A. Of phosphorus; and above 250 thousand lbs. of phosphorus are used every year in London alone, merely for the manufacture of lucifer matches.
Q. Why does a putrefying dead body smell so offensively?
A. From the phosphuretted hydrogen gas, which always arises from putrefying animal substances.
The escape of ammonia and sulphur contributes also to this offensive effluvia.
Q. What is the cause of the ignis fatuus, Jack o’Lantern, or Will o’the Wisp?
A. This luminous appearance (which haunts meadows, bogs, and marshes) arises from the gas of putrefying animal and vegetable substances; especially decaying fish.
Q. What gases arise from these putrefying substances?
A. Phosphuretted hydrogen gas from putrefying animal substances: and
Carburetted hydrogen, (or inflammable gas) from fermenting vegetable matters.