AIR 



ANT 



Fahrenheit, according to Sir Hum- 

 phrey Davy, air contains about 

 one fiftieth of its volume of va- 

 pour or raretied water ; and as the 

 specific gravity of vapour is to 

 that of air, nearly as 10 to 15, this 

 is about one-seventy-fifth part of 

 its weight. At 100° if there is a 

 free communication with water, 

 air contains about one-fourteenlh 

 part in volume, or aone-and-twen- 

 tieth part of its weight. It is the 

 condensation of vapour by the di- 

 minution of the temperature of the 

 atmosphere, which is probably the 

 principal cause of the formation of 

 clouds, and of the deposition of 

 dew, mist, snow or hail. 



The leaves of plants and many 

 other substance? have a power of 

 absorbing moisture from the at- 

 mosphere. In some vegetables, 

 such as the house-leeU, and diffe- 

 rent kinds of the aloe, this power 

 is so great (hat they will increase 

 in weight, when suspended in air, 

 and unconnected with the soil. 

 Water is likewise absorbed from 

 the atmosphere by the soil, and 

 that soil is said to be most fertile, 

 which has the greatest power to 

 absorb water. See Davy^s Ele- 

 ments of Agricultural Chemistry. 



Air and earth mutually transmit 

 fertility, like the transmission of 

 heat and cold in all bodies in con- 

 tact ; or at least there is a certain 

 point of saturation of fertility, be- 

 yond which exposure to the air 

 carries off the overplus. In the 

 case of fresh dung, exposure soon 

 lowers the fertility of its surface 

 down to the point of saturation ; 

 and the process of the transmission 

 of some volatile substance is disa- 

 greeably sensible to the nostrils. 

 On the other hand, air is a cause 



of fertility, and in general it is said 

 that the greatest quantity of the 

 beneficial influence of air will be 

 imbibed by the poorest mould, and 

 that which has been least exposed 

 to the action of the atmosphere. 

 Hence the utility of deep plough- 

 ing, which increases the quantity 

 of soil fit for cultivation, by expos- 

 ing the lower and more barren 

 strata to imbibe fertilizing princi- 

 ples from the atmosphere. 



ANTICOR, " a swelling in the 

 gullet and throat of a horse, and is 

 the same which in man is called 

 angina. It proceeds from the 

 same causes that bring on many 

 other diseases on horses, from hard 

 riding, exposing a horse to the 

 cold, giving him cold water to 

 drink when he is hot, full feeding, 

 and whatever else may cause a 

 stagnation of the blood. 



"The signs of this disorder are 

 all those that accompany a fe- 

 ver ; for an Anlicor, while it is 

 internal, is never without fever: 

 but when it shews itself external- 

 ly, the fever begins to abate, un- 

 less it continue to be both exter- 

 nal and internal. 



"So long as the inflammation 

 continues in the gullet, the horse 

 forsakes his food : and though he 

 has frequent inclinations to drink, 

 the first gulp deters him from med- 

 dling with it again, until he has 

 forgotten the pain and agony it put 

 him into. And the pain in the 

 gullet is yet more manifest from 

 this, that whenever a drench is 

 given him, he staggers and seems 

 as if he would fall down, and 

 makes short interrupted groans, 

 and sometimes will have a cold 

 clammy sweat about his ears. 



