228 ON THE COMPOSITION OF ALCOHOL. 



Proportion of or, by substituting the elements of the water, 

 the elements. 



Carbon 36*890 



Hidrogen 15*814 



Oxigen 47*296 



100. 



A little azote We shall find, that a small quantity of nitrogen must be 

 likewise. included in the products of this analysis, for I found am- 



monia in the water formed by the combustion of alcohol. 

 (See Sect. IV.) 

 Three experi- ^ repeated this experiment three times with nearly similar 

 ments nearly results ; whence I imagine 1 made no mistakes, but such 

 as arise from the process itself, which is less accurate than 

 those I shall hereafter describe. 1 ought however, to com- 

 pare this analysis with that of Lavoisier by the same process, 

 except in a few minutise of detail. 

 These compar- To reduce our results to expressions, that may be corn- 

 ed with Lavoi- pared with each other, and freed from the different estima- 

 tions we have followed with respect to the composition of 

 water and carbonic acid gas; I must say, that, in the experi- 

 ment of Lavoisier, the barometer being at 28 inches, and 

 the thermometer at lO** [54*5° F], 10 grains of alcohol con- 

 sumed 23*56 cubic inches of oxigen gas, and formed 10*194 

 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas; while according to mine, 

 lOgrs. of alcohol consumed 341 11 cubic inches of oxigen 

 gas, and formed 20*455 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas, 

 at a similar pressure and temperature. 

 His ftlcohol Lavoisier has not given the specific gravity of the alcohol 



weaker. j^^ employed, I suppose he must have taken the alcohol 



considered in his time as the purest, and such as Brisson in- 

 dicates in his tables, namely at a specific gravity of 0*829. 

 This denotes a mixture of 85*63 parts of perfect alcohol, 

 and 14*37 of water, according to the experiments of Rich- 

 ter, the accuracy of which I have verified. But I find, that, 

 on deducting this proportion of water from Lavoisier's alco- 

 hol, and in other respects adopting the restilts of his experi- 

 ment, 10 grs. of perfect alcohol would have consumed 27*518 

 cubic inches of oxigen gas, and formed 11*904 cubic inches 

 .Still the differ- of carbonic acid gas. This correction therefore still le-aves 

 encegr«at. a great difference between our observations. 



' I ouffht 



