This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1873 Excerpt: ...decay very rapidly--such as some specimens of stone that the weather acts upon-with great rapidity, woods that decay in a few years, metals that rust even in a few days. It is not, therefore, which of the three classes is the most durable? but what varieties of each class are more durable than others? And this question ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1873 Excerpt: ...decay very rapidly--such as some specimens of stone that the weather acts upon-with great rapidity, woods that decay in a few years, metals that rust even in a few days. It is not, therefore, which of the three classes is the most durable? but what varieties of each class are more durable than others? And this question can only be answered by a knowledge of the nature of the substances of their elements. For it must be always borne in mind that the words stories, metals, timber, are the names of classes, not of things--that nearly all the varieties of these are but more or less complex combinations of some sixty elementary substances. Of these, fifty are called metals, distinguished generally by their being easily reduced to the liquid state by heat. Some of these, like gold and silver, do not enter into combination with other substances very readily; while others, such as zinc and potassium, are readily acted upon. So that in our atmosphere, which consists chiefly of nitrogen and oxygen, a golden house would endure for a very long time indeed, if not for ever; while a sodium one (even if it could be erected) would scarcely last an hour; and a potassium edifice would, immediately the atmosphere could act upon it, burst into flame and be utterly consumed. We cannot use gold, silver, or platinum in this way, because of their scarcity; so that iron, which is the most endurable of the metals easily obtained, becomes our chief metal for construction. Most if not all the stones are compositions of which one element at least is a metal; but these metals have lost, by their composition, the property of being easily melted: in all cases, too, they are already combined with oxygen, so that they are not so readily acted upon by the oxygen in the atmosphere. But the st...
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.