1225
the
j>gp p ir ’it emits copious fumes of sulphuric (not sulphurous) acid. It burns holes inhi Ss J C as rapidly as a red-hot iron. Dropped in small quantities into water, it excites in a S noise, like ignited metal; and in larger quantities, it occasions an explosion.
st arui?^ n ° a fragment of it into a poised vial containing water, and stoppering in-t -° P revent the ejection of liquid, by the ebullition which always ensues, I got a' v hich aC ^ 5 Con taining a known portion of the solid acid, from the specific gravity ofa cid 5 as We H as from its saturating power, I ascertained that the above solid sulphuricl)l, Ur ^ as truly anhydrous {void of -water), consisting of 1 equivalent proportion of sul-a cid* ^ of oxygen ; or, by weight, of 16 of the former, and 24 of the latter. This.
'Hakes a red solution of indigo.
Th
by ^ e Production of sulphuric acid from sulphur and nitre may be elegantly illustratedSfi rt e p tts a glass globe with a stoppered hole at its side, and four bent glass tubes in-he^ , la t° a leaden cap in its upper orifice. The first tube is to be connected with a$ec 0 J j ^^rass, disengaging sulphurous acid from copper filings and sulphuric acid ; thec °F*pe a retort > disengaging more slowly deutoxyde of azote (nitric oxyde) frome Ufr e ^ fi!itl gs and nitric acid ; the third with a vessel for furnishing steam in a moderatethe K ii *° Wai 'ds the end of the process, when ( no water has been previously admitted intothe o, °. oa 5 the fourth tube may be upright, and terminate in a small funnel. Throughby jg in the side of the globe, atmospherical air is to be admitted from lime to time,° v ing the stopper; after which, the residuary lighter azote may be allowed t<5% the funnel orifice,
a rid v nur ^ c °xyde first absorbs oxygen from the air, becomes, in consequence, nitrousMth t ^ or 5 which giving up one third of its oxygen to the sulphurous acid, converts this,°*yde • wa ter, into sulphuric acid, while itself returning to the state of nitric
g_ ls a ?ain qualified to take oxygen from the air, and to transfer it to the sulphurousCe$ s ^ S ’ and thus in perpetual rotation. These oxygenating and disoxygenating pro-Rlob e . Coil tinue until nearly the whole oxygen of the atmospheric air contained in the^Se / S Consum ed. Were there little aqueous vapor present, those gases would soon'Voyj. 0 operate upon each other; for though the nitric oxyde became nitrous acid, this.° x ygenate little of the sulphurous acid, because the three substances would con-l^n e : lnto . white crystals upon the sides of the balloon, like hoar frost upon a window-ed. a n ' v * nt er. These indicate a deficiency of aqueous vapor, and an excess of nitrousJbe the admission of steam, the crystals disappear, the sulphuric acid is liquefied,? as acid is converted into nitric acid and nitric oxyde; the former of which com-mit! v lta ^e water, while the latter is converted by the atmospheric oxygen into nitrous?fih a t * ) ° r ’ A. certain quantity of water is therefore requisite to prevent the formation*1 trah C ? sta ^* ne compound, which condenses the nitrous acid, and renders it inoperativej 8 ^ming fresh portions of sulphurous acid into sulphuric. On these principles^^ttd ^ possible to oxygenate the sulphurous acid, by the nitrous acid resuming andIt a ^ ose °*y? en > * n perpetual alternation.
AIM. Clement and Desormes who first had the sagacity to trace these compli-They showed that nitrous acid gas and sulphurous acid gas mixed, reacth ( >n 0 p °Jher through the intervention of moisture ; that there resulted thence a combina-Ul * c acid, deutoxyde of azole (nitrous gas), and water ; that this crystallineliat Was instantly destroyed by more water, with the separation of the sulphuric acidac id ^ ' a state, and the disengagement of nitrous gas; that this gas re-constituted nitrousliters t ex P ense of the atmospheric oxygen of the leaden chamber, and thus broughta^hu r • 0 iheir primary condition. From this point, starting again, the particles ofni t ia the sulphurous acid, through the agency of water, became fully oxygenated by2 ? r iv e 4 J Us a cid, and fell down in heavy drops of sulphuric acid, while the nitrous gas.his hea* 0 ^ 1 nitrous acid, had again recourse to the air for its lost dose of oxygen.^ m eru Utl ^ interchange of the oxygenous principle was found to go on, in their ex-b *^hey y* ^ e ‘ther the sulphurous acid, or oxygen in the air, was exhausted.
this proposition, with regard to what occurs in sulphuric acid chambers,ti^ a ttn 0 t V 1 a crystal globe the three substances, deutoxyde of azote, sulphurous acid,ly 0 * 1 th i er * c a ' r * ^he immediate production of red vapors indicated the transforma-f > e deutoxyde into nitrous acid gas ; and now the introduction of a very littlel/? er ysta^ proper reaction, for opaque vapors rose, which deposited white star-yI beq s ° n the surface of the glass. The gases were once more transparent and color-apT ) tl0t ' ler Edition of water melted these crystals with effervescence, when ruddytnclurf aC f^*. ^his manner the phenomena were made to alternate, till the oxygenpu^ic. Yh ea ai - r was ex P ent i et ij or the sulphurous acid was converted into sul-He 11 * 0 ^ acif] 6 residuar y gases were found to be nitrous acid gas and azote, without sul-ttiev ‘^ aS ’ w hile unctuous sulphuric acid bedewed the inner surface of the globe.
conc l u ded their new. theory of the manufacture of oil of vitriol to be
e Tience of their discovery, the manufacture of this acid has received such