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210
The Fairy-Land of Science
·
Arabella B. Buckley
47
First,
then,
can
we
discover
what
air
is?
At
one
time
it
was
thought
that
it
was
a
simple
gas
and
could
not
be
separated
into
more
than
one
kind.
But
we
are
now
going
to
make
an
experiment
by
which
it
has
been
shown
that
air
is
made
of
two
gases
mingled
together,
and
that
one
of
these
gases,
called
oxygen,
is
used
up
when
anything
burns,
while
the
other
nitrogen
is
not
used,
and
only
serves
to
dilute
the
minute
atoms
of
oxygen.
I
have
here
a
glass
bell-jar,
with
a
cork
fixed
tightly
in
the
neck,
and
I
place
the
jar
over
a
pan
of
water,
while
on
the
water
floats
a
plate
with
a
small
piece
of
phosphorus
upon
it.
You
will
see
that
by
putting
the
bell-jar
over
the
water,
I
have
shut
in
a
certain
quantity
of
air,
and
my
object
now
is
to
use
up
the
oxygen
out
of
this
air
and
leave
only
nitrogen
behind.
To
do
this
I
must
light
the
piece
of
phosphorus,
for
you
will
remember
it
is
in
burning
that
oxygen
is
used
up.
I
will
take
the
cork
out,
light
the
phosphorus,
and
cork
up
the
jar
again.
See!
as
the
phosphorus
burns
white
fumes
fill
the
jar.
These
fumes
are
phosphoric
acid
which
is
a
substance
made
of
phosphorous
and
the
oxygen
of
the
air
together.
Now,
phosphoric
acid
melts
in
water
just
as
sugar
does,
and
in
a
few
minutes
these
fumes
will
disappear.
They
are
beginning
to
melt
already,
and
the
water
from
the
pan
is
rising
up
in
the
bell-jar.
Why
is
this?
Consider
for
a
moment
what
we
have
done.
First,
the
jar
was
full
of
air,
that
is,
of
mixed
oxygen
and
nitrogen;
then
the
phosphorus
used
up
the
oxygen
making
white
fumes;
afterwards,
the
water
sucked
up
these
fumes;
and
so,
in
the
jar
now
nitrogen
is
the
only
gas
left,
and
the
water
has
risen
up
to
fill
all
the
rest
of
the
space
that
was
once
taken
up
with
oxygen.
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