CARBON, BORON, SILICON, SELENIUM, SULPHUR, PHOSPHORUS.
This group of non-metallic elements has been frequently styled
"Metalloids," meaning substances allied to, but not possessing, all the
properties belonging to a metallic substance; and therefore perhaps the
expression, non-metallic solids, is the best that can be adopted. They
may be subdivided into two classes of three each, which have properties
more or less allied to each other--viz.,
Carbon, Boron, Silicon; and
Selenium, Sulphur, Phosphorus.
[Page 152]
CARBON.
Symbol, C; Combining Proportion, 6.
This element has almost the property of ubiquity, and is to be found not
only in all animal and vegetable substances, in common air, sea, and
fresh water, but also in various stones and minerals, and especially in
chalk and limestone.
There is, perhaps, no element which offers a greater variety of amusing
experiments and elementary facts than carbon, whether it be considered
either in its simple or combined state.
A piece of carbon, in the shape of the Koh-i-Noor, was one of the chief
attractions at the first Exhibition in Hyde Park. The diamond is the
hardest and most beautiful form of charcoal; how it was made in the
great laboratory of nature, or how its particles came together, seems to
be a mystery which up to the present time has not yet been solved, at
all events no artificial process has yet produced the diamond.
Sir D. Brewster, speaking of the Koh-i-Noor, remarks that on placing it
under a microscope, he observed several minute cavities surrounded with
sectors of polarized light, which could only have been produced by the
expansive action of a _compressed gas or fluid_, that had existed in the
cavities when the diamond was in the _soft_ state.
Now it is known that bamboo, which is of a highly silicious nature, has
the property of depositing in its joints a peculiar form of silica,
called tabasheer. Silicon is one of the triad with carbon--_i.e._, it is
allied to carbon on account of certain analogies; may it not then be
supposed that, in times gone by, ages past, when the atmosphere was
known to be highly charged with carbonic acid gas, there might possibly
have existed some peculiar tree which had not only the power of
decomposing carbonic acid (possessed by all plants at the present
period), but was enabled, like the bamboo, to deposit, not silica, which
is the oxide of silicium, but carbon, the purest form of charcoal--viz.,
the diamond? Speculation in these matters is ever more rife than stern
proof, and it may be stated, that all attempts to manufacture this
precious gem (like those of the alchemists with gold and silver) have
most signally failed.
_First Experiment._
Box and various woods, dried bones, and different organic matters,
placed in a nearly close iron or other vessel, and heated red hot, so
that all volatile matter may escape, leave behind a solid black
substance called charcoal. If that kind obtained from bones, and termed
bone black or ivory black, is roughly powdered, and placed in a flask
with some solution of indigo or some vinegar, or syrup obtained by
dissolving common moist sugar in water, and boiled for a short period,
the colour is removed, and on filtering the liquid it is found to be as
clear and colourless as water, provided sufficient ivory black has been
employed.
[Page 153]
_Second Experiment._
Charcoal is a disinfectant, and is used for respirators; it has even
been recommended medically, and charcoal lozenges can be bought at
various chemists' shops. If a few drops of a strong solution of
hydrosulphuret of ammonia (which has the agreeable odour belonging to
putrid eggs) is mixed with half a pint of water, it will of course smell
strongly, and likewise precipitate Goulard water, or a solution of
acetate of lead black; but on shaking the water with a few ounces of
charcoal, it no longer smells of sulphuretted hydrogen, and if filtered
and poured into a solution of lead does not turn it black. This chemical
action of charcoal, independent of its seeming mechanical attraction for
colouring matter, would appear to show that the pores of charcoal
contain oxygen, which in that peculiar condensed state destroys
colouring matter, and oxidizes other bodies.
_Third Experiment._
A very satisfactory experiment, proving that the diamond and plumbago or
black lead are identical with charcoal, although differing in outward
form and purity, can be made at a little cost, by purchasing a fragment
of refuse diamond, called "_boart_," of Mr. Tennant of the Strand. A
small piece costs about five shillings. The fragment should be carefully
supported by winding some _thin_ platinum wire round it, as, if the wire
is too thick, it cools down the heat of the bit of diamond and prevents
it kindling in the oxygen gas. A difficulty may arise in preparing the
fragment, in consequence of the wire continually slipping off. The
"boart" should therefore be grasped by the thumb and first finger, and
the wire wound round; then it must be carefully turned and again wound
across with the platinum wire, as in the sketch below. (Fig. 145.)
[Illustration: Fig. 145. A. The platinum wire. B. The fragment of
"boart" or refuse diamond.]
A piece of black lead (so called) may now be taken from a lead pencil
and also supported by platinum wire; likewise a bit of common bark
charcoal or hard coke. Three bottles of oxygen should now be prepared
from chlorate of potash and oxide of manganese, an extra bottle being
provided for the diamond in case there should be any failure in its
ignition. The bark charcoal can be first ignited by holding a corner in
the spirit lamp for a few seconds; when plunged into oxygen it
immediately kindles and burns with rapidity, and if the cork is well
fitted, the product of combustion--viz., carbonic acid gas--is retained
for future examination. The small piece of black lead is next heated red
hot in the flame of the spirit lamp, and being attached by its platinum
support to a stiff copper wire thrust through a cork, which fits the
bottle of oxygen, is placed whilst red hot in the gas, and continues to
glow until consumed. The fragment of diamond is by no means, however,
so [Page 154] easily ignited, the flame of the spirit lamp must be
urged upon it with the blowpipe; when quite red hot, an assistant may
remove the stopper from the bottle of oxygen, and the person heating the
diamond should plunge it instantly into the gas; if this is dexterously
managed, the fragment of _boart_ glows like a little star, and the
combustion frequently continues till the piece diminishes so much that
it falls out of its platinum support.
Sometimes the diamond cools down without igniting, the same process must
therefore be repeated, and a few extra bottles of oxygen will prevent
disappointment, as every failure destroys the purity of the gas by
admixture with atmospheric air when the stopper is removed. (Fig. 146.)
[Illustration: Fig. 146. A. Bottle containing bark charcoal. B. Ditto
the plumbago or black lead. C. Ditto the diamond.]
The combustion having ceased in the three bottles, the corks are
removed, and the glass stoppers again fitted for the purpose of testing
the _products_, which offer no apparent indication of any change, as
oxygen and carbonic acid gas are both invisible. In each bottle a new
combination has been produced; the charcoal, the black lead, the diamond
have united with the oxygen, in the proportion of six parts of carbon to
sixteen parts of oxygen, to form twenty-two parts of carbonic acid gas,
which may be easily detected by pouring into each bottle a small
quantity of a solution of slacked lime in water, called lime water. This
test is easily made by shaking up common slacked lime with rain or
distilled water for about an hour, and then passing it through a calico
or paper filter. The test, though perfectly clear when poured in,
becomes immediately clouded with a white precipitate, usually termed a
_milkiness_, no doubt in allusion to the London milk, which is supposed
to contain a notable proportion of chalk and water, for in this case the
precipitate is chalk, the carbonic acid from the diamond and the
charcoal having united with the lime held in solution by the water and
formed carbonate of lime, or chalk, a substance similar in composition
to marble, limestone, Iceland or double refracting spar, these three
being nearly similar in composition, and differing only, like carbon and
the diamond, in external appearance.
[Page 155]
The milkiness, however, must not be held as conclusive of the presence
of carbonic acid gas until a little vinegar or other acid, such as
hydrochloric or nitric, has been finally added; if it now disappears
with effervescence (like the admixture of tartaric acid, water, and
carbonate of soda), the little bubbles of carbonic acid gas again
escaping slowly upwards, leaving the liquid in the three bottles quite
clear, then the experimentalist may sum up his labours with these
effects, which prove in the most decisive manner that common charcoal,
black lead, and the diamond, are formed of one and the same
element--viz., carbon.
_Fourth Experiment._
Having effected the synthesis (or combining together) of the diamond and
oxygen, it is no longer possible to recover it in its brilliant and
beautiful form. If the product of combustion is retained in a flask made
of thin, hard glass, and two or three pellets of the metal potassium are
placed in directly after the diamond has ceased to burn, and the flame
of a spirit lamp applied till the potassium ignites, then the metal, by
its great affinity for oxygen, takes away and separates it again from
that which was formerly the diamond; but instead of the jewel being
deposited, there is nothing but _black_, shapeless, and minute particles
of carbon obtained, if the potash produced is dissolved in water, and
the charcoal separated by a filter.
_Fifth Experiment._
Chalk is made by uniting carbonic acid gas with lime; it may therefore
be employed as a source of the gas, by placing a few lumps of chalk, or
marble, or limestone, in a bottle such as was used in the generation of
hydrogen gas; on the addition of some water and hydrochloric acid,
effervescence takes place from the escape of carbonic acid gas, and the
cork and pewter pipe being adapted, it may be conveyed by its own
gravity into glasses, jugs, or any other vessels, and a pneumatic trough
will not be required. Carbonic acid gas has a specific gravity of 1.529,
and is therefore rather more than half as heavy again as atmospheric
air.
_Sixth Experiment._
In order to satisfy the mind of the operator that the gas obtained from
chalk is similar to the _product of combustion from the diamond_, some
lime-water may be placed in a glass, and the gas from the bottle allowed
to bubble through it; instantly the same milkiness is apparent, which
again vanishes on the addition of acid. And this experiment is rendered
still more striking if a lighted taper be placed in the glass just after
the addition of the acid, when it will be immediately extinguished.
_Seventh Experiment._
If a lady's muff-box, supported by threads or chains, is hung on one end
of a scale-beam, and counterbalanced by a scale pan and a few shot, it
is [Page 156] immediately depressed on pouring into the muff-box a
quantity of carbonic acid gas, which may have been previously collected
in a large tin vessel. After showing the weight of the gas, the box is
detached from the scale-beam, and the contents poured upon a series of
lighted candles, which are all extinguished in succession. (Fig. 147.)
[Illustration: Fig. 147. A. Carbonic acid gas poured out of the tin box
into B, the muff-box. B B. Detached muff-box, and candles extinguished
by the carbonic acid gas poured from it.]
_Eighth Experiment._
The property of carbonic acid gas of extinguishing flame, as compared
with the contrary property of oxygen, is nicely shown by first passing
into a large and tall gas jar one half of its volume of oxygen gas; a
large cork perforated with holes may be introduced, so as to float upon
the surface of the water in the gas jar, and is usefully employed to
break the violence with which the carbonic acid enters the gas jar, as
it is passed in to fill up the remaining half volume of the gas jar,
which now contains oxygen at the top, and carbonic acid gas at the
bottom. On testing the contents of the jar with a lighted taper, it
burns fiercely in the oxygen, but is immediately extinguished in the
[Page 157] carbonic acid gas, being alternately lighted and put out as
it is raised or depressed in the gas jar.
_Ninth Experiment._
A little treacle, water, and a minute portion of size, may be placed
with some yeast in a quart bottle, to which a cork and pewter or glass
pipe is attached; directly the fermentation begins, quantities of
carbonic acid gas may be collected, and tested either with lime-water or
the lighted taper.
