A L C 



out any fmokf or vapour, and if lliong, kaves no refiJuiim ; 

 but il' rt'cak, it is t^tingailhcJlpoiitaiitoully, iiail the waiuy 

 pail reiiiuini IkIiIikI. 



Alcoliol mixes with water in i-very proportion. Heat 'u 

 txtric.itcd Juring- tin; mixture, whicli is Icnlibk to the liaiid, 

 even ill linall quantities. At tlie fame timt there is a mu- 

 tual pciietnitiou of pails, fo that the Inilk of the two hquors, 

 when mixed, is Itfs than when ftparate. Coiifequently the 

 fpecific gravity of the mixture is greater than the mean 

 flH-cilic gnivity of the two hquors taken apart. Tlie aleo- 

 hol may be again for the moll part feparattd from the water 

 by dilli'Uatioii with a gentle heat. See Gravity (fp''ctjic.) 



Owin" to tile great affinity whieh fubfills between water 

 and ak-ohol, this latter has the power of precipitating from 

 their folution various falts dillblved in water. Thus, if fonie 

 flroirg alcohol be added to a faturatcd I'oUition of Glauber's 

 flit in water, a coagulum is iininediatcly produced, coii- 

 liding of the fait feparutcd from the water in a very divided 

 form, whilil the alcohol and water form a chemical union. 

 Tins precipitation, however, only takes place in folutions of 

 tliofe falts which are ii.ibliible in alcohol. This circumftancc 

 has been very ingenioully applied to the analyfis of various 

 feline folutions, and efpecially to the examination of mineral 

 ■waters. The power of precipitating fonie of thefe falts ex- 

 tends to very dilate folutions. Mr. Kirwan, in his valuable 

 .work on mineral waters, has found by experiment tliat fele- 

 nitc may be completely precipitated from water which con- 

 tains only one-thoufaiidth of its weight of this earthy fait, 

 by any alcohol whole fpecific gravity is below 0.850. For 

 further particulars on this fubjed, we niuil refer the reader 

 to the article ; Waters [Mineral, analyfis of). 



Alcohol is capable of uniting with a great number of 

 fubftances, a circumflance which renders its ufe very exten- 

 five in a variety of chemical procefTes and in aualyfis. Thele 

 we fnall enumerate. 



Some of tiie weaker acids, fuch as the boracic and tar- 

 lareous, are foluble in alcohol without any apparent decom- 

 poiilii)n, and may be again recovered by evaporating the 

 fpirit. The ft ronger acids, however, exercife a veiy power- 

 ful action on alcohol, and produce fcveral very curious and 

 important coir.pounds, parlieukrly thi.t fingukr liquor called 

 Ether. See tiie articles Ethkr, Oil of Wihe, and 

 Oin lAKT Gas. 



All the alkahes, when pure, may be difTolvcd in alcohol, 

 but tht iixcd alkalies, when combined with carbonic acid, 



A I. C 



arc not fohible in this menllruuni. This afForda a vcrycor>- 

 venieiit method of procuring the cauiUc fixed alkalies in a 

 ilate of purity, and by proper management they may be 

 made to crvllalli/.e from their fpirituous folution. The 

 colour of a iolution of alkali in aleohiil is always fomcwhat 

 red, however pure the alkali be, which is owing to a partial 

 deconipolition of the fj>irit. Seethe articles Potash and 

 Tincture of Salt of Tartar. 



Several of the neutral, earthy, and metallic falts, are folu- 

 ble in alcoh.ol. It is of fome importance in chemical ana- 

 lylis to afctrlain the degree of fulubility of thefe falts, and 

 many experiments have been made tor this purpofe. 



The lirR of any importance are thole of M. Macquer. 

 He employed a fpirit rcftifitd fo far, that a phial holding 3 

 Paris ounce of diltilled water, at the temperature of 45" 

 Fahr. would contain fix gros and fi'ty-fuur grains of the 

 fpirit. The falts which he employed were prcvioufly dried 

 with care, fo as to expel their water of cryllallization. He 

 poured into a inatrafs upon each of the lalts half an ounce 

 of the fpirit, and fet the vefi'el in a hot fand-bath. When 

 the fpirit began to boil, he filtrated it while hot, and then 

 left it to cool. He then evaporated the fpirit, and weighed 

 the faline refiduums ; and from thefe he inferred the quantity 

 of fait which the fpirit had diffulved. 



This method, however, cannot be confidered as accurate, 

 as fome of the fph-it muft have evaporated during boiling, 

 and fome of the ialt muft have been depofited in the pores 

 of the filter. Neither would the en-ors produced in this 

 way be iinifonn, fince it appears that fome f;dts are, in a 

 greater ]>roportion than others, more foluble in hot than 

 in cold ipirit. 



Wen/.el alfo piiblidied a feries of experiments, in 1777, 

 on this lubjctt. He varied the heat which he einploved, 

 according to the lolubilitv of the fait. 



He has, however, been guilty of a great omifiion in not 

 mentioning the fpecific gravity of the alcohol which he uftd, 

 but it may be fuppofed to be nearly the fame as that of 

 Macquer. 



Lailly, Mr. Kirwan, with that accuracy for which he is 

 fo juflly diilinguifhed, has given in his treatife on mimral 

 waters, a table of the folubility of certain falts, in which 

 alcohol ot different denfitiesis employed,and the temperature 

 properly noticed. 



Our readers will find the icfults of all the above-mentioned 

 experiments in the following Tabk\ 



TABLE 



