seconds becomes turbid, a heavy grayish precipitate is formed, and in no long time with the aid of agitation the whole corrosive sublimate is removed from the solution. The powdery precipitate is a mixture of finely divided mercury and calomel; the former being derived from the surface of the mercury, and the latter produced by the corrosive sublimate uniting with a larger proportion of the metal to form the protochloride.—8. A solution of Albumen causes a white precipitate, which is soluble in a considerable excess of the reagent. The nature of this precipitate will be discussed presently.—A slip of Gold aided by galvanism, becomes silver-white in the solution, in consequence of the formation of an amalgam. When the solution is concentrated, it may be thus tested by simply putting a few drops on a bit of gold, and touching the gold through the solution with an iron point, as recommended by Mr. Sylvester and Dr. Paris.[1] When the solution is very weak, a different method is necessary, and a process for the purpose has been proposed by M. Devergie, which appears so delicate, accurate, and at the same time simple a mode of detecting traces of mercury in very weak solutions, as to deserve detailed notice. A thin plate of gold, and another of tin, a few lines broad, and two or three inches long, being closely applied to one another by silk threads at the ends, and then twisted spirally, this galvanic pile is left for twenty-four or thirty-six hours in the solution previously acidulated with muriatic acid; upon which the gold is found whitened, and mercury may be obtained in globules by heating the gold in a tube. Distinct indications may be obtained by this method, where the corrosive sublimate forms but an 80,000th of the water.[2] For facility of application, an important condition is, that the quantity of fluid should not exceed three or four ounces, because in a larger quantity the pile of the size stated above cannot remove the whole mercury. Somewhat similar to this is the galvanic method of Mr. Davy of Dublin. He proposes to place the suspected solution in a platinum crucible with hydrochloric acid, diluted with its own weight of water, to excite galvanic action by immersing in the fluid a plate of zinc, and to sublime and collect the reduced mercury, by washing the crucible, heating it over a spirit-lamp, and condensing the mercurial vapours on a plate of glass placed over the mouth of the crucible.[3] Of the Tests for Corrosive Sublimate when mixed with Organic Fluids and Solids.
The process for detecting corrosive sublimate in mixtures of organic fluids and solids, such as the contents of the stomach, is now to be described. But some remarks are previously required on the chemical relations subsisting between this poison and various principles of the vegetable and animal kingdoms.
