A I R 



the air tlifappesired, tlie remainder waa incapable of fiip- 

 piirtiiij; flame, and llie weight of the red oxyd cxatt'.y cor- 

 rcfpaiided xvitli the lofs fullaiiied by the mercury and the 

 air ; this red oxyd, being then heated in a fniKll retort, was 

 deco^iipoftd into runninfr mtccury and a gas which exhi- 

 bited all the proprrlies of dtph!.)j!;irticatid air ; fir.aliy, this 

 air, being mingled with tlie unrtlpirabic rcfidiie, reconipoled 

 atmofphencid air. From thefe and various other fimilar ex- 

 periments, it appeared, lliat the lower psit of the atmof- 

 phcre coiifiils of 27 parts oxvr.UN n:S: ar.d 73 of a nieplii- 

 tic air, which upon a furliieranalyfis, yielded about 72 parts 

 of A7.0T.C _^(u, ;ind one of CARHos'ic ai/W. Thefe cx))e- 

 rinunts will be fnrihcr detailed under the term eudio- 



MtTRY. 



l-'rom the (llj^lit adherence of thefe gaffes with each other 

 in the air, it is pri/oable that tliey are not fo much in a Rate 

 of combination as of intimate mixture ; and lience there are 

 fcareely any chemical actions produced by the atmofphere, 

 vliieh are not more properly refcraljle to lome one or other 

 of its conllituent parts. 



Atmofpiierical air, as fuch, is foluble in water ; from 

 which it may be feparated by the action of the air-pump, or 

 bv lung boihng or dilUllation ; lience fifli, confined in irefh 

 diAilled water, foon die for want of air : if, however, the water 

 has been previoudy expofcd to the atmolphere, a fufficient 

 portion is abforbed to fupply the demands of thefe animals. 

 ■In like manner water is foluble in air, but the proportion 

 of this mull neceffarily vary according to the differences in 

 temperature and barometrical preffure. Boyle's works, vol. 

 ii. Mayow, Traftatus, &c. PrieiUey on Air. Lavoifier's 

 lilements. 



Alt., fa i^ttious. While pneumatic chemiftry was in its 

 infancy, all thofe elallic fluids produced in chemical experi- 

 ments, were diftinguilhcd by this appellation from the air of 

 the atmofphere ; iince, however, thefe faftitious airs have 

 acquired peculiar names, the term has fallen into difufc. 



Air, acid. 1 g^^ j^^^ 



MARINE.' J 



7 



RIATIC ACID. 



Air 



FIXED. 



FIXABLE. 



MEPV 



See Carbonic acid. 



LUORIC ACID.jg^^p^^, 



'arry acid. J 



ORIC ACID. 



ABLE. j- [ 

 'HITIC. 3 



Air, vitriolic acid. See Sulphureous acid. 

 Air, fh 



SPAS 



Air, DEPHLOGISTICATED MARINE. See OxVMURI- 



ATIC ACID. 



Air, VEGETABLE ACID. See Acetous acid. 

 Air, nitrous. See Nitrous gas. 



Air, DEPHLOGISTICATED NITROUS. See NlTROl'S 

 OXYD. 



Air, mephitic atmospherical. T 



phlogisticated. > See Azot. 



nitrogenous. 



^ 



s 



See Oxygen. 



Air, vital. 



pure. 



FIRE. 



DEPHLOGISTICATED. J 



Air, inflammable. See Hydrogen. 



Air, SULPHURATED IN FL A M M A ELE. |^ See HvDROGEN 



HEPATIC. j fulphuratcd. 



Air, HEAVY INFLAMMABLE. SeeHYDROGENCariwiflto/, 



or Carbon, gaffcous oxyd of. 



Air, ALKALINE.- See Ammonia. 



For an account of Dr. Prieftley's numerous experiments 

 and obfervations on thefe feveral fpecics of air, the reader 

 ' is referred to the excellent work already cited. 



