ink!

MRS. B.

And it is ink in reality. Common writing ink is a precipitate of sulphat of iron by gallic acid; the black colour is owing to the formation of gallat of iron, which being insoluble, remains suspended in the fluid.

This acid has also the property of altering the colour of iron in its metallic state. You may frequently see its effect on the blade of a knife, that has been used to cut certain kinds of fruits.

CAROLINE.

True; and that is, perhaps, the reason that a silver knife is preferred to cut fruits; the gallic acid, I suppose, does not act upon silver. —Is this acid found in all fruits?

MRS. B.

It is contained, more or less, in the rind of most fruits and roots, especially the radish, which, if scraped with a steel or iron knife, has its bright red colour changed to a deep purple, the knife being at the same time blackened. But the vegetable substance in which the gallic acid most abounds is nutgall, a kind of excrescence that grows on oaks, and from which the acid is commonly obtained for its various purposes.

MRS. B.

We now come to the PHOSPHORIC and PHOSPHOROUS ACIDS. In treating of phosphorus, you have seen how these acids may be obtained from it by combustion?

EMILY.

Yes; but I should be much surprised if it was the usual method of obtaining them, since it is so very difficult to procure phosphorus in its pure state.

MRS. B.

You are right, my dear; the phosphoric acid, for general purposes, is extracted from bones, in which it is contained in the state of phosphat of lime; from this salt the phosphoric acid is separated by means of the sulphuric, which combines with the lime. In its pure state, phosphoric acid is either liquid or solid, according to its degree of concentration.

Among the salts formed by this acid, phosphat of lime is the only one that affords much interest; and this, we have already observed, constitutes the basis of all bones. It is also found in very small quantities in some vegetables.



CONVERSATION XVIII.

OF THE NITRIC AND CARBONIC ACIDS: OR THE COMBINATIONS OF OXYGEN WITH NITROGEN AND CARBON; AND OF THE NITRATS AND CARBONATS.

MRS. B.

I am almost afraid of introducing the subject of the NITRIC ACID, as I am sure that I shall be blamed by Caroline for not having made her acquainted with it before.

CAROLINE.

Why so, Mrs. B.?

MRS. B.

Because you have long known its radical, which is nitrogen or azote; and in treating of that element, I did not even hint that it was the basis of an acid.

CAROLINE.

And what could be your reason for not mentioning this acid sooner?

MRS. B.

I do not know whether you will think the reason sufficiently good to acquit me; but the omission, I assure you, did not proceed from negligence. You may recollect that nitrogen was one of the first simple bodies which we examined; you were then ignorant of the theory of combustion, which I believe was, for the first time, mentioned in that lesson; and therefore it would have been in vain, at that time, to have attempted to explain the nature and formation of acids.

CAROLINE.

I wonder, however, that it never occurred to us to enquire whether nitrogen could be acidified; for, as we knew it was classed among the combustible bodies, it was natural to suppose that it might produce an acid.

MRS. B.

That is not a necessary consequence; for it might combine with oxygen only in the degree requisite to form an oxyd. But you will find that nitrogen is susceptible of various degrees of oxygenation, some of which convert it merely into an oxyd, and others give it all the acid properties.

The acids, resulting from the combination of oxygen and nitrogen, are called the NITROUS and NITRIC acids. We will begin with the NITRIC, in which nitrogen is in the highest state of oxygenation. This acid naturally exists in the form of gas; but is so very soluble in water, and has so great an affinity for it, that one grain of water will absorb and condense ten grains of acid gas, and form the limpid fluid which you see in this bottle.

CAROLINE.

What a strong offensive smell it has!

MRS. B.

This acid contains a greater abundance of oxygen than any other, but it retains it with very little force.

EMILY.

Then it must be a powerful caustic, both from the facility with which it parts with its oxygen, and the quantity which it affords?

MRS. B.

Very well, Emily; both cause and effect are exactly such as you describe: nitric acid burns and destroys all kinds of organised matter. It even sets fire to some of the most combustible substances. —We shall pour a little of it over this piece of dry warm charcoal—you see it inflames it immediately; it would do the same with oil of turpentine, phosphorus, and several other very combustible bodies. This shows you how easily this acid is decomposed by combustible bodies, since these effects must depend upon the absorption of its oxygen.

Nitric acid has been used in the arts from time immemorial, but it is only within these twenty-five years that its chemical nature has been ascertained. The celebrated Mr. Cavendish discovered that it consisted of about 10 parts of nitrogen and 25 of oxygen.* These principles, in their gaseous state, combine at a high temperature; and this may be effected by repeatedly passing the electrical spark through a mixture of the two gases.

[Footnote *: The proportion stated by Sir H. Davy, in his Chemical Researches, is as 1 to 2.389.]

EMILY.

The nitrogen and oxygen gases, of which the atmosphere is composed, do not combine, I suppose, because their temperature is not sufficiently elevated?

