7. In the third volume of the Journal de Physique, there is an account of a set of experiments made by Bourdelin, Malouin, Macquer, Cadet, Lavoisier, and Baumé on the white-lead ore of Pullowen. The report is drawn up by Baumé. The nature of the ore is not made out by these experiments. They were mostly made in the dry way, and were chiefly intended to show that the ore was not a chloride of lead. It was most likely a phosphate of lead.
8. In the Memoirs of the Academy, for 1774, we have the experiments of Trudaine, de Montigny, Macquer, Cadet, Lavoisier, and Brisson, with the great burning-glass of M. Trudaine. The results obtained cannot be easily abridged, and are not of sufficient importance to be given in detail.
9. Analysis of some waters brought from Italy by M. Cassini, junior. This short paper appeared in the Memoirs of the Academy, for 1777. The waters in question were brought from alum-pits, and were found to contain alum and sulphate of iron.
10. In the same volume of the Memoirs of the Academy, appeared his paper "On the Ash employed by the Saltpetre-makers of Paris, and on its use in the Manufacture of Saltpetre." This is a curious and valuable paper; but not sufficiently important to induce me to give an abstract of it here.
11. In the Memoirs of the Academy, for 1777, appeared an elaborate paper, by Lavoisier, "On the Combination of the matter of Fire, with Evaporable Fluids, and the Formation of Elastic aeriform Fluids." In this paper he adopts precisely the same theory as Dr. Black had long before established. It is remarkable that the name of Dr. Black never occurs in the whole paper, though we have seen that Lavoisier had become acquainted with the doctrine of latent heat, at least as early as the year 1772, as he mentioned the circumstance in a short paper inserted that year in the Journal de Physique, and previously read to the academy.
12. In the same volume of the Memoirs of the Academy, we have a paper entitled "Experiments made by Order of the Academy, on the Cold of the year 1775, by Messrs. Bezout, Lavoisier, and Vandermond." It is sufficiently known that the beginning of the year 1776 was distinguished in most parts of Europe by the weather. The object of this paper, however, is rather to determine the accuracy of the different thermometers at that time used in France, than to record the lowest temperature which had been observed. It has some resemblance to a paper drawn up about the same time by Mr. Cavendish, and published in the Philosophical Transactions.
13. In the Memoirs of the Academy, for 1778, appeared a paper entitled "Analysis of the Waters of the Lake Asphaltes, by Messrs. Macquer, Lavoisier, and Sage." This water is known to be saturated with salt. It is needless to state the result of the analysis contained in this paper, because it is quite inaccurate. Chemical analysis had not at that time made sufficient progress to enable chemists to analyze mineral waters with precision.
The observation of Lavoisier and Guettard, which appeared at the same time, on a species of steatite, which is converted by the fire into a fine biscuit of porcelain, and on two coal-mines, the one in Franche-Comté, the other in Alsace, do not require to be particularly noticed.
14. In the Mem. de l'Académie, for 1780 (published in 1784), we have a paper, by Lavoisier, "On certain Fluids which may be obtained in an aeriform State, at a degree of Heat not much higher than the mean Temperature of the Earth." These fluids are sulphuric ether, alcohol, and water. He points out the boiling temperature of these liquids, and shows that at that temperature the vapour of these bodies possesses the elasticity of common air, and is permanent as long as the high temperature continues. He burnt a mixture of vapour of ether and oxygen gas, and showed that during the combustion carbonic acid gas is formed. Lavoisier's notions respecting these vapours, and what hindered the liquids at the boiling temperature from being all converted into vapour were not quite correct. Our opinions respecting steam and vapours in general were first rectified by Mr. Dalton.
15. In the Mem. de l'Académie, for 1780, appeared also the celebrated paper on heat, by Lavoisier and Laplace. The object of this paper was to determine the specific heat of various bodies, and to investigate the proposals that had been made by Dr. Irvine for determining the point at which a thermometer would stand, if plunged into a body destitute of heat. This point is usually called the real zero. They begin by describing an instrument which they had contrived to measure the quantity of heat which leaves a body while it is cooling a certain number of degrees. To this instrument they gave the name of calorimeter. It consisted of a kind of hollow, surrounded on every side by ice. The hot body was put into the centre. The heat which it gave out while cooling was all expended in melting the ice, which was of the temperature of 32°, and the quantity of heat was proportional to the quantity of ice melted. Hence the quantity of ice melted, while equal weights of hot bodies were cooling a certain number of degrees, gave the direct ratios of the specific heats of each. In this way they obtained the following specific heats: