Elements of Chemistry, / In a New Systematic Order, Containing all the Modern Discoveries

by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier

Names of Bases	Resulting Neutral Salts.
	New Nomenclature.		Old Nomenclature.
Barytes	Carbonates of	barytes(A)	Aërated or effervescent heavy earth.
Lime		lime	Chalk, calcareous spar, Aërated calcareous earth.
Potash		potash	Effervescing or aërated fixed vegetable alkali, mephitis of potash.
Soda		soda	Aërated or effervescing fixed mineral alkali, mephitic soda.
Magnesia		magnesia	Aërated, effervescing, mild, or mephitic magnesia.
Ammoniac		ammoniac	Aërated, effervescing, mild, or mephitic volatile alkali.
Argill		argill	Aërated or effervescing argillaceous earth, or earth of alum.
Oxyds of
zinc		zinc	Zinc spar, mephitic or aërated zinc.
iron		iron	Sparry iron-ore, mephitic or aërated iron.
manganese		manganese	Aërated manganese.
cobalt		cobalt	Aërated cobalt.
nickel		nickel	Aërated nickel.
lead		lead	Sparry lead-ore, or aërated lead.
tin		tin	Aërated tin.
copper		copper	Aërated copper.
bismuth		bismuth	Aërated bismuth.
antimony		antimony	Aërated antimony.
arsenic		arsenic	Aërated arsenic.
mercury		mercury	Aërated mercury.
silver		silver	Aërated silver.
gold		gold	Aërated gold.
platina		platina	Aërated platina.

[Note A: As these salts have only been understood of late, they have not, properly speaking, any old names. Mr Morveau, in the First Volume of the Encyclopedia, calls them Mephites; Mr Bergman gives them the name of aërated; and Mr de Fourcroy, who calls the carbonic acid chalky acid, gives them the name of chalks.—A]

Sect. XVII.—Observations upon Carbonic Acid, and its Combinations.

Of all the known acids, the carbonic is the most abundant in nature; it exists ready formed in chalk, marble, and all the calcareous stones, in which it is neutralized by a particular earth called lime. To disengage it from this combination, nothing more is requisite than to add some sulphuric acid, or any other which has a stronger affinity for lime; a brisk effervescence ensues, which is produced by the disengagement of the carbonic acid which assumes the state of gas immediately upon being set free. This gas, incapable of being condensed into the solid or liquid form by any degree of cold or of pressure hitherto known, unites to about its own bulk of water, and thereby forms a very weak acid. It may likewise be obtained in great abundance from saccharine matter in fermentation, but is then contaminated by a small portion of alkohol which it holds in solution.

As charcoal is the radical of this acid, we may form it artificially, by burning charcoal in oxygen gas, or by combining charcoal and metallic oxyds in proper proportions; the oxygen of the oxyd combines with the charcoal, forming carbonic acid gas, and the metal being left free, recovers its metallic or reguline form.

We are indebted for our first knowledge of this acid to Dr Black, before whose time its property of remaining always in the state of gas had made it to elude the researches of chemistry.

It would be a most valuable discovery to society, if we could decompose this gas by any cheap process, as by that means we might obtain, for economical purposes, the immense store of charcoal contained in calcareous earths, marbles, limestones, &c. This cannot be effected by single affinity, because, to decompose the carbonic acid, it requires a substance as combustible as charcoal itself, so that we should only make an exchange of one combustible body for another not more valuable; but it may possibly be accomplished by double affinity, since this process is so readily performed by Nature, during vegetation, from the most common materials.

Table of the Combinations of Muriatic Acid, with the Salifiable Bases, in the Order of Affinity.

Names of the bases.	Resulting Neutral Salts.
	New nomenclature.	Old nomenclature.
Barytes.	Muriat of
	barytes	Sea-salt, having base of heavy earth.
Potash	potash	Febrifuge salt of Sylvius: Muriated vegetable fixed alkali.
Soda	soda	Sea-salt.
Lime	lime	Muriated lime. Oil of lime.
Magnesia	magnesia	Marine Epsom salt. Muriated magnesia.
Ammoniac	ammoniac	Sal ammoniac.
Argill	argill	{Muriated alum, sea-salt with base of earth of alum.
Oxyd of
zinc	zinc	Sea-salt of, or muriatic zinc.
iron	iron	Salt of iron, Martial sea-salt.
manganese	manganese	Sea-salt of manganese.
cobalt	cobalt	Sea-salt of cobalt.
nickel	nickel	Sea-salt of nickel.
lead	lead	Horny-lead. Plumbum corneum.
tin	smoaking of tin solid of tin	Smoaking liquor of Libavius. Solid butter of tin.
copper	copper	Sea-salt of copper.
bismuth	bismuth	Sea-salt of bismuth.
antimony	antimony	Sea-salt of antimony.
arsenic	arsenic	Sea-salt of arsenic.
mercury	{sweet of mercury	Sweet sublimate of mercury, calomel, aquila alba.
	{corrosive of mercury	Corrosive sublimate of mercury.
silver	silver	Horny silver, argentum corneum, luna cornea.
gold	gold	Sea-salt of gold.
platina	platina	Sea-salt of platina.