contained in Spirit of Wine. 137 



able, howex-cr, to determine it till after a great number and 

 Variety of experiments. That which anfwered the purpofe be(t 

 was as follows: — I put into a glafs retort one part of fpirit 

 of wine, and three parts of nitrous acid at thirty-two degrees, 

 adapted the retort to a feries of balloons, which I did not 

 lute, and expofcd to a fmall degree of heat the fand-batli 

 in which I had placed the retort. At about the thirtieth 

 degree of Reaumur, the mixture was decompofed ; an effcr- 

 vefcence, accompanied with large bubbles and red vapours 

 of nitrous gas was produced ; and at the fame time the ether 

 paiTed with an explofion into ths receiver, and perfumed the 

 laboratory. It is neccflliry in this experiment that the retort 

 fhould be fufficiently large to contain twelve times the quan- 

 tity of the mixture introduced into it. 



The ether being thus difengaged, the fire was kept up 

 under the fand-bath, and the diftillation was continued, 

 until no more than about a thirty-fecond part of the mixture 

 remained. The fand-bath was then fuft'ered to cool, and I 

 found at the bottom of the retort beautiful cryftals of the 

 acid of fugar, in tetraedral prifms^ under a little water flightly 

 acid. 



From fixtcen ounces of re^lified fpirit of wine, I obtained 

 one ounce, one dram, and twenty-four grains of concrete acid 

 of fugar. When it is in combination with ether and the 

 eiTential oil of wine, it neutralifes their odour as well as the 

 oils which render it volatile. What appears remarkable is, 

 that it burns with them, fince the combuftion of pure fpirit 

 of wine, which takes place in the open air, leaves nothing. 



Though the boiling heat is neceffary for difengaging from 

 \vine the infiammable fpirit, it neverthelefs exilts in it. In 

 hiv opinion it is engaged there by a portion of tartar which 

 is found in the rcfiduum of the diftillation of the wine. The 

 heat a«Sis alfo, in all probability, on a glutinous matter fimilar 

 to that found in the dregs of wine : after it is feparated and 

 infpifl'ated, tlie fpirit of wine is difengaged and volatilifed. 



When a mixture of equal parts of fpirit of wine and con- 

 centrated vitriolic acid is didilled, the effential oil of the fpirit 

 of wine is refiuified and charred, the elher is liberated from 



Vui..Vir. T its 