_Tenth Experiment._
Some clear lime-water placed in a convenient glass is quickly rendered
milky on passing through it the air from the lungs by means of a glass
tube; thus proving that respiration and (as shown by the ninth
experiment) fermentation, as well as the combustion of charcoal, produce
carbonic acid gas.
_Eleventh Experiment._
[Illustration: Fig. 148. A A. The box model of the Grotto del Cane. B B.
Cardboard fixed in front of box, and painted to imitate rocks. C.
Carbonic acid gas bottle, with bent tube passing through hole in the
side of the box. A taper introduced at D burns in the upper, and is
extinguished in the lower, part of the model.]
Carbonic acid gas is not only generated by the above processes, but is
liberated naturally in enormous quantities from volcanoes, and from
certain soils: hence the peculiar nature of the air in the Grotto del
Cane. Dogs thrust into this cave drop down immediately, and are
immediately revived by the tender mercies of the guides, who throw them
into the adjoining lake. This natural phenomenon is well imitated by
taking a box, open at the top, and nailing on to it a frame of
cardboard, [Page 158] which may be painted to represent rocks, taking
care that a portion (about three inches deep) at the lower part is well
pasted to the box at the edges, so that the gas may be retained; a hole
is perforated at the top side to admit a lighted taper, and another at
the side for the pipe from the carbonic acid bottle; when the bottom is
filled with gas, a taper is applied, which is found to burn in the upper
part, but is immediately extinguished when it reaches the lower
division, where the three inches of pasteboard prevent it falling out:
thus showing in a simple manner why a guide may enter the cave with
impunity, whilst the dog is rendered insensible because immersed in the
gas. (Fig. 148.)
_Twelfth Experiment._
Many fatal accidents have occurred in consequence of the air in deep
pits, graves, &c., becoming unfit for respiration by the accumulation of
carbonic acid gas, which may arise either from cavities in the soil,
where animal matter has undergone decomposition, or it may happen from
the depth and narrowness of the hole or well preventing a proper draught
or current of air, so that it becomes foul by the breathing of the man
who is digging the pit. Air which contains one or two per cent. of
carbonic acid will support the respiration of man, or maintain the flame
of a candle; but it produces the most serious results if inhaled for any
length of time; a lighted candle let down into a well (suspected to
contain foul air) before the descent of the person who is to work in it,
may burn, but does not indicate the presence of the small percentage of
the poison, carbonic acid. Frequently no trouble is taken to test the
air with a lighted candle; a man is lowered by his companions, who see
him suddenly become insensible, another is then lowered quickly to
rescue him, and he shares the same fate; and indeed cases have occurred
where even a third and a fourth have blindly and ignorantly rushed to
their death in the humane attempt to rescue their fellow creatures. What
is to be done in these cases? Are the living to remain idle whilst the
unfortunate man is suffocating rapidly at the bottom of the pit? No;
provided they do not venture themselves into the pit, they may try every
known expedient to alter the condition of the foul air, so as to enable
them to descend to the rescue. One should be despatched to any
neighbouring house or cottage for a pan of burning coals; if any slacked
lime is to be had, it may be rapidly mixed with water, and poured down
the side of the pit; a bundle of shavings set on fire and let down,
keeping it to one side, so as to establish a current; or even the empty
buckets constantly let down empty and pulled up full of the noxious air,
may appear a somewhat absurd step to take, but under the circumstances
any plan that will change the air sufficiently to enable another person
to descend must be adopted; in proof of which the following experiments
may be adduced:
Fill a deep glass jar with carbonic acid, and ascertain its presence
with a lighted taper; if a beaker glass to which a string is attached is
let down into the vessel and drawn up, and then inverted over a lighted
[Page 159] taper, the utility of this simple plan is at once rendered
apparent; the beaker glass represents the empty bucket, and can be let
down and pulled up full of carbonic acid until a sensible change in the
condition of the atmosphere is produced. The best plan, however, is to
set the air in motion by heat obtained from burning matter, or even a
kettle of boiling water, lowered by a cord, and this fact is well shown
by putting a small flask full of boiling water, and corked, at the
bottom of the deep glass jar containing the carbonic acid gas, which
rises like other gases when sufficiently heated, and passing away, mixes
with the surrounding air. (Fig. 149.)
[Illustration: Fig. 149. A. Deep jar containing carbonic acid gas, which
is being removed by the little glass bucket. B. Jar containing corked
flask of boiling water on a pad; the heated gas rises and the cold air
descends to take its place.]
_Thirteenth Experiment._
Carbonic acid gas dissolved in water under considerable pressure, forms
that most agreeable drink called soda-water; the gas is not only useful
in this respect, but has been applied most successfully by Mr. Gurney to
extinguish a fire on a gigantic scale, which had been burning for years
in the waste of a coal mine in Scotland. The same gas, generated
suddenly by the combustion of a mixture of nitre, coke dust, and clay,
or plaster of Paris, in vessels of a peculiar construction, has formed
the subject of a patent by Phillips, since merged into the Fire
Annihilator Company. The instrument is peculiarly adapted for shipping,
and might, if properly used, be the means of saving many ships and
valuable lives. (Fig. 150.)
Its practical value is established by the test of actual use: in the
streets, by the Leeds Fire Brigade, and by firemen of the Fire
Annihilator Company, temporarily stationed at Liverpool and Manchester.
The Fire Annihilator has been formally recognised by the Government
Emigration Commissioners, who introduced into the Passengers' Act, 1852,
in §24, the alternative, "_Or other apparatus for extinguishing fire_,"
with distinct reference to this invention, and subsequently by formal
order authorized their officers to pass ships carrying Fire
Annihilators.
