222 EXPERIMENTS. 



exactly in the same state as it had been packed 

 at Apothecaries' Hall, viz. with the stopper down, 

 and exposed immediately below the registering 

 thermometer on the snow. In fifteen minutes, the 

 interior upper surface of the sides of the bottle was 

 coated with ice, and a thick efflorescent sediment 

 covered the bottom, while the ether generally 

 appeared viscous and opaque. After having 

 remained an hour, during which the temperature 

 rose to 60° minus, it had scarcely changed, or, per- 

 haps, as Mr. King agreed with me in thinking, 

 it was more opaque. The bottle was then care- 

 fully brought into the house, and placed on a 

 table, within four feet and a half of the fire ; and 

 though so near, and with a temperature of 32° 

 plus, it did not recover its former clearness or 

 purity under forty- two minutes. 



A bottle of nitric ether, similar in dimensions 

 to the sulphuric, was not changed in the same 

 time ; but after two hours' exposure it also became 

 viscid, the temperature in the meantime having 

 varied from 60 to 56 minus. A fluid drachm 

 and a half of sulphuric ether was put into an 

 ounce and a half bottle with a glass stopper ; 

 and when it had become viscous the stopper was 

 withdrawn, and a lighted paper applied to the 

 mouth, when it ignited with an explosion and 

 an escape of gas. On repeating the experiment, 

 the ignition did not take place until the light 



