The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-04-28
nEcoMroslrIoN


we have to announce, discovery IA Chc,lis-
try, by Nir Davy, unguestionably The most ;'ril-
liant that las been made since .ha az the deccm-
position oi water by our celebrated country nan,
Mr.. Cavendish, and Which opens new and al!
most bounulcss field 'Gr future Investigation.
At the late meetings 90 The Royal Society,
Hondon) a papsr b. Ms. Dayl was reed, detail
ing numbo - ~ experiments, in whic!, he sur.
ceeticd in Geeomp9SiGg the Fsecd ,fik3.ieS sub.
stances which have hitherto been ranked among
elementary bodies. BY means OFFS most power
full galvanc apparatus. both pot ash (the vcgeta-
BILE alkaii) and soda tthe nner, ;,lkaii) were de
composed. This Was effected by placing the
mo;stcned sal. (the allsali) or Hate OF patina
Ca metal, and exposing it to the gslvanic sction
{" The gaiVGnic fluid is somewhat similar 20 the
electric fluid. 1t may I've easily produced by what
is called the pile ofVolta Pile, tla, is formed
by placing alternately plates Of sinc, of silver, Cor
a half dollar,) and pieces OF WOODEN cloth steep
| ed in solution Of sal amS,ioniac. These pieces
may be piled one upon smother, to the number of
90, SO, 40, &c the great. the number of layers
the stronger the battery BY connecting the up
per plate of all to the lower, by means of chains
or any kind of metallic conductors, the galvanc
spark is felt, or made to act upon any substance
that is placed between these conductors There
are several other ways ofproducing gatvanism -
But to proceed with MIR Davy's experiments on
the akali thus exposed to the galvanic action.'')
Oxygen gas (pure air) was dsengaged, and small
StODuleS were a7ncfdlsfc appe ar3Ce,
and similar to tic Globules of mercury. Upon
| examination, they were found to possess all the
Properties Of n,etal, but of very peculiar kind.
Tie specific gravity OF these gobulcs, as prccu-
| red from Dot ash, considerably less than that
of distilled water, and they found TO ssvi,,,
even in distilled naphtia. At the freezing pcint
OF water $3.50 of Fahrcnheit's therinometcr) they
were ha,s and brittle at 400 they could scarce
ly be distinguished from quicksilver at 600 they
| were fluid and at 1902 voiatiie. c" Of course
| during the heat of summer DAYS, il would
never exist sut in fluid forTn-and even then it
must not be kept in the air water for the rca
sons to be immediately explained in more torrd
regions, it would evapO,ate.") One of the most
striking properties ofths new metal is its irfaa,-
7na5ilftp IN which aspect II eXceedseven phospho-
| rus. When exposed TO the atmosphere, it rapid
lyimBibes oxygen "a component part of the COM
mon atmospheric air., and re. assumes its alkaline
| character; 1t takes oxygen from water (of which
1t is also component part, and even from aillo-
hol that the only fluid in which it can be kept
is naphtha. M. Davy afterwards proved tie
| metallic nature of this substance BY amalera-
mating (combining) it with different metals
| One part by weight of this new metal, with for
] ty eight of mercury, formed an Amaigam, Which,
/ wtieu applied i'll the circle of galvanic battery,
Chat produced an intense hcat) to iron, silver,
| gold or platna, Immediately dissolved these, and
converted them into oxydes, in which process al
kali was regenerated. Glass as well as all
| metallic bodies, was also dissolved by the appli-
cation OF this substances the base of the ail1al
seizing the oxygen of the manganese Ca semi
metal) and efthe minimum Cred lead, potash was
rcgereratsd. One of the globules placed on 4
fpece Office, dissolved it, and burnt with a bright
| hame, giving out an intense heat. Potash was
| then found i'll the dissolved ice. Nearly the same
effects followed, when globue was thrown in
to water and in both cases, great quantity of
| hydrogen gas (infGmmdble air ! was liberated
| ("Wateris composed Of Oxygen or pure air, and
hydrogen or infiammabe air'O When laid on a
piece OF moistened turmeric paper, the globule
| seemed instantly to acquire intense heat but 80
| rapid YVES its movement IN quest of the moisture
that no part of the paper was burnt, only an in
/ tense deep red stain marked the course it follow
ed, showing reproduction ofalkali. {" A piece
OF turmeric paper, dpt in solution of ail<ali as
sumes red color. Hence this is used as q test of
an .fLkaH.)
| SODA, (the second sort Of Alllali,) submitted
to the same train of investigation, gave results
very similar but the metallic base was found to
possess some peculiar properties Its specific gra-
witty was rather greater than that of the base of
POTASH 1t was fixed at a temperature of 1909,
and fluid at 1909.
| From the medium of numerous ANALYTICAL and
| synthe'lcal experiments, it appeared that 100
parts OF pot-aSh consist of Is oxygen, and SIS OF
the iRFammable base or metal while the same
quantity OF soda contains % OF oxygen, and 80 of
the base.
Mr.. Davy afterwards examined the volatile al
kali, which is commonly considered as consisting
OF hydrogen ard nitrogen (a~'ther sort of air a
component part of the atmo .,)here y he found,
| by numerous experiments, that oxygen is like
wise constituent part of this alkali, 100 Grains
OF the latter yielding 20 of oxygen.
| Other experiments served TO convice Mr. Da-
Wy, that oxygen is a constituent principle in the
ntwiGtic and huorc acids, which chemists have
been hitherto unable to decompose. He likewise
examined some OF the primitive eartlis, as thew
are called, particularly barytes and strontites,
both of which yielded considerable quantities of
| oXygea. This renders it probable that these and
the other alkaline earths which. resemble the al
kalieS so strongly are, like these, co,msoundea bo-
| dies, each with It's peculiar base.
| These novel and interesting facts, show the ne
cessity OF reforming the Nomenclature Oanguage)
OF chemistry. Hoxygen really be an essential in.
Sreden in the constitution Of the dkaifcs, as the
experiments above alluded to leave no room to
doubt, the improperly oftbe term oxygen is ma.
nitest. Oxygen comes from two Cree, words
oXus acid, & geinomai, to produce; so called from
| this air having been found to be a necessary in
gredent in the production of an acid }. NED and
! Chm. Rev. Voi 16. .. 10.
ON filming CYDER.
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