He states that the following are the characters of absolute amylene.
To boil steadily at 35° cent.
To be without action on potassium, and to preserve that metal like naphtha.
Not to be coloured, even by prolonged contact with caustic potassa.
Not to give rise to valerianic acid under the action of hydrated potassa.
The following table shows the amount of vapour of amylene in air which is saturated with it at various temperatures. The specimen of amylene with which I made the experiments began to boil at 95° Fah.
| Temp. Fah. | Vapour. | Air. |
|---|---|---|
| 24° | 20·3 | 79·7 |
| 26 | 20·9 | 79·1 |
| 28 | 21·6 | 78·4 |
| 30 | 22·3 | 77·7 |
| 32 | 23·2 | 76·8 |
| 34 | 24·3 | 75·7 |
| 36 | 25·5 | 74·5 |
| 38 | 26·8 | 73·2 |
| 40 | 28·2 | 71·8 |
| 42 | 29·6 | 70·4 |
| 44 | 31·1 | 68·9 |
| 46 | 32·7 | 67·3 |
| 48 | 34·3 | 65·7 |
| 50 | 36·0 | 64·0 |
| 51 | 36·9 | 63·1 |
| 53 | 38·6 | 61·4 |
| 55 | 40·0 | 60·0 |
| 57 | 42·5 | 57·5 |
| 58 | 43·7 | 56·3 |
| 59 | 45·0 | 55·0 |
| 60 | 46·5 | 53·5 |
| 61 | 47·7 | 52·3 |
| 63 | 50·4 | 49·6 |
| 65 | 53·1 | 46·9 |
| 67 | 55·9 | 44·1 |
| 69 | 58·8 | 41·2 |
| 71 | 61·9 | 38·1 |
| 73 | 65·1 | 34·9 |
| 75 | 68·6 | 31·4 |
I was not aware of the existence of amylene till 1856, or I should have tried it sooner; for I made inquiry in 1848 for a substance named eupion by Reichenbach, its discoverer, but was unable to obtain it. Eupion is a carbo-hydrogen, described as having all the physical characters which belong to amylene, though obtained in a different way; and I believe it is the same substance, or the hydride of amyle. Reichenbach obtained it from coal tar, but other chemists have not been able to make it.
Judging from experiments which I had made on analogous substances, there could be no doubt of amylene causing insensibility when inhaled; but I could not tell, without actual trial, whether it might not be unpleasant in its action.
I believe that amylene had but rarely been made, and only in very small quantity, until I requested Mr. Bullock to make it for me. For some time afterwards, soon after my first paper had appeared on the subject, M. Berthé, of Paris, made some amylene and submitted it to M. Balard, its discoverer, who acknowledged its purity, and was astonished at the great quantity M. Berthé had obtained. This quantity, however, appears to have only been forty grammes, or about ten fluid drachms.