THREE PAPERS, CONTAINING EXPERIMENTS ON FACTITIOUS AIR. [Cavendish's first paper Received May 12, 1766]

CAVENDISH, Henry.

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London Royal Society 1767 A Very Good++ extract in modern black buckram boards with gilt lettering spine from Phil. Trans. Vol. LVI, 1766, pp. 141-184--Introductory remarks by Cavendish pp. 141-143; Part I pp. 144-159; Part II pp. 159-175; Part iii pp. 175-184. Complete with large foldout plate. Scattered foxing. 8vo. Very Good++ In 1766 (printed in 1767) Cavendish published his first paper, for which he received the Royal Society's Copley Medal. It was on "factitious" airs, that is, airs that are contained inelastically in other bodies but are capable of being freed and made elastic. Cavendish's careful gravimetric discrimination of several factitious airs, together with the work of Black on fixed air, put forward strong evidence against the notion of a single, universal air. Cavendish produced fixed air by dissolving alkaline substances in acids, and by dissolving metals in acids he released inflammable air. He collected the airs that animal and vegetable substances yield on putrefaction and fermentation. (These agents - metals, alkalies, animal and vegetable mater - and their associated airs were the ones that Cavendish treated in the context of his last heat experiments.) He collected airs by inverting a bottle filled with water (or mercury for water-soluble fixed air) in a trough of water (or mercury); a tube led from the mouth of the inverted bottle to another, in which the reactants were placed. After collecting the airs he observed their combustibility, water solubility, and specific gravity. He found that fixed air is 1.57 times heavier than common air and that inflammable air is about eleven times lighter than common air. He showed that fermented organic substances give off a mixture of airs which includes a heavier inflammable air.(DSB Vol. 3 p 156). This paper foreshadowed the famous (and controversial) Experiments on Air, in which he announced his discovery of the composition of water, which he achieved simultaneously with, and independently of, Watt. (See Also Partington, Short History of Chemistry, pp. 99-104). Seller Inventory # 400217

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Title: THREE PAPERS, CONTAINING EXPERIMENTS ON ...

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Very Good