72 On Oil and Oil-gas. 
In addition to these three specimens I had 
a fourth which Dr. Henry was so good as to 
favour me with, obtained from whale oil. 
This was of the specific gravity .59. 
On exploding the gas No. 1, with oxygen 
in Volta’s eudiometer, I found that it requi- 
red three times its bulk of oxygen gas, and 
produced rather more than twice its bulk of 
carbonic acid, and hence I concluded it must 
be olefiant gas nearly pure. - For it has been 
shewn by several chemists that 100 measures 
of olefiant gas, when exploded as above, pro- 
duce 200 of carbonic acid and require 300 
of oxygen gas, or thereabouts. This led me 
to examine it by the test of oxymuriatic acid, 
when [ was surprised to find that not quite 
one-half of the gas was immediately combi- 
nable with oxymuriatic acid, and the remain- 
der appeared to be carburetted hydrogen 
chiefly, as well by the test of Volta’s eudio- 
meter as by its action on oxymuriatic acid in 
the direct solar light. 
The first impression which this observation 
made on me, was that the gas from oil was 
one sui generis or of a peculiar kind not yet 
described, and that oxymuriatic acid effected 
a decomposition of it, combining with that 
portion of the ultimate element which cor- 
responds to olefiant gas, and evolving the 
