Conversations on Chemistry, V. 1-2 / In Which the Elements of that Science Are Familiarly Explained and Illustrated by Experiments

by Mrs. Marcet

MRS. B.

Exactly so.

CAROLINE.

But is the temperature of the atmosphere ever so low as that?

MRS. B.

Yes, often in Siberia; but happily never in this part of the globe. Here, however, mercury may be congealed by artificial cold; I mean such intense cold as can be produced by some chemical mixtures, or by the rapid evaporation of ether under the air-pump.[*]

CAROLINE.

And can mercury be made to boil and evaporate?

MRS. B.

Yes, like any other liquid; only it requires a much greater degree of heat. At the temperature of six hundred degrees, it begins to boil and evaporate like water.