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6 . Some new Experiments and Observations on theCombustion of Gaseous Mixtures,* fyc.
“ In the last paper, I have described thephenomena of’the slow combustion of hydro-gene and olefiant gas without flame. In thesame paper I have shown, that the tempera-ture of flame is infinitely higher than thatnecessary for the ignition of solid bodies. Itappeared to me, therefore, probable, that incertain combinations of gaseous bodies, forinstance, those above referred to, when theincrease of temperature was not sufficient torender the gaseous matters themselves lumi_nous; yet still it might be adequate to ignitesolid matters exposed to them. I had de-vised several experiments on this subject.I had intended to expose fine wires to oxy_gene and olefiant gas, and to oxygene andhydrogene during their slow combinationunder different circumstances, when I wasaccidentally led to the knowledge of the fact,and, at the same time, to the discovery of anew and curious series of phenomena.
I was making experiments on the increase
* Phil. Trans. Jan. 1817.