experiences in acting upon Alcohol. 36 1 



lembling succinic acid ami pyioligneous acid, sulphurous gas, 

 sulphuric acid, sulphate of lime, and an ethereal gas of a very 

 agreeable odour. Similar products are obtained with the acids 

 formed by the powerful acids, and organized substances. 

 M. Sertuerner mentions that in distilling the proto-nitrovinate 

 of lime tlie fumes caused him inexpressible pains, like meconic 

 acid ; but of this he promised to say more thereafter. 



Such are the principal facts contained in the memoir of 

 M. Sertuerner relatively to acids formed by the reaction of sul- 

 phuric acid upon alcohol. He pleads the great extent of the sub- 

 ject which it embraced, as an apology for not entering much into 

 detail on any of the points. But M. Gilbert properly observes, 

 that it was only by entering into such detail that he could carry 

 conviction to the minds of his readers ; for it must be confessed 

 that he is far from having demonstrated the existence of his three 

 acids, and that by the vagueness of his assertions he has left 

 the field free to those who, occupying themselves with the sub- 

 ject, place their reliance on precise experiments. 



M. Vogel read to the Academy of Sciences of Munich on the 

 9th of October 1819, "Some Inquiries into the mutual Decom- 

 position of Sulphuric Acid and Alcohol," &c. which he has printed 

 in the Journal de Pkarmacie, torn. vi. p. 1, and the object of 

 which was to repeat the experiments of M. Sertuerner. We 

 shall extract from this also some particulars. 



Equal parts in weight of alcohol at 40' and concentrated sul- 

 phuric acid have been slowly mixed together, and the mixture 

 kept eight hours in a flask closely corked up. The liquid after 

 being diluted with double its volume of water was divided into 

 two equal parts, one of which was neutralized by carbonate of 

 barytes, and the other by carbonate of lead. 



After separating the sulphates of barytes and of lead by filter- 

 ing, the liquors were charged with salts of barytes and lead. These 

 saline solutions evaporated to dryness and heated in a crucible 

 yielded sulphurous acid gas, and a heavy white oil of ethereal 

 odour; there remained in the crucible some sulphate of barytes 

 or sulphate of lead. The sulphuric acid yielded similar results 

 with three parts of alcohol. 



Equal parts in weight of alcohol and sulphuric acid were set 

 to boil in a crucible until ether began to escape. The crucible 

 was then recooled, and the licjuid which remained, divided into 

 three equal parts ; the first was restored to the cruciljle and set 

 to i)oil until the half of the ether which it could furnish had 

 passed into the receiver; the second was heated uiitd it had 

 given forth all its ether ; the third was not heated at all. 



Each of these portions saturated with carbonate of lead ga\e 

 a new soluble salt (sulphovinate of lead), but it was the second 



Vol.55. No. 205. Mfl^ 1 820. Hh which 



