Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/202

 A Q^U

A Q^U

perfectly. The oil of vitriol is indeed carried out of the Aqua-fortis by copper, but not fo perfectly as by filvcr. It appears by this operation, that the precipitating body and that to be precipitated adhere to one another and link to the bot- tom together : this is the method ufed by the affayers. The beft Aqua-fortis is often tinged with a greenifh colour, which happens if Aqua-fortis having been expofed fome days to the air, and loft its red fuming fpirit, there be poured to it fome frefli ftrong Aqua-fortis ftill emiting its fumes, or if Aqua-fortis be diluted with water. As this colour may how- ever proceed from copper diftolved in it, to be certain that it does not, a little is to be poured into a cucurbit, and as much of fome alkaline liquor to be added to it as will fatu- rate the acid. Then if there be ever fo little copper in it, the colour becomes a deep blue, and there is a cloudy preci- pitation made, becaufe the nitre has been regenerated by this procefs, and does not difTolve copper, fo much as Aqua-fortis does : But if there be no copper in the Aqua-fortis^ the co- lour difappears.

The nice aflayer, after having carefully proved his Aqua-fortis, muft concentrate it to a certain degree ; for, if too weak, it often retards the folution, and fometimes does not even affect the filver ; but this concentration is only to be in a certain degree; for, if carried too far, and the Aqua-fortis made too ftrong by it, it vanifhes into fumes, which rufh violently out of the receiver, or vefTel the folutions are made in, tho' fuf- ficiently high, and carries away a part of the filver with it in vapours ; and if there is any thing of gold in the filver, it will be corroded into a fine duft, which it proves very difficult afterwards to collect together. Cramer's Art of Affaying,

When

'/'hen Aqua-fortis is too weak, it is to be put into a deep cu curbit, and the watry part is to be drawn from it, by a gentle fire, till yellow fumes begin to arife. To find out whether it be too ftrong, the following method is to be ufed : Melt to- gether one part of gold, and four parts of filver ; of this make a fiat plate, which cut into three or more parts ; roll up each part, that it may be conveniently put into the neck of a cu- curbite ; when rolled up, and gently heated at the fire, put it into a cucurbit, and pour upon it three times its weight of Aqua-fortis, fet it in a gentle heat : If the filver is eroded from the gold, and the gold retain the fame figure of a piece of a plate rolled up, and there appear no reddifh duft at the bottom of the vefTel, then the Aqua-fortis has its proper degree of ftrength : But if the diffolution has been made with fo much violence, that the gold was eroded, or the plate almoft broken, then the Aqua-fortis was too ftrong. It muft then be diluted wirh a tenth, or an eighth part, of Aqua-fortis Phlegm, or, if that is not at hand, with the fame quantity of common water. This done, the trial is to be repeated, by the diffolution of a like plate rolled up ; and this feveral times over, till the filver be difiblved, without the leaft diminution of the gold. By this the afiayer is afTured of a due degree of ftrength in his menftruum, for all the purpofes he requires it for.

Aqua-fortis is better than in the common ftate, when it is recovered by fire from a metal which had been diftolved by it. It may be almoft entirely recovered by fire, from fuch folutions. Lemery, in his curious account of the arbor mar- tis, obferves, that the experiment fucceeds much better with Aqua-fortis ; drawn oncefrom a diffolution of iron, than with the common kind ; and Cramer gives a very accurate and ready way of obtaining fuch a revived Aqua-fortis, in any quantity, in this manner : Put into a glafs alembic, a pound or more of any metalline folution, in Aqua-fortis ; diff.il it into a large recipient, over a gentle fire, fo that the drops may follow one another, at the interval of fome feconds. "When the liquor of this quantity is thus drawn off", let fuch another quantity be put warm into the fame cucurbit, to the refiduum of the former j let this be diftilled in the fame man- ner, til! all its liquar is drawn off, and then more added, till the whole quantity intended to be diftilled, is thus diverted of its liquor. After all this, when the yellowifh vapours begin to appear from the Remainder, a dram of fuct muft be put into the vefTel, left the diftolved metal fhould, when dried up, adhere fo fart to the fides of the vefTel, as to give great trou- ble in feparating it ; and when, at laft, the calx fhall be quite dry, let it be feparated and fufed with Pot-afhes ; thus will the metal be recovered, and the receiver will contain the Aqua- fortis revived from it.

I he Germans build many arguments on the nature of fire, on a fuppofed experiment of Borrichius, which tends to prove, that Aqua-fortis, mixed with oil of turpentine, will take fire; but the experiment itfelf is fallacious, and, in reality, gives only the appearance of flame, not any real fire. The mixture ordered by Borrichius is four ounces of oil or fpirit of turpentine, and fix ounces of Aqua-fortis, both very ftrong, and newly made : Thefe are to be put together into a glafs body, and this being fet in the fun,, they will fer- ment together for fome time, and a thick fmoak will ifTue out, which, in the fun- beams, refembles flame; but if flax, or any other inflammable fubftance be placed in it, it will never take fire; and if the experiment be made in a dark room, where the fermentation fucceeds equally well, there is no ap-

pearance of flame at all. In the making the experiment, can- dles are to be kept at a diftance, for the fmoak, railed from thefe liquors, will take fire at the flame of any other body, tho' at fome diftance, and the experimenter may be impofed on. Phil. Tranf. N°. 150. Aovjz-Hait/lus, in the civil law, a right of drawing water, and carrying it through another's ground. Cah. Lex. Jur. p. 80. a.

