1814.1 Alcohol and Sulphuric Ether. 43 



I add, for example, 0-525 gramme* (8-108 grains) of liquid 

 ether to 526*76 cubic centimetres (3214*7 cubic inches) of dry 

 oxygen gas, reduced to the pressure of 29-922 inches of mercury, 

 and at the temperature of 32°. In half an hour all the liquid 

 ether disappeared, and the gas dilated by the etherial vapour occu- 

 pied the bulk of 682*87 cubic centimetres (4167-4 cubic inches). 



I put this into the detonating tube over mercury, :;nd burned it by 

 means of the electric spark, after adding to it four times its volume 

 of oxygen gas; for unless there be a great proportion of oxygen, 

 the eudiometer is broken by the explosion. These 5*25 decigrammes 

 (8-108 grains) of ether consumed in this experiment 100S*6 cubic 

 centimetres ('il55*3 cubic inches), and formed 661*4 cubic centi- 

 metres (4036*4 cubic inches) of carbonic acid gas. 



In another experiment, which was more exact, because it was 

 made with oxygen gas in a state of greater purity, 5-4 decigrammes 

 (8*34 grains) of ether changed 525-81 cubic centimetres (3208-9 

 cubic inches) of oxygen gas into 687*23 cubic centimetres (4194 

 cubic inches). This quantity of ether consumed by its detonation 

 1027 cubic centimetres (6267*6 cubic inches) of oxygen gas, and 

 formed 652-S cubic centimetres (4167 cubic inches) of carbonic 

 acid gas. Hence it follows that 100 parts by weight of ether are 

 composed as follows : — 



Carbon 67*98 



Oxygen 1 7*62 



Hydrogen 14*40 



10000 



In these products we find 12-07 parts of hydrogen above 19*95 

 of water reduced to its elements. 



This hydrogen in excess above the elements of water is to the 

 carbon contained in ether as 1 : 5-63 ; or, in other terms, the 

 volume of oxygen gas consumed ly the ether is to the volume of 

 carbonic acid gas produced as three to two, as is the case in alcohol, in 

 the oxycarbureted hydrogen gas from alcohol, in that from ether, 

 and in olefiant gas. If we add (in the 100 parts of ether that I 

 have analysed) to the 67*98 parts of carbon the 12-07 parts of 

 hydrogen in excess above the elements of water we obtain 80*05 

 parts which are composed as olefjant gas is.f The 19-95 parts 



* I might easily have made this experiment on a larger scale, but it would not 

 have !)• rn more accurate, because the eudiometrical errors would have been infi- 

 nitely greater than thone of weighing, which wat conducted on a balance sensible 

 to a milligramme (0-0154 grain 1. 



t li *t uli-iitutc in these 8005 parts the principles of olefiant gas as I ob- 

 tained them in lect. 3, we linil them to be — 



Carbon 6S07 



Hydrogen 11-98 



80*01 



