164 



Mr. Schorlemmer on the Hydrocarbons 



[April 6, 



Probable error of R (1864) , =0-1 per cent. 



Probable error of R (1863) =0-24 



Difference in two values 1864 and 1863=0-16 

 Probable error of two experiments =0-08 



II. " Researches on the Hydrocarbons of the Series C n Ho, l+2 ." By 

 C. SCHORLEMMER, Esq., Assistant in the Laboratory of Owens Col- 

 lege, Manchester. Communicated by Prof. H. E. ROSCOE, F.R.S. 

 Received March 21, 1865. 



Previously to the year 1848 none of the members of the numerous family 

 of hydrocarbons of the general formula C n H 2ra+2 , with the single exception 

 of marsh-gas, were known to the chemist ; but since that year the re- 

 searches of Kolbe on the electrolysis of the fatty acids, and those of Frank- 

 land on the action of zinc upon the alcohol iodides, have opened up a new 

 field of discovery, from which in rapid succession rich harvests have been 

 reaped. The hydrocarbons thus isolated were considered by their dis- 

 coverers to be the true radicals of the alcohols ; and in consequence the 

 molecular weights which were then given to these bodies amounted only to 

 half those which are now generally accepted. 



