()f the Action of Vegetable Acids on Alcohol. 43 ! 



an angle forward, (say of 50° or 55°) and the other a like 

 angle aft, they exert their strength in different directions, 

 and the whole are made to act as a conibination of so many 

 diagonal spurs giving strength and suliditv to the structure. 



" A slight examination will he sufficient to convince 

 any person, habituated in investigating questions con- 

 nected with the strength and ceconomy of materials in sci- 

 entific mechanism, that a ship so constructed must be, 

 at least, twice as strong as one built according to the plan 

 in common use. Nor is this all ! When a ship of the com- 

 mon construction starts a plank, 1)V labouring in a heavy 

 sea, nine times out of ten she founders ; but one built on 

 this plan, in such an event would,still be a safe bottom ; 

 the crossing of the rib-planks preventing the admission of 

 water in such quantity as to be beyond the power of mode- 

 rate pumping to keep under. 



" To insist on the advautajes in point of cecoiiomy, and 

 the diminished number of joinings, from being enabled to 

 employ straight-grained planks, at all times to be obtained 

 with comparative ease, and of considerable lengths, would 

 be to insult those to whose consideration our System of im- 

 proved Ship-L'uilding is submitted. Were this adopted, there 

 would be no need to send persons abroad to buy timber j 

 our own forests are sufficient to supply us with the straight 

 tinibers for 100 years to come, and at half of the expense, 

 during which time more would be growing. 



[To be continued.] 



LXIV. Of the Actio?} cf J'egetahle Acids on Alcohol, loth. 



with and without the Intermedium of the Mineral Acids. 



i>^ M. Thenahd. R(.ad ai the Institute on the 23d of 

 : Novtmler 1807*. 



OcHEELE is the only chemist who has hitherto employed 

 himself on the question which is the subject of this paper. 

 At first he was convinced that neither the acetic, benzoic, 

 tartaric, citric, nor succinic acid formed elher with pure 

 alcohol : afterwards, wishing to ascertain if those acids 

 were susceptible of producing it, with alcohol and the mi- 

 neral acids sulphuric, nitric, and muriatic, he made for 

 this purpose various experiments, from which he has con- 

 cluded t, 



I St. That the acetic acid and alcohoJ form, with one of 



• From Mimoirci d'.lrnicil, tome ii. f ^idc Us Mi'imircs de Scheelc. 



the 



