Magnesium the water's bitter taste, but the farmer noticed that the water seemed to heal scratches and rashes. The substance became known as Epsom salts and its fame spread. It was eventually recognized as hydrated magnesium sulfate, ·7. The metal itself was first isolated by Sir Humphry Davy in England in 1808. He used electrolysis on a mixture of magnesia and mercuric oxide. Antoine Bussy prepared it in coherent form in 1831. Davy's first suggestion for a name was magnium, but the name magnesium is now used. Magnesium is the third-most-commonly-used structural metal, following iron and aluminium. The main applications of
Magnesium perchlorate He sold the magnesium perchlorate to A. H. Thomas Co., now Thomas Scientific, under the trade name Dehydrite. It is used as desiccant to dry gas or air samples, but is no longer advised, for use as a general desiccant, due to hazards inherent in perchlorates. It is dried by heating at 220 °C under vacuum. Magnesium perchlorate is created by the reaction of magnesium hydroxide and perchloric acid. In 2011, a study conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology revealed the presence of magnesium perchlorate on the planet Mars. Being a drying agent, magnesium perchlorate retains water from the