RE-COMPOSITION OF WATER.

259

SECT. II.

RE-COMPOSITION OF WATER.

It is, however, not sufficient to decompose water into its con-stituent principles, oxigen and hidrogen, to produce compleatconviction; we must re-compose it with the radicals which re-sulted from its decomposition : happily modern chemistry hasenabled us to accomplish this.

It has been proved already, vol. I. p. 204, that oxigen and hi-drogen gases, when fired ill proper proportions, produce a quan-tity of water, equal in weight to the two gases employed; it is,therefore, obvious that, by thus exploding repeatedly portions ofa mixture of these gases, a considerable quantity of water will atlast be produced. This being established, it would be super-fluous to dwell upon it further.

To perform the combustion of oxigen and hidrogen gases, forthe production of water, conveniently, some particular kinds ofapparatus have been invented. A simple contrivance, for show-ing the formation of it, we have noticed already, vol. I. p. 206:but the cheapest, most convenient, and most simple apparatusfor that purpose has been invented by Mr. Cuthbertson, of whicha description and drawing has been given in Nicholson’s Journal,(4to edit.) vol. i. p. 235. '