The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1874-02-12
FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS.


cXptCUtU C1tll VI tIno kluO, bnOul0
have prepared myself; but suffering
as now do from general attack all
around. my little talk this week will
be all gas. Yes, am going to give
you a little direct information with
reference to a gas which plays very
Important part In this world of ours,
comprising In fact a large portion of
1t. This gas Is called oxygen.
And now, ."eyes 'front.'" You OBJ
table by my side. Look sharp, and
tell me II your bright eyes can zee
anything inside OF them They are
full to the brim with oxygen gas
proof of which / will give you d.
rectly. You see this bit OF wood, l
hold it in the flame of the candle,
and after it gets well ablaze blow.it
out. A fading spark or two on one
corner Is yet to be seen. AS quickly
as possible introduce the wood, at
| fixed to a wire, into one of these re-
ceivers. Wasn't that Il brilliant
| flash? No sooner did 1t touch the
gas than it burst into flame far more
brilliant than the one it got from the
candle. Let us introduce this bit of
lighted charcoal. What do you think
of that, any way? The piece Of
wood couldn't raise such a blaze, oven
should it burn itself up in the en-
deavor. Phosphorus follows. No
wonder you hide your eyes. There
is no human eye strong enough to
look steadily at that burning phOs-
phorus without injury. AS we'll
might you strive to stare the sun out
of cOuntenance. -
But here we have an, experiment
more wonderful still. You see this
coil hold in my hand: It is a watch
spring. You will notice the end of it
appears little clumsy. That Is a lit
tie bit of punk I've affixed there, that
the end of the coil may keep adame
till get it in the gas. Inow light 1t
and let it down into the receiver,
cOrking the top tightly, through
which the end of the coil protrudes.
Now, young friends, you have a
chance to see IL burn, and magnificent
ly, too, ha! ha! The light is pretty
hard on our eyes, but we can see that
the gas is making short work Of that
watch spring. See that globule of the
melted metal! 1t falls ON the surface
of the water in the bottom OF the re-
ceiver, and Is thrown up by the
steam it generates. Oh! 1 tell you
oxygen doesn't fool around much
when it has anything to eat up, pro-
viding it brings spark of fire along
with It!
These experiments have probably
convinced you by. this time, that
oxygen, which comprises One-fifth of
the air we breathe, is great support
er of combustion. But my charcoal
burning, In the first receiver, has
changed matters therein considera-
bly,. See, hold long wire in my
hand, to which a lighted candle is af-
fixed. / plunge it into the vessel.
You perceive the flame is instantly
eXtinguished. Strange, isn't it,
When we began these experiments,
that very candle would have relight-
ed If blown out and plunged qaickly
into the very receiver in which 1t
now goes out, and when burning
brightly, too. This brings us to an
important point in our lecture, and /
hope my youthful audience will keep
as quiet as possible, and avoid pinch
ing each other for brief season, that
may not get tangled up in what l
am going to to say.
w inv Woo tnlo NCboCl hlICu WIFI
when L began my experiments? Ok
ygen gas, did you say? Correct. But
by combination, or the burning Of
the charcoal, in this gas, a great and
important change occurred. The Oxy-
gen acknowledgements and uniting
with the carbon of which the char
coal Is almost wholly composed,
formed carbOnic acid gas, of which
two parts are oxygen and one carbon.
Its neither one nor the other in this
combustion, however. 1t will not
support combustion, as the illustration
with the candle proved conclusively,
and to inhale it for any length Of time
is certain death. Here is mouse.
He's a jolly little fellow, and doesn't
relish being held up the tail one bit /;
but as he was caught in my pantry
last night, ! do not sympathize with
him very strongly. Now 1 take out
this cork and drop him into this YES
sci, which has as yet been undisturb-
en-, and is full of pure oxygen. He
seems rather to like it than other.
wise, doesn't he? Did you evOr see
a mouse come so near dancing horn
pipe before? Why, he acts for all
the world like our boys and girls on
a frosty morning, when they Niirst
jump out of bed. The reason is evil
dent. AS oxygen is the life-giving
principle of air he is now inhaling an
extra quantity of it; hence his unu-
sual life and vigor. But it is high
time he was out Of there. So Islyly
grasp him by the tail again-gracious!
he got me by the finger instead. How
the little fellows can bite, when
they've mind, can't they? But I've
got him at last, and hold him sus-
pended over this vessel which is filed
mot with oxygen, but with carbonic
acid gas. Down he goes HillOa
what's the matter? Don't crowd up
so, children. Stand back, that you
may all have u chance. Yes, Mr..
Mouse won't nibble any more cheese.
He Is dying, so you at least have pos
tive proof that this gas is a foe to
life. 1t is the same deadly gas you
find in wells sometimes, and the
same you breathe from your lungs at
every expiration. II half dozen
OF you were confined In q small and
perfectly tight apartment, your little
lungs would do to the atmosphere
precisely what the charcoal did to the
contents of this jar. You would
breathe up all the oxygen and give
out carbonic acid gas Instead, and in
a short time you would fare Just as
this mouse smother to death. So
you can now see how necessary il is
to life to have pure air.
Oxygen was discovered in the year
IVA, by DR.. Priestly. Although q
gas, in combination It constitutes from
forty to fifty per cent. of the whole
globe, and Is an important ingredient
of all animal and vegetable COM
pounds. 1t Is a very little heavier
than air, and enters into combination
with all the elements save fiuorfne.
Water itself Is almost wholly COM
posed Of oxygen.