Carbon Disulphide
or BISUL- PHIDE, a colorless liquid produced by burning carbon in an atmosphere of sulphur, or by distilling certain of the metallic sulphides with charcoal; sp. gr. 1.268. It is of great use in a large variety of manufacturing processes, and as a solvent.
CARBONIC ACID (CO₂), more properly called CARBONIC ANHYDRIDE, or CAR- BON DIOXIDE, a gaseous compound of 12 parts by weight of carbon and 32 of oxygen, colorless, without smell, 22 times as heavy as hydrogen, turning blue litmus slightly red, and existing in the atmosphere to the extent of 1 volume in 2,500. It is incapable of supporting combustion or animal life, acting as a narcotic poison when present in the air to the extent of only 4 or 5 per cent.
It is disengaged from fermenting liquors and from decomposing vegetable and animal substances, and is largely evolved from fissures in the earth, constituting weight it has a tendency to subside into low places, vaults and wells, rendering some low-lying places uninhabitable. It has a pleasant, acidulous, pungent taste, and aerated beverages of all kinds-beer, champagne, and carbonated mineral its presence, for though poisonous when taken into the lungs, it is agreeable when taken into the stomach. This acid is CARBONIFEROUS tion of animals, and in all ordinary combustions, from the oxidation of carbon in the fuel. It exists in large quantity in all limestones and marbles. It is evolved from the colored parts of the flowers of plants both by night and day, and from the green parts of plants during the night. During the day plants absorb it from the atmosphere through their leaves, and it forms an important part of their nourishment.