COMBUSTION AND DEFLAGRATION. 133 



thus given out is disengaged from the hydrogen, 

 which is therefore as much a supporter of com- 

 bustion as the oxygen. 



Oxygen is also condensed, and even solidified on 

 combining with metals during their combustion 

 in it, by which they are converted into oxides. 

 In such cases, it is doubtless the principal source 

 of caloric. It is however not the only supporter 

 of metallic combustion ; for cyanogen, chlorine, 

 bromine, iodine, sulphur, phosphorus, and some 

 other solid bodies unite rapidly with metals when 

 they are heated together, with evolution of heat 

 and flame. 



The combustion of carbon, sulphur, and phos- 

 phorus in oxygen gas, is attended with intense 

 heat ; yet they are greatly expanded without any 

 condensation of the oxygen : for the carbonic, sul- 

 phuric, and phosphoric acids produced, have the 

 same volume as that of the oxygen. 



During the combustion of aether, alcohol, oils, 

 resins, wood, coal, and other inflammable bodies 

 in oxygen, the volume of the gaseous products 

 exceeds that of the oxygen ; yet the process is 

 attended with the production of immense quan- 

 tities of heat and light. 



There is a mixture prepared at the Military 

 Academy of Woolwich, called the Carcass com- 

 position, that burns with great violence, some- 

 what like the detonating compounds, which 

 cannot be quenched with water, and has been 

 supposed to resemble the Greek fire. 



