OXYGEN IN ITS RELATION TO MINERALOGY. 



By J. C. CooPEE, Topeka, Kan. 



An address delivered at Manhattan, November 28, 1903, before the thirty-sixth annual 

 meeting of the Kansas Academy of Science. 



/^^XYGEN is a simple word, but it has a wide relation. It is the 

 ^^ name of the most important element in all of nature's opera- 

 tions. It is, like the air, transparent, and without color, odor, or 

 taste. It is the most abundant of all substances. It makes nearly 

 one-half of the entire bulk of nlaterial substances in and of our earth. 

 It constitutes by weight nearly one-fifth of the atmosphere, eight- 

 ninths of the waters of the earth, and about one-third of the earth's 

 solid mass. 



It enters into combination with all the elements that make the 

 natural substance of this world, and probably all worlds — for it is 

 generally accepted that this world, though so small an atom, is an 

 epitome of the universe. 



In the mineral kingdom especially is it associated with all the ele- 

 ments. Its wide range of association makes it the most interesting 

 element in the mineral kingdom. 



The chemist tells us that there is but one element with which oxy- 

 gen does not combine, and that is chlorine. This is not the case with 

 any other of the elements. That is, it does not unite with chlorine 

 singly or alone, but it enters into combinations with other minerals 

 that are attached to chlorine ; for instance, potassium chlorate, which 

 is one of the common substances from which oxygen is obtained. 

 The potassium chlorate is composed of three elements — the two 

 gases, oxygen and chlorine, and the metal potassium, in the propor- 

 tion of one atom each of potassium and chlorine and three atoms of 

 oxygen. The oxygen is driven off by heat, and the chlorine remains 

 with the potassium, leaving what is called potassium chloride. 



We have a practical illustration here of the lack of affinity with 

 chlorine. The potassium is satisfied in its affections with the 

 chlorine, and freely lets go of the oxygen under the persuasion of a 

 little heat. Indeed, it gives it up so freely that there is some danger 

 of explosion in obtaining oxygen from potassium chlorate alone — the 

 oxygen being so ready to leave, I suppose, in consequence of its dis- 

 like to chlorine, that large quantities of the gas are ajpt to be set free 

 suddenly. This danger is prevented by mixing it with an equal 

 weight of manganese dioxide. 



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