80 



Professor William Arthur Bone 



[Feb. 28, 



Oil firing tlie mixtures, it is at once evident that something 

 very like this does happen in the cases of {a) and {!)). There is 

 absohitely no deposition of carbon, and no appreciable condensation 

 of steam in the cold products. Far otherwise is it, however, in the 

 case of the bulb containing the mixture CoHg-t- O2. A lurid flame 

 Alls the vessel, accompanied by a black cloud of carbon particles, and 

 a close inspection of the cold bulb will reveal a considerable conden- 

 sation of water. The pressure ratio 'p2l'Pi is approximately 1 ' 5, and 

 an analysis of the gaseous products would prove the presence of 

 about 10 per cent, of methane. The bulb will. now be opened, rinsed 

 out with water, and the formation of aldehydic products demon- 

 strated by means of SchifP's reagent. It is clear that these results 

 are wholly inconsistent with the theory of the preferential burning 

 of carbon. 



As it is obviously impracticable forme to complete the experiment 

 by analysing the gaseous products before you, I will draw your 

 attention to the following tabulated results of three similar experi- 

 ments carried out some time a^'o. 



Table I. 



-Results of Experiments on Inflammation in 

 Sealed Glass Bulbs. 



Did time permit, I could easily demonstrate to you by other similar 

 experiments, that the outward difference here revealed between the 

 burning of ethylene and that of ethane extends to all the other 

 gaseous olefines and paraffins : that is to say, whereas mixtures of 



olefines and oxygen corresponding to CnH2n + ^ O2 on explosion 



id 