Aqufv-hauflus is a fpecies of fervice, differing from Aqua-duftus in this, that in the latter, water is only conveyed in pipes, or paflages, under ground ; whereas in the former, it may be carried by cattle. Add, that Aquat-bauftus could only be from a well, but Aquee-duftus from either well or fpring. Aqua Mercuriaiis, a preparation of Aqua-regia, and fubli- mate of mercury, with a Tittle mercury, placed in a fand heat, till the folution of the mercury be made. Kirch, Muhd. Subter. 1. 11. §. 2. c. 3. p. 261.

a piece of copper caft into it, of a iilver colour. Kirch, luc. cit.
 * Tis a mark of perfection of the Aqua mercurialis, if it turn

'Tis by this water, that the alchymifts pretend, all motallinc bodies may be reduced to their firft matter, or mercury. Aqu^ Pavor is ufed by fome to denote the Hydrophobia. V.

Phil. Tranf. N. 147. p. 162. Aqua Regia. — This menftruum, befides gold, diflblvcs iron, copper, tin, mercury, regulus of antimony, bifmuth, and zink; It diffolves lead better than the fpirit of fea-falt alone, but it becomes turbid in the folution. If it has its requifite degree of ftrength it docs not difTolve filver. If the quantity of marine fait, in the Aqua-regis, be too fmall, however, it will then more or lefs corrode and difTolve the filver. An exaft fcparation of gold and filver is therefore better made by Aqua- fortis, than by this acid ; as the former can never diflblve gold, whereas the latter may, and very frequently does, more or lefs, corrode and difTolve filver. See Aqua fcrtis, fupra. Aqua Sicca Philofophorum, a cant term, invented by fome al- chymifts for the flowers of zink, called by feveral other as un- meaning names, by thefe writers; as fericum, philofophic cotton, and talc.

A preparation of thefe flowers, by means of vinegar, has alfo been called oil of talc, and many great properties afcribed to it j but it is truly no other than the oil of the grape, from which the vinegar was made, and has no title to any thing that has been faid of it. See Talc. Aqu a Sulphurata, Sulphur-water ', a new name for what was originally called Gas Sulpkuris by Van Helmont. It is water impregnated with the fumes of burning fulphur ; and is conveniently prepared in the following manner. Take a quart of water, and half a pound of brimftone; put the wa- ter into a large glafs receiver ; place it with its mouth fideways, and then let the fulphur be fet on fire, in an iron ladle fixed to a wooden plug, made to go freely into the neck of the receiver, which fhould be pretty long. This plug will then keep the ladle up horizontally, that it fliall not dip into the water, and a cloth is to be thrown flightly over the mouth of the receiver, to confine the fumes. Let the burning of the fulphur be re- peated as often as the fumes from the laft fubfide, till the whole is burnt away. Pembsrton, $ Lond, Difp. p. 211. Sec Gas, Cyct. Aqua Vitriolica cxriilea, a form of medicine in the late London Pharmacopoeia, made in the following manner : Take blue vitriol three ounces, allum and ftrong fpirit of oil of vitriol, of each two ounces, water a pint and a half; boil the falls in water till they are difiblved, and then add the oil of vitriol, and fi- nally, ftrain the whole through paper. Pemberton's Lond. Difp. p. 347. AQU^MANILIS is particularly ufed, in ecclefiaftical writers, for a kind of bafon or laver, antiently placed in the veftibles of churches, ferving to wafh the hands in. Aquamanilis ftood contradiftinguifhed from Urceolus, as the former was placed under the hands, the latter above them* from whence the water trickled down by a cock. The prieft alfo, after celebrating mafs, wafted his fingers in an Aquamanllis.

In the inventories of church plate, we frequently find mention of Aqucsrnaniles, Aquaminilia, Aquiminalia, of filver gilt, wrought, csV. V. DuCangc, GloiT. Lat. T. 1. p. 238. feq. AQUATIA, in middle-age writers, a right 0/ fifhing three days in the year. DuCavge, GlofT. Lat. T. 1, p. 285. In antient deeds, we find divers grants of this privilege of Aquatla, or Aquatura, fometimes alfo called Aquaria. In fome writings Aquatia feems alfo to have fignified a fee,, or other fervice, paid for the privilege of fifhing. AQUALICULUS, in anatomy, a name given by fome to the region of the body 3 wherein the trunk terminates, and the thighs commence, and in which alfo the privities are placed, Caft. Lex. Med. in voc. Blaf. Not. ad Veiling, c. 1. p. 3. The Aqualiculus is the fame with what others call Pubes, others the Hypogajirium, Sumen, Imus Venter, &c. AQUATIC InfeEls. See Insects.

AQUATICUM, in middle-age writers, is a right of ufing a water. Hence Aqunticum in Forejla, &c. Du Cange, GlofT. Lat. in voc.

AQUA-