[CONVERSATION VIII.]
ON SULPHUR AND PHOSPHORUS.
MRS. B.
Sulphur is the next substance that comes under our consideration. It differs in one essential point from the preceding, as it exists in a solid form at the temperature of the atmosphere.
CAROLINE.
I am glad that we have at last a solid body to examine; one that we can see and touch. Pray, is it not with sulphur that the points of matches are covered, to make them easily kindle?
MRS. B.
Yes, it is; and you therefore already know that sulphur is a very combustible substance. It is seldom discovered in nature in a pure unmixed state; so great is its affinity for other substances, that it is almost constantly found combined with some of them. It is most commonly united with metals, under various forms, and is separated from them by a very simple process. It exists likewise in many mineral waters, and some vegetables yield it in various proportions, especially those of the cruciform tribe. It is also found in animal matter; in short, it may be discovered in greater or less quantity, in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms.
EMILY.
I have heard of flowers of sulphur, are they the produce of any plant?