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Sulphuretted Waters

hot or cold mineral waters holding in solution sulphides or free sulphuretted hydrogen .

They are stimulant, diaphoretic, and alterative. The sulphuretted hydrogen imparts to them a nauseous odor like that of rotten eggs. The chief thermal sulphuretted waters are those of Aix-la- Chapelle, Baden, near Vienna, Aixlesbains, etc.; the chief cold ones are Harrogate and Bocklet. Such baths are recommended in cutaneous, hepatic, uterine, H2SO3 rheumatic, gouty, neuralgic, and other H2SO4 diseases.

H2S2O3 H2S2O8 SULPHURIC ACID, a very important H2S3O6 acid which occurs in nature in large H2SO quantities, both in the vegetable and H2SOs mineral kingdoms , in combination with Sulphur unites with chlorine in two proportions, forming a dichloride and a chloride. The dichloride, SCl2, is prepared by transmitting a current of chlorine over melted sulphur, the resulting dichloride being collected in a perfectly dry receiver. It is a dark yellow liquid, very volatile, and possesses a peculiar penetrating disagreeable odor .

It emits fumes when exposed to moist air, and when dropped into water gradually decomposes into hydrochloric and sulphurous acids and free sulphur. It has a sp. gr. of 1.658, and boils at 280° F. It is used for vulcanizing india-rubber goods. By saturating dichloride of sulphur with chlorine, a dark red liquid chloride is formed. There is reason to suppose that a bichloride exists but it has not yet been isolated. The corresponding bromides are liquids analogous the various bases, more particularly the alkalies, alkaline earths, and the oxides of iron, copper, lead, zinc, alumina, etc.

Its mineral combinations are generally known as vitriols, a name which, in the case of the sulphates of iron, copper, and zinc, has been transferred to the manufactured products. Sulphuric acid is formed by the oxidation of sulphurous acid, or some other oxide of sulphur. In its perfectly anhydrous condition, it occurs as a white crystalline fibrous mass , somewhat resembling asbestos in appearance. It can be molded in the fingers like wax without charring the skin; it fumes in the air, and is very deliquescent, hissing violently when thrown into water; thereby becoming sulphuric acid.

It chars wood, paper, sugar, and other similar substances, by abstracting water from them. It melts at 65° F., and boils at 110° F., forming a colorless vapor.

It SULPHURIC ACID SULTAN possesses no acid properties whatever, till the proper specific gravity is reached. and is not regarded as such by the followers of Gerhardt, by whom it is called sulphuric anhydride. The vapor, when passed through a red-hot tube, is resolved into a mixture of one volume of oxygen with two volumes of sulphurous acid.

With sulphur it forms several more or less definite compounds, of a brown, green, and blue color respectively, which have not as yet received sufficient investigation. There are two varieties of sulphuric acid in commerce. The first of these, fuming or Nordhausen sulphuric acid, is obtained by the distillation of the basic sulphate of iron formed by heating crystals of common green vitriol. It is a somewhat viscid liquid, generally of a light-brown color, from containing traces of organic matter, and has a sp. gr. of 1.896. It is believed to be a combination of equal parts of the anhydrous and monohydrated sulphuric acid, and may be represented by the formula H2SO4SO3. It solidifies at 32° F. into a mass of transparent colorless crystals. It is chiefly used in the arts for dissolving indigo. The second variety is the ordinary sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol, of commerce. It is prepared in immense quantities by burning sulphur or roasting pyrites, and oxidizing the resulting sulphurous acid by means of aqueous vapor and certain oxides of nitrogen. When pure, sulphuric acid is a heavy, oily, colorless, inodorous liquid, and having a sp. gr. of 1.842. It is intensely caustic, and chars almost all organic substances, by abstracting water from them. Sulphuric acid is the starting point of nearly every important chemical manufacture. Acetic, nitric, and hydrochloric acids are made by its means; and it will be only necessary to allude to the important part it plays in the manufacture of soda from common salt, to appreciate the saying of Liebig, "that the amount of sulphuric acid made in a country is a sure index of its wealth and prosperity." In the hands of the chemist it has numerous and important uses. Its salts, the sulphates, are among the most important chemical agents in the laboratory. In its concentrated form, it is in daily use by the scientific chemist to promote the crystallization of deliquescent substances in vacuo, from its intense avidity for water.

Besides the monohydrate above described, sulphuric acid forms several other wellmarked hydrates; among which may be noticed the bihydrate, a colorless liquid, having a sp. gr. of 1.78, and solidifying in transparent colorless prisms at about 40° F.; hence it is often called glacial sulphuric acid. It may be easily formed by mixing the monohydrate with water, The sulphates are a numerous and important class of salts. They are mostly composed of an equivalent of acid and an equivalent of the metallic oxide. They vary somewhat in the numbers of atoms of water of crystallization, some being anhydrous, others containing as many as 12 equivalents. Sulphuric acid also forms acid bisalts, of which bisulphate of potash may be taken as an example, KO.H2 O.2SOs. In a few instances, basic salts are formed; as for instance, the basic sulphate of copper, CuSO45H2O.

Sulphuric acid and its salts are recognized by giving a white precipitate with a soluble salt of barium, insoluble in nitric acid. Formula, H2SO4.