On considering the results of the preceding experiments, it will appear that more than one half of the substances submitted to analysis, was easily soluble in water, and from the chemical tests used, that it was composed principally of sulphate of magnesia, (Epsom salt) with perhaps a small portion of muriate of lime or magnesia, that of the remainder, about ⅕ was sulphate of lime, and difficultly soluble in water; and that the rest was perfectly insoluble in water, and consisted principally of carbonate of lime.
There can be no doubt then, that the Harrodsburg salt, in its present state, is very improperly prepared, containing in its composition a large proportion of matter, that is not only inert, but which may produce considerable inconvenience and injury in the stomach and bowels, from its ponderous nature and tendency to form mechanical obstructions. Perhaps the occurrence of such injury may not be frequent, from the circumstance of a large portion of the salt being so insoluble; but admitting this to be the fact, there is a manifest impropriety in offering to the public, as medicine, an article which cannot be used as such. Probably the proprietors of this manufactory are not aware of the real nature of the case, and of the facility with which, by a little additional trouble, they could separate the useful and valuable material, from that which is at least useless, and which might also be pernicious.
South-Carolina College, March, 1819.
Art. XVII. Additional Notice of the Tungsten and Tellurium, mentioned in our last Number.
Art. XVII. Additional Notice of the Tungsten and Tellurium, mentioned in our last Number.
Part I. Description of the Ore.
Colour, dark brown, almost black; brittle, powder a lighter shade of brown than the mineral; hard, scratches glass, scintillates with steel, with a red spark; a degree of polish produced, where the steel strikes, and when the steel is impressed upon it.
Structure compact, in some places slightly porous; lustre, generally dull, sometimes glimmering, and almost resinous.