9 o 
Dr. Thomson on Oxalic Acid. 
4 particles of carbonic acid weigh 
4 x 
16.5 — 66 
2 
- carbureted hydrogen 
2 X 
6.5 = 13 
2 
- carbonic acid 
2 X 
10.5 = 21 
2 
- water 
2 X 
"4 
II 
M 
1 
- charcoal 
- 
II 
Total 118.5 
Reducing these proportions to 100 parts of acid, and joining 
together the two inflammable gases, the numbers come out 
as follows : 
Carbonic acid 
55 - 7 ° 
we actually obtained 59.53 
Inflammable air 
28.69 
24.28 
Water 
11.81 
11.51 
Charcoal 
1 
I 00 
bo 
1 O 
4.68 
100.00 
100.00 
It is impossible to expect exact correspondence between 
the theory and hypothesis, till the numbers representing the 
weights of the elementary atoms be ascertained, with more 
rigid accuracy than has hitherto been done. I satisfied myself 
with taking the nearest round numbers, which are sufficient 
at least to show an evident approximation to the proportions 
obtained by experiment. 
V. Composition of Sugar, and Formation of Oxalic Acid. 
When a compound body is decomposed, and resolved into 
a number of new substances, the products are almost always 
simpler, or consist of integrant particles, composed of fewer 
atoms than the integrant particles of the original body. Thus, 
though oxalic acid is composed of 9 atoms, none of the pro- 
