FIRE A SOURCE OF WATER. 



the work, that to most men one fact of chemical 

 science is neither more nor less interesting 

 than another, and a statement of the periodic 

 law of Mendel6ef and Newlands excites no more 

 surprise than an announcement that one pound 

 of hydrogen, in burning, always combines with 

 eight pounds of oxygen. 



There are, however, some paradoxical facts 

 of chemical science which can be appreciated 

 by any thoughtful layman, and a few of these 

 will be presented here. 



I. 



CURIOSITIES OF COMBINATION. 



i. Fire a Source of Water : Picking Moisture 

 out of a Hot Flame. 



We are accustomed to think of heat, and 

 particularly of flame, in association with the 

 idea of perfect dryness ; but, as a matter of 

 fact, a flame is constantly adding to the mois- 

 ture in the room. An experiment will make 

 this convincingly clear. 



ABC (Fig. 43) is an inner tube or vessel of 

 thin brass, packed with pieces of ice, and then 

 filled with water, which runs in between the 

 pieces. The outer tube D E is made of any 

 convenient material, and leaves an annular 

 passage between itself and the inner tube. If 

 D E is also of brass its upper part may be slit 

 downwards an inch or so, and the alternate 



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