Page:On the various forces of nature and their relations to each other.djvu/117

Rh sugar, as you saw. This affinity can thus act across substances; and I want you to see how curiously what we call combustion acts with respect to this force of chemical affinity. If I take a piece of phosphorus and set fire to it, and then place a jar of air over the phosphorus, you see the combustion which we are having there on account of chemical affinity (combustion being in all cases the result of chemical affinity). The phosphorus is escaping in that vapour, which will condense into a snow-like mass at the close of the lecture. But suppose I limit the atmosphere, what then? why, even the phosphorus will go out. Here is a piece of camphor, which will burn very well in the atmosphere, and even on water it will float about and burn, by reason of some of its particles gaining access to the air. But if I limit the quantity of air by placing a jar over it, as I am now doing, you will soon find the camphor will go out. Well, why does it go out? Not for want of air, for there is plenty of air remaining in the jar. Perhaps you will be shrewd enough to say, for want of oxygen.

This, therefore, leads us to the inquiry as to