322 CONVERTION OF WOOD 



1 atom wood . . . C36 H22 O22 



Minus 1 atom hydrogen and 3 atoms > r, TJ, ~- 



arbonicacid > C3 Hl 6 



WOOD COAL. C33 H2t O16 ; 



All varieties of wood coal, from whatever strata 

 they may be taken, contain more hydrogen than 

 wood does, and less oxygen than is necessary to 

 form water with this hydrogen ; consequently they 

 must all be produced by the same process of decom- 

 position. The excess of hydrogen is either hydro- 

 gen of the wood which has remained in it unchanged, 

 or it is derived from some exterior source. The 

 analysis of wood coal from Ringkuhl, near Cassel, 

 where it is seldom found in pieces with the 

 structure of wood, gave, when dried at 2 1 2, 



Carbon 62'60 . . 63*83 



Hydrogen 5 "02 . 4*80 



Oxygen 26*52 . . 25-51 



Ashes 5-86 . 5.86 



100-00 100-00 



The proportions derived from these numbers cor- 

 respond very closely to the formula, C32 H 1 5 O9, 

 or they represent the constituents of wood, from 

 which the elements of carbonic acid, water, and 2 

 equivalents hydrogen have been separated. 



C36 H22 O22 = Wood. 



Subtract C4 H7 O13 zz: 4 atoms carbonic acid + 5 atoms of water 

 + 2 atoms of hydrogen. 



C82 HI5 O9 = Wood Coal from Ringkuhl. 



