The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-11-22 00:00:00

POPULAR COURSE ON CHEMISTRy, AT THE
MECHANICS' IxsTaul'lON. •

• PUBLIC MEETING AT MACCLESEIELH. . .
One (of the most numerous and respectable Meetings thaielver
assembled in the town of Macclesfield, was field on Thursday,
last'in that town, in pursuance of a requisition, to take inin 6011-
sideration the best means of supporting the South Union Bail;
way Company, in its application to Parliament. Scarcely' an
individual of-env importance, connected •with al" proprietary.:
the manufacturing interest„ and the comoterm. botky,of the
town, was absent on the occasion. Mr. 'Fitorp, the late 'Mayor,
in the absence of the present Mayor,-was called to the Chair.--
The meeting waa then addressed- at great length, by Williain
Garnett, Esq., the Chairman of the South Union Company,
who folly explained all the proceedings Of the Cotnpany. in their
opposition to the Cheshire Junction Company,irt the uusuccesar,
means in •'',t eir
ful. attempt of the latter, to carry their line !a the- last. session.
Mt. Garnett's' statement gave great satistlicfitin tii the meeting.
lie_ leas followed by other gentlemen, and various resolutions
were proposed and carried, declaratory of, the intentiOn'of ...the
inhabitants Of Miteeteoeld, -to sintPOrt ifir all
power, the' Seuth Union Companyi in tbilir application t 0,...
.ars
lianient next session. ... •
We extract front:the ilia(i'iiliss'llka'eta*Kliiie-Soeith"6l' I•
, , . ~
~. . ,„L„,. o . t ;',
Stepherison;;,the.„Engineer, SBOVV:In MO nu4k.!FOYSPr., ...taEks II; i,
he proposed to adopt. , . • •,-.,
said he t.,- A 1. 1- bare - "' s 'iieeittre in ex.
" Mr. STEPHENSON -
plaining to therothe route..which-he propo i--'.. to take, as he had
got gradients very favourable for th
passing,
treugla Macclesfield.
Ile would have no eradients 'froirt-Maiehestef'to Stockpert
above 16 feet 'per mile ; he woii•Weass4;ituttlipPr at the. most
favourable position. Prom thence( to..gqxn.ton, there would be
none abeve,l6 feet per mileoatur front•Peyntou -fixMacclesfield'
iimiliar gradients were obtained, except-for.-1 or., miles. He
should then pasatbrough Macclesfield, going. in the,,
'valley, but
[He
high to allow the'river to pass under the railway.—
e then passed Dane's Mesa, 'in no part of which would the
Lif
gradients exceed 16 fet per mile ;..and this was the great and
insurmountable summit of Macclesfield, of which they had heard
so Much.—( Lend Cheeiii:)-' Front that he would pass to the
east of North Rode, on towards Harecastle, almost on a dead
level, within about a mile of Congleton, on a line whiche lino
The
is as
advantageous to that town as anythat can be formed. T
would then proceed to Biddulph, forming an outlet to the coals
there, and besides that, it would also open the great Pottery bed
of coal, which affords an inexhaustible store of fuel, and is
superior to any lied of coal in the kingdom, with respect to
qnality, except those of the north of England. The works at
Harecastle would be very moderate. The line would then pro-
ceed' by the Potteries down the valley, and not in those parts
of that densely peopled district, where it would be highly dan-
gerous. He thought he had convinced many of the I
that it would be. much better to proceed down the valley to
Stone, in which route he would have very favourable gradients,
in to part exceeding 14 feet' per mile, and in very few places so
much as that. A deviation takes place to join the Grand Junc-
tion Line for the purpose of going to Birmingham ; but the
main line would go en -down the valleY of the Trent, by Rugeley
near Lichfield, to 'ramworth. The Potteries would obtain in
this way the Lest outlet for their productions to Derby, Not-
tingham, and the south east of England, by the
Birmingham Derby and
t
railway. From Tamworth the company connect-
ed with the Derby line were preparing to go to Parliament fur The, Promo HALL.—Subscriptions for this building have
a branch to Rugby. 'this line has very favourable gradients, flowed injo the must public spirited manner—in a inan
to state that
pared : with that by. Warrington. by 3:5 miles, and it will be the sum subscribed now amounts to .£20,000. and we uust that
shorter, by taking Use line down the valley of the Trent, instead a buildin will be erected aliPe a credit incite
G public spirit of the
g
of the rand jura'tion,by:Birminghant,—by 20 miles,—besides inhabitant s and an ornament to the town.
