THE Edinburgh Magazine, OR LITERARY MISCELLANY, FOR AUGUST, 1789. With a View of the ABBEY CHURCH of Culross*. For a description of this View, fee Edinburgh Magazine, February 1789. Travels through Sweden: by a 134. baliftic Tale, Poetry. 102 103 106 ring his Illness, 109 Home is Home, however homely, 144 A Search for Generofity; a Ca Ode to Society; by Mrs Piozzi, 142 143 137 VOL. X. No. 56. K State [74] State of the BAROMETER in inches and decimals, and of Farenheit's THERMOMETER in the open air, taken in the morning before fun-rife, and at noon; and the quantity of rain-water fallen, in inches and decimals, from the 31st of July, 1789, to the 30th of Auguft, near the foot of Arthur's Seat. 75 Continuation of M. Metherie's retrospective View of the Progrefs of Natural Mineralogy. Teral fubftances, HE analysis of mi- trix, and their hardness seems pretty which has hitherto been fo little attended to, is every day more and more illuftrated. Aerated heavy fpar. We were acquainted only with one fpecies of heavy fpar, which was a vitriol of the heavy earth, or that earth united with the vitriolic acid. But M. Bolton has difcovered another fpecies. In Cumberland he found a heavy stone, which, when broken, fhewed a fort of femitransparent yellowish fibres, &c. Not having leifure to make the analyfis of this fubftance himself, he gave it to his friend the celebrated chymift Dr Withering, who found it to be the heavy earth united with fixed air. We call this therefore the aerated, and the former the vitriolic heavy spar. Adamantine fpar. This fpar receives a pretty fine polish, and prefents the chatoyant of the feldt fpat, received by M. d'Aroet feveral years ago from China, as an ingredient in the compofition of porcelane, which makes this fubftance approach very near the feldt fpar. Boracic fpar. M. Laffius found at Luneburg, near Hartz, a stony criftallization with peculiar characters, which seemed to him to be criftallized in cubes, and he accordingly called it cubic quartz; but hitherto it does not appear that quartz can affume that form according to the known laws of criftallography. This new fubftance is often tranfparent, fometimes however flightly opaque. It is indifferently hard, and ftrikes fire with steel. Its fpecific gravity is not known; it has hitherto been found but in small crystals. confiderable. One only is a perfect cube. The others are truncated, and thereby affume various forms which however are all modifications of the cube. The German chymifts have been eager to analyse this fubftance. M. Weftrumb, who made the first analysis, procured from 100 grains, 10 grains of calcareous earth, 10 grains of magnefia, 5 grains of argil, 5 grains of filiceous earth, 8 grains of iron, and 62 grains of acid of borax. M. Klaproth having repeated this analysis found the fame boracic acid, which determined me to call it the boracic fpar. It was thought it might be called the calcareous borax, but this name does not feem to me to be applicable, as it does not contain calcareous earth alone. The acid of borax has also been found in a kind of petroleum in Hungary by M. Wintler. Thus then we have found the acid of borax combined with fome mineral fubftances, and undoubtedly it will be discovered in many others. But our knowledge with regard to borax is ftill very imperfect. It would seem that it is found in the lakes or on the banks of those lakes in the north of India. It is found likewife in Peru, and the acid has been discovered in fome of the Italian lakes. Hence it is probable that, upon diligent fearch, this acid will be found combined with different mineral substances. M. Prouft, on the other hand, has found the phosphoric acid combined in great quantity in the lime-ftone of Andalufia. We knew that it existed in many metallic ores. M. Gahn had found it in the ores of lead, but fome doubts having been still entertained, I rendered the thing evident by making phofphorus from it. M. Meyer has proved that fiderite is iron combined with the phosphoric acid. K 2 M. KI M. Forster has just received some of these crystals which I have seen. The greater part are indeed tranfparent but fome of them are fomewhat opaque; they are imbedded in a gypfeous ma M. Klaproth has obtained the fame acid, from the appatit of M. Werner, which is a kind of beryl. Acid or fixed air is found in all calcareous earths and ftones, marbles, fpars, &c. in the aerated heavy fpar, and in a great number of metallic ores; for instance, all ores in a sparry, earthy, or calciform state. The vitriolic acid is likewife combined with many mineral fubftances. It is found in gypfum, in the vitriolic heavy spar, in the vitriols of lead, zinc &c. in short, the greater part of ores are mineralifed by it under the form of fulphur. M. Rafpe gave me a piece of a tin ore from Cornwall, which he fuppofes is mineralifed by fulphur, but it seems to contain pyrites. It is poffible therefore that the fulphur obtained from it was not combined with the tin; however, as he informs me that he has obtained fulphur from a fpecimen. that contained nothing but tin, we ought to rely on the teftimony of this able mineralogift. The marine acid is found in the horn ores of filver and of mercury, in the green copper ores, as M. Werner has proved, and in the ferpentine, according to M. Bayen. M. Hielm has found manganefe united with the marine acid in fome mineral waters of Sweden. The arfenical acid is found in various ores. Laftly, the fluor acid exifts in the fluor fpar, and according to M. Rinman in lapis lazuli. . Thus then of all the acids there is only the nitrous, which we have not as yet found combined with minerals. This is the more surprising, as it is now very