CAROLINE.

But in a thunder-storm, when the lightning repeatedly passes through them, may it not produce nitric acid? We should be in a strange situation, if a violent storm should at once convert the atmosphere into nitric acid.

MRS. B.

There is no danger of it, my dear; the lightning can affect but a very small portion of the atmosphere, and though it were occasionally to produce a little nitric acid, yet this never could happen to such an extent as to be perceivable.

EMILY.

But how could the nitric acid be known, and used, before the method of combining its constituents was discovered?

MRS. B.

Before that period the nitric acid was obtained, and it is indeed still extracted, for the common purposes of art, from the compound salt which it forms with potash, commonly called nitre.

CAROLINE.

Why is it so called? Pray, Mrs. B., let these old unmeaning names be entirely given up, by us at least; and let us call this salt nitrat of potash.

MRS. B.

With all my heart; but it is necessary that I should, at least, mention the old names, and more especially those which are yet in common use; otherwise, when you meet with them, you would not be able to understand their meaning.

EMILY.

And how is the acid obtained from this salt?

MRS. B.

By the intervention of sulphuric acid, which combines with the potash, and sets the nitric acid at liberty. This I can easily show you, by mixing some nitrat of potash and sulphuric acid in this retort, and heating it over a lamp; the nitric acid will come over in the form of vapour, which we shall collect in a glass bell. This acid, diluted in water, is commonly called aqua fortis, if Caroline will allow me to mention that name.

CAROLINE.

I have often heard that aqua fortis will dissolve almost all metals; it is no doubt because it yields its oxygen so easily.

MRS. B.

Yes; and from this powerful solvent property, it derived the name of aqua fortis, or strong water. Do you not recollect that we oxydated, and afterwards dissolved, some copper in this acid?

EMILY.

If I remember right, the nitrat of copper was the first instance you gave us of a compound salt.

CAROLINE.

Can the nitric acid be completely decomposed and converted into nitrogen and oxygen?

EMILY.

That cannot be the case, Caroline; since the acid can be decomposed only by the combination of its constituents with other bodies.

MRS. B.

True; but caloric is sufficient for this purpose. By making the acid pass through a red hot porcelain tube, it is decomposed; the nitrogen and oxygen regain the caloric which they had lost in combining, and are thus both restored to their gaseous state.

The nitric acid may also be partly decomposed, and is by this means converted into NITROUS ACID.

CAROLINE.

This conversion must be easily effected, as the oxygen is so slightly combined with the nitrogen.

MRS. B.

The partial decomposition of nitric acid is readily effected by most metals; but it is sufficient to expose the nitric acid to a very strong light to make it give out oxygen gas, and thus be converted into nitrous acid. Of this acid there are various degrees, according to the proportions of oxygen which it contains; the strongest, and that into which the nitric is first converted, is of a yellow colour, as you see in this bottle.

CAROLINE.

How it fumes when the stopper is taken out!

MRS. B.

The acid exists naturally in a gaseous state, and is here so strongly concentrated in water, that it is constantly escaping.

Here is another bottle of nitrous acid, which, you see, is of an orange red; this acid is weaker, the nitrogen being combined with a smaller quantity of oxygen; and with a still less proportion of oxygen it is an olive-green colour, as it appears in this third bottle. In short, the weaker the acid, the deeper is its colour.

Nitrous acid acts still more powerfully on some inflammable substances than the nitric.

EMILY.

I am surprised at that, as it contains less oxygen.

MRS. B.

But, on the other hand, it parts with its oxygen much more readily: you may recollect that we once inflamed oil with this acid.

The next combinations of nitrogen and oxygen form only oxyds of nitrogen, the first of which is commonly called nitrous air; or more properly nitric oxyd gas. This may be obtained from nitric acid, by exposing the latter to the action of metals, as in dissolving them it does not yield the whole of its oxygen, but retains a portion of this principle sufficient to convert it into this peculiar gas, a specimen of which I have prepared, and preserved within this inverted glass bell.

EMILY.

It is a perfectly invisible elastic fluid.

MRS. B.

Yes; and it may be kept any length of time in this manner over water, as it is not, like the nitric and nitrous acids, absorbable by it. It is rather heavier than atmospherical air, and is incapable of supporting either combustion or respiration. I am going to incline the glass gently on one side, so as to let some of the gas escape—

EMILY.

How very curious! —It produces orange fumes like the nitrous acid! that is the more extraordinary, as the gas within the glass is perfectly invisible.

MRS. B.

It would give me much pleasure if you could make out the reason of this curious change without requiring any further explanation.

CAROLINE.

It seems, by the colour and smell, as if it were converted into nitrous acid gas: yet that cannot be, unless it combines with more oxygen; and how can it obtain oxygen the very instant it escapes from the glass?

EMILY.

From the atmosphere, no doubt. Is it not so, Mrs. B.?

MRS. B.

