Hence the compound atom or molecule of
water, H_{2}O, weighs 18. I must now show you that these two gases are
possessed of totally different properties. Some gases will extinguish a
flame; some will cause the flame to burn brilliantly, but will not burn
themselves; and some will take fire and burn themselves, though
extinguishing the flame which has ignited them. We say the first are
non-combustible, and will not support combustion; the second are
supporters of combustion, the third are combustible gases. Of course
these are, as the lawyers say, only _ex parte_ statements of the truth;
still they are usually accepted. Oxygen gas will ignite a red-hot match,
but hydrogen will extinguish an inflamed one, though it will itself
burn. You generally think of water as the great antithesis of, the
universal antidote for, fire. The truth is here again only of an _ex
parte_ character, as I will show you. If I can, by means of a substance
having a more intense affinity for oxygen than hydrogen has, rob water
of its oxygen, I necessarily set the hydrogen that was combined with
that oxygen free.
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