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Book, page 230 / 445 conditions. Gerdes' failure to obtain an explosive compound in any circumstances may very possibly be explained by the entire absence of any oxygen from his cylinders and gases, so that any copper carbide produced remained unoxidised. Grittner's gas was derived, at least partially, from a public acetylene supply, and is quite likely to have been contaminated with air in sufficient quantity to oxidise the original copper compound, and to convert it into the explosive modification. For the foregoing reasons the use of unalloyed copper in the construction of acetylene generators or in the subsidiary items of the plant, as well as in burner fittings, is forbidden by statute or some quasi-legal enactment in most countries, and in others the metal has been abandoned for one of its alloys, or for iron or steel, as the case may be. Grittner's experiments mentioned above, however, probably explain why even alloys of copper are forbidden in Hungary. (_Cf._ Chapter IV., page 127.) When acetylene is passed over finely divided copper or iron (obtained by reduction of the oxide by hydrogen) heated to from 130 deg. C. to 250 deg. C., the gas is more or less completely decomposed, and various products, among which hydrogen predominates, result. Ethane and ethylene are undoubtedly formed, and certain homologues of them and of acetylene, as well as benzene and a high molecular hydrocarbon (C_7H_6)_n termed "cuprene," have been found by different investigators. Nearly the same hydrocarbons, and others constituting a mixture approximating in composition to some natural petroleums, are produced when acetylene is passed over heated nickel (or certain other metals) obtained by the reduction of the finely divided oxide. These observations are at present of no technical importance, but are interesting scientifically because they have led up to the promulgation of a new theory of the origin of petroleum, which, however, has not yet found universal acceptance. CHAPTER VII MAINS AND SERVICE-PIPES--SUBSIDIARY APPARATUS The process by which acetylene is produced, and the methods employed for purifying it and rendering it fit for consumption in dwelling-rooms,
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