which was stopped in a very short space of time by the ce ment. This work was done between the 10th and 24th of December, in very frosty weather; and the pipe was covered with earth before the end of that month. It is about two or three feet beneath the surface, in a loose, sandy soil; and was kept constantly full of water, without any appearance of leaking.. first discolour The water was so much discoloured by the iron for a The water at week or two, and on standing deposited so much sediment, ed, that it could not be used. To remedy this the same mason but this reme recommended to put some unslacked lime into the updied by lime. per reservoir, or head of water, and open all the cocks be low to give it a quick run; which he said would leave a coat of lime round the inside of the pipe, so as to prevent the rust from coming off. This was done, and for a few days after the water tasted very much of the lime; but the taste soon went off, and the water, which is very soft, was as good after it had passed through the pipe as at its source. cleared itself. In the following autumn the same gentleman superin- Another water tended the laying down of 360 feet of similar iron pipe, with pipe with a nearly constant a fall between 20 and 30 feet, the joints of which were se- stream soon cured in the same way. The supply of water here was so copious, that it was obliged to be kept running all night and great part of the day. This soon cleared the pipe from rust, so that after a few days the water came through colourless, and consequently no lime was used. down. In the summer of 1808, or 1809, two more pipes were Two more laid laid down in the neighbourhood in a similar manner, extending together between two and three thousand feet; and with equal success. These were all perfectly sound and secure in the month of All continue February last; a little before which Mr. Way, having occa- sound. sion to put a new leaden pipe in his yard from the iron one, found the latter, as far as it was examined, apparently as good as when laid down, and the cement as perfect, only seeming harder. Economical X. On the Invention of the Economical Process for Evaporation ascribed to MONTGOLFIER. In a Letter from Mr. Sr. AMAND. SIR, To W. NICHOLSON, Esq. THE supplement to the XXVIIIth vol. of your interest process for evaing and excellent Journal of Natural Philosophy, &c., poration said to be invented by just published, contains an account of a process, abridged. Montgolfier. from vol. LXXVI of the Annales de Chimie published at Paris in November last. This process for procuring and accelerating the evaporation of fluids, without employing heat produced by the ignition of combustible substances, is said to have been communicated in conversation by Mr. de Montgolfier. This declaration of Messrs. Desormes and Clément, authors of the article in the Ann. de Chim., is not translated in your Journal, which gives only an abridgment of it: but you may easily turn to it, and I beg you will have the goodness to satisfy yourself of the fact. I am neither jealous nor envious of the fame of any one; on the contrary I deem myself happy in having fallen on the same idea and the same means with a man of deserved celebrity: but truth and justice give me a right to claim at least a priority of date in the invention, and to this I shall confine myself. The following are incontestable proofs of it. But Mr. St. Amand has a prior claim. Proofs of this. After the disastrous and bloody catastrophe of the 10th of August, 1792, I took refuge in England, whither I brought with me the same process, which I employed myself in developing and varying in several ways; giving it a greater extent, and applications more numerous, than those mentioned in the Ann. de Chim., or in your Journal. These developements were proposed and submitted to the British government about fifteen years ago. They were known, approved, and patronized by several persons, distinguished for for their rank, knowledge, and situations; by ministers, peers, members of parliament, &c. Several learned societies, artists, and government contractors, whom the minister was desirous of exciting to carry it into execution, were acquainted with it. It is now nine years since the manu- Papers stolen from a governscripts, which contained a full account of the invention, ment office. with various other matters, and which were in the hands and under the care of government, were taken away by some treachery, respecting which there are only conjec tures. About that time, sir, I had the honour to request you to Farther proofs. assist me with your knowledge and distinguished talents, in rendering them into the English language, with which I have but an imperfect acquaintance; and to show you authentic certificates of the experiments, that I had made several years before with an apparatus, to which I gave the name of a polychrest machine, on account of the variety and Polychrest mamultiplicity of its applications. I appeal to your candour chine. and impartiality, to confirm the proposal I had the honour to make you on this subject, and the production of the certificates, which are still in my possession, if you still remember the circumstance; which indeed was the occasion of my first having the honour of being known to you. The apparatus I have mentioned, for which I obtained Caveats at the several caveats in the patent office more than twelve years patent office. ago, was ordered by the nobleman who was then first Lord of the Admiralty, whose kindness and encouragement have supported me, and whose protection I have still the honour to enjoy. His zeal for the good of the public, and for the sciences, induced him to cause the apparatus to be con- An apparatus structed at his own expense, under my direction, as appears constructed here and tried by the certificate of the experiments made in his presence, in 1798. signed by himself some time after, and dated in 1798, which I have in my possession. After such authentic official testimonies, I presume I need not appeal to several others, which, though highly respectable in themselves, would add nothing to the validity of the proofs already adduced. All these persons, of whom I could give you a list, are still living; and as most of them are known to you, they would confirm, if requisite, the publicity, which I beg the favour of you to give this letter in the next number of your Journal. I have the honour to be, With a just and high admiration of your talents, No. 25, York Buildings, New Road, May the 15th, 1811. ST. AMAND. Combustion of different sub stances in oxi Ether. XI. On the Combustion of Ether, and of Metals, in Orimuriatic As a proof of the property of sulphuric ether to burn with flame in oximuriatic acid gas, leaving a little oxide of carmuriatic gas. bon, Mr. Van Meerten points out the following experiment. Let a piece of the whitest possible sulphate of lime remain some time in ether. Set fire to this piece well soaked in ether, and introduce it under a jar filled with oximuriatic gas: the ether, or rather its hidrogen, will burn rapidly, and the surface of the gypsum will be covered with a coat of oxide of carbon. Brass, Tin. The combustion of brass and of tin is effected in this gas as easily as that of iron in oxigen. Take a slender brass wire, twisted into a spiral, and terminated by a piece of kindled charcoal; immerse it in a jar of oximuriatic gas; and it will burn rapidly and entirely, throwing out sparks. At the same time it may be seen, that the charcoal has not the property of burning in it, for it remains unaltered. A tin wire exhibited the same phenomena. Ann. de Chimie, vol. LXXIII, p. 87. Translated from Trommsdorff's Journal der Pharmacie, by Mr. Vogel. A copper A copper wire does not burn in this gas, but becomes as Copper. soft as lead. A brass wire not heated redhot does the same. Brass. Lead. A wire of red French gold melted, without throwing out Gold. sparks. Pure silver wire, and iron wire, were not altered in it. Silver. Mr. Stratingh, in verifying the preceding experiments, Brass. prefers making the extremity of the brass wire red hot, to adding a burning coal to it. He could not succeed in burning tin wire. Tin. He effected the combustion of a very slender copper Copper. wire, the extremity of which was pointed and red hot. The inside of the jar was covered with green oxide of copper. A wire of ducat gold did not grow red, or melt, in the Gold. gas, but was slightly oxided. This difference probably arose from Mr. Van Meerten's French gold containing more copper. Very slender silver wire melted, after its extremity had Silver. been made red hot. Iron wire by itself was not altered: but on adding to its Iron. extremity a wire composed of an alloy of three parts of antimony with one of tin, which was heated a little before its immersion, the iron wire gave out much red vapour, and the inside of the jar was covered with a beautiful red oxide of iron. Camphor alone does not burn in this gas: but if a piece Camphor. be stuck in the end of a cleft stick, wrapped round with tin foil, and this powdered with metallic antimony, the camphor will begin to burn with a deep red flame. Oil of turpentine, or of cloves, poured into this gas, gives Essential oils. out some fumes, but very little light*. * A rag wetted with oil of turpentine takes fire in oximuriatic gas. Vogel. |