Page:Experimental researches in chemistry and.djvu/17

2 deposits a considerable quantity. It contains also muriate of lime and muriate of soda. The upper spring contains a little carbonic acid gas, some sulphuretted hydrogen, and some sulphate of soda. The following is the manner in which the caustic lime is formed in this bath. The lower spring yields a quantity of lime, but as this spring does not rise freely, but oozes through the bottom of the bath, the lime forms a stratum at the bottom of the lagune; which stratum, absorbing the carbonic acid gas of the water above, passes to the state of a carbonate, and thus forms a defence to the lime, which is continually depositing itself underneath, and prevents it losing its causticity. In fact, the caustic lime is found enclosed between the stratum of the carbonate of lime and the clayey bottom of the laguna.

Signor Taddei found the masses of caustic lime so large, that he could not get them out but by breaking them into pieces. He, however, succeeded in removing the whole of it: and I, having visited the spot two months after, found small incrustations of the same substance newly formed.

substance came to England in a bottle filled up with water, the atmospherical air being perfectly excluded.

It is almost entirely soluble in muriatic acid without effervescence, leaving nothing but a few light flocculi. The solution, when tested, was found to contain lime and iron.

A clean uniform piece of the substance was dried, as much as could be, by bibulous paper. A fragment of it being heated red, lost 62&middot;26 per cent. of water.

The remainder of the original substance, weighing 188 grains, was dissolved in muriatic acid, and evaporated at a high heat on the sand-bath, acid was again added, and the evaporation repeated. Water was poured on it, and the silica separated: when well washed, dried, and heated red, it weighed 7&middot;5 grains.

The filtered solution was precipitated by carbonate of potash, and the precipitate boiled in solution of pure potash. The solution was separated from the solid matter, neutralized by sulphuric acid, and precipitated by carbonate of ammonia.