PHOSPHORUS.

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from the phosphoric acid of the superphosphate, setting free the phospho-rus, which is volatilized.

Properties. —It is a pale yellow, semitransparent, crystallizable,highly combustible solid. Mitscherlich says the crystals are rhombicdodecahedrons; so that they belong to the regular or tessular system.Light, especially violet light, reddens it.

Its sp. gr. is 1'77.—At ordinary temperatures it is flexible, but at 32°is brittle. It melts at 105°, and boils at 550° F. It gives off a smallquantity of vapour at ordinary temperatures. In the atmosphere itsfumes are luminous in the dark, in consequence of a slow combustion:they have the odour of garlic. By keeping in water, phosphorus becomescoated by a white substance, by some regarded as an oxide, by others asthe hydrate of phosphorus. Phosphorus is insoluble in water, but solublein ether, and the oils both fixed and volatile. It may be reducedto powder by melting it under water, and shaking in a closed vessel untilcold. Its equivalent by weight is l(b

Characteristics.- —Phosphorus in substance is easily recognized byits waxy appearance ; by its fuming in the air, and being phosphorescentor luminous in the dark ; by friction or gentle heat causing it to inflame ;and, lastly, by its burning with a most intense white light and a whitesmoke of phosphoric acid. A solution of phosphorus in oil or ether,may be known by its garlicky odour, and, when rubbed on the skin, byits rendering the latter luminous in the dark.

Physiological Effects. — (a.) On vegetables. —According to Marcctit is poisonous to plants.

{b.) On animals generally. —Water impregnated with phosphorus, actsas an aphrodisiac to drakes (Alph. Leroy, quoted by Bayle, Biblioth. deT/tcrap. t. ii. p. 28). Phospliuretted oil acts as a stimulant to horses :blood drawn from a vein had a phosphoric odour (Pilger, quoted byBayle). If phosphuretted oil be injected into the jugular vein, or intothe cavity of the pleura of a dog, white vapours of phosphorus are evolvedfrom the mouth, and death shortly takes place. The phosphorous acidinflames the lungs in its passage through the delicate pulmonary vessels.Introduced into the stomach of animals, phosphorus acts as a causticpoison. The corrosion is supposed to depend on the action of thephosphorous acid (formed by the combination of the phosporus with theoxygen of the air contained in the alimentary canal) on the tissue withwhich it is in contact.—(Orfila, Toxicol. Gener.)

(c.) On man. —In small doses, phosphorus acts as a powerful anddiffusible stimulant, exciting the nervous, vascular, and secreting organs.It creates an agreeable feeling of warmth at the epigastrium, increasesthe frequency and fulness of the pulse, augments the heat of skin,heightens the mental activity and the muscular powers, and operates as apowerful sudorific and diuretic. Its aphrodisiac operation has been recog-nized by Alphonse Leroy, and Bouttatz (Bayle, op. cit.), by experimentsmade on themselves. In somewhat larger doses it causes burning pain,vomiting and purging, with extreme sensibility of the stomach, whichlasts for several days (see an experiment made by Sundelin on himself,Handb. d. Heilm. 2 er . Bd. s. 213). In still larger doses, it causesinflammation of the stomach and bowels. Its activity as a causticpoison depends, according to Orfila, on its absorbing oxygen, and thus