If bottles of hydrogen gas are prepared by all the processes described, they will present the same properties when tested under similar circumstances. A lighted taper applied to the mouths of the bottles of hydrogen, which should be inverted, causes the gas to take fire with a slight noise, in consequence of the mixture of air and hydrogen that invariably takes place when the stopper is removed; on thrusting the lighted taper into the bulk of the gas it is extinguished, showing that hydrogen possesses the opposite quality to oxygen—viz., that it takes fire, but does not support combustion. By keeping the bottles containing the hydrogen upright, when the stopper is removed the gas escapes with great rapidity, and atmospheric air takes its place, so much so that by the time a lighted taper is applied, instead of the gas burning quietly, it frequently astonishes the operator with a loud pop. This sudden attack on the nerves may be prevented by always experimenting with inverted bottles. (Fig. 112.)
Fig. 112.
a. Bottle opened upright, and hydrogen exploding. b. Bottle opened inverted, and hydrogen burning quietly at the mouth.
Fifth Experiment.
Hydrogen is 14.4 lighter than air, and for that reason may be passed into bottles and jars without the assistance of the pneumatic trough. One of the most amusing proofs of its levity is that of filling paper bags or balloons with this gas; and we read, in the accounts of the fêtes at Paris, of the use of balloons ingeniously constructed to represent animals, so that a regular aerial hunt was exhibited, with this drawback only, that nearly all the animals preferred ascending with their legs upwards, a circumstance which provoked intense mirth amongst the volatile Frenchmen. The lightness of hydrogen may be shown in two ways—first, by filling a little gold-beater's skin balloon with pure hydrogen (prepared by passing the gas made from zinc and dilute pure sulphuric acid through a strong solution of potash, and afterwards through one of nitrate of silver), and allowing the balloon to ascend; and then afterwards, having of course secured the balloon by a thin twine or strong thread, it may be pulled down and the gas inhaled, when a most curious effect is produced on the voice, which is suddenly changed from a manly bass to a ludicrous nasal squeaking sound. The only precautions necessary are to make the gas quite pure, and to avoid flame whilst inhaling the gas. It is related by Chaptal that the intrepid (quære, foolish) but unfortunate aeronaut, Mons. Pilate de Rosio, having on one occasion inhaled hydrogen gas, was rash enough to approach a lighted candle, when an explosion took place in his mouth, which he says "was so violent that he fancied all his teeth were driven out." Of course, if it were possible to change by some extraordinary power the condition of the atmosphere in a concert-room or theatre, all the bass voices would become extremely nasal and highly comic, whilst the sopranos would emulate railway whistles and screech fearfully; and supposing the specific gravity of the air was continually and materially changing, our voices would never be the same, but alter day by day, according to the state of the air, so that the "familiar voice" would be an impossibility.
A bell rung in a gas jar containing air emits a very different sound from that which is produced in one full of hydrogen—a simple experiment is easily performed by passing a jar containing hydrogen over a self-acting bell, such as is used for telegraphic purposes. (Fig. 113.)
Fig. 113.
a. Stand and bell. b b. Tin cylinder full of hydrogen, which may be raised or depressed at pleasure, by lifting it with the knob at the top, when the curious changes in the sound of the bell are audible.