12 Someé new Researches on Flaine. 
bustion. I have lately made a series of experiments with the 
view of determining how far this idea is correct, and for the pur- 
pose of ascertaining the general phenomena of the effects of the 
mixture of gaseous substances upon explosion and combustion. 
I took gives volumes of a mixture of two parts of hydrogen 
and one part of oxygen by measure, and diluting them with va- 
rious quantities of different elastic fluids, I ascertained at what 
degree of dilution the power of inflammation by a strong spark 
from a Leyden phial was destroyed. I found that for one of 
the mixture inflammation was prevented by © 
Of Hydrogen, about .. 28 048 
Oxygen itd os ale ion 
Nitrous oxide Be Ss ie bd 
Carburetted hydrogen ue wie seth 
Sulphuretted hydrogen sie oles 
Olefiant gas 8 ee aft aes 
Muriatie acid gas... ot ded 
Silicated fluoric acid gas... oo 
Inflammation took place when the mixtures contained of 
Hydrogen .. “% ee 304)°6 
Oxygen kre ale ste nate F 
Nitrous oxide ae oi me 
Carburetted hydrogen ws owiia'g 
Olefiant gas fis i Hobie 
Sulphuretted hydrogen hd ote oe 
Muriatic acid gas... oe siete 
Fluoric acid gas. oe we IE 
a 
I hope to be able to repeat these experiments with more pre- 
cision at no distant time ; the results are not sufficiently exact 
to lay the foundation for any calculations on the relative cooling 
powers of equal volumes of the gases; but they show sufficiently, 
if the conclusions of MM. de la Roche and Berard be correct, 
that other causes, besides density and capacity for heat, inter- 
fere with the phenomena. Thus nitrous oxide, which is nearly 
1-3d denser than oxygen, and which, according to De la Roche 
and Berard, has a greater capacity for heat in the ratio of 1-3503 
to ‘9765 in volume, has lower powers of preventing explosion ; 
and hydrogen, which is fifteen times lighter than oxygen, and 
which in equal volumes has a smaller capacity for heat, certainly 
‘has‘a higher power of preventing explosion; and olefiant gas 
exceeds all other gaseous substances in a much higher ratio 
than could have been expected from its density and capacity. 
The olefiant gas I used was recently made, and might have con- 
tained some vapour of ether, and the nitrous oxide was mixed 
‘with some azote, but these slight causes could not have interfered 
with the results to any considerable extent. 
Mr. 
