A handbook of invalid cooking : $b for the use of nurses in training, nurses in private practice, and others who care for the sickBoland, Mary A.
Science
A handbook of invalid cooking : $b for the use of nurses in training, nurses in private practice, and others who care for the sick
Boland, Mary A.
Cooking for the sick
=Exp. with a Candle.= Take a tallow candle, and by means of a
lighted match raise its temperature sufficiently high to start an
action between the carbon in the candle and the oxygen of the
air; in other words, light the candle. A match is composed of
wood, sulphur, and phosphorus. The latter is a substance which
unites with oxygen very easily; that is, at a _low temperature_.
By friction against any hard object, sufficient heat is aroused
to effect a union between the phosphorus of a match and the
oxygen of the surrounding air; the flame is then conveyed to
the sulphur, or the heat thus generated causes a union between
it (the sulphur) and the oxygen, sulphur burning somewhat less
freely than phosphorus; this gives enough heat to ignite the
wood, and with its combustion we get sufficient heat to light
the candle, or to start a chemical union between the combustible
portion, carbon chiefly, of the candle and the oxygen of the air.
Allow the candle to burn for a time, then put over it a tall
lamp-chimney; notice that the flame grows long and dim. Next
place on the top of the chimney a tin cover, leaving a small
opening, and make an opening into the chimney from below, with
a pin or the blade of a knife placed between it and the table;
note that the candle burns dimly. Then exclude the flow of air by
completely covering the top; in a moment, as soon as the oxygen
inside the chimney is consumed, the candle will go out.
This shows (1) that air--in other words, oxygen--is necessary to
cause the candle to burn; (2) that by regulating the draft or
flow of air the intensity of the combustion may be increased or
diminished; (3) that by completely excluding air the candle is
extinguished. This experiment with the candle illustrates the way
in which coal is consumed in a stove. By opening the drafts and
allowing the inflow of plenty of oxygen, combustion is increased;
by partially closing them it is diminished, and by the complete
exclusion of air burning is stopped.
The products of the burning of coal are carbonic acid and a small
amount of ash. Twelve weights of coal, not counting the ash,
will unite with thirty-two weights of oxygen, giving as a result
forty-four weights of carbonic acid. Accompanying the union there
is an evolution of light and heat. The enormous amount of carbonic
acid given out daily from fires is taken up by plants and used by
them for food. In the course of ages these plants may become coal,
be consumed in combustion, and, passing into the air, thus complete
the cycle of change.
=Fuel and Kindlings.= The common fuels are coal, coke, wood, gas,
coal-oil, and peat. For kindling, newspaper is good because, being
made of straw and wood-pulp, it burns easily, and also because
printers' ink contains turpentine, which is highly inflammable.
COMPOSITION OF THE BODY
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