Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
210
The Fairy-Land of Science
·
Arabella B. Buckley
142
It
is
very
difficult
at
first
to
picture
such
a
black
thing
as
carbon
making
part
of
delicate
leaves
and
beautiful
flowers,
and
still
more
of
pure
white
sugar.
But
we
can
make
an
experiment
by
which
we
can
draw
the
hydrogen
and
oxygen
out
of
common
loaf
sugar,
and
then
you
will
see
the
carbon
stand
out
in
all
its
blackness.
I
have
here
a
plate
with
a
heap
of
white
sugar
in
it.
I
pour
upon
it
first
some
hot
water
to
melt
and
warm
it,
and
then
some
strong
sulphuric
acid.
This
acid
does
nothing
more
than
simply
draw
the
hydrogen
and
oxygen
out.
See!
in
a
few
moments
a
black
mass
of
carbon
begins
to
rise,
all
of
which
has
come
out
of
the
white
sugar
you
saw
just
now.
*(The
common
dilute
sulphuric
acid
of
commerce
is
not
strong
enough
for
this
experiment,
but
pure
sulphuric
acid
can
be
secured
from
any
chemist.
Great
care
must
be
taken
in
using
it,
as
it
burns
everything
it
touches.)
You
see,
then,
that
from
the
whitest
substance
in
plants
we
can
get
this
black
carbon;
and
in
truth,
one-half
of
the
dry
part
of
every
plant
is
composed
of
it.
Now
look
at
my
plant
again,
and
tell
me
if
we
have
not
already
found
a
curious
history?
Fancy
that
you
see
the
water
creeping
in
at
the
roots,
oozing
up
from
cell
to
cell
till
it
reaches
the
leaves,
and
there
meeting
the
carbon
which
has
just
come
out
of
the
air,
and
being
worked
up
with
it
by
the
sun-waves
into
starch,
or
sugar,
or
oils.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
