Page:The Liquefaction of Gases.djvu/33

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Liquefaction of Gases.
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ing the screw of the receiver; I need not add, that this fluid, so highly concentrated, is of a most insupportable pungency." "There was a trifling residue of a yellowish substance left after the evaporation, which probably arose from a small portion of the oil and grease used in the machine," &c. xiii. 234.

Muriatic Acid.—Operating upon muriatic acid, Mr. Northmore obtained such results as induced him to state he could liquefy it in any quantity, but as the pressure of its vapour at 50° F. is equal to about 40 atmospheres[1], he must have been mistaken. The following is his account: "I now proceeded to the muriatic acid gas, and upon the condensation of a small quantity of it, a beautiful green-coloured substance adhered to the side of the receiver, which had all the qualities of muriatic acid; but upon a large quantity, four pints, being condensed, the result was a yellowish green glutinous substance, which does not evaporate, but is instantly absorbed by a few drops of water; it is of a highly pungent quality, being the essence of muriatic acid. As this gas easily becomes fluid, there is little or no elasticity, so that any quantity may be condensed without danger. My method of collecting this and other gases, which are absorbable by water, is by means of an exhausted Florence flask, (and in some cases an empty bladder) connected by a stop cock with the extremity of the retort." xiii, 235. It seems probable that the facility of condensation, and even combination, possessed by muriatic acid gas in contact with oil of turpentine, may belong to it under a little pressure, in contact with common oil, and thus have occasioned the results Mr. Northmore describes.

Sulphurous Acid Gas.—With regard to this gas, Mr.

  1. Philosophical Transactions, 1823, p. 198.