MRS. B.
It is naptha, a bituminous liquid, with which I shall hereafter make you acquainted. It is almost the only fluid in which potassium can be preserved, as it contains no oxygen, and this metal has so powerful an attraction for oxygen, that it will not only absorb it from the air, but likewise from water, or any body whatever that contains it.
EMILY.
This, then, is one of the bodies that oxydates spontaneously without the application of heat?
MRS. B.
Yes; and it has this remarkable peculiarity that it attracts oxygen much more rapidly from water than from air; so that when thrown into water, however cold, it actually bursts into flame. I shall now throw a small piece, about the size of a pin’s head, on this drop of water.
CAROLINE.
It instantaneously exploded, producing a little flash of light! this is, indeed, a most curious substance!
MRS. B.
By its combustion it is reconverted into potash; and as potash is now decidedly a compound body, I shall not enter into any of its properties till we have completed our review of the simple bodies; but we may here make a few observations on its basis, potassium. If this substance is left in contact with air, it rapidly returns to the state of potash, with a disengagement of heat, but without any flash of light.