The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1898-08-25

ducing apparatus in my laboratory
our supply of liquid has been slowly
boiling away. You will observe that
1t now appears quite blue, as | pour 1t
out. That is because the nitrogen, be-
ing more volatile, has for the most part
boiled off, leaving a liquid which is
nearly rs per cent oxygen.
Wool, as you are aware, under or
binary conditions, will not burn; 1t
merely scorches and crisps, and gives
off unpleasant odors. But when l have
saturated a handful of it in liquid oxy-
gen, at the touch of a match it flashes
up like SO much gunpowder, n is
gone in a moment. A mass OF hair
felt treated In the same manner burns
nor like dampened gunpowder. with
a series of sputtering flashes, but 1t
also is completely consumed. The next
experiment gives a contrast OF extremes
of cold and heat which is without prec-
edent:
Pouring some of the liquid into a
smooth glass tumbler, l dip the bot
tom into a vessel Of water. A thin
casing of ice Immediately forms about
it, but at once begins to crack with the
intense cold: BY repeated dimensions,
however, adding coat after coat, l pres
emily get a sort of crackle-ware ice-cup,
thick enough to bear handling after
the tumbler upon which it has been
nodded has been withdrawn. This ice
cup l partially fill with a liquid now
largely oxygen; and when l dip into it
the end of a steel wire to which d light
ed match is fastened, the hard metal
burns eXplosively, like d fuse, with a
brilliant effusion of sparks, so that the
chilly crystal around it glows like a
lamp. On inspecting the cup after this
display of fireworks is ended, you will
find that the sizzling metal has covered
the bottom with beads and pellets Of
steel-we have actually melted iron in
a crucible of ice!
AS the cup is quite uninjured by its
use as a melting pot, l refill it. Then,
taking a carbon rod, such as is used in
electric arc lamps, and heating the tip
to redness, l plunge !. into the oxygen.
1t burns in the boiling liquid with in
tense brightness though rather slowly
on account of its extreme density.
| To conclude the experiment., ! drop in
d lighted cigarette. 1t comes up like
a fashlight. Yet the ice cup has not
| thawed in the least, and l set it aside
| covered with a fine, dry dust of frost.
1t remains to show the explosive
power of this mysterious liquid under
various conditions. l first take a heavy
copper tube about a foot long, sealed at
| the lower end, and having poured in a
few drops of liquid air, hammer a close
ly fitting wood plug into the orifice. l
have scarcely time to step back be-
fore the expanding vapor blows out
the plug with a loud explosion, driv-
ing it against the sealing with great
force; in the open air l have see 1t
hurled to a height of three hundred feet,
The confined liquid has behaved ex-
actly as water would act in a tube
heated white hot.
Here the action is purely mechani-
cal, but by taking advantage of the in
tense chemical activity of oxygen, ex'
blossoms of far greater violence may
be obtained. To illustrate Lnls, I Sat
urate in the azure-tinted liquid a wac
of oily cotton waste, and place 1t In
steel tube of great strength, open a
both ends. When a spark is applied
which must be done from a safe dis
tance-the tube is rent in fragments
If the wad were first wet with turpen'
tine, the explosive force would exceed
that Of gun cotton.