Page:Experimental researches in chemistry and.djvu/103

88, Bart., Pres. R.S.

In desiring Mr. Faraday to expose the hydrate of chlorine to heat in a closed glass tube, it occurred to me that one of three things would happen: that it would become fluid as a hydrate; or that a decomposition of water would occur, and euchlorine and muriatic acid be formed; or that the chlorine would separate in a condensed state.; This last result having been obtained, it evidently led to other researches of the same kind. I shall hope, on a future occasion, to detail some general views on the subject of these researches. I shall now merely mention, that by sealing muriate of ammonia and sulphuric acid in a strong glass tube, and causing them to act upon each other, I have procured liquid muriatic acid: and by substituting carbonate for muriate of ammonia, I have no doubt that carbonic acid may be obtained, though in the only trial I have made the tube burst. I have requested Mr. Faraday to pursue these experiments, and to extend them to all the gases which are of considerable density, or to any extent soluble in water; and I hope soon to be able to lay an account of his results, with some applications of them that I propose to make, before the Society.

I cannot conclude this note without observing, that the generation of elastic substances in close vessels, either with or without heat, offers much more powerful means of approximating their molecules than those dependent upon the application of cold, whether natural or artificial; for as gases diminish only about $1⁄480$ in volume for every—degree of Fahrenheit's scale, beginning at ordinary temperatures, a very slight condensation only can be produced by the most powerful freezing mixtures—not half as much as would result from the application of a strong flame to one part of a glass tube, the other part being of ordinary temperature: and when attempts are made to condense gases into fluids by sudden mechanical compression, the heat, instantly generated, presents a formidable obstacle to the success of the experiment; whereas in the compression resulting from their slow generation in close vessels, if the process be conducted with common precautions, there is no source of difficulty or danger; and it may be