XIV. On fluid chlorine

Abstract

It is well known that before the year 1810, the solid substance obtained by exposing chlorine, as usually procured, to a low temperature, was considered as the gas itself reduced into that form; and that Sir Humphry Davy first showed it to be a hydrate, the pure dry gas not being condensible even at a temperature of —40° F. I took advantage of the late cold weather to procure crystals of this substance for the purpose of analysis. The results are contained in a short paper in the Quarterly Journal of Science, Vol. XV. Its composition is very nearly 27·7 chlorine, 72·3 water, or 1 proportional of chlorine, and 10 of water.