abundant on the furface of the earth, and fhould confequently be carried along by the waters and be combined with the mineral substances that are formed in their beds; but as it is fo eafily decompofed, it undoubtedly fuffers a decompofition before it has time to unite with thofe fubftances. It may however actually exist in minerals, without our having as yet discovered it, being decompofed by the action of the fire, and other agents we are obliged to make use of for the purpose of chemical analysis. But we know that nitre is found in certain earths. The Duke de la Rochefoucault has obtained it from chalk, and the Abbé Seftini in the earths of la Pouille &c. but this acid seems to be formed there as in nitre-pits, and not to be an ancient combination. All thofe mineral fubftances which we have now mentioned have been the fubjects of analyfis begun, if not completed; but there are a great many others, the analyfis of which is but little advanced. The diamond, for inftance, which in the fire is intirely confumed, is a subftance altogether unknown to us. The refidue of its combustion, if it could be collected, would probably afford a peculiar acid. Quartz feems to contain nothing. but filiceous earth, with perhaps a very fmall portion of iron. This at leaft appears deducible from the experiments of M. de Lamanon, who, by rubbing violently two pieces of rock cryftal, ob tained blackish globules. But it is probable that this quartz is cristallized by an acid unknown to us. When quartz is fufed with alkalis, there is a violent effervefcence in the moment of fufion. This difengagement of an aeriform fluid cannot proceed merely from the alkali, which in this degree of heat must have lost a great part of its fixed air. M. Bayen has analyfed feveral porphyries the ancient ophites, granites, and jafpers, and has obtained from them a good deal of filiceous earth, calcareous earth, magnesia, and iron. Feldt fpat gave him nearly the fame products. Serpentines, fteatites, lapis ollaris, contain about 0,40 of filiceous earth, 0,33 of magnefia, 0,10 of argil, 0,03 of of iron, 0,12 of water, which in the ferpentine of the Limofin contains a portion of the marine acid. Amianthus and Afbeftus contain nearly the fame principles. Afbeftus, according to Bergman, contains 0,53 of filiceous earth, 0,28 of argillaceous, 0,07 of calcareous, 0,06 of argil, 0,06 of iron. Mica is compofed of 0,38 of filiceeus earth, 0,28 of argillaceous, 0,20 of magnesia, 0,14 of iron. Ardefia, according to Kirwan, is compofed of 0,46 filiceous earth, 0,26 of argillaceous, 0,08 of magnefia, 0,04 of calcareous earth, and 0,14 of iron. Horn-ftone confifts, according to M. Sauffure, of 0,51 of filiceous earth 0,16 of argillaceous, 0,05 of magnefia, 0,08 of calcareous earth, 0, 12 of iron, water, air, with 0,09 loft in the oper. ation. Trapp and bafaltes give nearly the fame products. The chryfophrafe, according to M. Klaproth, is coloured by nickel and copper. Bergman had already found nickel in the green clays. M. Sage has found it likewife in the chryfophrafe. The earthy principles therefore which are found in all these substances belong to the five primitive carths, the calcareous, the heavy, the argillaceous, the filiceous and magnefia. They are afterwards coloured chiefly by metallic fubstances, such as iron, copper, nickel, &c. Those which are coloured by bituminous matter grow white in the fire. It is needlefs to remark that the above operations by analysis must be very imperfect. Bergman made ufe of the dry way; he fufed the ftones he wished to analyfe with the foffil alkali, and then treated them with acids. But it is known that the crucible was abraded by this procefs, and produced argil, calcareous earth, and magnefia; crucibles therefore of iron, or rather of platina, would be better. M. Bayen operated in the humid way, that is, by the vitriolic acid, and therefore his analyfes are not fubject to the fame inconveniences. Befides, except the pure cryftals, all other stones are more or lefs mixed and compounded. There is ftill another observation to be made. It may happen that these earths may change their nature in the operation. M. Gerard thinks that all the earths are liable to fuch a change. However this may be, every thing leads us to believe that calcareous earth and magnefia are only modifications of each other. But what renders thefe operations ftill more imperfect is, that from a very fmall number of them only have we been able to obtain the acids, those agents of cryftallization in all the earths. However it would appear that all these fubftances cannot be cryftallized but by fome pure acid, and this is the circumftance to which our labours ought now to be directed. We have juft feen that all the acids are found combined in minerals; but this is not the cafe with the alkalis. We find, it is true, the foffil alkali in many places, for instance, in mineral waters, but it has not been found'combined." Ammoniacal alkali, as well as fal ammoniac, has alfo been obtained from volcanic matter. But it is the product of fire, and probably it proceeds from the femi-combuftion of coal and bituminous fubftances which yield a good deal of this alkali. There is I believe only a fingle inftance of the vegetable alkali having been met with in Italy, and it too would feem to be the product of fire. The analyfis of metals is ftill very little advanced. A great number of chemifts fuppofe them to be fimple bodies, an opinion that is not very probable. They feem rather to be fulphur, or acids combined with the inflammable principle, as Scopoli, Scheele, &c. thought. Now as we fee the other acids daily produced in their proper places, fo I imagine that the |