Oxygen. Oxygen is an element. It is an invisible gas, without taste or smell. It is the most abundant substance in the world, and an exceedingly active agent, entering into nearly all chemical changes and forming compounds with all known elements except one—fluorin. It is a necessity of life and of combustion.[4] It constitutes about two thirds of the weight of our bodies and one fifth of the weight of the air.
Hydrogen. Hydrogen is a gas. It is the lightest substance known. It unites with oxygen to form water, and, as will be seen later, enters into the composition of the human body.[5]
Nitrogen. Nitrogen is also a gas, but, unlike oxygen, is an inactive element. It supports neither fire nor life. It is not poisonous, however, for we breathe it constantly in the atmosphere, where its office is to dilute the too active oxygen. A person breathing it in a pure state dies simply from lack of oxygen.
Carbon. Carbon is a solid and an important and abundant element. It is known under three forms: diamond, graphite, and charcoal. The diamond is nearly pure carbon. Graphite (the "black-lead" of lead-pencils), coal, coke, and charcoal are impure forms of it. Carbon is combustible; that is, it burns or combines with oxygen. In this union carbonic acid is formed, and there is an evolution of heat, and usually, if the union be rapid and intense enough, of light. It is the valuable element in fuels, and in the body of man it unites with the oxygen of the air, yielding heat, to keep the body warm, and energy or muscular strength for work (Prof. Atwater). The carbonic acid formed in the body is given out by the lungs and skin.
Other Elements. There are many other elements about which it would be interesting to note something, such as calcium and phosphorus (found abundantly in the bones), magnesium, sulphur, sodium, iron, etc. Samples of these may be obtained to show to pupils, and descriptions given and experiments made, at the discretion of the teacher. Of the four most abundant elements of the body and of food,—oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen,—it is extremely important that some study be made, and if the apparatus can be procured, that it be of an experimental nature rather than simply descriptive.[6]
AIR
Air is made up principally of two elements, nitrogen and oxygen. It also always contains vapor of water and carbonic acid. Its average composition is as follows:
| Nitrogen | 78.49% | Aqueous Vapor | .84% |
| Oxygen | 20.63% | Carbonic Acid | .04% |
These are mixed together, not chemically united. Oxygen and nitrogen do unite chemically, but not in the proportions in which they exist in the air. Nitrous Oxid (N2O), sometimes called "Laughing Gas," is one of the compounds of nitrogen and oxygen.