Acetylene of 180°. Acetylene was discovered in 1836 by Edmund Davy, who identified it as a "new carburet of hydrogen". It was rediscovered in 1860 by French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, who coined the name "acétylène". Berthelot's empirical formula for acetylene (CH), as well as the alternative name "quadricarbure d'hydrogène" ("hydrogen quadricarbide"), were incorrect because chemists at that time used the wrong atomic mass for carbon (6 instead of 12). Berthelot was able to prepare this gas by passing vapours of organic compounds (methanol, ethanol, etc.) through a red-hot tube and collecting the effluent. He also found that acetylene was formed by
USS Porpoise (1836) USS Porpoise (1836) The second USS "Porpoise" was a 224-ton "Dolphin" class brigantine. (In early American usage, a brigantine was referred to as a hermaphrodite brig.) The USS "Porpoise" was later rerigged as a brig (see illustration at right). She was based on the same plans as . "Porpoise" was authorized by Congress on 30 June 1834; built in 1835; and launched 31 May 1836; Lieutenant William Ramsay in command. "Porpoise" sailed from Boston, Massachusetts on 25 August 1836, called at various southern ports, and conducted coastal surveying operations under the direction of Lt. Charles Wilkes in the summer of