2NaX.
We may here remark that the oxides of the metals of the alkaline earths are frequently called by special names:
- MgO is called magnesia or bitter earth;
- CaO, lime;
- SrO, strontia;
- and BaO, baryta.
In the primary rocks the oxides of calcium and magnesium are combined with silica, sometimes in variable quantities, so that in some cases the lime predominates and in other cases the magnesium. The two oxides, being analogous to each other, replace each other in equivalent quantities. The various forms of augite , hornblende , or amphibole , and of similar minerals, which enter into the composition of nearly all rocks, contain lime and magnesia and silica. The majority of the primary rocks also contain alumina, potash, and soda. These rocks, under the action of water (containing carbonic acid) and air, give up lime and magnesia to the water, and therefore they are contained in all kinds of water, and especially in sea-water. The carbonates CaCO 3 and MgCO 3 , frequently met with in nature, are soluble in an excess of water saturated with carbonic anhydride , and therefore many natural waters contain these salts, and are able to yield them when evaporated. However, one kilogram of water saturated with carbonic anhydride does not dissolve more than three grams of calcium carbonate. By gradually expelling the carbonic anhydride from such water, an insoluble precipitate of calcium carbonate separates out. It may confidently be stated that the formation of the very widely distributed strata of calcium and magnesium carbonates was of this nature, because these strata are of a sedimentary character—that is, such as would be exhibited by a gradually accumulating deposit on the bottom of the sea, and, moreover, frequently containing the remains of marine plants, and animals, shells, &c. It is very probable that the presence of these organisms in the sea has played the chief part in the precipitation of the carbonates from the sea water, because the plants absorb CO 2 , and many of