C A R

CAR

( 247 )

It Suddenly deftroys animal life.' A bird putin a jar of it could not be withdrawn alive. e

It is no way altered by being electrized per fefor a length of time. f In this jit remarkablydiffers from cafburetted hydrogen.

It burns in the open air with a quiet blueflame. When previoufly mixed with commonair and kindled, it does not explode, but burnsflowly; but mixed with oxygen it explodes bythe eledtric fpark, though not very violently.In this cafe the flame is red.

It is particularly by the products of combuf-tion that this gas is diftinguifhed from hydrogen,or any other known fubftance. The productof the burning of hydrogen with oxygen iswater, of carburetted hydrogen is carbonic acidand water in different proportions; but thecombuftion of pure carbonous oxyd producesnothing but carbonic acid, and in very largequantity. This is well fhewn in two methods.In one, let a fmall but conftant jet of very puregafeous oxyd be fet'fire to, and immediately in-troduced in a large glafs balloon full of oxygengas (with the fame apparatus as is deferibed un-der the fimilalr combuftion of hydrogen). Itwill then burn with increafed brightnefs for acertain time, and be extinguifhed fpontaneoufly,but without fo great a diminution of gas asmight be expected, the tides of the balloon willonly be damp, but will not ftiew thofe copiousdrops of water trickling down as appear whenhydrogen is burnt, and the contents of the bal-loon will confift altogether of carbonic acid gas,mixed with the unconfumed refidue of oxygen.A fecond mode of conducing the combuftion,is to mix the gafeous oxyd with oxygen inVolta's Eudiometer , and detonate the mixture bymeans of the elcftric fpark. The explofion isnot fo violent as with hydrogen, or efpeciallywith fome of the hydrocarbonates, and the re-fidue is here alfo only carbonic acid togetherwith any cafual impurity of the oxygen.

The relative proportions of carbonous oxydand oxygen requifite to mutual faturation, andthe confequent production of carbonic acid, arethe means of ascertaining the exact conftituentparts of this inflammable gas. When 2o mea-fures of the pureft gafeous oxyd (that is, fromchalk and iron filings) were mixed with 8 mea-fures of oxygen and exploded, the whole wasreduced to 18 or 19 meafures, the whole ofwhich was abforbed by lime-water, and wastherefore carbonic acid. The weight of thelatter alfo was found by other experiments tocorrefpoud as nearly with the fum of the weights

* Deformes and

of the two before mixture as can well be ex-pected in experiments of this kind, for 100cubic inches of carbonous oxyd with 4 °inches of oxygen produced 92 cubic inches ofcarbonic acid, and the weight of the firft ofthefe may be eftimated at about 30 grains, ofthe fecond at 13.6, and of the third at 43.2grains, and the fum of the two firft differs fromthe third only by .4 of a grain.

From the above data, confirmed by other ex-periments. of Mr. Cruiklhank, it may be inferredthat 100 parts (by meafure) of gafeous oxyd ofcarbon require for faturation 40 meafures ofoxygen gas and produce by combuftion about92 meafures of carbonic acid gas: or (by weight}that 100 grains of carbonous oxyd require 45.-jgrains of oxygen, and are converted into 144grains of carbonic acid. As this acid is theonly fubftance that appears after the combuftion(fuppofing the trifling production of water to arifefrom accidental impurity,) and as carbonic acidis only compofed of carbon and oxygen, it multfollow that the inflammable gas muft either bepure carbon, or carbon already mixed with acertain portion of oxygen, but not fufficient forcomplete acidification. That the latter fuppo-fition is the truth is proved from a comparifonof the known proportions of carbon and oxygenin carbonic acid with the quantity of oxygenneceffary to be added to the inflammable gas forcomplete acidification. Carbonic acid is foundby Lavoifier and other accurate chemifts to becompofed of about 28 (by weight) of carbonwith 72 of oxygen; confequently 144 grains ofcarbonic acid (the product of the full oxyge-nation of 100 grains of the inflammable gas)contain 42.32 grains of carbon; and hence, asonly carboniG acid is produced by the combuf-tion, the remainder of the 100 grains, or 59.68grains muft be oxygen. Or, by another calcu-lation, 144 grains of carbonic acid contain 72per cent, or 103.68 grains of oxygen; but only-45.33 g ra i n s of oxygen were added to the in-flammable gas to produce this carbonic acid,and confequently the difference between 103.68and 45-33) or 58.35 grains of oxygen, were al-ready contained in the gas, leaving 41.65 grainsto complete the 100 grains-of the gas, which isthe carbon. So that the refpective proportionsof oxygen and carbon in 100 grains of the ga-feous oxyd is by one eftimation 59.68 of oxygento 40.32 of carbon, and by the other it is 58.35to 41.65, the trifling difference between the twoarifing from the fmall deficiency in the weightof the carbonic acid, compared to the fum of

Element, ‘ Ibid.