An account of Peterhead : its mineral well, air, and neighbourhood / By William Laing.
- Laing, William
- Date:
- 1793
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: An account of Peterhead : its mineral well, air, and neighbourhood / By William Laing. Source: Wellcome Collection.
26/100 page 12
![diffufed in it : afterward the liquor became purplilh, and depofited a fediment of the fame colour. This fhows that a large quantity of muriatic acid * is, in this water, united either with the iron, or with fome other bafe. Of any other acids in this water I had no fufpicion. (H) But other Jubilances are generally found in moll kinds of water, and efpecially in mineral waters: and therefore, to find out what other fubllances there may be in this water, i. I prepared a quantity of acid of fuvar, [it could not be had to buy in this part of the country] purified it by repeated chryftallization, and tried it on other waters known to contain lime, (chalk, or calcareous earth,; which it readily precipitated in a white powder. This acid, when added to the Peterhead water, fome- times made no difference: at other times, after it had flood for twenty-four hours, clear lines appeared run- ning down along the conical part of the glafs to the bottom ; owing to a ftnall deposition of lime. Hence the prefence of lime in this water is accidental, as its quantity when prefent is very fmall. (I) I tried many other precipitants f : but they dis- covered nothing contained in the water different from what was already known. i. Concentrated ‘vitriolic acid dropped into the water makes the air to arife in vail numbers of bubbles to the furface. Thefe foon ceafe, and the water continues tranfparent. The prefence of fixed air in the water is thus confirmed (A. B. E. F.) * Called alfo marine acid, and vulgarly fpirit of fait. f Subftances that difeover matters dilTolved in waters, by producing a known difference of appearance in the waters. 2. Salited](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28743738_0026.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