[Page 160]
[Illustration: Fig. 150. A. A carriage with six fire annihilators, No. 5
size, fitted with moveable pipes. The body of the carriage forms a tank
for forty gallons of water; the tank is filled at a bunghole in the
platform; a patent tap is fitted to the rear of the carriage; a spigot
is placed near the end upright of the rail; a hand-pump is placed in the
box at rear of carriage; a leather bucket with foot-holds and three
canvas buckets are hung on the carriage; a hammer for removing and
driving on the cover of the fire annihilator, and a nut wrench for the
No. 10 truck, are placed in the box. B. A fire annihilator, No. 10 size,
with moveable pipe, on a spring truck, is attached to the carriage.
The battery is fitted with shafts for one horse. A pole is also provided
to fix across the shafts, so that the battery may be drawn by hand.]
[Illustration: Fig. 151. A. Tank containing acid, communicating by a
pipe with B, half filled with chalk and water. C C C C. Pipes conveying
carbonic acid from the generator B, to the ceiling, where it is
discharged from numerous holes on the fire beneath.]
Monsieur Adolphe Girard has proposed that all houses should be provided
with an apparatus for the generation of carbonic acid gas, placed [Page
161] outside the building, which is to be conveyed along the ceiling by
means of pipes perforated with numerous holes, and to be put in
operation directly a fire breaks out. This plan, however ingenious,
could hardly supply the carbonic acid gas with sufficient rapidity, and
it is to be feared would utterly fail in practice. (Fig. 151.)
BORON.
Symbol, B; combining proportion, 10.9.
Discovered by Homberg, in 1702, in borax, which is a biborate of soda
(NaO,2BO_{3}), and is used very extensively in the manufacture of glass;
also for glazing stoneware and soldering metals; it is also a valuable
flux in various crucible operations, whilst in testing minerals with the
blowpipe it is invaluable. Borax is made either from tincal, a substance
that occurs naturally in some parts of India, China, and Persia, or by
the addition of carbonate of soda to boracic acid, a substance obtained
from the volcanic districts of Tuscany, whence it is imported to this
country, and used in the manufacture of borax.
The element boron may be obtained by placing some pure boracic acid and
some small bits of potassium in a tube together, and applying the flame
of a spirit-lamp, a glow of heat takes place, and when the tube is cold
the potash may be washed away, and the boron remains as a dark brownish
powder somewhat resembling carbon. M. St. Claire Deville and Wöhler have
lately made some important discoveries with respect to this element, and
disproved the statement that it is uncrystallizable. Their researches
prove it to be producible under three forms and of various colours, such
as honey-yellow and garnet-red, the crystals in some cases being like
diamonds of the purest water--_i.e._, limpid and transparent. A new
combination of aluminium and boron is stated to possess the most
remarkable properties. It is harder than the diamond, and in the state
of powder will cut and drill rubies, and even the diamond itself, with
more facility than diamond powder. Deville and Wöhler incline to the
belief that the diamond is dimorphous, and capable (in conditions yet to
be described) of assuming the same forms as boron. At a high
temperature, boron, like titanium, absorbs _nitrogen_ only from the
atmosphere, and rejects the oxygen. (Query, may not some of those
remarkably hard black diamonds prove to be boron?)
SILICON.
Symbol, Si; combining proportion, 21.3.
The great Berzelius was the first to obtain this element in 1823.
Silicon in the pure state is a dark brown powder; if ignited at a very
high temperature it assumes a chocolate colour, which is supposed to be
the allotropic condition, because it no longer burns when heated
moderately in oxygen or air, and is not attacked by hydrofluoric acid.
[Page 162] The most interesting combination of silicon is the teroxide
called silicic acid, silica (SiO_{3}). Silicon is next to oxygen so far
as regards its plentifulness, and is found in the state of silica in
nearly every mineral, but especially in rock crystal, quartz, flint,
sand, jasper, agate, and tripoli. It is largely used in the manufacture
of glass, and a most useful "soluble glass" is obtained by melting
together in a crucible fifteen parts of sand, ten parts of carbonate of
potash, and one part of charcoal.
Cold water merely washes away the excess of alkali, and after this is
done the powdered soluble glass may be boiled with water in the
proportion of one of the former with five of the latter, when it
gradually dissolves; the solution may be evaporated to a thick pasty
fluid, which looks like jelly when cool, and on exposure to the air in
thin films changes to a transparent, colourless, brittle, but not hard
glass. Wood, cotton, and linen fabrics are rendered less combustible
when coated with this glass, which excludes the oxygen of the air, and
it has lately been employed to fill up the porous and capillary openings
in stone exposed to the atmosphere, and is stated to be very efficacious
as a preservative of the stone in some cases.
SULPHUR.
Symbol, S; combining proportion, 16.
Sulphur, like charcoal, is of common occurrence in nature, and is
chiefly supplied from the volcanic districts of Tuscany and Sicily:
there is an abundance of this element in the United Kingdom, but then it
is locked up in combination with iron, copper, and lead, under the name
of iron pyrites, copper pyrites, galena; and whilst Sicily and Tuscany
supply thousands of tons weight in the uncombined state, it is not, of
course, worth while to go through expensive operations at home for the
separation of sulphur from the ores. During the dispute between Sicily
and England, several patents were secured for new and economical
processes by which sulphur was obtained from various minerals; and had
this country been excluded from a supply of native sulphur, no doubt
some of these patents would now be in active operation.
