36 o 
Dr. Ure’s new experimental researches 
Remarks on the preceding table . 
The ether of the shops as prepared by the eminent London 
apothecaries, boils generally at 112 0 ; but when washed with 
water, or re-distilled, it boils at 104° or 105°. It may by 
rectification, however, be made to boil at a still lower 
temperature. 
Concerning the boiling point of oil of turpentine, curious 
(may we say ridiculous) discrepancies exist in our systems 
of chemistry. Dr. Murray, for example, in the table of the 
scale of temperature at the end of the first volume of his 
valuable system, last edition, places the boiling point of oil of 
turpentine at 560°. Mr. Dalton, vol. 1. p. 39. of his new 
system of chemical philosophy, says “ several authors have it 
that oil of turpentine boils at 560°. I do not know how the 
mistake originated, but it boils below 212 0 , like the rest of the 
essential oils.” I made with much care several experiments 
on this point, previous to ascertaining the force of its vapour, 
and found its boiling point to be about 316°. When recently 
distilled, however, it will boil at 30 5 0 . Did it boil below, or 
even at 212°, as Mr. Dalton asserts, then , long before the 
included portion in the above experiments had reached the 
304th degree, it would have acquired such an elasticity as to 
support a high column of mercury, instead of being barely in 
equilibrio with the atmospheric pressure. 
Plunge a phial half filled with fresh oil of turpentine into 
a metal cup containing any fixed oil. Heat the cup gradually. 
It will be found that, at the temperature of 31b 0 , the oil 
remains in steady ebullition, as indicated by a thermometer 
suspended in the centre of the phial. Prior to this, even at 
