"If a quantity of saltpetre be put into a crucible and raised to such a temperature as shall not merely melt it, but occasion an agitation in it like boiling, and if, after a certain time, the crucible be taken out of the fire and allowed to cool, the saltpetre still continues neutral; but its properties are altered: for, if distilled vinegar be poured upon it, red fumes are given out, while vinegar produces no effect upon the saltpetre before it has been thus heated. ...This young man was Scheele, who had informed Mr. Loock that there were two species of acids confounded under the name of spirit of nitre; what we at present call nitric and hyponitrous acids. Nitric acid has a stronger affinity for potash than vinegar has; but hyponitrous acid has a weaker. The heat of the fire changes the nitric acid of the saltpetre to hyponitrous: hence the phenomenon."
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Vol. II, pp. 55-56.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Potassium_nitrate
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Potassium nitrate
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