A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c21.31

v1.c21.31

The formation of calomel as in exp. IV. is, in itself, an interesting reaction and it is rather surprising that Roscoe and Schorlemmer's latest edition of the standard work on Chemistry fails to take note of it. Our contention, however, is that the traces of air that would diffuse through the porous lid would give rise to a quantity of calomel which may almost be regarded as negligible. For the true explanation, as we have already pointed out, we should look to the presence of *ferric oxide*. Our view receives additional support from the fact that the residue in exp. ii. was found to contain *ferrous chloride*.