The Life of the Hon. Henry Cavendish: Including Abstracts of His More Important Scientific Papers, and a Critical Inquiry Into the Claims of All the Alleged Discoverers of the Composition of Water

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Cavendish Society, 1851 - 478 pages
 

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Page 273 - Correspondence of James Watt on his Discovery of the Theory of the Composition of Water, with a Letter from his Son.
Page 364 - Priestley on 26th April, 1783, in which he reasons on the experiment of burning the two gases in a. close vessel, and draws the conclusion, " that water is composed of dephlogisticated air and phlogiston, deprived of part of their latent heat."* The letter was received by Dr. Priestley and delivered to Sir Joseph Banks, with a request that it might be read to the Royal Society ; but Mr.
Page 236 - By this means upwards of 135 grains of water were condensed in the cylinder, which had no taste nor smell, and which left no sensible sediment when evaporated to dryness ; neither did it yield any pungent smell during the evaporation ; in short, it seemed pure water.
Page 259 - I let up some solution of liver of sulphur to absorb the dephlogisticated air, after which only a small bubble of air remained unabsorbed, which certainly was not more than -j-^ of the bulk of the phlogisticated air let up into the tube ; so that if there is any part of the phlogisticated air of our atmosphere which differs from the rest and cannot be reduced to nitrous acid, we may safely conclude that it is not more than T^ part of the whole.
Page 234 - In Dr. Priestley's last volume of experiments is related an experiment of Mr. Warltire's, in which it is said that, on firing a mixture of common and inflammable air by electricity in a close copper vessel holding about three pints, a loss of weight was always perceived, on an average about two grains, though the vessel was stopped in such a manner that no air could escape by the explosion. It is also related, that on repeating the experiment in glass vessels, the inside of the glass, though clean...
Page 362 - I can certainly give you the best account of the little dispute about the first discoverer of the artificial generation of water, as I was the principal instrument through which the first news of the discovery that had been already made was communicated to Mr. Lavoisier. The following is a short statement of the history :— In the spring of 1783 Mr. Cavendish communicated to me, and other members of the Royal Society, his particular friends, the result of some experiments with which he had for a...
Page 204 - ... the atmosphere, either in the shape of an exceedingly subtle powder, or more probably in that of an elastic fluid. To this I have given the name of fixed air, and perhaps very improperly ; but I thought it better to use a word already familiar in philosophy, than to invent a new name, before we be more fully acquainted with the nature and properties of this substance, which will probably be the subject of my further inquiry.
Page 235 - ... by the explosion. It is also related that on repeating the experiment in glass vessels, the inside of the glass, though clean and dry before, immediately became dewy; which confirmed an opinion he had long entertained, that common air deposits its moisture by phlogistication. As the latter experiment seemed likely to throw great light on the subject I had in view, I thought it well worth examining more closely.
Page 259 - I therefore made an experiment to determine, whether the whole of a given portion of the phlogisticated air of the atmosphere could be reduced to nitrous acid, or whether there was not a part of a different nature from the rest, which would refuse to undergo that change.
Page 28 - The specific gravity of this air was found to differ very little from that of common air ; of the two it seemed rather lighter. It extinguished flame, and rendered common air unfit for making bodies burn in the same manner as fixed air, but in a less degree, as a candle which...

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