86 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 
acid. This is the more remarkable, because M. Dumas, in the fifth 
volume of his Chimie appliquée aux Arts, printed in 1835, employs 
the term nitric acid and nitrate of méthyiéne.—R. P. 
Nitrate of carbohydrogen is obtained with difficulty by the direct 
action of nitric acid upon pyroxylic spirit. At first nothing remark- 
able is obtained ; but towards the end of the operation red vapours 
are procured, which are a mixture of nitrate of carbohydrogen and 
formic acid, 
It is, however, easily obtained by the following process. Put into 
a retort 50 grammes of powdered nitre, and add to it as soon as made 
a mixture of 100 grammes of sulphuric acid and 50 of pyroxylic spirit : 
the retort should be large, the receiver tubulated, and it is to commu- 
nicate with a bottle containing salt water, placed in a freezing mix- 
ture, and with a tube to conduct the gases into a chimney. 
The heat given out by the mixture and action of these substances 
is sufficient to produce their mutual decomposition and the produc- 
tion of the nitrate of carbohydrogen. A smal] quantity of red vapour 
appears in the apparatus; while, on the contrary, much ethereal 
matter is produced, which condenses partly in the tubulated receiver 
and partly in the cooled bottle. 
When the operation is over there is obtained at the bottom of the 
bottle a thick and colourless stratum of the new ether. In order to 
purify it, it must be decanted, several times distilled from a mixture 
of massicot and chloride of calcium. ‘The distillation should be per- 
formed in a bath of boiling water ; the quantity of the new compound 
obtained is equal to that of the pyroxylic spirit employed. 
This product is not, however, pure, and evidently contains several 
different substances. When distilled, the boiling point is at first 140°; 
it then gradually rises to 152°, and goes on without further altera- 
tion. The portion distilled between 140° and 145°, exhales a very 
distinct odour of bydrocyanic acid; it is probably formed of carbo- 
hydrogen. The portion which boils at 152° is the most abundant, and 
evidently the purest, The authors consider it, provisionally, as nitrate 
of carbohydrogen; it is colourless, has a weak ethereal odour ; its 
density 1-182 at 72°. It is perfectly neutral; it burns rapidly witha 
yellow flame. When a few drops are put into a tube, and it is heated, 
it is soon vaporized, and detonates with force if the heat be conti- 
nued. It detonates with violence on the approach of flame; and a 
receiver containing 15 cubic inches might occasion serious accidents 
if exploded. 
While it remains liquid it is not dangerous, but its vapour at a tem- 
perature not exceeding about 300°, detonates with singular violence ; 
in fact it contains azote, hydrogen, and carbon, elements analogous to 
those of gunpowder: the products of the detonation are nitric oxide, 
carbonic acid, and water. 
By analysis it appears to be composed of 
Carbon 45 ciiqewiaesidyy s) cet, FE, 
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