ation of air from oil of turpentine was the quickest, and from the
oil of olives the slowest in these three cases.

By the same process I got inflammable air from _spirit of wine_, and
about as copiously as from the essential oil of mint. This air continued
in water a whole night, and when it was transferred into another vessel
was strongly inflammable.

In all these cases the inflammable matter might be supposed to arise
from the inflammable substances on which the experiments were made. But
finding that, by the same process I could get inflammable air from the
_volatile spirit of sal ammoniac_, I conclude that the phlogiston was in
part supplied by the electric matter itself. For though, as I have
observed before, the alkaline air which is expelled from the spirit of
sal ammoniac be inflammable, it is so in a very slight degree, and can
only be perceived to be so when there is a considerable quantity of it.

Endeavouring to procure air from a caustic alkaline liquor, accurately
made for me by Mr. Lane, and also from spirit of salt, I found that the
electric spark could not be made visible in either of them; so that they
must be much more perfect conductors of electricity than water, or other
fluid substances. This experiment well deserves to be prosecuted.

I observed before that inflammable air, by standing long in water, and
especially by agitation in water, loses its inflammability; and that in
the latter case, after passing through a state in which it makes some
approach to common air (just admitting a candle to burn in it) it comes
to extinguish a candle. I have since made another observation of this
kind, which well deserves to be recited. It relates to the inflammable
air generated from oak the 27th of July 1771, of which I have made
mention before.

This air I have observed to have been but weakly inflammable some months
after it was generated, and to have been converted into pretty good or
wholesome air by no great degree of agitation in water; but on the 27th
of March 1773, I found the remainder of it to be exceedingly good air. A
candle burned in it perfectly well, and it was diminished by nitrous air
almost as much as common air.

I shall conclude this section with a few miscellaneous observations of
no great importance.

Inflammable air is not changed by being made to pass many times through
a red-hot iron tube. It is also no more diminished or changed by the
fumes of liver of sulphur, or by the el