'CHANGES PRODUCED' IN AIR BY RESPIRATION. }g\ 



the gas after the experiment < g« o. te 



whereas before the experiment it was < ~ 



oxigen, 

 azote. 



Now we did not suppose the residuum of 86 to be all Residuum 

 azote, though 79 might be ; therefore seven parts appeared 

 to have been added by this unnatural mode of respiring, 

 and we conjectured the addition might be gaseous oxide of 

 carbon. 



To ascertain this, we put 40 parts into a flint stopper bot- 

 tle, and nearly tilled it with about 100 parts hyperoxigenized 

 muriatic acid, procured as before, and recently prepared; 

 the stopper being put in, over distilled water, we plunged it 

 into quicksilver, and filled a second bottle in the same way, 

 as a comparative experiment. 



We next procured some pure azote, by absorbing the oxi- Ifyperoxigem- 



gen from a portion of atmospheric air by the saturated green zefl niuriati c 



ii, » • i ii. i „ acid gas has no 



sulphate and simple green sulphate as usual ; 40 parts ot ac i on U p 0n 



this azote were mixed with the same proportion of the acid azole » 

 gas as in the other experiment, and the whole suffered to 

 stand for forty-eight hours; at the end of this time the azote 

 was examined, by washing it first in distilled water, and af- 

 terward in the eudiometer with the tests for oxigen ; and ' 

 there were still exactly 40 parts left ; proving that the hy- 

 peroxigenized muriatic acid gas has no action upon azote. 



We then examined the bottles containing the residuum The residuum 

 from the air that had been so often respired, and found that azote< 

 it had not experienced the slightest change; it was therefore 

 plainly azote; and on reflection, it occurred to us, that if a 

 certain proportion of oxigen had been absorbed or lost in 

 any way,while the azote remained unaltered, there must be 

 an increased proportion of the latter. 



Now we knew exactly both the bulk and the constitution 

 Of the air before the experiment; but it was impossible to 

 know the bulk or volume after the experiment otherwise 

 than by calculation. 



The 300 cubic inches of atmospheric air before the expe- 

 riment 