A I R 



Air, ir.nale, in Anatomy., is a fine aerial lubftancc, fup. 

 pofcd, by fome anatomiils, to be cnclofcd in the labyrinth . 

 of the inner ear, and to miniller to the due conveyance of 

 founds to the fenfory. 



But the cxillence of fuch innate air, has beea called in 

 quellion, and rendered very improbable. See Far. 



Air, in Geography. See Ayr. 



Air, a mountain of Arabia Felix, to the north of Medina, 

 and near it. It abounds with trees that yield fraiikinccnfe. 



Air, atniofphericul, in MeJ'idiie, wlien combined with 

 moilt;irc, diflercnt degrees of heal, electricity, and various 

 effluvia and miafinata, conilitutes the atmosphere; and 

 forms one of thofe fix external circuinftances fo celebrated 

 in the fchools, called non-natorals. Simple atmofpiie- 

 rical air is no farther an objecl of medicine or phyfiology 

 than as it foriristhe medium ot respiration. See the pre- 

 ceding and fubfequent articles. 



Air, in Muf.c, fignidcs the melody, or treble part of a 

 mufieal con:poiitioH. 



The word is alfo ufed for a tune, or fong itfelf, that is, 

 for a feries of iounds whoie movement is regular and grace- 

 ful. Rhyme is as neceffai-y in a mufical air, whether vocal 

 or inllrumental, as in the words of a f'.'tig. Each b;ir 

 of an air fliould be well accented, and the periods well 

 phrafed. 



The rules for hai-mony are mechanical, and neither 

 diflicult to learn nor teach, as may eafily be conjec- 

 tured from the innumerable treatifes in all languages for 

 combining founds in compofition. Arillotle, Horace, Boi- 

 leaii, and Pope, have told us how good poems are con- 

 ftrutted ; but who (hall tell us how to think, how ' t» 

 invent, to ferment ideas ? Among all the receipts for con- 

 ftruftlng harmony, we have none that are intelhgible for 

 melody : we are told what may be done, by what 1ms been 

 already fuccefsfuUy atchieved ; but this is only telling us 

 what we may imitate, and whom we may plunder. There 

 are no magic wands to point out, or vapours liovering over 

 fprings of invention ; no indications where the golden mine 

 of new conceptions lies hidden. So that from age to age, 

 memory and compilation fupply common minds, and fatisfy 

 common hearers. It has been fald : 



" Sometimes a hero in an age appears ; 

 But fcarce a Purcell in a thoufand years." 



Handel was our magnus Apollo during the laft century, 

 and Rameau that of France. At prefent, Haydn and 

 Mozart " are the gods of our idolatry," and thofe of all 

 Europe. But it is only fuch gifted men as thefe who furnilh 

 the reft of mankind with ideas. 



The origin and progrefs of melody, derived from har- 

 mony, and phrafed and formed into Air, have been fully 

 detailed in the Gen. Hift. of Mufic, in tracing the progrefs 

 of the mufical drama or opera. National mufic every 

 country, not wholly favage, has had from time immemo- 

 rial. In Europe, Sicily,^pain, Provence, Venice, Scotland, 

 Ireland, and Wales, have charafteriftic melodies tr tunes, of 

 great antiquity. But the firft pleafing Airs, in cultivated 

 mufic, that I have been able to find harmonized, and in 

 regular modulation, were printed in three and four parts in 

 feparate books at Naples, in 1565. Of thefe tiie meafures 

 are airy, the intervals pleafing, and the countei-point fiirple : 

 all the parts generally moving together. They are pnnted 

 without bars. The modulation borders a little on that of 

 the ecclefiaftical modes, but it begins and ends in the fame 

 kev, which does not often hapjjen in national tunes. 



Air, in mufic, has various applications : in the melodrama, 

 or opera, it dillinguillics mcafured melody from recitative. 



A bal. 



