Memoir on Sulphuric Ether. 455 
in the ordinary course of manufacture, it is 
these mixtures, only varied in proportion, 
that occur. But if we introduce water so as 
to vary the proportions of ether, alcohol and 
water indefinitely, then some new pheno- 
mena occur, and the quantity of ether in such 
mixtures is no longer to be determined by the 
specific gravities. These mixtures are in some 
proportions uniform throughout; in others 
they resolve into two fluids of different spe- 
cific gravities, alike transparent and colour- 
less, but easily distinguishable from a filmy 
like surface between the two fluids. Both 
the heavy and light, or as they may be called, 
the watery and ethery fluids, contain in all 
cases less or more of all the three ingredi- 
ents. They seem to vary in their sp. gravities 
according to this law; whenever the upper 
fluid is extremely light, the under one is‘ex- 
tremely heavy, namely, about .72 and .98 
respectively ; and whenever the under fluid 
is extremely light, then the upper one is ex- 
tremely heavy, but the two never approxi- 
mate nearer than .93 and .82 respectively. 
‘As far as I have found I am pretty well con- 
vinced, that in this last case the heavy fluid 
is constituted of 1 atom of ether, 1 of alco- 
hol, and5of water; and the light fluid of 1 
ether, 1 alcohol and 1 water, being a true 
