Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 1.djvu/426

Rh If the wax be spread thin upon glass and exposed to the action of light, its colour is rendered paler; but the author has not yet suc- ceeded in bleaching it effectually.

Sulphuric acid changes the colour of the wax to a pale brown; and if heat be applied, the decomposition usual with such substances takes place, with extrication of sulphurous acid gas, and decompo- sition of charcoal.

Though cold acetic acid has very little action on it, yet when boiled upon it for a very long time, it appeared to have rendered it nearly white; but when the wax was afterwards washed with water and fused, it resumed its former colour.

When it is fused in oxymuriatic gas, muriatic acid and water are formed, and charcoal is deposited.

Though Mr. Brande's attempts to bleach this wax have not hitherto completely succeeded, yet since it has been rendered nearly white by the usual method of exposure to light after the action of nitric acid upon it, there seems no reason to suppose that it might not be per- fectly bleached by exposure for a sufﬁcient length of time.

With respect to its combustion in the form of candles, the author’s trials have been very satisfactory. When the wick is duly propor- tioned, the combustion is as perfect and uniform as that of any other wax; and when about one sixth or one tenth of tallow is added to it, the brittleness which this wax has in its natural state is removed. without communicating to it any unpleasant odour, or impairing the brilliancy of the ﬂame.

Dr. Herschel, having repeatedly re-examined many of the nebulous appearances which he has formerly described, ﬁnds that these objects may be arranged in a certain order of regular succession, so as to be viewed in a new light; and in consequence of these views. his opinions respecting the inferences to be drawn from the phenomena have undergone a gradual change, especially with regard to the possibility of resolving many of them into stars, as he had formerly supposed might be done by telescopes of higher power than he had yet employed.

His present arrangement begins with the appearances of diffused nebulosity. Of these he has determined the positions and magnitudes of 52 in number, the aggregate extent of which amounts to 150 square degrees; and since the depth of each may be supposed nearly equal to the length or breadth, the total amount of luminous matter contained in the small proportion of inﬁnite space which we see, exclusive of that which is too dilute to be visible, exceeds all calculation.

Of these nebulous diffusions, the intensity of the light is not