Page:The Liquefaction of Gases.djvu/24

20 together, and only justice to endeavour to secure for them a more general attention, than they appear as yet to have gained. I shall notice in chronological order, the fruitless, as well as the successful, attempts, and those which probably occurred without being observed, as well as those which were remarked and described as such.

Carbonic Acid, &c.—The Philosophical Transactions for 1797, contain, p. 222, an account of experiments made by Count Rumford, to determine the force of fired gun-powder. Dissatisfied both with the deductions drawn, and the means used previously, that philosopher proceeded to fire gunpowder in cylinders of a known diameter and capacity, and closed by a valve loaded with a weight that could be varied at pleasure. By making the vessel strong enough and the weight sufficiently heavy, he succeeded in confining the products within the space previously occupied by the powder. The Count's object induced him to vary the quantity of gunpowder in different experiments, and to estimate the force exerted only at the moment of ignition, when it was at its maximum. This force which he found to be prodigious, he attributes to aqueous vapour intensely heated, and makes no reference to the force of the gaseous bodies evolved. Without considering the phenomena which it is the Count's object to investigate, it may be remarked, that in many of the experiments made by him, some of the gases, and especially carbonic acid gas, were probably reduced to the liquid state. The Count says,

"When the force of the generated elastic vapour was sufficient to raise the weight, the explosion was attended by a very sharp and surprisingly loud report; but when the weight was not raised, as also when it was only a little moved, but not sufficiently to permit the leather stopper to be driven quite out of the bore, and the