Methods for the Determination of Organic Matter in Air (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Methods for the Determination of Organic Matter in Air

So much for one series of differences in aeration. But another series exists which is even of greater interest. The aeration of waters, or the absorption of gases by water, varies according to general external conditions, among which temperature and pressure rank highest - not only general pressure, but, so to speak, individual pressure, or, to put it in other terms, the proportion of any given gas in a mixture. Under identical conditions, each gas, moreover, has its own special coetiicient of solubility. While nitrogen is feebly soluble, ammonia is highly so. This fact helps us to understand why it is that the gases which spontaneously dissolve in water in contact with the atmosphere do not, when extracted from the water, yield a mixture even distantly comps rable to air: how it is that the elements of air are not found in water under the proportions they bear to each other in the atmosphere. While water contains the constituents of air, it contains such propor tions of these constituents as are peculiar to it. However. The latter are provided in sufl'icient quantity, and normal river water is quite adequate to maintain the life of aquatic animals. This applies to fresh waters generally, for ponds and lakes have the same conditions as rivers.

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