that the gradients Willlkie, far more favourable. He had now •We bave much leasare in directing the attention of our mu-
explained the line preposed.to be taken. He had also to state sisal friem's t • P.
rkablv spirited lithegialh, by Sharp, of
that the cost Of the 'execution' would be much under the esti- London, of "''
lmn" f I it. painted by Mrs. Wiley,
':;ate, i_ a 'mini o_ortra ~
--o • which had bet, to Parliament last year.— .-iii.tist, a this town (as advertised this day.) The portraits are
(Cheers). He had yeiy little time then tit examine the subject. :
~ vet yst rik in, to faithful, mill the groin forms one of the west
Since then he had had time to select the best course, and he 1 ;
I),easont, ii!"CUti 'lye' have for some time seen. It. LtudleV's
now cenfidently Mato]: that no one would be able to make: a Irsenes, in trar, is excellent ; and that of the late and
lint: so favOuNit,lk for 411, it chcst er Louden and the intervening • •iatilL,lllc,d im g to.-fiLe Damao Opera House (Sig,nor S piano-
istricts--4 t
,'-'ll,7atto.e.). '[`he gradients were better, and the ex- .• letti)is e traiffarikine-,. This beautiful specimen of lithography
•pense of eXecntilin leis Man, elify other line that could be - d(LL,s N,1:1 .' •• lit .to the artist and 'iii. Sharp, and cannot fal to
brought before l'• • ..• ; o it it c, e(
a. ,i,inien.. (Applause.) I sell exit Jee7lta.
...,,..-............... wt• }emir true agriculturists in this district have determined
C. J. \V. Ellis. F I. -' '':: -7—'' " i• 1 . for the to inereos, the wages of their farm labourers to an extent coin-
re. . 4so. has offered hirn.Self as cam it I,e
presentatiour theWeditatti, Ilii:iiiiin of Col nwail, and is advance Which has •
11,, tisurate with the 5 taken place in the price
canvassing,aYith greet
Anergythe constitueue ' West Briton. of grilla.-7.---a l•
(*stffy Herald.
„ . .. .

LECTURE 11.
On Saturday eVenitne John Hemming, Esq., delivered his
second 'lest ore to an increasing 'audience, which he illustrated
throughout with a number o pleasing experiments.
A number of laws have been laid down, according to which
chemical affinities act, but several of them are either superflu-
ous or absurd.' The first law, "that chemical affinity can only
take place between different bodies," is superfluous, as•chemi-
cal affinity can only take place between bodies of a different
kind; for if we mix water with Water, nil with oil, alcohol with
alcohol, the mixture will be still water, oil, or alcohol, as the
case may be. There will be no change in the properties of the
substances whatever, and, therefore, the mixture is merely me-
chanical. The second law is, that it will take place only be-
tween the minutest atoms. This must be superfluous, fur ultimate
particles can only unite with ultimate particles. The third law
is, that it can take place between two, three, four, or more bo-
dies at the same time We have many cases iu chemistry
where it takes place between many substances. Thus terro-
Cvanuret of potassium, or prusseate of potash, is composed of
iron cyanogen and potass, which are formed of six different ele-
ments, viz., iron, nitrogen, carbon. oxygen, hydrogen, and
potassium. If we take up the most minute portion of this sub..
