Introduction to the study of inorganic chemistry / by William Allen Miller.

  • Miller, William Allen, 1817-1870.
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introduction to the study of inorganic chemistry / by William Allen Miller. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    it forms the pcntachloride (SbClj), a fuming volatile liquid, which is decomposed by a large quantity of water. The comjjounds of antimony are ]jowerful irritant poisons. Antimony is more likely to be mistaken for arsenic than for any other metal. The crust which is formed by decom- posing antimoniuretted hydrogen in Marsh’s apjjaratus does not yield octahedra, when sublimed in a tube with air, but prisms. 'I'he metal is also easily soluble in yellow ammo- nium sulphide, which is nearly without effect u])on arsenical crusts. (59) Bis.muth : Symb. Bi; Atom. lit. 210; Sj>. Gr. 9-8; Fusing Ft. 2 f)4°. This metal is found but rarely, and is generally met with in the native state in quartz rock, from which it is commonly se))arated by simple fusion. It is hard, brittle, and of a reddish-white c'olour. It may be crystallised more readily than any other metal ; and it furnishes large hollow cubes by fusion and slow cooling, pouring off the inner part before the whole has become solid. Bismuth does not become tarnished by exjiosure to the air at ordinary temperatures, but it is rajridly oxidized in a current of air at a red heat. If thrown in powder into chlorine gas, it takes fire; and it combines easily with bromine, iodine, and sul|)hur. Nitric acid is its best solvent, d'he nitrate crystallises in flat, trans- parent, colourless jirisms. This metal is not used alone, but it enters into a remark- ably fusible alloy, which may be iireirared by melting to- gether 2 j)arts of bismuth, i of lead, and i of tin. This mixture melts at a little below ioo°C.; and as it exijands in setting, it is valuable to the die-sinker, as it enables him to take sharp and faithful impressions of his work from time to time during its progress. Bismuth forms two princijial oxides: Bi,(),„ which is basic, and is easily obtained by- heating the nitrate to low redness ; it is yellow, fuses at a red heat, and may be obtained as a white hydrate by