362 DECAY OF WOODY FIBRE. 



carbon in the residual humus, as in all decomposi- 

 tions of this kind, its attraction for the hydrogen, 

 which still remains in combination, also increases, 

 until at length the affinity of oxygen for the hydro- 

 gen is equalled by that of the carbon for the same 

 element. 



In proportion as the decay of woody fibre ad- 

 vances, its property of burning with flame, or in 

 other words, of developing carburetted hydrogen on 

 the application of heat, diminishes. Decayed wood 

 burns without flame ; whence no other conclusion 

 can be drawn, than that the hydrogen, which analysis 

 shows to be present, is not contained in it in the 

 same form as in wood. 



Decayed oak contains more carbon than fresh 

 wood, but its hydrogen and oxygen are in the same 

 proportion. 



We should naturally expect that the flame given 

 out by decayed wood would be more brilliant, in 

 proportion to the increase of its carbon; but we find, 

 on the contrary, that it burns like tinder, exactly as if 

 no hydrogen were present. For the purposes of fuel, 

 decayed or diseased wood is of little value, for it 

 does not possess the property of burning with flame, 

 a property upon which the advantages of common 

 wood depend. The hydrogen of decayed wood must 

 consequently be supposed to be in the state of water; 

 for had it any other form, the characters we have de- 

 scribed would not be possessed by the decayed wood. 



If we suppose decay to proceed in a liquid, which 

 contains both carbon and hydrogen, then a compound 

 containing still more carbon must be formed, in a 

 manner similar to the production of the crystalline 

 colorless naphthalin from a gaseous compound of 

 carbon and hydrogen. And if the compound thus 

 formed were itself to undergo further decay, the 

 final result must be the separation of carbon in a 

 crystalline form. 



Science can point to no process capable of ac- 

 counting for the origin and formation of diamonds, 



