178 Mr GRAHAM'S Account of the Formation of Akoates. 



0.825 

 0.817 



0.809 

 0.804 

 0.799 

 0.797 

 0.796. 



Quicklime, as a porous substance, appears to be capable of 

 condensing a small portion of alcohol vapour. It is therefore 

 improper to use it in great excess. In one case, in which three 

 pounds of quicklime were employed with four ounces of alcohol, 

 about one-sixth of the alcohol was lost from this absorption. 

 The quicklime should never exceed three times the weight of 

 the alcohol, otherwise the quantity of alcohol absorbed becomes 

 sensible. It should be spread over as great a surface within the 

 receiver as possible. 



In RICHTER'S process it is improper to operate upon more 

 than a few ounces of alcohol at a time ; as when a large quan- 

 tity of materials is introduced into the retort, the heat necessary 

 to disengage the alcohol in the centre of the mass inevitably ex- 

 pels the water left in the chloride of lime, at the points where it 

 is more exposed to the heat. In the air-pump also, only a few 

 ounces can in general be concentrated at a time. But in a tall 

 receiver, two or three shallow basins of quicklime can be sup- 

 ported at a little height above each other, each of them contain- 

 ing a small basin of alcohol resting in it. Or the process might 

 be conducted with facility on the large scale, by means of a tight 

 box of any size, furnished with numerous shelves, which might 

 be covered with quicklime in powder, and support a large num- 

 ber of basins of alcohol. The box might be sufficiently exhaust- 

 ed of air by means of a syringe, for it is not necessary that the 

 exhaustion be nearly complete ; and indeed more inconvenience 



