Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 439 



The sensitive flame is not applicable to purposes of exact 

 measurement, as these experiments show ; but it is much more 

 nearly so than has been generally supposed. Without its aid 

 there would have been no possibility of establishing these important 

 analogies between light and sound. — American Journal of Science, 

 vol. xxxvai. April 1889. 



ON THE LAW OF SOLUBILITY OF GASES, BY M. WOUKOLOFF. 



MM. Louguinine and Khanikoff and M. Wroblewski made 

 some researches in order to ascertain the accuracy of Dalton's 

 law of the solution of gases, by determiuing the solubility of 

 carbonic acid gas in water under pressures greater than that of 

 the atmosphere. MM. Louguinine and Khanikoff found that 

 carbonic acid dissolved to a greater extent than required by Dal- 

 ton's law, and that the difference increased continuously with the 

 pressure ; while M. Wroblewski discovered that the absorption 

 was always in arrear, and that the quantity of gas dissolved did 

 not keep up \^'ith the increase in pressure. These physicists 

 worked under conditions but little favourable to the verification 

 of Dalton's law. This law, in its ideal form, assumes that there is 

 no chemical action between the liquid and tlie gas in solution ; 

 while carbonic acid is capable of forming hydrates with water, as 

 M. Wroblewski has shown, and the high pressures and low 

 temperatures in the experiments of MM. Louguinine, Khanikoff, 

 and Wroblewski must favour the formation of such hydrates. 



My deteriuinations have been made under couditious more in 

 conformity with the requirements of Dalton's law. I give here 

 the result of mj researches on the solution of carbonic acid in 

 carbon disulphide under feeble pressures and at vai*ious tempera- 

 tures. Experiments with liquids as volatile as carbon disulphide 

 are especially suitable for showing the general course of the 

 phenomenon, since the limits of error are very large. Indeed, the 

 great variation in the vapour-pressure with the temperature and, 

 above all, the considerable alteration in this pressure caused by 

 the gaseous atmosphere, must have a great influence on the results, 

 although I have taken every possible precaution. I have made 

 special experiments to determine the influence of the gas on the 

 vapour-pressure, and to diminish the eri'ors in the flnal result I. 

 have taken a considerable quantity (880 gr.) of carbon disulphide. 



Let A be the quantity of gas dissolved in 1 cubic centim. of carbon 

 disulphide (reduced to 0° and 760 millim.), P, t, the pressure and 

 the temperature respectively, and P^, A^, the values corresponding 

 to t^. Dalton's law requires 



A _P 



A. p; 



Here are some results. In the first column are the temperatures 

 of the experiments to be compared ; in the second, the pressures 



