Locomotive Engine Running and Management

by Angus Sinclair

MAKING QUALITATIVE TESTS.

While pursuing the apprentice practice of tests with these solutions, care must be taken to have the test tubes perfectly clean. Go over the tests in something like the following order. The carbonate of lime test is to be made first. Four test tubes will be used. In the first we put distilled water alone; in the second we put ten drops of the chalk solution; in the third we put twenty drops of the solution; in the fourth we put thirty drops, then add distilled water till all the test tubes are about two-thirds filled. Drop into each tube about the same quantity of oxalate of ammonia solution, and the degree of turbidity will help to indicate the hardness of each specimen. The first tube, containing pure water, will give no re-action if the chemicals are pure.

This process should be extended to all the other solutions, and will be found very helpful. In carrying out experiments of this kind, much assistance will be obtained from having a work like Stuckhardt’s Chemistry at hand for reference.