A kinetic study has been made of the reaction of ethylene oxide in pyridine solution in the presence of strong acids. The rate has been found to be dependent upon the concentration of acid and of oxide over a wide range of concentrations at 25°C. The specific rate constant, however, varies markedly with the nature of the acid anion and appears to decrease with increasing basic strength of the anion. The absence of large salt effects seems to indicate that the anion effect is of a physical rather than chemical nature and the results are therefore tentatively attributed to the nature of solutions of electrolytes in solvents of low dielectric constant.