3^1 Theory of the Formation of Ether, 55*1". 



fccond, !n which the whole of the ether which can be obtained is difcngtiged without the 

 accompnniment of fuliihureous acid -, and the third, in which the fweet oil of wine, the 

 ncetous acid, the fulphureous acid, and the carbonic acid are aftbrdcd. The three ftages 

 have no circumftancc common to all, but the continual formation of water, which takes 

 place during the whole of the operation. The principles eftabliOied in the preceding me- 

 moir, and the romparifon of the phenomena here defcribcd, would in ftriclnefs be fufficicnt 

 to explain how the fulphuric acid a£ls upon alcohol in the formation of ether •, but as this 

 operation includes feveral particular circumftances which are not comprifcd in the ex- 

 pofition of the general principles flcetched out in the firft memoir, we (hall in tliis place 

 enter into fome details neceflary for the fulution of the propofed problem. 



The ether which is formed without the afTiftancc of caloric, and tlie carbone which is fe- 

 parated without decompofition of the fulphuric acid, prove that this acid adls on alcohol in 

 a manner totally different from what has hitherto been I'uppofed. It cannot, in fact, be affirm- 

 ed, that the acid is altered by the carbone, bccaufe daily experience (hews that no fcndblc 

 attradlion takes place between thefe two bodies in the cold ; neither can it be affeiftcd by the 

 hvdrogene, for in that cafe fulphureous acid wojld have been formed, and it is known that 

 no trace is exhibited during this firlT: period. We muft tlierefore have recourfe to another 

 fpecics ofaflion, namely, the powerful attraiftion exercifed by the fulphuric acid upon 

 water. It is this which determines the union of the principles which exill in the alcohol, 

 and with which the concentrated acid is in contaft : but this aflion is very limited if the 

 icid be fmall in quantity ; for an equation of a(Hnity is loon cftabliihed, the eflect of which 

 is to maintain the mixture in a ftate of repofe. 



Since it is proved that ether is formed in the cold by the mixture of any quantities of 

 alcohol and fulphuric acid, it is evident that a mafs of alcohol might be completely changed 

 into ether and vegetable acid by ufing a fufficicnt abundance of fulphuric acid. It is equally 

 evident that the fulphuric acid would not by this means undergo any other change than 

 that of being diluted with a certain quantity of water. Tliis obfervation proves, at the 

 fame time, that alcohol contains oxygene, bccaufe water cannot exilt without this principle, 

 which muft be afforded by the alcohol only, fince the fulphuric acid fuffers no decompo- 

 fition. It likewife (liews that the fulphuric acid here, inllead of favouring the decompo- 

 fition of water as in many other cafes, does, on the contrary, determine its formation ; fo 

 that its afVion on the oxides of carbone and hydrogene, which eonftitutc vegetable matteri 

 in general, is abfolutely the reverfe of that which it exercifcs upon the fimple combuftiblc 

 bodies, fulphur and metals, for example, of which it effeds the oxidation by the decom- 

 pofition cf water. 



We muft not however Imagine, from thcfc fafts, that ether is alcohol minus oxygrne and 

 hydrogene. Its properties alone would contradiiit this, for a quantity of carbone propor- 

 tionally greater than that of the hydrogene is at the fame time feparatcd. It may in 

 fact be conceived, that the oxygcne, which in this cafe coniblncii with the hydrogene to 

 form water, not only faturated that hvdrogcne in the alcohol, but likewife the carbone. So 

 that, iiiftead of confidering ether as alcohol minus hydrogene and oxygcne, we muft, by 

 keeping an account of the precipitated carbone and the fmall quantity of hydrogene con- 

 tained in the water which is formed, regard it as alcohol plus hydrogene and oxygenc. 

 We muft obferve, that the comparative analyfis of alcohol and of ether, of which the details 



would 



