History of Air-Analysis 



43 



Two series of analyses of the air of Madrid were made by Torres 

 Muiloz. 1 The percentages of oxygen are very small, and those of carbon 

 dioxide usually very high, the latter ranging from 0.02 to 0.09 per cent. 

 The oxygen was determined in part by cuprous ammonium chloride and 

 in part by potassium pyrogallate. The percentages of oxygen obtained 

 are given in table 24. 



Another investigator, Russell, 2 using a modified Bunsen apparatus, 

 reports in 1868 an analysis of air as containing 20.845 per cent of oxygen. 



One of the first to use the pyrogallic-acid method for the analysis of 

 atmospheric air was Schiel, 3 who in 1857 determined the oxygen content 

 of air at an altitude of 2330 feet on the boundary between Kansas and 

 Colorado, finding 20.91 per cent as an average of three experiments. 



The importance of Liebig's discovery of the use of potassium pyrogal- 

 late as an absorbing agent for oxygen was early recognized by Speck, 4 

 who submitted the method to numerous tests in connection with his 

 physiological researches. Speck recommends the use of barium hydroxide 

 in place of potassium hydroxide to prevent the formation of carbon mon- 

 oxide. The analyses with barium hydroxide and pyrogallic acid agreed 

 well with the Bunsen explosion method. Duplicate analyses by the 

 barium pyrogallate method gave results as follows: 



One of the most extensive investigations of the oxygen content of 

 atmospheric air was that carried out by R. Angus Smith, of Manchester, 



1 Estudios quimicos sobre el aire atmosferico de Madrid, por D. Ramon Torres 

 Munoz de Luna, Madrid, 1860. A translation of this entire paper was made by de 

 Chambry and published in Annales d'Hygiene Publique et de Medicine legale, 1865, 

 series r 2, 15, p. 337. 



2 Russell, Journ. Chem. Soc, London, 1868, newser., 6, p. 140. 



3 Schiel, Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, 1857, 103, p. 120. 



4 Speck, Schriften der Gesellschaft zur Beforderung der gesammte Naturwissenschaft 

 zu Marburg, 1871, 10. 



