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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
128
By
this
investigation
Lavoisier
destroyed
part
of
the
experimental
basis
of
alchemy,
and
established
the
one
and
only
method
by
which
chemical
changes
can
be
investigated;
the
method
wherein
constant
use
is
made
of
the
balance.
Lavoisier
now
turned
his
attention
to
the
calcination
of
metals,
and
particularly
the
calcination
of
tin.
Boyle
supposed
that
the
increase
in
weight
which
accompanies
the
calcination
of
a
metal
is
due
to
the
fixation
of
"matter
of
fire"
by
the
calcining
metal;
Rey
regarded
the
increase
in
weight
as
the
result
of
the
combination
of
the
air
with
the
metal;
Mayow
thought
that
the
atmosphere
contains
two
different
kinds
of
"airs,"
and
one
of
these
unites
with
the
heated
metal.
Lavoisier
proposed
to
test
these
suppositions
by
calcining
a
weighed
quantity
of
tin
in
a
closed
glass
vessel,
which
had
been
weighed
before,
and
should
be
weighed
after,
the
calcination.
If
Boyle's
view
was
correct,
the
weight
of
the
vessel
and
the
tin
would
be
greater
at
the
end
than
it
was
at
the
beginning
of
the
operation;
for
"matter
of
fire"
would
pass
through
the
vessel
and
unite
with
the
metal.
If
there
was
no
change
in
the
total
weight
of
the
apparatus
and
its
contents,
and
if
air
rushed
in
when
the
vessel
was
opened
after
the
calcination,
and
the
total
weight
was
then
greater
than
at
the
beginning
of
the
process,
it
would
be
necessary
to
adopt
either
the
supposition
of
Rey
or
that
of
Mayow.
Lavoisier
made
a
series
of
experiments.
The
results
were
these:
there
was
no
change
in
the
total
weight
of
the
apparatus
and
its
contents;
when
the
vessel
was
opened
after
the
calcination
was
finished,
air
rushed
in,
and
the
whole
apparatus
now
weighed
more
than
it
did
before
the
vessel
was
opened;
the
weight
of
the
air
which
rushed
in
was
exactly
equal
to
the
increase
in
the
weight
of
the
tin
produced
by
the
calcination,
in
other
words,
the
weight
of
the
inrushing
air
was
exactly
equal
to
the
difference
between
the
weights
of
the
tin
and
the
calx
formed
by
calcining
the
tin.
Lavoisier
concluded
that
to
calcine
tin
is
to
cause
it
to
combine
with
a
portion
of
the
air
wherein
it
is
calcined.
The
weighings
he
made
showed
that
about
one-fifth
of
the
whole
weight
of
air
in
the
closed
flask
wherein
he
calcined
tin
had
disappeared
during
the
operation.
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