It is almost possible to estimate the commercial prosperity of a country
by the sulphur it consumes, not, happily, by their warlike operations,
but in the manufacture of oil of vitriol or sulphuric acid, which is the
starting point of a great number of useful arts and manufactures.
_First Experiment._
Some very curious results may be obtained by heating sulphur at certain
temperatures; in the ordinary state it is a pale yellow solid, and when
subjected to a temperature of 226° Fahr. it melts to a brownish-yellow,
transparent, thin fluid; according to all preconceived notions of the
properties of substances which liquify by an increase of heat, it might
be imagined that every additional degree of heat would only [Page 163]
render the melted sulphur still more liquid, but strange to say, when it
reaches a temperature of about 320° Fahr. it changes red, and thick like
treacle; and as the heat rises it becomes so tenacious, that the ladle
in which it is contained may be inverted, and the sulphur will hardly
flow out: at about 482° Fahr. it again becomes liquid, but not so fluid
as at the lower temperature. If allowed to cool from 482° Fahr., the
above results are simply inverted; the sulphur becomes thick, again
liquid, and finally crystallizes in long, thin, rhombic prisms, which
are seen most perfectly by first allowing a crust of sulphur to form on
the liquid portion, and then having made two holes in this crust, the
sulphur is poured out, when the remainder is found in the interior of
the crucible crystallized in the form already mentioned. Sulphur takes
fire in the air when exposed to a heat of about 560° Fahr., and burns
with a pale blue flame; and, as already stated, it may be poured from a
considerable height on a still dark night, and produces a continuous
column of blue fire, just like an unbroken current of electricity. If
the melted and burning sulphur is received into a vessel containing
boiling water, it is no longer yellow, but assumes a curious
_allotropic_ state, in which it is a reddish-brown, transparent,
shapeless mass, that may be easily kneaded and used for the purpose of
taking casts of seals, which become yellow in a few days, and are found
then to be hard and crystallized.
_Second Experiment._
Sulphur vapour, in one sense, may be regarded as a supporter of
combustion: if a clean Florence oil-flask is filled with copper
turnings, and a little roughly-powdered sulphur sprinkled in, and heat
applied, the copper glows with an intense heat, and burning in the
vapour of the sulphur, produces a sulphuret of copper; from this
compound the sulphur may be again obtained by boiling the powdered
sulphuret with weak nitric acid, which oxidizes and dissolves the
copper, leaving the greater part of the sulphur behind, which may be
collected, melted, and burnt, and will be found to display all the
properties belonging to that element. This experiment is a very good
example of simple analysis; and if the copper is weighed and likewise
the combined sulphur, a good notion may be formed of the principles of
combining proportions.
_Third Experiment._
A little sulphur burnt under a gas jar, or in any convenient box (a
hat-box, for instance), produces sulphurous acid (SO_{2}), which will
bleach a wetted red rose or dahlia, and many other flowers. This gas is
employed most extensively in bleaching straw, and sundry woollen goods,
such as blankets and flannel, and likewise silk, and is perhaps one of
the best disinfectants that can be employed; when fever has been raging
in the dwellings of the poor, as in cottages, &c., all metallic
substances should be removed, the doors and windows closed, the bedding,
&c., well exposed, and then a quantity of sulphur should be burnt in an
old [Page 164] frying-pan placed on a brick, taking care to avoid the
chance of setting the place on fire; after a few hours the doors and
windows may be opened, and the disinfectant will be found to have done
its work cheaply and surely.
_Fourth Experiment._
The presence of sulphur in various organic substances, such as hair, the
white of egg, and fibrine, is easily detected by heating them in a
solution of potash, and adding acetate of lead as long as the
precipitate formed is redissolved; finally the solution must be heated
to the boiling point, when it instantly becomes black by the separation
of sulphuret of lead.
_Fifth Experiment._
Sulphuric acid, HO,SO_{3}, or oil of vitriol, is made in such enormous
quantities that it is never worth while to attempt its preparation on a
small scale. In consequence of its great affinity for water, many
energetic changes are produced by its action. Oil of vitriol poured on
some loaf sugar placed in a breakfast-cup with the addition of a
dessert-spoonful of boiling water, rapidly boils and deposits an
enormous quantity of black charcoal. If a word be written on a piece of
white calico with dilute sulphuric acid, and then rapidly and thoroughly
washed out, no visible change occurs; but if the calico is exposed to
heat, so that the excess of water is driven off, the remaining and now
concentrated oil of vitriol attacks the calico, and the word is
indelibly printed in black by the decomposition of the fabric of cotton.
A very remarkable process has lately been introduced by Mr. Warren de la
Rue, by which paper is converted into a sort of tough parchment-like
material, called ametastine, by the action of oil of vitriol and water
of a certain fixed strength; and any departure from the exact
proportions destroys the toughness of the paper. After the paper has
been acted upon by the acid, it becomes extremely tenacious, and will
support a considerable weight without breaking. Mr. Smee has used this
ametastine in the construction of an hygrometer, and states that it may
save many a traveller from catching a severe rheumatism in a damp bed.