stance dissolved in water, each separate portion, however minute,
will contain the whole of tnese ingredients in a state of com-
bination. We may take the substance known as alum, or
sulphate of alumina and potash, or sulphate of alumina and
soda. this we find five elements, viz., sulphur; oxygen, alu-
mina, pcitassium, hydrogen, in such a perfect state of chemical
combination that, when dissolved in water, the smallest globule
will contain each of these elements. The fourth law is, that a
change of temperature accompahies cheMical affinity, and al:
ways a change of density. In many cases these changes are
not evident, tho Ugh there is reason to believe that they always
occur. In every case of real chemical combination we have a
change of temperature, which can only occur in consequence of
a change of density; for when the mixture is more dense than
before, caloric is evolved, find when less dense, it will be ab-
sorbed. In other words, in some instances extreme heat, and
in others extreme esld is produced by the chemical combination
of. difkrent substances. When we mix alcohol with water,-or
sulphuric acid with water, a condensation takes place, and great
heat is produced. . In each of these cases, however, we have
no change in the properties of the substances; the alcohol and
sulphuric acid merely become diluted with water. The acid
will nevertheless neutralize as great a quantity of alkali as be-
fore, or dissolve as much metal. By applying heat both the
alkali and the acid may be again separated from the water. if
spirit of salt or muriatic acid be mixed with nitrate of ammonia,
excessive cold is produced and an increase in the bulk of the
mixture. The next law is, that the properties which charac-
terize bodies are changed by chemical union. In _many budies
we have a remarkable change of property ; but this change of,
property and character is attended with a remarkable change
of colour, or of taste, or of smell, and in many cases with change
of form. Let us- take sulphuric acid, which is a powerful poi-
son, a single spoonful taken internally immediately destroying
life, and caustic soda, a poison, if possible, more deadly ; now
suppose we mix an ounce of each of these substances together,
or such proportion of the one as will saturate the other: in that.
case we form a neutral compound. of which two or three ounces
may be taken with impunity. The product is nothing more
than sulphate of soda, or Glauber salts—a valuable and useful
medicine. In every case of chemical union the compound pose
sesses different properties from the elements of which'it is com-
posed; if the elements are noxious, the compound is innoxious,
and rice versa. Let us take, for example, sulphur and oxygen.
Sulphur is perfectly harniless, and is frequently taken us medi-
cine. Oxygen we cannot do without for a moment : it forms
the vital principle of the atmosphere. But when oxygen and
sulphur are combined together, they form that destructive acid
known by the name oil of vitriol. Mercury is quite inuoxious
in its metallic state; but when oxygen is combined with it, it
becomes a powerful poison. Arsenic is not injurious as a metal,
but united with oxygen, it forms the arsenious acid of commerce,
which is well known to be a violent poison. In some cases che-
mical combination converts solids into liquids, in some liquids
into solids, and in others gasses into solids. In one case co-
lourless bodies become deeply coloured, and in another colour-
less bodies become coloured. Indeed time variety of phenomena
attending chemical affinity seems to be almost boundless. First
of all, with respect to the most common attendant of chemical
affinity, change of colour. Let us take two colourless sub-
stances, a weak solution of sulphate of iron, and tincture or
infusion of galls highly diluted. When these are mixed toge-
ther, a strong black colour pervades the compound, and we
obtain common writing ink. The 'acid of the galls unites with
iron, and forms gallate of iron, which is a -black compound.
