OXYGENNESIS,  FOR  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  OXYGEN,  ETC.  241 
OXYGENNESIS,  FOR  THE  INSTANTANEOUS  PRODUCTION 
OF  PURE  OXYGEN  WITHOUT  HEAT. 
By  Mr.  J.  Robbins. 
From  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  oxygen  to  the  present, 
perhaps  no  subject  has  so  much  engaged  the  attention  of  chem- 
ists as  the  production  of  it  at  a  cost  sufficiently  low  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  arts,  for  the  reduction  of  metals  and  other  opera- 
tions requiring  a  high  temperature,  and  also  for  the  purposes  of 
illumination,  the  light  obtained  by  it  vieing  in  splendor  with 
with  the  sun's  rays.  This  desirable  object  has  yet  to  be  accom- 
plished, and  may  be  regarded  as  a  prize  to  be  won  by  some 
future  happy  discoverer.  It  seems  surprising,  since  Nature  has 
provided  us  so  bountifully  with  this  substance,  and  presented 
it  in  such  a  variety  of  combinations,  that,  up  to  the  present 
time,  there  should  be  no  known  method  of  separating,  except 
at  such  a  cost  which  excludes  it  for  the  purposes  just  enu- 
merated. 
In  Gmelin's  "  Chemistry"  six  processes  are  given  for  the 
production  of  oxygen  : — 
1st.  By  heating  chlorate  of  potash  to  low  redness.  As  this 
process  is  slow  and  tedious,  a  small  quantity  of  oxide  manganese 
is  usually  mixed  with  the  salt,  which  greatly  facilitates  the  de- 
composition, and  the  evolution  of  gas  is  both  rapid  and  abun- 
dant. According  to  the  authority  just  named,  manganese  is 
often  mixed  with  carbonaceous  matter,  which  passes  over  as 
carbonic  acid,  but  another  impurity  I  may  mention  is  the  pres- 
ence of  chlorine,  which,  I  believe,  may  always  be  detected  when 
oxygen  is  obtained  by  this  method. 
2d.  By  ignition  of  red  oxide  of  mercury.  The  presence  of 
hyponitric  acid  may  be  feared  in  oxygen  so  obtained. 
3d.  By  strong  ignition  of  oxide  of  manganese. 
4th.  By  heating  manganese  with  an  equal  weight  of  oil  of 
vitriol. 
5th  By  ignition  of  nitrate  of  potash.  This  salt,  when  heated 
above  its  melting  point,  is  converted  by  the  loss  of  two  equiva- 
lents of  oxygen  into  nitrite  of  potash  ;  on  a  further  increase  of 
temperature  both  nitrogen  and  oxygen  pass  off,  consequently 
the  product  is  always  contaminated  with  nitrogen,  which  in- 
creases as  the  action  proceeds. 
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