X. Account of a series of experiments, undertaken with the view of decomposing the muriatic acid

Abstract

Modern chemistry, notwithstanding its rapid advancement during the few last years, still presents to its cultivators several interesting objects, both of analytic and synthetic inquiry. Among the former, the decomposition of the muriatic and of certain other acids, holds a distinguished place; for our curio­sity respecting the nature of these bodies, is strongly excited, by the influence which the discovery would have on the general doctrines of chemical science, as well as on the explanation of individual facts. The theory of the formation of acids, for ex­ample, one of the most important parts of the new system of chemistry, must be regarded as incomplete, and liable to sub­version, till the individual acids now alluded to have been resolved into their constituent principles. To the best of my knowledge, however, we are not in possession of a single fact that gives the smallest insight into the constitution of the muriatic acid; and the attempts to effect its analysis, can only therefore be directed by the analogy of the decomposition of other bodies, which, from similarity of character, are arranged in the same class. One of the first objects, in the analysis of a compound body, should be its complete separation from all other substances, which, by their presence, may tend to introduce uncertainty into the results of the processes that are employed. But it is seldom that a simplicity so desirable can be attained in the ob­jects of chemical research; for, agreeably to a known law of affinity, the last portions of any substance are separated with peculiar difficulty; the force of attraction appearing to increase, as we recede from the point of saturation. In a liquid state, the muriatic acid is a totally unfit subject for analytic experiment; for, in the strongest form under which it can be procured, it still contains a large proportion of water. This watery portion, be­ sides the complexity which it introduces into the results of experiments, prevents any combustible substance that may be applied, from acting on the truly acid part; because that class of bodies, having less difficulty in attracting oxygen from the water than from the acid, will necessarily take it from the former source. The state of gas, therefore, is the only one in which the muriatic acid can become a proper object of analysis.