Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 09.djvu/190

SULPHURIC ACID 156 SULTAN possesses no acid properties whatever, till the proper specific gravity is reached, and is not regarded as such by the fol- The sulphates are a numerous and im- lowers of Gerhardt, by whom it is called portant class of salts. They are mostly sulphuric anhydride. The vapor, when composed of an equivalent of acid and passed through a red-hot tube, is resolved an equivalent of the metallic oxide. They into a mixture of one volume of oxygen vary somewhat in the numbers of atoma with two volumes of sulphurous acid, of water of crystallization, some being With sulphur it forms several more or anhydrous, others containing as many as less definite compounds, of a brown, 12 equivalents. Sulphuric acid also forms green, and blue color respectively, which acid bisalts, of which bisulphate of have 'not as yet received sufficient in- potash may be taken as an example, restigation. There are two varieties of KO.H2 0.2S0> In a few instances, basic ^-.ulphuric acid in commerce. The first salts are formed; as for instance, the of these, fuming or Nordhausen sul- basic sulphate of copper, CuSO^SHsO. phuric acid, is obtained by the distilla- Sulphuric acid and its salts are recog- tion of the basic sulphate of iron formed nized by giving a white precipitate with by heating crystals of common green a soluble salt of barium, insoluble in vitriol. It is a somewhat viscid liquid, nitric acid. Formula, H2SO4. generally of a light-brown color, from containing traces of organic matter, and SULPHONAL, or SULFONE METH- has a sp gr. of 1.896. It is believed to ANE, (CHj)^ C (SOaC^Hr,):, a colorless be a combination of equal parts of the crystalline powder, m. p. 125-126° C, anhydrous and monohydrated sulphuric soluble in alcohol, slightly soluble in acid and may be represented by the water and ether. Prepared by combining formula H^S04S0,. It solidifies at 32° anhydrous acetone and anhydrous ethyl- F. into a mass of transparent colorless mercaptan by means of a stream of crystals. It is chiefly used in the arts anhydrous hydrochloric acid. It is em- for dissolving indigo. The second variety ployed in medicine as a hypnotic, being is the ordinary sulphuric acid, or oil of less dangerous than most drugs of its vitriol, of commerce. It is prepared in class, and intermediate in its action be- immen'se quantities by burning sulphur tween chloral and paraldehyde. or roasting pyrites, and oxidizing the re- sulting- sulphurous acid by means of SULPHUROUS ACID, an acid formed aqueous vapor and certain oxides of by the union of an equivalent of sulphur nitrogen When pure, sulphuric acid is with two of oxygen in a variety of ways, a heavy, oily, colorless, inodorous liquid, the most familiar being its production and having a sp. gr. of 1.842. It is in- during the combustion of sulphur in the tensely caustic, and chars almost all open air or in oxygen. The gas pro- organic substances, by abstracting water duced is endowed with the properties of from them Sulphuric acid is the start- a weak acid, and is the sole product of ing point of nearly every important the combustion, provided the air or oxy- chemical manufacture. Acetic, nitric, gen be perfectly dry. It has a pungent, and hydrochloric acids are made by its suffocating odor, and when m a con- means- and it will be only necessary to centrated form cannot be breathed with allude 'to the important part it plays in impunity. It is not inflammable, and ex- the manufacture of soda from common tinguishes burning bodies. It dissolves salt, to appreciate the saying of Liebig, freely in water, which takes up between "that the amount of sulphuric acid made 40 and 50 times its bulk of the gas. The in a country is a sure index of its wealth solution has the smell and taste of the and prosperity." In the hands of the gas itself, and becomes gradually con- chemist it has numerous and important verted into sulphuric acid from absorb- uses. Its salts, the sulphates, are ing oxygen from the air. It is widely among the most important chemical agents in the laboratory. In its concen- trated form, it is in daily use by the scientific chemist to promote the crys- tallization of deliquescent substances in vacuo, from its intense avidity for water used in the manufacture of disinfectants and in fumigation. SULPICIANS, a Roman Catholic con- gregation of missonary priests founded in 1642 at Paris by the Abbe Oilier. They Besides the monohydrate above described, have a number of houses in Europe and sulphuric acid forms several other well- America, and are chiefly engaged m marked hydrates; among which may be training young men for the priesthood, noticed the bihydrate, a colorless liquid. They are called Sulpicians from the par- having a sp. gr. of 1.78, and solidifying ish of St. Sulpice, where the congregation in transparent colorless prisms at about was first organized. 40° F.; hence it is often called glacial . . , . ■ -^ u ■ -ui. sulphuric acid. It may be easily formed SULTAN, m Arabic, signifies mighty by mixing the monohydrate with water, one, lord." It is the ordinary title ol