NITROGEN. 11 



will breathe verj- quick, become liighly excited, and 

 spring about with the greatest activity. Its powers, 

 however, are greatly over-stimulated : exhaustion and 

 death consequently soon ensue. 



4. It is much heavier than hydrogen, and somewhat 

 lighter than common air. 



5. This sub>* not only the grand supporter of 

 combustion an . but is also the most powerful 

 a, i; lor it has a property called by 

 cl , that is, of uniting with nearly all 

 other bodies and forming new combinations, leading 

 either to a changed state or to decay. Thus it is not 

 only the promoter of life, but of death and decomposi- 

 tion. 



It mi&:ht be expected that a body of such immense 

 iinptir " ould l>e abundant. ", we 



find ti. • n gas is in larger (jii lier 



element that is known. It forms, as has been said, 

 a fifth of the atmosphere; in nine lbs. of water, there 

 are eight of this gas; it exists largely in all plants, 

 and, in combination with various inorganic bodies, it 

 constitutes a large projxtrtion of the solid crust of our 

 earth. We meet it in all places, and see its elTects on 

 almost every known \hm\\. As the reader proceeds, 

 he wi' 'saction, and will 



becoii. properties. In the 



ver^' next paragraph below is an instance of its ozi* 

 dizing phosphorus. 



The last of these four most important organic sub- 

 stances, is Nitrogen. This gas is easily prepared in 

 sufficient purity for pur{>oses of ex|>erimtnt, by a very 

 simple proci'ss. Common air, or our atmosphere, hM 

 been 8tat< -fifth of oxirgen; the re- 



maining 1 .;en. In order to separate 



this nitrocen, we mvert an empty glass jar, and place 

 the op«-ii iMiiiilli in vviitir t1iii>; •itiit'iiiiwr \vit)iiri the 



