24B Mr. Hennell on the mutual action of 
any adhering oil of wine, several experiments were made 
upon quantities of a grain each ; 6,46 cubic inches of carbonic 
acid gas and 1,21 grains of water were obtained; the 6,46 
cubic inches of carbonic acid equal ,82106 of a grain of 
carbon, and the 1,21 grains of water equal ,13444 of a grain 
of hydrogen. 
The carbon and hydrogen are here very nearly in single 
proportionals, but there is great loss, I believe : this may be 
partly attributed to oil of wine still adhering, but of that I 
am not at present able to satisfy myself, my stock of crystals 
being exhausted. 
On mentioning these results to Mr. Faraday, he gave me 
some sulphuric acid which had been exposed to olefiant gas, 
during some of his experiments on the products of the de- 
composition of oil by heat. It had absorbed about 80 times 
its volume of the gas, acquired a deep brown colour, and a 
smell resembling oil of wine. It was saturated by carbonate 
of potash carefully evaporated to dryness, and the dry mass 
digested in alcohol. A small quantity of a salt was obtained 
from the alcoholic solution having the crystalline form and 
general characters of the salts I have been describing. 
Thus it would appear that hydrocarbon constituted of single 
proportionals, or 6 carbon and 1 hydrogen by weight has the 
power of combining with sulphuric acid ; and that whether it 
be evolved and then combined, as in the case of olefiant gas, 
or its elements separated from other compounds, as from 
alcohol, it forms precisely the same combination, sulphovinic 
acid. It further appears, that oil of wine is a perfectly neutral 
compound of sulphuric acid and hydrocarbon, and that it is 
resolvable by various processes into sulphovinic acid, during 
