The discovery of oxygen : part 2 / Experiments by Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1777).

  • Scheele, Carl Wilhelm, 1742-1786.
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The discovery of oxygen : part 2 / Experiments by Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1777). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the bottle, inverted, under water and drew out the cork ; the bottle immediately became \ filled with water. 15. Eighth Experiment.—(«.) I dissolved 2 ounces of vitriol of iron in 32 ounces of water, and precipitated this solution with a caustic ley. After the precipitate had settled, I poured away the clear fluid and put the dark green precipitate of iron so obtained, together with the remaining water, into the before-mentioned bottle (§ 8), and closed it tightly. After 14 days (during which time I shook the bottle frequently), this green calx of iron had acquired the colour of crocus of iron, and of 40 parts of air 12 had been lost. (b.) When iron filings are moistened with some water and preserved for a few weeks in a well closed bottle, a portion of the air is like- wise lost, (c.) The solution of iron in vinegar has the same effect upon air. In this case the vinegar permits the dissolved iron to fall out in the form of a yellow crocus, and becomes completely deprived of this metal. (d.) The solution of copper prepared in closed vessels with spirit of salt likewise diminishes air. In none of the foregoing kinds of air can either a candle burn or the smallest spark glow. 16. It is seen from these experiments that phlogiston, the simple inflammable principle, is present in each of them. It is known that the air strongly attracts to itself the inflammable part of substances and deprives them of it: not only this may be seen from the experiments cited, but it is at the same time evident that on the transference of the inflammable substance to the air a considerable part of the air is lost. But that the inflammable sub- stance* alone is the cause of this action, is plain from this, that, according to the 10th paragraph, not the least trace of sulphur remains over, since, according to my experiments this colourless ley contains only some vit- [* “ Das Brennbare.”]