You have guessed it; as soon as it comes in contact with the atmosphere, it absorbs from it the additional quantity of oxygen necessary to convert it into nitrous acid gas. And, if I now remove the bottle entirely from the water, so as to bring at once the whole of the gas into contact with the atmosphere, this conversion will appear still more striking—

EMILY.

Look, Caroline, the whole capacity of the bottle is instantly tinged of an orange colour!

MRS. B.

Thus, you see, it is the most easy process imaginable to convert nitrous oxyd gas into nitrous acid gas. The property of attracting oxygen from the atmosphere, without any elevation of temperature, has occasioned this gaseous oxyd being used as a test for ascertaining the degree of purity of the atmosphere. I am going to show you how it is applied to this purpose. —You see this graduated glass tube, which is closed at one end, (PLATE X. Fig. 2.) —I first fill it with water, and then introduce a certain measure of nitrous gas, which, not being absorbable by water, passes through it, and occupies the upper part of the tube. I must now add rather above two-thirds of oxygen gas, which will just be sufficient to convert the nitrous oxyd gas into nitrous acid gas.

CAROLINE.

So it has! —I saw it turn of an orange colour; but it immediately afterwards disappeared entirely, and the water, you see, has risen, and almost filled the tube.

MRS. B.

That is because the acid gas is absorbable by water, and in proportion as the gas impregnates the water, the latter rises in the tube. When the oxygen gas is very pure, and the required proportion of nitrous oxyd gas very exact, the whole is absorbed by the water; but if any other gas be mixed with the oxygen, instead of combining with the nitrous oxygen, it will remain and occupy the upper part of the tube; or, if the gases be not in the due proportion, there will be a residue of that which predominates. —Before we leave this subject, I must not forget to remark that nitrous acid may be formed by dissolving nitrous oxyd gas in nitric acid. This solution may be effected simply by making bubbles of nitrous oxyd gas pass through nitric acid.

EMILY.

That is to say, that nitrogen at its highest degree of oxygenation, being mixed with nitrogen at its lowest degree of oxygenation, will produce a kind of intermediate substance, which is nitrous acid.

MRS. B.

You have stated the fact with great precision. —There are various other methods of preparing nitrous oxyd, and of obtaining it from compound bodies; but it is not necessary to enter into these particulars. It remains for me only to mention another curious modification of oxygenated nitrogen, which has been distinguished by the name of gaseous oxyd of nitrogen. It is but lately that this gas has been accurately examined, and its properties have been investigated chiefly by Sir H. Davy. It has obtained also the name of exhilarating gas, from the very singular property which that gentleman has discovered in it, of elevating the animal spirits, when inhaled into the lungs, to a degree sometimes resembling delirium or intoxication.

CAROLINE.

Is it respirable, then?

MRS. B.

It can scarcely be called respirable, as it would not support life for any length of time; but it may be breathed for a few moments without any other effects, than the singular exhilaration of spirits I have just mentioned. It affects different people, however, in a very different manner. Some become violent, even outrageous: others experience a languor, attended with faintness; but most agree in opinion, that the sensations it excites are extremely pleasant.

CAROLINE.

I think I should like to try it—how do you breathe it?

MRS. B.

By collecting the gas in a bladder, to which a short tube with a stop-cock is adapted; this is applied to the mouth with one hand, whilst the nostrils are kept closed with the other, that the common air may have no access. You then alternately inspire, and expire the gas, till you perceive its effects. But I cannot consent to your making the experiment; for the nerves are sometimes unpleasantly affected by it, and I would not run any risk of that kind.

EMILY.

I should like, at least, to see somebody breathe it; but pray by what means is this curious gas obtained?

MRS. B.

It is procured from nitrat of ammonia, an artificial salt which yields this gas on the application of a gentle heat. I have put some of the salt into a retort, and by the aid of a lamp the gas will be extricated.—

CAROLINE.

Bubbles of air begin to escape through the neck of the retort into the water apparatus; will you not collect them?

MRS. B.

The gas that first comes over need not be preserved, as it consists of little more than the common air that was in the retort; besides, there is always in this experiment a quantity of watery vapour which must come away before the nitrous oxyd appears.

EMILY.

Watery vapour! Whence does that proceed? There is no water in nitrat of ammonia?

MRS. B.

You must recollect that there is in every salt a quantity of water of crystallisation, which may be evaporated by heat alone. But, besides this, water is actually generated in this experiment, as you will see presently. First tell me, what are the constituent parts of nitrat of ammonia?

EMILY.

Ammonia, and nitric acid: this salt, therefore, contains three different elements, nitrogen and hydrogen, which produce the ammonia; and oxygen, which, with nitrogen, forms the acid.

MRS. B.

Well then, in this process the ammonia is decomposed; the hydrogen quits the nitrogen to combine with some of the oxygen of the nitric acid, and forms with it the watery vapour which is now coming over. When that is effected, what will you expect to find?