CAROLINE.
You astonish me! the heat of a burning body proceeds then as much from the atmosphere as from the body itself?
MRS. B.
It was supposed that the caloric, given out during combustion, proceeded entirely, or nearly so, from the decomposition of the oxygen gas; but, according to Sir H. Davy’s new view of the subject, both the oxygen gas, and the combustible body, concur in supplying the heat and light, by the union of their opposite electricities.
EMILY.
I have not yet met with any thing in chemistry that has surprised or delighted me so much as this explanation of combustion. I was at first wondering what connection there could be between the affinity of a body for oxygen and its combustibility; but I think I understand it now perfectly.
MRS. B.
Combustion then, you see, is nothing more than the rapid combination of a body with oxygen, attended by the disengagement of light and heat.
EMILY.
But are there no combustible bodies whose attraction for oxygen is so strong, that they will combine with it, without the application of heat?