Experiments With Sparrows
Count Morozzo placed successively several full-grown sparrows under a
glass receiver, inverted over water. It was filled with atmospheric
air, and afterwards with vital air. He found,
First.--That in atmospheric air, HOURS MIN.
The first sparrow lived 3 0
The second sparrow lived 0 3
The third sparrow lived 0 1
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The water rose in the vessels eight lines during the life of the
first; four during the life of the second; and the third produced no
absorption.
Second.--In vital air or oxygen, HOURS MIN.
The first sparrow lived 5 23
The second 2 10
The third 1 30
The fourth 1 10
The fifth 0 30
The sixth 0 47
The seventh 0 27
The eighth 0 30
The ninth 0 22
The tenth 0 21
The above experiments elicit the following conclusions:--1. That an
animal will live longer in vital than in atmospheric air.--2. That one
animal can live in air, in which another has died.--3. That,
independently of air, some respect must be had to the constitution of
the animal; for the sixth lived 47 minutes, the fifth only thirty.--4.
That there is either an absorption of air, or the production of a new
kind of air, which is absorbed by the water as it rises.
AMUSING EXPERIMENTS IN ELECTRICITY.