Medical extracts. Being a concentrated view of some late discoveries in chemistry, and the new theory and practice of physic, thereby introduced / By a friend to improvements [i.e. R.J. Thornton].

  • Thornton, Robert John, 1768?-1837
Date:
1794
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical extracts. Being a concentrated view of some late discoveries in chemistry, and the new theory and practice of physic, thereby introduced / By a friend to improvements [i.e. R.J. Thornton]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/78 (page 9)
    Lavoisier’s second experiment. Having taken 90 grains of the calx of mercury*, the produdt of the laft procefs, Lavoisier put it into a glafs retort fitted to a proper apparatus for receiving aerial produdts. Having applied a much Jironger heat than in the laft experiment, he obferved that at firft, in proportion as the calx of mercury became heated, the intenfity of its colour augmented; but foon after, the calx began gra- m __ - . **• \ dually to decreafe in bulk, and in a few minutes its red colour altogether difappeared, and the calx was converted into running mercury, and 14 cubical inches of an aerial fluid paffed over into the recipient. Now thefe 14 cubical inches of air weighed 7 grains t the exatd weight of the air confumed by the calcination of the mercury in the firft experiment f; and the calx of mercury reduced I to a metallic ftate being exa- * Corrofive fublimate. 4 Had the ioo cubical inches of atmofpheric air contained a larger fhare of oxygen or •vital air, more MERCURY would have been calcitud. For calcina¬ tion, as this experiment fhews, is nothing more than the combination of rt- Jpirable air with any metallic body. + From the Latin word reDuco, to bring bach Reduction is the bunging back a metal converted to a calx to its prifline Jlate. c mined,