COMBUSTIBLE ACIDS. 



approximations. He found the constituents of 

 acetate of soda as follows : 



Acetic acid . 36-995 or 6-448 

 Soda . 22-895 - 4 



Water . . 40-11 - 7 '007 



10000* 



Now, this salt is perfectly neutral ; hence it must 

 consist of an atom of acetic acid and an atom of 

 soda united together, with a certain number of 

 atoms of water of crystallization. The numbers 

 in the second column exhibit the atomic weights 

 calculated from the analysis : 4 is the atomic 

 weight of soda, and 7*007 approaches nearly to 

 6*75, which is the weight of 6 atoms of water ; 

 6*448 is the weight of an atom of acetic acid ac- 

 cording to this analysis. We may conclude, 

 then, that crystallized acetate of soda is a com- 

 pound of 



1 atom acetic acid, 

 1 atom soda, 

 6 atoms water. 



And the atomic weight of acetic acid, deduced 

 from Berzelius' analysis of this salt, is 6-448. 



As we have hitherto found that the atomic 

 weights of all the acids and bases are multiples 



* Ann. de Chim, LXXXII- 113, Correcting liis estimate of soda. 



