The Romance of Modern Chemistry

HIGH TEMPERATURES gas, acetylene, on contact with water. One usually regards flame and water as essentially antagonistic, but here is a case where water is a sine qua non in the pro- duction of an inflammable gas. The curious action between the water and calcium carbide molecules consists simply in a change of partners. The hydrogen of the water unites with the carbon of the carbide, forming acetylene, while the oxygen of the water combines with the calcium of the carbide, forming quicklime, which promptly slakes in excess of water. Acetylene, when burned at specially constructed nozzles, gives a very brilliant flame, more like sunlight in its character than any other artificial illuminant. On this ground there is much to be said for the use of acetylene for lighting purposes. The portable nature of calcium carbide, and the ease with which the gas can be obtained from this material, are circumstances also which have favoured the introduction of acetylene as an illuminant, especially in places where electricity and coal gas are not available. The eagerness of carbon to unite with both calcium and oxygen at the temperature of the electric furnace, as illustrated by the formation of calcium carbide, has found a recent interesting application in the manufacture of phosphorus. The chief source of this element is bone ash, which consists to a large extent of calcium phosphate, a compound of calcium, phosphorus, and oxygen. In the older process for obtaining phosphorus from bone ash, it was put through quite a number of distinct operations, but nowadays, with the aid of the electric furnace, a much more straightforward plan is feasible. By simply mixing the bone ash with carbon and heating in the furnace, the carbon annexes both the calcium and the oxvzen 201 ’