_Sixth Experiment._
When the vapour of sulphur is passed over red-hot charcoal and the
product carefully condensed, a peculiar liquid is obtained, called
bisulphide of carbon (CS_{2}), which possesses a peculiar odour, is
extremely transparent and brilliant-looking, and enjoys a high
refractive power. This liquid is used as a solvent for phosphorus and
other substances, and is extremely volatile and combustible, and burns
silently with a pale blue flame. The combustion of its vapour, mixed
with certain gases, offers a good example of the fact that slow burning
may be a peaceful experiment, whilst very rapid combustion often
resolves itself into an explosion. Thus, if a few drops of bisulphide of
carbon are dropped into a narrow-mouthed dry quart bottle containing
common air, and flame applied, the combustion takes place with rapidity,
a rushing or [Page 165] roaring sound being audible, in consequence of
the diffused vapour being supplied with more oxygen, and burning more
rapidly than it would do if simply consumed from a stick or glass rod
wetted with the fluid. A still greater rapidity of combustion is ensured
by dropping some bisulphide of carbon into a long stout cylindrical jar,
fifteen inches long and three inches in diameter, containing nitric
oxide gas (NO_{2}); when flame is applied the mixture burns with a
bright flash and some noise, and if burnt in a narrow mouthed bottle
would most likely blow it to atoms.
The greatest rapidity of combustion, and of course the loudest noise, is
obtained by shaking some bisulphide of carbon in a similar stout and
strong cylindrical jar filled with oxygen gas, but in this case the jar
must be protected with a double cylinder of stout wire gauze; it does
not always break, but if it is blown to fragments each particle becomes
a lancet-shaped piece of glass, which is capable of producing the most
dangerous wounds. (Fig. 152.)
[Illustration: Fig. 152. A. Air and bisulphide of carbon. B. Nitric
oxide and ditto. C. Oxygen and ditto. D D. Stout cylinder of double wire
gauze, open top and bottom.]
SELENIUM.
Selenium ([Greek: _selênê_], the Moon[B]); symbol, Se; combining
proportion, 39.5.
This new metallic element is allied to sulphur, and is a species of
chemical curiosity, being found in minute quantities in various
minerals; it may be melted and cast into any form. Medallions of the
discoverer (Berzelius) of selenium, in little cases, are imported from
Germany, for the cabinets of the curious.
[Footnote B: Called selenium on account of its strong analogy to the
metal tellurium (_tellus_, the earth).]
[Page 166]
PHOSPHORUS.
Phosphorus ([Greek: _phôs_], light; [Greek: _pherein_], to bear; symbol, P;
combining proportion, 32.)
Monsieur Salverte, in his work on the Occult Sciences of the Ancients,
quotes a remarkable story respecting the probable discovery of the
nature of phosphorus in 1761:--"A Prince San Severo, at Naples,
cultivated chemistry with some success; he had, for example, the secret
of penetrating marble with colour, so that each slab sawed from the
block presented a repetition of the figure imprinted on its external
surface. In 1761, he exposed some human skulls to the action of
different reagents, and then to the heat of a glass furnace, but paying
so little attention to his manner of proceeding, that he acknowledged he
did not expect to arrive a second time at the same result. From the
product he obtained a vapour, or rather a gas was evolved, which
kindling at the approach of a light, burned for several months without
the matter appearing to die or diminish in weight. San Severo thought he
had found, the impossible secret of the inextinguishable lamp, but he
would not divulge his process, for fear that the vault in which were
interred the princes of his family should lose the unique privilege with
which he expected to enrich it, of being illuminated with a _perpetual
lamp_." Had he acted like a philosopher of the present day, San Severo
would have attached his name to the important discovery of the existence
of _phosphorus_ in the _bones_, and made public the process by which it
might be obtained.
This element, formerly sold at four or five shillings the ounce, has now
fallen so much in price, from the greater demand and larger production,
that it may be bought for a few shillings the pound, and is imported in
tin cases in large quantities from Germany. It was discovered about two
hundred years ago by Brandt, a merchant of Hamburg, and may be prepared
on a small scale by distilling at a red heat phosphoric acid previously
fused with one-fourth of its weight of powdered charcoal.
_First Experiment._
Phosphorus, when pure, is without taste or colour, but generally of a
very pale buff-colour, and semi-transparent; it is extremely
combustible, and is usually preserved under the surface of water; when
perfectly dry, a thin slice will take fire at 60° Fah., and burns with
great brilliancy. Considering the heat produced during the combustion of
phosphorus, it might be thought that it would infallibly set fire to any
ordinary combustible, such as paper or wood, but this is not the case
when phosphorus is employed by itself, as may be proved by the following
experiment.
Cut five very small pieces of phosphorus, and place them like the five
of diamonds on a sheet of cartridge-paper laid upon the table, set the
bits of phosphorus on fire, when they will be rapidly burnt away [Page
167] leaving only five black spots, but not firing the paper, as would
be the case if some red-hot coals or charcoal were placed in the same
position. The cause is very simple. Phosphorus in burning produces
phosphoric acid, which is an anti-combustible, and coats the surface of
the paper round the spot where the combustion occurs, and acting as a
kind of glaze or glass, excludes the oxygen of the air, and prevents the
fire spreading.
If some powdered sulphur is sprinkled round the spot where the bit of
phosphorus is to be burnt, the case is very different; the heat melts
and sets fire to the sulphur, which being uncoated with the phosphoric
acid, communicates to the paper; and it is on this principle that
lucifer-matches can be used as instantaneous lights. The tip of the wood
of which they are composed is first dipped in sulphur, and then the
phosphorus composition made of gum, chlorate of potash, vermilion, and
phosphorus, is placed over it; and if the latter were used alone without
the sulphur, not one match in a hundred would take fire properly.
