DANGER OF CARBON- DIOXIDE 53 



In burns severe enough to destroy the skin, disinfection of 

 the open wound with weak carbolic acid or hydrogen peroxide 

 is very necessary. After this has been done, a soft cloth 

 soaked in a solution of linseed oil and limewater should be 

 applied and the whole bandaged. In such a case, it is im- 

 portant not to use cotton batting, since this sticks to the rough 

 surface and causes pain when removed. 



45. Carbon Dioxide. A Product of Burning. When any 

 fuel, such as coal, gas, oil, or wood, burns, it sends forth gases 

 into the surrounding atmosphere. These gases, like air, are 

 invisible, and were unknown to us for a long time. The chief 

 gas formed by a burning substance is called carbon dioxide 

 (CO 2 ) because it is composed of one part of carbon and two 

 parts of oxygen. This gas has the distinction of being the 

 most widely distributed gaseous compound of the entire world ; 

 it is found in the ocean depths and on the mountain heights, 

 in brilliantly lighted rooms, and most abundantly in manu- 

 facturing towns where factory chimneys constantly pour forth 

 hot gases and smoke. 



Wood and coal, and in fact all animal and vegetable mat- 

 ter, contain carbon, and when these substances burn or de- 

 cay, the carbon in them unites with oxygen and forms carbon 

 dioxide. 



The food which we eat is either animal or vegetable, and 

 it is made ready for bodily use by a slow process of burning 

 within the body ; carbon dioxide accompanies this bodily 

 burning of food just as it accompanies the fires with which 

 we are more familiar. The carbon dioxide thus produced 

 within the body escapes into the atmosphere with the breath. 



We see that the source of carbon dioxide is practically in- 

 exhaustible, coming as it does from every stove, furnace, and 

 candle, and further with every breath of a living organism. 



46. Danger of Carbon Dioxide. When carbon dioxide oc- 



