Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1852-03-24

Ike u, IL Is gas iuVIsioie, 'a''c's' " ~
odorous II is the llghlesl body in nature
and hence used for filling balloons. 1t. Is
never found isolated, bu, always in union
with some other body. With oxygen u
forms water. and with carbon the gas g."
generally used for light. II is very COM
buslIe, and when burned by means OF the
hydro-oxygen blowpipe, (an invention OF
the celebrated Dr.. Hare, Of Philadelphia
produces the most intense heat yet known.
NITROGEN, like hydrogen and oxygen,
when uncombined, always exists in tho
gaseous state, and like them 1t is tas!eless,
colorless and wiihou, smell. ltforns about
four Of the atmosphere, small pro-
portion of vegetable and large share OF
animal matter. ]. has in its pure slate ma
very sensible and direct properties, and ls
better known by those which are negative.
|. does not support combustion, bu' exl'n-
guishes all burning bodies that are surround
ed by j. alone, and no animal can live in II
when pure, though j, has no deeterlous
properties combuslible mailer refuses to
burn, and the animal dies because deprived
of oxygen or vital air. II serves as diu.
tent 10 moderate the action Of the oxygen
| in The air which we breathe, for no animal
can live but short time in this latter gas;
and if nitrogen was no. present in the air,
| in short time not only would trees aud
forests, but also iron itself, be burned in one
general conAsgra.on. When combined
with hydrogen, this substance forms am
mona, SO necessary to the formation OF
vegetable and animal life, and .ha! which
constitutes the chief valuable constituent
in Peruvian guano. This substance, pro.
I duct Of the decomposition of organic mailer,
always exists in small quantities in the air,
whence il is brought down by dew, rain
and snow to the earth, where it is retained
for the use of the plant. Although nitrogen
exists so abundsntIy in the air, and forms
so large portion Of plants, yet they CAM
no, use i. in lis pure form i! mus. be sup
piled to them in the form Of ammonia, or
Of nitric acid, as some say. Their leaves
imbibe and exhale, but use it not. The ex-
perimenls 10 support the contrary idea are
inconcIusve, as all their results can be ex-
planned without coming 10 the conclusion
,ha, nitrogen, as such, is supplied directly
to plants from the air.
have now given the most marked pro-
pertes Of The four elementary organic sub
stances which form the air we breathe, The
walers of The earth, large part of the earth
itself, and Of Ihe animal and vegetable tribes
which lnhabit it. Their names and pro-
perlies may not be familiar 10 some; very
many may be entirely ignorant Of them; bus
wha, can be more appropriate subjects for
study and investigation than the air which
supports our lives from its first moments,
The water which is to US daily food, or the
composition Of lha, food, which by The curse
of labor we are obliged 10 earn-a curse,
however, changed by mercy into blessing,
when the intellect is used 10 tighten the toll
Of the body. Is a knowledge Of these sub
stances useless? then the knowledge Of
those things nearest to us, and with which
we hold constant relation, is useless; and
if these are, those which are more remote
mus. of consequence be more SO, and oil
knowledge is vain; and if knowledg &c DO
nothing, then men are on level with brutes,
nay, below them. The most noted proper
ties of these substances can be easily under-
stood and as easily learned as the mullipli-
cation table, and will enable the ,iller of the
ground TO understand many facts Of grea.
use to him which are now ncomprehensible.
and give him, as The fruits of labor, pleasure
as we'll as profit.
The substances which have mentioned
above, namely, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen
and nitrogen, are combined with each other,
and form many substances, Of which it 10
not my province here to speak. will men,
ton some whose constitution ii is proper to
know.
Carbon and oxygen form csrbonic acid,
whose uses and properties have spoken Of
above. Hydrogen and oxygen form water,
which serves either as such, or by its eIe-
men,s, to produce large par! of the mass
of vegetable matter; il moreover is the ve-
hicle for the transportation OF tood to the
plant, aud causes matter by dissolving il, 10
assume form, giving TO i! the properties Of
food.
Hydrogen and nitrogen, form Ammonia,
of which shall speak particularly, when
come to speak of guano. All these are
formed by chemical combination in which
The original elements lose their character
isics, and, indeed, assume others sometimes
the reverse of any which previously exist
ed Thus carbon, hard solid, and oxy-
gen, gas, form gas. Hydrogen and oxy-
gen, two invisible gases, form water. The
air Is, as have before stated, composed Of
nitrogen rnd oxygen IN the proportion Of
very nearly four parts of the former to one
of The la,e,; not in chemical combination
bu, as mere mechanical mixture. Besides
these, the air also contains waIery vapor,
carbonic acid, and ammonia, the latter tw"
in small quantities relatively, but still IN
immense quantities absolutely, aud OF vast
importance. Though The above substances