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OnjO^f Production qf Naphthaline in an Oil-Gas Apparatus. 

 .JSly A. CaNNELL, Esq. F. R. S. E. Communicated by the 

 ,>Author. 



feoME white crystalline matter, said to have been deposited by 

 oil-gas, was lately given me by Professor Jameson for chemical 

 examination. This matter was crystallized in thin tables ad- 

 hering'^together in groups, and possessing a fine pearly lustre. 

 A partial^discoloration was occasioned by the intermixture of a 

 little impurity, consisting of oxide of iron, with some adhering 

 carbonaceous matter, which gave an empyreumatic smell when 

 heated. The white crystals were found to possess the well- 

 known chemical properties of naphthaline; and I should not 

 have thought it necessary to take any farther notice of them, 

 had it not been that the source from which they proceeded, and 

 the circumstances under which they were formed, were some- 

 what peculiar, and may afford some illustration of the conditions 

 necessary to the production of this body. 



Upon making inquiry at the place where the crystals were 

 produced, I was informed that they were first observed in an 

 old iron pipe several feet in length, and a few inches in internal 

 diameter, which had five years before formed part of a private 

 oil-gas apparatus. This pipe had been situated between the re- 

 tort on the one hand, and the condenser and gasometer on the 

 other ; and when the apparatus was in operation, an empyreu- 

 matic oil used to be deposited in it, but no formation of the 

 white crystals had ever been observed during that period. The 

 material which had been employed for the production of the gas 

 was at first whale-oil ; then palm-oil had been used ; and latter- 

 ly whale-oil had been again employed. Some of the crystals 

 which I saw taken out of the pipe were mixed with a black soft 

 pitchy-looking matter, which seemed to line its inside. 



When this dark matter was heated on platinum foil over the 

 spirit-lamp, it fused at a moderate heat, and gave off dense 

 white vapours. When the flame of the lamp was brought id 

 contact with it, it took fire and burned away, leaving a conside- 

 rable residue, which was attracted by the magnet, and was iron 

 more or less oxidized. When some of the dark matter was 



