Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1851-05-24

of the facts being themselves diverse and contradictory
each other, have thus far been unable form correct
judgment in the The question is asked by the bew
dered inquirer Has Mr. Paine made any discovery Has
he decided the point that water be decomposed by ec
city, and the elements used illuminating gas Has he
really succeeded in csayzng hydrogen after be has decom
posed water And he really change the elements Of
water all into hydrogen, OXYGEN just he peases
These and other similar questions have often been asked and
have been often answered by class Of writers the
affirmative, and by another class the time in the
gative. But to the subject.
After some preliminary remarks, the writer says:
"It appears that Mr. Paine has, beyond all cav in
vented method of applying the electrical or magnetic
agent to eliminate from water its constituent parts and
then catalyze the hydrogen with sufficient celey and in .uf
fcien quantity TO prove the entire practicabiy Of
Quoting the process render subsevient the
wants Of life He has patented his invention, and the princ
pie may be considered as fairly established"
do not design criticize the language nor the intent Of
Mr. TYLER, the writer Of the article referred to- but merely
to explain, far is known the public what Mr. PAINE
has invented, and will by stating what he has
not invented.
Mr.. PAINE did invent the decomposition Of by
electric magnetic agency. This done and the gases
collected separately, by NICHOLSON and CARLISLE long
ago 1876 Mr.. Paine not the first to catayze the
hydrogen Of the water, 0 mngng the gas with the vapor
Of spirits Of tupentine may be caed and to render the
gas for illumination Professor Donovan, of Dublin used
mixture Of gases arising from the decomposition Of water
with the vapor Of spirits Of mpentne warmed by the heat Of
the burner And this done twenty years ago, and
English patent obtained for the invention.
is said Mr.. Paine catazes the hydrogen Of the
If he does did Prof Donovan Or any rate, they both
used the material to caaalyIe it namely, spirits Of tur-
penine. Mr.. Donovan win philosophy, used the ur-
L
would mnsle freely in the gaseous while Mr.. Paine
passed the gases lor the Hise Of oxygen and hydrossn
thrapsh the liquid Rlnts surpeans III. ordinary tenn
psvaure Il is plain, thsfore, from this statement what
Mr. Paine has done and what had been done before his time
But Is said Mr. Paine caalyzed the gases from water
and rendered them subservent the wants of e
BY this expression IL meant if il have any meaning, that,
passing the gas through spirits Of upenne, he gas be-
Illuminating gas without taking any thing from the
said spirits Of tupenne such proved to be the case
would be Of caayas indeed; for ca'alyss is ex-
planned by chemists to be decomposng action arising from
the presence Of chemical substance, while
itself undergoes no change. Thus the vest ferment in
beer given temperature and keeps up the femen
tation while the vest undergoes little change.
luton Of starch in containing about onehousandth Of
the weight Of the dry starch in suphuric acid, will be
entirely converted grape sugar, after being boiled few
presence
Of the operations and yet it undegoes change, and
may be procured in its original state after the process
pleted. Both Of these illustrations Of catalysis
1t may perehance be asked by Mr.. Pane skept
cal reader how prove hs, the spirits Of turpenne does
caayze the hydrogen gas when the gas is passed
bubbles through III To such would say, collect quantity
of hydrogen gas from the decomposition Of water by any Of
the well known pass through the spirits Of urpS.
tine, the described by Mr. Paine, and conduct it
to ordinary gas-burner having glass chimney. Now,
with small syringe, draw out several syringes Of the gas
from that part Of the chimney immedstey above the fame
and force each charge small bubbles excessively through
freshly ypepared and clear solution Of lime water. If the
hydrogen caazed is alleged by the presence Of the
turpenne, without the latter losing any Of its substance,
then the lime water will retain its transparency, nothing
but could be produced from the combustion Of hydro
gen. this could affect the transparency Of the lime
water IT. the contrary, the lime water become milky as
have always found be the when the gas passed
through the upentine slowly enough to render it oeraby
luminous then it is shown conclusvey that the has abb
sobed part Of the spirits Of tupenne, the combustion Of
which supplies cabonic acid which in its turn PrecPaies
the carbonate Of lime from the lime water There no other
Of carbonc acid in the but from the spirits Of ur
penne. The experiment is perfectly conclusive, and caa
lyss has in reality nothing whatever 10 do with this subject
But is said Mr. Paine has patented bis invention If
he has is within the of any the United States
get the information by writing to the Patent Office for it.
by examining the monthly lists published in the New York
Scientific American and in other periodicals. have CAREFUL
looked these .ts for the last twelve months but do
| not find any such patent.
is also said Mr. Paine "decomposes water, and converts
the gaseous products all into hydrogen, or all into OXYGEN
will This too baefaced TO gain position among poss
bes; is entertained only BY the nordinaiely creduous
The last Of this is that Mr. Paine has at last sue
ceeded in caayzng the atmosphere and many other
equally marvellous discoveries claimed for him in the
papers of the day. proper add that neither Of the last
alleged discoveries of Mr. Paine is mentioned in the ar
ce by Mr. Tyler but they referred to frequently
in the newspapers than fair that those who
posted up this subject should be set right On the
l9ls page OF the American Year Book Of Fsc published
in 1885, edited by Messrs Wells Bliss of Boston, will be
found extract from the Chemical Gazette Of London, which
have appeared probably in ls49 and which says speak
ing of the properties Of that Its vapor easily taken
up by the air. and retained by at ordinary temperatures
that the mixture may be burnt as Illuminating gas Many
other facts stated respecting this MATERIAL analogous in
its properties and composition TO spirits Of turpenne, which
may be found in the work referred to. IT, therefore, Mr.
Panes friends desire to claim for him the invention Of the
so-cscd eaayzing Of the atmosphere, will be necessary
above notices. desire to be understood that in making
these comments have other object than to set your nu
readers right respecting what has thus far appeared
before the public Of the alleged inventions Of Mr. Paine He
may have invented many things that the world knows
thing Of 1t will be In good time to speak Of them hen
| they appear. Respectfully, OMEGA.