_Second Experiment._
Common phosphorus is perfectly and rapidly dissolved by bisulphide of
carbon. The solution must be carefully preserved, as it is a liquid
combustible, which takes fire spontaneously after the bisulphide of
carbon evaporates; so that wherever it is dropped, a flame, arising from
the spontaneous combustion of the finely-divided phosphorus, is sure to
be produced. This liquid was recommended many years ago to the
Government for the purpose of setting sails of ships or other
combustible matter on fire. The solution of phosphorus alone did not
answer the purpose, as already explained in the first experiment; but
when wax was dissolved with the phosphorus, it then became a most
dangerous fluid, which it was recommended should be used in shells, and
discharged from a mortar or howitzer in the ordinary manner. Dr. Lyon
Playfair was the first to make this proposed application of the
solution, and it has since, we believe, been recommended by Captain
Norton in his liquid-fire shells.
_Third Experiment._
One of the most curious facts in connexion with phosphorus, is its
assumption of the allotropic state in what is termed _amorphous_
(shapeless) or red phosphorus. This substance, when handled for the
first time, might be mistaken for a lump of badly-made Venetian red.
There is no risk of its taking fire like the common phosphorus, and it
does not (according to Schrötter, of Berlin, who discovered this
peculiar condition) exhale those fumes which are so prejudicial to the
lucifer-match makers. When the vapour of common phosphorus is
continually inhaled, it is said to cause a peculiar and disgusting
disease, which terminates in the destruction of the jaw-bone; whilst the
bones in other parts of the body become brittle, and arm-bones thus
affected are fractured with the slightest blow.
The difference between common and red phosphorus is well shown first,
[Page 168] by placing a few small pieces of both kinds in separate
bottles or vials containing bisulphide of carbon; the common phosphorus,
as already explained, quickly dissolves in the liquid, and if poured on
a sheet of paper, and hung up, is soon on fire; whilst the red variety
is wholly unaffected, and if the bisulphide of carbon is poured off on
to paper, it merely evaporates, and no combustion occurs.
The similarity in composition, though not in outward form, is further
shown by filling two jars with oxygen gas, and having provided two
deflagrating spoons, some common phosphorus is placed in one, and red
phosphorus in the other; a wire, gently heated by dipping it into some
boiling water, is now applied to the former, which immediately takes
fire, and may be plunged into the jar of oxygen gas, when it burns with
the usual brilliancy. The red phosphorus, however, must be brought to a
much higher temperature (500° Fah.) before it will even shine in the
dark, and then with a still further increase of heat it takes fire, and
on being placed in the other jar of oxygen burns up much more slowly
than the yellow phosphorus, but at last exhibits that brilliant flash of
light which is so characteristic of the combustion of phosphorus in
oxygen.
The amorphous or red phosphorus is employed in the manufacture of
_safety chemical matches_, and M. A. Meunons has secured a patent in
England for an improvement in lucifer matches, with a view to obviate
the risks of accidental ignition. To attain this end the matches are
first cut by a machine from cubes of wood, the cut being stopped at a
short distance from the end of each cube, so as to leave the lower
extremities adherent. The upper or free extremity of each packet of
splints thus formed being coated with wax or sulphur, is dipped in one
of the following preparations:--Chlorate of potash, two parts;
pulverized charcoal, one part; umber, one part; or, chlorate of potash,
sulphur, and umber, in equal parts, thoroughly mixed with glue. The
opposite extremity or "cut" of each packet is then painted over with
amorphous phosphorus blended with size, so that on separating the
matches the phosphorus is only found on the top of each. The matches
thus prepared are ignited by breaking off a small piece of the
phosphorised end and rubbing it on the opposite extremity covered with
the inflammable preparation.
Loud exploding and dangerous lucifers were formerly made by dipping
bundles of matches, previously coated with sulphur at the tips, into a
thick solution of gum, at a temperature of 104° Fahr., coloured with
smalt or red lead, in which was dissolved a certain proportion of
chlorate of potash, and also containing finely divided particles of
phosphorus obtained by the constant stirring and rubbing of the
materials in a mortar. When dry the matches exploded if rubbed against a
gritty surface, and there was always a risk of a fragment flying off and
entering the eye. To obviate this danger, _silent_ or _noiseless lucifer
matches_ were invented, and the composition used (according to Böttger)
is as follows:--Gum arabic, 16 parts by weight; phosphorus, 9 parts;
nitre, 14 parts; powdered black oxide of manganese, 16 parts. The above
ingredients are worked up in a mortar with water, at 104° Fahr., and the
matches previously tipped with sulphur are dipped therein and afterwards
dried.
[Page 169]
_Fourth Experiment._
The combustion of phosphorus under water is easily demonstrated by
placing some ordinary stick phosphorus in a metallic cup, and then
plunging it rapidly under the surface of boiling water. If a jet of
oxygen gas is now directed upon the liquid phosphorus, it burns with
great brilliancy. When the oxygen escapes too rapidly from the jet, it
causes some small particles to be thrown out of the water, so that it is
advisable to defend the face with a sheet of wire gauze held a few
inches above the glass whilst the experiment is being conducted. (Fig.
153.)
[Illustration: Fig. 153. A A. Finger-glass of boiling water containing a
metallic cup with melted phosphorus. C. Jet of oxygen gas. D D. Sheet of
wire gauze.]
_Fifth Experiment._
Phosphorus burns and emits beautiful flashes of light in the presence of
the gas called peroxide of chlorine (ClO_{4}), which must be very
carefully generated under the surface of water by first placing some cut
phosphorus and chlorate of potash at the bottom of a long and stout
cylindrical glass nearly full of water; sulphuric acid is then conveyed
to the chlorate of potash by means of a syphon, the end of which must be
drawn out to a small opening, or else the oil of vitriol will descend
too rapidly, and the glass will be cracked by the heat. Immediately the
peroxide of chlorine comes in contact with the phosphorus it explodes,
and passes again to its original elements, oxygen and chlorine. These
bubbles envelope minute particles of phosphorus, which rapidly ascend,
like water-spiders, to the surface, and burn as they pass upwards,
producing a continual series of sparks of fire, which have an extremely
pretty effect. (Fig. 154.) The syphon is of course first filled with
water, and as that is displaced, the oil of vitriol takes its place.