The writing ink of commerce is complained of, and with much
justice. The gallate of iron is suspended in the liquid by too
strong a solution of gum. Now we find that after a few years
the writing ink becomes valueless, in many cases of a faint yel•
low colour, and in many cases writing effeeted with it is almost
effaced. The reason of this may be briefly explained. If a
small quantity of muriatic acid be added to ink, it will restore
the original transparency of the colour. This arises from the
circumstance of the acid dissolving the oxide of iron. In order
to neuttalize this effect, a little alkali need only be added to the
mixture, when it will resume its former blackness. Now the
fault is not in the ink, but in the paper itself: In modern pa-
per making, a large quantity of chlorine is required, 'as they
make paper from many-coloured rags, which can only be
bleached by the agency of that gas. But the paper-manufac-
turer, after bleaching these rags, suffers the pulp to remain
many days without washing it, by which a very corrosive and
injurious acid is 'formed—muriatic or hydro-chleric acid. The
oxygen of the water will combine with the chlorine, and form
ehleric acid; this will combine with the colouring matter of
the ink, and destroy it. The lecturer believed that the bad qua-
lities attributed to the ink were to be ascribed to time agent
employed in the manufacture of the wriiing paper. which net
only destroyed the ink, but the fibres of the paper itself. He
had visited a large paper-manufactory, iu which the' pulp was
allowed to remain uuwashed as he had described, and , had re-
marked to the proprietor that his paper would not last twenty
years, and that the ink would be soon destroyed,. because the
pulp was not washed. He tasted the pulp,'and found` the acid
very perceptible: An observation of the ptoprietor • convinced
him of the truth of his conjecture. -The lecturer asked him
whether he did not find it very difficult to discharge the buff
colour of his rags. The proprietor replied that it was never de-
stroyed until the pulp was allowed to remain several Jays
unwashed. This buff colour was oxide of iron, and could not be
discharged by chlorine, • but muriatic acid will destroy it; there-
fore the paper-manufacturer knee that new agents must have
been employed to destroy the buff colour, and these agents will
destroy the paper and the ink. A striking instance of change
of form and colour by chemical combination is afforded by the
.union of sulphuric acid and lump sugar. Sulphuric acid has a
strong affinity for water, and accordingly eagerly seizes upon
time water, which is a component of the sugar. The sugar then
assumes a deep black colour, and when well washed with water,
will be found to be pure charcoal. In most instances where a
change in smell is produced by chemical combination, the odour
is disagreeable; in one instance, however, a very much ad-
mired scent is produced by this means by trituratieg lime with
carbonate of ammonia, or sal ammoniac. The carbonic acid
unites' with the lime, and the ammonia is set free. A remark-.
able example of the conversion of liquids into solids is afforded
by the mixture of a solution of inuriate of lime with sulphuric
acid ; the sulphuric acid combines with the lime, and forms an
insoluble compound, sulphate of lime or plaster of Paris. In-
tense heat is produced by this Operation. If, on the contrary,
two solid bodies, nitrate of ammonia and sulphate of soda, be
triturated forcibly in a mortar, a liquid will be the product. In
like manner we may convert gaseous bodies into solids; as, for
example, by combining muriatic acid gas with that of ammonia,
when sal ammoniac, or muriate of ammonia, will be the com-
pound. In point of fact there is no end to the changes in ap-
pearance, property, and character produced by chetnical
The sixth law is, that the energy otehernical affinity differs in
different substances. We needed no ghost to tell us that, us
we could not perform a single experiment were it not the case.
We found in the last 'lecture that sulphuric acid possessed a
greater affinity for certain bases ileum muriatic or nitric acids,
and all the acids than carbonic acid,
We must now proceed to consider the very important but ra-
ther more °list r use subject of the atomic theory. and the theory
of nomenclature and notation. Nothing has tended to fimeilitate
the acquirement of chemistry to time student, or to abridge time
labours•of the professor, as Ilse um of a new system of
chemical nemenelatnre- We are much indebted to time ingeni•
ous and persevering labours of Dalton, of Manchester, for toe
perfection of the atomic theory. A few scattered varticiulars
were all we knew on theselmject prior to his discoveries. It hail
.
been found bYsWensell that when two salts capable of decom-
posing each other are combined, they will produce Iwo neutral
compounds. •Thtis if we take acetate of lead' and decOmpose
carbonate of ammonia: sulphate of soda' or any other salt de-
composed by.it, we shall find that we have two neutral corn-
pounds. In the first instance the acetic acid will combine with
'the ammonia, and the carbonic acid with the lead, forming
-acetate of ammonia amid carbonate of lead; in the second
'instance, acetate of soda and sulphate of lead will, in like man-
ner, form the re,u.ting: compounds. In the year 1789 Higgin,
stated that what was then called vitriolic acid was composed
one particle of sulphur and oue of oxygen, but when prepare.
