ACTION OF MURIATES, •&C. ON ALCOHOL. 183 



{)roperty of yielding a large (juantity of muriatic acid in 

 burning observed ; and at the same time convinced, that a 

 fact so important was altogether unknown both in France .and 

 Spain ; I was desirous of satisfying myself, whether the Kng- Not known in 

 lish chemists were any farther advanced in this respect. For ^ 

 this purpose I addressed myself to Mr. Riffault, who is trans- 

 lating the third edition of Thomson's Chemistry, a work of 

 great erudition, begun long after Gehlen's paper was pub- 

 lished. Mr. Riffault read to me every thing in it concerning 

 muriatic ether. No mention is made ihere of Gehlen, or of 

 the singular properties of the muriatic ether. Hence I con- 

 sider myself authorized to conclude, that the muriatic ether 

 was unknown in England, as well as in France'and Spain; 

 and that, without having information of Gehlen's labours, I 

 hiay claim at least the merit of having made it known here. 

 How often has it already happened/that a discovery has been Discoveries of^ 

 made in one country some years after it had been made in ^.^^^^y ^ji^g the 

 another ; and this because unfortunately all learned men do first remaining 

 not speak the same language, and all the works published in foJeieners.^^ 

 one are far from being translated into the rest. 



In an additional note Mr/Fhenard says, that, ten days after 

 his paper was read, Mr. BouUay, an Jipothecary of Paris, ac- Mr.BoulIay 

 quaintedhim,thathehad likewise formed muriatic ether direct- ^°^^^*^ ^^^ 

 ly from muriatic acid and alcohol, but had not made it public, 

 because he had not yet completed his labours on the subject. 



HI. 



Abstract of a Memoir on the Products tlidt result from the 

 Action of Metallic Muriates^ oxigcnized Muriatic Acid, and 

 Acetic Acid, on Alcohol : by Mr, Tii en a r D *. 



I 



N this paper Mr. Thenard shows, that the nvetallic mtiri- Metallic muri* 

 ates form but a very small quantity of ether with alcohol : ^.^^ ^^^-^ ^"^"^ 

 that this ether, which at first is found dissolved in a large withaicohoL 

 quantity of alcohol, may be separated from h in the state ofc 



• Annales de Chimie, tol. LXI. p. SOS, March, 1807. 



