Note 133 — FOREWORD (continued 9)

It is well known that when a solution of mercuric chlorid in water is evaporated, mercuric chlorid passes off with the water vapors, but under any condition the amount is but a fraction of the whole. As in Platt’s Chlorides other metallic chlorids are present, the formation of complex mercuric compounds which is bound to have occurred, should retard or prevent the volatilization of mercuric chlorid. That this actually occurs was confirmed by the following experiment: When 1 gm. mercuric chlorid was dissolved in 1 liter of water and the solution distilled, the distillate contained a very small amount of mercury. Then the experiment was repeated after adding sodium chlorid to the solution to simulate the conditions in Platt’s Chlorides. In this case no mercury was found in the distillate. Even were all the mercury in a bottle of Platt’s Chlorides volatilized in a room 10 by 12 by 9 feet, this would be equivalent to only about 1⁄500 grain mercuric chlorid per cubic foot.