The method of treatment is essentially that of Boricky.[165] The slide used is protected by a film of Canada balsam, and a few of the silt particles are placed thereon, and fixed in place by slightly warming the balsam. Each particle is then treated with a drop of hydrofluosilicic acid, care being taken not to let the drops flow together. The acid must be pure, leaving no residue on evaporation. The acid should be prepared by the analyst from a mixture of barium fluorid, sulfuric acid and quartz powder, or the commercial article should be purified by distillation before using. The acid should be kept in ceresin or gutta-percha bottles and must be applied with a ceresin or gutta-percha rod. Each particle should be as completely dissolved as possible by the acid, and the rate of solution may be hastened by gentle warming, provided the heat is not great enough to remove the balsam and allow the acid to attack the glass. The bases present in the silt particles crystallize on drying as fluosilicates. In case of a too rapid crystallization, the mass may be dissolved in a drop of water or of very dilute hydrofluosilicic acid, and allowed to evaporate more slowly. Some fragments need more than one treatment with acid to secure complete solution, and particles of mica may even resist repeated applications. In such a case the decomposition may be made in a platinum crucible with hydrofluoric acid, adding afterwards an excess of hydrofluosilicic acid and evaporating to dryness. The crystals may then be dissolved in a little water and a drop of the solution allowed to crystallize on the slide. =259. Special Reactions.=—The number of microchemical reactions is very great, but there will be given here only some of the more important for silt identification. _Sodium._—Sodium mineral fragments dissolved in hydrofluosilicic acid and dried give the combinations shown in Fig. 43. With sodium and aluminum the forms shown in Figs. 44 and 45 are obtained. With an increasing amount of lime in the mineral, the crystals tend to become longer. For microscopic work it is not advisable to try to produce the tetrahedral crystals of the double uranium sodium acetate because the commercial uranium acetate often contains sodium and even the pure article will often take up sodium from the bottles.