( 124 ) 



On the Composition of the Petroleum of Rangoon, with Remarks on 

 Petroleum and Naphtha in general. By William Gregory, 

 M. D., F. R. S. E., Lecturer on Chemistry, Edinburgh, &c. 



(Read \5th December 1834.) 



In the month of August 1830, Reichenbach published his 

 first memoir on the products of the destructive distillation of 

 organic bodies, in which he described a new principle, to which 

 he gave the name of Paraffine, as constantly occurring among 

 those products. Not long after, in 1831, Dr Christison read 

 before this Society a paper, in which he described a substance 

 contained in the petroleum of Rangoon, to which he affixed the 

 name of Petroline. On comparing the properties of these two 

 substances, it was found that they agreed so nearly, that no 

 doubt could be entertained that they were one and the same. 

 As the priority of discovery rests with Dr Reichenbach, the 

 name of Paraffine is now generally adopted. The properties of 

 paraffine are as follows : — It is white, tasteless, inodorous, rather 

 tough, lighter than water, fusible at 125° or 130° F., and it dis- 

 tils unchanged at a higher temperature. It resists the action of 

 the strongest acids and alkalies ; and, finally, when pure, it burns 

 with a bright flame without smoke. In a second memoir pub- 

 lished by Reichenbach in 1831, he described another of the 

 products of destructive distillation, under the name of Eupione. 

 This body, according to the latest experiments*, is a liquid, colour- 



. * Schweigger Scidel's Journal fur Praktische Chemie, April 1834. 