[Illustration: Fig. 154. A A. Tall glass nearly full of water; at the
bottom are the chlorate of potash and phosphorus. B. Wolfe's bottle and
syphon, conveying the oil of vitriol to bottom of A A.]
[Page 170]
_Sixth Experiment._
If a little phosphorus is placed in a small copper boiler, and the steam
allowed to escape from a jet, it is observed to be luminous, in
consequence of a minute portion of phosphorus being carried up
mechanically with the steam. The same fact is shown very prettily by
boiling water in a flask containing some phosphorus.
_Seventh Experiment._
Phosphorus explodes violently when rubbed with a little chlorate of
potash, and in order to perform this experiment safely, it should be
made in a strong iron mortar, the pestle of which must be surrounded
with a large circle of cardboard and wire gauze; so that when it is
brought down upon the phosphorus and chlorate of potash, any particles
that may fly out are detained by the shield. Without this precaution the
experiment is one of the most dangerous that can be made. (Fig. 155.)
[Illustration: Fig. 155. A. The iron mortar containing the phosphorus
and chlorate of potash. B. The pestle, with the shield, C C, composed of
a circle of wire gauze, covered with one of cardboard.]
_Eighth Experiment._
Phosphuretted hydrogen owes its property of spontaneous combustion to
the presence of the vapour of a liquid, phosphide of hydrogen (PH_{2}),
which may be prepared by placing some phosphide of calcium into a flask
with water heated to a temperature of 140° Fah., and conveying the gas
into a U-shaped tube surrounded with a mixture of ice and salt. The
liquid obtained is colourless, and must be preserved from contact with
air, as it takes fire spontaneously directly it is exposed to the
atmosphere. (Fig. 156.)
[Illustration: Fig. 156. A. The flask containing the phosphide of
calcium and water, and placed in a water-bath heated to 140° Fah. B.
Bent tube conveying the gas to C C, the U-shaped tube, to which it is
attached by india-rubber tubing, C C. The U-shaped tube, surrounded with
a freezing mixture. D D. Bent tube, passing into a cup of water to
prevent contact with air.]
[Page 171]
_Ninth Experiment._
Phosphide of calcium is quickly prepared by placing some small pieces of
lime in a crucible and making them red-hot; if lumps of dry phosphorus
are thrown into the crucible, and the cover placed on quickly, and
immediately after the phosphorus, the latter unites with the calcium,
and forms a brown substance which produces gaseous phosphide of hydrogen
(PH_{3}) when placed in water, and the gas takes fire spontaneously when
it comes in contact with the air.
_Tenth Experiment._
Phosphorus placed in a retort with a tolerably strong solution of
potash, and a small quantity of ether, affords a large quantity of
phosphide of hydrogen (commonly called phosphuretted hydrogen) when
boiled. The neck of the retort must dip into a basin of water, and the
object of the ether is to prevent the combustion of the first bubbles of
gas _inside_ the retort, which by their explosion would probably break
the glass. If the neck of the retort is kept under water in which potash
is dissolved, the gas may be generated for many days at pleasure,
although it is not a desirable experiment to renew too often, on account
of the disagreeable odour produced. (Fig. 157.)
[Illustration: Fig. 157. A retort containing the phosphorus, water,
potash, and ether. B. Neck dipping into a basin of water. C. The gas
burning, and producing beautiful rings of smoke.]
_Eleventh Experiment._
When a jar of oxygen is held over the neck of the retort generating the
phosphuretted hydrogen, a bright flash of light and explosion are
observed; and if the experiment is performed in a darkened room, it is
just like a sudden flash of lightning. A bottle of chlorine held over
the neck [Page 172] of the retort, and dipping of course in the water
of the basin, produces a green flame every time the bubble of gas passes
into it. That curious appearance of light, sometimes seen in marshy
districts, called will-o'-the-wisp, is supposed to be due to the escape,
from decomposing matter, of bubbles of hydrogen, nitrogen, &c., through
which the spontaneously inflammable phosphide of hydrogen is diffused.
At a place called Dead Man's Island, near Sheerness, magnificent effects
of this kind are sometimes apparent when the mud banks are accidentally
stirred at night by a boat-hook. A credible observer says, he once saw
there a flash of yellowish-green light, accompanied with noise, about
thirty feet in height. The apparent height might be due to the duration
of the impression of the flash on the eye, as the light from the burning
phosphuretted hydrogen ascended rapidly upwards. The source of this gas
appears to be due to the fact, that during the time some Russian ships
were watched by the Brest fleet, a number of the sailors died of
cholera, and were buried in the banks; the decomposition of the bone
containing phosphorus would account for the appearance of light already
described.
With the discussion of some of the most interesting properties of the
thirteen non-metallic elements we take leave of the subject of
chemistry, reserving the consideration of the metals for another popular
juvenile work, of which they will form the subject.
In answer to the oft-repeated question, "Where can I get the _things_
for the experiments?" it may be stated that every kind of glass vessel
and the chemicals mentioned in this chapter, can be procured either of
Messrs. Simpson, Maule, and Co., Kennington, or of Griffin and Co.,
Bunhill-row, or Bolton and Co., High Holborn.
[Illustration: Fig. 158. Will-o'-the-wisp.]
[Page 173]