125. Deoxidation in Plants.--Since CO2 is so constantly poured into the atmosphere, why does it not accumulate there in large quantity? Why is there not less free O in the air to-day than there was a thousand years ago? The answer to these questions is found in the growth of vegetation. In the leaf of every plant are thousands of little chemical laboratories; CO2 diffused in small quantities in the air passes, together with a very little H2O, into the leaf, usually from its under side, and is decomposed by the radiant energy of the sun. The C is built into the woody fiber of the tree, and the O is ready to be re-breathed or burned again. CO2 contributes to the growth of plants, O to that of animals; and the constituents of the atmosphere vary little from one age to another. The compensation of nature is here well shown. Plants feed upon what animals discard, transforming it into material for the sustenance of the latter, while animals prepare food for plants. All the C in plants is supposed to come from the CO2 in the atmosphere. Animals obtain their supply from plants. The utility of the small percentage of CO2 in the air is thus seen. 126. Uses.--CO2 is used in making "soda-water," and in chemical engines to put out fires in their early stages. In either case it may be prepared by treating Na2CO3 or CaCO3 with H2SO4. Give the reactions. On a small scale CO2 is made from HNaCO3. CO2 has a very weak affinity for water, but probably forms with it H2CO3. Much carbon dioxide can be forced into water under pressure. This forms soda-water, which really contains no soda. The justification for the name is the material from which it is sometimes made. Salts from H2CO3, called carbonates, are numerous, Na2CO3 and CaCO3 being the most important. Chapter XXVI. OZONE. 127. Preparation. Experiment 78.--Scrape off the oxide from the surface of a piece of phosphorus 2 cm long, put it into a wide-mouthed bottle, half cover the P with water, cover the bottle with a glass, and leave it for half an hour or more. 128. Tests. Experiment 79.--Remove the glass cover, smell the gas, and hold in it some wet iodo-starch paper. Look for any blue color. Iodine has been set free, according to the reaction, 2 KI + 03= K20 + O2 + I2, and has imparted a blue color to the starch, and ordinary oxygen has been formed. Why will not oxygen set iodine free from KI?. What besides ozone will liberate it? 129. Ozone, oxidized oxygen, active oxygen, etc., is an allotropic form of O. Its molecule is 03, while that of ordinary oxygen is 02.