The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1893-06-30

The Pail Mall Budget OF London pub
lished an interview with Professor James
Dewar on what is represented as being
"A great scientific discovery" that of
making liquid air Introductory to the
interview the article says that his liq-
uefaotions Of permanent gases and the
use of wanna to preserve great cold mark
one of the most important chemical dis
coveries Of the century" 1t is held by
scientists that any gas may be liquefed
if the pressure and cold may be obtained
and a vessel of sufficient strength to
withstand the great pressures,
OF the gases that may be hquefied car
bonic acid gas has been found to be the
cheapest and readiest made, and while it
has been known for many years that it
could be hquihed it has generally been
so prepared only in small quantities for
scientific uses The use of compressed
air as a motive power has presented many
difficulties, the principal one being its
bulkiness; hence large vessels must be
used in order to get a sufficient amount
of motive power, and it is hard to make
these strong enough and at the same time
light in weight.
AS motive power it is used at pres
sure of from 600 to 800 pounds But if
Professor Dewar has discovered an eco
nomical and ready way Of liquefying it,
it will tend to solve Il problem in carry
ing motive power in storage bulk that
will be of great benefit to the students in
this line. In the talk with the represent
alive Of The Pail Mall Budget. he says:
well, don't think there's very much
to say, because I've told all have to tel,
about the matter in my two lectures
but do believe there's a great deal more
to be learned about the subject. YOr
see, at present we've got these gases down
to 2l0 degrees below zero, and the Lowest
possible temperature is 974 degrees be
low If we could got some 80 degree!
lower down, we might liquefy hydrogen
Hydrogen has never been iqueied in {
free state yet.
Now, it's a strange thing that air car
be made into homogeneous fluid. You
would think, AS oxygen can be liguehet
vt -lS2 degrees and nitrogen not unit
--l99 degrees, that as you made the ali
colder and colder the oxygen would be
come liquid first and then the nitrogen
| saw that prediction made in stand
ard work only the other day Now,
dare say, You will ask why the oxygen
don't come down first"
Stepping quickly back to the desk Pro
fessor Dewar took up pencil and began
to draw with rapid strokes on the bacl
Of letter. The diagram when it wa
finished looked more like the law of dl
minishing returns turned up on one sid
than anything else that ain acquainte,
with. While he drew he rapidly ex
planned how the influence of atmosphere
pressure on the different volumes Of nj
trogen and oxygen in air makes ther
boil almost exactly at the same tempera
ture AS he made each point he frowne
little, drawing up tho wrinkles betwee
his eyes, Now, that. in the old thee
logical days, would have been taken a
u providential dispensation. The strang
, thing is that when liquid air evaporate
again they are under the same pressure
and the nitrogen goes Off first, as yo
would expect,
Ozone can be liquefed by acting o
the vapor given off from liquid oxyge
by electricity. 1t is splendid dark blu
color, almost as dark as indigo. Ozou
I has not the same molecule as oxygel
, and the electricity breaks up three two
, into two threes. That is the secret Of i
The queer thing about liquid ozone
.. that when it goes back into gas again
explodes You wouldn't think it, but
q is stronger than dynamite as an expl,
sive. It's simply because the ozone got
n hack into the molecular form of oxyge
. so fast. The force that comes from Il
+ electricity makes it explode withol
t meeting with any outside body, It's
tremendous explosive.
I'VE have discovered that liquid OK,
. gen acts as Il lens. 1t is so transpare,
t to heat, so to speak, that even at Il
t degrees below zero you can focus hei
q on it from one side and light piece
: paper by it on the other. You kno
/ that's just what happens in the cart
The suns heat gets focused on to Il
g earth through the lens formed by Il
# vacuum of space, which il so cold that
! hasn't any temperature at all-absolut
If ly zero"
> Professor Dewar gave a lecture {
e Liquid Air" at the Royal institution
Ie the presence of the Prince Of Wales, t
Duke of York, Lord Salisbury and 9th
: notable persons, He showed that by t
a withdrawal OF heat the air Is convert
y into liquid with total loss of chemic
d properties, incapable of supporting COZ
II bustion, or Of entering into combinati
Is Nyen with phosphorus and sodium, VIII
" certain physical properties remain. T
- conversion of oxygen into ozone was al
10 described, and the retelFtion by oxyg
If of its peculiar optical properties at t
AZ lowest temperature was demonstrat
,e by the very dense and well defined ban
ut Of its spectrum. In ordinary conditic
oxygen shows no unreasonable thern
g absorption, but at low temperature
vs. thermal absorptiYe power becomes ma
err fest
IN
"a. Thwarting an Enemy.
J. Sardsnapalus, the luxurious orien
!