II. On the existence of silver in sea-water

In a paper first published by MM. Malaguti, Durocher, and Sarzeaud in the 'Annales de Chimie et de Physique,' xxviii. p. 129, and translated in the Quarterly Journal of the Chem. Soc., vol. iii. p. 69, there is an account of the detection and estimation of silver in sea-water. The authors suspected the existence of the metal from the extensive diffusion of silver in the mineral kingdom, the conversion of its sulphide into chloride by the prolonged action of soluble bodies containing chlorine, and the solubility of chloride of silver in chloride of sodium. The method pursued was by passing sulphuretted hydrogen through large quantities of water, and also by fusing the salts obtained by evaporation with litharge and subsequent cupellation.