246 Mr. Hennell on the mutual action of 
While preparing some of the sulphovinates, I was struck 
with the very great change produced in sulphuric acid by 
mere mixture with alcohol. 
440 grains of sulphuric acid were mixed with an equal 
weight of alcohol of specific gravity ,820 ; the mixture when 
cold was diluted with water and saturated by carbonate of 
soda, partially dried, of which it required for saturation 398 
grains, while 440 grains of sulphuric acid not mixed with 
alcohol saturated 555 grains of the same carbonate of soda, 
so that y of the acid had been saturated by the alcohol. 
440 grains of sulphuric acid mixed with its own weight 
of alcohol, as before, and then poured into a solution of ace- 
tate of lead, 542 grains of sulphate were precipitated. The 
same quantity of sulphuric acid unchanged by alcohol gave 
1313 grains of sulphate of lead; thus -f- of the sulphuric 
acid had lost its power of precipitating oxide of lead from its 
solutions ; it had in fact been converted into sulphovinic acid. 
M. Vogel, who has particularly described some of these 
salts, and I believe also M. Gay Lussac, have supposed 
that this loss of saturating power arises from the formation 
of hyposulphuric acid, and that the hyposulphates, and sul- 
phovinates, only differ in the latter containing some ethereal 
oil, which in some way acts the part of water of crystalliza- 
tion. It is evident that the properties of oil of wine cannot 
be thus explained ; and it appears to me more probable that 
the power of combination which hydrocarbon is shown to be 
possessed of in oil of wine, is effective in neutralising half the 
acid of the salts formed from it, as before described. 
It only now remains to examine the hydrocarbon in the 
states in which it has been obtained separate from its combi- 
nations. 
