"I. Having put a drachm of platina, in a cupel, into a furnace, I kept up the fire two hours, when the covers sunk down, the supporters having run, nevertheless the platina was only agglutinated; it stuck to the cupel, and had left spots of a rusty colour. The platina was then tarnished, even a little black, and had only augmented a quarter of a grain in weight; a quantity very small in comparison with that which other chemists have observed. What surprised me still more was, that this drachm of platina, as well as that I used for other experiments, had been successively carried away by the loadstone, and made a portion of 6/7 of eight ounces, of which the Comte de Buffon has before spoken. "II. Half a drachm of the same platina, exposed to the same fire in a cupel, was also agglutinated; I adhered to the cupel, on which it had left spots of a rusty colour; the augmentation of weight was found to be nearly in the same proportion, and the surface as black. "III. I put this half drachm into a new cupel, but instead of a cover I placed over it a leaden crucible. This I kept in the most extreme heat for four hours; when it was cooled I found the crucible soldered to the support, and having broken it I perceived that nothing had penetrated into the internal part of the crucible, which appeared to be only more glossy than before. The cupel had preserved its form and position; it was a little cracked, but not enough to admit of any penetration; the platina was also not adherent to it, though agglutinated, but in a much more intimate manner than in the first experiments; the grains were less angular, the colour more clear, and the brilliancy more metallic. But what was the most remarkable during the operation, there issued from its surface, probably in the first moments of its refrigeration, three drops of water, one of which, that arose perfectly spherical, was carried up on a small pedicle of the vitreous and transparent matter. It was of an uniform colour, with a slight tint of red, which did not deprive it of any transparency; the smallest of the other two drops had likewise a pedicle, and the other none, but was only attached to the platina by its external surface.