﻿182 Prof. J . Bayma on the Fundamental 



amylic alcohol is the complementary product, thus : — 

 (C 5 H 10 Na)'1 nj _ C 5 H n "\ n _ (C 5 H 10 Na)n n , C 5 H"T 



h; u+ c 5 h 9 oj u - c 5 ii9oj u+ h j . 



Like the corresponding ethylene-compounds, these salts of 

 amylene-sodium react on water, giving amylic alcohol and a 

 common soda-salt of the acid they contain. 



Some of the most striking and easiest to verify of the ex- 

 perimental facts of which the foregoing is the scientific expres- 

 sion are the following : — 



(1) That hydrated oxide of ethylene-sodium (absolute ethy- 

 late of sodium) and different ethers of the fatty and aromatic 

 acids furnish alcohol on being heated to about 200° C. 



(2) That the weight of the product obtained on heating these 

 materials ' is much less than the weight of one molecule of 

 hydrated oxide of ethylene-sodium and one molecule of the ether 

 of the fatty acid. 



(3) That all the alcohol radical employed, both in the state 

 of hydrated oxide of ethylene-sodium or hydrated oxide of amy- 

 lene-sodium, and in the state of ether of fatty or aromatic acid, 

 is to be recovered after the reaction in the state of alcohol — 

 alcohol distilling over before, and alcohol distilling over after the 

 addition of water to the solid product. 



(4) That the fatty acid found after the reaction is the same as 

 that employed at the beginning. 



With regard to (1), it will be comprehended that by the use 

 of an absolute ethylate charged with some caustic soda, arising 

 from moisture in the alcohol, or by the employment of an ethy- 

 late containing alcohol in combination (such as the imperfectly 

 decomposed crystals), the production of alcohol would be si- 

 mulated. The author of this paper has specially guarded against 

 these sources of fallacy, and has made sure that more alcohol 

 is given than could be accounted for in any such manner. 



XXIV. Fundamental Principles of Molecular Physics. 

 By Professor J. Bayma, S. J. } of Stony hurst College. 



To the Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Journal. 



Gentlemen, 

 N the last Number of the Philosophical Magazine (February 



1869, pp. 98-111) I find an article by Professor W. A. 

 Norton, entitled " Fundamental Principles of Molecular Phy- 

 sics," intended to be an answer to certain remarks which I made 

 in my ' Elements of Molecular Mechanics ' (pp. 186-189), on 

 his theory of molecular physics. My remarks were designed 

 to show that some of the principles of the learned Professor did 



