Elements of the Theory and Practice of Chymistry, 5th ed.

by Pierre Joseph Macquer

When the whole has thus fulminated, increase the fire so as to bring the matter into fusion; that being done, take the crucible out of the furnace, and immediately pour its contents into an iron cone heated and greased with tallow. Strike the floor and the cone some gentle blows with a hammer, to make the Regulus precipitate: and when the matter is fixed and cold, invert the cone and turn it out. You will see it consist of two distinct substances; the uppermost of which is a saline scoria, and the undermost the reguline part. Strike this mass a blow with a hammer, in the place where these substances join, and you will by this means separate the scoria from the Regulus; the latter of which will have the form of a metallic cone, on whose base you will observe the signature of a bright star.

OBSERVATIONS.

Antimony, though separated by a former fusion from the earthy and stony parts of its ore, must nevertheless be still considered as an ore, on account of the great quantity of Sulphur it contains, which mineralizes the metalline part or Regulus. Therefore, if you desire to have this Regulus pure, you must separate it from the Sulphur that is combined with it. This may be done several ways. The method above proposed is one of the readiest and easiest, though not altogether free from inconveniencies, as we shall shew.

The Salt-petre in the mixture detonates by means of the Sulphur of the Antimony, which it consumes, and from which it separates the reguline part: but lest it should also consume some of the phlogiston which gives the Regulus its metalline form, Tartar is added; because it contains a great deal of inflammable matter, and so is capable of furnishing enough for the detonation of the Nitre, or rather for restoring to the metallic earth of the Antimony, the phlogiston that may be consumed by the Nitre.

If we consider what passes in this operation we shall soon be convinced that a great deal must be lost in it, and that we do not thereby obtain near the whole of the Regulus that the Antimony is capable of yielding: for, 1. the Regulus of Antimony being a volatile substance, much of it must be dissipated during the detonation; and so much the more as the detonation is frequently repeated, and continued for a considerable time. The flowers that may be collected by presenting cold bodies to the smoke that rises in the operation, and which may be reduced to a Regulus by the addition of a phlogiston, sufficiently prove what is here advanced.

2. All the Sulphur of the Antimony is not consumed by the Nitre on this occasion; and moreover, the Acid of that part thereof which is burnt, uniting with some of the Alkali produced by the deflagration of the Nitre and Tartar, forms a Vitriolated Tartar, which meeting with a sufficient quantity of phlogiston in the mixture produces new Sulphur. Now this Sulphur, whether not consumed, or reproduced, in the operation, combining with the Alkali forms a Liver of Sulphur; and that dissolves part of the Regulus, which by this means remains confounded with the scoria. The proof of this is, that, if the scoria be mixed with filings of iron, and fused a second time, you will find at the bottom of the crucible a button of Regulus, which it contained, and which is separated therefrom by the interposition of the Iron. We shall say more on this subject in the process for making the Martial Regulus, which immediately follows this. If, instead of melting the scoria with iron filings, we pulverize it, boil it in water, and then pour an acid into that water; the liquor will instantly grow turbid, and a Sulphureous Precipitate will fall, commonly called the Golden Sulphur of Antimony; which is nothing else but common Sulphur still combined with some particles of the Regulus; a new proof of what we advanced concerning the production of Liver of Sulphur in this operation.

As Regulus of Antimony is of no great value, the loss sustained in this process is seldom regarded. However, we shall have occasion, in the sequel, to point out a method of obtaining this Regulus with less disadvantage.

PROCESS III.

Regulus of Antimony precipitated by Metals.