On the Acetic Acid and its Ether. 85 
hours, on account of the action of the muriatic vapours upon 
the nostrils and the lungs. 
Several things may concur to diminish the number of 
adynamic fevers and scurvy in an hospital; but every thing 
leads us to believe, that one of the most powerful means is 
the use of mineral fumigations ; and that they act particu- 
larly by destroying the deleterious miasmata which commu- 
nicate infection. ; 
XV. On the Acetic Acid and its Ether. Extracted from 
a Letter of M. GEHLEN to M. Guyton*, 
Berlin, 31st Dec. 1805. 
2 are acquainted with the assertion of Scheele, that 
the acetic acid, without the intervention of a mineral acid, 
is incapable of forming ether. M. Schultze, of Kiel, has 
proved, by experiments, that this assertion is well founded. 
M. Lichtemberg and myself have repeated these experi- 
ments, and found them very exact ; but it is necessary that 
the acetic acid should be very pure, so that the acetates of 
silver and barytes may have no re-action upon it. A mi- 
_ nimum of sulphurous acid is sufficient to form ether. On 
distilling to dryness a mixture of equal parts of acetic acid 
and absolute alcohol, (i.e. prepared according to Richter, 
with the melted muriate of lime,) no trace remains in the 
retort, and no gas is formed. On mixing the acid and the 
alcohol they are not sensibly heated, 
I found, also, that the acidity of the acetic acid is not 
always i in direct proportion to its specific gravity. An acid, 
(obtained from one part of acetate of soda, deprived of the 
water of crystallization by means of one part and a half of 
smoking concentrated sulphuric acid), crystallizing at a low 
temperature, which had a specific gravity of 1°055, saturated 
much more alkali than another acid, (distilled from the 
acetate of copper crystallized by 0°75 of concentrated sul- 
phuric acid), haying a specific gravity of 1075. 
* From Annales de Chimie, tom. lvii, p. 94. 
F3 XVI, Ob- 
