CALORIFICATION. 365 



SECTION II. 



(f, 



* %Poyr of Fire over Liquids and Gases. 



Such is the power which fire absolutely pos- 

 sesses over different bodies, whether they be 

 solid or liquid, that we know of very few, that 

 are capable of resisting its action, when it is 

 accumulated to an extreme degree. By expo- 

 sure to a certain degree of fire, it is probable 

 that most solids maybe converted into liquids; 

 and all liquids, by increasing the quantity of 

 fire, may be made to undergo the further 

 change from a fluid to a vaporific state. The 

 dilatation, which different bodies sustain by 

 the agency of fire, varies in a considerable de- 

 gree ; neither does the degree of expansion 

 bear any certain proportion to the quantity of 

 fire which is introduced. Solids, for the most 

 part, have a greater power to resist its influ- 

 ence than liquids, and liquids more than gases; 

 although the volume of water is somewhat 

 augmented, as its temperature increases from 

 the free2ing to the boiling point, the augmenta- 

 tion, however^Js small, when compared to 

 what it has attained in its vaporific state* 

 If the properties of this vapor (of this new 



