ACIDIFIABLE COMBUSTIBLES. 



SECT. I. 



OF THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF CARBON. 



BRITISH chemists seem all agreed in opinion 

 respecting the atomic weight of carbon. It is 

 to the atom of oxygen as 6 to 8 ; consequently, 

 if an atom of oxygen be reckoned unity, an 

 atom of carbon must be represented by 0*75. 

 Berzelius, who is followed by a great proportion 

 of the chemists on the continent, considers the 

 atomic weight of carbon to be 0'7533. As this 

 number differs nearly 1 per cent, from 0*75, I 

 have been at great pains to endeavour to deter- 

 mine which of the two is nearest the truth ; and 

 I shall here describe a set of experiments which 

 I made, with that specific object in view, with 

 every possible attention to the most minute ac- 

 curacy. 



^ was established by the experiments of La- 

 its voisier, and has been amply confirmed by suc- 



volumes of . \ J J 



oxygen gas. ceedmg experimenters, that when carbon is 

 burnt in oxygen gas, the volume of the gas un- 

 dergoes no alteration ; but it is converted into 

 carbonic acid. It is obvious from this that, if 

 we subtract the specific gravity of oxygen gas 

 from that of carbonic acid gas, the remainder 

 will give us the weight of carbon with which a 

 volume of oxygen gas has united ; and, of course, 



