Not so decisive as it appears at first sight; because it is argued by those who still incline to the old doctrine, that muriatic acid gas, however dry it may be, always contains a certain quantity of water, which is supposed essential to its formation. So that, in the experiment just mentioned, this water is supplied by the union of the hydrogen gas with the oxygen of the oxy-muriatic acid; and therefore the mixture resolves itself into the base of muriatic acid and water, that is, muriatic acid gas.
CAROLINE.
I think the old theory must be the true one; for otherwise how could you explain the formation of oxy-muriatic gas, from a mixture of muriatic acid and oxyd of manganese?
MRS. B.
Very easily; you need only suppose that in this process the muriatic acid is decomposed; its hydrogen unites with the oxygen of the manganese to form water, and the chlorine appears in its separate state.
EMILY.
But how can you explain the various combustions which take place in oxy-muriatic gas, if you consider it as containing no oxygen?
MRS. B.
We need only suppose that combustion is the result of intense chemical action; so that chlorine, like oxygen, in combining with bodies, forms compounds which have less capacity for caloric than their constituent principles, and, therefore, caloric is evolved at the moment of their combination.
EMILY.