86* 



APPARATUS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF GASSES. 



may be de- w *,th the truth. This, however, admits of be'in*? decided by 



tected » 



an accurate comparison between the weight of the gasses 

 consumed and that of the products. 

 Gasses already jr or ^ e p Ur p 0Se G f obtaining a general approximation to 

 the nature of a combustible gas, it may be sufficient to exa- 

 mine its coincidence with those, the properties of which 

 have been already determined. The following table exhi- 

 bits the results of the combustion of the few gasses, that 

 appear entitled to be considered as distinct species. They 

 are deduced from the experiments of Mr. Cruikshank and 

 Mr. Dalton. 



Inflammability 

 of gasses pro- 

 portional to the 

 oxigen they 

 consume. 



Results dis- 

 trusted 



because they 

 Taried consi- 

 derably. 



The inflammability of the compound gasses, and their 

 fitness for the purpose of affording light, are directly pro- 

 portionate to the quantity of oxigen required for their satu- 

 ration. The olefiant gas, therefore, burns with the greatest 

 brilliancy ; carburetted hidrogen gas, though inferior, affords 

 a. dense and compact flame ; but the carbonic oxide and hi- 

 drogen gas are entirely unfit to be employed as the means 

 of artificial illumination. 



In the execution of a series of experiments on the com- 

 pound combustible gasses, which are described in the Uth 

 volume of Mr. Nicholson's Philosophical Journal, I had 

 reason to be dissatisfied with the above method of effecting 

 their decomposition, and to distrust the results which were 

 obtained. The products of the combustion of the same gas 

 varied considerably in different experiments ; and, with re- 

 spect to some, it was evident, that the full proportion of 

 their carbonaceous ingredient was not oxigenised, in conse- 

 quence of the precipitation of charcoal in the act of deto- 

 nation. The quantities, also, that can be submitted in this 



way 



