NITRIC ACID, CARBONIC ACID. 11 



with one of oxygen. N H 3 or Am is ammonia, three 

 atoms of H and one atom of N. Carbonic acid is C O 2 , 

 that is, one atom of carbon with two of oxygen. N 

 is protoxide of nitrogen, one atom of each element ; N O 2 , 

 N O 3 , N O 4 , N O 5 , represent the successive oxides of 

 Art. 31, and nitric acid, in which one atom of nitrogen 

 is supposed to be united with five of oxygen ; and if each 

 atom of nitrogen weighs 14, each atom of oxygen must 

 weigh 8, on the same scale. 



32. Nitric Acid, like sulphuric acid, is so excessively cor 

 rosive as speedily to destroy almost any substance exposed 

 to its action. It is a liquid, looking somewhat like water. 



A flash of lightning, in the air, often causes oxygen 

 and nitrogen to combine, forming nitric acid, which is 

 immediately dissolved by the rain, and is sometimes 

 found in rain water. 



33. Carbonic Acid is the gas which rises, in the form 

 of bubbles, in the fermentation of beer, or when you open 

 a bottle of beer, or in the effervescence of cider or of 

 wine. It is the gas which kills a person who remains too 

 long in a close room where there is a pan of burning 

 coals. It is formed by the combination of oxygen with 

 carbon or charcoal. 



34. All kinds of wood and other vegetable substances 

 are made up mostly of carbon or charcoal, united with 

 water, or with oxygen and hydrogen, in nearly the same 

 proportions in which they form water. When wood is 

 kindled, it unites with the oxygen of the air. Burning 

 or combustion is the uniting of a combustible substance 

 with oxygen, accompanied with light and heat. 



35. The blaze or Flame is formed by the uniting of 

 oxygen with a combustible gas. 



2* 



