Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-12-22
PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY.


n visit 20 q Lectures Room OF o Wash.
ington Medical College.
Just twenty students faced the professor Of
chemistry one evening last week in the lecture
room Of one of the principal medical colleges
Of this city. Some of them were very jolly
young men; in fact, q majority Of them seemed
to be suffering from q. superabundance Of jol-
lity. Two or three Of them were profession
ally grave. and at least one Of the score had
commenced the cultivation of the long hair,
which in days gone by was supposed to be the
uninfringable trademark Of the deep scholar
and learned man. Modestly reclining in a
chair in the rear Of the room was Q STAR re-
porter. who was generally regarded a. a visit
ing professor. and the class speedily came to
knowledge was in its possession must be dis
played for the edification of the erudite on
locker and the consequent glorifcation Of the
institution.
Immediately in front Of the lecturer was
long table. every available inch of the surface
of which was occupied by glasses, bottles, test
tubes and other fragments of the parapherna-
liza which belongs to the practical chemist. At
one end of the table was an iron tub. circular
In form and about inches deep and standing
upright in the water, with which it was filled.
were number Of glass receivers.
HYDROGEN GAS.
The ringing Of a bell in distant room was
the signal for silence on the part of the class
and for the announcement by the professor Of
his subject, which, on this particular occasion,
was hydrogen gas. This gas. so the lecturer
said, was the highest Of all chemicals. and it
had been known to science for about 400 years.
The stated fact that the gas is inhaled in mi
mute quantities by every working pair of lungs
at once gave the class personal interest in it.
and the students seemed to be decidedly pleased
when the lecturer said he would devote a little
time to showing them how it could be made.
To aid him in making his experiments more
clear he called upon one of the less sedate of
his pupils and requested him to act as an
accompanist, as it were, and to describe on
blackboard in the hieroglyphics of chemistry
the main facts in the case. This was done in a
secret cipher, in which the letters X H o
seemed to play a very important part. Sec
ond student was then called up to the iron tub,
where he was set to work at making hydrogen
gas by pouring acid on zinc and then storing
the gas away in receivers for future use. While
he was thus engaged in giving the class an OBJ
ject lesson the lecturer explained the modus
operandi and told Of other plans by which the
same results could be obtained. The decom-
position of water by metallic potassium" said
the professor. Twill give us hydrogen gas"
and to make good his word he threw little Of
the potassium in the tub, where it blazed and
sputtered and fixed until it was exhausted.
The professor then proceeded to make what
has been termed
THE PHILOSOPHERS LAMP.
Zinc, water, and sulphuric acid were COM
bined in a glass cylinder which the professor
obligingly placed in the hands of student
who volunteered to hold it, and who, five sec
onds later. wished he had displayed less en-
thusiasm in his search for scientific truth. for
the cylinder became uncomfortably warm. The
Iacfnrar'a hQQrfGsa hot ,va
for your provoked burst of laughter from
the class that did not subside until the lecturer
had relieved the volunteer of his burden,
tested the gas, and lighted the lamp. must
cal number was then introduced in the pro-
gram by the placing of the lamp in test tube.
With this crude instrument melodious sounds
were produced, commonly denominated .hy-
drogen tones,'" said the professor.
TRANSFERRING THE GAS.
How to transfer hydrogen gas from one ves-
sci to another was the next conundrum, and
this was done by the lecturer. who emptied
one receiver and filed another from it without
wasting more than cents worth of gas Some
of the students seemed to feel as though they
were not too sure about its safe transfer so the
professor said he would prove its presence by
setting FIRE to the contents of the receiver.
This declaration was obviously received by
more than one of the occupants of the room,
and the reporter, not caring to become a sub
ject for piecemeal investigation by the coroner.
executed a rapid movement to the rear of the
stove and awaited the destruction of the pro-
fessor and the daring young men around him.
Nobody was damaged, however, when the ex-
plosiOn had done its worst. and the unterrified
but careful scribe returned to his seat without
having been missed.
BALLOON ASCENSION.
The next experiment was ofconsiderable in
terest to the younger members of the class. A
toy balloon was filed with hydrogen gas and
amid breathless silence was turned loose.
Semi-suppressed "ahs' and ..ohs' accom-
panied it as it rose to the ceiling. and one
young man with a business turn of mind sug-
gested to mercurial classmate that they for
sake medicine and go into the toy-balloon bust
ness. The lecturer went on talking of other
matters but nearly every eye in the class was
engaged in watching the little crimson sphere
as it bumped along, as it grew smaller by
degrees and beautifully less" and as it, after
touching lightly on the professors head,
landed in the lap of bald headed young man
who was, of course, seated in the front row.
Experiments followed showing how the gas
could be used as a test in cases of poisoning
and then, just as one of the lecturers assist
ants was preparing to blow soap bubbles filed
with hydrogen gas, which were to be foated
around and exploded. the bell rang again. the
lecturer bowed his thanks for the attention
paid him. the class applauded and another
lecturer appeared carrying with one hand a
human skeleton and bearing in the other a
pOnderous work on anatomy The lecture IN