The Portland daily press., 1871-07-11
How Johnny studied Science
BY UNCLE oATsTRAw.

Master John Scroggs was thirteen years
old. He had blue eyes and red hair, and a
nose that turned up at the end. The boys at
school made fun of his mouth, telling him
that if it was not for his ears it would 90
quite round his head. His father and mother
called him "Johnny" of course. His sister
Sally called him Jack" because il tormented
him, and that was the only way she could pay
him OIL for not minding her. Most of the
neighbors called him that lawful boy" for he
was generally In mischief, and very often in
trouble.
But it happened one time in June that he
was very quiet and kept out of everybody's
way, which is great thing for boy to dc.
His father said that Johnny was getting to be
quite man; his mother remarked that he
was not such a bad boy after all; but Sally
stuck to it that he was "conjuring up some-
thing, it wouldn't be long before they would
find him out in some scrape or other" All
these sayings had some truth in them, but
Sally's was the nearest right. For Johnny
had struck new thing, and was busily think
ing about it. He had traded ava his buck
he rn-bandled knife with another boy for a
dogs cared book OH chemistry. He read in 1t
how substances combine with each other to
make new ones having different properties,
and this was wonderful to him. He found,
too, how some of these substances enter into
oOiio, duu llOHl tuCSc luLO piduLS, anu ITOm
the plants into animals in curious and end
less variety. So he kept thinking, thinking
all the while, so that he had no time for
amusement; he wished so much to under
stand these things that he had never heard of
before, and which seemed so strange. The
book told how to make many experiments,
and Johnny picked out those that needed
only cheap and common materials, and said
to himself that he would try some of them.
He would enjoy it better, he thought, than
stonlng AFR. winnings old gray cat, or setting
"Buf" barking at Smiths great flock Of geese.
Thus Johnny commenced to travel very
long, and very steep road,-the road OF sci
ence, and this is how 1t was.
One afternoon his mother went into the
pantry, aLd there was Johnny, with bowl
on the shelf before him, having liquid foam.
ing and bubblins in it.
"What are you doing here ?" said she.
"Nothing," said Johnny, sturdly, "only
seeing the carbonic acid come out"
"GOod gracious! what is that?" asked his
mother, as she looked over his shoulder
just then Mr.. Scroggs and Sally came in, to
find wha. was the matter.
'I'll tell you," said Johnny, "it's jolly
You see, this powder that you call saleratus
substance. The gas is carbonic acid, Just the
same that is formed when you burn char
coal; the solid is soda, which is found in salt,
such as you give to cattle, only in the salt it
is united with another gas, instead of carbon
ic acid, but you notice when the gas and the
solid unite, they both are solids, as in the SAL
eratus."
"StOp and take breath, Johnny" said Sally /;
"yOu are showing of at great rate"
"Never mind" Johnny replied, for he saw
softened look in the old man's eye. "You
f,kI + rrrtv tI,n sal. fiji
and it is all dissolved; this is what the book
calls a solution"
"That's a long word" said his mother.
81 don't care how long the words are," an
swered tB'if understand them; and un-
derstand what solution is. If you put a
solid substance into liquid, and it dissOlves
out of sight, and you can get the same solid
back again by boiling away the liquid, then
you have solution but if the two substances
unite, so that you can't get back your solid in
this way, then you have chemical cOmbna-
ton. Now put vinegar
Just at this moment Sally broke in with,
"Oh, what learned mani! You will make
your fortune. Jack, with your saleratus and
vinegar"
"Tell us what you put the vinegar in for
whispered his mother. She began to be quite
proud of Johnny. She had no idea he knew
so much.
'Why, "you see, vinegar itself is solution
OF acetic acid (so the chemistry says) in wa
ter. This acid is stronger than the carbonic
acid, and when pour It into the saeIatus
solution, it takes hold of the soda in the sat
eratus and drives out the the carDonic aciu.
The carbonic acid comes out in the form OF
gas and bubbles up through the water and
make it foam"
"But / don't see," grumbled Sally, show
tho acetic acid. as YOU call it, can driva ou
| the other gas that was united with the sods
first"
BY this time Johnny thought he would ge
of pretty easily for meddling in the pantry
m and he could afford to be saucy to his sister
GU see, Sally" he answered, "the principle
Is just the same as this: Sam Smiles used Il
come to see you steady; but you liked Ton
Soure the best, and so Tom sticks to you lik'
wax, and Sam has gone away and don't conn
| any more. 1t is just the same principle, Sal
| ly, just the same, exactly"