A little ingenuity will supply all apparatus needed for these and other experiments with H and O. For example, a common pail with a wooden shelf in it two or three inches from the top makes an excellent pneumatic trough for transferring or gathering gases, and if the shelf can not be procured, two or three bricks in the pail will serve the purpose.
Before dismissing our glass of water we must remark that no matter where it may be found, in the depths of the sea or on the mountain; as a dew drop, or sparkling as spray; in lake Nyanza, or lake Chautauqua, the chemical constituents of water are just the same. Almighty care and wisdom weighs the atoms, even as “he weighs the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance.” The apparent character of water, as to color, form, hardness, saltness, and so on, is often varied by mixing with it other substances, but the changes produced are not chemical, and belong more properly to the domain of physics.
Note.—The illustrations in this article are from “The Young Chemist” of Prof. John Howard Appleton. We can heartily recommend to the members of the C. L. S. C., all of Prof. Appleton’s admirable works on Chemistry.
STUDIES IN KITCHEN SCIENCE AND ART.
I. THE POTATO.
BY BYRON D. HALSTED.