Classics of modern science : $b (Copernicus to Pasteur)
History
Classics of modern science : $b (Copernicus to Pasteur)
Science; Science -- History
In all these experiments the proportion of inflammable air was such,
that the burnt air was not much phlogisticated; and it was observed,
that the less phlogisticated it was, the more acid was the condensed
liquor. I therefore made another experiment, with some more of the
same air from plants, in which the proportion of inflammable air was
greater, so that the burnt air was almost completely phlogisticated,
its standard being 1-10. The condensed liquor was then not at all acid,
but seemed pure water; so that it appears, that with this kind of
dephlogisticated air, the condensed liquor is not at all acid, when the
two airs are mixed in such a proportion that the burnt air is almost
completely phlogisticated, but is considerably so when it is not much
phlogisticated.
In order to see whether the same thing would obtain with air procured
from red precipitate, I made two more experiments with that kind
of air, the air in both being taken from the same bottle, and the
experiment tried in the same manner, except that the proportions of
inflammable air were different. In the first, in which the burnt air
was almost completely phlogisticated, the condensed liquor was not at
all acid. In the second, in which its standard was 1.86, that is, not
much phlogisticated, it was considerably acid; so that with this air,
as well as with that from plants, the condensed liquor contains, or is
entirely free from, acid, according as the burnt air is less or more
phlogisticated; and there can be little doubt but that the same rule
obtains with any other kind of dephlogisticated air.
In order to see whether the acid, formed by the explosion of
dephlogisticated air obtained by means of the vitriolic acid, would
also be of the nitrous kind, I procured some air from turbith mineral,
and exploded it with inflammable air, the proportion being such that
the burnt air was not much phlogisticated. The condensed liquor
manifested an acidity, which appeared, by saturation with a solution
of salt of tartar, to be of the nitrous kind; and it was found, by the
addition of some _terra ponderosa salita_, to contain little or no
vitriolic acid.
When inflammable air was exploded with common air, in such a proportion
that the standard of the burnt air was about 4-10, the condensed
liquor was not in the least acid. There is no difference, however, in
this respect between common air, and dephlogisticated air mixed with
phlogisticated in such a proportion as to reduce it to the standard of
common air; for some dephlogisticated air from red precipitate, being
reduced to this standard by the addition of perfectly phlogisticated
air, and then exploded with the same proportion of inflammable air as
the common air was in the foregoing experiment, the condensed liquor
was not in the least acid.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account