C *5 6 ] 
and holding it within the body of the fixed air at 
the brewery, to fet a glafs veflel into it, with its 
mouth inverted. This glafs being neceffarily filled 
with the fixed air, the liquor would rife into it when 
they were both taken into the common air, if the 
fixed air was abforbed at all. 
Making ufe of ether in this manner, there was a 
conftant bubbling from under the glafs, occafioned 
by this fluid ealily rifing in vapour, fo that I could 
not, in this method, determine whether it imbibed 
the air or not. I concluded, however, that they did 
incorporate, from a very difagreeable circumfiance, 
which made me defift from making any more expe- 
riments of the kind. For all the beer, over which 
this experiment was made, contra died a peculiar 
tafte, the fixed air impregnated with the ether being, 
I fuppofe, again abforbed by the beer. I have alfo 
obferved, that water which remained a long time 
within this air has fometimes acquired a very dif- 
agreeable tafte. At one time it was like tar- water. 
How this was acquired, I was very defirous of mak- 
ing fome experiments to afcertain, but I was dis- 
couraged by the fear of injuring the fermenting 
liquor. It could not come from the fixed air only. 
Having imagined that fixed air coagulated the 
blood in the lungs of animals, and thereby caufed 
inftant death 3 I fuffocated a cat in this kind of air, 
and examining the lungs prefently after, found them 
collapfed and white, having little or no blood in 
them. 
In order to try the effedl of this air upon the blood 
itfelf, I took a quantity from a fowl juft killed, and 
divided it into two parts, holding one of them within 
the 
