ON THE ASBESTUS LAMP. 
239 
ART. XXXIX. — A LAMP FORMED WITH FILAMENTS OF 
ASBESTUS; DIFFERENCE IN THE LIQUIDS OBTAINED 
BY THIS APPARATUS WITH ALCOHOL, SULPHURIC 
ETHER, &c. By M, R. Bottger.* 
The lamp of M. Bottger consists of a common spirit of 
wine lamp, in which a wick, formed of long filaments of 
asbestus, is substituted for the cotton wick. The upper part 
of this wick is spread out as much as possible; this is easily 
clone by drawing out, one by one on every side, the filaments 
of asbestus. This spread portion is to be moistened with 
ammoniated hydrochlorate of platinum, made into a thin paste 
by means of alcohol, so that the whole wick may appear 
perfectly impregnated; this part is then to be heated red hot 
by a lamp. The lamp being filled with ether, alcohol, or any 
analogous liquid, is to be placed upon a small support on an 
iron tripod, the whole to be covered by a cylinder of glass, 
eight or twelve inches in height, and three to four in diameter 
at the bottom, with the edge turned in; the part of the wick 
covered with platinum entering about one inch within the 
lower part of the cylinder. To this tube is to be attached 
hermetrically the glass vessel destined to receive the con- 
densed liquids. By the aid of three of these contrivances, 
M. Bottger obtained, at the end of twenty-four hours, by 
cooling the tipper part of the cylinder, several ounces of 
liquid; the finer the filaments of the platinated asbestus are, 
the greater is the power which they exercise. 
The author has submitted absolute alcohol, the sulphuric, 
nitrous, and acetic ethers, to the action of this apparatus, and 
has obtained different liquids from each of these compounds. 
A. — The liquid obtained from absolute Alcohol. 
The alcohol which he used had the specific gravity of .793, 
that of the liquid obtained was .984. This was without color 
* Archiv. der Phar,, vol. xiii. 
