PROCEEDINGS 



OF 



THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY. 



1836—1837. No. 1. 



October m, 1836. 



Rev. B. LLOYD, D.D., Provost, T.C.D., President, 

 in the Chair. 



Rev. Edward Marks, Frederick Darley, Esq., Rev. John 

 A. Bolster, and Rev. James S. Reid, D. D., were elected 

 Members of the Academy. 



A paper was read, entitled " Contributions to the History 

 of Pyroxylic Spirit, and the derived Combinations." By 

 Robert J. Kane, M. D. M.R.I. A., Professor of Natural 

 Philosophy in the Royal Dublin Society. 



In this paper Professor Kane stated that he had re- 

 peated the analysis of pyroxylic spirit and of methylic ether, 

 and found the composition given by Dumas for these bodies 

 to be perfectly correct. He likewise re-examined the py- 

 roxylic spirit, described and analysed by Liebig, having been 

 presented with a specimen of the original spirit for that pur- 

 pose by Professor Liebig. The result of his experiments is, 

 that the pyroxylic spirit of Liebig is quite distinct from that 

 of Dumas ; and that both of these chemists were right in 

 the analyses which they published. 



By treating the pyroxylic spirit of Dumas (methylic alco- 

 hol) with peroxide of manganese and sulphuric acid, there is 

 obtained a light colourless liquor boiling at 103° Fahrenheit. 



