270 EREMACAUSIS OR DECAY. 



oxygen are separated from its elements in the form 

 of carbonic acid, and hydrogen in the form of carbu- 

 retted hydrogen. But when wood decays or putre- 

 fies in the air, its hydrogen does not combine with 

 carbon, but with oxygen, for which it has a much 

 greater affinity at common temperatures. 



Now it is evident from the complete similarity 

 of these processes, that decaying and putrefying 

 bodies can mutually replace one another in their 

 reciprocal actions. 



All putrefying bodies pass into the state of decay 

 when exposed freely to the air ; and all decaying 

 matters into that of putrefaction, when air is 

 excluded. All bodies, likewise, in a state of decay 

 are capable of inducing putrefaction in other bodies 

 in the same manner as putrefying bodies them- 

 selves do. 



EREMACAUSIS OR DECAY OF BODIES WHICH 

 DO NOT CONTAIN NITROGEN I FORMATION OF 

 ACETIC ACID. 



ALL those substances which appear to possess the 

 property of entering spontaneously into fermenta- 

 tion and putrefaction, do not in reality suifer those 

 changes without some previous disturbance in the 

 attraction of their elements. Eremacausis always 

 precedes fermentation and putrefaction, and it is not 

 until after the absorption of a certain quantity of 

 oxygen that the signs of a transformation in the 

 interior of the substances show themselves. 



