OW ACETIC ACID AND ACETATES. 227 



it very difficult to deprive vinegar of this entirely by repeated 

 distillations. 



Id a similar way I examined French vinegar. That I French vine- 

 used was of the specific gravity of 1 -007-2. The proportion gar * 

 of its acidity to tkat of the English vinegar was as 4*01 to 

 3*46. In general it contained less mucilage and more spi- 

 rit than the English. I met with a vinegar in the shops at 

 Paris, that contained a very sensible portion of alcohol. 

 Four quarts distilled from carbonate of potash yielded two 

 ouuces of a very light fluid, from which 1 separated 0*46 

 of ardent spirit. 



From these experiments it appears, that the vinegar I Component 

 employed was composed at least of water, acetic acid, ve- par 

 vegetable matter, and a small portion of a spirituous li- 

 quor. 



I distilled 4lbs of acetate of copper, dividing the product Acetate of 

 into rive nearly equal parts. Each of these I rectified by f° d pper distU * 

 a second distillation to dryness. The first portion had the 

 specific gravity of 1-0659: the third of 1-0580; the fourth 

 of 1-0454; the fifth of l'O-lOO. An accident prevented my 

 examining the second. On saturating these portions with 

 the same base, I found the quantities of acid contained in 

 them to be in the following proportion; 62*971 for the first; 

 67-461 for the third; 74-411 for the fourth; and 73*295 for 

 the fifth. 



But this series, the last term excepted, is increasing, 

 while that of the specific gravities is uniformly the re- 

 verse. 



Uessrs. Derosne have just published a paper on this sub- These facts, 



ject ; but when I observed the same facts in 1803, I found late ij notice<1 



from the scientific collections of the lust century, that Derosne, ob- 



Courtenvaux, Monnet, and La6sonnehad noticed them fifty servcdlon g 



J ago. 

 years ago. 



In the year 1754 the Marquis de Courtenvaux, examining 



the present subject, says, that the first portion that passes 



over on distilling acetate of copper is not inflammable; and 



that, though heavier than the subsequent portions, it is less 



acid. This perfectly agrees with what I have just said. In 



the same work he observes, that the last portion easily takes 



6re ; and other chemists have made the same remark. The 



9 2 smell 



