Note 47 — MINERALS.

Phosphorus is a combustible substance which, when pure, somewhat resembles bees’-wax both in colour and consistence; and, when exposed to the air under the usual temperature of our atmosphere, is luminous in the dark, and has a smell somewhat resembling 20that of garlic. It is so combustible that, when melted, it should be kept under water, as it cannot be exposed to the air during this process without great risk of catching fire. This substance is not known in a native state; and the whole of what is used in philosophy and commerce is obtained by different artificial processes. In union with oxygen (21) it becomes converted into an acid, called phosphoric acid (25), and, under this form, in conjunction with lime, it constitutes the bones of men and animals. The greater part of the phosphorus of the shops is obtained from bones.