V. On the action of platina and mercury upon each other

Abstract

On the 12th of May, 1803,I had the honour of presenting a Paper to the Royal Society, the object of which was to discover the nature of palladium, a substance just then announced to the public as a new simple metal. The experiments which I had made for this purpose led me to conclude that palladium was not what it had been stated to be, but that it was a compound of platina and mercury. It was natural to suppose that a subject so likely to spread its influence throughout the whole domain of chemistry, and which tended even to the subversion of some of its elements, would awaken the attention of philosophers. We find accordingly, that it has become a subject of enquiry in England, France, and Germany; but the experiments which I had recommended as the least likely to fail, have been found insufficient to insure the principal result; and I have had the mortification to learn that they have been generally unsuccessful. I have even reason to believe that the nature of palladium is still considered by chemists, at least with a very few exceptions, as unascertained; and that the fixation of mercury by platina is by many regarded as visionary.