All the solid and fluid compound inflammable bodies on which I have experimented, burn in nitrous oxide, at high temperatures. Wood, cotton, and paper, are easily inflamed in it by the burning glass. During their combustion, nitrous acid is always formed, carbonic acid, and water produced, and nitrogene evolved, rather less in bulk than the nitrous oxide decomposed.
I have already mentioned that alcohol and ether are soluble in nitrous oxide. When an ignited body is introduced into the solution of alcohol, or ether in nitrous oxide, a slight explosion takes place.
XIV. General Conclusions relating to the Decomposition
of Nitrous Oxide, and to its Analysis.
From what has been said in the preceding sections, it appears that the inflammable bodies, in general, require for their combustion in nitrous oxide, much higher temperatures than those at which they burn in atmospheric air, or oxygene.
When intensely heated they decompose it, with the production of much heat and light, and become oxygenated.
During the combustion of solid or fluid bodies, producing flame, in nitrous oxide, nitrous acid is generated, most probably from a new arrangement of principles, analogous to those observed in Sect. II, by the ignition of that part of the gas not in contact with the burning substance. Likewise when nitrous oxide in excess is decomcomposed by inflammable gases, nitrous acid, and sometimes a gas analogous to common air, is produced, doubtless from the same cause.
Pyrophorus is the only body that inflames in nitrous oxide, below the temperature of ignition.
Phosphorus burns in it with the blue flame, probably forming with its oxygene only phosphoreous acid at the dull red heat, and with the intensely vivid flame, producing phosphoric acid at the white heat.
Hydrogene, charcoal, sulphur, iron, and the compound inflammable bodies, decompose it only at heats equal to, or above, that of ignition: probably each a different temperature.
From the phænomena in Sect. V. it appears, that at the temperature of intense ignition, phosphorus has a stronger affinity for the oxygene of nitrous oxide than hydrogene; and reasoning from the different degrees of combustibility of the inflammable bodies, in mixtures of nitrous oxide and nitrogene, and from other phænomena, we may conclude with probability, that at about the white heat, the affinity of the combustible bodies for oxygene takes place in the following order. Phosphorus, hydrogene, charcoal,[179] iron, sulphur, &c.