PROOFS OF THE PROPERTIES OF POTASH.

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Experiment II.

Potash com Lines until silex in the dry way.

If potash and silex are fused together, a combination is ob-tained known under the name of glass. This product differsaccording to the quantities of silex and potash of which it iscomposed.

If three or four parts of potash be fused with one of silex, theresult will be a soft brittle kind of glass, which is soluble inwater. This solution is called liquid siliceous potash, or impro-perly liquor of flints.

To prepare this liquid, take one part of silex, reduced to afine powder (or pure sand) and three or four parts of potash;put these two substances into a crucible which must be only halffilled, and place the crucible in the fire. As soon as the mat-ter enters into fusion, it puffs up considerably, and continuesto swell till the alcali has dissolved the silex. The crucible is tobe kept uncovered as long as the effervescence lasts, but whenit is over, cover the crucible and augment the heat till the wholefuses quietly. The contents are then poured out on a dry ironplate or stone, the matter as it cools becomes hard and assumesthe appearance of glass. This matter, when pulverized and dis-solved, by pouring water over it, forms liquid siliceous potash.It is decomposable by acids, and pure siliceous earth may be ob-tained from it in that way as mentioned before.

Exekiment III.

Potash acts very poiverfully upon animal substances.

Immerse a slip of woollen cloth, or a piece of muscular fleshinto a concentrated solution of potash, the animal substance willsoon become destroyed, and form with the potash a homogeneouscompound. ,