Page:Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat.djvu/208

184 by Carnot's result deduced from experiments on air, is not to be wondered at when we consider the very uncertain nature of his data.

45. The fact of the gradual decrease of μ through a very extensive range of temperature, being indicated both by Regnault's continuous series of experiments and by the very varied experiment on different media, and in different branches of Physical Science, must be considered as a striking verification of the theory.

46. Let a mass of air, occupying initially a given volume V, under a pressure P, at a temperature t, be compressed to a less volume V', and allowed to part with heat until it sinks to its primitive temperature t. The quantity of heat which is evolved may be determined, according to Carnot's theory, when the particular value of μ,