gaseous mixtures , and its application to their analysis. 271 
larger proportion, there was a decided action upon the car- 
buretted hydrogen. But it was much more easy to regulate 
the action of the balls upon such a mixture so as to act upon 
the hydrogen and oxygen only, than in the case of olefiant 
gas, which, under similar circumstances, is always more 
largely converted into water and carbonic acid. 
III. Mixtures of Hydrogen and Carbonic Oxide with Oxygen. 
The addition of one volume of carbonic oxide to two vo- 
lumes of an explosive mixture produces a distinct effect in 
suspending the action of the platinum balls, and even of the 
spongy metal itself. The action of the gases upon each other 
still, however, goes on slowly, even when the carbonic oxide 
exceeds the explosive mixture in volume ; and after the lapse 
of a few days, the oxygen is found to have disappeared, and 
to have partly formed water, and partly carbonic acid. I 
made numerous experiments to ascertain whether the oxygen, 
under these circumstances of slow combustion, is divided be- 
tween the carbonic oxide and the hydrogen, in proportions 
corresponding to the volumes of those two gases. The com- 
bustible gases being in equal volumes, and the oxygen suf- 
ficient to saturate only one of them, it was found that the 
oxygen, which had united with the carbonic oxide, was to that 
which had combined with the hydrogen, as about 5 to 1 in 
volume. Increasing the carbonic oxide, a still larger pro- 
portion of oxygen was expended in forming carbonic acid. 
On the contrary, when the hydrogen was increased, a greater 
proportional quantity of oxygen went to the formation of 
water. But it was remarkable, that when the hydrogen was 
made to exceed the carbonic oxide four or five times, less 