with two particles of dephlogisticated air, now called oxygen,
the compound was different. Dalton perceived this,
but without
knowing of Higgins' discovers'. A few years after this, hclwee
1792 and 18112, Richter, of Geneva, 'published a remarkable
work, which he called the Geometry of (Chemistry,i,thicha.,
attempted to prove that chemistry followed certain mist
e "i
its
laws. This was startling, but, to a certain extent, provede.i
truth. He stated how much acid would combine with certain
portions portions of alkali, and he found that if a certain number of
of sulphuric acid, to use round numbers for the sa •
i-or,y,
of ammonia. He likewise found that, if quantity
say WO, would combine with 100 of potash, and 000
of
acid neutralized one part of one acid,.ltwo,nnits
of
ut i another,
and
three parts of a third, the same neutralized one
on,
,rpae:dri di
that
quan"L"•
ons
part bf the acid will neutralidzesaos
two parts, twice as much, an
certain bodies entered into combination
only, and when one body
will unite with another in dif-
ferent proportions, it would always contain a multiple of the
smallest quantity of that element. He discovered that a certain
quantity of one substance is always equivalent to a certain
easily decomposed, and we can
i
quantity of another substance. Suppose he began by decom-
posing water, for water is
ascertain the quantity of very
ts elements in weight and volume with
great precision. Suppose that 1 grain of hydrogen combines
with 8 of oxygen to form water, this I grain of hydrogen would
r
I combine with 6 of carbon,
14 of nitrogen 16 of sulpha ,and 104
I of lead, (it does not combine with lead, but, for the sake of sim-
no matter what that weight be, whether grains or
purity, we will suppose so.) Il eying found I hat 1 part, by weight,
of hydrogen,
tons, will combine with so many parts of other substances, we
wish to know how these substances will combine together. 1r it
is possible, for instance, for oxygen to combine with carbon, in
what proportions will they do so. In exactly the same propor-
tions in which they will combine with •
hydrogen . thus 8 parts
of oxygen and 6 of carbon will combine with I of hydrogen, and
8 parts of oxygen will combine with 6 of citamn and form a
chemical compound. These •
are the combining; proportions of
these bodies by weight, and you cannot. combine them in any
other proportions than these. But it is true that we have che-
mical compounds where one of these "atoms," as Dairen first
unfortunately called them, but as they are more properly called,
equivalents, combine with double or triple the number of the
combining equivalents of another substance. Thus one equiva-
lent of hydrogen combines with one equivalent of oxygen to
form the well-known compound, water; but we have oxygen
combining with hydrogen its two proportions. Oxygen combines
with nitrogen in no less than five proportions ; thus 14 atoms of
nitrogen will combine with 8, or 16, 0r24, or 32, or 40 atoms of
oxygen, but with no intermediate proportions. A number o
other similar combinations take place between other substarets4
• hut its every case an equivalent of one combines full equis•ano_
of other substances, but never with an equivalent and a half
aunt her. We cannot divide an atoin either chemically or e
chanically. If Bbe the weight of an atom, it canimt•el,),.'iil,nat
with 12
-a lower rate. But we find 104 atoms of lead ciiiii,stb(lit;
but 2
of oxygen; in this case the atom of oxygen
is
equivalents or
1 equivalents, or 21)8 parts of lead,
combine
withlsioxide of lead. We
24 parts of oxygen, and thus forms the se:q
tom is capable of c!
must not f,r a moment suppose that an _
the foundatien of the
withof ania het ',Psis then is
bluing,
atomic theory. A certain proportion of onesuhstance is always
equal to a certain proportion of another, and these proportions
never combine except in atomic quantities. In
like
manner the