Oroville daily Butte record. [volume] (Oroville, Butte County, Calif.) 1856-1858, 1857-05-26
From The Golden Era.
Chemistry of Everyday Life.
BY DAVID WOOSTER, NJ. p.

BY DAVID WOOSTER, NJ. p.
these salts be evaporated ut n temper
ature above 900, they chrystallze in
another form, and the chrystals con-
! tain only II atoms ef water of chrys-
iatiz .tion, instead Of ~, which ,bey
contain when allowed TO form at u
temperature less than 900. But in
either case the phosphate and arsenl-
ate chrystals are precisely alike. They
taste alike, are equally soluble in water
or other menstrua; they part with their
/ dhrys,alization at the same tempera>
ture for every phosphate there is an
arseniate corresponding III compost
ton and identical in forum The bases,
arsenic and PHOSPHORUS, closely re-
semble each other in odor. though one
is a metal, and the other, so far as yet
known, a non metallic body. And l
will add, on my own responsibility,
that they, that IS the elements arse.
mic and PHOSPHORUS, not their sal's,)
produce similar effects on the organlza-
tion, when taken into the stomach in
proportlonate quantities. The phos~
phate of soda, it is well known, may
be taken as substitute for the carbon
ate of soda, and with the same safety.
Bat let 40 one suppose that the paral-
lei can be continued with safety AS
/ | remarked above, SO far as is yet
known, PHOSPHORUS is non metallic
but it is not improbable that it is a
compound of u metallic base and q
gaseous element, or OF two gaseous ele-
menls, like that hypothetical radical,
nitrogen and hy drogen, amm0ntum.
which is known to be isomorphous with
potassium, a metal discovered by Sir
Humphrey Davy in 1907; and if the
law of isumorphism is correct, 1t ele-
ments whose compounds are isomor-
| phous, are themselves isomorphous and
arsencum, and potassium and ammo
mum, iSomorphous. But the law Of
isomorphsm begins at the ultimate
atom OF the element; that is, an atom
Of PHOSPHORUS must have the same
| form as an atom of arsenIcum, and an
atom OF ammonium as an atom Of pot
assum. And how IsOmorphous atoms
can unite III one case, so as to form .
metal, in another, two known element
ary gasseS, and IN third whItlsh
substance re embliug the marrow Of
b-ncs, is inexplicable in The present
state Of our knowledge.
The isom0r. hlsm Of sodium and sill
YER IS more appreciable. The sui
phaies of soda and silver are similiorm,
and hence, according to The law, the
metals sodium and silver are also iso-
morpheus in atoms. Sodium Is the
base of common da ; it was discover
ed and isolated by Davy, in 1907. 1t
has the aspect of sllver-~ls lighter
han water, 50 tt that it yields to tho
pr s,u,c Of the fingers, and may be
readily cut with knife. 1t dccom-
poses water By absorbing its oxygen
and s-tt,ng hydrogen free. Or the
physical properties of silver | ned not
speak, l-st | excite the cupldity OF my
readers; but it is isomo phous, and
may be isomeric with sodium and pot
a stun.
The salts of sodium are found in all
the animal fluids, as thOse of potassium
are in all the vegetable world. Both
of these m tails are wide ly diffused in
he mineral world The one (sodum)
IS easily obtained from its uriquitous
soluble compound chloride of dunn,
or common salt. So we have arrived
at the tab again. THIS wonderful
metal, so cosel, resembling silver as
to be almo,t IDENTICAL with #, IS dis
tributed vi hout stint over II the
worlds essential to the food of ami
mails, especially civilized man. Near
ly one-tw llth of the fluid Ok tie Dead
Sc, is purc sodium, aud ahent ei ven
per cent. Of g eat Salt Lake, in Utah,
is metal or sod um Two per cent. OF
all the water of the ocean rs sod um.
The second large class Of Isomor-
phous bodies has little or no r"sem-
blance to the fourth class, which con-
> ;oS - INN Silvar nOtasSuU, &c..